1 Samuel 7
1 Te dongah Kiriathjearim hlang rhoek ha pawk uh neh BOEIPA thingkawng te a khuen uh tih som kah Abinadab im te a paan puei uh. Te vaengah a capa Eleazar te BOEIPA thingkawng aka khoem la a ciim uh.
[When] the men of Kiriath-Jearim [received that message, they] came to Beth-Shemesh and took the sacred chest of Yahweh. They took it to the house of Abinadab, which was on a hillside. They appointed Abinadab’s son Eleazar to take care of the chest.
2 Kiriathjearim ah thingkawng a ngol khohnin lamloh a kum khaw sen coeng. Tedae kum kul a lo daengah Israel imkhui pum te BOEIPA hnukah rhathi uh.
The sacred chest stayed in Kiriath-Jearim for a long time—a total of 20 years. During that time all the people of Israel mourned [because it seemed that] Yahweh [had abandoned them] (OR, [and then they asked] Yahweh [to help them]).
3 Te dongah Samuel loh Israel imkhui boeih te a voek tih, “Na thinko boeih neh BOEIPA taengla na mael atah, na khui lamkah kholong pathen rhoek neh Ashtoreth te khoe uh. Na thinko te BOEIPA taengah sikim uh lamtah amah bueng ham mah thothueng uh. Nangmih te Philisti kut lamloh n'huul bitni,” a ti nah.
Then Samuel said to all the Israeli people, “If you truly [IDM] want to act like Yahweh’s people should, you must get rid of your statues of [the goddess] Astarte and the idols/statues of all the other foreign gods. You must decide to serve/worship only Yahweh. If you do that, he will rescue you from [the power of] [MTY] the Philistia people.”
4 Te dongah Israel ca rhoek loh Baal neh Ashtoreth te a voeih uh tih, BOEIPA amah taeng bueng ah tho a thueng uh.
So the Israelis got rid of all their statues of the gods Baal and Astarte, and they worshiped only Yahweh.
5 Te dongah Samuel loh, “Israel boeih aw Mizpah ah coi uh thae lamtah nangmih yueng la BOEIPA taengah ka thangthui eh,” a ti nah.
Then Samuel told them, “All you Israeli people must gather with me at Mizpah. Then I will pray to Yahweh for you.”
6 Mizpah la a coi uh thae vaengah tui a than uh tih BOEIPA mikhmuh ah a bueih uh. Tekah khohnin dongah caak a yaeh uh tih BOEIPA taengah, “Ka tholh coeng,” a ti uh dongah Mizpah kah Israel ca rhoek te Samuel loh lai a tloek pah.
So they gathered at Mizpah, which was the town where Samuel previously was the leader of the Israeli people. They had a big ceremony there. They drew water [from a well], and poured the water on the ground while Yahweh watched. [To show that they were sorry for having worshiped idols], they did not eat any food on that day, and they confessed that they had sinned against Yahweh.
7 Mizpah ah Israel ca rhoek a coi uh thae te Philisti loh a yaak vaengah Israel te Philisti boei rhoek loh a caeh thil uh. Israel ca rhoek loh a yaak uh vaengah Philisti te a rhih uh.
When the kings of the Philistia area heard that the Israeli people had gathered at Mizpah, they led their armies there to attack the Israelis. When the Israelis found out that the Philistia army was approaching them, they became very afraid.
8 Te dongah Samuel te Israel ca rhoek loh, “Mamih kah BOEIPA Pathen taengah pang ham khaw kaimih he nam phah sak pawt koinih Philisti kut lamloh mamih n'khang suidae,” a ti na uh.
They told Samuel, “Pray to Yahweh to rescue us from the Philistia army [MTY], and do not stop pleading!”
9 Samuel loh suktui aka yawn tuca pakhat a loh phoeiah cet tih BOEIPA taengah hmueihhlutnah la boeih a khuen. Te phoeiah BOEIPA te Samuel loh Israel yueng la a doek hatah BOEIPA loh a doo pah.
So Samuel took a very young lamb [and killed it] and offered it to Yahweh to be a sacrifice that was completely burned [on the altar]. Then he prayed and pleaded that Yahweh [would help] the Israelis, and Yahweh did help them.
10 Samuel loh hmueihhlutnah a paan vaengah Philisti rhoek tah caemtloek la Israel taengah thoeih uh. Tedae tekah khohnin dongah Philisti te BOEIPA loh a ol ue neh rhaek bangla a daeh tih a khawkkhek dongah amih te Israel mikhmuh ah yawk uh.
While Samuel was burning the offering, the Philistia army came near to attack the Israelis. But Yahweh caused it to thunder very loudly. The soldiers of the Philistia army became very frightened, and then they (became confused/did not know what to do). So the Israelis were able to defeat them.
11 Te vaengah Mizpah lamkah Israel hlang rhoek te ha pawk uh tih Philisti te a hloem uh. Te dongah Phlilisti te Bethkar kungdak duela a tloek uh.
The Israeli men ran out of Mizpah and pursued the Philistia soldiers almost to Beth-Car [town], and killed many Philistia soldiers while they were trying to run away.
12 Te phoeiah Samuel loh lungto pakhat a loh tih Mizpah laklo neh Shane laklo ah a khueh. “Tahae duela BOEIPA loh mamih m'bom coeng,” a ti dongah lungto ming te Ebenezer la a khue.
After that happened, Samuel took a large stone and set it up between Mizpah and Jeshanah [towns]. He named the stone ‘Ebenezer’, [which means ‘stone of help’], because he said “Yahweh has helped us until the present time.”
13 Philisti rhoek khaw kunyun uh coeng tih Israel khorhi a paan ham koep khoep uh voel pawh. Samuel tue khuiah tah Philisti khaw BOEIPA kut ah ni a om.
So the Philistia people were defeated, and for a long time they did not enter the Israeli land [to attack them] again. During the time that Samuel was alive, Yahweh powerfully protected [MTY] [the Israeli people] from [being attacked by] the Philistia army.
14 Te dongah Israel taengkah khopuei Philisti loh a loh rhoek, Ekron lamloh Gath neh a khorhi duela Israel taengla a mael uh. Philisti kut lamloh Israel a huul dongah Israel laklo neh Amori laklo ah khaw rhoepnah om.
The Israeli army was able to capture again the Israeli villages between Ekron and Gath that the Philistia army had captured before. The Israelis were also able to take again the other areas around those cities that the Philistia army had taken [from the Israelis] previously. And there was peace between the Israelis and the Amor people-group.
15 Samuel a hing tue khuiah Israel te lai a tloek pah.
Samuel continued to be the leader of the Israeli people until he died.
16 A kum kum ah voeikhat carhil tah cet tih Bethel khaw, Gilgal khaw, Mizpah khaw a hil. Hmuen tom kah Israel te lai a tloek pah.
As long as he was alive, every year he traveled back and forth between Bethel and Gilgal and Mizpah [cities]. In those cities he listened to disputes between people and made decisions about them.
17 Tedae Ramah la a maelnah amah im ah Israel te lai a tloek pah tih BOEIPA ham hmueihtuk pahoi a suem.
After he listened to disputes and made decisions in each of those towns, he returned to his home at Ramah, and he would listen to people’s disputes there, also, [and make decisions about them]. And he built an altar at Ramah [to offer sacrifices] to Yahweh.
