1 Hamuera 27
1 Na ka mea a Rawiri i roto i tona ngakau, Katahi ahau ka ngaro i te ringa o Haora a tetahi ra; kahore atu he mea pai moku i te hohoro o toku mawhiti atu ki te whenua o nga Pirihitini, kia ngakaukore ai a Haora ki te rapu ano i ahau i nga rohe kato a o Iharaira: penei ka mawhiti atu ahau i roto i tona ringa.
But David thought, “Some day Saul will capture me [if I stay around here]. So the best thing that I can do is to escape and go to the Philistia area. If I do that, Saul will stop searching for me here in Israel, and I will be safe.”
2 Na whakatika ana a Rawiri, a haere ana ratou ko ona hoa e ono rau ki a Akihi tama a Maoko, ki te kingi o Kata.
So David and his 600 men left Israel and went to see Maoch’s son Achish, who was king of Gath [city in the Philistia area].
3 Na ka noho a Rawiri ki a Akihi ki Kata, a ia me ana tangata, me te whare ano o tenei, o tenei, a Rawiri hoki ratou ko ana wahine tokorua, ko Ahinoama o Ietereere, ko Apikaira o Karamere, wahine a Napara.
David and his men and their families started to live there in Gath, the city where king Achish lived. David’s two wives were with him—Ahinoam from Jezreel, and Nabal’s widow Abigail, from Carmel.
4 A ka korerotia ki a Haora, kua rere a Rawiri ki Kata, na mutu ake tana rapu i a ia.
When someone told Saul that David had run away [and was living] in Gath, he stopped searching for David.
5 Na ka mea a Rawiri ki a Akihi, Ki te mea kua manakohia nei ahau e koe, kia homai e ratou tetahi wahi ki ahau i roto i tetahi o nga pa i te koraha, hei nohoanga moku: he aha hoki tau pononga i noho ai ki a koe i roto i te pa kingi?
[One day] David said to Achish, “If you are pleased with us, give us a place in one of the small villages where we can stay. There is no need [RHQ] for us to stay in the city where you are the king.”
6 Na ka homai e Akihi ki a ia i taua ra a Tikiraka: na reira nga kingi o Hura i whiwhi ai ki Tikiraka a mohoa noa nei.
[Achish liked what David suggested]. So that day Achish gave to David Ziklag [town]. As a result, Ziklag has belonged to the kings of Judah since that time.
7 Na, ko te maha o nga ra i noho ai a Rawiri ki te whenua o nga Pirihitini, kotahi tau, e wha marama.
David [and his men] lived in the Philistia area for 16 months.
8 Katahi a Rawiri ka haere, ratou ko ana tangata, ka whakaeke i nga Kehuri, i nga Kireti, i nga Amareki; ko era hoki nga iwi kua noho noa ake ki tera whenua i tou haerenga ki Huru a te whenua o Ihipa atu ana.
[During that time] David and his men raided the people who lived [in the areas] where the Geshur, Girzi, and Amalek people-groups lived. Those people had lived there a long time. That area extended [south] from Telam to the Shur [Desert] and to [the border of] Egypt.
9 Na patua iho e Rawiri tera whenua; kihai hoki i whakaorangia tetahi tane, wahine ranei; a tangohia ana e ia nga hipi, nga kau, nga kaihe, nga kamera, me nga kakahu, a hoki ana, haere ana ki a Akihi.
Whenever David’s men attacked them, they killed all the men and women, and they took all the people’s sheep and cattle and donkeys and camels, and even their clothes. Then they would bring those things back home, [and David would go to talk] to Achish.
10 Na ka mea a Akihi, Ko hea i whakaekea e koutou i tenei ra? Ano ra ko Rawiri, Ko te tonga o Hura, ko te tonga o nga Ierameeri, ko te taha ano ki te tonga o nga Keni.
Each time Achish would ask David, “Where did you go raiding today?” David [would lie to him]. Sometimes he would reply that they had gone to the southern part of Judah, and sometimes he would say that they had gone to Jerahmeel, or to the area where the Ken people-group lived.
11 Kihai hoki i whakaorangia e Rawiri tetahi tane, wahine ranei, hei kawe i a ratou ki Kata; i mea hoki, Kei korero ratou i ta tatou, kei mea, I penei a Rawiri, a ko tana hanga ano tenei i nga ra katoa i noho ai ia ki te whenua o nga Pirihitini.
David’s men never brought back to Gath any man or woman who was left alive. David thought, “If [we do not kill everyone, some of] them [who are still alive] will go and tell Achish [the truth] about what we really did.” David did that all the time that he [and his men] lived in the Philistia area.
12 Na whakapono tonu a Akihi ki ta Rawiri, a ka mea, Kua tino mea rawa ia i a ia kia whakariharihangia e tona iwi, e Iharaira: na reira hei tangata tuturu ia maku ake, ake.
So Achish believed [what] David [told him], and said to himself, “[Because of what David has done, ] his own people, the Israelis, must now hate him very much. So he will have to [stay here and] serve me forever.”
