THE ANNOUNCEMENT OF SAMSON'S BIRTH
Judges 13:2-24
2 And there was a certain man of Zorah, of the family of the
Danites, whose name [was] Manoah; and his wife [was] barren, and
bare not. 3 And the angel of the LORD appeared unto the woman,
and said unto her, Behold now, thou [art] barren, and bearest not:
but thou shalt conceive, and bear a son. 4 Now therefore beware,
I pray thee, and drink not wine nor strong drink, and eat not any
unclean [thing]: 5 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 begin to deliver
Israel out of the hand of the Philistines. 6 Then the woman came
and told her husband, saying, A man of God came unto me, and his
countenance [was] like the countenance of an angel of God, very
terrible: but I asked him not whence he [was], neither told he me
his name: 7 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. 8 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 us what we shall do unto the
child that shall be born. 9 And God hearkened 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. 10 And
the woman made haste, and ran, and shewed her husband, and said
unto him, Behold, the man hath appeared unto me, that came unto me
the [other] day. 11 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]. 12 And Manoah said,
Now let thy words come to pass. How shall we order the child, and
[how] shall we do unto him? 13 And the angel of the LORD said
unto Manoah, Of all that I said unto the woman let her beware. 14
She may not eat of any [thing] that cometh of the vine, neither
let her drink wine or strong drink, nor eat any unclean [thing]:
all that I commanded her let her observe. 15 And Manoah said unto
the angel of the LORD, I pray thee, let us detain thee, until we
shall have made ready a kid for thee. 16 And the angel of the
LORD said unto Manoah, Though thou detain me, I will not eat of
thy bread: and if 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. 17 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? 18 And the angel of the LORD said unto him, Why askest
thou thus after my name, seeing it [is] secret? 19 So Manoah took
a kid with a meat offering, and offered [it] upon a rock unto the
LORD: and [the angel] did wondrously; and Manoah and his wife
looked on. 20 For it came to pass, when the flame 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 on their faces to the ground. 21 But the angel of the
LORD did no more appear to Manoah and to his wife. Then Manoah
knew that he [was] an angel of the LORD. 22 And Manoah said unto
his wife, We shall surely die, because we have seen God. 23 But
his wife said unto him, If the LORD were pleased to kill us, he
would not have received a burnt offering and a meat offering at
our hands, neither would he have shewed us all these [things], nor
would as at this time have told us [such things] as these. 24 And
the woman bare a son, and called his name Samson: and the child
grew, and the LORD blessed him.
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