Judges 13
An Angel Announces a Son to a Barren Woman
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Israel Handed to the Foreigners
13:1The sons of Israel again did evil before the Lord, and the Lord handed them into the foreigners’ hand for forty years.
The Messenger Comes to Manoah’s Wife
13:2There was a man from Zorah, from the tribe of Dan, whose name was Manoah. His wife was barren and had not borne a child.
13:3The Lord’s messenger appeared to the woman and said to her, “Look, you are barren and have not borne a child, but you shall conceive and bear a son.
13:4Now take care: do not drink wine or sikera, and do not eat anything unclean.
13:5For look, you will conceive and bear a son. No iron shall come upon his head, for the child shall be a sanctified Nazirite to God from the womb. He shall begin to save Israel from the foreigners’ hand.”
13:6The woman came and told her husband, saying, “A man of God came to me. His appearance was like the appearance of God’s messenger, very glorious. I asked where he was from, and he did not tell me his name.
13:7He said to me, ‘Look, you will conceive and bear a son. Now do not drink wine or sikera, and do not eat anything unclean, for the child shall be a Nazirite of God from the womb until the day of his death.’”
Manoah Asks for the Man of God
13:8Manoah pleaded with the Lord and said, “Please, Lord, let the man of God whom You sent to us come to us and enlighten us about what we should do for the child who is to be born.”
13:9God listened to Manoah’s voice, and God’s messenger came again to the woman while she was sitting in the field. Her husband Manoah was not with her.
13:10The woman hurried and ran out to tell her husband. She said to him, “Look, the man who came to me that day has appeared to me.”
13:11Manoah arose and followed his wife to the man. He said to him, “Are you the man who spoke to the woman?” The messenger said, “I am.”
13:12Manoah said, “Now, when your word comes to pass, what shall be the child’s rule of life and his deeds?”
13:13The Lord’s messenger said to Manoah, “Let her guard against everything I told the woman.
13:14She shall not eat anything that comes from the vine; she must not drink wine or sikera, nor eat anything unclean. She must observe everything I commanded her.”
The Offering on the Rock
13:15Manoah said to the Lord’s messenger, “Please let us press you to stay, and we will prepare a young goat before you.”
13:16The Lord’s messenger said to Manoah, “Though you press me to stay, I will not eat your bread. If you prepare a whole burnt offering, offer it to the Lord.” For Manoah did not know that he was the Lord’s messenger.
13:17Manoah said to the Lord’s messenger, “What is your name, so that when your word comes to pass, we may glorify you?”
13:18The Lord’s messenger said to him, “Why do you ask my name? It is wonderful.”
13:19Manoah took the young goat and the sacrifice and offered them on the rock to the Lord, the Lord who does wonders. Manoah and his wife watched.
13:20As the flame rose from above the altar into heaven, the Lord’s messenger ascended in the flame. Manoah and his wife watched and fell on their faces to the ground.
13:21The Lord’s messenger did not appear again to Manoah and his wife. Then Manoah knew that he was the Lord’s messenger.
13:22Manoah said to his wife, “We will surely die, because we have seen God.”
13:23His wife said to him, “If the Lord wished to kill us, He would not have accepted a whole burnt offering and sacrifice from our hands, nor enlightened us about all these things, nor made these things known to our hearing.”
The Birth of Samson
13:24The woman bore a son and named him Samson. The Lord blessed him, and the child grew.
13:25The Spirit of the Lord began to accompany him in Dan’s camp, between Zorah and Eshtaol.
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Saints Translation · Liturgical reading edition · V2 · working draft awaiting specialist review.