Samuel 1 1
1 Esiae nye Elkana, ŋutsu aɖe si nye Efraimtɔ eye wònɔ Ramataim Zofim le Efraim ƒe to la dzi ƒe ŋutinya. Fofoae nye Yeroham, ame si fofoe nye Elihu, ame si fofoe nye Tohu eye Tohu fofoe nye Zuf ame siwo nye Efraimtɔwo.
There was a man named Elkanah who lived in Ramah [town] in the hilly area where [the tribe of] Ephraim lived. His father was Jeroham, his grandfather was Elihu, and his great-grandfather was Tohu. He belonged to the Zuph clan.
2 Srɔ̃ eve nɔ Elkana si, ame siwo nye Hana kple Penina. Viwo nɔ Penina si ke Hana ya medzi vi o.
He had two wives: Hannah and Peninnah. Peninnah had several children, but Hannah had no children.
3 Elkana kple srɔ̃awo kple wo viwo zɔa mɔ ƒe sia ƒe yia Yehowa ƒe agbadɔ la me le Silo be woasubɔ Yehowa, ŋusẽkatãtɔ la, eye woasa vɔ nɛ. Yehowa ƒe nunɔla siwo nɔ subɔsubɔdɔwo wɔm ɣe ma ɣi woe nye Eli kple via eveawo; Hofni kple Finehas.
Once every year Elkanah went up [with his family] from Ramah to Shiloh [city]. He went there to worship Yahweh, [the commander] of the armies [of angels], and to offer sacrifices to him. The two sons of Eli, Hophni and Phinehas, [helped their father to do the work as] priests of Yahweh there.
4 Ne ɣeyiɣi de be Elkana nasa vɔ la, aka vɔsalã la ƒe ɖe na srɔ̃a Penina kple via ŋutsuwo kple via nyɔnuwo katã.
Each time Elkanah offered sacrifices there, he gave some of the meat to Peninnah and some to each of her sons and daughters.
5 Ke enaa lã la ƒe akpa eve Hana ya elabena togbɔ be elɔ̃e hã la Yehowa tu eƒe vidzidɔ.
But even though he loved Hannah very much, he gave her only one special amount of meat because Yahweh had not permitted her to give birth to any children.
6 Esi wònye be Yehowa tu eƒe vidzidɔ ta la, atsusia nɔa dzigbãnyawo gblɔm ɖe eŋu be ne wòado dziku.
And his other wife, Peninnah, would ridicule Hannah to make her feel miserable, because Yahweh had not allowed her to bear children.
7 Esia yia dzi ƒe sia ƒe. Nenye be Hana yi ɖe Yehowa ƒe aƒe me la, atsusia gblɔa nya doa dziku nɛ va se ɖe esime wòwoa avi eye wògbea nuɖuɖu.
This happened every year. When they went up to the temple of Yahweh [at Shiloh], Peninnah ridiculed Hannah so much that Hannah cried and would not eat.
8 Srɔ̃a Elkana bianɛ be, “Hana, nya kae na nèle avi fam? Nu ka ŋuti nègbe nuɖuɖu? Nu ka ŋuti nèle nu xam ale? Ɖe nyamewu viŋutsu ewo na wò oa?”
Then Elkanah would say to her, “Hannah, (why are you crying?/please quit crying!) [RHQ] (Why are you not eating?/Please eat something!) [RHQ] Why are you so upset/sad? You have me; is that not more important to you than if you had ten sons? (OR, I [love you] more than your sons [would love you], even if you had ten sons.)”
9 Gbe ɖeka le Silo, esi woɖu nu, no nu vɔ la, Hana yi Agbadɔ la me, nunɔla Eli nɔ anyi ɖe eƒe teƒe le Yehowa ƒe Agbadɔ la ƒe mɔnu.
One year, after they had finished eating and drinking at Shiloh, Hannah stood up [to pray]. Eli the priest was nearby, sitting on a chair by the doorway of the sacred tent of Yahweh.
10 Hana nɔ nu xam vevie, nɔ avi fam le esime wònɔ gbe dom ɖa na Yehowa
Hannah was very distressed, and she cried very sorrowfully as she prayed to Yahweh.
11 eye wòɖe adzɔgbe na Yehowa be, “O Yehowa Ŋusẽkatãtɔ, ne àkpɔ wò dɔla ƒe nublanuitɔnyenye dzi ɖa, aɖo ŋku dzinye eye màŋlɔ wò dɔla be o, ke boŋ nànae viŋutsu la, ekema matsɔe na Yehowa le eƒe agbemeŋkekewo katã me eye talũhɛ maka eƒe ta ŋu o.”
She made a vow saying, “O Almighty Commander of the armies of angels, if you will look at me and see how miserable I am, and think about me and allow me to give birth to a son, then I will dedicate him to you [to serve you] for the rest of his life. And [to show that he is dedicated to you], (no one will ever [be allowed to] cut his hair/his hair will never be cut).”
12 Esime Hana nɔ gbe dom ɖa na Yehowa la, Eli nɔ ŋku lém ɖe eƒe nuyiwo ŋu.
As she was praying like that to Yahweh, Eli the priest saw Hannah’s lips [moving as she was praying].
13 Hana do gbea ɖa le eƒe dzi me, eƒe nuyiwo nɔ ʋaʋãm butubutu gake eƒe gbe meɖi wose o, eya ta Eli bu be ahae wòmu.
But Hannah was only praying silently; she was not making any sound. So Eli thought that she was drunk.
14 Ale Eli biae be, “Va se ɖe ɣe ka ɣi nàmu aha? Na wain la nakɔ le mo na wò.”
He said to her, “How long will you continue to get drunk [RHQ]? (Throw away your wine/Quit drinking wine)!”
15 Hana ɖo eŋu gblɔ be, “Ao, nye aƒetɔ, nyɔnu si ƒe dzi le nu xam lae menye. Nyemenoa wain alo aha sesẽ o; ke boŋ nye dzimenuxaxa ko ɖem mele ɖe Yehowa ŋkume.
Hannah replied, “Sir, I am not drunk! I have not been drinking wine or any other alcoholic drink. I feel very distressed and I have been telling Yahweh about how I feel.
16 Mègabu wò dɔlanyɔnu vɔ̃ɖi o. Nye xaxawo tae mele gbe dom ɖa le afi sia le nuxaxa blibo me.”
Do not think that I am a worthless/wicked woman! I have been praying like this because I am very distressed [DOU].”
17 Eli gblɔ be, “Heyi le ŋutifafa me eye Israel ƒe Mawu la nana nu si nèbiae la wò!”
Eli replied, “I wish/desire that things will go well for you. I desire that God, the one we Israeli people [worship], will give you what you requested from him.”
18 Hana gblɔ be, “Na wò dɔla nakpɔ amenuveve le gbɔwò.” Ale wòlé eƒe mɔ tsɔ eye wòdi nane ɖu, ale be megato mo azɔ o.
She replied, “I want you to think highly/well about me.” Then she returned [to her family] and after she ate something, her face no longer looked sad.
19 Ƒome blibo la fɔ ŋdi kanya heyi ɖasubɔ Yehowa le Agbadɔ la me eye wotrɔ yi woƒe aƒe me le Rama. Elkana dɔ srɔ̃a Hana gbɔ eye Yehowa ɖo ŋku Hana dzi.
Early the next morning, Elkanah and his family got up and worshiped Yahweh [again], and then they returned to their home at Ramah. Elkanah (slept with/had sex with) Hannah. Then Yahweh answered her prayer,
20 Ale le ɣeyiɣi aɖe megbe la, Hana fɔ fu, dzi viŋutsu eye wòna ŋkɔe be Samuel elabena egblɔ be, “Yehowa si mee mebiae le.”
and she became pregnant and gave birth to a son. She named him Samuel, [which sounds like the words in the Hebrew language that mean ‘heard by God’], because she said “Yahweh [heard me when] I requested from him [a son].”
21 Esi ƒe trɔ la, Elkana kple eƒe ƒometɔwo katã gawɔ mɔzɔzɔ si wowɔna ƒe sia ƒe heyi ɖe Yehowa ƒe Agbadɔ la me be wòaxe eƒe adzɔgbeɖefe.
The following year, Elkanah again went up [to Shiloh] with his family to make the kind of sacrifice he made each year, and also to give a special offering to God that he had promised [to give him previously].
22 Ke Hana meyi o. Egblɔ na srɔ̃a be, “Malala va se ɖe esime ɖevi la dzudzɔ nonono ekema makplɔe ayi na Yehowa eye wòanɔ afi ma ɖaa.”
But Hannah did not go [with them]. She said to her husband, “After I have weaned the baby, I will take him [to Shiloh and present him] to Yahweh, and he will stay there for the rest of his life.”
23 Elkana lɔ̃ ɖe edzi hegblɔ be, “Enyo; wɔ nu sia nu si nèkpɔ be edze. Woawɔ Yehowa ƒe lɔlɔ̃nu.” Ale Hana nɔ aƒe me va se ɖe esime Samuel dzudzɔ nonono.
Elkanah said, “Do what seems the best to you. Stay here until you have weaned him. What I desire is that Yahweh will [enable you to] do what you have promised.” So Hannah stayed at home and nursed her son until she weaned him.
24 Esi wòtso no na ɖevia la, ekplɔ ɖevi la, togbɔ be metsi o hã la, etsɔ nyitsu si xɔ ƒe etɔ̃, wɔ lita blaeve-vɔ-eve kple wainlãgbalẽgolo ɖeka kpe ɖe eŋuti eye wòkplɔe va Yehowa ƒe aƒe me le Silo.
After she weaned him, even though Samuel was very young, she took him to the temple/house of Yahweh at Shiloh. [To offer as a sacrifice], she took along a three-year-old bull, [a sack containing] (20 pounds/9 kg.) of flour, and a container of wine.
25 Le vɔsa la megbe la, wokplɔ ɖevi la yi Eli gbɔ.
After the priest had slaughtered the bull [and offered it to Yahweh on the altar], Hannah and Elkanah brought the boy to Eli.
26 Hana bia Eli be, “Nye aƒetɔ, èɖo ŋku dzinyea? Nyee nye nyɔnu si tsi tsitre ɖe afi sia ɣe aɖe ɣi henɔ gbe dom ɖa na Yehowa.
Then Hannah said to him, “Sir, (Do you remember me?/I solemnly affirm), I am the woman who prayed as I stood here beside you [several years ago].
27 Meɖe kuku nɛ be wòana ɖevi siam eye wòna nu si mebiae lam.
I prayed that Yahweh would enable me to give birth to a child, and this is the child whom I requested Yahweh to give me.
28 Eya ta mele ɖevi la tsɔm na Yehowa azɔ le eƒe agbemeŋkekewo katã me.” Ale Hana gblẽ ɖevia ɖe afi ma le Agbadɔ la me na Yehowa.
So now I am presenting him to Yahweh. He will belong to Yahweh as long as he lives.” Then Elkanah [and his family] worshiped Yahweh there.
