New Century Version NCV
The Complete Jewish Bible CJB
1 Again the people of Israel did what the Lord said was wrong. So he handed them over to the Philistines for forty years.
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Again the people of Isra'el did what was evil from ADONAI's perspective, and ADONAI handed them over to the P'lishtim for forty years.
2 There was a man named Manoah from the tribe of Dan, who lived in the city of Zorah. He had a wife, but she could not have children.
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There was a man from Tzor'ah from the family of Dan, whose name was Manoach; his wife was barren, childless.
3 The angel of the Lord appeared to Manoah's wife and said, "You have not been able to have children, but you will become pregnant and give birth to a son.
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The angel of ADONAI appeared to the woman and said to her, "Listen! You are barren, you haven't had a child, but you will conceive and bear a son.
4 Be careful not to drink wine or beer or eat anything that is unclean,
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Now, therefore, be careful not to drink any wine or other intoxicating liquor, and don't eat anything unclean.
5 because you will become pregnant and have a son. You must never cut his hair, because he will be a Nazirite, given to God from birth. He will begin to save Israel from the power of the Philistines."
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For indeed you will conceive and bear a son. No razor is to touch his head, because the child will be a nazir for God from the womb. Moreover, he will begin to rescue Isra'el from the power of the P'lishtim."
6 Then Manoah's wife went to him and told him what had happened. She said, "A man from God came to me. He looked like an angel from God; his appearance was frightening. I didn't ask him where he was from, and he didn't tell me his name.
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The woman came and told her husband; she said, "A man of God came to me; his face was fearsome, like that of the angel of God. I didn't ask him where he came from, and he didn't tell me his name.
7 But he said to me, 'You will become pregnant and will have a son. Don't drink wine or beer or eat anything that is unclean, because the boy will be a Nazirite to God from his birth until the day of his death.'"
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But he said to me, 'Listen! You will conceive and bear a son, so now don't drink any wine or other intoxicating liquor, and don't eat anything unclean, because the child will be a nazir for God from the womb until the day he dies.'"
8 Then Manoah prayed to the Lord: "Lord, I beg you to let the man of God come to us again. Let him teach us what we should do for the boy who will be born to us."
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Then Manoach prayed to ADONAI, "Please, Adonai, let the man of God you sent come again to us and teach us what we should do for the child who will be born."
9 God heard Manoah's prayer, and the angel of God came to Manoah's wife again while she was sitting in the field. But her husband Manoah was not with her.
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God paid attention to what Manoach said, and the angel of God came again to the woman as she sat in the field, but her husband Manoach wasn't with her.
10 So she ran to tell him, "He is here! The man who appeared to me the other day is here!"
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The woman hurried and ran to tell her husband, "Here! That man, the one who came to me the other day, he's come again!"
11 Manoah got up and followed his wife. When he came to the man, he said, "Are you the man who spoke to my wife?" The man said, "I am."
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Manoach got up, followed his wife, went to the man and said to him, "Are you the man who spoke to the woman?" He answered, "I am."
12 So Manoah asked, "When what you say happens, what kind of life should the boy live? What should he do?"
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Manoach asked, "Now, when what you said comes true, what are the guidelines for raising the child? What should be done for him?"
13 The angel of the Lord said, "Your wife must be careful to do everything I told her to do.
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The angel of ADONAI said to Manoach, "The woman should take care to do everything I said to her.
14 She must not eat anything that grows on a grapevine, or drink any wine or beer, or eat anything that is unclean. She must do everything I have commanded her."
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She shouldn't eat anything that comes from a grapevine, she shouldn't drink wine or other intoxicating liquor, and she shouldn't eat anything unclean. She should do everything I ordered her to do."
15 Manoah said to the angel of the Lord, "We would like you to stay awhile so we can cook a young goat for you."
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Manoach said to the angel of ADONAI, "Please stay with us a bit longer, so that we can cook a young goat for you."
16 The angel of the Lord answered, "Even if I stay awhile, I would not eat your food. But if you want to prepare something, offer a burnt offering to the Lord." (Manoah did not understand that the man was really the angel of the Lord.)
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The angel of ADONAI said to Manoach, "Even if I do stay, I won't eat your food; and if you prepare a burnt offering, you must offer it to ADONAI." For Manoach did not know that he was the angel of ADONAI.
17 Then Manoah asked the angel of the Lord, "What is your name? Then we will honor you when what you have said really happens."
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Manoach said to the angel of ADONAI, "Tell us your name, so that when your words come true we can honor you."
18 The angel of the Lord said, "Why do you ask my name? It is too amazing for you to understand."
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The angel of ADONAI answered him, "Why are you asking about my name? It is wonderful."
19 So Manoah sacrificed a young goat on a rock and offered some grain as a gift to the Lord. Then an amazing thing happened as Manoah and his wife watched.
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Manoach took the kid and the grain offering and offered them on the rock to ADONAI. Then, with Manoach and his wife looking on, the angel did something wonderful -
20 The flames went up to the sky from the altar. As the fire burned, the angel of the Lord went up to heaven in the flame. When Manoah and his wife saw that, they bowed facedown on the ground.
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as the flame went up toward the sky from the altar, the angel of ADONAI went up in the flame from the altar. When Manoach and his wife saw it, they fell to the ground on their faces.
21 The angel of the Lord did not appear to them again. Then Manoah understood that the man was really the angel of the Lord.
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But the angel of ADONAI did not appear again to Manoach or his wife. Then Manoach realized it had been the angel of ADONAI.
22 Manoah said, "We have seen God, so we will surely die."
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Manoach said to his wife, "We will surely die, because we have seen God!"
23 But his wife said to him, "If the Lord wanted to kill us, he would not have accepted our burnt offering or grain offering. He would not have shown us all these things or told us all this."
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But his wife said to him, "If ADONAI had wanted to kill us, he wouldn't have accepted a burnt offering and a grain offering from us, and he wouldn't have shown us all this or told us such things at this time."
24 So the woman gave birth to a boy and named him Samson. He grew, and the Lord blessed him.
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The woman bore a son and called him Shimshon. The child grew, and ADONAI blessed him.
25 The Spirit of the Lord began to work in Samson while he was in the city of Mahaneh Dan, between the cities of Zorah and Eshtaol.
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The Spirit of ADONAI began to stir him when he was in the Camp of Dan, between Tzor'ah and Eshta'ol.
Scripture taken from the New Century Version. Copyright © 1987, 1988, 1991 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Complete Jewish Bible Copyright 1998 by David H. Stern. Published by Jewish New Testament Publications, Inc. All rights reserved. Used by permission.