Abusalomu unokundiwa kabulawa
1 Mambo Dafite kakubunganya babhayani baakabe anabo, kabashalulila balauli be bali zwiwulu (1 000) ne balauli be bali mazana (100). 2 Ngono Dafite kadusa babhayani kabatuma ku ngwa bali makupo matatu. Gupo limwe lakatungamigwa ndi Joabu, limwe lakatungamigwa ndi Abishayi nkololo wa Zeruya, nnung'una wa Joabu, ngono limwe lakatungamigwa ndi Itai we N'giti. Ngono mambo kadwa babhayani kati, “Namibo ndowoyendabo namwi.”
3 Koga babhayani bakan'dabila beti, “Imwi musiyende naswi ku ngwa. Ngobe iswi atingatizha, abangabe ne hanya naswi. Ha gwamu limwe ledu lingafa, abangabe ne hanya naswi. Ngobe imwi muli moga molizana naswi tili zwiwulu zwili gumi (10 000), kungayita ha mungatuma iswi, imwi mukasala mutitumila bhatsho muli ipapa mu nzi.”
4 Mambo kabadwa kati, “Ndowothama sekwa munowobe mubona kwakalulwama.” Ndizo mambo kama pa wunde ne nkoba, babhayani bose bakalongoloka bebhuda nge makupo e mazana ne e zwiwulu. 5 Ngono mambo kapa ndaulo Joabu na Abishayi na Itai eti, “Mu bumo gwangu musitongo hwisa zogwadza nzhuzha Abusalomu.” Ngono babhayani bose bakahwa mambo pabakabe bepa balauli be ngwa ndaulo ngekwa Abusalomu.
6 Ndizo babhayani bakayenda ku shango kunobhayana ne Baiziraela, ngwa yakagwigwa mu ishaka tje Ifureimi. 7 Baiziraela bakakundiwa nge babhayani ba Dafite, mu zhuba ilelo kwakabulawa balume bali zwiwulu zwili makumi mabili (20 000) mu ngwa iyeyo. 8 Ngwa yakaandama nge shango yose, bathu bakabulawa nge mbatsha dze ishaka bakabe banji kupinda bakabulawa nge thumo.
9 Ngono Abusalomu kazwiwana ashangana ne babhayani ba Dafite. Wakabe akatatha moulo iye, ngono ikangina kusi kwe nti nkulu unoyi n'oko, thabi dze nti iwoyo dzikabhata Abusalomu nge nsholo. Moulo ikatizha ikasiya Abusalomu akalembeleka mu nti makumbo ali mu phepo. 10 Mmwe nlume kambona ngono kabikila Joabu eti, “Ndabona Abusalomu akalembeleka mu n'oko.”
11 Ngono Joabu kanshandula nlume wambudza eti, “Ha wambona ini usankhukhutha kadwa awila pasi akafa. Ndabe ndingashatha kwandabe ndingakupa maloso ali gumi e siliva ne mwandabula we babhayani.”
12 Koga nlume kashandula Joabu eti, “Nenguba ndabe ndiyemula kuzwibona ndakabhata maloso e siliva ali tjiwulu (1 000), ndabe ndisingake alonga nkololo wa mambo luboko, ngobe kwakalebgwa tizwihwigwa mambo emupa ndaulo imwi na Abishayi na Itai eti, ‘Mu bumo gwangu musitongo hwisa zogwadza nzhuzha Abusalomu.’ 13 Koga, nenguba ndabe ndathama bupitipiti ambulaya, akuna tjabe tjingasumbikalila mambo, nawebo wabe usingondimila.”
14 Joabu kabe eti, “Andingatjatjinye tjibaka nge kuko.” Ngono kabe etola mathumo matatu nge luboko gugwe, ebe enobhaya Abusalomu ndiwo mu moyo atjimpenyu pezhugwi kwe n'oko. 15 Bazhuzha bali gumi, basengi be zwibhayano zwa Joabu, bakabe bekomba Abusalomu benloba, bebe bembulaya.
16 Ndizo Joabu kalidza lunyanga, babhayani bakashanduka mu kutatana ne Baiziraela, ngobe Joabu wakabe abadziba. 17 Bakatola itumbu tja Abusalomu bakatjilashila mu gomba lakangina mu ishaka, bakakubunganyila mabgwe pezhugwi kukwe likabe duthu lisishoma le mabgwe. Baiziraela bose bakatizha mmwe ne mmwe kuyenda ku nzi uwe.
18 Mu bupenyu gwa Abusalomu wakabe azwibakila bgwe lakashongoloka mu Nkuku wa Mambo, ngobe wakabe asina nkololo ungati afa kamusa zina lile. Ndizo katumila bgwe ilelo zina lile, ngono lodang'wa Bgwe la Abusalomu na nasi.
Dafite unobudziwa ngekwe lufu gwa Abusalomu
19 Ipapo Ahimaazi nkololo wa Zadoki kadwa Joabu kati, “Tjima ndilabuke ndiyise thawu kuna mambo kubabudza kuti Yahwe ba baangula mu simba le zwita zwabo.”
20 Ngono Joabu kandwa kati, “Aunganoyisa thawu nasi, unganodziyisa limwe zhuba, koga nasi aungayise thawu, ngobe nkololo wa mambo wafa.” 21 Ndizo Joabu kadwa Nkhushi kati, “Yenda, unobudza mambo tjawabona.” Nkhushi kakotamisa nsholo mbeli kwa Joabu, ngono kabhuda akalabuka.
22 Ndizo Ahimaazi nkololo wa Zadoki kadwa Joabu kati, “Nenguba kungabeni, mundiletje ndilabuke ndili shule kwe Nkhushi uwoje.” Ngono Joabu kandwa kati, “Apa ini tjaunowobe utjilabukila nkololo wangu? Ndakalinga kuti auna mbhayilo waunowowana ngekwe thawu idzedzi.” 23 Ahimaazi kapapha kadwa Joabu kati, “Nenguba kungabeni, ndowolabuka.” Joabu kandwa kati, “Labuka.” Ndizo Ahimaazi kalabuka nge zila ye libala kanopindila Nkhushi.
24 Ipapo Dafite wakabe aligele pakati kwe mikoba mibili ye nzi. Nlume we nlindi katathila pezhugwi kwe zhalilo le nzi nge guma, kati emilidza mesho elinga kabona nlume ezha akalabuka ali ega. 25 Nlume we nlindi kamimila kabudza mambo, ngono mambo kadabila eti, “Apa ezha ali ega kodwa kuti wakasenga thawu dzinozipa.” Ngono kazha tjinyolotjo kasedzela pejo.
26 Nlume we nlindi kabona mmwe nlume kakale ezha akalabuka, ngono kadana ntjengeti we nkoba eti, “Bonani, mmwe nlume unozha akalabuka ali ega!” Mambo kashandula eti, “Na iyebo wakasenga thawu dzinozipa.”
27 Nlume we nlindi kabe eti, “Ndobona thambo dze we kutanga dzinga dza Ahimaazi nkololo wa Zadoki.” Mambo kashandula eti, “Nlume wakalulwama, unozha nge matama mabuya.”
28 Ndizo Ahimaazi kamilidza hwi kati kuna mambo, “Kose kwakalulwama.” Kawapasi nge zwidwi mbeli kwa mambo kandwa kati, “Ngakukudziwe Yahwe Ndzimu wenyu, wakunda balume bakabe bakamilidzila luboko gwabo tetshi wangu mambo.”
29 Ngono mambo kabhuzwa kati, “Apa nzhuzha Abusalomu unomuka kene?” Ahimaazi kadabila eti, “Kwati Joabu etuma nlanda wa mambo, imi nlanda wenyu, ndakabona bhonyongo gulu kwazo, koga asizibe kuti kwakabe kulini.”
30 Ngono mambo kandwa kati, “Tongo tsheduka, ume ipapo.” Ndizo katendebuka kama.
31 Ngono bonani, Nkhushi kaswika, ngono kadwa mambo kati, “Ndamuzhila thawu dzakanaka kwazo tetshi wangu mambo! Ngobe Yahwe bamuangula nasi mu simba la bose bapanduki benyu.”
32 Mambo kabhuzwa Nkhushi kati, “Apa nzhuzha Abusalomu unomuka kene?” Ngono Nkhushi kadabila eti, “Dzene tshene tjanshingikalila tjingashingikalila zwita zwenyu zose, tetshi wangu, na bose banomupandukila.”
33 Mambo kadzipiwa nge shungu, katathila pezhugwi ku ng'umba yakabakigwa pezhugwi kwe nkoba, kayenda elila elebeleka eti, “Eke nkololo wangu Abusalomu, nkololo wangu, nkololo wangu Abusalomu! Akwabe kwafa imi mu bumo gugo, eke Abusalomu, nkololo wangu, nkololo wangu!”
David Gets Ready for Battle
1 David divided his soldiers into groups of 100 and groups of 1,000. Then he chose officers to be in command of each group. 2 He sent out one third of his army under the command of Joab, another third under the command of Abishai the son of Zeruiah, and the rest under the command of Ittai from Gath. He told the soldiers, “I'm going into battle with you.”
3 But the soldiers said, “No, don't go into battle with us! It won't matter to our enemies if they make us all run away, or even if they kill half of us. But you are worth 10,000 of us. It would be better for you to stay in town and send help if we need it.”
4-6 David said, “All right, if you think I should.”
Then in a voice loud enough for everyone to hear, he said, “Joab! Abishai! Ittai! For my sake, be sure that Absalom comes back unharmed.”
David stood beside the town gate as his army marched past in groups of 100 and in groups of 1,000.
Joab Kills Absalom
The war with Israel took place in Ephraim Forest. 7-8 Battles were being fought all over the forest, and David's soldiers were winning. Twenty thousand soldiers were killed that day, and more of them died from the dangers of the forest than from the fighting itself.
9 Absalom was riding his mule under a huge tree when his head caught in the branches. The mule ran off and left Absalom hanging in midair. Some of David's soldiers happened by, 10 and one of them went and told Joab, “I saw Absalom hanging in a tree!”
11 Joab said, “You saw Absalom? Why didn't you kill him? I would have given you ten pieces of silver and a special belt.”
12 The man answered, “Even if you paid me 1,000 pieces of silver here and now, I still wouldn't touch the king's son. We all heard King David tell you and Abishai and Ittai not to harm Absalom. 13 He always finds out what's going on. I would have been risking my life to kill Absalom, because you would have let me take the blame.”
14 Joab said, “I'm not going to waste any more time on you!”
Absalom was still alive, so Joab took three spears and stuck them through Absalom's chest. 15 Ten of Joab's bodyguards came over and finished him off. 16 Then Joab blew a trumpet to signal his troops to stop chasing Israel's soldiers. 17 They threw Absalom's body into a deep pit in the forest and put a big pile of rocks over it.
Meanwhile, the people of Israel had all run back to their own homes.
18 When Absalom was alive, he had set up a stone monument for himself in King's Valley. He explained, “I don't have any sons to keep my name alive.” He called it Absalom's Monument, and that is the name it still has today.
Ahimaaz Wants To Tell David
19 Ahimaaz the son of Zadok said, “Joab, let me run and tell King David that the Lord has rescued him from his enemies.”
20 Joab answered, “You're not the one to tell the king that his son is dead. You can take him a message some other time, but not today.”
21 Someone from Ethiopia was standing there, and Joab told him, “Go and tell the king what you have seen.” The man knelt down in front of Joab, then got up and started running.
22 Ahimaaz spoke to Joab again, “No matter what happens, I still want to go. And besides, the Ethiopian has already left.”
Joab said, “Why should you go? You won't get a reward for the news you have!”
23 “I'll run no matter what!” Ahimaaz insisted.
“All right then, run!” Joab said.
Ahimaaz took the road through the Jordan Valley and outran the Ethiopian.
24 Meanwhile, David was sitting between the inner and outer gates in the city wall. One of his soldiers was watching from the roof of the gate-tower. He saw a man running toward the town 25 and shouted down to tell David.
David answered, “If he's alone, he must have some news.”
The runner was getting closer, 26 when the soldier saw someone else running. He shouted down to the gate, “Look! There's another runner!”
David said, “He must have some news too.”
27 The soldier on the roof shouted, “The first one runs just like Ahimaaz the son of Zadok.”
This time David said, “He's a good man. He must have some good news.”
28 Ahimaaz called out, “We won! We won!” Then he bowed low to David and said, “Your Majesty, praise the Lord your God! He has given you victory over your enemies.”
29 “Is my son Absalom all right?” David asked.
Ahimaaz said, “When Joab sent your personal servant and me, I saw a noisy crowd. But I don't know what it was all about.”
30 David told him, “Stand over there and wait.”
Ahimaaz went over and stood there. 31 The Ethiopian came and said, “Your Majesty, today I have good news! The Lord has rescued you from all your enemies!”
32 “Is my son Absalom all right?” David asked.
The Ethiopian replied, “I wish that all Your Majesty's enemies and everyone who tries to harm you would end up like him!”
David Cries for Absalom
33 David started trembling. Then he went up to the room above the city gate to cry. As he went, he kept saying, “My son Absalom! My son, my son Absalom! I wish I could have died instead of you! Absalom, my son, my son!”