Judges 13

All 25 verses in the Clear Bible Translation. Tap a verse to compare the KJV and read what it means.

Read Judges 13 in the Bible reader, with audio →

1. 1The children of Israel did evil again in the sight of the LORD, and the LORD delivered them into the hands of the Philistines for forty years.
2. 2There was a man named Manoah from the town of Zorah, from the tribe of Dan. His wife had never been able to have children.
3. 3The angel of the LORD appeared to the woman and said to her, "Look, you are barren and have not given birth, but you will become pregnant and give birth to a son."
4. 4So be very careful — don't drink any wine or other alcohol, and don't eat anything that is unclean.
5. 5You will become pregnant and have a son. No razor must ever touch his head, because from the moment he's born, the child will be set apart as a Nazirite to God. He will be the one who begins to rescue Israel from the Philistines."
6. 6The woman went and told her husband, "A man of God came to me. His face was like the face of an angel of God — absolutely terrifying. I didn't ask where he came from, and he didn't tell me his name.
7. 7But he told me, 'You're going to become pregnant and have a son. Don't drink any wine or alcohol, and don't eat anything unclean, because the child will be a Nazirite to God from the day he's born until the day he dies.'"
8. 8Manoah prayed to the LORD and said, "Please, Lord, let the man of God you sent come back to us again and teach us how to raise the child who is going to be born."
9. 9God listened to Manoah's prayer. The angel of God appeared to the woman again while she was sitting in the field, but her husband Manoah wasn't with her.
10. 10She quickly ran to her husband and told him, "The man who came to me the other day — he's appeared to me again!"
11. 11Manoah got up and followed his wife back to the man. "Are you the one who spoke to my wife?" he asked. The man replied, "I am."
12. 12Manoah said, "Now let your words come to pass. How shall we order the child, and what shall we do to him?"
13. 13The angel of the LORD answered Manoah, "Your wife must carefully follow everything I told her.
14. 14She must not eat anything that comes from the grapevine, and she must not drink wine or any other alcohol, or eat anything unclean. She must do everything I commanded her."
15. 15Manoah said to the angel of the LORD, "Please stay a while — let us prepare a young goat for you to eat."
16. 16The angel of the LORD replied, "Even if you keep me here, I won't eat your food. But if you want to prepare a burnt offering, offer it to the LORD." Manoah did not realize that he was speaking to the angel of the LORD.
17. 17Then Manoah asked the angel of the LORD, "What is your name? When everything you've said comes true, we'd like to honor you."
18. 18The angel of the LORD replied, "Why do you ask my name, seeing it is secret?"
19. 19So Manoah took a young goat and a grain offering and sacrificed them on a rock to the LORD. Then, as Manoah and his wife watched, the angel did something miraculous.
20. 20As the flame rose from the altar toward heaven, the angel of the LORD ascended right up into the flame. When Manoah and his wife saw this, they fell facedown on the ground.
21. 21The angel of the LORD never appeared to Manoah or his wife again. Then Manoah realized he was an angel of the LORD.
22. 22Manoah said to his wife, "We're going to die! We've seen God!"
23. 23But his wife said to him, "If the LORD wanted to kill us, he wouldn't have accepted our burnt offering and grain offering. He wouldn't have shown us all these things or told us what he did just now."
24. 24The woman gave birth to a son and named him Samson. The boy grew up, and the LORD blessed him.
25. 25The Spirit of the LORD began to stir him while he was at the camp of Dan, in the area between Zorah and Eshtaol.