Abahluleli 15
1 Emva kwalokho, ngesikhathi sokuvuna ingqoloyi, uSamsoni wathatha izinyane lembuzi wethekelela umkakhe. Wathi, “Ngiya endlini yomkami.” Kodwa uyisezala wamalela ukuba angene.
And it comes to pass after [some] days, in the days of wheat-harvest, that Samson looks after his wife, with a kid of the goats, and says, “I go in to my wife, to the inner chamber”; and her father has not permitted him to go in,
2 Wathi, “Ngangileqiniso lokuthi wawusumzonda kakhulu, ngasengimendisela kumkhaphi wakho. Umnawakhe kamuhle kulaye na? Thatha yena.”
and her father says, “I certainly said that you surely hated her, and I give her to your companion; is her younger sister not better than she? Please let her be to you instead of her.”
3 USamsoni wathi kubo, “Khathesi sengilelungelo lokuphindisela okubi kumaFilistiya. Ngizawalimaza impela.”
And Samson says of them, “I am more innocent this time than the Philistines, though I am doing evil with them.”
4 Ngakho wasuka wabamba amakhanka angamakhulu amathathu wawabophanisa imisila ngambilimbili. Wasebophela uluthi lomlilo emisileni yonke ayeyibophanisile,
And Samson goes and catches three hundred foxes, and takes torches, and turns tail to tail, and puts a torch between the two tails, in the midst,
5 walumathisa izinti zomlilo wawayekela amakhanka angena emabeleni amiyo amaFilistiya. Watshisa ayesezizeni lamabele amiyo, lezivini kanye lezivande zama-oliva.
and kindles fire in the torches, and sends [them] out into the standing grain of the Philistines, and burns [it] from heap even to standing grain, even to vineyard [and] olive-yard.
6 Kwathi amaFilistiya ebuza ukuthi, “Ngubani owenze lokhu na?” atshelwa ukuthi, “NguSamsoni, umkhwenyana womThimina ngoba umkakhe wendiselwa kumkhaphi wakhe.” Ngakho amaFilistiya ahamba ayatshisa umkaSamsoni kanye loyise, bafa.
And the Philistines say, “Who has done this?” And they say, “Samson, son-in-law of the Timnite, because he has taken away his wife, and gives her to his companion”; and the Philistines go up, and burn her and her father with fire.
7 USamsoni wathi kubo, “Njengoba selenze lokhu, angiyikukhawula engikwenzayo ngize ngiphindisele kini.”
And Samson says to them, “Though you do thus, nevertheless I am avenged on you, and afterward I cease!”
8 Wabahlasela kakubi wabulala abanengi babo. Emva kwalokho wahamba wayahlala ebhalwini edwaleni lase-Ethamu.
And he strikes them hip and thigh [with] a great striking, and goes down and dwells in the cleft of the rock of Etam.
9 AmaFilistiya ahamba ayamisa koJuda, asabalala eduze leLehi.
And the Philistines go up, and encamp in Judah, and are spread out in Lehi,
10 Abantu bakoJuda babuza bathi, “Lizesihlaselelani na?” Bona baphendula bathi, “Silande ukuzabopha uSamsoni, senze kuye lokhu akwenzayo kithi.”
and the men of Judah say, “Why have you come up against us?” And they say, “We have come up to bind Samson, to do to him as he has done to us.”
11 Abantu bakoJuda abazinkulungwane ezintathu baya ebhalwini edwaleni lase-Ethamu bathi kuSamsoni, “Kawazi yini ukuthi amaFilistiya ayasibusa? Kuyini osusenzele khona ngempela?” Waphendula wathi, “Ngimane ngenza kuwo lokho akwenza kimi.”
And three thousand men of Judah go down to the cleft of the rock of Etam, and say to Samson, “Have you now known that the Philistines are rulers over us? And what [is] this you have done to us?” And he says to them, “As they did to me, so I did to them.”
12 Bathi kuye, “Thina silande ukuzakubopha sikunikele kuwo.” USamsoni wathi, “Fungani kimi ukuthi kaliyikungibulala lina ngokwenu.”
And they say to him, “We have come down to bind you—to give you into the hand of the Philistines.” And Samson says to them, “Swear to me, lest you fall on me yourselves.”
13 Baphendula bathi, “Siyavuma. Thina sizakubopha nje kuphela besesikunikela kuwo. Kasiyikukubulala.” Ngakho bambopha ngemichilo emibili emitsha, basebesuka laye edwaleni.
And they speak to him, saying, “No, but we certainly bind you, and have given you into their hand, and we certainly do not put you to death”; and they bind him with two thick bands, new ones, and bring him up from the rock.
14 Esebanga eLehi, amaFilistiya amhlangabeza eklabalala. UMoya kaThixo wehlela phezu kwakhe ngamandla. Imichilo ezingalweni zakhe yaba njengesikusha esitshileyo, izibopho zawa ezandleni zakhe.
He has come to Lehi—and the Philistines have shouted at meeting him—and the Spirit of YHWH prospers over him, and the thick bands which [are] on his arms are as flax which they burn with fire, and his bands are melted from off his hands,
15 Esethole ithambo lomhlathi kababhemi elitsha, walithatha wabulala ngalo abantu abayinkulungwane.
and he finds a fresh jawbone of a donkey, and puts forth his hand and takes it, and strikes down one thousand men with it.
16 USamsoni wasesithi, “Ngethambo lomhlathi kababhemi, ngibenze baba ngobabhemi. Ngethambo lomhlathi kababhemi ngibulele amadoda ayinkulungwane.”
And Samson says, “With the jawbone of a donkey, heap on heaps—I have struck down one thousand men with the jawbone of a donkey!”
17 Eseqedile ukukhuluma walilahla ithambo lomhlathi; indawo leyo yasithiwa yiRamathi-Lehi.
And it comes to pass, when he finishes speaking, that he casts away the jawbone out of his hand, and calls that place Ramath-Lehi;
18 Ngenxa yokuthi wayesome kakhulu, wakhala kuThixo wathi, “Uyiphile inceku yakho ukunqoba okukhulu. Pho sekumele ngibulawe yikoma yini njalo ngiwele ezandleni zabangasokanga na?”
and he thirsts exceedingly, and calls to YHWH, and says, “You have given this great salvation by the hand of Your servant; and now, I die with thirst, and have fallen into the hand of the uncircumcised.”
19 UNkulunkulu wasevula umthonjana eLehi, kwaphuma amanzi kuwo. USamsoni esenathile, amandla akhe aphenduka, wavuseleleka. Ngakho umthombo lowo wathiwa yi-Eni Hakhore, njalo ulokhu ukhona eLehi.
And God cleaves the hollow place which [is] in Lehi, and waters come out of it, and he drinks, and his spirit comes back, and he revives; therefore [one] has called its name “The fountain of him who is calling,” which [is] in Lehi to this day.
20 USamsoni wakhokhela abako-Israyeli iminyaka engamatshumi amabili ngesikhathi samaFilistiya.
And he judges Israel in the days of the Philistines [for] twenty years.
