1And the sons of Israel again did the evil in the eyes of YHWH, and YHWH gave them into the hand of the Philistines forty years.
2And there was a certain man (ish) of Zorah, of the family of the Danites, and his name was Manoah; and his wife (ishah) was barren and had not borne.
3And the messenger of YHWH appeared to the woman (ishah) and said to her: Behold now, you are barren and have not borne, but you shall conceive and bear a son.
4And now beware, please, and do not drink wine or strong drink, and do not eat anything unclean.
5For behold, you are conceiving and bearing a son, and no razor shall come upon his head, for a Nazirite of God shall the boy be from the womb; and he shall begin to save (yasha) Israel from the hand of the Philistines.
6And the woman (ishah) came and said to her husband (ish), saying: A man (ish) of God came to me, and his appearance was like the appearance of the messenger of God, very awesome; and I did not ask him from where he was, and his name he did not tell me.
7And he said to me: Behold, you shall conceive and bear a son; and now do not drink wine or strong drink, and do not eat any uncleanness, for a Nazirite of God shall the boy be from the womb to the day of his death.
8And Manoah entreated YHWH and said: Oh, my Lord (Adonai), let the man (ish) of God whom you sent come again, please, to us, and teach us what we shall do for the boy that is to be born.
9And God hearkened to the voice of Manoah; and the messenger of God came again to the woman (ishah) as she was sitting in the field, and Manoah her husband (ish) was not with her.
10And the woman (ishah) hurried and ran and told her husband (ish), and said to him: Behold, the man (ish) has appeared to me, who came that day to me.
11And Manoah arose and went after his wife (ishah), and came to the man (ish), and said to him: Are you the man (ish) who spoke to the woman (ishah)? And he said: I am.
12And Manoah said: Now let your words come to pass. What shall be the judgment (mishpat) of the boy and his work?
13And the messenger of YHWH said to Manoah: Of all that I said to the woman (ishah) let her beware.
14Of all that comes out of the vine of wine she shall not eat, and wine or strong drink let her not drink, and any uncleanness let her not eat; all that I commanded (tzivvah) her let her observe.
15And Manoah said to the messenger of YHWH: Let us detain you, please, and let us prepare before you a kid of the goats.
16And the messenger of YHWH said to Manoah: If you detain me, I will not eat of your bread; and if you prepare a burnt offering, you shall offer it up to YHWH. For Manoah did not know that he was the messenger of YHWH.
17And Manoah said to the messenger of YHWH: What is your name, that when your word comes to pass we may honor you?
18And the messenger of YHWH said to him: Why do you ask thus for my name, seeing it is wonderful?
19And Manoah took the kid of the goats and the meal offering, and offered it up upon the rock to YHWH; and He did wondrously, while Manoah and his wife (ishah) were looking on.
20And it came to pass, as the flame went up from off the altar toward the heavens, that the messenger of YHWH ascended in the flame of the altar; and Manoah and his wife (ishah) were looking on, and they fell on their faces to the earth.
21And the messenger of YHWH did not appear again to Manoah and to his wife (ishah). Then Manoah knew that he was the messenger of YHWH.
22And Manoah said to his wife (ishah): We shall surely die, because we have seen God.
23And his wife (ishah) said to him: If YHWH had delighted to kill us, He would not have taken from our hand a burnt offering and a meal offering, nor would He have shown us all these things, nor at this time have let us hear such as this.
24And the woman (ishah) bore a son and called his name Samson; and the boy grew, and YHWH blessed him.
25And the spirit (ruach) of YHWH began to stir him in Mahaneh-dan, between Zorah and Eshtaol.