Bilombe 20

1 Bana nyonso ya Isalaele, wuta na Dani kino na Beri-Sheba mpe na mokili ya Galadi, babimaki lokola moto moko mpe basanganaki liboso ya Yawe, na Mitsipa.

All the Israelis, from Dan [city in the north] to Beersheba [city in the south], and even from [the] Gilead [region on the east side of the Jordan River, heard what had happened. So they] they gathered together at Mizpah, [at the place where they worshiped] Yahweh.

2 Bakambi ya bato nyonso, ya mabota nyonso ya Isalaele bazalaki kati na lisanga ya bato ya Nzambe: ezalaki na basoda nkoto nkama minei oyo batambolaka na makolo mpe bayebi kobunda na mopanga.

The leaders of [eleven of] the tribes of Israel stood in front of the people who gathered there. There were 400,000 men with swords who were there.

3 Bana ya libota ya Benjame bayokaki ete bana ya Isalaele mosusu bakendeki kuna na Mitsipa. Bongo bana ya Isalaele balobaki: — Yebisa biso ndenge nini kufa ya somo boye esalemaki.

The people of the tribe of Benjamin heard that the other Israelis had gone up to Mizpah, [but none of the men from their tribe went to the meeting there]. The Israelis who had come to Mizpah asked about the evil thing that had happened.

4 Molevi, mobali ya mwasi oyo babomaki, alobaki: — Ngai mpe makangu na ngai, toyaki na Gibea, na mokili ya Benjame mpo na kolekisa butu.

So the husband of the woman who had been killed replied, “My slave wife and I came to Gibeah [city], wanting to stay there that night.

5 Na kati-kati ya butu, bavandi ya Gibea batombokelaki ngai mpe bazingelaki ndako mpo ete baboma ngai; basangisaki nzoto na makasi na makangu na ngai, mpe akufaki.

That evening, the men of Gibeah came to attack me. They surrounded the house [where I was staying] and wanted to [have sex with me and then] kill me. They [raped and] abused my slave wife [all night], and she died.

6 Nakamataki makangu na ngai, nakataki ye na biteni mpe natindaki eteni moko na moko kati na etuka oyo bapesaki na bana ya Isalaele, pamba te bato ya libota ya Benjame basalaki likambo ya somo mpe ya soni.

I took her body home and cut it into pieces. Then I sent one piece to each area of Israel, [because I wanted you all to know about] this wicked and disgraceful/shameful thing [that] has been done here in Israel.

7 Sik’oyo, bino nyonso bana ya Isalaele, boloba mpe bokata likambo oyo.

So now, all you Israeli people, speak, and tell me what you think should be done!”

8 Bato nyonso batelemaki lokola moto moko mpe balobaki: « Moto moko te kati na biso akozonga na ndako na ye ya kapo to na ndako na ye.

All the people stood up, and in unison said, “None of us will go home! Not one of us will return to his house!

9 Tala sik’oyo likambo oyo tokosala bato ya Gibea: Tokokende kobundisa bango kolanda ndenge zeke oyo tokobeta ekotalisa.

This is what we must do to [the people of] Gibeah. First, we will (cast lots/throw marked stones) [to determine which group should attack them].

10 Tokozwa bato zomi kati na bato nkama moko ya mabota nyonso ya Isalaele, tokozwa bato nkama moko kati na bato nkoto moko mpe bato nkoto moko kati na bato nkoto zomi, mpo na kopesa biloko ya kolia epai ya mampinga. Bongo tango mampinga ekokoma na Gibea, na mokili ya Benjame, bakobundisa bato ya Gibea mpo na makambo nyonso ya somo oyo basalaki kati na Isalaele. »

We will choose (one tenth/one from every ten) of the men from all the Israeli tribes. Those men will go and find food for the men who will go to attack the people of Gibeah. Then the other men will go to Gibeah to (pay the people back/punish them) for this terrible thing that they have done [here] in Israel.”

11 Boye, mibali nyonso ya Isalaele basanganaki esika moko mpe bayokanaki lokola moto moko mpo na kobundisa engumba Gibea.

And all the Israeli people agreed [that the people of Gibeah should be punished].

12 Bato ya bikolo ya Isalaele batindaki mibali kati na mabota nyonso ya Benjame mpe balobaki: « Ndenge nini bosali lisumu ya somo boye kati na bino?

Then the Israeli men sent messengers throughout the tribe of Benjamin. They demanded, “Do you realize that some of your men have done a very evil thing?

13 Sik’oyo, botindela biso bato mabe wana ya Gibea mpo ete toboma bango mpe tolongola mabe kati na Isalaele. » Kasi bato ya Benjame baboyaki koyokela baninga na bango, bana ya Isalaele.

Bring those wicked men to us, in order that we can execute them. [By doing that], we will be doing what should be done because of this evil thing that has happened in Israel.” But the [people of the] tribe of Benjamin did not pay attention to their fellow Israelis.

14 Wuta na bingumba na bango nyonso ya mike, bato ya libota ya Benjame basanganaki esika moko, na Gibea, mpo na kobundisa bana ya Isalaele.

The men of the tribe of Benjamin left their cities and gathered at Gibeah to fight the [other] Israelis.

15 Na mokolo wana, bato ya libota ya Benjame basangisaki basoda nkoto tuku mibale na motoba oyo bayebi kobunda na mopanga, wuta na bamboka na bango nyonso ya mike, longola kaka engumba Gibea oyo esangisaki mibali ya bitumba nkama sambo.

In that one day the men of the tribe of Benjamin recruited 26,000 soldiers who knew how to fight using swords. They also chose/recruited 700 men from Gibeah.

16 Kati na basoda wana, ezalaki na mibali nkama sambo ya makasi oyo basalelaka loboko ya mwasi. Moto moko na moko kati na bango, soki abwaki libanga na nzela ya ebambelo mabanga, ekoki soki moke te kozanga kotuta suki moko.

From all those soldiers there were 700 men who were left-handed, and each of them could sling a stone at [a target that was very small and as narrow as] a hair, and the stone always hit the target!

17 Mibali ya Isalaele, longola kaka bato ya libota ya Benjame, bazalaki nkoto nkama minei, ba-oyo bayebi kosalela mopanga; mpe bango nyonso bazalaki bato ya bitumba.

There were 400,000 men from the other Israeli tribes who had swords.

18 Bana ya Isalaele bakendeki na Beteli mpe batunaki Nzambe: — Nani kati na biso asengeli kokende mpo na kobundisa libota ya Benjame? Yawe azongisaki: — Yuda akokende liboso.

Those other Israelis went up to Bethel and asked God, “Which tribe should be the first to attack the men from the tribe of Benjamin?” Yahweh answered, “[The men from the tribe of] Judah should go first.”

19 Na tongo oyo elandaki, bana ya Isalaele bakendeki mpe batongaki molako na bango pembeni ya Gibea.

The next morning, the Israeli men went and set up their tents near Gibeah.

20 Mibali ya Isalaele babimaki mpo na kobundisa bato ya libota ya Benjame mpe bamibongisaki mpo na kobundisa bango na Gibea.

Then they went to fight against [the men from the tribe of] Benjamin, and stood in their positions for fighting a battle, [facing Gibeah].

21 Bato ya libota ya Benjame babimaki na Gibea mpe babomaki, mokolo wana, mibali ya Isalaele nkoto tuku mibale na mibale.

The men of the tribe of Benjamin came out of Gibeah and fought against them, and they killed 22,000 Israeli men on that day.

22 Kasi mibali ya Isalaele bamilendisaki, bango na bango, mpe babongamaki na esika oyo bazalaki na mokolo ya liboso.

[Late that afternoon], the [remaining] Israeli men went to the place of worship and cried until the sun set. Then they asked Yahweh, “Should we attack the men of the tribe of Benjamin again, even though they are our fellow Israelis?” Yahweh replied, “Yes, attack them again.” So the Israeli men encouraged each other.

23 Bana ya Isalaele bakendeki mpe balelaki liboso ya Yawe kino na pokwa, mpe batunaki Yawe: — Boni, tokende lisusu kobundisa bandeko na biso ya libota ya Benjame? Yawe azongiselaki bango: — Bokende kobundisa bango.

24 Na mokolo ya mibale, bana ya Isalaele babundisaki bato ya libota ya Benjame.

The next day they again stood in their positions for fighting, just like they had done on the previous day.

25 Na tango wana, bana ya libota ya Benjame bakimaki na Gibea mpo na kobundisa bana ya Isalaele, babomaki lisusu mibali ya Isalaele nkoto zomi na mwambe; bango nyonso bazalaki bato oyo bayebi kobunda na mopanga.

The men of the tribe of Benjamin came out of Gibeah and attacked the Israelis, and killed 18,000 more of their men.

26 Bana ya Isalaele bakendeki, bango nyonso, na Beteli, mpe kuna, bavandaki mpe balelaki liboso ya Yawe. Na mokolo wana, bana ya Isalaele bakilaki bilei kino na pokwa mpe babonzaki, epai na Yawe, mbeka ya kotumba mpe mbeka ya boyokani.

[In the afternoon], all the people of Israel [who had not been killed] again went to Bethel. There they sat down and cried to Yahweh, and they (fasted/abstained from eating food) until it was evening. They brought some offerings which they burned completely [on the altar], and they also brought some offerings to maintain fellowship with Yahweh.

27 Bana ya Isalaele batunaki Yawe. (Na mikolo wana, Sanduku ya Boyokani ya Nzambe ezalaki kuna.

At that time, the Sacred Chest that contained the stone tablets on which were written the Ten Commandments was there at Bethel. A priest named Phinehas, the son of Eleazar and grandson of Aaron, often stood in front of that chest [and talked with Yahweh]. While he stood there on that day, he asked Yahweh, “Shall we go again to fight against our fellow Israelis from the tribe of Benjamin, or shall we stop fighting against them?” Yahweh answered, “Go again tomorrow, because tomorrow I will enable you to defeat them.”

28 Pineasi, mwana mobali ya Eleazari, mwana mobali ya Aron, azalaki na mosala liboso ya Sanduku). Batunaki: — Boni, tokende lisusu kobundisa bandeko na biso, bato ya libota ya Benjame to te? Yawe azongisaki: — Bokende, pamba te, lobi, nakokaba bango na maboko na bino.

29 Bongo mibali ya Isalaele babombamaki mpe bazingelaki Gibea.

So [the next day, 10,000 of] the Israeli men (set up ambushes/went to hide) [in the fields] around Gibeah.

30 Bana ya Isalaele bakendeki na mokolo ya misato kobundisa libota ya Benjame mpe bamibongisaki malamu mpo na kobundisa Gibea lokola na mbala ya liboso.

The [other] Israeli men went and stood in their positions for fighting a battle just like they had done on the previous days.

31 Bana ya Benjame babimelaki bango mpe babendaki bango mosika ya engumba. Babandaki koboma bana ya Isalaele ndenge basalaki liboso; babomaki bato pene tuku misato kati na zamba, na nzela ya Beteli mpe ya Gibea.

When the men of the tribe of Benjamin came out of the city to fight against them, the Israeli men retreated away from the city, and the men of the tribe of Benjamin pursued them. The men of the tribe of Benjamin killed many Israelis, like they had done before. They killed about 30 Israelis. They killed some in the fields, and they killed some on the road that went to Bethel and on the road that went to Gibeah.

32 Libota ya Benjame bakanisaki ete bakobeta bango ndenge basalaki liboso. Nzokande bana ya Isalaele bazwaki mokano ya kokima mpe ya komema bango mosika ya engumba, mosika ya Gibea.

The men of the tribe of Benjamin said, “We are defeating them like we did before!” But then Israeli men did what they had planned. The main group of Israeli men retreated a short distance from the city, to [trick] the men of Gibeah and cause them to pursue the Israeli men along the roads outside the city.

33 Na bongo, bana ya Isalaele batelemaki na bisika na bango mpe bakendeki kosangana mpo na bitumba, na Bala-Tamari. Bana ya Isalaele, oyo babombamaki, babimaki na bisika na bango mpe balandaki bango na etando ya polele, na Gibea.

The main group of Israeli men left their positions and retreated, and then they stood in their battle positions again at a place named Baal-Tamar.

34 Mibali makasi ya Isalaele, nkoto zomi, babimaki na Gibea; mpe bitumba ezalaki makasi. Kasi bana ya libota ya Benjame basosolaki te mabe nini ekokomela bango.

Then [while the men of Gibeah were running out of the city toward them], the other 10,000 Israelis came out from the places where they had been hiding, west of Gibeah. They were men who had come from all parts of Israel. There was a very big battle. But the men of the tribe of Benjamin did not know that they were about to suffer a disastrous defeat.

35 Yawe abetaki bana ya Benjame liboso ya Isalaele, mpe, na mokolo wana, bana ya Isalaele babomaki mibali nkoto tuku mibale na nkama moko kati na libota ya Benjame, ba-oyo bayebi kobunda na mopanga.

Yahweh enabled the Israeli men to defeat the men of the tribe of Benjamin. They killed 25,000 of them, even though they all were using swords. [This is what happened]:

36 Bongo bana ya Benjame bamonaki ete bakweyi penza na bitumba. Nzokande bana ya Isalaele bakosaki kozonga sima mpo ete batiaki elikya na bango epai ya mibali oyo babombamaki pene ya Gibea.

The main group of Israeli men arranged with the men who would be hiding that they should send up a smoke signal to enable the main group of soldiers to know when they should attack. Then the main group of Israeli men retreated for a short distance, because they knew that the other Israeli men who had been hiding on the other side of Gibeah would attack the people of the tribe of Benjamin by surprise. So [after the main group of Israeli men retreated a little distance], the men who had been hiding rushed out and ran into Gibeah and used their swords to kill everyone in the city. [Then they started to burn the buildings].

37 Mibali yango babimelaki mbala moko Gibea, bapanzanaki mpe babetaki engumba mobimba na mopanga.

38 Mibali ya Isalaele mpe bandeko na bango, oyo babombamaki pene ya Gibea, bayokanaki na elembo moko: mibali oyo babombamaki basengeli komatisa wuta na engumba lipata ya milinga na likolo.

39 Tango bana ya Isalaele bamonaki lipata wana ya milinga, bapesaki mokongo na bitumba. Kasi mibali ya Benjame babandaki kobeta mpe koboma bana ya Isalaele pene tuku misato. Bakanisaki ete bakobeta bango ndenge basalaki liboso.

By that time, the men of the tribe of Benjamin said, “We are winning the battle, as we did before!”

40 Kasi tango lipata ya milinga ebandaki komata makasi na likolo, bana ya Benjame babalukaki mpe bamonaki engumba na bango mobimba kopela moto mpe komatisa likonzi monene ya lipata ya milinga.

But then smoke [from the burning buildings] began to rise up from the city. The men of the tribe of Benjamin turned around and saw that the whole city was burning.

41 Bana ya Isalaele babalolaki elongi na bango mpo na kotala mibali ya Benjame. Bongo mibali ya Benjame babangaki mpo ete bamonaki likama oyo ekomeli bango.

Then the main group of Israeli men [also saw the smoke, and they knew that the smoke signaled that they should] turn around and begin to attack. The men of the tribe of Benjamin were very afraid, because they realized that they were about to suffer a disastrous defeat.

42 Boye, bapesaki bana ya Isalaele mokongo mpe bakimaki na nzela ya esobe. Kasi bitumba elandaki bango, mpe mibali ya Isalaele, oyo babimaki na engumba Gibea, basilisaki koboma bango nyonso na nzela na bango.

So the men of the tribe of Benjamin tried to run away toward the desert to escape from the Israeli men, but they were not able to escape, because the Israeli men who had burned the two cities came out of those cities and killed many of them.

43 Bazingelaki bana ya Benjame, balandaki bango na kozanga kopema mpe banyataki bango na makolo kino liboso ya Gibea, na ngambo oyo moyi ebimelaka.

They surrounded [some of] the men of the tribe of Benjamin, and pursued the others to the area east of Gibeah.

44 Kati na bana ya Benjame, mibali nkoto zomi na mwambe bakufaki: bango nyonso bazalaki bilombe ya bitumba.

They killed 18,000 strong soldiers of the tribe of Benjamin.

45 Ndambo kati na bango bakimaki na nzela ya esobe, na ngambo ya libanga monene ya Rimoni. Na nzela, bana ya Isalaele babomaki bato nkoto mitano oyo balokotaki na nzela. Balandaki bango lisusu kino na Gideomi mpe babomaki mibali nkoto mibale.

Then the rest of the men of the tribe of Benjamin realized that they had been defeated. They ran toward the desert to Rimmon Rock, but the Israeli men killed 5,000 more men of the tribe of Benjamin along the roads. They pursued the rest of them to Gidom, and they killed 2,000 more men of the tribe of Benjamin there.

46 Motango nyonso ya bana ya Benjame oyo bakufaki na mokolo wana ezalaki nkoto tuku mibale na mitano: bango nyonso bazalaki bilombe ya bitumba mpe bayebaki kobunda na mopanga.

Altogether, there were 25,000 men of the tribe of Benjamin who were killed, all of whom had swords.

47 Mibali nkama motoba kati na bango balongaki kopesa mokongo mpe kokima na nzela ya esobe kino na libanga monene ya Rimoni. Bawumelaki kuna sanza minei.

But 600 men of the tribe of Benjamin ran to Rimmon Rock in the desert. They stayed there for four months.

48 Mibali ya Isalaele bazongelaki bato ya libota ya Benjame mpe babomaki na mopanga mibali nyonso elongo na bibwele na bango, kobanda na engumba Gibea kino na bamboka mike. Batumbaki bamboka mike nyonso epai wapi balekaki.

Then the Israeli men went back to the land belonging to the tribe of Benjamin, and killed the people in every city. They also killed all the animals, and destroyed everything else that they found there. And they burned all the cities that they came to.