2 Samueli 18 – CCL & NIRV

Mawu a Mulungu mu Chichewa Chalero

2 Samueli 18:1-33

Imfa ya Abisalomu

1Davide anasonkhanitsa anthu amene anali naye ndipo anasankha atsogoleri ena olamulira ankhondo 1,000 ndi ena olamulira ankhondo 100. 2Davide anatumiza asilikaliwo atawagawa patatu: gulu loyamba limalamulidwa ndi Yowabu, gulu lachiwiri limalamulidwa ndi Abisai ndipo gulu lachitatu limalamulidwa ndi Itai Mgiti. Mfumu inawuza asilikaliwo kuti, “Inenso ndipita nanu ndithu.”

3Koma anthuwo anati, “Inu musapite nafe. Ngati tidzathamangitsidwa, iwowo sadzasamala za ife. Ngakhale theka la ife litafa, iwo sadzasamalako. Koma inuyo ndinu ofunika kuposa asilikali 10,000. Nʼkwabwino kwambiri kuti inu muzititumizira chithandizo kuchokera ku mzindako.”

4Mfumu inayankha kuti, “Ine ndichita chimene chili chokukomerani.”

Kotero mfumu inayima pambali pa chipata pamene ankhondo onse amayenda mʼmagulu a anthu 100 ndi a 1,000. 5Mfumu inalamulira Yowabu, Abisai ndi Itai kuti, “Mumukomere mtima Abisalomu chifukwa cha ine.” Ndipo asilikali onse anamva pamene mfumu imalamula izi za Abisalomu kwa wolamulira aliyense.

6Ankhondo anayenda kupita kukachita nkhondo ndi Israeli, ndipo nkhondo inachitika mʼnkhalango ya Efereimu. 7Aisraeli anagonjetsedwa kumeneko ndi ankhondo a Davide. Tsiku limenelo anaphedwa anthu okwanira 20,000. 8Nkhondo inafalikira ku madera onse akumidzi ndipo anthu akufa chifukwa cha zoopsa za mʼnkhalango anali ambiri tsiku limenelo kuposa akufa ndi lupanga.

9Tsono zinachitika kuti Abisalomu anakumana ndi asilikali a Davide. Iye anali atakwera bulu ndipo pamene buluyo amadutsa pansi pa nthambi zambiri za mtengo wa thundu, mutu wa Abisalomu unakodwa mu mtengomo. Iye anasiyidwa atatsakamira mʼmalele, pamene bulu amene anakwerapoyo amapitirira.

10Mmodzi mwa asilikali ataona zimenezi, anamuwuza Yowabu kuti, “Ine ndamuona Abisalomu ali lende mu mtengo wa thundu.”

11Yowabu anati kwa munthu amene anamuwuza zimenezi, “Ukuti chiyani! Unamuona? Nʼchifukwa chiyani sunamukanthire pansi pomwepo? Ndipo ine ndikanakupatsa ndalama za siliva khumi ndi lamba wausilikali.”

12Koma munthuyo anayankha kuti, “Ngakhale atandipatsa mʼmanja mwanga ndalama zasiliva 1,000, sindingatambasule dzanja langa kupha mwana wa mfumu. Ife tikumva, mfumu inalamula inu Abisai ndiponso Itai kuti, ‘Mutetezeni mnyamatayo Abisalomu chifukwa cha ine!’ 13Ndipo sindikanayika moyo wanga pa chiswe pakuti palibe chimene chimabisika pamaso pa mfumu komanso inu simukanditeteza.”

14Yowabu anati, “Ine sinditayanso nthawi ndi iwe.” Ndipo anatenga mikondo itatu mʼmanja mwake ndipo anabaya pamtima pa Abisalomu, Abisalomuyo akanali ndi moyo pa mtengo wa thundu. 15Ndipo anthu khumi onyamula zida za Yowabu anazungulira Abisalomu, kumubaya ndi kumupha.

16Kenaka Yowabu analiza lipenga ndipo asilikali analeka kuthamangitsa Israeli pakuti Yowabu anawaletsa. 17Iwo anatenga Abisalomu ndi kumuponya mʼdzenje lalikulu mʼchipululumo ndipo anawunjikapo miyala ikuluikulu. Nthawiyi Aisraeli onse anathawa kupita ku nyumba zawo.

18Abisalomu ali ndi moyo anadzimangira chipilala mʼchigwa cha mfumu, pakuti ankaganiza kuti, “Ine ndilibe mwana wamwamuna amene adzakhale chikumbutso changa.” Chipilalacho anachitchula dzina lake lomwe ndipo mpaka lero chimatchedwa chipilala cha Abisalomu.

Davide Alira Abisalomu

19Tsono Ahimaazi mwana wa Zadoki anati, “Ndiloleni ndithamange ndi kukapereka uthenga kwa mfumu kuti Yehova wayipulumutsa mʼdzanja la adani ake.”

20Yowabu anamuwuza iye kuti, “Iwe si amene uti ukanene zimenezi lero. Ukapereka uthenga nthawi ina, koma usatero lero, chifukwa mwana wa mfumu wafa.”

21Kenaka Yowabu anawuza Mkusi kuti, “Pita ukawuze mfumu zimene waona.” Mkusiyo anawerama pamaso pa Yowabu ndipo anathamanga kupita.

22Ahimaazi mwana wa Zadoki ananenanso kwa Yowabu kuti, “Zivute zitani, chonde mundilole kuti ndipite pambuyo pa Mkusiyo.”

Koma Yowabu anayankha kuti, “Mwana wanga, nʼchifukwa chiyani ukufuna kupita? Ulibe nkhani yoti ukalandire nayo mphotho.”

23Iye anati, “Zivute zitani ine ndikufuna kuti ndipite.”

Choncho Yowabu anati “Pita!” Ndipo Ahimaazi anathamanga kudzera njira ya ku chigwa ndipo anamupitirira Mkusi uja.

24Nthawi imeneyo nʼkuti Davide atakhala pakati pa zipata ziwiri, chakubwalo ndi chamʼkati. Mlonda anakwera pa khoma nakayimirira pa denga la chipata. Anati atayangʼana, anaona munthu akuthamanga yekhayekha. 25Mlonda uja anapita kwa mfumu ndipo anafotokoza.

Mfumu inati, “Ngati ali yekha ali ndi nkhani yabwino” Ndipo munthuyo anayandikira.

26Mlonda uja anaonanso munthu wina akuthamanga, ndipo anayitana woyangʼanira pa chipata, “Taona, munthu winanso akuthamanga ali yekha!”

Mfumu inati, “Iye akubweretsanso nkhani yabwino.”

27Mlonda uja anati, “Munthu akuthamanga patsogoloyo, kathamangidwe kake kakufanafana ndi mmene amathamangira Ahimaazi, mwana wa Zadoki.”

Mfumu inati, “Ameneyo ndi munthu wabwino, ndipo akubwera ndi nkhani yabwino.”

28Ndipo Ahimaazi anafuwula kwa mfumu, “Zonse zili bwino!” Iye anagwada pamaso pa mfumu nkhope yake atagunditsa pansi ndipo anati, “Yehova Mulungu wathu alemekezedwe! Iye wapereka mʼdzanja lathu anthu amene anawukira inu mbuye wanga mfumu.”

29Mfumu inafunsa, “Kodi mnyamata uja Abisalomu watetezedwa?”

Ahimaazi anayankha, “Pamene Yowabu amati azindituma ine mtumiki wanu ndinaona chipiringu cha anthu, koma sindikudziwa chinali chiyani.”

30Mfumu inati, “Ima apo ndipo udikire.” Kotero iye anapita pa mbali nayima pamenepo.

31Kenaka Mkusi uja anafika ndipo anati, “Mbuye wanga mfumu imvani nkhani yabwino! Yehova wakupulumutsani inu lero kwa onse amene anakuwukirani.”

32Mfumu inafunsa Mkusiyo kuti, “Kodi mnyamata uja Abisalomu watetezedwa?”

Mkusiyo anayankha kuti, “Adani anu mbuye wanga mfumu, pamodzi ndi anthu onse amene amakuwukirani, ziwaonekere zomwe zamuonekera mnyamatayo.”

33Mfumu inanthunthumira. Inapita ku chipinda cha mmwamba cha pa chipata kukalira. Pamene imapita, inkati: “Iwe mwana wanga Abisalomu! Mwana wanga! Mwana wanga Abisalomu! Zikanakhala bwino ndikanafa ndine mʼmalo mwako! Iwe Abisalomu, mwana wanga, mwana wanga!”

New International Reader’s Version

2 Samuel 18:1-33

1David brought together the men with him. He appointed commanders of thousands over some of them. He appointed commanders of hundreds over the others. 2Then David sent out his troops in military groups. One group was under the command of Joab. Another was under Joab’s brother Abishai, the son of Zeruiah. The last was under Ittai, the Gittite. The king told the troops, “You can be sure that I myself will march out with you.”

3But the men said, “You must not march out. If we are forced to run away, our enemies won’t care about us. Even if half of us die, they won’t care. But you are worth 10,000 of us. So it would be better for you to stay here in the city. Then you can send us help if we need it.”

4The king said, “I’ll do what you think is best.”

So the king stood beside the city gate. His whole army marched out in groups of hundreds and groups of thousands. 5The king gave an order to Joab, Abishai and Ittai. He commanded them, “Be gentle with the young man Absalom. Do it for me.” All the troops heard the king give the commanders that order about Absalom.

6David’s army marched out of the city to fight against Israel. The battle took place in the forest of Ephraim. 7There David’s men won the battle over Israel’s army. A huge number of men were wounded or killed that day. The total number was 20,000. 8The fighting spread out over the whole countryside. But more men were killed in the forest that day than out in the open.

9Absalom happened to come across some of David’s men. He was riding his mule. The mule went under the thick branches of a large oak tree. Absalom’s hair got caught in the tree. He was left hanging in the air. The mule he was riding kept on going.

10One of David’s men saw what had happened. He told Joab, “I just saw Absalom hanging in an oak tree.”

11Joab said to the man, “What! You saw him? Why didn’t you strike him down right there? Then I would have had to give you four ounces of silver and a soldier’s belt.”

12But the man replied, “I wouldn’t do anything to hurt the king’s son. I wouldn’t do it even for 25 pounds of silver. We heard the king’s command to you and Abishai and Ittai. He said, ‘Be careful not to hurt the young man Absalom. Do it for me.’ 13Suppose I had put my life in danger by killing him. The king would have found out about it. Nothing is hidden from him. And you wouldn’t have stood up for me.”

14Joab said, “I’m not going to waste any more time on you.” So he got three javelins. Then he went over and plunged them into Absalom’s heart. He did it while Absalom was still hanging there alive in the oak tree. 15Ten of the men carrying Joab’s armor surrounded Absalom. They struck him and killed him.

16Then Joab blew his trumpet. He ordered his troops to stop chasing Israel’s army. 17Joab’s men threw Absalom into a big pit in the forest. They covered him with a large pile of rocks. While all of that was going on, all the Israelites ran back to their homes.

18Earlier in his life Absalom had set up a pillar in the King’s Valley. He had put it up as a monument to himself. He thought, “I don’t have a son to carry on the memory of my name.” So he named the pillar after himself. It is still called Absalom’s Monument to this day.

David Mourns Over Absalom

19Ahimaaz, the son of Zadok, said to Joab, “Let me run and take the news to the king. Let me tell him that the Lord has shown that David is in the right. The Lord has done this by saving David from his enemies.”

20“I don’t want you to take the news to the king today,” Joab told him. “You can do it some other time. But you must not do it today, because the king’s son is dead.”

21Then Joab said to a man from Cush, “Go. Tell the king what you have seen.” The man bowed down in front of Joab. Then he ran off.

22Ahimaaz, the son of Zadok, spoke again to Joab. He said, “I don’t care what happens to me. Please let me run behind the man from Cush.”

But Joab replied, “My son, why do you want to go? You don’t have any news that will bring you a reward.”

23He said, “I don’t care what happens. I want to run.”

So Joab said, “Run!” Then Ahimaaz ran across the plain of the Jordan River. As he ran, he passed the man from Cush.

24David was sitting in the area between the inner and outer gates of the city. The man on guard duty went up to the roof over the entrance of the gate by the wall. As he looked out, he saw someone running alone. 25The guard called out to the king and reported it.

The king said, “If the runner is alone, he must be bringing good news.” The runner came closer and closer.

26Then the man on guard duty saw another runner. He called out to the man guarding the gate. He said, “Look! There’s another man running alone!”

The king said, “He must be bringing good news too.”

27The man on guard duty said, “I can see that the first one runs like Ahimaaz, the son of Zadok.”

“He’s a good man,” the king said. “He’s bringing good news.”

28Then Ahimaaz called out to the king, “Everything’s all right!” He bowed down in front of the king with his face toward the ground. He said, “You are my king and master. Give praise to the Lord your God! He has handed over to you those who lifted their hands to kill you.”

29The king asked, “Is the young man Absalom safe?”

Ahimaaz answered, “I saw total disorder. I saw it just as Joab was about to send the king’s servant and me to you. But I don’t know what it was all about.”

30The king said, “Stand over there and wait.” So he stepped over to one side and stood there.

31Then the man from Cush arrived. He said, “You are my king and master. I’m bringing you some good news. The Lord has shown that you are in the right. He has done this by rescuing you today from all those trying to kill you.”

32The king asked the man from Cush, “Is the young man Absalom safe?”

The man replied, “King David, may your enemies be like that young man. May all those who rise up to harm you be like him.”

33The king was very upset. He went up to the room over the entrance of the gate and wept. As he went, he said, “My son Absalom! My son, my son Absalom! I wish I had died instead of you. Absalom! My son, my son!”