Kuzaliwa Kwa Samsoni
113:1 Amu 3:4, 31; 14:4; 1Sam 12:9Waisraeli wakafanya maovu tena mbele za Bwana. Hivyo Bwana akawatia mikononi mwa Wafilisti kwa muda wa miaka arobaini.
213:2 Yos 15:33; Amu 16:31; Mwa 30:6; 11:30Basi palikuwa na mtu mmoja wa Sora, aliyeitwa Manoa, wa kabila la Wadani, naye alikuwa na mke ambaye alikuwa tasa na hakuwa na mtoto. 313:3 Mwa 16:7; Isa 7:14; Lk 1:13; Amu 6:12Malaika wa Bwana akamtokea huyo mwanamke na kumwambia, “Wewe ni tasa na huna mtoto, lakini utachukua mimba na utamzaa mtoto mwanaume. 413:4 Law 10:9; Hes 6:2-4; Lk 1:15Lakini ujihadhari sana usinywe mvinyo wala kileo kingine chochote, wala usile kitu chochote kilicho najisi, 513:5 Mwa 3:15; 1Sam 1:11; 7:13; Hes 6:2, 13; Amo 2:11-12kwa kuwa utachukua mimba na utamzaa mtoto mwanaume. Wembe usipite kichwani pake, kwa kuwa huyo mwana atakuwa Mnadhiri wa Mungu, aliyewekwa wakfu kwa ajili ya Mungu tangu tumboni mwa mama yake, naye ataanza kuwaokoa Waisraeli kutoka mikononi mwa Wafilisti.”
613:6 1Sam 2:27; 9:6; 1Fal 13:1; 17:18; Hes 22:22; Za 66:5; Mt 28:3Ndipo huyo mwanamke akamwendea mumewe na kumweleza kuwa, “Mtu wa Mungu alinijia. Kule kuonekana kwake kulikuwa kama kwa malaika wa Mungu, wa kutisha sana. Sikumuuliza alikotoka wala hakuniambia jina lake. 713:7 Yer 35:6; Law 10:6; 1Sam 1:11, 28Lakini aliniambia, ‘Utachukua mimba na utazaa mtoto mwanaume. Basi sasa, usinywe mvinyo wala kileo kingine chochote wala usile kitu kilicho najisi, kwa kuwa huyo mtoto atakuwa Mnadhiri wa Mungu tangu tumboni mwa mama yake mpaka kufa kwake.’ ”
8Ndipo Manoa akamwomba Bwana, akasema: “Ee Bwana, nakusihi, huyo mtu wa Mungu uliyemtuma kwetu aje tena ili atufundishe jinsi ya kumlea huyo mwana atakayezaliwa.”
9Mungu akamsikia Manoa, naye malaika wa Mungu akamjia tena huyo mwanamke alipokuwa shambani, lakini mumewe Manoa hakuwepo. 10Basi yule mwanamke akaenda haraka na kumwambia mumewe, “Tazama mtu yule aliyenitokea siku ile yupo hapa!”
11Manoa akainuka akaandamana na mkewe. Alipomfikia yule mtu akamuuliza, “Je, wewe ndiye yule uliyesema na mke wangu?”
Akasema, “Mimi ndiye.”
12Basi Manoa akamuuliza, “Wakati maneno yako yatakapotimia, masharti ya maisha ya mtoto huyu yatakuwa nini na kazi yake itakuwa ni nini?”
13Malaika wa Bwana akamjibu, “Mke wako hana budi kufanya yale yote niliyomwambia. 1413:14 Law 10:9; Hes 6:4Kamwe asile kitu chochote kitakachotoka katika mzabibu, wala asinywe mvinyo wa aina yoyote wala kileo chochote wala asile kitu chochote kilicho najisi. Hana budi kufanya kila kitu nilichomwagiza.”
1513:15 Amu 9:16Manoa akamjibu yule malaika wa Bwana, “Twakuomba usubiri kwanza ili tuweze kuandaa mwana-mbuzi kwa ajili yako.”
1613:16 Amu 11:31; 6:22Malaika wa Bwana akamjibu, “Hata kama utanizuia, sitakula chochote kwako. Lakini ukitaka kuandaa sadaka ya kuteketezwa, mtolee Bwana hiyo sadaka.” (Kwa kuwa Manoa hakujua kuwa alikuwa malaika wa Bwana.)
1713:17 Mwa 32:29; Isa 9:6Ndipo Manoa akamuuliza yule malaika wa Bwana, “Jina lako ni nani, ili kwamba tuweze kukupa heshima hapo hayo uliyonena yatakapotimia?”
18Akamjibu, “Kwa nini unauliza Jina langu? Ni Jina la ajabu.” 1913:19 Amu 6:20Ndipo Manoa akamchukua mwana-mbuzi, pamoja na sadaka ya unga, naye akamtolea Bwana dhabihu hapo juu ya mwamba. Naye yule malaika wa Bwana akafanya jambo la ajabu wakati Manoa na mkewe wakiwa wanaangalia: 2013:20 Law 9:24; Mwa 17:4; Eze 1:28; Mt 17:6Mwali wa moto kutoka hapo madhabahuni ulipowaka kuelekea mbinguni, malaika wa Bwana akapaa ndani ya huo mwali. Manoa na mkewe, kwa kuona jambo hili, wakaanguka chini kifudifudi. 2113:21 Amu 6:22Malaika wa Bwana hakumtokea tena Manoa na mkewe. Ndipo Manoa akatambua kuwa huyo alikuwa malaika wa Bwana.
2213:22 Hes 17:12; Kum 5:26; Mwa 16:13; Kut 3:6; 24:10; Amu 6:22Manoa akamwambia mkewe, “Hakika tutakufa, kwa kuwa tumemwona Mungu.”
2313:23 Za 25:14Lakini mkewe akamwambia, “Ikiwa Bwana alikuwa amekusudia kutuua, asingelipokea sadaka ya kuteketezwa na sadaka ya unga kutoka mikononi mwetu, wala asingelituonyesha mambo haya yote wala kututangazia mambo kama haya wakati huu.”
2413:24 Amu 14:1; 15:1; 16:1; Ebr 11:32; 1Sam 2:21-26; 3:19; Lk 1:80Yule mwanamke akazaa mtoto wa kiume akamwita jina lake Samsoni. Kijana akakua, naye Bwana akambariki. 2513:25 Amu 3:10; 18:12Roho wa Bwana akaanza kumsukuma wakati alipokuwa huko Mahane-Dani, kati ya Sora na Eshtaoli.
Samson Is Born
1Once 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.
2A 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. 3The angel of the Lord appeared to Manoah’s wife. He said, “You are not able to have children. But you are going to become pregnant. You will have a baby boy. 4Make sure you do not drink any kind of wine. Also make sure you do not eat anything that is ‘unclean.’ 5You will become pregnant. You will have a son. The hair on his head must never be cut. That is because the boy will be a Nazirite. He will be set apart to God from the day he is born. He will take the lead in saving Israel from the power of the Philistines.”
6Then the woman went to her husband. She told him, “A man of God came to me. He looked like an angel of God. His appearance was so amazing that it filled me with great wonder. I didn’t ask him where he came from. And he didn’t tell me his name. 7But he said to me, ‘You will become pregnant. You will have a son. So do not drink any kind of wine. Do not eat anything that is “unclean.” That is because the boy will be a Nazirite. He will belong to God in a special way from the day he is born until the day he dies.’ ”
8Then Manoah prayed to the Lord. He said, “Pardon your servant, Lord. I beg you to let the man of God you sent to us come again. He told us we would have a son. We want the man of God to teach us how to bring up the boy.”
9God heard Manoah. And the angel of God came again to the woman. He came while she was out in the field. But her husband Manoah wasn’t with her. 10The woman hurried to her husband. She told him, “He’s here! The man who appeared to me the other day is here!”
11Manoah got up and followed his wife. When he came to the man, he spoke to him. He said, “Are you the man who talked to my wife?”
“I am,” he replied.
12So Manoah asked him, “What will happen when your words come true? What rules should we follow for the boy’s life and work?”
13The angel of the Lord answered him. He said, “Your wife must do everything I have told her to do. 14She must not eat anything that comes from grapevines. She must not drink any kind of wine. She must not eat anything that is ‘unclean.’ She must do everything I have commanded her to do.”
15Manoah said to the angel of the Lord, “We would like you to stay and eat. We want to prepare a young goat for you.”
16The angel of the Lord replied, “Even if I stay, I will not eat any of your food. But if you still want to prepare a burnt offering, you must offer it to the Lord.” Manoah didn’t realize it was the angel of the Lord.
17Then Manoah asked the angel of the Lord a question. “What is your name?” he said. “We want to honor you when your word comes true.”
18The angel replied, “Why are you asking me what my name is? You would not be able to understand it.” 19Manoah got a young goat. He brought it along with the grain offering. He sacrificed it on a rock to the Lord. Then the Lord did an amazing thing. It happened while Manoah and his wife were watching. 20A flame blazed up from the altar toward heaven. The angel of the Lord rose up in the flame. When Manoah and his wife saw it, they fell with their faces to the ground. 21The angel of the Lord didn’t show himself again to Manoah and his wife. Then Manoah realized it was the angel of the Lord.
22“We’re going to die!” he said to his wife. “We’ve seen God!”
23But his wife answered, “The Lord doesn’t want to kill us. If he did, he wouldn’t have accepted a burnt offering and a grain offering from us. He wouldn’t have shown us all these things. He wouldn’t have told us we’re going to have a son.”
24Later, the woman had a baby boy. She named him Samson. As he grew up, the Lord blessed him. 25The Spirit of the Lord began to work in his life. It happened while he was in Mahaneh Dan. That place is between Zorah and Eshtaol.
