< 2 Samuel 10 >
1 Akyire no, Amonhene Nahas wuiɛ. Ne babarima Hanun na ɔdii nʼadeɛ sɛ ɔhene.
Some time later, the king of the Ammon people-group died, and his son Hanun became their king.
2 Dawid kaa sɛ, “Mɛyɛ Nahas babarima Hanun adɔeɛ, sɛdeɛ nʼagya yɛɛ me adɔeɛ no.” Nʼagya wuo enti, Dawid tuu abɔfoɔ kɔɔ ne nkyɛn kɔmaa no hyɛden. Ɛberɛ a Dawid abɔfoɔ baa Amonfoɔ asase so no,
David thought, “Nahash was kind to me, so I will be kind to his son.” So David sent some officials there, to tell Hanun that David was sorry that Hanun’s father [had died]. When those messengers arrived in the land where the Ammon people-group lived,
3 Amonfoɔ atitire no kɔbisaa wɔn wura Hanun sɛ, “Wogye di sɛ ba a Dawid somaa nʼabɔfoɔ baa wo nkyɛn bɛmaa wo hyɛden no kyerɛ anidie ampa ara anaa? Wonnye nni sɛ Dawid somaa wɔn akwansra so, sɛ wɔmmɛhwɛ wo kuropɔn na wɔabɛtu agu?”
the leaders of the Ammon people-group said to Hanun, “Do you think that it is to honor your father that King David has sent these men to say that he is sorry that your father died [RHQ]? [We think that] he has sent them here to look around the city to determine how his [army] can conquer us!”
4 Ɛno enti, Hanun kyeree Dawid abɔfoɔ no, yii obiara abɔgyesɛ fa, twitwaa wɔn ntadeɛ to mfimfini hɔ, tutuu mu, na wɔgyaa wɔn ɛkwan, maa wɔde animguaseɛ kɔeɛ.
Hanun [believed what they said; so he commanded some soldiers to] seize David’s officials and [insult them by] shaving off one side of each man’s beard, and [by] cutting off the lower part of their robes, [with the result that their buttocks could be seen], and then they sent them away.
5 Ɛberɛ a wɔbɔɔ Dawid amaneɛ no, ɔtuu abɔfoɔ ma wɔkɔhyiaa mmarima no, ɛfiri sɛ, wɔguu wɔn anim ase yie. Ɔhene ka kyerɛɛ wɔn sɛ, “Montena Yeriko kɔsi sɛ mo abɔgyesɛ bɛfu ansa na moasane aba.”
The men were very humiliated/ashamed, [so they did not want to return home]. When David found out about what had happened to his officials, he sent someone to tell them, “Stay at Jericho until your beards have grown again, and then return home.”
6 Ɛberɛ a Amonfoɔ hunuu sɛ wɔahyɛ Dawid abufuo no, wɔkɔbɔɔ Aramfoɔ asraafoɔ ɔpeduonu paa firii Bet-Rehob ne Soba. Saa ara na Maakahene nso maa wɔn mmarima apem firii ne nkyɛn, na Tob nso wɔnyaa mmarima mpem dumienu.
Then [the leaders of] the Ammon people-group realized that they had greatly insulted [IDM] David [IDM]. So they sent some men to hire/pay some soldiers [from other nearby areas to help defend them]. They hired 20,000 soldiers from [the] Beth-Rehob and Zobah [regions northeast of Israel], and 12,000 soldiers from [the] Tob [region], and 1,000 soldiers from [the army of] the king of Maacah [region].
7 Ɛberɛ a Dawid tee saa asɛm yi no, ɔsomaa Yoab ne nʼakofoɔ sɛ wɔne wɔn nkɔko.
When David heard about that, he sent Joab with all of the army [that Joab commanded], to fight against them.
8 Amonfoɔ no gyinaa wɔn kuro no ɛpono ano. Saa ɛberɛ no na Aramfoɔ a wɔfiri Soba ne Rehob ne mmarima a wɔfiri Tob ne Maaka no wɔ mfikyire baabiara retwɛn ɔtamfoɔ no.
The soldiers of the Ammon people-group marched out and (stood in their positions/arranged themselves for battle) at the entrance [to their capital city, Rabbah]. The other soldiers from Syria and Tob and Maacah stood by themselves (in their positions/arranged themselves for battle) in the nearby fields.
9 Ɛberɛ a Yoab hunuu sɛ ɔbɛko akofanu no, ɔyii akodɔm a wɔyɛ nnam. Ɔno ara dii wɔn so safohene, dii wɔn anim, kɔko tiaa Aramfoɔ no wɔ mfikyire hɔ.
Joab saw that there were groups of enemy soldiers in front of his troops and behind his troops. So he chose some of the best Israeli soldiers, and put them in positions to fight against the soldiers of Syria.
10 Ɔgyaa akodɔm a wɔaka no maa ne nuabarima Abisai sɛ ɔnkɔto nhyɛ Amonfoɔ no so.
He appointed his [older] brother Abishai to be the commander of all the other soldiers, and he told them to (stand in their positions/arrange themselves) in front of [the army of] the Ammon people-group.
11 Yoab ka kyerɛɛ ne nuabarima no sɛ, “Sɛ Aramfoɔ no yɛ den dodo ma me a, ɛyɛ a, bɛboa me. Na sɛ Amonfoɔ no nso yɛ den dodo ma wo a, me nso, mɛba abɛboa wo.
Then Joab said, “If the soldiers from Syria are too strong for us to defeat them, your men must come and help us. But if the soldiers from the Ammon people-group are too strong for you to defeat, we will come and help your men.
12 Hyɛ wo ho den. Ma yɛmfa akokoɔduru nko nnye yɛn nkurɔfoɔ ne yɛn Onyankopɔn nkuro. Awurade pɛ nyɛ hɔ.”
We must be strong, and fight hard [IDM] to [defend] our people and the cities [(that belong to/where we worship)] our God. I will pray/request that Yahweh do what he considers to be good.”
13 Ɛberɛ a Yoab ne nʼakodɔm to hyɛɛ Aramfoɔ no so no, wɔhyɛɛ aseɛ dwaneeɛ.
So Joab and his army [advanced to] attack the army of Syria, and the soldiers from Syria ran away from them.
14 Na Amonfoɔ no hunuu sɛ Aramfoɔ no redwane no, wɔdwane firii Abisai ho kɔhyɛɛ kuro no mu. Ɔko no guiɛ no, Yoab sane kɔɔ Yerusalem.
And when [the soldiers of] the Ammon people-group saw that the soldiers from Syria were running away, they also started to run away from Abishai and his army, and they retreated back inside the city. So Joab’s [army] stopped fighting against [the army of] the Ammon people-group, and Joab [and his army] returned to Jerusalem.
15 Afei, Aramfoɔ no hunuu sɛ ɛnyɛ wɔn afɛ ne Israelfoɔ. Enti, wɔboaa wɔn ho ano bio no.
After [the leaders of] the army of Syria saw that the Israeli army had defeated them, they gathered all their troops together.
16 Aram akodɔm foforɔ bi bɛkaa wɔn ho a Hadadeser na ɔsoma ma wɔkɔfaa wɔn firii Asubɔnten Eufrate fa nohoa baeɛ. Saa akodɔm yi bɛduruu Helam a Sobak na na ɔyɛ wɔn ɔsahene, na ɔyɛ ɔsahene a ɔtua Hadadeser akodɔm nyinaa ano nso.
[Their king, ] Hadadezer, summoned the soldiers of Syria who lived on the east side of the [Euphrates] River. They gathered at Helam [city]. Their commander was Shobach.
17 Ɛberɛ a Dawid tee deɛ ɛreba no, ɔboaboaa Israel nyinaa ano, de wɔn twaa Asubɔnten Yordan, dii akodɔm no anim, kɔduruu Helam. Ɛhɔ na Aramfoɔ no fifirii wɔn mpasua so to hyɛɛ Dawid so.
When David heard about that, he gathered all the Israeli soldiers, and they crossed the Jordan [River] and marched to Helam. There, the army of Syria (took their positions/arranged themselves for battle), and the battle started.
18 Nanso, bio, Aramfoɔ no dwane firii Israelfoɔ no anim. Saa ɛberɛ yi, Dawid akodɔm no kunkumm nteaseɛnamkafoɔ ahanson ne apɔnkɔsotefoɔ mpem aduanan a Sobak a na ɔyɛ wɔn sahene no ka ho.
But the soldiers of Syria ran away from the Israeli soldiers. David [and his army] killed 700 of their chariot-drivers and 40,000 other soldiers. They also wounded Shobach, their commander, and he died there.
19 Hadadeser ne nʼadɔmfoɔ Aramfoɔ hunuu sɛ Israel adi wɔn so nkonim no, wɔmaa wɔn nsa so, na wɔbɛyɛɛ Israelfoɔ nkoa. Ɛno akyi, Aramfoɔ suroo sɛ wɔbɛboa Amonfoɔ.
When all the kings who had been ruled by Hadadezer realized that they had been defeated by the Israeli [army], they made peace with the Israelis and agreed to accept David as their king. So [the army of] Syria was afraid to help [the army of] the Ammon people-group any more.