1. Again the people started doing what the Lord said was wrong. So the Lord allowed the Philistines to rule over them for 40 years.
2. There was a man named Manoah from the city of Zorah. He was from the tribe of Dan. Manoah had a wife, but she was not able to have any children.
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 have a son.
4. Don’t drink any wine or any other strong drink. Don’t eat any food that is unclean,
5. because you are pregnant, and you will have a son. He will be dedicated to God in a special way. He will be a Nazirite. So you must never cut his hair. He will be God’s special person from before he is born. He will save the Israelites from the power of the Philistines.”
6. Then the woman went to her husband and told him what had happened. She said, “A man of God came to me. He looked like the angel of God. He frightened me. I didn’t ask him where he was from, and he didn’t tell me his name.
7. But he said to me, ‘You are pregnant and will have a son. Don’t drink any wine or other strong drink. Don’t eat any food that is unclean, because the boy will be dedicated to God in a special way. The boy will be God’s special person from before he is born until the day he dies.’”
8. Then Manoah prayed to the Lord. He said, “Lord, I beg you to send the man of God to us again. We want him to teach us what we should do for the boy who will soon be born.”
9. God heard Manoah’s prayer. The angel of God came to the woman again. She was sitting in a field and her husband Manoah was not with her.
10. So the woman ran to tell her husband, “The man is back! The man who 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 same man who spoke to my wife before?” The angel said, “I am.”
12. So Manoah said, “May what you say happen. Tell me, what kind of life will the boy live? What will he do?”