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Judges

Describes a time when Israel was ruled by judges and the cycle of turning away from God, facing trouble, and then returning to Him.

Chapter 13

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1 And the children of Israel did evil again in the sight of the LORD; and the LORD delivered them into the hand of the Philistines forty years.

*The children of Israel did wrong again, and God let the Philistines control them for forty years as a result.

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.

*A man from Zorah, part of the Danite family, named Manoah, had a childless wife.

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.

*The angel spoke to the woman, saying, "You have no children, but soon you will become pregnant and have a baby boy."

4 Now therefore beware, I pray thee, and drink not wine nor strong drink, and eat not any unclean thing:

*So, please be careful and don't drink alcohol or other strong drinks, and don't eat anything impure.

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.

*"Indeed, you will have a son, and he won't cut his hair. He will be dedicated to God from birth and help save Israel from 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:

*Then the woman went and informed her husband, "A Godly man visited me. His appearance was like that of an angel from God, very frightening. But I didn't ask where he came from or 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.

*He told me, "You will have a baby boy. Don't drink alcohol or other strong drinks, and don't eat anything unclean. This child is dedicated to God from the time he is born until the day he dies as a Nazarite.

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.

*Then Manoah asked the Lord to let the man of God they had sent come back and teach them how to take care of the baby when he was 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.

*God listened to Manoah's voice, and the angel returned to the woman while she was sitting in the field. However, Manoah, her husband, was not there 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.

*The woman hurried, ran, and showed her husband the man who had visited her previously. She said, "Look, the man I told you about has appeared to me again."

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.

*Manoah got up, followed his wife, and met the man. He asked, "Are you the one who talked to the woman?" The man replied, "Yes, 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?

*Manoah asked, "Now make your words happen. How do we raise the child and what should we do for him?"

13 And the angel of the LORD said unto Manoah, Of all that I said unto the woman let her beware.

*And the angel told Manoah, to be careful about everything he had said to the woman.

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.

*She can't eat anything from vines, no alcohol or unclean food either. Follow my instructions on this.

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.

*Manoah asked the angel, "Please stay with us until we prepare a young goat for you to eat."

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.

*The angel told Manoah, "I won't eat your food, and if you want to sacrifice something, do it for God. You didn't know I was a messenger from God."

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?

*Manoah asked the angel, "What's your name? So when what you say happens, we can show you respect."

18 And the angel of the LORD said unto him, Why askest thou thus after my name, seeing it is secret?

*And the angel said, "Why do you want to know my name? It's a secret."

19 So Manoah took a kid with a meat offering, and offered it upon a rock unto the LORD: and the angel did wonderously; and Manoah and his wife looked on.

*Manoah brought a child with food to God, cooked it on a stone, and the angel did something amazing. Manoah and his wife watched this happen.

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.

*One day, when a fire rose from the altar towards the sky, an angel appeared within the flames. Manoah and his wife saw this and fell down on the ground, facing 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.

*The angel of God stopped visiting Manoah and his wife. At this point, Manoah understood that he was a messenger from God.

22 And Manoah said unto his wife, We shall surely die, because we have seen God.

*Manoah told his wife, "We will definitely die since we saw 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.

*But his wife replied, if God wanted us to die, he wouldn't accept our burned offerings and food offerings. He also wouldn't have shown us all these things or tell us about them now.

24 And the woman bare a son, and called his name Samson: and the child grew, and the LORD blessed him.

*The woman had a baby boy and named him Samson. The child grew up and God blessed him.

25 And the Spirit of the LORD began to move him at times in the camp of Dan between Zorah and Eshtaol.

*The Spirit of God sometimes made Samson act at the Dan camp, between Zorah and Eshtaol.

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