< Waamuzi 15 >
1 Baada ya siku kadhaa, wakati wa mavuno ya ngano, Samsoni akachukua mbuzi mdogo akaenda kumtembelea mkewe. Akajiambia mwenyewe, “Nitaenda kwenye chumba cha mke wangu.” Lakini baba yake hakumruhusu aingie.
But it came to pass after a while, in the time of wheat harvest, that Samson visited his wife with a kid. And he said, I will go in to my wife into the chamber, but her father would not allow him to go in.
2 Baba yake akasema, “Nilidhani umemchukia, hivyo nikampatia rafiki yako. Dada yake mdogo ni mzuri kuliko yeye, Mchukue badala yake.”
And her father said, I truly thought that thou had utterly hated her, therefore I gave her to thy companion. Is not her younger sister fairer than she? Take her, I pray thee, instead of her.
3 Samsoni akawaambia, 'Wakati huu sitakuwa na hatia juu ya Wafilisti wakati nikiwaumiza.'
And Samson said to them, This time I shall be blameless in regard of the Philistines when I do them a mischief.
4 Samsoni akaenda na kukamata mbweha mia tatu akawafunga pamoja kila jozi, mkia hadi mkia. Kisha akachukua taa na kuzifunga katikati ya kila mkia.
And Samson went and caught three hundred foxes, and took firebrands, and turned tail to tail, and put a firebrand in the midst between every two tails.
5 Alipokwisha kuviwasha moto vienge, akawaachia mbweha katika nafaka za Wafilisti zilizosimama, nao wakawasha moto nafaka zote zilizopandwa, na nafaka iliyosimama shambani, pamoja na mashamba ya mizabibu na mizeituni.
And when he had set the brands on fire, he let them go into the standing grain of the Philistines, and burnt up both the shocks and the standing grain, and also the oliveyards.
6 Wafilisti waliuliza, “Ni nani aliyefanya hili?” Wakaambiwa, “Samsoni, mkwe wa Mtimna alifanya hivyo kwa sababu Mtimna alimchukua mke wa Samsoni akampa rafiki yake.” Basi Wafilisti wakamwendea wakamchoma kwa moto yeye na baba yake.
Then the Philistines said, Who has done this? And they said, Samson, the son-in-law of the Timnite, because he has taken his wife, and given her to his companion. And the Philistines came up, and burnt her and her father with fire.
7 Samsoni akawaambia, “Ikiwa ndivyo mnavyofanya, nitalipiza kisasi juu yenu, na baada ya hayo, nitaacha.”
And Samson said to them, If ye do after this manner, surely I will be avenged of you, and after that I will cease.
8 Kisha akawakata vipande vipande, paja na mguu, kwa kuwauwa sana. Kisha akashuka chini akaishi katika pango katika mwamba wa Etamu.
And he smote them hip and thigh with a great slaughter. And he went down and dwelt in the cleft of the rock of Etam.
9 Ndipo Wafilisti wakaja, wakajitahidi kupigana vita huko Yuda, wakaanzisha jeshi lao huko Lehi.
Then the Philistines went up, and encamped in Judah, and spread themselves in Lehi.
10 Watu wa Yuda wakasema, “Kwa nini mmekuja kutupiga?” Wakasema, “Tunashambulia ili tuweze kumkamata Samsoni, na tumtendee kama alivyotutendea.”
And the men of Judah said, Why have ye come up against us? And they said, We come up to bind Samson, to do to him as he has done to us.
11 Kisha watu elfu tatu wa Yuda wakashuka hata kwenye pango la Eatamu, wakamwambia Samsoni, “Je, hujui kwamba Wafilisti hutawala juu yetu? Je! umetutendea nini?” Samsoni akawaambia, “Kwa kadili walivyonitendea mimi, vivyo hivyo nimewatendea wao.”
Then three thousand men of Judah went down to the cleft of the rock of Etam, and said to Samson, Know thou not that the Philistines are rulers over us? What then is this that thou have done to us? And he said to them, As they did to me, so have I done to them.
12 Wakamwambia Samsoni, “Tumeshuka kukufunga na kukutia mikononi mwa Wafilisti.” Samsoni akawaambia, “Niapieni kwamba hamtaniua ninyi wenyewe.”
And they said to him, We have come down to bind thee, that we may deliver thee into the hand of the Philistines. And Samson said to them, Swear to me, that ye will not fall upon me yourselves.
13 Wakamwambia, “La, tutakufunga tu kwa kamba na kukupeleka kwao. Tunakuahidi sisi hatutakuua.” Kisha wakamfunga na kamba mbili mpya na kumleta kutoka kwenye mwamba.
And they spoke to him, saying, No, but we will bind thee fast, and deliver thee into their hand, but truly we will not kill thee. And they bound him with two new ropes, and brought him up from the rock.
14 Alipofika Lehi, Wafilisti walipiga kelele walipokutana naye. Kisha Roho wa Bwana akaja juu yake kwa nguvu. Kamba zilizokuwa juu ya mikono yake zikawa kama kitambaa cha kuteketezwa, na zikaanguka mikononi mwake.
When he came to Lehi, the Philistines shouted as they met him. And the Spirit of Jehovah came mightily upon him, and the ropes that were upon his arms became as flax that was burnt with fire, and his bands dropped from off his hands.
15 Samsoni alipata mfupa mbichi wa taya ya punda, naye akaichukua na kuua watu elfu kwa mfupa huo.
And he found a fresh jawbone of a donkey, and put forth his hand, and took it, and smote a thousand men with it.
16 Samsoni akasema, “Kwa taya ya punda, chungu juu ya chungu, na njaa ya punda nimewaua watu elfu.”
And Samson said, With the jawbone of a donkey, heaps upon heaps, with the jawbone of a donkey I have smitten a thousand men.
17 Samsoni alipomaliza kuzungumza, akatupa taya, na akaita mahali pale Ramath Lehi.
And it came to pass, when he had made an end of speaking, that he cast away the jawbone out of his hand. And that place was called Ramath-lehi.
18 Samsoni alikuwa na kiu sana akamwita Bwana na kusema, “Umempa mtumishi wako ushindi mkubwa. Lakini sasa nitakufa kwa kiu na kuanguka mikononi mwa wale wasiootahiriwa?”
And he was very thirsty, and called on Jehovah, and said, Thou have given this great deliverance by the hand of thy servant, and now shall I die for thirst, and fall into the hand of the uncircumcised?
19 Na Mungu akapafungua mahali pa shimo palipo katika Lehi, na maji yakatoka. Alipokunywa, nguvu zake zikarejea na akahuishwa. Kwa hiyo aliita jina la mahali hapo Enhakore, na ni huko Lehi hadi leo.
But God split the hollow place that is in Lehi, and water came out there. And when he had drunk his spirit came again, and he revived. Therefore the name of it was called En-hakkore, which is in Lehi to this day.
20 Samsoni alikuwa mwamuzi wa Israeli katika siku za Wafilisti kwa miaka ishirini.
And he judged Israel in the days of the Philistines twenty years.