Samuel 2 11
1 Le Adame esi fiawo ƒe aʋawɔɣi ɖo la, David ɖo Yoab kple Israel ƒe aʋakɔ la ɖa be woatsrɔ̃ Amonitɔwo eye woɖe to ɖe Raba. Ke David nɔ Yerusalem.
[In that region], kings usually went [with their armies] to fight [their enemies] in the springtime. But the following year, in the springtime, David [did not do that. Instead, he] stayed in Jerusalem, and he sent [his commander] Joab [to lead the army]. So Joab went with the other officers and the rest of the Israeli army. They [crossed the Jordan River and] defeated the army of the Ammon people-group. Then they surrounded [their capital city, ] Rabbah.
2 Gbe ɖeka le ɣetrɔ me la, David fɔ eye wòɖi tsa le eƒe fiasã la ƒe xɔta ƒe gbadzaƒe. Ekpɔ nyɔnu aɖe si dze tugbe ŋutɔŋutɔ wònɔ tsi lem,
Late one afternoon, after David got up from taking a nap, he walked around on the [flat] roof of his palace. He saw a woman who was bathing [in the courtyard of her house]. The woman was very beautiful.
3 ale wòdɔ ame ɖa be woakpɔe ɖa be nyɔnu kae mahã. Amea de gbɔ va gblɔ nɛ be nyɔnu lae nye Batseba, Eliam ƒe vinyɔnu eye wònye Uria srɔ̃.
David sent a messenger to find out who she was. [The messenger returned] and said, “She is [RHQ] Bathsheba. She is the daughter of Eliam, and her husband is Uriah, from the Heth people-group.”
4 Enumake David na woyɔe nɛ. Le ɣeyiɣi sia me tututu la, Batseba wu ɖokuiŋukɔkɔ le gbɔtotsitsi megbe ƒe wɔnawo nu teti ko. Esi wòva la, David dɔ egbɔ eye wòtrɔ yi aƒe me.
Then David sent more messengers to get her. They brought her to David, and he (slept/had sex) [EUP] with her. (She had just finished performing the rituals to make herself pure [after her monthly menstrual period].) Then Bathsheba went back home.
5 Emegbe esi Batseba kpɔ be yefɔ fu la eɖo ame ɖe David hegblɔe nɛ.
[After some time], she realized that she was pregnant. So she sent a messenger to tell David [that she was pregnant].
6 Ale David dɔ ame ɖo ɖe Yoab be, “Ɖo Uria, Hititɔ la ɖem.”
Then David sent a message to Joab. He said, “Send Uriah, from the Heth people-group, to me.” So Joab did that. He sent Uriah to David.
7 Esi Uria va ɖo la, David bia gbee tso Yoab kple aʋakɔ la kple aʋa la ƒe yiyi me ŋuti.
When he arrived, David asked if Joab was well, and if other soldiers were well, and how the war was progressing.
8 Emegbe la, David gblɔ na Uria be wòayi aɖagbɔ ɖe eme le eƒe aƒe me eye wòɖo nunana aɖe ɖee.
Then David, [hoping that Uriah would go home and sleep with his wife, ] said to Uriah, “Okay, go home and relax for a while. [IDM]” So Uriah left, and David gave someone a gift [of some food] to take to Uriah’s house.
9 Ke Uria meyi aƒe me o; etsi fiasã la ƒe agbonu kple fia la ƒe subɔlawo.
But Uriah did not go home. Instead, he slept at the palace entrance with the king’s palace guards.
10 Esi David se nu si Uria wɔ la, eyɔe hebiae be, “Nya kae dzɔ? Nu ka ta mèyi srɔ̃wò gbɔ le wò aƒe me etsɔ fiẽ esi nèdzo le aƒe me eteƒe didi alea o?”
When someone told David that Uriah did not go to his house [that night], David [summoned him again and] said to him, “Why didn’t you go home [to be with your wife last night], after having been away for a long time?” [RHQ]
11 Uria ɖo eŋu na David be, “Nubablaɖaka la kple Israel kpakple Yuda wole agbadɔ me. Nye aʋafia Yoab kple nye aƒetɔ ƒe amewo katã le gbedzi. Ɖe nye ya mayi aƒe me, ano wain, aɖu nu eye madɔ srɔ̃nye gbɔa? Meka atam be nyemaɖi fɔ to nu siawo wɔwɔ me o.”
Uriah replied, “The soldiers of Judah and Israel are camping in the open fields, and even our commander Joab is sleeping in a tent, and the sacred chest is with them. (How could I/It would not be right for me to) go home, eat and drink, and sleep with my wife [RHQ]. I solemnly declare [IDM] that I will never do such a thing!”
12 David gblɔ nɛ be, “Enyo; tsi anyi zã sia eye nàtrɔ ayi aʋagbedzi etsɔ,” Ale Uria tsi fiasã la me le Yerusalem.
Then David said to Uriah, “Stay here today. I will let you return [to the battle] tomorrow.” So Uriah stayed in Jerusalem that day and that night.
13 David kpee ɖe fiẽnuɖukplɔ̃ ŋu eye wòna wòno aha mu gake egagbe aƒemeyiyi eye wògatsi fiasã la ƒe agbo nu dɔ.
The next day, David invited him [to a meal]. So Uriah had a meal with David, and David made him drink a lot of wine so that he would get drunk, [hoping that if he was drunk, he would sleep with his wife]. But that night, Uriah again did not go home. Instead, he slept on his cot with the king’s servants.
14 Esi ŋu ke la, David ŋlɔ agbalẽ de asi na Uria be wòatsɔ ayi na Yoab.
[Someone reported that to] David, [so] the next morning he wrote a letter to Joab, and gave it to Uriah to take to Joab.
15 Fia la ɖo na Yoab to agbalẽ la me be wòaɖo Uria ɖe afi si aʋa la sẽ le eye wòana amewo nade megbe le eŋu ale be woawui!
In the letter, he wrote, “Put Uriah in the front line, where the fighting is the (worst/most severe). Then command the soldiers to pull back from him, in order that he will be killed [by our enemies].”
16 Ale Yoab ɖo Uria ɖe teƒe aɖe si te ɖe du si ŋu woɖe to ɖe afi si wònya be futɔwo ƒe aʋawɔla sesẽwo nɔ.
[So after] Joab [got the letter], as his army was surrounding the city, he sent Uriah to a place where he knew that their enemies’ strongest and best soldiers would be fighting.
17 Ale wowu Uria, Hititɔ la kple Israelvi geɖewo.
The men from the city came out and fought with Joab’s soldiers. They killed some of David’s officers, including Uriah.
18 Yoab ɖo du ɖe David tso aʋa la ƒe yiyime ŋuti.
Then Joab sent a messenger to David to tell him about the fighting.
19 Egblɔ na ame si wòdɔ la be, “Ne ègblɔ nya sia nya tso aʋa la ŋu la,
He said to the messenger, “Tell David the news about the battle. After you finish telling that to him,
20 ɖewohĩ ado dɔmedzoe abia wò be, ‘Nu ka ta miegogo du la nenema le aʋa la wɔwɔ me? Ɖe mienya be woada aŋutrɔwo tso gli la dzi oa?
if David is angry [because so many officers were killed], he may ask you, ‘Why did your soldiers go so close to the city to fight [RHQ]? Did you not know that they would shoot [arrows at you while they were standing on top] of the city wall [RHQ]?
21 Mieɖo ŋku ale si wowu Abimelek, Yerub Beset ƒe vi, la dzi oa? Nyɔnu aɖee ɖe asi le wɔtutevi ŋu tso gli la dzi wòwui le Tebez. Nu ka ta miegogo gli la nenema?’ Ne Fia la bia nya siawo wò la, gblɔ nɛ be, ‘Wowu wò aʋakplɔla Uria, Hititɔ la hã.’”
Do you not remember how Abimelech, the son of Gideon, was killed? A woman [who lived] in Thebez threw a huge (millstone/stone for grinding grain) on him from [the top of] tower, and he died. So why did your troops go near to the city wall?’ If the king asks this, then tell him, ‘Your officer Uriah also was killed.’”
22 Ale ame dɔdɔ la yi Yerusalem eye wògblɔ nya la na David.
So the messenger went and told David everything that Joab told him to say.
23 Egblɔ be, “Futɔwo lũ ɖe mía dzi; míenya wo wogbugbɔ yi dua ƒe agbowo nu.
The messenger said to David, “Our enemies were very brave, and came out of the city to fight us in the fields. [They were defeating us] but we forced them back to the city gate.
24 Glidzinɔlawo ho aʋa ɖe mía ŋu, wowu míaƒe ame aɖewo eye wowu wò aʋakplɔla Uria, Hititɔ la, hã.”
Then their archers shot arrows at us from [the top of] the city wall. They killed some of your officers. They killed your officer Uriah, too.”
25 David gblɔ nɛ be, “Gblɔ na Yoab be dzi megaɖe le eƒo o; ame sia ame ate ŋu atsi yi nu gbe ɖeka. Miyi aʋa la wɔwɔ dzi sesĩe wu tsã eye miagbã du la. De dzi ƒo nɛ be eyae le dɔ dzi loo!”
David said to the messenger, “Go back to Joab and say to him, ‘Do not be distressed [about what happened], because no one ever knows who will be killed in a battle.’ Tell him that the next time his troops should attack the city more strongly, and capture it.”
26 Esi Batseba se be ye srɔ̃ Uria ku la, efae vevie
When Uriah’s wife [Bathsheba] heard that her husband had died, she mourned for him.
27 eye esi konyifaɣi la wu nu la, David na Batseba ʋu yi fiasã la me eye wòzu srɔ̃awo dometɔ ɖeka. Batseba dzi ŋutsuvi nɛ, ke nu si David wɔ la, medze Yehowa ŋu kura o.
When her time of mourning was ended, David sent messengers to bring her to the palace. Thus, she became David’s wife. She later gave birth to a son. But Yahweh was very displeased with what David had done.
