< Judges 3 >

1 At that time there were still many people-groups in Canaan. Yahweh left them there to test the Israeli people. But many of the Israelis in Canaan were ones who had not fought in any of the wars in Canaan. So Yahweh also left those people-groups in Canaan so that the descendants of those who had not fought in any of the wars might learn how to fight.
Ale Yehowa gblẽ dukɔ aɖewo ɖe anyigba la dzi be yeado Israelvi siwo mekpɔ aʋawɔwɔ le Kanaanyigba dzi teƒe o la kpɔ.
2
Ewɔ esia be yeafia nu Israelviwo ƒe dzidzime ɖe sia ɖe tso aʋawɔwɔ ŋu, vevietɔ ame siwo mekpɔ aʋawɔwɔ teƒe kpɔ o.
3 [This is a list of] the people-groups that Yahweh left there: The Philistines and their five leaders, the people living in the area near Sidon [city], the descendants of Canaan, and the descendants of Hiv who were living in the mountains of Lebanon between Baal-Hermon Mountain and Lebo-Hamath.
Ame siwo ganɔ anyigba la dzi kokoko woe nye Filistitɔwo ƒe du atɔ̃ me nɔlawo, Kanaantɔwo katã, Sidontɔwo kple Hivitɔwo, ame siwo nɔ Lebanon towo dzi, tso Baal Hermon to dzi yi ɖase Hamat mɔ nu.
4 Yahweh left these people-groups there to test the Israelis, to see if they would obey his commands which he had told Moses to give them.
Wonye dodokpɔ na Israel be woakpɔe ɖa be Israelviwo awɔ se siwo Yehowa de na Mose, wòde na wo dzi loo alo womawɔ wo dzi o mahã.
5 The Israelis lived among the Canaan people-group, the Hiv people-group, the Amor people-group, the Periz people-group, the Hiv people-group, and the Jebus people-group.
Ale Israel nɔ Kanaantɔwo, Hititɔwo, Hivitɔwo, Perizitɔwo, Amoritɔwo kple Yebusitɔwo dome.
6 [Moses had told the people not to associate with any of those people]. But the Israelis took daughters of people from those people-groups [to be their own wives], and gave their own daughters to men of those groups, to marry them. And [as a result] they started to worship the gods of those people-groups.
Ke le esime Israelviwo natsrɔ̃ wo teƒe la, woɖe srɔ̃ tso wo dome. Israel ɖekakpuiwo ɖe dukɔ siawo ƒe ɖetugbiwo eye woawo hã ƒe ɖekakpuiwo ɖe Israel ɖetugbiwo. Eteƒe medidi hafi Israelviwo de asi dukɔ siawo ƒe mawuwo subɔsubɔ me o.
7 The Israelis did things that Yahweh said were very evil. They forgot about Yahweh, their God, and they started to worship [the idols that represented] the god Baal and the goddess Asherah.
Ale Israelviwo wɔ nu vɔ̃ le Yehowa ŋkume, elabena wotrɔ le Yehowa, woƒe Mawu la yome eye wosubɔ Baalwo kple aƒeliwo.
8 Yahweh became very angry with the Israelis. So he allowed king Cushan from Mesopotamia to conquer them and rule them for eight years.
Ale Yehowa do dɔmedzoe ɖe Israel ŋu vevie eye wòna Kusan Risataim si nye Aram Naharaim fia va ɖu wo dzi eye wonɔ eƒe dziɖuɖu te ƒe enyi.
9 But when they pleaded to Yahweh [to help them], he gave them a leader to rescue them. He was Othniel, the son of Caleb’s younger brother Kenaz.
Ke esi Israel do ɣli na Yehowa la, ena Kaleb ƒe tɔɖiayɔvi, Otniel, ame si nye Kenaz, Kaleb nɔviŋutsu ƒe vi la ɖe wo tso futɔwo si me.
10 Yahweh’s Spirit came upon him, and he became their leader. He [led an army that] fought against [the army of] Cushan, and defeated them.
Yehowa ƒe Gbɔgbɔ ɖiɖi ɖe Otniel dzi eye wòzu Ʋɔnudrɔ̃la na Israel. Esi wòkplɔ Israel ƒe aʋakɔ eye wowɔ aʋa kple Aram, Fia Kusan Risataim la, Yehowa kpe ɖe Israelviwo ŋu be woɖu dzi.
11 After that, there was peace in the land for 40 years, until Othniel died.
Ale Israelviwo nɔ ŋutifafa me ƒe blaene sɔŋ va se ɖe esime Otniel, Kenaz ƒe vi la ku.
12 After that, the Israelis again did things that Yahweh said were very evil. As a result, he allowed the army of King Eglon, who ruled [the] Moab [area], to defeat the Israelis.
Israelviwo gawɔ nu si nye vɔ̃ le Yehowa ŋkume. Esi wowɔ vɔ̃ sia ta la, Yehowa tsɔ Israel de Moab fia Eglon ƒe ŋusẽ te.
13 Eglon persuaded the leaders of the Ammon and Amalek people-groups to join their armies with his army to attack Israel. They captured [Jericho, which was called] ‘The City of Palm Trees’.
Amonitɔwo kple Amalekitɔwo kpe ɖe Moab fia la ŋu; woɖu Israelviwo dzi, eye woxɔ Yeriko, du si woyɔna be “Detiwo ƒe Du”
14 Then King Eglon ruled the Israelis for eighteen years.
eya ta Israel nɔ Eglon, Moab fia la te ƒe wuienyi sɔŋ.
15 But then the Israelis again pleaded to Yahweh [to help them]. So he gave them another leader to rescue them. He was Ehud, a left-handed man, the son of Gera, from the descendants of Benjamin. The Israelis sent him to King Eglon to give him their yearly protection money.
Ke esi Israelviwo gado ɣli na Yehowa la, eɖo ɖela aɖe ɖe wo. Ɖela siae nye Ehud, Gera ƒe vi, tso Benyamin ƒe to la me, ame si nye mia wɔla. Israelviwo dɔe ɖo ɖe Moab fia Eglon gbɔ kple woƒe nudzɔdzɔ.
16 Ehud had with him a double-edged dagger, about a foot and a half long. He strapped it to his right thigh, under his clothes.
Hafi wòayi la, Ehud wɔ adekpui nuevee aɖe si didi mita afã. Eblae ɖe eƒe ɖusita ŋu eye wòdo awu ɖe edzi.
17 He gave the money to King Eglon, who was a very fat man.
Etsɔ nudzɔdzɔ yi na Moab Fia, Eglon, ame si lolo ŋutɔ.
18 Then Ehud started to go back home with the men who had carried the money.
Esi Ehud tsɔ nudzɔdzɔ na fia la la, egblɔ na Israelvi siwo tsɔ nuawo la be woatrɔ ayi aƒe.
19 When they arrived at the stone carvings near Gilgal, [he told the other men to go on, but] he himself turned around and went back [to the king of Moab. When he arrived at the palace], he said to the king, “Your majesty, I have a secret message for you.” So the king told all his servants to be quiet, and sent them out of the room.
Ke Ehud ŋutɔ trɔ le Gilgal ƒe legbawo gbɔ yi ɖagblɔ na fia la be, “O fia, nya ɣaɣla tɔxɛ aɖe le asinye na wò.” Tete fia la gblɔ na eŋumewo katã be, “Mizi ɖoɖoe!” Ale wo katã do go le xɔa me.
20 Then, as Eglon was sitting alone in the upstairs room of his summer palace, Ehud came close to him and said, “I have a message for you from God.” As the king got up from his chair,
Ehud yi egbɔ le dziƒoxɔ dzi afi si eya ɖeka nɔ anyi ɖo le eƒe dzomeŋɔlifiasã me hegblɔ nɛ be, “Mexɔ gbedeasi tso Mawu gbɔ na wò” Esi Fia la tsi tsitre tso eƒe zi dzi la,
21 Ehud reached with his left hand and pulled the dagger from his right thigh, and plunged it into the king’s belly.
Ehud ƒo eƒe miasi ɖe eƒe awu te heɖe adekpui si wòbla ɖe eƒe ɖusita ŋu la eye wònyrɔe ɖe fia la ƒe dɔ me.
22 He thrust it in so far that the handle went into the king’s belly, and the blade came out the king’s back. Ehud did not pull the dagger out. [He left it there, with] the handle buried in the king’s fat.
Adekpui la ƒe didime blibo la ga la kple asiléƒe la siaa bu ɖe lãme na Fia Eglon hedo ɖe dzimegbe nɛ. Ehud meho aɖekpui la do goe o, eye eƒe lãmemi nye tsyɔ edzi.
23 Then Ehud left the room. He went out to the porch. He shut the doors to the room and locked them.
Ale Ehud do go ɖe akpata me hetu dziƒoxɔ la ƒe ʋɔtruwo eye wode ga wo me.
24 After he had gone, King Eglon’s servants came back, but they saw that the doors of the room were locked. They said, “The king must be defecating in the inner room.”
Esi fia la ƒe subɔlawo kpɔ be ʋɔa nɔ tutu la, wolala, elabena wobu be ɖewohĩ fia la nɔ tsileƒe.
25 So they waited, but when the king did not open the doors of the room, after a while they were worried. They got a key and unlocked the doors. And they saw that their king was lying on the floor, dead.
Ke esi eteƒe didi, eye fia la medo go o la, dzika tso wo ƒo, ale wodi safui aɖe heʋu ʋɔ la, kasia wokpɔ fia la wòku, mlɔ anyigba.
26 Meanwhile, Ehud escaped. He passed by the stone carvings and arrived at Seirah, in the hilly area where the descendants of Ephraim lived.
Le ɣeyiɣi sia me la, Ehud si heto kpelegba siwo wokpa da ɖe Seira la ŋu.
27 There he blew a trumpet [to signal that the people should join him to fight the people of Moab]. So the Israelis went with him from the hills. They went down [toward the Jordan river], with Ehud leading them.
Esi wòɖo Efraim ƒe tonyigba dzi la, eku kpẽ. Tete Israelviwo ɖi tso towo dzi va kpe ta ɖe eŋu, eye eya ŋutɔ dze wo ŋgɔ.
28 He said to the men, “Yahweh is going to allow us to defeat your enemies, the people of Moab. So follow me!” So they followed him down to the river, and they stationed some of their men at the place where people can walk across the river, in order that they could [kill any people from Moab who tried to] cross the river [to escape].
Egblɔ na wo be, “Mikplɔm ɖo elabena Yehowa tsɔ míaƒe futɔwo, Moabtɔwo de asi na mí!” Aʋakɔ la yi ɖaxɔ afi si Moabtɔwo tsoa Yɔdan tɔsisi la le, eye woxe mɔ na woƒe tɔsisi la tsotso.
29 At that time, the Israelis killed about 10,000 people from Moab. They were all strong and capable men, but not one of them escaped.
Wodze Moabtɔwo dzi eye wowu woƒe aʋawɔla sesẽ akpe ewo; wo dometɔ aɖeke mete ŋu si o.
30 On that day, the Israelis conquered the people of Moab. Then there was peace in their land for 80 years.
Ale Israel ɖu Moab dzi gbe ma gbe, eye ŋutifafa nɔ anyigba la dzi ƒe blaenyi sɔŋ.
31 After Ehud [died], Shamgar became their leader. He rescued the Israelis [from the Philistines. In one battle] he killed 600 Philistines with an (ox goad/sharp wooden pole).
Ʋɔnudrɔ̃la si kplɔ Ehud ɖo lae nye Samgar, Anat ƒe vi. Etsɔ nyikplɔti wu Filistitɔ alafa ade. Eya hã ɖe Israel.

< Judges 3 >