¶ Israel beyng an Idolatret, is o••pressed of the Ph••istinell. The byrth of Samson. The sacrifice of Samsons Father.
CAPI. XIII.
ANd the Chyldren of Israell began a∣gayne to commyt wyckednesse in the syght of the Lorde. And the lorde de∣lyuered them in to the hand{is} of the Philisti∣nes fourtye yeare. And there was a man in Zarah of the kynred of Dan, named Ma∣noah, whose wyfe was barren, and bare not. And the angell of the Lorde appeared vnto the woman, & sayde vnto her: Beholde, thou arte batten, and bearest not: But thou shalte conceyue, and beare a son. And nowe beware that yu drynke no wyne, nor stronge drynke, neyther eate any vncleane thyng: for se, thou shalte conceyue & beare a son. And there may no raser come on his heade: For the lad shal be an absteyner vnto God, euen from his ❀ (infancye and from his) byrth. And he shall begyn to delyuer Israell out of the handes of the Philistynes. Then the wyfe came, and tolde her husbande, sayenge: a man of God came vnto me, and the fassyon of hym, was lyke the fassyon of an angel of god, excedyng fearful. But I asked hym not whense he was neyther tolde he me his name, but sayd vnto me: beholde, thou shalte be with chylde and beate a sonne, and nowe drynke no wyne nor [unspec B] stronge drynke, neyther eate any vncleane thynge: for the ladde shall be an absteyner to god, euen from his ❀ (infancye, and from his) byrth, to the day of his death. Thē Manoah made intercession to the lorde, & sayd: I pray the my lorde, let the man of god whiche thou sendest, come once more vnto vs, and teache vs what we shall do vnto the lad, when he is borne. And god herde the voyce of Manoah, and the angell of god came agayne vnto the wyfe as she sat in the feld: But Manoah her husdand was not wt her. And the wyfe made hast, & ran, and shewed her husbande, & sayd vnto hym, Beholde, the man appeared vnto me, that came vnto me to day. And Manoah arose, & went after his wyfe, and came to the man, and sayde vnto hym: arte thou the man that spakest vnto my wyfe? And he sayde: I am. Manoah sayde: nowe when thy sayenge [unspec C] is come to passe: what shall be the maner of the chylde, & what shall he do? And the angel of the Lorde sayde vnto Manoah: thy wyfe must absteyne from al that I sayd vnto her: she may eate of nothynge that cōmeth of the vyne ••tee, nor drynke wyne or strong drynke, nor eate any vncleane thynge: But must ob∣serue all that I bad her. Manoah sayde vn∣to the Angell of the Lorde: we wyll kepe the styll, vntyll we haue made redye a kyd, and haue set it before the. And the Angell of the Lorde sayde vnto Manoah: though yu make me abyde. I wyll not eate of thy ☞ breade. And yf yu wylte offre a burntofferynge, thou must offre it vnto the Lorde. For Manoah wyst not, that it was an angell of the Lorde. And Manoah sayde agayne vnto the angell of the Lorde: what is thy name, that when thy sayenge is come to passe, we may do the some worshyp? And the Angell of the Lorde sayde vnto hym: why askest thou after my name, which is ☞ Secrete. And so Manoah toke a kyd with a meate offerynge, and offe∣red it vpon a rocke vnto the Lorde. And the [unspec D] angell dyd wonderouslye, Manoah, and his wyfe lokyng vpon. And whē the flame came vp to warde heuen from the aulter the angel of the Lorde ascended vp in the flame of the aulter. And Manoah & his wyfe loked vpon it, & fell flat on theyr faces vnto the groūde: But the angell of the Lorde dyd no more ap∣peare vnto Manoah and his wyfe. And then Manoah knewe that it was an angell of the Lorde, & sayd vnto his wyfe, we shall sure∣lye dye, bycause ❀ we haue sene god. But his wyfe sayd vnto hym: Yf the lorde wolde kyll vs, he wolde not haue receyued a burnt offe∣rynge, and a meate offerynge of our handes, neyther wolde he haue shewed vs all these thynges, nor wolde nowe haue tolde vs any suche. And the wyfe bare a sonne, & called his name Samsom. And the lad grewe, and the lorde blessed hym. And ❀ the spiryte of the Lorde began to moue hym in the hooste of Dan, bytwene Zaraah and Esthaoll.