< 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.
During the time that they harvested wheat, Samson took a young goat to Timnah as a present for his wife. He planned to sleep with [EUP] his wife, but her father would not let him go into [her room].
2 Baba yake akasema, “Nilidhani umemchukia, hivyo nikampatia rafiki yako. Dada yake mdogo ni mzuri kuliko yeye, Mchukue badala yake.”
He said to Samson, “I really thought that you hated her. So I gave her to the man who had been your best man at the wedding, and she married him. But look, her younger sister is [RHQ] more beautiful than she is. You can marry her!”
3 Samsoni akawaambia, 'Wakati huu sitakuwa na hatia juu ya Wafilisti wakati nikiwaumiza.'
Samson replied, “No! And this time I have a right to get revenge on you Philistines!”
4 Samsoni akaenda na kukamata mbweha mia tatu akawafunga pamoja kila jozi, mkia hadi mkia. Kisha akachukua taa na kuzifunga katikati ya kila mkia.
Then he went out [into the fields] and caught 300 foxes. He tied their tails together, two-by-two. He fastened torches to each pair of 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.
Then he lit the torches and let the foxes run through the fields of the Philistines. The fire [from the torches] burned all the grain to the ground, including the grain that had been cut and piled in bundles. The fire also burned down their grapevines and their olive trees.
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.
The Philistines asked, “Who did this?” Someone told them, “Samson did it. He married a woman from Timnah, but then his father-in-law gave her to the man who was Samson’s best man at the wedding, and she married him.” So the Philistines went [to Timnah] and got the woman and her father, and burned them to death.
7 Samsoni akawaambia, “Ikiwa ndivyo mnavyofanya, nitalipiza kisasi juu yenu, na baada ya hayo, nitaacha.”
Samson [found out about that, and he] said to them, “Because you have done this, I will not stop until I get revenge on you!”
8 Kisha akawakata vipande vipande, paja na mguu, kwa kuwauwa sana. Kisha akashuka chini akaishi katika pango katika mwamba wa Etamu.
So he attacked the Philistines furiously, and killed many of them. Then he went [to hide] in a cave in the large rock at a place called Etam.
9 Ndipo Wafilisti wakaja, wakajitahidi kupigana vita huko Yuda, wakaanzisha jeshi lao huko Lehi.
The Philistines [did not know where he was, so they] went up to where the descendants of Judah lived, set up their tents near Lehi [town and then raided the town].
10 Watu wa Yuda wakasema, “Kwa nini mmekuja kutupiga?” Wakasema, “Tunashambulia ili tuweze kumkamata Samsoni, na tumtendee kama alivyotutendea.”
The men there asked the Philistines, “Why have you attacked us?” The Philistines replied, “We have come to capture Samson. We have come to get revenge on him for what he did 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.”
[Someone there knew where Samson was hiding]. So 3,000 men from Judah went down to get Samson at the cave in the rock where he was hiding. They said to Samson, “Do you not realize that the people of Philistia are ruling over us? Do you not realize what they will do to us?” Samson replied, “The only thing I did was that I got revenge on them for what they did to me.”
12 Wakamwambia Samsoni, “Tumeshuka kukufunga na kukutia mikononi mwa Wafilisti.” Samsoni akawaambia, “Niapieni kwamba hamtaniua ninyi wenyewe.”
But the men from Judah said to him, “We have come to tie you up and put you in the hands of the Philistines.” Samson said, “All right, but promise me that you yourselves will not kill me!”
13 Wakamwambia, “La, tutakufunga tu kwa kamba na kukupeleka kwao. Tunakuahidi sisi hatutakuua.” Kisha wakamfunga na kamba mbili mpya na kumleta kutoka kwenye mwamba.
They replied, “We will just tie you up and take you to the Philistines. We will not kill you.” So they tied him with two new ropes, and led him away from the cave.
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 they arrived at Lehi, the Philistines came toward him, shouting [triumphantly]. But Yahweh’s Spirit came upon Samson powerfully. He snapped the ropes on his arms as easily as if they were stalks of burned flax, and the ropes fell off his wrists.
15 Samsoni alipata mfupa mbichi wa taya ya punda, naye akaichukua na kuua watu elfu kwa mfupa huo.
Then he saw a donkey’s jawbone lying on the ground. It was fresh, [so it was hard]. He picked it up and killed about 1,000 Philistine men with it.
16 Samsoni akasema, “Kwa taya ya punda, chungu juu ya chungu, na njaa ya punda nimewaua watu elfu.”
Then Samson wrote this poem: “With the jawbone of a donkey I have made them like a heap of [dead] donkeys. With the jawbone of a donkey I killed 1,000 men.”
17 Samsoni alipomaliza kuzungumza, akatupa taya, na akaita mahali pale Ramath Lehi.
When he finished killing those men, he threw the jawbone away, and later that place was called Jawbone Hill.
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?”
Then Samson was very thirsty, so he called out to Yahweh, “You have given me strength to win a great victory. So now must I die because of being thirsty, with the result that those heathen Philistines will take away my body [and mutilate it]?”
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.
So God caused water to gush out of a depression in the ground at Lehi. Samson drank from it and soon felt strong again. He named that place ‘The spring of the one who called out’. That spring is still there at Lehi.
20 Samsoni alikuwa mwamuzi wa Israeli katika siku za Wafilisti kwa miaka ishirini.
Samson was the leader of the Israeli people for 20 years, but during that time the Philistines [were the ones who really ruled over the land].