Atemmufo 3
1 Awurade gyaw aman bi wɔ asase no so a na ɔnam so pɛ sɛ ɔsɔ Israelfo a wɔnkɔɔ Kanaan ko no bi da hwɛ.
At that time there were still many people-groups in Canaan. Yahweh left them there to test the Israeli people. But many of the Israelis in Canaan were ones who had not fought in any of the wars in Canaan. So Yahweh also left those people-groups in Canaan so that the descendants of those who had not fought in any of the wars might learn how to fight.
2 Ɔyɛɛ saa de kyerɛɛ Israel nkyirimma a wɔnkɔɔ ɔko da no sɛnea wobenya akodi ho nimdeɛ.
3 Saa aman no ni: Filistifo (wɔn a na wɔhyɛ Filistifo ahemfo baanum bi ase no), Kanaanfo nyinaa, Sidonfo, Hewifo a na wɔte Lebanon bepɔw no so fi Baal Hermon bepɔw ho de kosi Lebo Hamat.
[This is a list of] the people-groups that Yahweh left there: The Philistines and their five leaders, the people living in the area near Sidon [city], the descendants of Canaan, and the descendants of Hiv who were living in the mountains of Lebanon between Baal-Hermon Mountain and Lebo-Hamath.
4 Wogyaw saa nkurɔfo yi de sɔɔ Israelfo no hwɛe, pɛɛ sɛ wohu sɛ wobedi mmara a Awurade nam Mose so hyɛ maa wɔn agyanom no so ana.
Yahweh left these people-groups there to test the Israelis, to see if they would obey his commands which he had told Moses to give them.
5 Enti Israelfo no tenaa Kanaanfo, Hetifo, Amorifo, Perisifo, Hewifo ne Yebusifo no mu.
The Israelis lived among the Canaan people-group, the Hiv people-group, the Amor people-group, the Periz people-group, the Hiv people-group, and the Jebus people-group.
6 Na wodii wɔn ho aware. Israelfo mmabarima no warewaree wɔn mmabea na wɔde Israelfo mmabea nso maa wɔn mmabarima aware. Na Israelfo no som wɔn anyame.
[Moses had told the people not to associate with any of those people]. But the Israelis took daughters of people from those people-groups [to be their own wives], and gave their own daughters to men of those groups, to marry them. And [as a result] they started to worship the gods of those people-groups.
7 Israelfo no yɛɛ nea ɛyɛ Awurade ani so bɔne. Wɔn werɛ fii Awurade wɔn Nyankopɔn, na wɔsom Baalim ahoni ne Asera nnua.
The Israelis did things that Yahweh said were very evil. They forgot about Yahweh, their God, and they started to worship [the idols that represented] the god Baal and the goddess Asherah.
8 Awurade abufuw mu yɛɛ den tiaa Israel nti, ɔde wɔn hyɛɛ Aramhene Kusan-Risataim nsam. Na Israelfo yɛɛ Kusan-Risataim nkoa mfirihyia awotwe.
Yahweh became very angry with the Israelis. So he allowed king Cushan from Mesopotamia to conquer them and rule them for eight years.
9 Nanso Israelfo su frɛɛ Awurade no, oyii ɔbarima bi sɛ ogyefo maa wɔn. Ne din ne Otniel a ɔyɛ Kaleb nua kumaa Kenas babarima.
But when they pleaded to Yahweh [to help them], he gave them a leader to rescue them. He was Othniel, the son of Caleb’s younger brother Kenaz.
10 Awurade honhom baa ne so, enti ɔbɛyɛɛ Israel otemmufo. Ɔko tiaa Aramhene Kusan-Risataim na Awurade maa Otniel dii ne so nkonim.
Yahweh’s Spirit came upon him, and he became their leader. He [led an army that] fought against [the army of] Cushan, and defeated them.
11 Enti asomdwoe baa asase no so mfirihyia aduanan. Na Kenas babarima Otniel wui.
After that, there was peace in the land for 40 years, until Othniel died.
12 Bio, Israelfo no yɛɛ nea ɛyɛ Awurade ani so bɔne, na ɛno nti, Awurade de tumi hyɛɛ Moabhene Eglon nsa ma odii Israel so.
After that, the Israelis again did things that Yahweh said were very evil. As a result, he allowed the army of King Eglon, who ruled [the] Moab [area], to defeat the Israelis.
13 Eglon boaboaa Amonfo ne Amalekfo ano ma wɔbɛkaa ne ho na wɔkɔtow hyɛɛ Israelfo so. Wodii wɔn so, faa kuropɔn Yeriko.
Eglon persuaded the leaders of the Ammon and Amalek people-groups to join their armies with his army to attack Israel. They captured [Jericho, which was called] ‘The City of Palm Trees’.
14 Israelfo no som Moabhene Eglon mfirihyia dunwɔtwe.
Then King Eglon ruled the Israelis for eighteen years.
15 Nanso Israelfo no su frɛɛ Awurade bio no, Awurade maa wɔn ogyefo. Ne din ne Ehud, Gera babarima a ɔyɛ abenkumma na ofi Benyamin abusuakuw mu. Israelfo no somaa Ehud sɛ ɔmfa wɔn sonkahiri sika nkɔma Moabhene Eglon.
But then the Israelis again pleaded to Yahweh [to help them]. So he gave them another leader to rescue them. He was Ehud, a left-handed man, the son of Gera, from the descendants of Benjamin. The Israelis sent him to King Eglon to give him their yearly protection money.
16 Enti Ehud bɔɔ afoa anofanu a ne tenten yɛ nsateaa dunwɔtwe. Ɔde hyɛɛ ne srɛ nifa ho de siee nʼatade mu.
Ehud had with him a double-edged dagger, about a foot and a half long. He strapped it to his right thigh, under his clothes.
17 Ɔde sonkahiri sika no brɛɛ Eglon a wayɛ kɛse tobonn no.
He gave the money to King Eglon, who was a very fat man.
18 Ɔde sika no maa no wiee no, Ehud gyaa wɔn a na wɔso sika no kwan ma wɔkɔɔ fie.
Then Ehud started to go back home with the men who had carried the money.
19 Nanso bere a Ehud duu abo ahoni a ɛbɛn Gilgal no, ɔsan nʼakyi baa Eglon nkyɛn bɛka kyerɛɛ no se, “Mewɔ kokoamsɛm bi ka kyerɛ wo.” Enti ɔhene no maa nʼasomfo no nyinaa yɛɛ dinn na ɔmaa wɔn nyinaa fii ɔdan mu hɔ.
When they arrived at the stone carvings near Gilgal, [he told the other men to go on, but] he himself turned around and went back [to the king of Moab. When he arrived at the palace], he said to the king, “Your majesty, I have a secret message for you.” So the king told all his servants to be quiet, and sent them out of the room.
20 Afei, Ehud kɔɔ Eglon nkyɛn. Na ɔte abansoro dan bi a emu dwo mu. Ehud ka kyerɛɛ no se, “Mewɔ asɛm bi a efi Onyankopɔn nkyɛn ka kyerɛ wo!” Bere a ɔhene Eglon sɔre fii nʼakongua mu ara pɛ,
Then, as Eglon was sitting alone in the upstairs room of his summer palace, Ehud came close to him and said, “I have a message for you from God.” As the king got up from his chair,
21 Ehud de ne nsa benkum twee afoa a ɔde ahyɛ ne srɛ nifa ho no de wɔɔ ɔhene no yafunu mu.
Ehud reached with his left hand and pulled the dagger from his right thigh, and plunged it into the king’s belly.
22 Afoa no kɔɔ akyiri kosii sɛ ne bona no mpo wuraa ɔhene no srade mu maa ɛso katae. Enti Ehud gyaa afoa no wɔ yafunu no mu maa ne nsono tu gui.
He thrust it in so far that the handle went into the king’s belly, and the blade came out the king’s back. Ehud did not pull the dagger out. [He left it there, with] the handle buried in the king’s fat.
23 Afei, Ehud totoo apon no mu foroo agyanan dan no, faa ne asuten no mu guan kɔe.
Then Ehud left the room. He went out to the porch. He shut the doors to the room and locked them.
24 Ehud kɔe akyi no, ɔhene asomfo no baa hɔ behuu sɛ wɔatoto apon a ɛkɔ aban no so no mu. Na wodwen sɛ ɔwɔ agyananbea hɔ,
After he had gone, King Eglon’s servants came back, but they saw that the doors of the room were locked. They said, “The king must be defecating in the inner room.”
25 enti wɔtwɛnee. Wɔtwɛn ara na ɔhene no mma no, ɛhaw wɔn ma wɔkɔhwehwɛɛ safe bi. Na wobuee pon no, wohuu sɛ wɔn wura awu da fam.
So they waited, but when the king did not open the doors of the room, after a while they were worried. They got a key and unlocked the doors. And they saw that their king was lying on the floor, dead.
26 Bere a asomfo no retwɛn no, Ehud guan faa abo ahoni no so a ɔrekɔ Seira.
Meanwhile, Ehud escaped. He passed by the stone carvings and arrived at Seirah, in the hilly area where the descendants of Ephraim lived.
27 Oduu Efraim bepɔw asase no so no, Ehud hyɛn torobɛnto kyerɛɛ ɔman no sɛ wɔmfa akode mmra. Enti odii Israelfo kuw bi anim sian bepɔw no.
There he blew a trumpet [to signal that the people should join him to fight the people of Moab]. So the Israelis went with him from the hills. They went down [toward the Jordan river], with Ehud leading them.
28 Ɔka kyerɛɛ wɔn se, “Munni mʼakyi. Awurade ama moadi Moabfo a wɔyɛ mo atamfo no so nkonim.” Enti wotu dii nʼakyi. Israelfo no faa asubɔnten Yordan baabi a ɛhɔ nnɔ a wofi Moab twa. Ɛno nti na obiara ntumi mfa hɔ ntwa Asubɔnten no.
He said to the men, “Yahweh is going to allow us to defeat your enemies, the people of Moab. So follow me!” So they followed him down to the river, and they stationed some of their men at the place where people can walk across the river, in order that they could [kill any people from Moab who tried to] cross the river [to escape].
29 Wɔtow hyɛɛ Moabfo no so. Wokunkum wɔn dɔmmarima no bɛyɛ mpem du. Wɔn mu biara antumi anguan.
At that time, the Israelis killed about 10,000 people from Moab. They were all strong and capable men, but not one of them escaped.
30 Enti Israelfo dii Moabfo so nkonim saa da no, na asomdwoe baa asase no so mfirihyia aduɔwɔtwe.
On that day, the Israelis conquered the people of Moab. Then there was peace in their land for 80 years.
31 Ehud akyi no, Anat babarima Samgar gyee Israelfo. Ɔde nantwika abaa kum Filistifo ahansia.
After Ehud [died], Shamgar became their leader. He rescued the Israelis [from the Philistines. In one battle] he killed 600 Philistines with an (ox goad/sharp wooden pole).
