1 i Samuelit 7

1 Atëherë njerëzit e Kiriath-Jearimit erdhën, e çuan lart arkën e Zotit dhe e vendosën në shtëpinë e Abinadadit në kodër, dhe shenjtëruan të birin Eleazarin që të ruante arkën e Zotit.

[When] the men of Kiriath-Jearim [received that message, they] came to Beth-Shemesh and took the sacred chest of Yahweh. They took it to the house of Abinadab, which was on a hillside. They appointed Abinadab’s son Eleazar to take care of the chest.

2 Shumë kohë kishte kaluar nga dita që arka ishte vendosur në Kiriath-Jearim; kishin kaluar njëzet vjet dhe tërë shtëpia e Izraelit i ankohej Zotit.

The sacred chest stayed in Kiriath-Jearim for a long time—a total of 20 years. During that time all the people of Israel mourned [because it seemed that] Yahweh [had abandoned them] (OR, [and then they asked] Yahweh [to help them]).

3 Atëherë Samueli i foli tërë shtëpisë së Izraelit, duke thënë: “Në rast se ktheheni tek Zoti me gjithë zemër, hiqni nga gjiri juaj perënditë e huaja dhe Ashtarithin dhe mbani zemrën tuaj tek Zoti dhe

Then Samuel said to all the Israeli people, “If you truly [IDM] want to act like Yahweh’s people should, you must get rid of your statues of [the goddess] Astarte and the idols/statues of all the other foreign gods. You must decide to serve/worship only Yahweh. If you do that, he will rescue you from [the power of] [MTY] the Philistia people.”

4 Kështu bijtë e Izraelit hoqën mënjanë Baalët dhe Ashtarothët dhe i shërbyen vetëm Zotit.

So the Israelis got rid of all their statues of the gods Baal and Astarte, and they worshiped only Yahweh.

5 Pastaj Samueli tha: “Mblidhni tërë Izraelin në Mitspah dhe unë do t’i lutem Zotit për ju”.

Then Samuel told them, “All you Israeli people must gather with me at Mizpah. Then I will pray to Yahweh for you.”

6 Kështu ata u mblodhën në Mitspah, morën ujë dhe e derdhën përpara Zotit; pastaj po atë ditë agjëruan dhe atje thanë: “Kemi mëkatuar kundër Zotit”. Samueli i gjykoi bijtë e Izraelit në Mitspah.

So they gathered at Mizpah, which was the town where Samuel previously was the leader of the Israeli people. They had a big ceremony there. They drew water [from a well], and poured the water on the ground while Yahweh watched. [To show that they were sorry for having worshiped idols], they did not eat any food on that day, and they confessed that they had sinned against Yahweh.

7 Kur Filistejtë mësuan që bijtë e Izraelit ishin mbledhur në Mitspah, princat e Filistejve u nisën kundër Izraelit. Kur bijtë e Izraelit dëgjuan këtë patën frikë nga Filistejtë.

When the kings of the Philistia area heard that the Israeli people had gathered at Mizpah, they led their armies there to attack the Israelis. When the Israelis found out that the Philistia army was approaching them, they became very afraid.

8 Atëherë bijtë e Izraelit i thanë Samuelit: “Mos e ndërpre klithmën tënde për neve tek Zoti, që ai të na shpëtojë nga duart e Filistejve”.

They told Samuel, “Pray to Yahweh to rescue us from the Philistia army [MTY], and do not stop pleading!”

9 Kështu Samueli mori një qengj pirës dhe e ofroi tërësisht si olokaust Zotit; Samueli i thirri Zotit për Izraelin dhe Zoti ia plotësoi kërkesën.

So Samuel took a very young lamb [and killed it] and offered it to Yahweh to be a sacrifice that was completely burned [on the altar]. Then he prayed and pleaded that Yahweh [would help] the Israelis, and Yahweh did help them.

10 Ndërsa Samueli ofronte olokaustin, Filistejtë u afruan për të sulmuar Izraelin; por Zoti bubulloi me buçimë të madhe kundër Filistejve dhe i ngatërroi deri në atë pikë sa u mundën para Izraelit.

While Samuel was burning the offering, the Philistia army came near to attack the Israelis. But Yahweh caused it to thunder very loudly. The soldiers of the Philistia army became very frightened, and then they (became confused/did not know what to do). So the Israelis were able to defeat them.

11 Njerëzit e Izraelit dolën nga Mitspahu, i ndoqën Filistejtë dhe i mundën deri poshtë Beth-Karit.

The Israeli men ran out of Mizpah and pursued the Philistia soldiers almost to Beth-Car [town], and killed many Philistia soldiers while they were trying to run away.

12 Atherë Samueli mori një gur e ngriti midis Mitspahut dhe Shenit dhe e quajti Eben-Ezer, duke thënë: “Deri këtu Zoti na ka ndihmuar”.

After that happened, Samuel took a large stone and set it up between Mizpah and Jeshanah [towns]. He named the stone ‘Ebenezer’, [which means ‘stone of help’], because he said “Yahweh has helped us until the present time.”

13 Kështu Filistejtë u poshtëruan dhe nuk u kthyen më të shkelin territorin e Izraelit; dhe dora e Zotit u ngrit kundër Filistejve gjatë gjithë kohës së Samuelit.

So the Philistia people were defeated, and for a long time they did not enter the Israeli land [to attack them] again. During the time that Samuel was alive, Yahweh powerfully protected [MTY] [the Israeli people] from [being attacked by] the Philistia army.

14 Edhe qytetet që Filistejtë i kishin marrë Izraelit iu kthyen Izraelit, nga Ekroni deri në Gath. Izraeli çliroi territorin e tij nga duart e Filistejve. Dhe u vendos paqja midis Izraelit dhe Amorejve.

The Israeli army was able to capture again the Israeli villages between Ekron and Gath that the Philistia army had captured before. The Israelis were also able to take again the other areas around those cities that the Philistia army had taken [from the Israelis] previously. And there was peace between the Israelis and the Amor people-group.

15 Samueli qe gjykatës i Izraelit gjatë gjithë jetës së tij.

Samuel continued to be the leader of the Israeli people until he died.

16 Çdo vit ai i binte përqark Bethelit, Gilgalit dhe Mitspahut dhe ushtronte funksionin e gjyqtarit të Izraelit mbi tërë këto vende.

As long as he was alive, every year he traveled back and forth between Bethel and Gilgal and Mizpah [cities]. In those cities he listened to disputes between people and made decisions about them.

17 Pastaj kthehej në Ramah, sepse aty ishte shtëpia e tij. Aty e gjykonte Izraelin dhe po aty ngriti një altar për Zotin.

After he listened to disputes and made decisions in each of those towns, he returned to his home at Ramah, and he would listen to people’s disputes there, also, [and make decisions about them]. And he built an altar at Ramah [to offer sacrifices] to Yahweh.