1 Hamuera 7
1 Na ka haere nga tangata o Kiriata Tearimi ki te tiki i te aaka a Ihowa, a kawea ana e ratou ki te whare o Apinarapa i te pukepuke; i whakatapua hoki e ratou a Ereatara tana tama hei tiaki i te aaka a Ihowa.
[When] the men of Kiriath-Jearim [received that message, they] came to Beth-Shemesh and took the sacred chest of Yahweh. They took it to the house of Abinadab, which was on a hillside. They appointed Abinadab’s son Eleazar to take care of the chest.
2 A i te nohoanga o te aaka ki Kiriata Tearimi, i te mea kua maha nga ra; e rua tekau hoki nga tau; na ka tangi te whare katoa o Iharaira ki a Ihowa.
The sacred chest stayed in Kiriath-Jearim for a long time—a total of 20 years. During that time all the people of Israel mourned [because it seemed that] Yahweh [had abandoned them] (OR, [and then they asked] Yahweh [to help them]).
3 Na ka korero a Hamuera ki te whare katoa o Iharaira, ka mea, Ki te mea e hoki katoa ana o koutou ngakau ki a Ihowa, whakarerea nga atua ke i roto i a koutou, me Ahataroto ano hoki; whakapumautia hoki o koutou ngakau ki a Ihowa, me mahi hoki ki a ia anake, a mana koutou e whakaora i roto i te ringa o nga Pirihitini.
Then Samuel said to all the Israeli people, “If you truly [IDM] want to act like Yahweh’s people should, you must get rid of your statues of [the goddess] Astarte and the idols/statues of all the other foreign gods. You must decide to serve/worship only Yahweh. If you do that, he will rescue you from [the power of] [MTY] the Philistia people.”
4 Katahi ka whakarerea e nga tama a Iharaira nga Paara me Ahataroto, a mahi ana ki a Ihowa anake.
So the Israelis got rid of all their statues of the gods Baal and Astarte, and they worshiped only Yahweh.
5 Na ka mea a Hamuera, Huihuia mai a Iharaira katoa ki Mihipa, a ka inoi ahau ki a Ihowa mo koutou.
Then Samuel told them, “All you Israeli people must gather with me at Mizpah. Then I will pray to Yahweh for you.”
6 Na ka huihui ratou ki Mihipa, a utuhia ana he wai, ringihia ana ki te aroaro o Ihowa, i nohopuku ano hoki i taua ra, a ka mea i reira, Kua hara matou ki a Ihowa. Na, ka whakawa a Hamuera mo nga tama a Iharaira ki Mihipa.
So they gathered at Mizpah, which was the town where Samuel previously was the leader of the Israeli people. They had a big ceremony there. They drew water [from a well], and poured the water on the ground while Yahweh watched. [To show that they were sorry for having worshiped idols], they did not eat any food on that day, and they confessed that they had sinned against Yahweh.
7 A, no te rongonga o nga Pirihitini kua huihui nga tama a Iharaira ki Mihipa, ka haere nga rangatira o nga Pirihitini ki a Iharaira. A, i te rongonga o nga tama a Iharaira, ka wehi ratou i nga Pirihitini.
When the kings of the Philistia area heard that the Israeli people had gathered at Mizpah, they led their armies there to attack the Israelis. When the Israelis found out that the Philistia army was approaching them, they became very afraid.
8 Na ka mea nga tama a Iharaira ki a Hamuera, Kei whakamutua tau karanga ki a Ihowa, ki to tatou Atua, mo matou, kia whakaorangia matou i te ringa o nga Pirihitini.
They told Samuel, “Pray to Yahweh to rescue us from the Philistia army [MTY], and do not stop pleading!”
9 Na tikina ana e Hamuera he reme, he mea ngote u, a whakaekea katoatia ana hei tahunga tinana ki a Ihowa. Na ka karanga a Hamuera ki a Ihowa mo Iharaira, a ka whakarongo a Ihowa ki a ia.
So Samuel took a very young lamb [and killed it] and offered it to Yahweh to be a sacrifice that was completely burned [on the altar]. Then he prayed and pleaded that Yahweh [would help] the Israelis, and Yahweh did help them.
10 A, i a Hamuera e whakaeke ana i te tahunga tinana, ka whakatata mai nga Pirihitini ki te whawhai ki a Iharaira: otira nui atu te papatanga o ta Ihowa whatiri i taua ra ki runga ki nga Pirihitini, a hinga ana ratou; patua iho hoki i te aroaro o I haraira.
While Samuel was burning the offering, the Philistia army came near to attack the Israelis. But Yahweh caused it to thunder very loudly. The soldiers of the Philistia army became very frightened, and then they (became confused/did not know what to do). So the Israelis were able to defeat them.
11 Na ka puta nga tangata o Iharaira i roto i Mihipa, a whaia ana nga Pirihitini, tukitukia ana a tae noa ki raro, ki Petekara.
The Israeli men ran out of Mizpah and pursued the Philistia soldiers almost to Beth-Car [town], and killed many Philistia soldiers while they were trying to run away.
12 Na ka mau a Hamuera ki tetahi kohatu nui, a whakatakotoria ana ki waenganui o Mihipa, o Hene, a huaina iho tona ingoa, ko Epeneetere; i mea hoki, Ko Ihowa to tatou kaiawhina a tae noa mai ki tenei wa.
After that happened, Samuel took a large stone and set it up between Mizpah and Jeshanah [towns]. He named the stone ‘Ebenezer’, [which means ‘stone of help’], because he said “Yahweh has helped us until the present time.”
13 Heoi kua taea nga Pirihitini, kihai ano i haere mai i muri ki te rohe o Iharaira: i runga hoki i nga Pirihitini te ringa o Ihowa i nga ra katoa o Hamuera.
So the Philistia people were defeated, and for a long time they did not enter the Israeli land [to attack them] again. During the time that Samuel was alive, Yahweh powerfully protected [MTY] [the Israeli people] from [being attacked by] the Philistia army.
14 A i whakahokia atu ki a Iharaira nga pa i tongohia e nga Pirihitini i a Iharaira, a Ekerono tae noa ki Kata; i tangohia hoki nga rohe o ena pa e Iharaira i roto i te ringa o nga Pirihitini. A ka mau ta Iharaira rongo ki nga Amori.
The Israeli army was able to capture again the Israeli villages between Ekron and Gath that the Philistia army had captured before. The Israelis were also able to take again the other areas around those cities that the Philistia army had taken [from the Israelis] previously. And there was peace between the Israelis and the Amor people-group.
15 A i whakarite a Hamuera mo Iharaira i nga ra katoa i ora ai ia.
Samuel continued to be the leader of the Israeli people until he died.
16 I taiawhio haere hoki ia i tenei tau, i tenei tau, ki Peteere, ki Kirikara, ki Mihipa, i whakarite ano mo Iharaira i aua wahi katoa.
As long as he was alive, every year he traveled back and forth between Bethel and Gilgal and Mizpah [cities]. In those cities he listened to disputes between people and made decisions about them.
17 A hoki ana ki Rana; i reira hoki tona whare, a whakarite ana mo Iharaira ki reira; i hanga hoki e ia tetahi aata ma Ihowa ki reira.
After he listened to disputes and made decisions in each of those towns, he returned to his home at Ramah, and he would listen to people’s disputes there, also, [and make decisions about them]. And he built an altar at Ramah [to offer sacrifices] to Yahweh.
