Judg 13:2-21 | NASB2020 | STEP | And there was a man of Zorah , of the family of the Danites , whose name was Manoah ; and his wife was infertile and had not given birth to any children.

Judges 13:2-21

2 And there was a man of ^aZorah, of the family of the Danites, whose name was Manoah; and his wife was infertile and had not given birth to any children. 3 ^bThen the angel of the Lord appeared to the woman and said to her, “Behold now, you are infertile and have not given birth; but you will conceive and give birth to a son. 4 And now, be careful ^cnot to drink wine or strong drink, nor eat any ^{▼▼I.e., ritually unclean}unclean thing. 5 ^eFor behold, you will conceive and give birth to a son, and no razor shall come upon his head, for the boy shall be a ^fNazirite to God from the womb; and he will begin to save Israel from the hands of the Philistines.” 6 Then the woman came and told her husband, saying, “ ^gA man of God came to me, and his appearance was like the appearance of the angel of God, very awesome. So I did not ask him where he came from, nor did he tell me his name. 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 ^{▼▼I.e., ritually unclean}unclean thing, for the boy shall be a Nazirite to God from the womb to the day of his death.’”

8 Then Manoah pleaded with the Lord and said, “Lord, please let ⁱthe man of God whom You have sent come to us again so that he may teach us what we are to do for the boy who is to be born.” 9 And God listened to the voice of Manoah; and ^jthe angel of God came again to the woman as she was sitting in the field, but Manoah her husband was not with her. 10 So the woman hurried and ran, and told her ^{▼▼Lit husband, and said to him}husband, “Behold, ^lthe man who ^{▼▼Lit came to me}came the other day has appeared to me!” 11 So Manoah got up and followed his wife, and when he came to the man he said to him, “Are you ⁿthe man who spoke to the woman?” And he said, “I am.” 12 Then Manoah said, “Now when your words ^{▼▼Lit come}are fulfilled, what shall be the boy’s way of life and his vocation?” 13 And ^pthe angel of the Lord said to Manoah, “ ^qThe woman shall pay attention ^{▼▼Lit from}to all that I said. 14 She shall not eat anything that comes from the ^svine nor drink wine or strong drink, nor eat any unclean thing; she shall keep all that I commanded.”

15 Then Manoah said to ^tthe angel of the Lord, “Please let us detain you so that we may prepare a young goat for you.” 16 But the angel of the Lord said to Manoah, “Though you detain me, ^uI will not eat your ^{▼▼Lit bread}food, but if you prepare a burnt offering, offer it to the Lord.” For Manoah did not know that he was the angel of the Lord. 17 And Manoah said to the angel of the Lord, “ ^wWhat is your name, so that when your words ^{▼▼Lit come}are fulfilled, we may honor you?” 18 But the angel of the Lord said to him, “Why do you ask my name, for it is ^{▼▼I.e., incomprehensible
,} ^zwonderful?” 19 So ^aaManoah took the young goat along with the grain offering and offered it on the rock to the Lord; and He performed wonders while Manoah and his wife looked on. 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 ^abfell on their faces to the ground.

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