1Now king David was old and stricken in years; and they covered him with clothes, but he gat no heat.1.1 stricken…: Heb. entered into days 2Wherefore his servants said unto him, Let there be sought for my lord the king a young virgin: and let her stand before the king, and let her cherish him, and let her lie in thy bosom, that my lord the king may get heat.1.2 Let there…: Heb. Let them seek1.2 a young…: Heb. a damsel, a virgin1.2 cherish…: Heb. be a cherisher unto him 3So they sought for a fair damsel throughout all the coasts of Israel, and found Abishag a Shunammite, and brought her to the king. 4And the damsel was very fair, and cherished the king, and ministered to him: but the king knew her not.
5¶ Then Adonijah the son of Haggith exalted himself, saying, I will be king: and he prepared him chariots and horsemen, and fifty men to run before him.1.5 be king: Heb. reign 6And his father had not displeased him at any time in saying, Why hast thou done so? and he also was a very goodly man; and his mother bare him after Absalom.1.6 at any…: Heb. from his days 7And he conferred with Joab the son of Zeruiah, and with Abiathar the priest: and they following Adonijah helped him.1.7 he…: Heb. his words were with1.7 following…: Heb. helped after Adonijah 8But Zadok the priest, and Benaiah the son of Jehoiada, and Nathan the prophet, and Shimei, and Rei, and the mighty men which belonged to David, were not with Adonijah. 9And Adonijah slew sheep and oxen and fat cattle by the stone of Zoheleth, which is by En-rogel, and called all his brethren the king’s sons, and all the men of Judah the king’s servants:1.9 En-rogel: or, the well Rogel 10But Nathan the prophet, and Benaiah, and the mighty men, and Solomon his brother, he called not.
11¶ Wherefore Nathan spake unto Bath-sheba the mother of Solomon, saying, Hast thou not heard that Adonijah the son of Haggith doth reign, and David our lord knoweth it not? 12Now therefore come, let me, I pray thee, give thee counsel, that thou mayest save thine own life, and the life of thy son Solomon. 13Go and get thee in unto king David, and say unto him, Didst not thou, my lord, O king, swear unto thine handmaid, saying, Assuredly Solomon thy son shall reign after me, and he shall sit upon my throne? why then doth Adonijah reign? 14Behold, while thou yet talkest there with the king, I also will come in after thee, and confirm thy words.1.14 confirm: Heb. fill up
15¶ And Bath-sheba went in unto the king into the chamber: and the king was very old; and Abishag the Shunammite ministered unto the king. 16And Bath-sheba bowed, and did obeisance unto the king. And the king said, What wouldest thou?1.16 What…: Heb. What to thee? 17And she said unto him, My lord, thou swarest by the LORD thy God unto thine handmaid, saying, Assuredly Solomon thy son shall reign after me, and he shall sit upon my throne. 18And now, behold, Adonijah reigneth; and now, my lord the king, thou knowest it not: 19And he hath slain oxen and fat cattle and sheep in abundance, and hath called all the sons of the king, and Abiathar the priest, and Joab the captain of the host: but Solomon thy servant hath he not called. 20And thou, my lord, O king, the eyes of all Israel are upon thee, that thou shouldest tell them who shall sit on the throne of my lord the king after him. 21Otherwise it shall come to pass, when my lord the king shall sleep with his fathers, that I and my son Solomon shall be counted offenders.1.21 offenders: Heb. sinners
22¶ And, lo, while she yet talked with the king, Nathan the prophet also came in. 23And they told the king, saying, Behold Nathan the prophet. And when he was come in before the king, he bowed himself before the king with his face to the ground. 24And Nathan said, My lord, O king, hast thou said, Adonijah shall reign after me, and he shall sit upon my throne? 25For he is gone down this day, and hath slain oxen and fat cattle and sheep in abundance, and hath called all the king’s sons, and the captains of the host, and Abiathar the priest; and, behold, they eat and drink before him, and say, God save king Adonijah.1.25 God…: Heb. Let king Adonijah live 26But me, even me thy servant, and Zadok the priest, and Benaiah the son of Jehoiada, and thy servant Solomon, hath he not called. 27Is this thing done by my lord the king, and thou hast not shewed it unto thy servant, who should sit on the throne of my lord the king after him?
28¶ Then king David answered and said, Call me Bath-sheba. And she came into the king’s presence, and stood before the king.1.28 into…: Heb. before the king 29And the king sware, and said, As the LORD liveth, that hath redeemed my soul out of all distress, 30Even as I sware unto thee by the LORD God of Israel, saying, Assuredly Solomon thy son shall reign after me, and he shall sit upon my throne in my stead; even so will I certainly do this day. 31Then Bath-sheba bowed with her face to the earth, and did reverence to the king, and said, Let my lord king David live for ever.
32¶ And king David said, Call me Zadok the priest, and Nathan the prophet, and Benaiah the son of Jehoiada. And they came before the king. 33The king also said unto them, Take with you the servants of your lord, and cause Solomon my son to ride upon mine own mule, and bring him down to Gihon:1.33 mine…: Heb. which belongeth to me 34And let Zadok the priest and Nathan the prophet anoint him there king over Israel: and blow ye with the trumpet, and say, God save king Solomon. 35Then ye shall come up after him, that he may come and sit upon my throne; for he shall be king in my stead: and I have appointed him to be ruler over Israel and over Judah. 36And Benaiah the son of Jehoiada answered the king, and said, Amen: the LORD God of my lord the king say so too. 37As the LORD hath been with my lord the king, even so be he with Solomon, and make his throne greater than the throne of my lord king David. 38So Zadok the priest, and Nathan the prophet, and Benaiah the son of Jehoiada, and the Cherethites, and the Pelethites, went down, and caused Solomon to ride upon king David’s mule, and brought him to Gihon. 39And Zadok the priest took an horn of oil out of the tabernacle, and anointed Solomon. And they blew the trumpet; and all the people said, God save king Solomon. 40And all the people came up after him, and the people piped with pipes, and rejoiced with great joy, so that the earth rent with the sound of them.1.40 pipes: or, flutes
41¶ And Adonijah and all the guests that were with him heard it as they had made an end of eating. And when Joab heard the sound of the trumpet, he said, Wherefore is this noise of the city being in an uproar? 42And while he yet spake, behold, Jonathan the son of Abiathar the priest came: and Adonijah said unto him, Come in; for thou art a valiant man, and bringest good tidings. 43And Jonathan answered and said to Adonijah, Verily our lord king David hath made Solomon king. 44And the king hath sent with him Zadok the priest, and Nathan the prophet, and Benaiah the son of Jehoiada, and the Cherethites, and the Pelethites, and they have caused him to ride upon the king’s mule: 45And Zadok the priest and Nathan the prophet have anointed him king in Gihon: and they are come up from thence rejoicing, so that the city rang again. This is the noise that ye have heard. 46And also Solomon sitteth on the throne of the kingdom. 47And moreover the king’s servants came to bless our lord king David, saying, God make the name of Solomon better than thy name, and make his throne greater than thy throne. And the king bowed himself upon the bed. 48And also thus said the king, Blessed be the LORD God of Israel, which hath given one to sit on my throne this day, mine eyes even seeing it. 49And all the guests that were with Adonijah were afraid, and rose up, and went every man his way.
50¶ And Adonijah feared because of Solomon, and arose, and went, and caught hold on the horns of the altar. 51And it was told Solomon, saying, Behold, Adonijah feareth king Solomon: for, lo, he hath caught hold on the horns of the altar, saying, Let king Solomon swear unto me to day that he will not slay his servant with the sword. 52And Solomon said, If he will shew himself a worthy man, there shall not an hair of him fall to the earth: but if wickedness shall be found in him, he shall die. 53So king Solomon sent, and they brought him down from the altar. And he came and bowed himself to king Solomon: and Solomon said unto him, Go to thine house.
አዶንያስ ለመንገሥ እንደ ፈለገ
1ንጉሥ ዳዊት እየሸመገለና ዕድሜው በጣም እየገፋ ሲሄድ፣ ልብስ ቢደራርቡለትም እንኳ ሊሞቀው አልቻለም። 2ስለዚህ አገልጋዮቹ፣ “ንጉሡን የምትንከባከብና የምታገለግል ወጣት ድንግል እንፈልግ፤ እርሷም ጌታችን ንጉሡ እንዲሞቀው በጐኑ ትተኛለች” አሉት።
3ከዚያም በመላው እስራኤል ቈንጆ ልጃገረድ ፈልገው ሱነማዊቷን አቢሳን አገኙ፤ ለንጉሡም አመጡለት። 4ልጃገረዲቱ እጅግ ቈንጆ ነበረች፤ ንጉሡንም ትንከባከበውና ታገለግለው ነበር፤ ንጉሡ ግን ከእርሷ ጋር ግንኙነት አልነበረውም።
5በዚህ ጊዜ ከአጊት የተወለደው አዶንያስ፣ “እነግሣለሁ” ብሎ ተነሣ፤ ስለዚህ ሠረገሎችንና1፥5 ወይም ሠረገለኞች ተብሎ ሊተረጐም ይችላል። ፈረሶችን እንዲሁም ከፊት ከፊቱ የሚሄዱ አምሳ ሰዎችን አዘጋጀ። 6አባቱም፣ “ለምን እንዲህ ታደርጋለህ?” ብሎ ገሥጾት አያውቅም ነበር፤ አዶንያስም እጅግ መልከ መልካምና የአቤሴሎም ታናሽ ወንድም ነበር።
7አዶንያስ ከጽሩያ ልጅ ከኢዮአብና ከካህኑ ከአብያታር ጋር ተመካከረ፤ እነርሱም ድጋፋቸውን ሰጡት። 8ነገር ግን ካህኑ ሳዶቅ፣ የዮዳሄ ልጅ በናያስ፣ ነቢዩ ናታን፣ ሳሚ፣ ሬሲና1፥8 ወይም እና ጓደኞቹ ተብሎ ሊተረጐም ይችላል። የዳዊት የክብር ዘበኞች ከአዶንያስ ጋር አልተባበሩም።
9ከዚያም አዶንያስ በዓይንሮጌል አቅራቢያ ባለው የዞሔልት ድንጋይ አጠገብ በጎችን፣ በሬዎችንና የሠቡ ጥጆችን ሠዋ፤ ወንድሞቹን ሁሉ፣ የንጉሡን ልጆች እንዲሁም የቤተ መንግሥቱ ሹማምት የነበሩትን የይሁዳ ሰዎች ሁሉ ጠራ፤ 10ይሁን እንጂ ነቢዩ ናታንንም ሆነ በናያስን፣ የክብር ዘበኞቹንም ሆነ ወንድሙን ሰሎሞንን አልጠራም።
11ከዚያም ናታን የሰሎሞንን እናት ቤርሳቤህን እንዲህ አላት፤ “ጌታችን ዳዊት ሳያውቅ የአጊት ልጅ አዶንያስ መንገሡን አልሰማሽምን? 12አሁንም የራስሽንና የልጅሽን የሰሎሞንን ሕይወት እንዴት ማዳን እንደምትችዪ ልምከርሽ፤ 13ወደ ንጉሥ ዳዊት ሂጂና፣ ‘ጌታዬ ንጉሥ ሆይ፤ “ልጅሽ ሰሎሞን ከእኔ ቀጥሎ ይነግሣል፤ በዙፋኔም ይቀመጣል” ብለህ ለእኔ ለአገልጋይህ አልማልህልኝም ነበር? ታዲያ አዶንያስ የነገሠው ስለ ምንድን ነው?’ በዪው፤ 14አንቺ እዚያው ሆነሽ ይህን በምትነግሪው ጊዜ እኔ እገባና ያልሽው ትክክል መሆኑን አረጋግጣለሁ።”
15ስለዚህ ቤርሳቤህ፣ ሱነማዊቷ አቢሳ በምታገለግልበት ክፍል እርጅና የተጫጫነውን ንጉሥ ለማነጋገር ሄደች። 16ቤርሳቤህም ለጥ ብላ እጅ ከነሣች በኋላ እፊቱ በጕልበቷ ተንበረከከች።
ንጉሡም፣ “ምን ትፈልጊያለሽ?” ሲል ጠየቃት።
17እርሷም እንዲህ አለችው፣ “ጌታዬ ሆይ፤ ‘ልጅሽ ሰሎሞን ከእኔ ቀጥሎ ይነግሣል፤ በዙፋኔም ይቀመጣል’ ብለህ አንተው ራስህ ለአገልጋይህ በአምላክህ በእግዚአብሔር ምለህልኝ ነበር። 18እነሆ፤ አሁንም አዶንያስ ነግሧል፤ ንጉሥ ጌታዬ አንተ ግን ስለዚህ ነገር አታውቅም። 19እርሱ በሬዎችን፣ ኮርማዎችንና በጎችን በብዛት ሠውቷል፤ የንጉሡን ልጆች በሙሉ፣ ካህኑን አብያታርንና የሰራዊቱን አዛዥ ኢዮአብን ጠርቷል፤ አገልጋይህን ሰሎሞንን ግን አልጠራውም። 20ጌታዬ ንጉሥ ሆይ፤ ከአንተ ቀጥሎ በጌታዬ በንጉሡ ዙፋን ላይ ማን መቀመጥ እንዳለበት እንድታሳውቀው የእስራኤል ዐይን ሁሉ አንተን ይመለከታል። 21አለበለዚያ ግን ንጉሥ ጌታዬ ከአባቶቹ ጋር በሚያንቀላፋበት ጊዜ እኔና ልጄ ሰሎሞን እንደ ወንጀለኞች እንቈጠራለን።”
22እርሷ ከንጉሡ ጋር በመነጋገር ላይ ሳለች ነቢዩ ናታን ገባ። 23ለንጉሡም፣ “ነቢዩ ናታን መጥቷል” ብለው ነገሩት፤ እርሱም ንጉሡ ፊት ቀርቦ ለጥ ብሎ እጅ ነሣ።
24ናታንም እንዲህ አለው፤ “ጌታዬ ንጉሥ ሆይ፤ ለመሆኑ አዶንያስ ከአንተ ቀጥሎ እንደሚነግሥ፣ በዙፋንህም እንደሚቀመጥ አስታውቀሃልን? 25በዛሬው ቀን ታች ወርዶ ብዙ በሬዎች፣ ኮርማዎችና በጎች ሠውቷል፤ የንጉሡን ልጆች በሙሉ፣ የሰራዊቱን አዛዦችና ካህኑን አብያታርንም ጠርቷል። እነሆ፤ አሁን፣ ‘አዶንያስ ለዘላለም ይኑር’ እያሉ ከእርሱ ጋር በመብላትና በመጠጣት ላይ ናቸው። 26ነገር ግን እኔን አገልጋይህን፣ ካህኑን ሳዶቅን፣ የዮዳሄን ልጅ በናያስንና አገልጋይህን ሰሎሞንን አልጠራም፤ 27ታዲያ ከእርሱ ቀጥሎ በንጉሥ ጌታዬ ዙፋን ላይ የሚቀመጠውን አገልጋዮቹን ሳያሳውቅ ይህ እንዲሆን ንጉሡ ፈቅዷልን?”
ዳዊት ሰሎሞን እንዲነግሥ አደረገ
1፥28-53 ተጓ ምብ – 1ዜና 29፥21-25
28ከዚያም ንጉሥ ዳዊት፣ “ቤርሳቤህን ጥሩልኝ” አለ፤ እርሷም ንጉሡ ወዳለበት ገብታ በፊቱ ቆመች።
29ከዚያም ንጉሡ እንዲህ ሲል ማለ፤ “ነፍሴን ከመከራ ሁሉ ያዳናት ሕያው እግዚአብሔርን! 30‘ልጅሽ ሰሎሞን ከእኔ ቀጥሎ ይነግሣል፤ በእኔም ምትክ በዙፋኔ ይቀመጣል’ ብዬ በእስራኤል አምላክ በእግዚአብሔር የማልሁልሽን ዛሬ በእውነት እፈጽማለሁ።”
31ቤርሳቤህም ለጥ ብላ እጅ ከነሣች በኋላ፣ በንጉሡ ፊት ተንበርክካ፣ “ጌታዬ ንጉሥ ዳዊት ለዘላለም ይኑር!” አለች።
32ንጉሥ ዳዊትም፣ “ካህኑን ሳዶቅን፣ ነቢዩን ናታንንና የዮዳሄን ልጅ በናያስን ጥሩልኝ” አለ። እነርሱም ንጉሡ ፊት በቀረቡ ጊዜ፣ 33እንዲህ አላቸው፤ “የጌታችሁን አገልጋዮች ይዛችሁ በመሄድ ልጄን ሰሎሞንን በራሴ በቅሎ ላይ አስቀምጡት፤ ወደ ግዮንም ይዛችሁት ውረዱ። 34በዚያም ካህኑ ሳዶቅና ነቢዩ ናታን ቀብተው በእስራኤል ላይ ያንግሡት፤ ቀንደ መለከት ነፍታችሁም፣ ‘ንጉሥ ሰሎሞን ለዘላለም ይኑር!’ ብላችሁ ጩኹ። 35አጅባችሁት ወደ ላይ ውጡ፤ ከዚያም መጥቶ በዙፋኔ ላይ ይቀመጥ፤ በእኔም ምትክ ይግዛ፤ በእስራኤልና በይሁዳ ላይ ሾሜዋለሁ።”
36የዮዳሄ ልጅ በናያስም ለንጉሡ እንዲህ ሲል መለሰ፤ “አሜን! የጌታዬ የንጉሡ አምላክ እግዚአብሔር ይህንኑ ያጽናው። 37እግዚአብሔር ከጌታዬ ከንጉሡ ጋር እንደ ነበረ ሁሉ፣ ከሰሎሞንም ጋር ይሁን፤ ዙፋኑንም ከጌታዬ ከንጉሥ ዳዊት ዙፋን የበለጠ ያድርገው።”
38ስለዚህ ካህኑ ሳዶቅ፣ ነቢዩ ናታን፣ የዮዳሄ ልጅ በናያስ፣ ከሊታውያንና ፈሊታውያን ወርደው ሰሎሞንን በንጉሥ ዳዊት በቅሎ አስቀምጠው በማጀብ ወደ ግዮን አመጡት። 39ካህኑ ሳዶቅም የዘይቱን ቀንድ ከመገናኛው ድንኳን ወስዶ ሰሎሞንን ቀባው፤ ከዚያም ቀንደ መለከቱን ነፋ፤ ሕዝቡም በሙሉ፣ “ንጉሥ ሰሎሞን ለዘላለም ይኑር!” በማለት ዳር እስከ ዳር አስተጋቡ። 40ሕዝቡ ሁሉ እንቢልታ እየነፋና እጅግ እየተደሰተ አጀበው፤ ከድምፁ የተነሣም ምድሪቱ ተናወጠች።
41አዶንያስና የተጠሩት እንግዶች ሁሉ ግብዣውን በማገባደድ ላይ ሳሉ፣ ይህንኑ ሰሙ፤ ኢዮአብም የመለከቱን ድምፅ ሲሰማ፣ “ይህ በከተማዪቱ ውስጥ የሚሰማው ድምፅ ምንድን ነው?” ሲል ጠየቀ።
42ኢዮአብ ገና ተናግሮ ሳይጨርስ፣ የካህኑ የአብያታር ልጅ ዮናታን ደረሰ፤ አዶንያስም፣ “እንደ አንተ ያለ ታማኝ ሰው መልካም ዜና ሳይይዝ አይመጣምና ግባ” አለው።
43ዮናታንም እንዲህ ሲል መለሰ፣ “ነገሩ ከቶ እንዲህ አይደለም! ጌታችን ንጉሥ ዳዊት ሰሎሞንን አንግሦታል። 44ንጉሡ ካህኑ ሳዶቅ፣ ነቢዩ ናታን፣ የዮዳሄ ልጅ በናያስ፣ ከሊታውያንና ፈሊታውያን አብረውት እንዲሄዱ አድርጓል፤ እነርሱም በንጉሡ በቅሎ አስቀመጡት። 45ካህኑ ሳዶቅና ነቢዩ ናታን በግዮን ቀብተው አንግሠውታል። ከዚያም ደስ ብሏቸው ወጥተዋል፤ ከተማዪቱም ይህንኑ አስተጋብታለች፤ እንግዲህ የሰማችሁት ድምፅ ይኸው ነው። 46ከዚህም ሌላ ሰሎሞን በመንግሥቱ ዙፋን ላይ ተቀምጧል። 47የመንግሥቱ ሹማምትም ወደ ጌታችን ወደ ንጉሥ ዳዊት መጥተው፣ ‘አምላክህ የሰሎሞንን ስም ከአንተ ስም የላቀ፣ ዙፋኑንም ከአንተ ዙፋን የበለጠ ያድርገው’ በማለት መልካም ምኞታቸውን ገልጸውለታል። ንጉሡም ዐልጋው ላይ ሆኖ በመስገድ፣ 48‘ዛሬ በዙፋኔ ላይ የሚቀመጠውን ወራሽ ዐይኔ እንዲያይ የፈቀደ፣ የእስራኤል አምላክ እግዚአብሔር፣ ምስጋና ይድረሰው’ አለ።”
49በዚህም አዶንያስና የጠራቸው እንግዶች በሙሉ ደንግጠው ተነሡ፤ በየአቅጣጫውም ተበታተኑ። 50አዶንያስ ግን ሰሎሞንን በመፍራት ሄዶ፣ የመሠዊያውን ቀንድ ያዘ። 51ከዚያም፣ ለሰሎሞን፣ “አዶንያስ እነሆ፣ ንጉሥ ሰሎሞንን በመፍራት የመሠዊያውን ቀንድ ይዞ ተማጥኗል፤ እርሱም፣ ‘ባሪያውን በሰይፍ እንዳይገድለው ንጉሡ ሰሎሞን ዛሬውኑ ይማልልኝ’ ብሏል” ብለው ነገሩት።
52ሰሎሞንም፣ “አካሄዱን ካሳመረ ከራስ ጠጕሩ አንዲቱ እንኳ መሬት ላይ አትወድቅም፤ ጥፋት ከተገኘበት ግን ይሞታል” ሲል መለሰ። 53ከዚያም ንጉሥ ሰሎሞን ሰዎች ልኮ ከመሠዊያው ላይ አወረዱት። አዶንያስም መጥቶ ለንጉሥ ሰሎሞን አጐንብሶ እጅ ነሣ፤ ሰሎሞንም፣ “በል ወደ ቤትህ ሂድ” አለው።
