The Israelites did evil in the eyes of the Lord, and the Lord delivered them into the hands of the Philistines for forty years.

At that time, there was a man from Zorah, a member of the Dan tribe, named Manoah. His wife is not pregnant and does not have children.

The angel of the Lord appeared to the woman and said, “You have never conceived or given birth, but now you will conceive and give birth to a son.”.

So be careful, do not drink sake or strong liquor, and do not eat anything unclean.

You shall conceive and give birth to a son, and you shall not shave his head with a razor, for the child shall be a Nazarite to God from the birth of the child. He will take the lead in saving Israel from the hands of the Philistines.

The woman returned and said to her husband, “A man of God has come to me, and his appearance is as terrifying as that of an angel of God.”. I didn’t ask him where he came from, and he didn’t tell me his name,

But he said to me, You are going to conceive and have a son, so you must not drink sake or strong liquor, and you must not eat any unclean things. Because this child will be a Nazarite to God from birth to death.

Manoah prayed to the Lord, saying, Lord, please send the man of God again to us, so that he may teach us how to deal with the child that is about to be born.

God agreed to Manoah’s words. While the woman was sitting in the field, the angel of God came to her again, but her husband Manoah was not with her.

The woman quickly ran to tell her husband, ‘The person who came to me that day has appeared to me again.’.

Manoah got up and followed his wife to the man, saying to him, Is it you who speaks to this woman? He said, it’s me.

Manoah said, May your words come true. How should we treat this child, and what will he do later?

The angel of the Lord said to Manoah, ‘Take care of everything I tell a woman.’.

Do not eat anything grown from the grape trees, do not drink any sake or strong liquor, and do not eat anything unclean. She must abide by everything I command.

Manoah said to the angel of the Lord, “Please allow us to entertain you so that we can prepare a young goat for you.”.

The angel of the Lord said to Manoah, “Although you have kept me, I will not eat your food. If you prepare a burnt offering, let it be offered to the Lord.”. Originally, Manoah did not know that he was an angel of the Lord.

Manoah said to the angel of the Lord, “Tell me your name so that when your words come true, we may respect you.”.

The angel of the Lord said to him, Why do you ask my name? My name is wonderful.

Manoah offered a young goat and a grain offering to the Lord on a rock, and the angel did wonderful things. Manoah and his wife watched,

As the flame rose up from the altar, the angel of the Lord also rose up in the flame on the altar. Manoah and his wife saw it and fell to the ground.

The angel of the Lord no longer appeared to Manoah and his wife, and Manoah realized that he was the angel of the Lord.

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

But his wife said to him, If the Lord wants to kill us, he will not accept burnt offerings and grain offerings from our hands, nor will he reveal all these things to us, nor will he tell us these words today.

Later, the woman gave birth to a son and named him Samson. When the child grows up, the Lord blesses him.

The Spirit of the Lord moved Mahanidan, between Zorah and Eshtaol.