1 Samwiri 27
1 Dawudi n’afumiitiriza mu mutima gwe ng’agamba nti, “Luliba lumu Sawulo n’anzita. Ekisinga obulungi kwe kuddukira mu nsi y’Abafirisuuti. Awo nno Sawulo anaalekeraawo okunnoonyeza mu Isirayiri, era bwe ntyo bwe nzija okumuwona.”
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 Awo Dawudi n’abasajja lukaaga ne basitula ne bagenda eri kabaka Akisi mutabani wa Mawoki ow’e Gaasi.
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 Dawudi n’abasajja be ne basenga mu Gaasi ewa Akisi, buli musajja ne nnyumba ye yonna, ne Dawudi n’abakyala be bombi, Akinoamu Omuyezuleeri ne Abbigayiri Omukalumeeri, nnamwandu wa Nabali.
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 Awo Sawulo bwe yategeezebwa nga Dawudi yaddukira e Gaasi n’alekeraawo okumunoonya.
When someone told Saul that David had run away [and was living] in Gath, he stopped searching for David.
5 Awo Dawudi n’agamba Akisi nti, “Obanga ndabye ekisa mu maaso go, wabeewo ekifo ekiba kimpebwa mu kimu ku bibuga ebitonotono, ntuule eyo. Lwaki omuweereza wo abeera naawe mu kibuga ekikulu eky’obwakabaka?”
[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 Awo ku lunaku olwo, Akisi n’amuwa Zikulagi, era kyekyava kibeera ekibuga kya bakabaka ba Yuda, n’okutuusa leero.
[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 Dawudi n’abeera mu nsi ey’Abafirisuuti okumala omwaka gumu n’emyezi ena.
David [and his men] lived in the Philistia area for 16 months.
8 Mu bbanga eryo, Dawudi n’abasajja be ne bambuka ne balumba Abagesuli, n’Abagiruzi, n’Abamaleki. Okuva edda n’edda abo be bantu abaabeeranga mu nsi eyo okuva e Suuli okutuuka e Misiri.
[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 Dawudi buli lwe yalumbanga ekitundu, teyalekangawo musajja newaakubadde omukazi, naye yatwalanga endiga, n’ente, endogoyi n’eŋŋamira, n’engoye; n’oluvannyuma n’addayo eri Akisi.
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 Awo Akisi yamubuuzanga nti, “Leero walumbye wa?” Dawudi yaddangamu nti, “Ebukiikaddyo obwa Yuda,” oba nti, “Ebukiikaddyo obw’Abayerameeri,” oba nti, “Ebukiikaddyo obw’Abakeeni.”
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 Teyalekangawo musajja newaakubadde omukazi nga mulamu okubaleeta e Gaasi, kubanga yalowooza nti, “Bakyayinza okutuloopa, nga boogera nti, ‘Dawudi akola kino na kino.’” Era eyo ye yali ng’empisa ye, ebbanga lyonna lye yabeera mu nsi ey’Abafirisuuti.
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 Akisi ne yeesiga Dawudi, n’ayogera mu mutima gwe nti, “Alabika yeetamiddwa abantu be Abayisirayiri, kale kyanaava afuuka omuweereza wange emirembe gyonna.”
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.”
