1 Samweli 27
1 Daudi alisema moyoni mwake, “Basi, siku moja nitaangamia kwa mkono wa Sauli; hakuna jambo zuri kwangu kuliko kutoroka hadi nchi ya Wafilisti; Sauli atakata tamaa asinitafute tena ndani ya mipaka yote ya Israeli; kwa njia hii nitaponyoka kutoka mkono wake.”
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 Daudi akaondoka na kuvuka, akiwa pamoja na watu mia sita hadi 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 akaishi na Akishi huko Gathi pamoja na watu wake, na kila mtu na familia yake, na Daudi akiwa na wake zake wawili, Ahinoamu Myezreeli, na Abigaili Mkarmeli aliyekuwa mke 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 akaambiwa kuwa Daudi amekimbilia Gathi, hivyo hakumtafuta tena.
When someone told Saul that David had run away [and was living] in Gath, he stopped searching for David.
5 Daudi akamwambia Akishi, “Kama nimepata kibali machoni pako, wanipatie mahali katika mojawapo ya miji ya nchi, ili nikae huko: kwa nini mtumishi wako akae pamoja na wewe katika mji 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 Ziklagi; ndiyo sababu mji wa Ziklagi ni mali ya wafalme wa Yuda hadi leo.
[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 Idadi ya siku ambazo Daudi aliishi katika nchi ya Wafilisti ulikuwa mwaka mmoja na miezi minne.
David [and his men] lived in the Philistia area for 16 months.
8 Daudi na watu wake walizipiga sehemu mbalimbali, wakiteka nyara Wageshuri, Wagirizi, na Waamaleki; kwa maana mataifa hayo ndio walikuwa wakaaji wa nchi, kwa uelekeo wa kwenda Shuri hadi kufika nchi ya Misri. Walikuwa wamekaa katika nchi hiyo toka nyakati za zamani.
[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 Daudi aliipiga nchi na hakumwacha mwanaume wala mwanamke akiwa hai; akatwaa kondoo, ng'ombe, punda, ngamia, na nguo; kisha alirudi na kufika tena 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 Ndipo Akishi humuuliza, “Je, leo umefanya mashambulizi dhidi ya nani?” Daudi humjibu, “Nimefanya dhidi ya kusini mwa Yuda,” au dhidi ya kusini mwa Wayerameeli,” au “dhidi ya kusini mwa 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 asingemwacha mwanaume wala mwanamke akiwa hai awalete hadi Gathi, akisema, “ili wasije kututeta, 'Daudi amefanya hivi na vile.”' Hivi ndivyo alivyofanya kwa kipindi chote alichokaa 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 alimwamini Daudi, akisema, “Amesababisha watu wake Israeli wamchukie kabisa; kwa hiyo 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.”
