1 Samuel 6
1 The people of Philistia kept God’s sacred chest in their area for seven months.
Yehowa ƒe nubablaɖaka la nɔ Filistitɔwo ƒe anyigba dzi ɣleti adre.
2 Then they summoned their priests and their (diviners/men who practice rituals to find out what would happen in the future). They asked them, “What should we do with the sacred chest of Yahweh? Tell us how we should send it back to its own land.”
Filistitɔwo yɔ woƒe nunɔlawo kple afakalawo ƒo ƒui eye wobia wo be, “Nu ka tututu míawɔ tso Yehowa ƒe nubablaɖaka la ŋu? Nunana ka ƒomevi míatsɔ akpe ɖe eŋu ne míegbugbɔe yi Israelviwo ƒe anyigba dzi?”
3 Those men replied, “Send with it an offering [to show Yahweh that you know that you are] guilty [for having captured the chest], in order that the plague will stop. If you do that, and then if you are healed, you will know that Yahweh is the one who caused you to experience the plague.”
Woɖo eŋu be, “Ne miebe yewoatrɔ Israel ƒe Mawu la ƒe nubablaɖaka la ayi la, migaɖoe ɖa asi ƒuƒlui o, ke boŋ godoo la, mitsɔ fɔɖivɔsa kpe ɖe eŋuti. Ekema miakpɔ dɔyɔyɔ eye miakpɔe ɖa be eƒe asi madzo le mia dzi o mahã?”
4 The people of Philistia asked, “What kind of offering should we send?” The men replied, “Make five gold models of the tumors on your skin, and five gold models of rats. Make five of each because that is the same number as the number of your kings, and because the plague has struck both you people and your five kings.
Filistitɔwo bia be, “Fɔɖivɔsanu kae míatsɔ aɖo ɖa?” Woɖo eŋu be, “Sikaƒoƒoe atɔ̃ kple afi si wowɔ kple sika la atɔ̃, ɖe Filistitɔwo ƒe amegãwo ƒe xexlẽme nu elabena dɔvɔ̃ ɖeka ƒomevie va dze mi kple mia dziɖulawo siaa dzi.
5 Make models that represent the rats and the tumors that are ruining your land. Make them in order to honor the god of the Israeli people. If you do that, perhaps he will stop punishing [IDM] you, and your gods, and your land.
Miwɔ nuƒoƒoeawo kple afi siwo le miaƒe anyigba gblẽm la ƒe nɔnɔmewo eye miade bubu Israel ƒe Mawu la ŋu. Ɖewohĩ aɖe eƒe dɔmedzoe si wòda ɖe miawo ŋutɔ kple miaƒe mawuawo kple miaƒe anyigba dzi la ɖa.
6 Do not be [RHQ] stubborn [IDM] like the Egyptians and their king were. [They did not do what the Israelis’ god told them to do, so he punished them]. After the Israelis’ god finished punishing them very severely, they were glad to allow the Israelis to leave their country [RHQ].
Nu ka ŋuti miesẽ miaƒe dzi me abe ale si Egiptetɔwo kple Farao wɔ ene? Esi wòwɔ fu wo la ɖe womeɖo Israelviwo ɖa be woadzo oa?
7 “So you must build a new cart. Then get two cows that have very recently given birth to calves. They must be cows that have never been hitched to a cart [MTY]. Hitch those cows to the new cart, and take the calves away from their mothers.
“Miwɔ tasiaɖam yeye eye miatsii ɖe nyinɔ eve siwo dzi vi le ŋkeke siawo me eye wometsi keke ɖe wo ŋu kpɔ haɖe o la ŋuti. Milé wo viwo de kpo me.
8 Put the Israelis’ god’s sacred chest on the cart. Also put in the cart the five gold models of the tumors on your skin and the five gold models of rats. Put them in a small box alongside the sacred chest. They will be an offering to show that you know that you deserved to be punished [for capturing the sacred chest]. Then send [the cows] down the road, [pulling] the cart.
Mitsɔ Yehowa ƒe nubablaɖaka la eye midae ɖe tasiaɖam la dzi, mitsɔ aɖaka si me avulénu siwo wowɔ kple sika, siwo ɖom miele ɖa abe avulénu ene la da ɖe exa. Miɖoe ɖe mɔ dzi,
9 [Watch the cart as the cows pull it]. If they pull it to Beth-Shemesh [town] in Israel, we will know that it was the Israelis’ god who caused us to experience this plague. But if they do not take it there, we will know that it was not the god [MTY] of the Israelis who has punished us. We will know that it just happened.”
gake miaƒe ŋku nanɔ eŋuti. Nenye be eyi ɖe eya ŋutɔ ƒe anyigba dzi ɖo ta Bet Semes la, ekema Yehowae he dɔvɔ̃ sia va mía dzii. Gake ne mewɔe nenema o la, ekema míanyae be menye eƒe asie ƒo mí o, ke boŋ nane koe wònye va dzɔ ɖe mía dzi.”
10 So the people did what the priests and men who predicted what would happen in the future told them to do. They [made] a cart [and] hitched two cows to it. They took the calves from their mothers.
Ale wowɔ nu si wogblɔ na wo. Wotsi nyinɔ eve ɖe tasiaɖam la ŋu eye wotu wo viwo ɖe kpo me.
11 They put in the cart Yahweh’s sacred chest and the box with the models of the gold rats and the tumors.
Wotsɔ Yehowa ƒe nubablaɖaka la kple aɖaka si me sikafiwo kple sikaƒoƒoeawo nɔ la da ɖe tasiaɖam la dzi.
12 Then the cows started walking, and they went straight toward Beth-Shemesh. They stayed on the road, and were mooing all the time. They did not turn to the left or to the right. The five kings of the Philistia area followed the cows until they reached the edge of Beth-Shemesh.
Enumake nyinɔawo dze mɔ tẽe ɖo ta Bet Semes henɔ xɔxlɔ̃m sesĩe le mɔa dzi, womedze ɖe ɖusime alo miame o. Filistitɔwo ƒe amegãwo dze wo yome va se ɖe Bet Semes ƒe liƒo dzi.
13 At that time, the people of Beth-Shemesh were harvesting wheat in the valley [outside the city]. [When the cows came along the road], they looked up and saw the sacred chest. They were extremely happy to see it.
Bet Semestɔwo nɔ lu xam le balime le ɣe ma ɣi eye esi wofɔ mo dzi kpɔ nubablaɖaka la, wogli kple dzidzɔ!
14 The cows pulled the cart into the field of a man named Joshua, and they stopped alongside a large rock. Several men from the tribe of Levi lifted from the cart the sacred chest and the box containing the gold models of the rats and the tumors, and they put them all on the large rock. Then the people smashed the cart and kindled a fire with the wood [from which the cart had been made]. They slaughtered the cows and burned their bodies/carcasses on the fire to be an offering for Yahweh that would be completely burned. That day the people of Beth-Shemesh offered to Yahweh [many] sacrifices that were completely burned, and [other] sacrifices.
Keke la ge ɖe ŋutsu aɖe si ŋkɔe nye Yosua, ame si tso Bet Semes la ƒe agble me eye wòtɔ ɖe agakpe gã aɖe gbɔ. Ameawo fli tasiaɖam la ƒe atiwo hedo dzo eye wowu nyiawo hesa numevɔ na Yehowa.
Ame aɖewo tso Levi ƒe to la me ɖe nubablaɖaka la kple aɖaka si me sikalegeliawo kple sikaƒoƒoeawo nɔ la le keke la dzi eye woda wo ɖe agakpe la dzi. Bet Semestɔwo sa numevɔ kple akpedavɔ na Yehowa, Dziƒoʋakɔwo ƒe Aƒetɔ, gbe ma gbe.
16 The five kings from the Philistia area watched all this, and then they returned to Ekron, that same day.
Esi Filistitɔwo lé ŋku ɖe nuwo ƒe yiyi ŋu sẽe la, wotrɔ yi Ekron gbe ma gbe ke.
17 The five gold models of tumors that they sent to be an offering to Yahweh to show that they knew that they deserved to be punished were gifts from [those five kings who were rulers of] Ashdod, Gaza, Ashkelon, Gath, and Ekron [cities].
Sikaƒoƒoe atɔ̃ siwo Filistitɔwo ɖo ɖa abe fɔɖivɔsanu ene la nye nunana tso Asdod, Gaza, Askelon, Gat kple Ekron ƒe amegãwo gbɔ.
18 The models of the five gold rats were gifts from the people of those five cities and the surrounding towns. The large rock at Beth-Shemesh, on which the [men of the tribe of Levi] set the sacred chest, is still there in the field that belonged to Joshua. When people see it, they remember [what happened there].
Woɖo sikafiawo ɖa abe avulévɔsanu ene na Yehowa ɖe Filistitɔwo ƒe du bubuwo ta, ɖe du gã siwo woglã kple kɔƒe siwo nɔ amegã atɔ̃awo ƒe dzikpɔkpɔ te la siaa nu. Agakpe gã si dzi woda nubablaɖaka la ɖo le Bet Semes la gale Yosua ƒe agble la me va se ɖe egbe.
19 But seventy men from Beth-Shemesh looked into Yahweh’s sacred chest, and because of that, Yahweh caused them to die. Then the people mourned very much because Yahweh punished [IDM] those men like that.
Ke Yehowa wu Bet Semestɔ blaadre elabena wokpɔ nubablaɖaka la me. Dukɔ la fa konyi le ame geɖe siwo Yehowa wu la ta.
20 They said, “No one [RHQ] can (resist the power of/stand in the presence of) Yahweh, our holy God, [and remain alive]! Where can we send the sacred chest?”
Ameawo bia be, “Ame kae ate ŋu atsi tsitre ɖe Yehowa, Mawu kɔkɔe sia, ƒe ŋkume? Afi ka miatsɔ nubablaɖaka la ayi?”
21 They sent messengers to the people of Kiriath-Jearim [city] to tell them, “The people of Philistia have returned Yahweh’s sacred chest to us! Come here and take it away!”
Ale woɖo du ɖe Kiriat Yearimtɔwo kple kukuɖeɖe be, “Filistitɔwo tsɔ Yehowa ƒe nubablaɖaka la vɛ eya ta miva ne miakɔe yi mia gbɔe.”
