Judges 15

1 Later on, at the time of the wheat harvest, Samson took a young goat and went to visit his wife. “I want to go to my wife in her room,” he said. But her father would not let him enter.

1 Baada ya kitambo kidogo, wakati wa mavuno ya ngano, Samsoni akachukua mwana-mbuzi, kwenda kumzuru mkewe. Akasema, “Nataka kuingia chumbani kwa mke wangu.” Lakini baba yake huyo mwanamke hakumruhusu kuingia.

2 “I was sure that you thoroughly hated her,” said her father, “so I gave her to one of the men who accompanied you. Is not her younger sister more beautiful than she? Please take her instead.”

2 Huyo baba mkwe wake akamwambia, “Nilikuwa na hakika kwamba ulimkataa, hivyo mimi nikampa rafiki yako. Je, mdogo wake wa kike si mzuri zaidi kuliko yeye? Mchukue huyo badala yake.”

3 Samson said to them, “This time I will be blameless in doing harm to the Philistines.”

3 Samsoni akawaambia, “Wakati huu, nitakapowadhuru Wafilisti, sitakuwa na lawama.”

4 Then Samson went out and caught three hundred foxes. And he took torches, turned the foxes tail-to-tail, and fastened a torch between each pair of tails.

4 Hivyo Samsoni akatoka akawakamata mbweha 300 na kuwafunga wawili wawili kwa mikia yao kila mmoja kwa mwingine. Kisha akafungia mwenge wa moto, kwenye mikia ya kila jozi moja ya mbweha aliyokuwa ameifunga,

5 Then he lit the torches and released the foxes into the standing grain of the Philistines, burning up the piles of grain and the standing grain, as well as the vineyards and olive groves.

5 akawasha ile mienge na kuwaachia wale mbweha katika mashamba ya Wafilisti ya nafaka zilizosimamishwa katika matita. Akateketeza matita ya nafaka zilizosimama, pamoja na mashamba ya mizabibu na viunga vya mizeituni.

6 “Who did this?” the Philistines demanded. “It was Samson, the son-in-law of the Timnite,” they were told. “For his wife was given to his companion.” So the Philistines went up and burned her and her father to death.

6 Ndipo Wafilisti wakauliza, “Ni nani aliyetenda jambo hili?” Wakaambiwa, “Ni Samsoni, yule mkwewe Mtimna, kwa sababu alimchukua mkewe akampa mwenzake.” Hivyo Wafilisti wakapanda wakamteketeza kwa moto yeye huyo mwanamke pamoja na baba yake.

7 And Samson told them, “Because you have done this, I will not rest until I have taken vengeance upon you.”

7 Samsoni akawaambia, “Kwa kuwa mmetenda hivyo, hakika sitatulia mpaka niwe nimelipiza kisasi juu yenu.”

8 And he struck them ruthlessly with a great slaughter, and then went down and stayed in the cave at the rock of Etam.

8 Akawashambulia kwa ukali kwa mapigo makuu na kuwaua watu wengi sana. Kisha akateremka na kukaa katika ufa kwenye mwamba wa Etamu.

9 Then the Philistines went up, camped in Judah, and deployed themselves near the town of Lehi.

9 Wafilisti wakapanda na kupiga kambi huko Yuda na kuenea huko Lehi.

10 “Why have you attacked us?” said the men of Judah. The Philistines replied, “We have come to arrest Samson and pay him back for what he has done to us.”

10 Watu wa Yuda wakawauliza, “Kwa nini mmekuja kupigana nasi?” Wakawajibu, “Tumekuja ili kumkamata Samsoni na kumtenda kama alivyotutendea.”

11 In response, three thousand men of Judah went to the cave at the rock of Etam, and they asked Samson, “Do you not realize that the Philistines rule over us? What have you done to us?” “I have done to them what they did to me,” he replied.

11 Ndipo watu 3,000 toka Yuda walipoteremka na kwenda kwenye ufa wa mwamba huko Etamu, na kumwambia Samsoni, “Je, hujatambua kuwa Wafilisti wanatutawala? Ni nini hiki ulichotutendea?” Akawajibu, “Mimi nimewatendea tu kile walichonitendea.”

12 But they said to him, “We have come down to arrest you and hand you over to the Philistines.” Samson replied, “Swear to me that you will not kill me yourselves.”

12 Wakamwambia, “Tumekuja kukufunga na kukutia mikononi mwa Wafilisti.” Samsoni akawaambia, “Niapieni kuwa hamtaniua ninyi wenyewe.”

13 “No,” they answered, “we will not kill you, but we will tie you up securely and hand you over to them.” So they bound him with two new ropes and led him up from the rock.

13 Wakamjibu, “Sisi hatutakuua, bali tutakufunga tu na kukutia mikononi mwao.” Basi wakamfunga kwa kamba mbili mpya. Wakamchukua toka huko kwenye ufa katika mwamba.

14 When Samson arrived in Lehi, the Philistines came out shouting against him. And the Spirit of the LORD came mightily upon him. The ropes on his arms became like burnt flax, and the bonds broke loose from his hands.

14 Alipokaribia Lehi, Wafilisti wakamjia wakipiga kelele. Roho wa Bwana akamjia juu yake kwa nguvu. Kamba zilizomfunga mikono yake zikawa kama kitani iliyochomwa kwa moto, na vifungo vyake vikaanguka chini toka mikononi mwake.

15 He found the fresh jawbone of a donkey, reached out his hand and took it, and struck down a thousand men.

15 Ndipo akaona mfupa mpya wa taya la punda, akanyoosha mkono, akauchukua na kuua nao Wafilisti wapatao 1,000.

16 Then Samson said: “With the jawbone of a donkey I have piled them into heaps. With the jawbone of a donkey I have slain a thousand men.”

16 Ndipo Samsoni akasema, “Kwa taya la punda malundo juu ya malundo. Kwa taya la punda nimeua watu 1,000.”

17 And when Samson had finished speaking, he cast the jawbone from his hand; and he named that place Ramath-lehi.

17 Alipomaliza kusema, akautupa ule mfupa wa taya; na mahali pale pakaitwa Ramath-Lehi.

18 And being very thirsty, Samson cried out to the LORD, “You have accomplished this great deliverance through Your servant. Must I now die of thirst and fall into the hands of the uncircumcised?”

18 Kwa kuwa alikuwa amesikia kiu sana, akamlilia Bwana akisema, “Umempa mtumishi wako ushindi huu mkuu. Je, sasa nife kwa kiu na kuangukia mikononi mwa hawa watu wasiotahiriwa?”

19 So God opened up the hollow place in Lehi, and water came out of it. When Samson drank, his strength returned, and he was revived. That is why he named it En-hakkore, and it remains in Lehi to this day.

19 Bwana akafunua shimo huko Lehi, pakatoka maji. Samsoni alipoyanywa, nguvu zikamrudia na kuhuika. Hivyo chemchemi ile ikaitwa En-Hakore, nayo iko mpaka leo huko Lehi.

20 And Samson judged Israel for twenty years in the days of the Philistines.

20 Samsoni akawa mwamuzi wa Waisraeli katika siku za Wafilisti kwa muda wa miaka ishirini.