Samuel 1 24
1 Esi Saul wɔ aʋa kple Filistitɔwo eye wòtrɔ gbɔ la, wogblɔ nɛ be David yi gbedzi le En Gedi.
After Saul [and his soldiers] returned [home] after fighting against the Philistia army, someone reported to Saul that David [and his men] had gone into the desert near En-Gedi.
2 Saul kplɔ asrafo tɔxɛ akpe etɔ̃ ɖe asi tso Israel eye wòyi ɖadi David le agakpewo dome le En Gedi gbedzi.
[When] Saul [heard that, he] chose 3,000 men from various areas in Israel, and they went to search for David and his men at a place named Rocks of Wild Goats.
3 Saul yi ɖe agado aɖe le afi si mɔ la to alẽkpo aɖewo dome le la me be yeade afɔdzi, sigbeɖe, David kple eƒe aʋawɔlawo be ɖe agado ma ke me!
At a place where the road was alongside some sheep pens, Saul [left the road and] entered a cave to defecate [EUP]. [He did not know that] David and his men were hiding further inside that same cave!
4 David ƒe amewo do dalĩ nɛ be, “Azã la su na wò azɔ. Egbee nye ŋkeke si ŋu Yehowa gblɔ le be, ‘Matsɔ Saul ade wò ŋusẽ te eye nàwɔ nu si dze ŋuwò la kplii!’” David wɔ ɖɔɖɔɖɔ eye wòlã Saul ƒe awu ʋlaya to!
David’s men [saw Saul and] whispered to David, “Today is the day that Yahweh spoke about when he said, ‘I will enable you to defeat your enemy.’ You can do to him whatever you want to!” So David crept toward the entrance of the cave and [with his knife] he cut off a piece of Saul’s robe.
5 Ke eƒe dzitsinya de asi fuɖeɖe nɛ me.
[And then he returned to his men]. But then David felt guilty for having cut off a piece of Saul’s robe.
6 Egblɔ na eƒe amewo be, “Nede megbe xaa tso gbɔnye le Yehowa ta be mawɔ nenem nu vɔ̃ ma ɖe nye aƒetɔ si nye Yehowa ƒe amesiamina la ŋu, elabena Yehowa ƒe amesiamina wònye.”
He said to his men, “I should not have done that to the king! I hope/desire that Yahweh will never allow me to attack the one whom God has appointed, because Yahweh is the one who chose him [to be the king].”
7 David ka mo na eƒe amewo kple nya siawo eye meɖe mɔ na wo wowu Saul o. Ale Saul do go le agado la me eye wòdzo.
By saying that, David restrained his men, and did not allow them to kill Saul.
8 Tete David do go le agado la me eye wòdo ɣli ɖo ɖe Saul yome be, “Nye aƒetɔ, fia!” Esi Saul nye kɔ kpɔ megbe la, David bɔbɔ de ta agu eye wòmlɔ anyi tsyɔ mo anyi.
After Saul left the cave and started to walk on the road again, David came out of the cave and shouted to Saul, “King Saul!” Saul turned around and looked, and David bowed down with his face touching the ground.
9 David do ɣli na Saul be, “Nu ka ta nèle to ɖom ame siwo le gbɔgblɔm na wò be, David ɖoe kplikpaa be yeawɔ nuvevi wò?
Then he said to Saul, “(Why do you pay attention to people when they say ‘David wants to harm you’?/You should not pay attention to people when they say ‘David wants to harm you’.) [RHQ]
10 Wò ŋutɔ èkpɔe kple wò ŋkuwo le egbeŋkeke sia dzi ale si Yehowa tsɔ wò de asi nam le agadoa me eye nye ame aɖewo ƒoe ɖe nunye be mawu wò, gake meɖe wò agbe elabena megblɔ be, ‘Nyemakɔ nye asi dzi ɖe nye aƒetɔ ŋu o, elabena Yehowa ƒe amesiaminae wònye.’
Today you can see with your own eyes that [what they say is not true]. Yahweh put you in a place where my men and I could have killed you when you were in this cave. Some of my men told me that I should do that, but I did not do that. I said to them, ‘I will not harm my master, because he is the king whom Yahweh appointed.’
11 Kpɔe ɖa, fofonye, kpɔ wò awu ʋlaya ƒe kakɛ si le nye asi me la ɖa! Melã wò awu ʋlaya to gake nyemewu wò o. Azɔ se egɔme eye nànyae be nu tovo wɔwɔ alo aglãdzedze ƒe fɔɖiɖi mele dzinye o. Nyemedze agɔ le dziwò o, ke wò ya èti yonyeme kutɔkutɔe be yeaɖe nye agbe ɖa.
Your majesty, look at this piece of your robe that is in my hand! I cut it from your robe, but I did not kill you. So now you should be able to understand that I am not planning to do anything evil to you. I have not done anything wrong to you, but you are searching for me to kill me.
12 “Yehowa nedrɔ̃ ʋɔnu le nye kpli wò dome eye Yehowa neɖo vɔ̃ siwo katã nèwɔ ɖe ŋunye la teƒe na wò. Ke nye ya nye asi maka ŋutiwò o.
I hope/desire that Yahweh will judge and decide which of us ([is doing what is right/pleases him]). And I hope/desire that he will punish you for the wrong things that you have done to me. But I will not try to harm you.
13 Lododo xoxo aɖe gblɔ be, ‘Nu vɔ̃ɖi doa go tsoa ame vɔ̃ɖiwo me.’
There is a proverb that has the words, ‘Evil things are done by evil people.’ But [I am not evil, so] I will not do evil things to you.
14 “Ame ka ŋutie Israel fia do go ɖo? Ame ka yome tim nèle? Avu kukua? Alo axɔ̃ ɖeka ŋua?
“You are the king of Israel. So (why are you pursuing me?/you should not be pursuing me.) [RHQ] I am [as harmless as] [MET] a dead dog or a flea.
15 Yehowa ŋutɔ nanye míaƒe ʋɔnudrɔ̃la eye wòadrɔ̃ nya le mía dome. Yehowa nebu nye nya ŋu eye wòaʋli tanye, neɖem tso asiwò me, esia anye afiatsotso nam.”
I hope/desire that Yahweh will judge which of us [is doing what (he wants/is right)]. I trust that he will [act like a lawyer and] judge (my case/what I have done), and that he will rescue me from your power [MTY].”
16 Esi David wu nya siawo gbɔgblɔ nu la, Saul biae be, “Wò gbee nye ema, vinye David?” Ale wòwo avi sesĩe.
When David finished speaking, Saul [called out to him and] asked, “My son David, is that your voice [that I am hearing]?” Then he began to cry loudly.
17 Egblɔ na David be, “Ènye ame dzɔdzɔe wum. Èwɔ nyui nam le esime nye ya mewɔ vɔ̃ ɖe ŋutiwò.
He said, “You are a better man than I am. You have done something very good to me when I tried to do something very bad to you.
18 Ègblɔ nyui si nèwɔ nam la fifi laa. Yehowa tsɔm de asiwò me, gake mèwum o.
When Yahweh put me in a place [in that cave] where you could have easily killed me, you did not do that.
19 Ne ame aɖe do go eƒe futɔ la, ɖe wòɖea asi le eŋu wòdzona nuvevimawɔmawɔea? Yehowa neɖo nyui sia teƒe na wò geɖe, ɖe nu si nèwɔ nam egbea la ta.
(Who else would/No one else would) find his enemy and allow his enemy to escape [when he could kill him instead] [RHQ]. I hope/desire that Yahweh will reward you for being kindly to me today.
20 Azɔ la medze sii be èle fia ɖu ge kokoko eye Israel fiaɖuƒe la ali ke ɖe asiwò me.
I know that [some day] you will surely become the king, and that your kingdom will prosper as you rule the Israeli people.
21 Le Yehowa ƒe ŋkɔ me, ka atam nam bena ne nu sia va eme la, màwu nye ƒometɔwo eye màtsrɔ̃ nye dzidzimeviwo o!”
Now while Yahweh is listening, solemnly promise to me that you will not kill my family and get rid of all my descendants.”
22 Ale David ka atam la na Saul. Tete Saul trɔ dzo yi aƒe me ke David kple eƒe ameawo gbugbɔ yi mɔ sesẽ la me.
David solemnly promised Saul that he would not [harm Saul’s family]. Then Saul went back home, and David and his men went back up into the place where they had been hiding.
