Ekwatopo lyoshikethahangano
1 Pethimbo ndiyaka Aafilisti oya gongala, ya hingile Aaisraeli iita. Onkee Aaisraeli oya tokola oku ya kondjitha. Aaisraeli oya yungu ontanda yawo puEbenezer nAafilisti opuAfek. 2 Aafilisti oya ponokele Aaisraeli, nokonima yolugodhi olululu oye ya dhenge noya dhipaga konyala aalumentu omayuvi gane. 3 Mboka ya hupu po, sho ye ya kontanda, aawiliki yaIsrael oya ti: “Omolwashike Omuwa e etha Aafilisti, ye tu dhenge nena? Tu yeni, tu ka tale oshikethahangano shOmuwa kuShilo, opo e ende natse, e tu hupithe kaatondi yetu.” 4 Onkee oya tumu aatumwa kuShilo noya kutha oshikethahangano shOmuwa, shoka shi lile po oshipangelapundi shOmuwa Omunankondoawike. Aana yaali yaEli, Hofni naPinehas, oya thindikile oshikethahangano.
5 Oshikethahangano sho sha thiki, Aaisraeli oya kugilile kenyanyu, ndele nevi olya fa tali kakama. 6 Aafilisti sho yu uvu onkugilili, oya ti: “Pulakeneni shoka tashi kugililwa montanda yAahebeli! Otashi ti ngiini?” Sho ya dhimbulula kutya nani oshikethahangano shOmuwa she ya montanda yAahebeli, 7 oya li ya tila noya ti: “Okalunga e ya montanda yawo! Yaye tse! Nonale inatu ningilwa iinima yi thike mpa! 8 Olye te tu hupitha kookalunga mboka aanankondo! Oyo ookalunga mboka ya dhipaga Aayegipiti mombuga! 9 Yafilisti ne, ikoleleleni! Kondjeni ngaashi aalumentu, opo twaa ninge aapika yAahebeli, ngaashi yo ya li aapika yetu. Onkee tu kondjeni twa mana mo!”
10 Aafilisti oya kondjo noonkondo noya dhenge Aaisraeli, onkee oya yi ondapo kaandjawo. Ekanitho olya li enene: aakwiita Aaisraeli omayuvi omilongo ndatu oya dhipagwa. 11 Oshikethahangano shaKalunga osha kwatwa po, naana yaEli, Hofni naPinehas, ayehe yaali oya dhipagwa.
Eso lyaEli
12 Omulumentu gwomezimo lyaBenjamin okwa zi kolugodhi ta matuka e ta thiki kuShilo esiku tuu ndyoka. Opo a holole oluhodhi lwe, okwa li a tuula oonguwo dhe nokwiigunda evi momutse. 13 Eli, ngoka a li i impwiyika unene noshikethahangano, okwa li a kuutumba koshipundi pooha dhondjila ta talatala. Omulumentu okwa taandelitha elaka moshilando ashihe, naayehe oya kugu kuumbanda. 14 Eli oku uvu euyagano nokwa pula: “Euyagano ndyoka olyashike?” Omulumentu okwe ya kuEli meendelelo nokwe mu hokololele. 15 (Eli okwa li e na omimvo omilongo omugoyi nahetatu nokwa li omuposi.) 16 Omulumentu okwa ti: “Onda zi ontuku kolugodhi nonda matuka ondjila ayihe nena.”
Eli okwa pula: “Oshike sha ningwa ko, mumwandje?”
17 Omutumwa okwa yamukula: “Aaisraeli oya yi Aafilisti ontuku; otwa dhengwa nayi. Nokuli aamwoye Hofni naPinehas oya dhipagwa, noshikethahangano shaKalunga osha kwatwa po!”
18 Omulumentu sho a tumbula oshikethahangano, Eli okwa gu ongali koshipundi she popepi nosheelo. Okwa li a kulupa noku na oshipapa sholutu, onkee mokugwa okwa teka othingo e ta si. Okwa li a wilike Aaisraeli omimvo omilongo ne.
Eso lyomuselekadhi gwaPinehas
19 Oshitenya shaEli, mukadhaPinehas, okwa li omusimba e li pokuvala. Sho a kundana kutya oshikethahangano shaKalunga osha kwatwa po, osho wo hemweno nomulume oya sa, okwa adhika mbala koshitheta e ta vala. 20 Sho a li pokusa, aakulukadhi mboka ya li puye, oye mu lombwele ya ti: “Ikolelela! Owa mona omumati!” Ihe ina pupa ko ye ina yamukula sha. 21 Okwa luku okamati edhina lyako Ikabod nokwa ti: “Esimano lyaKalunga lya thigi po Israel.” Noohapu ndhika oku ulike ekwatopo lyoshikethahangano neso lyahemweno nolyomulume. 22 Oye a ti: “Esimano lyaKalunga lya thigi po Israel, oshoka oshikethahangano shaKalunga sha kwatwa po.”
1 Then Samuel would speak to the whole nation of Israel.
The Philistines Capture the Sacred Chest
One day the Israelites went out to fight the Philistines. They set up camp near Ebenezer, and the Philistines camped at Aphek. 2 The Philistines made a fierce attack. They defeated the Israelites and killed about 4,000 of them.
3 The Israelite army returned to their camp, and the leaders said, “Why did the Lord let us lose to the Philistines today? Let's get the sacred chest where the Lord's agreement with Israel is kept. Then the Lord will help us and rescue us from our enemies.”
4 The army sent some soldiers to bring back the sacred chest from Shiloh, because the Lord All-Powerful has his throne on the winged creatures on top of the chest.
As Eli's two sons, Hophni and Phinehas, 5 brought the chest into camp, the army cheered so loudly that the ground shook. 6 The Philistines heard the noise and said, “What are those Hebrews shouting about?”
When the Philistines learned that the sacred chest had been brought into the camp, 7 they were scared to death and said:
The gods have come into their camp. Now we're in real trouble! Nothing like this has ever happened to us before. 8 We're in big trouble! Who can save us from these powerful gods? They're the same gods who made all those horrible things happen to the Egyptians in the desert.
9 Philistines, be brave and fight hard! If you don't, those Hebrews will rule us, just as we've been ruling them. Fight and don't be afraid.
10 The Philistines did fight. They killed 30,000 Israelite soldiers, and all the rest ran off to their homes. 11 Hophni and Phinehas were killed, and the sacred chest was captured.
Eli Dies
12 That same day a soldier from the tribe of Benjamin ran from the battlefront to Shiloh. He had torn his clothes and put dirt on his head to show his sorrow. 13 He went into town and told the news about the battle, and everyone started crying.
Eli was afraid that something might happen to the sacred chest. So he was sitting on his chair beside the road, just waiting. 14-15 He was 98 years old and blind, but he could hear everyone crying, and he asked, “What's all that noise?”
The soldier hurried over and told Eli, 16 “I escaped from the fighting today and ran here.”
“Young man, what happened?” Eli asked.
17 “Israel ran away from the Philistines,” the soldier answered. “Many of our people were killed, including your two sons, Hophni and Phinehas. But worst of all, the sacred chest was captured.”
18 Eli was still sitting on a chair beside the wall of the town gate. And when the man said that the Philistines had taken the sacred chest, Eli fell backwards. He was a very heavy old man, and the fall broke his neck and killed him. He had been a leader of Israel for 40 years.
19 The wife of Phinehas was about to give birth. And soon after she heard that the sacred chest had been captured and that her husband and his father had died, her baby came. The birth was very hard, 20 and she was dying. But the women taking care of her said, “Don't be afraid—it's a boy!”
She didn't pay any attention to them. 21-22 Instead she kept thinking about losing her husband and her father-in-law. So she said, “My son will be named Ichabod, because the glory of Israel left our country when the sacred chest was captured.”
