Israel Ne Filistia Akodie
1Ɛberɛ a Saulo dii adeɛ no, na wadi mfirinhyia aduasa. Na ɔdii adeɛ mfirinhyia aduanan mmienu.
2Saulo yii akodɔm sononko bi a wɔn dodoɔ yɛ mpensa firii Israel, na ɔmaa nkaeɛ no kɔɔ efie. Ɔfaa akodɔm no mu mpenu kaa ne ho, de wɔn kɔɔ Mikmas ne bepɔ nsase a ɛwɔ Bet-El no so. Akodɔm apem a aka no kaa Saulo babarima Yonatan ho kɔɔ Gibea wɔ Benyamin asase so.
3Yei akyi no, ankyɛre, Yonatan kɔtuaa Filistifoɔ asraafoɔ no dii wɔn so wɔ Geba. Asɛm no trɛɛ ntɛm so wɔ Filistifoɔ no mu. Enti Saulo hyɛn torobɛnto wɔ Israel nyinaa sɛ, “Hebrifoɔ, monsɔre!” 4Israelfoɔ nyinaa tee sɛ Saulo atɔre Filistifoɔ asraafoɔ a wɔwɔ Geba no ase, na ne saa enti, Israelfoɔ ho ayɛ Filistifoɔ no ahi. Enti, Israel akodɔm no nyinaa boaa wɔn ho ano bio hyiaa Saulo wɔ Gilgal.
5Filistifoɔ boaboaa asraadɔm kɛseɛ pa ara ano a wɔkura nteaseɛnam mpensa, apɔnkɔsotefoɔ mpem nsia ne akodɔm a wɔn dodoɔ te sɛ mpoano anwea ano. Wɔkyeree sraban wɔ Mikmas wɔ Bet-Awen apueeɛ fam. 6Ɛberɛ a Israel mmarima no hunuu atamfoɔ no akodɔm mpempem no, wɔn ho dwodwoeɛ enti, wɔyɛɛ sɛ wɔbɛkɔ akɔsuma wɔn ho wɔ abodan, mmena, abotan, aboda ne nsukoraeɛ mu. 7Ebinom twaa Asubɔnten Yordan dwane kɔɔ Gad ne Gilead asase so. Saa ɛberɛ no, na Saulo wɔ Gilgal a ne mmarima a wɔka ne ho no wɔ ahopopoɔ ne suro mu. 8Ɔdii nnanson wɔ hɔ sɛdeɛ Samuel hyɛɛ no sɛ ɔnni no; nanso, Samuel deɛ, wamma Gilgal, na Saulo hunuu sɛ mmarima no rebɔ pete. 9Enti, ɔhyɛɛ sɛ, “Momfa ɔhyeɛ afɔdeɛ ne asomdwoeɛ afɔdeɛ no mmrɛ me.” Na Saulo ankasa bɔɔ ɔhyeɛ afɔdeɛ no. 10Ɔrewie afɔdeɛ no bɔ ara pɛ, na Samuel kɔduruu hɔ. Enti, Saulo pue kɔhyiaa no maa no akwaaba.
11Samuel bisaa no sɛ, “Ɛdeɛn na woayɛ yi?”
Saulo buaa sɛ, “Mehunuu sɛ mmarima no rehwete, na womma no, na Filistifoɔ no nso reboa wɔn ho ano wɔ Mikmas no, 12medwenee sɛ, ‘Afei deɛ, Filistifoɔ no bɛsiane abɛtoa me wɔ Gilgal, nanso memmisaa Awurade nkyɛn adom.’ Enti, metee nka sɛ, ɛsɛ sɛ mebɔ ɔhyeɛ afɔdeɛ ansa na woaba.” 13Na Samuel kaa sɛ, “Woadi nkwaseasɛm. Woanni mmara a Awurade, wo Onyankopɔn, hyɛɛ wo no so. Sɛ wodii so a, anka ɔbɛtim wʼahennie ase wɔ Israel afebɔɔ. 14Na seesei, wʼahennie no rentim. Awurade apɛ ɔbarima bi a ɔyɛ nʼakoma apɛdeɛ na wɔayi no sɛ ne nkurɔfoɔ ɔkannifoɔ, ɛfiri sɛ, woanni Awurade mmara no so.”
15Na Samuel firii Gilgal kɔɔ ne baabi na akodɔm no nkaeɛ no ne Saulo kɔhyiaa atamfoɔ no. Wɔfiri Gilgal kɔɔ Gibea a ɛwɔ Benyamin asase so. Saulo kanee mmarima a na wɔka ne ho no, na wɔn ano si aha nsia. 16Na Saulo ne ne babarima Yonatan ne mmarima a ɛka ne ho no te Geba a ɛbɛn Gibea wɔ Benyamin asase so. Saa ɛberɛ no na Filistifoɔ no akyere sraban wɔ Mikmas. 17Ntohyɛsofoɔ akuo mmiɛnsa firii Filistifoɔ sraban mu. Ekuo baako de nʼani kyerɛɛ Ofra ɛkwan so, kɔɔ Sual mpɔtam hɔ. 18Afoforɔ faa Bet-Horon kwan so ɛnna wɔn a wɔka ho nso faa ɛhyeɛ a ɛkyerɛ Seboim bɔnhwa no kwan so, kɔɔ ɛserɛ so fam.
19Saa ɛberɛ no, na ɔtomfoɔ biara nni Israel asase no so baabiara. Filistifoɔ no amma atomfoɔ no kwan, ɛfiri sɛ, wosusuu sɛ atomfoɔ no bɛbɔ akofena ne mpea ama Hebrifoɔ no. 20Enti, na Israelfoɔ no nyinaa kɔ Filistifoɔ nkyɛn kɔse wɔn funtum nnadeɛ, nsɔ, nkuma ne dɔtetuo nnadeɛ ano. 21(Na wɔgye funtum nnadeɛ ne asosɔ a wɔse no biara ho dwetɛ gram nwɔtwe, na sɛ wɔse mmonnua anaa nnadeɛ a, wogye dwetɛ gram ɛnan.) 22Ɛno enti na Israelfoɔ no mu biara nni akofena anaa pea, gye sɛ Saulo ne Yonatan.
23Saa ɛberɛ no mu, na Filistifoɔ asraafoɔ no fa bi akɔ akɔfa tempɔn a ɛda Mikmas no.
Samuel Judges Saul’s Sin
1Saul was 30 years old when he became king. He ruled over Israel for 42 years.
2Saul chose 3,000 of Israel’s men. Two thousand of them were with him at Mikmash and in the hill country of Bethel. One thousand were with Jonathan at Gibeah in the land of Benjamin. Saul sent the rest back to their homes.
3Some Philistine soldiers were stationed at Geba. Jonathan attacked them. The other Philistines heard about it. Saul announced, “Let the Hebrew people hear about what has happened!” He had trumpets blown all through the land. 4So all the Israelites heard the news. They were told, “Saul has attacked the Philistine army camp at Geba. Now the Philistines can’t stand the Israelites.” The Israelites were called out to join Saul at Gilgal.
5The Philistines gathered together to fight against Israel. They had 3,000 chariots and 6,000 chariot drivers. Their soldiers were as many as the grains of sand on the seashore. They went up and camped at Mikmash. It was east of Beth Aven. 6The Israelites saw that their army was in deep trouble. So they hid in caves. They hid among bushes and rocks. They also hid in pits and empty wells. 7Some of them even went across the Jordan River. They went to the lands of Gad and Gilead.
Saul remained at Gilgal. All the troops with him were shaking with fear. 8He waited seven days, just as Samuel had told him to. But Samuel didn’t come to Gilgal. And Saul’s men began to scatter. 9So he said, “Bring me the burnt offering and the friendship offerings.” Then he offered up the burnt offering. 10Just as Saul finished offering the sacrifice, Samuel arrived. Saul went out to greet him.
11“What have you done?” asked Samuel.
Saul replied, “I saw that the men were scattering. I saw that the Philistines were gathering together at Mikmash. You didn’t come when you said you would. 12So I thought, ‘Now the Philistines will come down to attack me at Gilgal. And I haven’t asked the Lord for his blessing.’ So I felt I had to sacrifice the burnt offering.”
13“You have done a foolish thing,” Samuel said. “You haven’t obeyed the command the Lord your God gave you. If you had, he would have made your kingdom secure over Israel for all time to come. 14But now your kingdom won’t last. The Lord has already looked for a man who is dear to his heart. He has appointed him king of his people. That’s because you haven’t obeyed the Lord’s command.”
15Then Samuel left Gilgal and went up to Gibeah in the land of Benjamin. Saul counted the men who were with him. The total number was about 600.
Israel Doesn’t Have Weapons
16Saul and his son Jonathan were staying in Gibeah in the land of Benjamin. The men who remained in the army were there with them. At the same time, the Philistines camped at Mikmash. 17Three groups of soldiers went out from the Philistine camp to attack Israel. One group turned and went toward Ophrah in the area of Shual. 18Another went toward Beth Horon. The third went toward the border that looked out over the Valley of Zeboim. That valley faces the desert.
19There weren’t any blacksmiths in the whole land of Israel. That’s because the Philistines had said, “The Hebrews might hire them to make swords or spears!” 20So all the Israelites had to go down to the Philistines. They had to go to them to get their plows, hoes, axes and sickles sharpened. 21It cost a fourth of an ounce of silver to sharpen a plow or a hoe. It cost an eighth of an ounce to sharpen a pitchfork or an axe. That’s also what it cost to put new tips on the large sticks used to drive oxen.
22So the Israelite soldiers went out to battle without swords or spears in their hands. That was true for all of Saul’s and Jonathan’s soldiers. Only Saul and his son Jonathan had those weapons.
Jonathan Attacks the Philistines
23A group of Philistine soldiers had gone out to the pass at Mikmash.
