Saul ta sindi Aayammoni
1 Konyala omwedhi gumwe sho gwa piti po, Nahash, omukwaniilwa gwaAmmon, okwa ka kondjitha Jabesh shomuGilead nokwe shi kondeke. Aantu yomuJabesh oya ti kuNahash: “Uvathana natse, notatu ku taamba, u ninge omuleli gwetu.”
2 Nahash okwa yamukula a ti: “Otandi ka uvathana nane, ngele tamu zimine, ndi tsipule mo eho lyokolulyo lyomuntu kehe, opo ndi sithe Aaisraeli ayehe ohoni.”
3 Aawiliki yomuJabesh oya ti: “Tu pa omasiku gaheyali, tu tume aatumwa noshilongo ashihe shaIsrael. Ngele kape na ngoka te tu kwatha, nena otatu ningi aantu yoye.”
4 Aatumwa oya thiki kuGibea, nkoka kwa kala Saul. Sho ya tseyitha oshinima shika, aantu oya tameke okulila. 5 Saul okwa adhika opo te ya ta zi kepya noonani dhe nokwa pula: “Oshike ano? Omolwashike aantu taa lili?” Oye mu hokololele elaka lyaatumwa mboka ya zi kuJabesh. 6 Saul sho e shi uvu, ombepo yaKalunga oye ya muye, nokwa geye noonkondo. 7 Okwa kutha oonani mbali e te dhi tetagula iintimbu nokwa tumu aatumwa ya humbata iintimbu taye ende noshilongo ashihe ye na elondodho ndika: “Shaa ngoka itaa landula Saul naSamuel molugodhi, oonani dhe osho tadhi ka ningwa ngeyi!”
Aaisraeli oya tilithwa kushoka Omuwa ta vulu okuninga, onkee aantu ayehe oya gongala. 8 Saul okwe ya gongele puBesek. Okwa li aantu 300 000 ya za kuIsrael na 30 000 ya za kuJuda. 9 Oya lombwele aatumwa mboka ya zi kuJabesh: “Ka lombweleni yakweni kutya ngula pokati komutenya otaa ka kala ya hupithwa.” Aantu yokuJabesh sho yu uvu elaka ndika, oye li nyanyukilwa 10 e taa ti kuNahash: “Ngula otatu igandja miikaha yeni, notamu vulu oku tu ninga, ngaashi mwa hala.”
11 Ongula onene yesiku lya landula, Saul okwa topola aantu ye momatanga gatatu noya matukile ontanda yaatondi e taa ponokele Aayammoni. Edhipago olya tsikile sigo opokati komutenya. Aahupipo oya halakana, shaa ngoka okwi iyukile.
12 Nena Aaisraeli oya ti kuSamuel: “Aantu mboka ya tile kutya Saul ita ningi omukwaniilwa gwetu, oye li peni? Naa ye kutse, tu ya dhipage!”
13 Ihe Saul okwa ti: “Kape na muntu ta dhipagwa nena, oshoka esiku ndika Omuwa okwa hupitha Israel.” 14 Samuel okwa ti kuyo: “Natu yeni atuhe kuGilgal, tse tu koleke elangeko lyaSaul muukwaniilwa.” 15 Onkee ayehe oya yi kuGilgal, nokoshipala shOmuwa oya langeke Saul muukwaniilwa. Oya yamba omakwatathanondjambo, naSaul nAaisraeli ayehe oya dhana oshituthi shenyanyu enenenene.
Saul Rescues the Town of Jabesh in Gilead
1 About this time, King Nahash of Ammon came with his army and surrounded the town of Jabesh in Gilead. The people who lived there told Nahash, “If you will sign a peace treaty with us, you can be our ruler, and we will pay taxes to you.”
2 Nahash answered, “Sure, I'll sign a treaty! But not before I insult Israel by poking out the right eye of every man who lives in Jabesh.”
3 The town leaders said, “Give us seven days so we can send messengers everywhere in Israel to ask for help. If no one comes here to save us, we will surrender to you.”
4 Some of the messengers went to Gibeah, Saul's hometown. They told what was happening at Jabesh, and everyone in Gibeah started crying. 5 Just then, Saul came in from the fields, walking behind his oxen.
“Why is everyone crying?” Saul asked.
They told him what the men from Jabesh had said. 6 Then the Spirit of God suddenly took control of Saul and made him furious. 7 Saul killed two of his oxen, cut them up in pieces, and gave the pieces to the messengers. He told them to show the pieces to everyone in Israel and say, “Saul and Samuel are getting an army together. Come and join them. If you don't, this is what will happen to your oxen!”
The Lord made the people of Israel terribly afraid. So all the men came together 8 at Bezek. Saul had them organized and counted. There were 300,000 from Israel and 30,000 from Judah.
9 Saul and his officers sent the messengers back to Jabesh with this promise: “We will rescue you tomorrow afternoon.” The messengers went back to the people at Jabesh and told them that they were going to be rescued.
Everyone was encouraged! 10 So they told the Ammonites, “We will surrender to you tomorrow, and then you can do whatever you want to.”
11 The next day, Saul divided his army into three groups and attacked before daylight. They started killing Ammonites and kept it up until afternoon. A few Ammonites managed to escape, but they were scattered far from each other.
12 The Israelite soldiers went to Samuel and demanded, “Where are the men who said they didn't want Saul to be king? Bring them to us, and we will put them to death!”
13 “No you won't!” Saul told them. “The Lord rescued Israel today, and no one will be put to death.”
Saul Is Accepted as King
14 “Come on!” Samuel said. “Let's go to Gilgal and make an agreement that Saul will continue to be our king.”
15 Everyone went to the place of worship at Gilgal, where they agreed that Saul would be their king. Saul and the people sacrificed animals to ask for the Lord's blessing, and they had a big celebration.
