Yahwe banozwilakidza kuna Samuele
1 Mbisana Samuele wakabe eshingila Yahwe ali pasi kwa Eli. Mu misi iyeyo dama la Yahwe lakabe lisingahwiwe hwiwe koga, ne mibono yakabe isakawanda. 2 Mu tjibaka itjetjo Eli wakabe asingatjabonesese mesho awe abe ne lidandi, wakabe alilele mu ng'umba iye. 3 Luvone gwe Ndzimu gwakabe gusathu gukadzima, ngono Samuele wakabe alilele mu Ng'umba ya Yahwe, kwakabe kuna Bhokisi le Tjidumano tje Ndzimu. 4 Ipapo Yahwe bakadana Samuele, Samuele kadabila eti, “Ndipano.” 5 Kalabukila kuna Eli kaswika eti, “Ndipano, mandidana.”
Koga Eli kandwa kati, “Andizotongo dana, bgwililazo unoizela.” Ndizo kayenda kanoizela.
6 Yahwe bakadana kakale bakati, “Samuele!” Ngono Samuele kamuka kayenda kuna Eli kaswika kandwa kati, “Ndabuya mandidana.” Eli kandwa kati, “Andizotongodana nkololo wangu bgwililazo unoizela.”
7 Mu tjibaka itjetjo Samuele wakabe asathu kaziba Yahwe, ngobe dama la Yahwe wakabe asathu kalizumbunuligwa.
8 Yahwe bakadana Samuele kakale gwe butatu. Samuele kamuka kayenda kuna Eli, kaswika kandwa kati, “Ndabuya mandidana.” Ndizo Eli kabona kuti Yahwe bakabe bedana mbisana. 9 Ipapo Eli kandwa kati, “Bgwilila unoizela, ngono ha ungahwa bekudana kakale udabile uti, ‘Lebelekani zwenyu Yahwe, nlanda wenyu wakateedza.’ ” Ndizo Samuele kabgwilila kanoizela ku bulalo gugwe. 10 Yahwe bakazha bakama ipapo, bakadana kakale, sekwa batongodana, “Samuele! Samuele!”
Samuele kadabila eti, “Lebelekani zwenyu nlanda wenyu wakateedza.”
11 Ipapo Yahwe bakadwa Samuele bakati, “Bona, ndi pejo ngothama tjimwe tjithu mu Iziraela, tjinowothama kuti zebe dze mmwe ne mmwe unotjihwa unowolobgwa nge hana. 12 Mu zhuba ilelo ndowothamila Eli zose zwandakaleba ngekwe nsha uwe, kudwa mu kutangisa kunoti ku bupelo. 13 Ngono ndombudza kuti ndi pejo ngoloba nsha uwe nge kusingapele, ngekwe jinyo laanoziba, bakololo babe bakabe betuka Ndzimu, ngono kasitongo batjemela. 14 Ndizo ndotuna nditunila nsha wa Eli nditi jinyo le nsha wa Eli alingalipigwe nge tjibhayilo kene kudusa tjipo nge kusingapele.”
15 Samuele wakaizela kuswikila mangwanana, ndizo kazhula mikoba ye Ng'umba ya Yahwe. Samuele wakabe etja kubudza Eli mbono. 16 Koga Eli kadana Samuele kati, “Samuele nkololo wangu.”
Samuele kadabila eti, “Ndipano.” 17 Eli kambhuzwa kati, “Apa Yahwe balala bakudwani kene? Usindisumbikile itjo. Ndzimu ngaukulobe, ha ungandisumbikila tjimwe ne tjimwe tjawalala wakubudza.” 18 Ndizo Samuele kambudza tjimwe ne tjimwe, kukasibe ne tjaanonsumbikila. Iye kabe eti, “Ndibo Yahwe, ngabathame sekwa kungabe kwakabalulwamila.”
19 Samuele kakula, Yahwe banaye, ngono abazotongo thama kuti kube ne matama abo angawila pasi. 20 Ndizo Iziraela yose, kudwa ku Dani kunoti ku Bheerisheba ikaziba kuti Samuele nlebesambeli wa Yahwe. 21 Yahwe bakadwilila bezwilakidza ku Shilo, ngono Yahwe bakazwilakidza kuna Samuele nge dama labo.
The Lord Speaks to Samuel
1-2 Samuel served the Lord by helping Eli the priest, who was by that time almost blind. In those days, the Lord hardly ever spoke directly to people, and he did not appear to them in dreams very often. But one night, Eli was asleep in his room, 3 and Samuel was sleeping on a mat near the sacred chest in the Lord's house. They had not been asleep very long 4 when the Lord called out Samuel's name.
“Here I am!” Samuel answered. 5 Then he ran to Eli and said, “Here I am. What do you want?”
“I didn't call you,” Eli answered. “Go back to bed.”
Samuel went back.
6 Again the Lord called out Samuel's name. Samuel got up and went to Eli. “Here I am,” he said. “What do you want?”
Eli told him, “Son, I didn't call you. Go back to sleep.”
7 The Lord had not spoken to Samuel before, and Samuel did not recognize the voice. 8 When the Lord called out his name for the third time, Samuel went to Eli again and said, “Here I am. What do you want?”
Eli finally realized that it was the Lord who was speaking to Samuel. 9 So he said, “Go back and lie down! If someone speaks to you again, answer, ‘I'm listening, Lord. What do you want me to do?’ ”
Once again Samuel went back and lay down.
10 The Lord then stood beside Samuel and called out as he had done before, “Samuel! Samuel!”
“I'm listening,” Samuel answered. “What do you want me to do?”
11 The Lord said:
Samuel, I am going to do something in Israel that will shock everyone who hears about it! 12 I will punish Eli and his family, just as I promised. 13 He knew that his sons refused to respect me, and he let them get away with it, even though I said I would punish his family forever. 14 I warned Eli that sacrifices or offerings could never make things right! His family has done too many disgusting things.
15 The next morning, Samuel got up and opened the doors to the Lord's house. He was afraid to tell Eli what the Lord had said. 16 But Eli told him, “Samuel, my boy, come here!”
“Yes, sir!” Samuel answered.
17 Eli said, “What did God say to you? Tell me everything. I'll ask God to punish you terribly if you don't tell me every word he said!”
18 Samuel told Eli everything. Then Eli said, “He is the Lord, and he will do what's right.”
The Lord Helps Samuel
19 As Samuel grew up, the Lord helped him and made everything Samuel said come true. 20 From the town of Dan in the north to the town of Beersheba in the south, everyone in the country knew that Samuel was truly the Lord's prophet. 21 The Lord often appeared to Samuel at Shiloh and told him what to say.