1 Samuela 7
1 Pea naʻe haʻu ʻae kau tangata ʻo Kesa-Sialimi, ʻo haʻamo hake ʻae puha ʻo Sihova, ʻo ʻomi ia ki he fale ʻo ʻApinatapi ʻi he moʻunga, pea ne fakanofo hono foha ko ʻEliesa ke ne tauhi ʻae puha tapu ʻo Sihova.
[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 Pea naʻe hoko ʻo pehē, naʻe tuku ʻae puha tapu ʻi Kesa-Sialimi, ʻo fuoloa ʻaupito; he ko e taʻu ʻe uofulu: pea naʻe tangi mamahi ʻae fale kotoa pē ʻo ʻIsileli kia Sihova.
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 Pea naʻe lea ʻa Samuela ki he fale kotoa pē ʻo ʻIsileli, ʻo pehē, “Kapau ʻoku mou tafoki kia Sihova ʻaki homou loto kotoa, pea mou tukuange ʻae ngaahi ʻotua kehe mo ʻAsitelote meiate kimoutolu, pea teuteu homou loto kia Sihova, ʻo tauhi kiate ia pe: pehē te ne fakahaofi ʻakimoutolu mei he nima ʻoe kakai Filisitia.”
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 Pea naʻe toki tukuange ʻe he fānau ʻa ʻIsileli ʻa Peali mo ʻAsitelote, ʻonau tauhi pē kia Sihova.
So the Israelis got rid of all their statues of the gods Baal and Astarte, and they worshiped only Yahweh.
5 Pea naʻe fekau ʻe Samuela, “Fakakātoa ʻa ʻIsileli kotoa pē ki Misipa, pea te u hūfia ʻakimoutolu kia Sihova.”
Then Samuel told them, “All you Israeli people must gather with me at Mizpah. Then I will pray to Yahweh for you.”
6 Pea naʻa nau kātoa fakataha ki Misipa, ʻonau ʻutu ʻae vai, ʻo lingi ia ʻi he ʻao ʻo Sihova, ʻonau ʻaukai ʻi he ʻaho ko ia, ʻonau pehē, “Kuo mau fai angahala kia Sihova.” Pea naʻe fakamaauʻi ʻe Samuela ʻae fānau ʻa ʻIsileli ʻi Misipa.
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 Pea ʻi he fanongo ʻae kakai Filisitia kuo kātoa fakataha ʻae fānau ʻa ʻIsileli ki Misipa, naʻe ʻalu hake ʻae houʻeiki ʻoe kau Filisitia ke tauʻi ʻa ʻIsileli. Pea ʻi he fanongo ki ai ʻae fānau ʻa ʻIsileli, naʻa nau manavahē ki he kakai Filisitia.
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 Pea naʻe pehē ʻe he fānau ʻa ʻIsileli kia Samuela, “ʻOua naʻa tuku hoʻo tangi kia Sihova ko hotau ʻOtua, koeʻuhi ke ne fakamoʻui ʻakimautolu mei he nima ʻoe kakai Filisitia.”
They told Samuel, “Pray to Yahweh to rescue us from the Philistia army [MTY], and do not stop pleading!”
9 Pea naʻe ʻave ʻe Samuela ʻae lami huhu ʻo ne ʻatu ia ko e feilaulau tutu kotoa kia Sihova: pea naʻe tangi ʻa Samuela kia Sihova koeʻuhi ko ʻIsileli; pea naʻe talia ia ʻe Sihova.
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 Pea ʻi he kei ʻatu ʻe Samuela ʻae feilaulau tutu, naʻe ʻunuʻunu mai ʻae kakai Filisitia ke tauʻi ʻa ʻIsileli: ka naʻe mana ʻe Sihova ʻaki ʻae mana lahi ʻi he ʻaho ko ia ki he kakai Filisitia, pea naʻe veuveuki ʻakinautolu; pea naʻe teʻia ʻakinautolu ʻi he ʻao ʻo ʻIsileli.
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 Pea naʻe ʻalu atu ʻae kau tangata ʻo ʻIsileli mei Misipa ʻo tuli ʻae kakai Filisitia, pea naʻe teʻia ʻakinautolu ʻo aʻu atu ki Pete-ka.
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 Pea naʻe ʻomi ʻe Samuela ʻae maka, ke fokotuʻu ʻi he vahaʻa ʻo Misipa mo Seni, ʻo ne ui hono hingoa ko Epenisa, ʻo pehē, “Kuo tokoniʻi kitautolu ʻe Sihova ʻo aʻu ki he ʻaho ni.”
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 Naʻe pehē ʻae fakavaivai ʻae kakai Filisitia, pea naʻe ʻikai tenau toe haʻu ki he ngaahi potu fonua ʻo ʻIsileli: pea naʻe hiki hake ʻae nima ʻo Sihova ki he kakai Filisitia ʻi he ngaahi ʻaho kotoa pē ʻo 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 Pea ko e ngaahi kolo naʻe hamu ʻe he kau Filisitia mei ʻIsileli, naʻe toe tuku mai ki ʻIsileli mei Ekiloni ʻo aʻu atu ki Kati; pea ko hono ngaahi potu ʻo ia naʻe toe maʻu ʻe ʻIsileli mei he nima ʻoe kakai Filisitia. Pea naʻe nofo fakamelino ʻa ʻIsileli mo e kakai ʻAmoli.
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 Pea naʻe fai ʻae fakamaau ʻe Samuela ki ʻIsileli ʻi he ngaahi ʻaho kotoa pē ʻo ʻene moʻui.
Samuel continued to be the leader of the Israeli people until he died.
16 Pea naʻe ʻalu holo ia ʻi he taʻu kotoa pē ki Peteli, mo Kilikali, mo Misipa, ʻo ne fakamaauʻi ʻa ʻIsileli ʻi he ngaahi potu ko ia.
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 Pea naʻa ne faʻa feʻaluʻaki ki Lama he naʻe tuʻu ʻi ai hono fale; pea naʻa ne fakamaau ʻe ia ʻi ai ʻa ʻIsileli; pea naʻe langa ʻe ia ʻi ai ʻae feilaulauʻanga kia Sihova.
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.
