Israel is under the Philistines for forty years. The angel of the LORD tells the barren wife of Manoah she will have a son who will be a Nazirite. Samson is born and the Spirit begins to stir him.
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 .
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.
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 .
4 Now therefore beware , I pray thee, and drink not wine nor strong drink , and eat not any unclean thing:
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 .
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 :
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 .
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 .
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.
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 .
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.
12 And Manoah said , Now let thy words come to pass . How shall we order the child , and how shall we do unto him?
13 And the angel of the LORD said unto Manoah , Of all that I said unto the woman let her beware .
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 .
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.
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 .
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 ?
18 And the angel of the LORD said unto him, Why askest thou thus after my name , seeing it is secret ?
19 So Manoah took a kid with a meat offering , and offered it upon a rock unto the LORD : and the angel did wondrously ; and Manoah and his wife looked on .
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 .
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 .
22 And Manoah said unto his wife , We shall surely die , because we have seen 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 .
24 And the woman bare a son , and called his name Samson : and the child grew , and the LORD blessed him.
25 And the Spirit of the LORD began to move him at times in the camp of Dan between Zorah and Eshtaol .