1Saul reigned one year; and when he had reigned two years over Israel,13.1 reigned one…: Heb. the son of one year in his reigning 2Saul chose him three thousand men of Israel; whereof two thousand were with Saul in Michmash and in mount Beth-el, and a thousand were with Jonathan in Gibeah of Benjamin: and the rest of the people he sent every man to his tent. 3And Jonathan smote the garrison of the Philistines that was in Geba, and the Philistines heard of it. And Saul blew the trumpet throughout all the land, saying, Let the Hebrews hear.13.3 Geba: or, the hill 4And all Israel heard say that Saul had smitten a garrison of the Philistines, and that Israel also was had in abomination with the Philistines. And the people were called together after Saul to Gilgal.13.4 was…: Heb. did stink
5¶ And the Philistines gathered themselves together to fight with Israel, thirty thousand chariots, and six thousand horsemen, and people as the sand which is on the sea shore in multitude: and they came up, and pitched in Michmash, eastward from Beth-aven. 6When the men of Israel saw that they were in a strait, (for the people were distressed,) then the people did hide themselves in caves, and in thickets, and in rocks, and in high places, and in pits. 7And some of the Hebrews went over Jordan to the land of Gad and Gilead. As for Saul, he was yet in Gilgal, and all the people followed him trembling.13.7 followed…: Heb. trembled after him
8¶ And he tarried seven days, according to the set time that Samuel had appointed: but Samuel came not to Gilgal; and the people were scattered from him. 9And Saul said, Bring hither a burnt offering to me, and peace offerings. And he offered the burnt offering. 10And it came to pass, that as soon as he had made an end of offering the burnt offering, behold, Samuel came; and Saul went out to meet him, that he might salute him.13.10 salute: Heb. bless
11¶ And Samuel said, What hast thou done? And Saul said, Because I saw that the people were scattered from me, and that thou camest not within the days appointed, and that the Philistines gathered themselves together at Michmash; 12Therefore said I, The Philistines will come down now upon me to Gilgal, and I have not made supplication unto the LORD: I forced myself therefore, and offered a burnt offering.13.12 made…: Heb. intreated the face 13And Samuel said to Saul, Thou hast done foolishly: thou hast not kept the commandment of the LORD thy God, which he commanded thee: for now would the LORD have established thy kingdom upon Israel for ever. 14But now thy kingdom shall not continue: the LORD hath sought him a man after his own heart, and the LORD hath commanded him to be captain over his people, because thou hast not kept that which the LORD commanded thee.
15And Samuel arose, and gat him up from Gilgal unto Gibeah of Benjamin. And Saul numbered the people that were present with him, about six hundred men.13.15 present: Heb. found 16And Saul, and Jonathan his son, and the people that were present with them, abode in Gibeah of Benjamin: but the Philistines encamped in Michmash.13.16 present: Heb. found13.16 Gibeah: Heb. Geba
17¶ And the spoilers came out of the camp of the Philistines in three companies: one company turned unto the way that leadeth to Ophrah, unto the land of Shual: 18And another company turned the way to Beth-horon: and another company turned to the way of the border that looketh to the valley of Zeboim toward the wilderness.
19¶ Now there was no smith found throughout all the land of Israel: for the Philistines said, Lest the Hebrews make them swords or spears: 20But all the Israelites went down to the Philistines, to sharpen every man his share, and his coulter, and his axe, and his mattock. 21Yet they had a file for the mattocks, and for the coulters, and for the forks, and for the axes, and to sharpen the goads.13.21 a file: Heb. a file with mouths, or Heb. a pim, a third of a shekel13.21 sharpen: Heb. set 22So it came to pass in the day of battle, that there was neither sword nor spear found in the hand of any of the people that were with Saul and Jonathan: but with Saul and with Jonathan his son was there found. 23And the garrison of the Philistines went out to the passage of Michmash.13.23 garrison: or, standing camp
ሳሙኤል ሳኦልን መገሠጹ
1ሳኦል በነገሠ ጊዜ ዕድሜው ሠላሳ13፥1 ጥንታዊ ያልሆኑ ጥቂት የሰብዓ ሊቃናት ቅጆች ከዚህ ጋር ይስማማሉ፤ ዕብራይስጡ ግን ሠላሳ የሚለውን አይጨምርም ዓመት ነበረ፤ እስራኤልንም አርባ13፥1 የዐሥር ብዜት የሆኑት ቍጥሮች በተመለከተ በሐሥ 13፥21 ይመ፤ ዕብራይስጡ ግን አርባ የሚለውን አይጨምርም። ሁለት ዓመት ገዛ።
2ሳኦል13፥2 ወይም እርሱ በእስራኤል ላይ ለሁለት ዓመት ከነገሠ በኋላ ከእስራኤል ሦስት ሺሕ ሰዎች መረጠ። ሁለቱ ሺሕ በማክማስና በኰረብታማው አገር በቤቴል ከሳኦል ጋር፣ አንዱ ሺሕ ደግሞ በብንያም ግዛት በጊብዓ ከዮናታን ጋር ነበሩ። የቀሩትን ሰዎች ግን ወደየቤታቸው እንዲሄዱ አሰናበተ።
3ዮናታን ጊብዓ የነበረውን የፍልስጥኤማውያን ጦር ሰፈር መታ፤ ፍልስጥኤማውያንም ይህን ሰሙ። ሳኦልም፣ “ዕብራውያን ይስሙ!” በማለት በምድሪቱ ሁሉ መለከት አስነፋ። 4ስለዚህ እስራኤላውያን ሁሉ፣ “ሳኦል የፍልስጥኤማውያንን ጦር ሰፈር መታ፤ እስራኤልም በፍልስጥኤማውያን ዘንድ እንደ ርኩስ ተቈጥራ ተጠላች” የሚለውን ወሬ ሰሙ፤ ሕዝቡም ሳኦልን ለመከተል ወደ ጌልገላ ተሰበሰቡ።
5ፍልስጥኤማውያን ሦስት13፥5 አንዳንድ የሰብዓ ሊቃናት ትርጕሞችና የሱርስቱ ቅጅ ከዚህ ይስማማሉ፤ ዕብራይስጡ ግን ሠላሳ ሺሕ ይላል። ሺሕ ሠረገሎች፣ ስድስት ሺሕ ፈረሰኞች ቍጥሩ እንደ ባሕር አሸዋ የበዛ ሰራዊት ይዘው እስራኤልን ለመውጋት ተሰበሰቡ፤ ወጥተውም ከቤት አዌን በስተ ምሥራቅ ባለችው በማክማስ ሰፈሩ። 6እስራኤላውያን፣ ያሉበት ሁኔታ እጅግ የሚያሠጋ መሆኑንና ሰራዊታቸውም በከባድ ጭንቀት ውስጥ መግባቱን ባዩ ጊዜ፣ በየዋሻውና በየቍጥቋጦው፣ በየዐለቱ መካከልና በየገደሉ እንዲሁም በየጕድጓዱ ሁሉ ተደበቁ። 7ከዕብራውያንም አንዳንዶቹ ዮርዳኖስን ተሻግረው ወደ ጋድና ወደ ገለዓድ ምድር ሄዱ።
ሳኦል ግን በጌልገላ ቈየ፣ አብሮት የነበረውም ሰራዊት ሁሉ በፍርሀት ይንቀጠቀጥ ነበር። 8እርሱም ሳሙኤል በሰጠው ቀጠሮ መሠረት ሰባት ቀን ጠበቀው። ነገር ግን ሳሙኤል ወደ ጌልገላ አልመጣም፤ የሳኦልም ሰራዊት መበታተን ጀመረ። 9በዚህ ጊዜ ሳኦል፣ “የሚቃጠለውን መሥዋዕትና የኅብረት መሥዋዕቱን13፥9 በትውፊት የሰላም መሥዋዕት ይባላል። አምጡልኝ” አለ። ከዚያም የሚቃጠለውን መሥዋዕት አቀረበ። 10ልክ መሥዋዕቱን አቅርቦ እንዳበቃ፣ ወዲያውኑ ሳሙኤል መጣ፤ ሳኦልም ሊቀበለው ወጣ።
11ሳሙኤልም፣ “ያደረግኸው ምንድን ነው?” ሲል ጠየቀው።
ሳኦልም እንዲህ ሲል መለሰ፤ “ሰራዊቱ መበታተኑን፣ አንተም በቀጠርኸው ጊዜ አለመምጣትህን፣ ፍልስጥኤማውያንም በማክማስ መሰብሰባቸውን አየሁ፤ 12‘ስለዚህ ፍልስጥኤማውያን ወርደው ወደ ጌልገላ ይመጡብኛል፤ እኔም የእግዚአብሔርን ሞገስ አልለመንሁም’ ብዬ አሰብሁ። ስለዚህ የሚቃጠል መሥዋዕት ማቅረብ ግድ ሆነብኝ።”
13ሳሙኤልም እንዲህ አለ፤ “የማይገባህን አደረግህ፤ አምላክህ እግዚአብሔር የሰጠህን ትእዛዝ አልጠበቅህም፤ ጠብቀኸው ቢሆን ኖሮ፣ መንግሥትህን በእስራኤል ላይ ለዘላለም ባጸናልህ ነበር፤ 14አሁን ግን መንግሥትህ አይጸናም፤ እነሆ፣ እግዚአብሔር እንደ ልቡ የሚሆንለትን ሰው አግኝቷል፤ አንተ የእግዚአብሔርን ትእዛዝ ባለመጠበቅህም፣ እርሱን የሕዝቡ መሪ አድርጎ መርጦታል።”
15ከዚያ በኋላ ሳሙኤል ከጌልገላ ተነሥቶ13፥15 ዕብራይስጡ ከዚህ ጋር ይስማማል፤ የሰብዓ ሊቃናት ትርጕም ግን፣ ከጌልገላ ተነሥተው ወደ መንገድ ሄዱ፤ ከጦሩ ጋር ለመገናኘት የተቀረው ሕዝብ ሳኦልን ተከተለ፤ ከጌልገላም ወጥቶ ሄደ ይላል። በብንያም ግዛት ወዳለው ወደ ጊብዓ ወጣ። ሳኦልም አብረውት የነበሩትን ሰዎች ቈጠራቸው፤ ብዛታቸውም ስድስት መቶ ያህል ነበረ።
እስራኤል ያለ ጦር መሣሪያ
16ፍልስጥኤማውያን በማክማስ ሰፍረው በነበረበት ጊዜ ሳኦል፣ ልጁ ዮናታንና አብረዋቸው የነበሩት ሰዎች በብንያም ግዛት በምትገኘው በጊብዓ ነበሩ። 17በሦስት ምድብ የተከፈሉ ወራሪዎች ከፍልስጥኤማውያን ሰፈር ወጡ፤ አንዱ ምድብ በሦጋል ግዛት ወደሚገኘው ወደ ዖፍራ አቀና፤ 18ሌላው ወደ ቤትሖሮን፣ ሦስተኛው ደግሞ በምድረ በዳው ትይዩ ካለው ከስቦይም ሸለቆ ቍልቍል ወደሚያሳየው ድንበር ዞረ።
19ፍልስጥኤማውያን፣ “ዕብራውያን ሰይፍ ወይም ጦር ለራሳቸው አይሥሩ” ብለው ስለ ነበር፣ በመላው የእስራኤል ምድር ብረት ቀጥቃጭ አልተገኘም። 20ስለዚህ እስራኤላውያን ሁሉ፣ ማረሻቸውንና ዶማቸውን ለማሾል፣ ጠገራቸውንና ማጭዳቸውን ለማሳል ወደ ፍልስጥኤማውያን ይወርዱ ነበር። 21ማረሻና ዶማ ለማሾል የሚከፈለው ዋጋ ሁለት ሦስተኛ ሰቅል13፥21 በዕብራይስጡ፣ ፒም ይባላል፤ 8 ግራም ያህል ነው ሲሆን፣ መንሽና ጠገራ እንዲሁም የበሬ መንጃ ለማሾል ደግሞ አንድ ሦስተኛ ሰቅል13፥21 4 ግራም ያህል ነው። ነበር።
22ስለዚህ ጦርነቱ በተደረገበት ዕለት ከሳኦልና ከልጁ ከዮናታን በስተቀር፣ አብረዋቸው ከነበሩት ወታደሮች መካከል ሰይፍ ወይም ጦር የያዘ አንድም ሰው አልነበረም።
ዮናታን በፍልስጥኤማውያን ላይ አደጋ መጣሉ
23በዚያ ጊዜ አንድ የፍልስጥኤማውያን ጭፍራ ወደ ማክማስ መተላለፊያ ወጥቶ ነበር።
