1
Lakini ikawa baadaye, wakati wa mavuno ya ngano Samsoni akaenda kumtazama mkewe, akamchukulia mwana-mbuzi; akasema, Nitaingia chumbani kwa mke wangu. Lakini baba yake mwanamke hakumwacha kuingia.
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.
2
Baba yake akasema, Hakika mimi nalidhani ya kuwa umemchukia kabisa; basi nalimpa rafiki yako. Je! Ndugu yake mdogo mzuri kuliko yeye? Tafadhali, mtwae huyo badala yake.
“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.”
3
Samsoni akasema, Safari hii nitakuwa sina hatia katika habari za hawa Wafilisti, hapo nitakapowadhuru.
Samson said to them, “This time I will be blameless in doing harm to the Philistines.”
4
Samsoni akaenda akakamata mbweha mia tatu; kisha akatwaa vienge vya moto akawafunga mbweha mkia kwa mkia, akatia kienge kati ya kila mikia miwili.
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.
5
Alipokwisha kuviwasha moto vile vienge, akawaachia mbweha kati ya ngano ya Wafilisti, akayateketeza matita, na ngano, hata na mashamba ya mizeituni.
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.
6
Ndipo Wafilisti wakasema, Ni nani aliyetenda hivi? Wakasema, Ni huyo Samsoni, mkwewe yule Mtimna, kwa sababu alimchukua mkewe akampa mwenzake. Wafilisti wakaenda wakamteketeza yeye na baba yake kwa moto.
“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.
7
Samsoni akawaambia, Ikiwa ninyi mnafanya mambo kama hayo, hakika nitajilipiza kisasi juu yenu, na baadaye nitakoma.
And Samson told them, “Because you have done this, I will not rest until I have taken vengeance upon you.”
8
Akawapiga upeo, mapigo makuu sana, kisha akatelemka akakaa katika ufa wa jabali la Etamu.
And he struck them ruthlessly with a great slaughter, and then went down and stayed in the cave at the rock of Etam.
9
Basi Wafilisti wakapanda wakapiga kambi yao katika Yuda, wakajieneza katika Lehi.
Then the Philistines went up, camped in Judah, and deployed themselves near the town of Lehi.
10
Watu wa Yuda wakasema, Mbona mmekuja kupigana nasi? Wakasema, Tumepanda ili kumfunga Samsoni, kumtenda yeye kama alivyotutenda sisi.
“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.”
11
Ndipo watu elfu tatu wa Yuda wakatelemka hata ule ufa wa jabali la Etamu, wakamwambia Samsoni, Je! Hujui ya kuwa Wafilisti wanatutawala? Ni nini hii, basi, uliyotutenda? Akawaambia, Kadiri ile walivyonitenda mimi, ndivyo nilivyowatenda wao.
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.
12
Wakamwambia, Tumeshuka ili kukufunga, tupate kukutia katika mikono ya Wafilisti. Samsoni akawaambia, Niapieni ya kwamba ninyi wenyewe hamtaniangukia.
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.”
13
Wakamwambia, wakisema, Vema, lakini tutakufunga sana, na kukutia katika mikono yao; lakini hakika hatutakuua. Basi wakamfunga kwa kamba mbili mpya, wakamchukua kutoka huko jabalini.
“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.
14
Alipofika Lehi, Wafilisti wakapiga kelele walipokutana naye; ndipo roho ya Bwana ikamjia kwa nguvu, na zile kamba zilizokuwa juu ya mikono yake zikawa kama kitani iliyoteketezwa kwa moto, na vile vifungo vyake vikaanguka mikononi mwake.
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.
15
Naye akaona mfupa mbichi wa taya ya punda, akautwaa, akapiga watu elfu kwa mfupa huo;
He found the fresh jawbone of a donkey, reached out his hand and took it, and struck down a thousand men.
16
Samsoni akasema, Kwa taya ya punda chungu juu ya chungu, Kwa taya ya punda nimepiga watu elfu.
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.”
17
Ikawa, alipokuwa amekwisha kunena akautupa ule mfupa wa taya mkononi mwake; na mahali pale pakaitwa Ramath-lehi.
And when Samson had finished speaking, he cast the jawbone from his hand; and he named that place Ramath-lehi.
18
Kisha akaona kiu sana, akamwita Bwana akasema, Wewe umetupa wokovu huu kwa mkono wa mtumishi wako; na sasa nitakufa kwa kiu, na kuanguka katika mikono ya watu wasiotahiriwa.
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?”
19
Lakini Mungu akapasua mahali penye shimo palipo katika Lehi, pakatoka maji; naye alipokwisha kunywa, roho yake ikamrudia, akaburudika; kwa hiyo jina la mahali pale likaitwa Enhakore, napo pa katika Lehi hata hivi leo.
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.
20
Naye akawa mwamuzi wa Israeli: katika siku za Wafilisti muda wa miaka ishirini.
And Samson judged Israel for twenty years in the days of the Philistines.