Judges · Bible in Basic English
Judges 13 Bible in Basic English
Audio: World English Bible (WEB), read by Winfred W. Henson · About the recordings
1 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.
1 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 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.
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 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.
3 Yahweh’s angel appeared to the woman, and said to her, “See now, you are barren and childless; but you shall conceive and bear a son.
4 Now then take care to have no wine or strong drink and to take no unclean thing for food;
4 Now therefore please beware and drink no wine nor strong drink, and don’t eat any unclean thing;
5 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.
5 for, behold, you shall conceive and give birth to a son. No razor shall come on his head, for the child shall be a Nazirite to God from the womb. He shall begin to save Israel out of the hand of the Philistines.”
6 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;
6 Then the woman came and told her husband, saying, “A man of God came to me, and his face was like the face of the angel of God, very awesome. I didn’t ask him where he was from, neither did he tell me his name;
7 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.
7 but he said to me, ‘Behold, you shall conceive and bear a son; and now drink no wine nor strong drink. Don’t eat any unclean thing, for the child shall be a Nazirite to God from the womb to the day of his death.’”
8 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.
8 Then Manoah entreated Yahweh, and said, “Oh, Lord, please let the man of God whom you sent come again to us, and teach us what we should do to the child who shall be born.”
9 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.
9 God listened to the voice of Manoah, and the angel of God came again to the woman as she sat in the field; but Manoah, her husband, wasn’t with her.
10 So the woman, running quickly, gave her husband the news, saying, I have seen the man who came to me the other day.
10 The woman hurried and ran, and told her husband, saying to him, “Behold, the man who came to me that day has appeared to me.”
11 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.
11 Manoah arose and followed his wife, and came to the man, and said to him, “Are you the man who spoke to my wife?” He said, “I am.”
12 And Manoah said, Now when your words come true, what is to be the rule for the child and what will be his work?
12 Manoah said, “Now let your words happen. What shall the child’s way of life and mission be?”
13 And the angel of the Lord said to Manoah, Let the woman take note of what I have said to her.
13 Yahweh’s angel said to Manoah, “Of all that I said to the woman let her beware.
14 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.
14 She may not eat of anything that comes of the vine, neither let her drink wine or strong drink, nor eat any unclean thing. Let her observe all that I commanded her.”
15 And Manoah said to the angel of the Lord, Now let us keep you while we make ready a young goat for you.
15 Manoah said to Yahweh’s angel, “Please stay with us, that we may make a young goat ready for you.”
16 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.
16 Yahweh’s angel said to Manoah, “Though you detain me, I won’t eat your bread. If you will prepare a burnt offering, you must offer it to Yahweh.” For Manoah didn’t know that he was Yahweh’s angel.
17 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?
17 Manoah said to Yahweh’s angel, “What is your name, that when your words happen, we may honor you?”
18 But the angel of the Lord said to him, Why are you questioning me about my name, seeing that it is a wonder?
18 Yahweh’s angel said to him, “Why do you ask about my name, since it is incomprehensible?”
19 So Manoah took the young goat with its meal offering, offering it on the rock to the Lord, who did strange things.
19 So Manoah took the young goat with the meal offering, and offered it on the rock to Yahweh. Then the angel did an amazing thing as Manoah and his wife watched.
20 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.
20 For when the flame went up toward the sky from off the altar, Yahweh’s angel ascended in the flame of the altar. Manoah and his wife watched; and they fell on their faces to the ground.
21 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.
21 But Yahweh’s angel didn’t appear to Manoah or to his wife any more. Then Manoah knew that he was Yahweh’s angel.
22 And Manoah said to his wife, Death will certainly be our fate, for it is a god whom we have seen.
22 Manoah said to his wife, “We shall surely die, because we have seen God.”
23 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.
23 But his wife said to him, “If Yahweh were pleased to kill us, he wouldn’t have received a burnt offering and a meal offering at our hand, and he wouldn’t have shown us all these things, nor would he have told us such things as these at this time.”
24 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.
24 The woman bore a son and named him Samson. The child grew, and Yahweh blessed him.
25 And the spirit of the Lord first came on him in Mahaneh-dan, between Zorah and Eshtaol.
25 Yahweh’s Spirit began to move him in Mahaneh Dan, between Zorah and Eshtaol.
People & places in this chapter
From this site's family tree and Bible maps, only where those guides cite this chapter.
People
Manoah
Danite from Zorah whose barren wife was promised a son by the angel of the LORD, who prayed for guidance in raising the boy, offered a burnt offering, and was buried in the tomb…
Cited in the guide: Judges 13:2; Judges 13:8; Judges 13:19
Samson
Nazirite from the womb, born to Manoah and his wife in answer to the angel's promise, whom the Spirit of the LORD empowered to strike the Philistines, who judged Israel twenty…
Cited in the guide: Judges 13:24; Judges 14:1; Judges 15:20
Cross references (23)
Related passages for each verse, from the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge as collected and ranked by readers at OpenBible.info.
- 1 1 Samuel 12:9; Judges 6:1; Romans 2:6; Judges 3:7; Judges 2:11
- 2 Joshua 19:41; Joshua 15:33; Luke 1:7; Genesis 25:21; Genesis 16:1
- 3 Luke 1:13; Luke 1:11; Judges 6:11–12; Genesis 18:10; 2 Kings 4:16
- 4 Luke 1:15; Judges 13:14; Numbers 6:2–3; Judges 13:7; Leviticus 11:47
- 5 Numbers 6:5; 1 Samuel 1:11; Numbers 6:2–3; 1 Chronicles 18:1; 1 Samuel 7:13
- 6 Matthew 28:3–4; Judges 13:17–18; 1 Samuel 9:6; Revelation 1:17; Luke 9:29
- 7 Judges 13:4
- 8 Acts 9:6; Job 34:32; Proverbs 3:5–6
- 9 Psalm 65:2; Matthew 7:7–11
- 10 John 1:41–42; John 4:28–29
- 12 Ephesians 6:4; Proverbs 22:6; Genesis 18:19; Proverbs 4:4
- 14 Deuteronomy 12:32; John 2:5; Judges 13:4; 2 Thessalonians 3:4; John 15:14
- 15 Genesis 18:3–5; Judges 13:3; Judges 6:18–19
- 16 Judges 13:23; Judges 6:20; Judges 6:26
- 17 Genesis 32:29
- 18 Genesis 32:29; Isaiah 9:6; Judges 13:6
- 19 Judges 6:19–21; 1 Kings 18:30–38
- 20 Leviticus 9:24; 2 Kings 2:11; 1 Chronicles 21:16; Ezekiel 1:28; Matthew 17:6
- 21 Judges 6:22; Hosea 12:4–5; Judges 13:16
- 22 Genesis 32:30; Deuteronomy 5:26; John 1:18; Exodus 33:20; John 5:37
- 23 Psalm 25:14; 1 Corinthians 12:21; Psalm 86:17; John 15:15; John 14:20
- 24 Luke 1:80; 1 Samuel 3:19; Hebrews 11:32; Luke 2:52
- 25 Judges 3:10; Joshua 15:33; John 3:34; 1 Samuel 11:6; Matthew 4:1
Cross references: OpenBible.info (CC BY), drawn mainly from the public-domain Treasury of Scripture Knowledge. · Sources & licences
What the Fathers said
Passages from the Church Fathers that expound or quote this chapter, verbatim from the public-domain Schaff edition (19th-century English translations).
How these were chosen
“Commentary” is the opening of a homily or exposition on this chapter (John Chrysostom’s homilies, Augustine’s tractates, sermons and expositions of the Psalms). “Quotes” are sentences where the edition’s own footnotes identify a quotation of a verse here, kept only when the wording matches the verse. Only works whose authorship is not in doubt are used. Psalms follow the Hebrew/English numbering (Augustine numbers them as the Septuagint does: his Psalm 50 is Psalm 51 here).
… not amazed at Manoah the Judge of yore, and at Peter the disciple in later days; the one being unable to endure the sight even of one in whom was a representation of God; and saying, "We are undone, O wife, we have seen God;" speaking as though even a vision of God could not be grasped by human beings, …
Read in context · Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, series 2, vol. 7 (1894)