< 2 Samuel 2 >

1 Hotnaw hnukkhu hoi Devit ni BAWIPA hah a pacei. Judah ram kho buetbuet touh dawk ka cei han maw telah ati. BAWIPA ni cet loe atipouh. Devit ni nâ lah maw ka cei han atipouh. Hebron kho lah atipouh.
Some time after that, David asked Yahweh, “Should I go back to [live in] one of the towns in Judah?” Yahweh replied, “Yes, go up there.” Then David asked, “To which town should I go?” Yahweh replied, “To Hebron.”
2 Devit e a yu roi Jezreel kho e Ahinoam hoi Karmel tami Nabal e a yu Abigail hoi a cei awh.
So David went up there, taking his two wives, Ahinoam who was from Jezreel [city], and Abigail, the widow of Nabal from Carmel [city].
3 Ama koe kaawm e taminaw, imthungnaw hai Devit ni a kaw teh ahnimanaw teh, Hebron khonaw dawk kho a sak awh.
He also took the men who had been with him, and their families. They all started to live in villages near Hebron.
4 Judah taminaw a tho awh teh, Devit hah siangpahrang hanelah satui a awi awh. Ahnimouh ni Devit koe, Sawl ka pakawm naw hah Jabesh Gilead taminaw doeh telah a dei pouh awh.
Then the men of Judah came to Hebron, and [one of] them poured olive oil on David’s head [to show they were appointing him to be] [MTY] the king of the tribe [MTY] of Judah. When David found out that the people of Jabesh [town] in [the] Gilead [region] had buried Saul’s body,
5 Hatdawkvah Jabesh Gilead taminaw koe Devit ni patounenaw a patoun teh, ahnimouh koevah nangmae bawipa Sawl dawk na lungmanae kamnue sak awh teh, na pakawp awh dawkvah BAWIPA ni yawhawinae na poe awh naseh.
he sent messengers to the men of Jabesh to tell them this: “I desire/hope that Yahweh will bless you for having shown, by burying the body of Saul your king, that you were loyal to him.
6 BAWIPA ni a lungmanae hoi a hawinae nangmouh dawk kamnuek sak naseh. Hete hno na sak awh dawkvah na lungmanae kai ni na patho awh han.
Now I also desire/hope that Yahweh will faithfully love you and be loyal to you. And I will do good things for you because of what you have done [for Saul].
7 Atuvah, tha kâlat awh nateh, taranhawi awh, nangmae bawi Sawl teh a due toe. Judah imthungnaw ni a siangpahrang lah ka o hanelah satui na awi awh toe telah a ti.
Now, although Saul your king is dead, be strong and courageous, like the people of Judah, who have appointed me to be their king.”
8 Sawl e ransabawi Ner capa Abner ni Sawl e capa Ishbosheth hah Mahanaim kho lah a ceikhai.
[While this was happening], Ner’s son Abner, the commander of Saul’s army, took Saul’s son Ishbosheth and went across [the Jordan River] to Mahanaim [town].
9 Gilead ram Ashurnaw Jezreel khocanaw Ephraim ram, Benjamin hoi Isarelnaw pueng e lathueng vah siangpahrang hmuen koe a hruek awh.
There Abner proclaimed that Ishbosheth was now the king of [the] Gilead [region] and of the tribe of Asher and the region of Jezreel and the tribes of Ephraim and Benjamin. That meant that he was the king of all of the people of Israel.
10 Sawl capa Ishbosheth teh Isarelnaw uknae a kamtawng navah, kum 40 touh a pha. Kum hni touh a uk. Judahnaw ni dueng Devit e hnuk a kâbang awh.
Ishbosheth was 40 years old when he started to rule over the people of Israel. He ruled them for two years. But the tribe of Judah (was loyal to David/wanted David to be their king),
11 Hebron vah Devit ao teh Judah phun a uknae kum teh kum 7 touh hoi thapa yung 6 touh doeh.
and he ruled them for seven and a half years while he was living in Hebron.
12 Ner capa Abner hoi Sawl capa Ishbosheth e a san hah Mahanaim hoi Gibeon kho koe lah a cei.
[One day] Abner and the officials of Isbosheth went from Mahanaim [across the Jordan River] to Gibeon [city].
13 Zeruiah capa Joab hoi Devit e sannaw a tâco awh teh, Gibeon tuikamuem koevah, a kâhmo awh, rek kadangka lah a tahung awh.
Joab, whose mother was Zeruiah, and some of David’s officials [went from Hebron to Gibeon, and] met at the pool there. They all sat down, the one group on one side of the pool and the other group on the other side.
14 Abner ni Joab koevah thoundounnaw hah ka hmalah tâcawt awh naseh, ka hmalah kâhmo awh naseh. Joab ni tâcawt awh naseh telah a ti.
Abner said to Joab, “Let’s tell some of our young men to fight each other!” Joab replied, “Okay!”
15 Sawl e capa Ishbosheth e tami Benjamin phun 12 touh hoi Devit e san 12 touh teh a thaw awh teh a cei awh.
So twelve men from the tribe of Benjamin fought for Ishbosheth, against twelve of David’s soldiers.
16 A tarannaw e lû dawk lengkaleng a kâkuet awh teh a na dawk tahloi hoi a kâthut awh teh koung a rawp awh. Hatdawkvah Gibeon vah kaawm e naw ni haw e hmuen teh Helkathhazzurim (tahloi hruepatue hmuen) telah ati awh.
Each of them grabbed the head of the man against whom he was fighting, and thrust his sword into that man’s side. The result was that all 24 of them fell down dead. So that area in Gibeon is now called ‘Field of Swords’.
17 Hote hnin dawk kâtheinae a patawpoung. Abner hoi Isarelnaw Devit e a sannaw hmalah a sung awh.
Then [the others started to fight]. It was a very fierce battle. Abner and the men of Israel were defeated by David’s soldiers.
18 Hawvah Zeruiah capa Joab hoi Abisai hoi Asahel hai ao. Asahel teh sayuk patetlah a hue a rang.
Zeruiah’s three sons were there [on that day]: Joab, Abishai, and Asahel. Asahel was able to run very fast; he could run as fast as a wild gazelle/antelope.
19 Asahel ni Abner hah avoilah aranglah phen laipalah a pâlei.
Asahel started to pursue Abner. He ran straight toward Abner, without stopping.
20 Abner ni a kamlang sin teh, nang hah namaw Asahel telah ati. Ahni ni oe kai doeh telah atipouh.
Abner looked behind him, and said “Is that you, Asahel?” Asahel replied, “Yes!”
21 Abner ni ahni koevah, avoilah aranglah phen haw, thoundoun buetbuet touh e puengcang hah lat pouh telah ati. Hatei Asahel ni ama a pâlei e hah phen takhai han ngai hoeh.
Abner yelled at him, “Turn to one side or the other, [and pursue someone else]!” But Asahel would not stop pursuing Abner.
22 Abner ni Asahel koevah na phen takhai lei bang kecu dawk maw talai dawk rep ka tabawk lah na thut han. Na hmaunawngha Joab mei ka hmu ngam han namaw telah bout atipouh.
So Abner yelled at him again, “Stop (chasing after/pursuing) me! (Why should I kill you?/It would not be good for me to kill you!) [RHQ] If I did that, (how could I (face/be reconciled with) your brother Joab?/it would be very difficult for me to (face/be reconciled with) your brother Joab.) [RHQ]”
23 Hatei Asahel ni lawk ngai pouh hoeh dawkvah, Abner ni tahroe hoi a von koehoi a thut teh a hnukthun lah tahroehmo pawk a yawng teh, hote hmuen koe a rawp teh a due. Asahel a rawp teh a duenae hmuen koe ka tho pueng ni ouk a kangdue awh.
But Asahel refused to stop pursuing Abner. So Abner [suddenly turned and] thrust the butt end of his spear into Asahel’s stomach. Because he thrust it very strongly, that end of the spear [went though Asahel’s body and] came out at his back, and he fell to the ground, dead. All the other soldiers who came to the place where his body was lying stopped and stood there, [stunned].
24 Joab hoi Abisai ni Abner hah pou a pâlei roi, Gibeon ram thung e lam teng Giah teng e Ammah mon koe a pha nah kanî a khup.
But Joab and Abishai continued to pursue Abner. At sunset they came to Ammah Hill, which is east of Giah, along the road to the desert near Gibeon.
25 Benjaminnaw teh, Abner koe a kamkhueng awh teh, ahu buet touh lah ao awh teh mon dawk a kangdue awh.
The men from the tribe of Benjamin gathered around Abner in one group, and stood at the top of a hill.
26 Abner ni, Joab a hram sin teh, tahloi ni pou na bouk han namaw apoutnae dawk kâhat han tie na panuek hoeh maw. Bangkongmaw taminaw hah a hmaunawngha ni a pâleinae koehoi, ban hanelah dei pouh laipalah na o han atipouh.
Then Abner called out to Joab, saying “Are we going to continue to fight forever [RHQ]? Do you not realize that [if we continue fighting], the result will be very bad [RHQ]? We are all descendants of Jacob. [So we should stop fighting each other] (How long will it be until you tell your soldiers to stop pursuing us?/Tell your soldiers to stop pursuing us.)” [RHQ]
27 Joab ni Cathut a hring e patetlah dei laipalah awm haw, atangtho ditouh ka taminaw ni na pâlei awh han rah atipouh.
Joab replied, “Just as surely as God lives, if you had not said that, my soldiers would have continued pursuing your men until tomorrow morning!”
28 Joab ni mongka a ueng teh, taminaw a kangdue awh. Isarelnaw pâlei awh hoeh. Tuk awh hoeh toe.
So Joab blew a trumpet [to signal that they should stop fighting]. So all his men did that. They did not pursue the soldiers of Israel any more, and they stopped fighting.
29 Abner hoi a taminaw teh karum tuettuet ayawn dawk a cei awh teh, Jordan tui a raka awh hnukkhu Bithron ram a tapuet awh teh Mahanaim a pha awh.
That night Abner and his soldiers went through the Jordan [River] Valley. They crossed the Jordan [River] and marched all the next morning, and they finally arrived at Mahanaim.
30 Joab teh Abner a pâleinae koehoi a ban teh, taminaw a pâkhueng navah, Devit hoi Asahel e taminaw 19 touh awm hoeh, a due awh toe.
Joab [and his soldiers] stopped pursuing Abner. And when he gathered all his soldiers together, he found out that in addition to Asahel, only 19 of them had been killed in the battle.
31 Hatei teh Devit e taminaw ni Benjaminnaw hoi Abner taminaw 360 touh a thei awh.
But David’s soldiers had killed 360 of Abner’s men, all from the tribe of Benjamin.
32 Asahel e a ro a la awh teh Bethlehem e a na pa e tangkom dawk a pakawp awh. Joab hoi a taminaw karum tuettuet a cei awh teh khodai nah Hebron vah a pha awh.
[Some of Joab’s soldiers] took Asahel’s body and buried it in the tomb where his father had been buried, in Bethlehem. Then they marched all during the night, and at dawn they arrived [back home] at Hebron.

< 2 Samuel 2 >