1 Samweli 27
1 Daudi akasema moyoni mwake, “Katika mojawapo ya siku hizi nitaangamizwa kwa mkono wa Sauli. Jambo lililo bora ni kutorokea kwenye nchi ya Wafilisti. Hivyo Sauli atakata tamaa ya kunisaka popote katika Israeli, nami nitakuwa nimeponyoka mkononi mwake.”
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 Hivyo Daudi akaondoka na hao watu mia sita waliokuwa pamoja naye na kwenda kwa Akishi mwana wa Maoki mfalme wa Gathi.
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 Daudi na watu wake wakakaa huko Gathi pamoja na Akishi. Kila mtu alikuwa pamoja na jamaa yake, naye Daudi pamoja na wakeze wawili: yaani Ahinoamu wa Yezreeli, na Abigaili wa Karmeli, mjane 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 Sauli alipokuwa ameambiwa kwamba Daudi alikuwa amekimbilia Gathi, hakuendelea kumsaka tena.
When someone told Saul that David had run away [and was living] in Gath, he stopped searching for David.
5 Ndipo Daudi akamwambia Akishi, “Kama nimepata kibali machoni pako, unipe sehemu katika mojawapo ya miji katika nchi nikae huko. Kwa nini mtumwa wako akae pamoja nawe katika mji huu wa kifalme?”
[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 Hivyo siku hiyo Akishi akampa Daudi mji wa Siklagi, nao Siklagi umekuwa mali ya wafalme wa Yuda tangu wakati huo.
[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 Daudi akaishi katika nchi ya Wafilisti muda wa mwaka mmoja na miezi minne.
David [and his men] lived in the Philistia area for 16 months.
8 Basi Daudi na watu wake wakapanda na kuwashambulia Wageshuri, Wagirizi na Waamaleki. (Tangu zamani haya mataifa yalikuwa yameishi kwenye eneo lililotanda kuanzia Telemu katika njia iteremkayo Shuri hadi kufikia nchi ya Misri.)
[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 Kila mara Daudi aliposhambulia eneo, hakubakiza hai mwanaume wala mwanamke, lakini alichukua kondoo na ngʼombe, punda na ngamia, na nguo. Kisha akarudi kwa Akishi.
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 Akishi alipomuuliza, “Je leo umeshambulia wapi?” Daudi humjibu, “Dhidi ya Negebu ya Yuda,” au wakati mwingine husema, “Dhidi ya Negebu ya Yerameeli,” au “Dhidi ya Negebu ya Wakeni.”
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 Daudi hakumwacha hai mwanaume au mwanamke ili apate kuletwa Gathi, kwa maana Daudi aliwaza, “Wanaweza kujulisha habari zetu na kusema, ‘Hivi ndivyo alivyofanya Daudi.’” Hii ndiyo ilikuwa desturi yake wakati wote aliishi katika nchi ya Wafilisti.
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 Akishi akamsadiki Daudi na kuwaza moyoni mwake, akasema, “Daudi amekuwa kitu cha kuchukiza kabisa kwa watu wake, Waisraeli, hivi kwamba atakuwa mtumishi wangu milele.”
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.”
