New Revised Standard NRS
The Bible in Basic English BBE
1 The Israelites again did what was evil in the sight of the Lord, and the Lord gave them into the hand of the Philistines forty years.
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And the children of Israel again did evil in the eyes of the Lord; and the Lord gave them into the hands of the Philistines for forty years.
2 There was a certain man of Zorah, of the tribe of the Danites, whose name was Manoah. His wife was barren, having borne no children.
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Now there was a certain man of Zorah of the family of the Danites, and his name was Manoah; and his wife had never given birth to a child.
3 And the angel of the Lord appeared to the woman and said to her, "Although you are barren, having borne no children, you shall conceive and bear a son.
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And the angel of the Lord came to the woman, and said to her, See now! though you have never given birth to children, you will be with child and give birth to a son.
4 Now be careful not to drink wine or strong drink, or to eat anything unclean,
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Now then take care to have no wine or strong drink and to take no unclean thing for food;
5 for you shall conceive and bear a son. No razor is to come on his head, for the boy shall be a nazirite to God from birth. It is he who shall begin to deliver Israel from the hand of the Philistines."
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For you are with child and will give birth to a son; his hair is never to be cut, for the child is to be separate to God from his birth; and he will take up the work of freeing Israel from the hands of the Philistines.
6 Then the woman came and told her husband, "A man of God came to me, and his appearance was like that of an angel of God, most awe-inspiring; I did not ask him where he came from, and he did not tell me his name;
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Then the woman came in, and said to her husband, A man came to me, and his form was like the form of a god, causing great fear; I put no question to him about where he came from, and he did not give me his name;
7 but he said to me, "You shall conceive and bear a son. So then drink no wine or strong drink, and eat nothing unclean, for the boy shall be a nazirite to God from birth to the day of his death.' "
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But he said to me, You are with child and will give birth to a son; and now do not take any wine or strong drink or let anything unclean be your food; for the child will be separate to God from his birth to the day of his death.
8 Then Manoah entreated the Lord, and said, "O Lord, I pray, let the man of God whom you sent come to us again and teach us what we are to do concerning the boy who will be born."
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Then Manoah made prayer to the Lord, and said, O Lord, let the man of God whom you sent come to us again and make clear to us what we are to do for the child who is to come.
9 God listened to Manoah, and the angel of God came again to the woman as she sat in the field; but her husband Manoah was not with her.
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And God gave ear to the voice of Manoah; and the angel of God came to the woman again when she was seated in the field; but her husband Manoah was not with her.
10 So the woman ran quickly and told her husband, "The man who came to me the other day has appeared to me."
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So the woman, running quickly, gave her husband the news, saying, I have seen the man who came to me the other day.
11 Manoah got up and followed 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."
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And Manoah got up and went after his wife, and came up to the man and said to him, Are you the man who was talking to this woman? And he said, I am.
12 Then Manoah said, "Now when your words come true, what is to be the boy's rule of life; what is he to do?"
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And Manoah said, Now when your words come true, what is to be the rule for the child and what will be his work?
13 The angel of the Lord said to Manoah, "Let the woman give heed to all that I said to her.
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And the angel of the Lord said to Manoah, Let the woman take note of what I have said to her.
14 She may not eat of anything that comes from the vine. She is not to drink wine or strong drink, or eat any unclean thing. She is to observe everything that I commanded her."
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She is to have nothing which comes from the vine for her food, and let her take no wine or strong drink or anything which is unclean; let her take care to do all I have given her orders to do.
15 Manoah said to the angel of the Lord, "Allow us to detain you, and prepare a kid for you."
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And Manoah said to the angel of the Lord, Now let us keep you while we make ready a young goat for you.
16 The angel of the Lord said to Manoah, "If you detain me, I will not eat your food; but if you want to prepare a burnt offering, then offer it to the Lord." (For Manoah did not know that he was the angel of the Lord.)
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And the angel of the Lord said to Manoah, Though you keep me I will not take of your food; but if you will make a burned offering, let it be offered to the Lord. For it had not come into Manoah's mind that he was the angel of the Lord.
17 Then Manoah said to the angel of the Lord, "What is your name, so that we may honor you when your words come true?"
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Then Manoah said to the angel of the Lord, What is your name, so that when your words come true we may give you honour?
18 But the angel of the Lord said to him, "Why do you ask my name? It is too wonderful."
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But the angel of the Lord said to him, Why are you questioning me about my name, seeing that it is a wonder?
19 So Manoah took the kid with the grain offering, and offered it on the rock to the Lord, to him who works wonders.
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So Manoah took the young goat with its meal offering, offering it on the rock to the Lord, who did strange things.
20 When the flame went up toward heaven from the altar, the angel of the Lord ascended in the flame of the altar while Manoah and his wife looked on; and they fell on their faces to the ground.
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And when the flame went up to heaven from the altar, the angel of the Lord went up in the flame of the altar, while Manoah and his wife were looking on; and they went down on their faces to the earth.
21 The angel of the Lord did not appear again to Manoah and his wife. Then Manoah realized that it was the angel of the Lord.
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But the angel of the Lord was seen no more by Manoah and his wife. Then it was clear to Manoah that he was the angel of the Lord.
22 And Manoah said to his wife, "We shall surely die, for we have seen God."
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And Manoah said to his wife, Death will certainly be our fate, for it is a god whom we have seen.
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."
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But his wife said to him, If the Lord was purposing our death, he would not have taken our burned offering and our meal offering, or have given us such orders about the child.
24 The woman bore a son, and named him Samson. The boy grew, and the Lord blessed him.
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So the woman gave birth to a son, and gave him the name Samson; and he became a man and the blessing of the Lord was on him.
25 The spirit of the Lord began to stir him in Mahaneh-dan, between Zorah and Eshtaol.
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And the spirit of the Lord first came on him in Mahaneh-dan, between Zorah and Eshtaol.
New Revised Standard Version Bible, copyright 1989, Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
The Bible in Basic English is in the public domain.