of the tribe of Dan. And he had a wife, but no children. And the angel of the Lord came to Manoah's wife one day, and said to her, Drink not wine nor strong drink, nor eat any unclean thing, for thou shalt bear a son, and no razor shall

come on his head; for the child shall be a Nazarite unto God from his birth. And he shall deliver Israel from the Philistines.

The woman came to her husband, and told him that she had seen an angel of God, and what he had said to her, Ma

noah prayed, and said, O my Lord, let the man of God whom thou didst send come again to us and teach us how to bring up the child that shall be born to us.

God heard Manoah's prayer, and the man came again to the woman as she sat in the field. And she ran and called her husband. And Manoah came to the man and asked him if he was the man that spoke to his wife. And he said he was. Then Manoah asked him how they were to bring up the child, and what was to be his special work.

The man said, Of all that I told the woman let her beware. She must not eat of anything that cometh from the vine, neither let her drink wine or strong drink, nor eat any unclean thing. All that I have commanded her, let her observe.

Manoah asked him to remain until they had prepared some food for him to eat. But the angel of the Lord said to Manoah, Though thou detain me, I will not eat of thy bread; and if thou wilt offer a burnt offering, thou must offer it to the Lord. For Manoah knew not that he was an angel of the Lord.

Manoah asked him his name, and the angel of the Lord said to him, Why askest thou thus after my name, seeing it is secret? that is, a mystery. So Manoah took a kid with a meat offering, and offered it upon a rock to the Lord, and the angel wrought wonders, and Manoah and his wife looked on. For when the flame went up toward heaven from the altar, the angel ascended in the flame; and when Manoah and his wife saw it, they bowed down with their faces to the ground.

The angel did not appear again to Manoah and his wife, and then Manoah knew that he was an angel of the Lord. And Manoah said to his wife, We shall surely die, because we have seen God. But his wife, who had greater faith, encouraged him to believe that the Lord looked on them with favor.

In due time, Manoah's wife bore a son, and called his name Samson. And the child grew, and the Lord blessed him. When he was a young man he went down to Timnath among the Philistines, and there he fell in love with a young woman whom he desired to marry. And he besought his father and mother to get her for him. His parents begged him to find a

wife among his own people, but none of the daughters of Israel pleased him so much as the woman of Timnath. Wherefore, seeing that his heart was set upon it, they gave their consent to the marriage and went down with him to Timnath. On the way a young lion came out and roared at Samson; and he tore him apart as easily as he would a young kid. But his parents were at some distance, and he did not tell them what he had done.

And he went down and talked with the woman; and she pleased Samson well.

And after a time he returned to take her, and he turned aside to see the carcass of the lion; and behold, there was a swarm of bees and honey in the carcass of the lion.

And he took thereof in his hands, and went on eating, and came to his father and mother, and he gave them, and they

did eat but he told not them that he had taken the honey out of the carcass of the lion.

When it came time for Samson to celebrate his marriage feast the Philistines brought him thirty young men to keep him company. Samson gave them a riddle, and said if they found it out within the seven days he would give each of them a sheet and a linen garment. But if they failed to find it out, they were to give him thirty sheets and thirty garments. They said to him, Let us hear thy riddle. And Samson said to them, Out of the eater came forth meat, and out of the strong came forth sweetness. And at the end of three days

they had not found out the riddle.

On the seventh day they said to Samson's wife, Persuade thy husband to explain to us the riddle, or we will burn thee and thy father's house with fire. And they accused her of wanting to rob them in order to enrich her husband.

Samson's wife wept before him, and said, Thou dost but hate me, and lovest me not thou hast put forth a riddle unto the children of my people and hast not told it to me. He said, I have not told it to my father or mother, and shall I tell it to thee? Still she wept so that he was grieved, and he told her the answer to the riddle, and she told it to the thirty Philistines. And on the seventh day, when Samson called for the answer to the riddle, the young men said, What is sweeter than honey, and what is stronger than a lion? They pretended they had found it out themselves. But Samson knew that his wife had told them; and he was angry, and went back to his father's house.

The time had now come for Samson to show forth his strength, and to begin the work of deliverance. During the wheat harvest Samson went to visit his wife, and took with him a kid on which to feast with her and her friends.

But he found that his wife had been given to another, and this made him very angry. And Samson caught three hundred foxes and tied them tail to tail, and put a firebrand between the two tails. And he let them go among the cornfields and vineyards of the Philistines, and the shocks of corn, and the corn that was standing, and the vineyards and olive trees were all burned up.

Then the Philistines said, Who hath done this? And they answered, Samson the son-in-law of the Timnite, because his wife had been taken from him. And the Philistines came up and burnt her and her father with fire.

Samson said that he would avenge himself for this deed;

and then if they let him alone he would harm them no more. And he wrestled with them, and threw them down, and trod them to death, and afterwards went and dwelt alone on the top of the rock Etam.

Then the Philistines went up and encamped in Judah. And the men of Judah said, Why are ye come up against us?