I Samuela 7
1 Przyszli więc ludzie z Kiriat-Jearim, zabrali arkę PANA i wnieśli ją do domu Abinadaba na wzgórzu. Eleazara zaś, jego syna, poświęcili, aby strzegł arki PANA.
[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 od dnia przybycia arki do Kiriat-Jearim upłynęło dużo czasu, to jest dwadzieścia lat, a cały dom Izraela płakał za PANEM.
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 I Samuel powiedział do całego domu Izraela: Jeśli z całego swego serca nawrócicie się do PANA, wyrzućcie spośród siebie obcych bogów oraz Asztarty i przygotujcie swoje serce PANU, i służcie tylko jemu. Wtedy wybawi was z ręki Filistynów.
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 Synowie Izraela usunęli więc Baalów i Asztarty i służyli tylko PANU.
So the Israelis got rid of all their statues of the gods Baal and Astarte, and they worshiped only Yahweh.
5 Wtedy Samuel powiedział: Zgromadźcie całego Izraela w Mispie, a ja będę modlił się za wami do PANA.
Then Samuel told them, “All you Israeli people must gather with me at Mizpah. Then I will pray to Yahweh for you.”
6 Zgromadzili się więc w Mispie i czerpali wodę, którą wylewali przed PANEM. Pościli tam tego dnia i mówili: Zgrzeszyliśmy przeciw PANU. A Samuel sądził synów Izraela w Mispie.
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 [gdy] Filistyni usłyszeli, że synowie Izraela zgromadzili się w Mispie, wyruszyli książęta filistyńscy przeciw Izraelowi. Kiedy usłyszeli o tym synowie Izraela, zlękli się Filistynów.
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 I synowie Izraela powiedzieli do Samuela: Nie przestawaj wołać za nami do PANA, naszego Boga, aby nas wybawił z ręki Filistynów.
They told Samuel, “Pray to Yahweh to rescue us from the Philistia army [MTY], and do not stop pleading!”
9 Samuel wziął więc jedno jagnię ssące i złożył je PANU w ofierze całopalnej. I Samuel wołał do PANA za Izraelem, a PAN go wysłuchał.
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 kiedy Samuel składał całopalenie, Filistyni nadciągnęli, aby walczyć z Izraelem. Lecz w tym dniu PAN zagrzmiał wielkim grzmotem nad Filistynami i rozproszył ich tak, że zostali pobici przed Izraelem.
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 A Izraelici wyruszyli z Mispy, gonili Filistynów i bili ich aż pod Bet-Kar.
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 Wtedy Samuel wziął kamień, ustawił go między Mispą a Szen i nazwał go Ebenezer, mówiąc: Aż dotąd pomagał nam PAN.
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 Tak zostali upokorzeni Filistyni i już nie przekraczali granic Izraela, a ręka PANA była przeciwko Filistynom po wszystkie dni Samuela.
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 Izraelowi zostały przywrócone miasta, które Filistyni zabrali Izraelowi, od Ekronu aż do Gat, a ich granice wyzwolił Izrael z ręki Filistynów. I pokój panował między Izraelem a Amorytami.
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 Samuel sądził Izraela po wszystkie dni swego życia.
Samuel continued to be the leader of the Israeli people until he died.
16 Co roku chodził też i obchodził Betel, Gilgal i Mispę i sądził Izraela we wszystkich tych miejscach.
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 Potem wracał do Rama, ponieważ tam był jego dom. Tam sądził Izraela i tam też zbudował ołtarz PANU.
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.
