English Standard Version ESV
The Message Bible MSG
1 And the people of Israel again did what was evil in the sight of the Lord, so the Lord gave them into the hand of the Philistines for forty years.
1
And then the People of Israel were back at it again, doing what was evil in God's sight. God put them under the domination of the Philistines for forty years.
2 There was a certain man of Zorah, of the tribe of the Danites, whose name was Manoah. And his wife was barren and had no children.
2
At that time there was a man named Manoah from Zorah from the tribe of Dan. His wife was barren and childless.
3 And the angel of the Lord appeared to the woman and said to her, “Behold, you are barren and have not borne children, but you shall conceive and bear a son.
3
The angel of God appeared to her and told her, "I know that you are barren and childless, but you're going to become pregnant and bear a son.
4 Therefore be careful and drink no wine or strong drink, and eat nothing unclean,
4
But take much care: Drink no wine or beer; eat nothing ritually unclean.
5 for behold, you shall conceive and bear a son. No razor shall come upon his head, for the child shall be a Nazirite to God from the womb, and he shall begin to save Israel from the hand of the Philistines. ”
5
You are, in fact, pregnant right now, carrying a son. No razor will touch his head - the boy will be God's Nazirite from the moment of his birth. He will launch the deliverance from Philistine oppression."
6 Then the woman came and told her husband, “A man of God came to me, and his appearance was like the appearance of the angel of God, very awesome. I did not ask him where he was from, and he did not tell me his name,
6
The woman went to her husband and said, "A man of God came to me. He looked like the angel of God - terror laced with glory! I didn't ask him where he was from and he didn't tell me his name,
7 but he said to me, ‘Behold, you shall conceive and bear a son. So then drink no wine or strong drink, and eat nothing unclean, for the child shall be a Nazirite to God from the womb to the day of his death. ’”
7
but he told me, 'You're pregnant. You're going to give birth to a son. Don't drink any wine or beer and eat nothing ritually unclean. The boy will be God's Nazirite from the moment of birth to the day of his death.'"
8 Then Manoah prayed to the Lord and said, “O Lord, please let the man of God whom you sent come again to us and teach us what we are to do with the child who will be born. ”
8
Manoah prayed to God: "Master, let the man of God you sent come to us again and teach us how to raise this boy who is to be born."
9 And God listened to the voice of Manoah, and the angel of God came again to the woman as she sat in the field. But Manoah her husband was not with her.
9
God listened to Manoah. God's angel came again to the woman. She was sitting in the field; her husband Manoah wasn't there with her.
10 So the woman ran quickly and told her husband, “Behold, the man who came to me the other day has appeared to me. ”
10
She jumped to her feet and ran and told her husband: "He's back! The man who came to me that day!"
11 And Manoah arose and went after his wife and came to the man and said to him, “Are you the man who spoke to this woman? ” And he said, “I am. ”
11
Manoah got up and, following his wife, came to the man. He said to him, "Are you the man who spoke to my wife?" He said, "I am."
12 And Manoah said, “Now when your words come true, what is to be the child’s manner of life, and what is his mission? ”
12
Manoah said, "So. When what you say comes true, what do you have to tell us about this boy and his work?"
13 And the angel of the Lord said to Manoah, “Of all that I said to the woman let her be careful.
13
The angel of God said to Manoah,
14 She may not eat of anything that comes from the vine, neither let her drink wine or strong drink, or eat any unclean thing. All that I commanded her let her observe. ”
14
"Keep in mind everything I told the woman. Eat nothing that comes from the vine: Drink no wine or beer; eat no ritually unclean foods. She's to observe everything I commanded her."
15 Manoah said to the angel of the Lord, “Please let us detain you and prepare a young goat for you. ”
15
Manoah said to the angel of God, "Please, stay with us a little longer; we'll prepare a meal for you - a young goat."
16 And the angel of the Lord said to Manoah, “If you detain me, I will not eat of your food. But if you prepare a burnt offering, then offer it to the Lord. ” (For Manoah did not know that he was the angel of the Lord. )
16
God's angel said to Manoah, "Even if I stay, I won't eat your food. But if you want to prepare a Whole-Burnt-Offering for God, go ahead - offer it!" Manoah had no idea that he was talking to the angel of God.
17 And Manoah said to the angel of the Lord, “What is your name, so that, when your words come true, we may honor you? ”
17
Then Manoah asked the angel of God, "What's your name? When your words come true, we'd like to honor you."
18 And the angel of the Lord said to him, “Why do you ask my name, seeing it is wonderful? ”
18
The angel of God said, "What's this? You ask for my name? You wouldn't understand - it's sheer wonder."
19 So Manoah took the young goat with the grain offering, and offered it on the rock to the Lord, to the one who works wonders, and Manoah and his wife were watching.
19
So Manoah took the kid and the Grain-Offering and sacrificed them on a rock altar to God who works wonders.
20 And when the flame went up toward heaven from the altar, the angel of the Lord went up in the flame of the altar. Now Manoah and his wife were watching, and they fell on their faces to the ground.
20
As the flames leapt up from the altar to heaven, God's angel also ascended in the altar flames. When Manoah and his wife saw this, they fell facedown to the ground.
21 The angel of the Lord appeared no more to Manoah and to his wife. Then Manoah knew that he was the angel of the Lord.
21
Manoah and his wife never saw the angel of God again.
22 And Manoah said to his wife, “We shall surely die, for we have seen God. ”
22
He said to his wife, "We're as good as dead! We've looked on God!"
23 But his wife said to him, “If the Lord had meant to kill us, he would not have accepted a burnt offering and a grain offering at our hands, or shown us all these things, or now announced to us such things as these. ”
23
But his wife said, "If God were planning to kill us, he wouldn't have accepted our Whole-Burnt-Offering and Grain-Offering, or revealed all these things to us - given us this birth announcement."
24 And the woman bore a son and called his name Samson. And the young man grew, and the Lord blessed him.
24
The woman gave birth to a son. They named him Samson. The boy grew and God blessed him.
25 And the Spirit of the Lord began to stir him in Mahaneh-dan, between Zorah and Eshtaol.
25
The Spirit of God began working in him while he was staying at a Danite camp between Zorah and Eshtaol.
The Holy Bible, English Standard Version® (ESV®) © 2001 by Crossway, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. All rights reserved. ESV Text Edition: 2025
Published by permission. Originally published by NavPress in English as THE MESSAGE: The Bible in Contemporary Language copyright 2002 by Eugene Peterson. All rights reserved.