Manoah looked outside his tent and saw them everywhere. Children playing, screaming, and running all over the place! He had wanted his own child for so long, but he and his barren wife could have no children. Their small, empty tent was lonely without a child in it.

One day when Manoah was working in his field, his wife called and came to him. “A man of the Lord spoke to me and told me that I will bear a son.” They both rejoiced. “The man said to me not to drink any wine or alcoholic drink, or eat anything unclean.” Manoah nodded, praising God about his son. “The man also said that our son would be a Nazarite, and no razor should come to his head.” Manoah asked, “Is that all?” His wife replied, “He didn’t say any more.” Manoah, slightly confused, prayed and asked God for the man to come back and tell them more.

God heard his prayer, and sent the man again to Manoah’s wife, but Manoah wasn’t there with her. Manoah’s wife ran and found him and said, “Look! The man I spotted has returned!” So they went and talked to the man and he told them all they need to know about their son. Manoah asked the man if he would stay for dinner, and the man said, “offer a burnt offering to God instead.” Manoah was still persistent, and he said, “we must know your name so when your words come true, we can honor you.” The man said, “You don’t need to know my name; it’s not important.” So Manoah lit the sacrifice, and the fire ascended to heaven, and the man went up into the fire and disappeared. This is when Manoah and his wife realized that the man was the angel of God! They fell on their faces in awe and fear.

Manoah’s wife gave birth to a son, and named him Samson. His parents did as they were told, and Samson became a strong Nazarite! When Samson was a young man, he was walking down to Timnah, and saw a beautiful young Philistine girl. He sent home to his father and said, “I saw this beautiful Philistine girl in Timnah, so go get her to be my wife. His parents were stunned, because the Philistines were Israel’s enemies; they were unclean, and altogether wrong for Samson to marry. His parents tried to talk him out of it, but in the end, Samson got his wish. On their way back to Timnah, Samson and his father were surprised to see a roaring lion charging at them. The Spirit of God came upon Samson, and he tore the lion apart with his hands.

After seeing the woman, Samson went back to the lion. There were bees and honecombs filling the inside of the carcas. He took some honey home for his parents, and ate some himself.

At the wedding, Samson told riddles that no one could answer. So the guests asked his wife to find them out and tell them. She did, and when Samson heard, he was furious, and killed 30 men, and his wife was given to Samson’s best friend, but Samson did not know this.

When he did find out, he took foxes and tied torches to their tails and set them in all of the Philistines’ fields. The Philistines then burned Samson’s wife and her father.

Samson killed many men of the Philistines, and the Philistines planned his doom. When Samson went to Gaza and stayed with a harlot, (ed note: Delilah), the Philistines bribed her into asking Samson where he gets his power. Samson lied to her three times, but she whined so much that he told her the truth, adn his hair was cut off, his eyes burned out, and was made a slave in the dungeon.

One day while there was a big feast going on, Samson was brought out, and put between two poles. By now, his hair had grown back, and God helped him crush the two pillars, and kill more Philistines than he had ever done. Samson died with them that day.