¶ And the children of Israel did¹ evil again in the sight² of the LORD; and the LORD delivered³ them into the⁴ hand of the Philistines forty years.

And there was a certain man of Zorah⁵, of the family of the Danites, whose name was Manoah; and his wife was barren⁶, and bare not.

And the angel⁷ of the LORD appeared unto the woman, and said unto her, Behold now, thou art barren, and bearest not: but thou⁸ shalt conceive, and bear a son.

Now therefore beware, I pray thee, and drink not⁹ wine nor strong drink, and eat not¹⁰ any unclean thing:

For, lo, thou shalt conceive, and bear a son; and no razor shall come on his head: for the child shall be a Nazarite unto God from the womb: and he shall begin¹² to deliver Israel out of the hand of the Philistines.

Then the woman came and told her husband, saying, A man¹³ of God came unto me, and his countenance was¹⁴ like the countenance of an angel of God, very terrible¹⁵: but I asked¹⁶ him not whence he was, neither told he me his name¹⁷:

But he said unto me, Behold, thou shalt conceive, and bear a son; and now drink no wine nor strong drink, neither eat any unclean thing: for the child shall be a Nazarite to God from the womb to the day of his death.

¶ Then Manoah intreated the LORD, and said, O my Lord, let the man of God which thou didst send come again unto us, and teach us¹⁸ what we shall do unto the child that shall be born.

And God hearkened¹⁹ to the voice of Manoah; and the angel of God came again unto the woman as she sat in the field: but Manoah her husband was not with her.

¶ And the woman made haste, and ran, and shewed her husband, and said unto him, Behold,²⁰ the man hath appeared unto me, that came unto me the other day²¹.

And Manoah arose, and went after his wife, and came to the man, and said unto him, Art thou the man that spakest unto the woman? And he said, I am.

And Manoah said, Now let thy words come to pass. How shall we order the child²², and how shall we do unto him²³?

And the angel of the LORD said unto Manoah, Of all that I said unto the woman let her beware.

She may not eat of any thing that cometh of the vine, neither²⁴ let her drink wine or strong drink, nor eat any unclean thing: all that I²⁵ commanded her let her observe.

¶ And Manoah said unto the angel of the LORD, I pray thee, let us²⁶ detain thee, until²⁷ we shall have made ready a kid for thee²⁸.

And the angel of the LORD said unto Manoah, Though thou detain me, I will not²⁹ eat of thy bread: and if³⁰ thou wilt offer a burnt offering, thou must offer it unto the LORD. For Manoah knew not that he was an angel of the LORD.

And Manoah said unto the angel of the LORD, What is thy name, that when thy sayings come to pass we may do thee honour?

And the angel of the LORD said unto him, Why askest³² thou thus after my name, seeing it is secret³³?

So Manoah took³⁴ a kid with a meat offering, and offered it upon a rock unto the LORD: and the angel did wondrously³⁵; and Manoah and his wife looked on.

¶ For it came to pass, when the flame³⁶ went up toward heaven from off the altar, that the angel of the LORD ascended in the flame of the altar. And Manoah and his wife looked on it, and fell on³⁷ their faces to the ground.

But the angel of the LORD did no more appear to Manoah and to his wife. Then Manoah knew³⁸ that he was an angel of the LORD.

And Manoah said unto his wife, We shall³⁹ surely die, because we have⁴⁰ seen God.

But his wife⁴¹ said unto him, If the LORD were pleased to kill us, he would not⁴² have received a burnt offering and a meat offering at our hands, neither would he have shewed⁴³ us all these things, nor would as at this time have told us such things as these.

¶ And the woman bare a son, and called his name Samson: and the child⁴⁵ grew, and the LORD blessed him.

And the Spirit⁴⁶ of the LORD began to move him at times in the camp of Dan⁴⁷ between Zorah and Eshtaol.