Judges 13:1-25

Once again, the Israelites continued doing evil in the sight of YAHWEH, so he subjected them to Philistine rule for forty years. There was a certain man from the tribe of Dan, who lived in the city of Zorah, named Manoah. His wife was barren and childless, but the Angel of YAHWEH appeared to her and said, “Look here! You are no longer barren and childless, for you will conceive and give birth to a son. Now be careful not to drink any wine or beer and to eat nothing considered unclean. You will conceive and will give birth to a son. Raise the boy as one dedicated to God from the womb and never cut his hair. He will begin to deliver Israel from Philistine power.” So Manoah’s wife went to her husband and said, “A man sent from God came to me! He looked like an angel of God—incredibly awesome. I didn’t ask where he came from, and he didn’t tell me his name, but he told me, ‘You will become pregnant, and you will have a son. Make sure you don’t drink any wine or beer, and eat nothing unclean, for the boy will be fully devoted to God from the womb to the day he dies!’ ” Manoah pleaded with YAHWEH, “O my Lord, please send the man of God back to us. Have him come to instruct us how to raise the son who is to be born.” God answered Manoah’s prayer and sent the Angel of God to the woman again while she was sitting alone in the field. Her husband Manoah was not with her so she ran at once to tell him the news: “Look! Come quickly! He reappeared—the same man who came to me that day!” So Manoah got up, followed his wife, and went to the man. Manoah said to him, “Are you the man who appeared and spoke to my wife?” “I am,” he said. Manoah replied, “Well, when YAHWEH fulfills your prophecy, how should we raise the boy, and what is his life mission?” The Angel of YAHWEH answered, “Do everything that I instructed your wife. She must abstain from anything that comes from the grapevine and drink no alcohol, nor should she eat anything unclean. She must do all that I have commanded her.” Manoah said to the Angel of YAHWEH, “Please stay here until we cook a young goat for you.” The Angel of YAHWEH said to Manoah, “Even if you detain me, I will not eat your food. But if you want to prepare a burnt offering, offer it up to YAHWEH.” Manoah did not realize that he was speaking with the Angel of YAHWEH. Stunned, Manoah asked the Angel of YAHWEH. “What is your name? When YAHWEH fulfills your prophecy, we want to honor you!” The Angel of YAHWEH replied, “Why ask for my name? It is ‘Wonderfully Hidden!’ ” So Manoah prepared the young goat and his grain offering and took them to the rock to offer them up to YAHWEH, the wonder-working God. While Manoah and his wife watched, flames burst from the rock and ascended upward to heaven from the altar. The Angel of YAHWEH, wrapped in the flames of fire, ascended into the sky. Dazed, Manoah and his wife fell facedown to the ground in worship. Only then did Manoah realize that he had met the Angel of YAHWEH! He turned to his wife and said, “We’re as good as dead! God has just visited us!” But his wife said, “If YAHWEH had planned to kill us, he wouldn’t have accepted our burnt offering and our grain offering. He wouldn’t have revealed all these things to us or have spoken to us as he did just now.” And Manoah and his wife never encountered YAHWEH’s Angel again. Manoah’s wife gave birth to a son, and she named him Samson. The boy grew up with YAHWEH’s blessing on his life. The Spirit of YAHWEH began to stir his heart while he was between Zorah and Eshtaol, in the Camp of Dan.