Samuel 1 27
1 Ale David nɔ bubum le eɖokui me be, “Gbe ɖeka la, Saul ƒe asi asu dzinye. Mate Filistitɔwo domenɔnɔ kpɔ va se ɖe esime Saul nadzudzɔ yonyemetiti. Ekema maganɔ dedie.”
But David thought, “Some day Saul will capture me [if I stay around here]. So the best thing that I can do is to escape and go to the Philistia area. If I do that, Saul will stop searching for me here in Israel, and I will be safe.”
2 Ale David kple ame alafa ade siwo le eŋu la dzo heyi Akis, Mayok vi, Gat fia, gbɔ.
So David and his 600 men left Israel and went to see Maoch’s son Achish, who was king of Gath [city in the Philistia area].
3 David kple eƒe amewo nɔ Gat le fia Akis gbɔ. Ame sia ame kplɔ eƒe aƒemetɔwo ɖe asi eye David hã kplɔ srɔ̃a eveawo: Ahinoam tso Yezreel kple Abigail tso Karmel, ame si nye Nabal ƒe ahosi la ɖe asi.
David and his men and their families started to live there in Gath, the city where king Achish lived. David’s two wives were with him—Ahinoam from Jezreel, and Nabal’s widow Abigail, from Carmel.
4 Esi Saul se be David si yi Gat la, edzudzɔ eyometiti.
When someone told Saul that David had run away [and was living] in Gath, he stopped searching for David.
5 Gbe ɖeka David gblɔ na Akis be, “Nye aƒetɔ, ne anyo na wò la, ekema nàna míanɔ du sue aɖe me ke menye fiadua me le afii o.”
[One day] David said to Achish, “If you are pleased with us, give us a place in one of the small villages where we can stay. There is no need [RHQ] for us to stay in the city where you are the king.”
6 Ale Fia Akis tsɔ Ziklag na David eye wòzu Yuda fia ƒe du va se ɖe egbe.
[Achish liked what David suggested]. So that day Achish gave to David Ziklag [town]. As a result, Ziklag has belonged to the kings of Judah since that time.
7 David kple eƒe amewo nɔ Ziklag le Filistitɔwo dome, ƒe ɖeka kple ɣleti ene.
David [and his men] lived in the Philistia area for 16 months.
8 Wonɔa Gesuritɔwo, Girzitɔwo kple Amalekitɔwo, ame siwo nɔ Sur gbɔ le Egipte mɔ dzi tso gbe aɖe gbe ke la ham.
[During that time] David and his men raided the people who lived [in the areas] where the Geshur, Girzi, and Amalek people-groups lived. Those people had lived there a long time. That area extended [south] from Telam to the Shur [Desert] and to [the border of] Egypt.
9 Womenana ame aɖeke tsia agbe le du siwo dzi wodzena la me o. Wohaa woƒe alẽwo, nyiwo, tedziwo, kposɔwo kple nudodowo hafi trɔ va Akis.
Whenever David’s men attacked them, they killed all the men and women, and they took all the people’s sheep and cattle and donkeys and camels, and even their clothes. Then they would bring those things back home, [and David would go to talk] to Achish.
10 Akis biaa David be, “Afi ka tɔwo dzi miedze egbea?” David ɖoa eŋu be, “Míedze ame siwo le Yuda ƒe anyigbeme kple Yerameeltɔwo kple Kenitɔwo dzi.”
Each time Achish would ask David, “Where did you go raiding today?” David [would lie to him]. Sometimes he would reply that they had gone to the southern part of Judah, and sometimes he would say that they had gone to Jerahmeel, or to the area where the Ken people-group lived.
11 David mena ŋutsu alo nyɔnu aɖeke tsia agbe o, elabena ebu be, ne yekplɔ wo va Gat la, woava ƒo nu le yewo ŋu agblɔ be, “Ale kple ale David wɔ enye esi.” Nu sia dzɔna edziedzi esi wònɔ Filistitɔwo dome.
David’s men never brought back to Gath any man or woman who was left alive. David thought, “If [we do not kill everyone, some of] them [who are still alive] will go and tell Achish [the truth] about what we really did.” David did that all the time that he [and his men] lived in the Philistia area.
12 Fia Akis xɔ David dzi se eye wòbu be Israelviwo alé fui azɔ. Fia la bu be, “Azɔ la, atsi afi sia eye wòasubɔm tegbetegbe.”
So Achish believed [what] David [told him], and said to himself, “[Because of what David has done, ] his own people, the Israelis, must now hate him very much. So he will have to [stay here and] serve me forever.”
