Thematic Bible

Judges 13:1

Now the sons of Israel again did evil in the sight of the Lord, so that the Lord gave them into the hands of the Philistines forty years.

Judges 13:2

There was a certain man of Zorah, of the family of the Danites, whose name was Manoah; and his wife was barren and had borne no children.

Judges 13:3

Then the angel of the Lord appeared to the woman and said to her, “Behold now, you are barren and have borne no children, but you shall conceive and give birth to a son.

Judges 13:4

Now therefore, be careful not to drink wine or strong drink, nor eat any unclean thing.

Judges 13:5

For behold, you shall conceive and give birth to a son, and no razor shall come upon his head, for the boy shall be a Nazirite to God from the womb; and he shall begin to deliver Israel from the hands of the Philistines.”

Judges 13:6

Then the woman came and told her husband, saying, “A man of God came to me and his appearance was like the appearance of the angel of God, very awesome. And I did not ask him where he came from, nor did he tell me his name.

Judges 13:7

But he said to me, ‘Behold, you shall conceive and give birth to a son, and now you shall not drink wine or strong drink nor eat any unclean thing, for the boy shall be a Nazirite to God from the womb to the day of his death.’”

Judges 13:8

Then Manoah entreated the Lord and said, “O Lord, please let the man of God whom You have sent come to us again that he may teach us what to do for the boy who is to be born.”

Judges 13:9

God listened to the voice of Manoah; and the angel of God came again to the woman as she was sitting in the field, but Manoah her husband was not with her.

Judges 13:10

So the woman ran quickly and told her husband, “Behold, the man who came the other day has appeared to me.”

Judges 13:11

Then Manoah arose and followed his wife, and when he came to the man he said to him, “Are you the man who spoke to the woman?” And he said, “I am.”

Judges 13:12

Manoah said, “Now when your words come to pass, what shall be the boy’s mode of life and his vocation?”

Judges 13:13

So the angel of the Lord said to Manoah, “Let the woman pay attention to all that I said.

Judges 13:14

She should not eat anything that comes from the vine nor drink wine or strong drink, nor eat any unclean thing; let her observe all that I commanded.”

Judges 13:15

Then Manoah said to the angel of the Lord, “Please let us detain you so that we may prepare a young goat for you.”

Judges 13:16

The angel of the Lord said to Manoah, “Though you detain me, I will not eat your food, but if you prepare a burnt offering, then offer it to the Lord.” For Manoah did not know that he was the angel of the Lord.

Judges 13:17

Manoah said to the angel of the Lord, “What is your name, so that when your words come to pass, we may honor you?”

Judges 13:18

But the angel of the Lord said to him, “Why do you ask my name, seeing it is wonderful?”

Judges 13:19

So Manoah took the young goat with the grain offering and offered it on the rock to the Lord, and He performed wonders while Manoah and his wife looked on.

Judges 13:20

For it came about when the flame went up from the altar toward heaven, that the angel of the Lord ascended in the flame of the altar. When Manoah and his wife saw this, they fell on their faces to the ground.

Judges 13:21

Now the angel of the Lord did not appear to Manoah or his wife again. Then Manoah knew that he was the angel of the Lord.

Judges 13:22

So Manoah said to his wife, “We will surely die, for we have seen God.”

Judges 13:23

But his wife said to him, “If the Lord had desired to kill us, He would not have accepted a burnt offering and a grain offering from our hands, nor would He have shown us all these things, nor would He have let us hear things like this at this time.”

Judges 13:24

Then the woman gave birth to a son and named him Samson; and the child grew up and the Lord blessed him.

Judges 13:25

And the Spirit of the Lord began to stir him in Mahaneh-dan, between Zorah and Eshtaol.