CHAPTER 13
1 And again the sons of Israel did evil in the sight of the Lord, and he betook them in[to] the hands of [the] Philistines forty years.
2 Forsooth a man was of Zorah, of the kindred of Dan, Manoah by name, and he had a barren wife.
3 To which wife an angel of the Lord appeared, and said to her, Thou art barren, and without free children; but thou shalt conceive, and bear a son.
4 Therefore be thou ware, lest thou drink wine, and cider, neither eat thou any unclean thing;
5 for thou shalt conceive, and bear a son, whose head a razor shall not touch; for he shall be a Nazarite, that is, holy of God, from his young age, and from the mother’s womb; and he shall begin to deliver Israel from the hand of [the] Philistines.
6 And when she had come to her husband, she said to him, A man of God came to me, and he had an angel’s cheer, and he was full fearedful; and when I had asked him, who he was, and from whence he came, and by what name he was called, he would not say to me;
7 but he answered thus, Lo! thou shalt conceive, and bear a son; be thou ware, that thou drink no wine nor cider, neither eat any unclean thing; for the child shall be a Nazarite, that is, holy of the Lord, from his young age, and from the mother’s womb, till to the day of his death.
8 Therefore Manoah prayed the Lord, and said, Lord, I beseech, that the man of God, whom thou sentest, come again, and teach us, what we owe to do of the child, that shall be born.
9 And the Lord heard Manoah praying; and the angel of the Lord appeared again to his wife sitting in the field; forsooth Manoah, her husband, was not with her.
10 And when she had seen the angel, she hasted, and ran to her husband, and told to him, and said, Lo! the man whom I saw before, appeared to me.
11 Which rose, and pursued [or followed] his wife; and he came to the man, and said to him, Art thou he, that hast spoken to the woman? And he answered, I am.
12 To whom Manoah said, When thy word shall be fulfilled, what wilt thou, that the child do, either from what thing shall he keep himself?
13 And the angel of the Lord said to Manoah, Abstain he himself from all things which I spake to thy wife.
14 And eat he not whatever thing cometh forth of the vine, drink he not wine, and cider, eat he not any unclean thing, and fulfill he; and keep that, that I commanded to him.
15 Therefore Manoah said to the angel of the Lord, I beseech, that thou assent to my prayers, and we array to thee, that is, make ready to meat, a kid of the goats.
16 To whom the angel of the Lord answered, Though thou constrain me, I shall not eat thy bread; but if thou wilt make burnt sacrifice, offer thou it to the Lord. And Manoah knew not, that it was an angel of the Lord.
17 And Manoah said to him, What name is to thee, that if thy word be fulfilled, we honour thee?
18 To whom he answered, Why askest thou my name, which is hid, either unknown?
19 Therefore Manoah took a goat kid, and flowing sacrifices, and he put upon a stone, and he offered them to the Lord that doeth wonderful things. And he and his wife beheld.
20 And when the flame of the altar ascended into heaven, the angel of the Lord ascended or went up together in the flame. And when Manoah and his wife had seen this, they felled low to the earth.
21 And the angel of the Lord appeared no more to them. And anon Manoah understood, that he was the angel of the Lord.
22 And he said to his wife, We shall die by death, for we have seen the Lord.
23 To whom the woman answered, If the Lord would slay us, he would not have taken of our hands burnt sacrifices, and moist sacrifices, but neither he would have showed all these things to us, neither have said to us those things, that be to coming [or to come].
24 And so she childed a son, and called his name Samson; and the child increased, and the Lord blessed him.
25 And the spirit of the Lord began to be with him in the tents of Dan, betwixt Zorah and Eshtaol.