The Israelites sinned again against the Lord, and he let them rule over the Philistines for 40 years. Then there was a man named Manoah, who lived in Zorah, of the family of the Danites. His wife never gave birth.
The angel of the Lord appeared to the woman and said, "You have not given birth, but now you are pregnant and will give birth to a son.
Don't drink any wine or strong drink, and don't eat any forbidden food, because you will become pregnant and give birth to a son. Do not cut his hair, for he will be a Nazarite from his birth. He will be the first to save Israel from the Philistines. "
Then the woman went away, and said to her husband, "A man of God came to me, and his face was like the face of an angel of God.
I didn't ask where he was from and he also didn't tell me his name.
But he told me that I would conceive and give birth to a son. He told me not to drink any wine or intoxicating liquor and not to eat any forbidden food because the child would be offered to God as a Nazarene for the rest of his life. "
Then Manoah prayed to the Lord, "Lord, let the man of God whom you sent to tell us what we shall do to the child when he is born."
God answered Manoah's request, and his angel appeared again to the woman as she sat in the field.
This time Manoah her husband was not with her. So she ran and said to her husband, "Look! The man who showed up to me the day before is here again. "
Manoah got up and went after his wife. He went to the man and asked,
"Are you the one talking to my wife?"
The man replied, "Yes, I am."
Then Manoah said,
"Now as soon as you have spoken, what will become of the child? What should he do? "
And the angel of the LORD said unto Manoah, Of all that I say unto thee, let thy wife do.
He must not eat anything that comes from the grapevine, drink no wine or strong drink, or eat any forbidden food. He will do everything I tell him. "
Manoah did not know that the angel of the Lord was speaking to him, so he said,
"Don't go first. We will cook a kid for you. " But the angel said to him, "Even if you detain me, I will not eat your food.
But if you prepare it, you shall burn it as an offering to the Lord. "
Manoah said to the angel,
"Please tell us your name, so that we may honor you as soon as you have spoken."
The angel said to him, "Why do you want to know my name? It's an amazing name. "
So Manoah took a kid of the goats and offered them food on the stone altar to the Lord, who had wrought miracles.
While the fire was burning from the altar, Manoah and his wife saw the angel of the Lord ascending to heaven with fire.
Then they fell to the ground. And Manoah and his wife never saw the angel again. Manoah knew it was the angel of the Lord.
Manoah said to his wife,
"We will die, because we have seen God."
But his wife answered and said unto him, If the Lord would have killed us, he would not have accepted our gifts, and would not have revealed these things unto us.
The woman bore a son and named him Samson. The child grew up and was blessed by the Lord. And the Spirit of the LORD began to move him at times in the camp of Dan between Zorah and Eshtaol.