Judges 13 - Expanded Bible (EXB)

The Birth of Samson

13 Again the ·people [L sons; T children] of Israel did ·what the Lord said was wrong [L evil in the eyes/sight of the Lord]. So he ·handed them over to [L gave them into the hand of] the Philistines for forty years.

2 There was a man named Manoah from the tribe of Dan, who lived in the city of Zorah [C fifteen miles west of Jerusalem; v. 25]. He had a wife, but she [L was barren/infertile and] could not have children [C a cause of both sadness and shame; Gen. 11:30; 29:31]. 3 The ·angel [messenger] of the Lord [C angelic spokesperson for God, sometimes identified with the Lord himself; 2:1; 6:11; Gen. 16:7; Ex. 14:19; 23:20] appeared to Manoah’s wife and said, “·You [L Look/T Behold, you are barren and] have not been able to have children, but you will ·become pregnant [conceive] and give birth to a son. 4 Be careful not to drink wine or ·beer [or other fermented drink; T strong drink; C an alcoholic beverage made from grain] or eat anything that is unclean [C in a ritual sense], 5 because you will ·become pregnant [conceive] and have a son. You must never cut his hair, because he will be a Nazirite [Num. 6:1–12], given to God from ·birth [L the womb]. He will begin to ·save [rescue; T deliver] Israel from the ·power [hand] of the Philistines.”

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 [very terrifying/awesome]. I didn’t ask him where he was from, and he didn’t tell me his name. 7 But he said to me, ‘You will ·become pregnant [conceive] and will have a son. Don’t drink wine or ·beer [or other fermented drink; T strong drink; v. 4] or eat anything that is unclean, because the boy will be a Nazirite [v. 5] to God from his birth until the day of his death.’”

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.”

9 God heard Manoah’s prayer, and the ·angel [messenger] of God came to Manoah’s wife again while she was sitting in the field. But her husband Manoah was not with her. 10 So she ran to tell him, “·He is here [L Look; T Behold]! The man who ·appeared [came] to me the other day is here!”

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.”

12 So Manoah asked, “When what you say happens, what kind of life should the boy live? What ·should he do [is his mission/vocation]?”

13 The ·angel [messenger] of the Lord said, “Your wife must be careful to do everything I told her to do. 14 She must not eat anything that grows on a grapevine, or drink any wine or ·beer [or other fermented drink; T strong drink; v. 4], or eat anything that is unclean [C in a ritual sense]. She must do everything I have commanded her.”

15 Manoah said to the ·angel [messenger] of the Lord, “We would like you to stay awhile so we can cook a young goat for you.”

16 The ·angel [messenger] 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 [Lev. 1:1–17] to the Lord.” (Manoah did not understand that the man was really the ·angel [messenger] of the Lord.)

17 Then Manoah asked the ·angel [messenger] of the Lord, “What is your name? Then we will honor you when what you have said really happens.”

18 The ·angel [messenger] of the Lord said, “Why do you ask my name? It is ·too amazing for you to understand [beyond comprehension; wonderful; Is. 9:6].” 19 So Manoah sacrificed a young goat on a rock and offered ·some grain as a gift [a grain/gift/tribute offering; Lev. 2:1] to the Lord. Then ·an amazing thing happened [or the Lord did an amazing thing] as Manoah and his wife watched. 20 As the flames went up to ·the sky [heaven] from the altar, the ·angel [messenger] of the Lord ·went up [ascended] in the flame. When Manoah and his wife saw that, they bowed facedown on the ground. 21 The ·angel [messenger] of the Lord did not appear to them again. Then Manoah ·understood [realized; knew] that the man was really the ·angel [messenger] of the Lord. 22 Manoah said, “We have seen ·God [or a divine being; C Hebrew: Elohim; v. 3], so we will surely die [6:23; Gen. 16:13].”

23 But his wife said to him, “If the Lord wanted to kill us, he would not have accepted our burnt offering [Lev. 1:1–17] or ·grain [L gift; tribute] offering [Lev. 2:1]. He would not have shown us all these things or told us all this.”

24 So the woman gave birth to a boy and named him Samson [C related to the Hebrew word for “sun”; perhaps “sun-like” or “light from God”; Mal. 4:2]. He grew, and the Lord blessed him. 25 The Spirit of the Lord began to ·work in Samson [move/stir/empower him] while he was in the city of Mahaneh Dan, between the cities of Zorah and Eshtaol.

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Judges 13 - Young's Literal Translation (YLT)

13 And the sons of Israel add to do the evil thing in the eyes of Jehovah, and Jehovah giveth them into the hand of the Philistines forty years. 2 And there is a certain man of Zorah, of the family of the Danite, and his name [is] Manoah, his wife [is] barren, and hath not borne; 3 and a messenger o...
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Judges 13 - Wycliffe Bible (WYC)

13 And again the sons of Israel did evil in the sight of the Lord, and he betook them in[to] the hands of [the] Philistines (for) forty years. 2 Forsooth a man was of Zorah, of the kindred of Dan (And there was a man of Zorah, of the tribe of Dan), Manoah by name, and he had a barren wife. 3 To whic...
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Judges 13 - World English Bible (WEB)

13 The children of Israel again did that which was evil in Yahweh’s sight; and Yahweh delivered them into the hand of the Philistines forty years. 2 There was a certain man of Zorah, of the family of the Danites, whose name was Manoah; and his wife was barren, and childless. 3 Yahweh’s angel appear...
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Judges 13 - The Voice (VOICE)

13 Once again, though, the Israelites did evil according to the Eternal God, and He gave the Philistines power over them for 40 years. 2 During that time, a man of Zorah named Manoah, from the tribe of Dan, was married to a wife who could bear him no children. Messenger of the Eternal One (appearin...
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Judges 13 - Tree of Life Version (TLV)

Birth of Samson13 Bnei-Yisrael again did what was evil in Adonai’s eyes, and Adonai gave them into the hand of the Philistines for 40 years. 2 Now there was a certain man from Zorah, from a Danite clan, whose name was Manoah. His wife was barren and bore no children. 3 Then the angel of Adonai app...
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Judges 13 - Revised Standard Version Catholic Edition (RSVCE)

The Birth of Samson13 [a]And the people of Israel again did what was evil in the sight of the Lord; and the Lord gave them into the hand of the Philistines for forty years. 2 And there was a certain man of Zorah, of the tribe of the Danites, whose name was Mano′ah; and his wife was barren and had no...
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Judges 13 - Revised Standard Version (RSV)

The Birth of Samson13 And the people of Israel again did what was evil in the sight of the Lord; and the Lord gave them into the hand of the Philistines for forty years. 2 And there was a certain man of Zorah, of the tribe of the Danites, whose name was Mano′ah; and his wife was barren and had no ch...
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Judges 13 - New Revised Standard Version, Anglicised (NRSVA)

The Birth of Samson13 The Israelites again did what was evil in the sight of the Lord, and the Lord gave them into the hand 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. 3 An...
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Judges 13 - New Revised Standard Version (NRSV)

The Birth of Samson13 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.(A)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.(B)3 And...
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Judges 13 - New Living Translation (NLT)

The Birth of Samson13 Again the Israelites did evil in the Lord’s sight, so the Lord handed them over to the Philistines, who oppressed them for forty years. 2 In those days a man named Manoah from the tribe of Dan lived in the town of Zorah. His wife was unable to become pregnant, and they had no c...
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Judges 13 - New Life Version (NLV)

The Birth of Samson13 The people of Israel sinned in the eyes of the Lord again. So the Lord gave them into the hands of the Philistines for forty years. 2 There was a certain man of Zorah, of the family of the Danites. His name was Manoah. His wife was not able to have children. 3 Then the angel o...
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Judges 13 - New King James Version (NKJV)

The Birth of Samson(A)13 Again the children of Israel (B)did evil in the sight of the Lord, and the Lord delivered them (C)into the hand of the Philistines for forty years. 2 Now there was a certain man from (D)Zorah, of the family of the Danites, whose name was Manoah; and his wife was barren and h...
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Judges 13 - New International Version - UK (NIVUK)

The birth of Samson13 Again the Israelites did evil in the eyes of the Lord, so the Lord delivered them into the hands of the Philistines for forty years. 2 A certain man of Zorah, named Manoah, from the clan of the Danites, had a wife who was childless, unable to give birth. 3 The angel of the Lor...
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Judges 13 - New International Version (NIV)

The Birth of Samson13 Again the Israelites did evil in the eyes of the Lord, so the Lord delivered them into the hands of the Philistines(A) for forty years.(B) 2 A certain man of Zorah,(C) named Manoah,(D) from the clan of the Danites,(E) had a wife who was childless,(F) unable to give birth. 3 The...
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Judges 13 - New International Reader's Version (NIRV)

Samson Is Born13 Once again the Israelites did what was evil in the sight of the Lord. So the Lord handed them over to the Philistines for 40 years. 2 A certain man from Zorah was named Manoah. He was from the tribe of Dan. Manoah had a wife who wasn’t able to have children. 3 The angel of the Lord...
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Judges 13 - New English Translation (NET)

Samson’s Birth13 The Israelites again did evil in the Lord’s sight,[a] so the Lord handed them over to the Philistines for forty years. 2 There was a man named Manoah from Zorah, from the Danite tribe. His wife was infertile and childless.[b] 3 The angel of the Lord appeared to the woman and said t...
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