1And it came to pass, when Saul was returned from following the Philistines, that it was told him, saying, Behold, David is in the wilderness of En-gedi.24.1 following: Heb. after 2Then Saul took three thousand chosen men out of all Israel, and went to seek David and his men upon the rocks of the wild goats. 3And he came to the sheepcotes by the way, where was a cave; and Saul went in to cover his feet: and David and his men remained in the sides of the cave. 4And the men of David said unto him, Behold the day of which the LORD said unto thee, Behold, I will deliver thine enemy into thine hand, that thou mayest do to him as it shall seem good unto thee. Then David arose, and cut off the skirt of Saul’s robe privily.24.4 Saul’s…: Heb. the robe which was Saul’s 5And it came to pass afterward, that David’s heart smote him, because he had cut off Saul’s skirt. 6And he said unto his men, The LORD forbid that I should do this thing unto my master, the LORD’s anointed, to stretch forth mine hand against him, seeing he is the anointed of the LORD. 7So David stayed his servants with these words, and suffered them not to rise against Saul. But Saul rose up out of the cave, and went on his way.24.7 stayed: Heb. cut off 8David also arose afterward, and went out of the cave, and cried after Saul, saying, My lord the king. And when Saul looked behind him, David stooped with his face to the earth, and bowed himself.
9¶ And David said to Saul, Wherefore hearest thou men’s words, saying, Behold, David seeketh thy hurt? 10Behold, this day thine eyes have seen how that the LORD had delivered thee to day into mine hand in the cave: and some bade me kill thee: but mine eye spared thee; and I said, I will not put forth mine hand against my lord; for he is the LORD’s anointed. 11Moreover, my father, see, yea, see the skirt of thy robe in my hand: for in that I cut off the skirt of thy robe, and killed thee not, know thou and see that there is neither evil nor transgression in mine hand, and I have not sinned against thee; yet thou huntest my soul to take it. 12The LORD judge between me and thee, and the LORD avenge me of thee: but mine hand shall not be upon thee. 13As saith the proverb of the ancients, Wickedness proceedeth from the wicked: but mine hand shall not be upon thee. 14After whom is the king of Israel come out? after whom dost thou pursue? after a dead dog, after a flea. 15The LORD therefore be judge, and judge between me and thee, and see, and plead my cause, and deliver me out of thine hand.24.15 deliver: Heb. judge
16¶ And it came to pass, when David had made an end of speaking these words unto Saul, that Saul said, Is this thy voice, my son David? And Saul lifted up his voice, and wept. 17And he said to David, Thou art more righteous than I: for thou hast rewarded me good, whereas I have rewarded thee evil. 18And thou hast shewed this day how that thou hast dealt well with me: forasmuch as when the LORD had delivered me into thine hand, thou killedst me not.24.18 delivered: Heb. shut up 19For if a man find his enemy, will he let him go well away? wherefore the LORD reward thee good for that thou hast done unto me this day. 20And now, behold, I know well that thou shalt surely be king, and that the kingdom of Israel shall be established in thine hand. 21Swear now therefore unto me by the LORD, that thou wilt not cut off my seed after me, and that thou wilt not destroy my name out of my father’s house. 22And David sware unto Saul. And Saul went home; but David and his men gat them up unto the hold.
ዳዊት ሳኦልን ከመግደል ታቀበ
1ሳኦል ፍልስጥኤማውያንን ከማሳደድ ከተመለሰ በኋላ፣ “እነሆ፤ ዳዊት በዓይንጋዲ ምድረ በዳ አለ” ብለው ነገሩት። 2ስለዚህ ሳኦል ከመላው እስራኤል የተመረጡ ሦስት ሺሕ ሰዎችን ይዞ ዳዊትንና ሰዎቹን ለመፈለግ “የሜዳ ፍየሎች ዐለት” ወደ ተባለው ቦታ አቅራቢያ ሄደ።
3ሳኦልም በመንገድ ዳር ወዳለው ወደ አንድ የበጎች ማደሪያ በደረሰ ጊዜ፣ ዋሻ አግኝቶ ወገቡን ሊሞክር ወደዚያ ገባ። ዳዊትና ሰዎቹም ከዋሻው በውስጠኛው ቦታ ተቀምጠው ነበር። 4የዳዊት ሰዎችም ዳዊትን፣ “እግዚአብሔር፣ ‘የወደድኸውን ታደርግበት ዘንድ ጠላትህን በእጅህ አሳልፌ እሰጥሃለሁ’ ብሎ ለአንተ የተናገረው ቀን ዛሬ ነው” አሉት። ዳዊትም በልቡ እየተሳበ ሄዶ የሳኦልን ልብስ ጫፍ ማንም ሳያውቅ ቈርጦ ወሰደ።
5ዳዊት የሳኦልን ልብስ ጫፍ በመቍረጡ ልቡ በሐዘን ተመታ። 6ለሰዎቹም፣ “እግዚአብሔር በቀባው በጌታዬ ላይ እንዲህ ያለውን ነገር ከማድረግና እግዚአብሔር የቀባው ስለ ሆነም እጄን በእርሱ ላይ ከማንሣት እግዚአብሔር ይጠብቀኝ” አላቸው። 7ዳዊት ሰዎቹን በዚህ ቃል ገሠጻቸው፤ በሳኦል ላይ አደጋ እንዲያደርሱበትም አልፈቀደላቸውም። ሳኦልም ከዋሻው ወጥቶ ሄደ።
8ከዚያም ዳዊት ከዋሻው ወጥቶ ሳኦልን፣ “ጌታዬ ንጉሥ ሆይ!” ብሎ ጠራው። ሳኦልም ወደ ኋላው ዞር ባለ ጊዜ፣ ዳዊት ወደ መሬት ጐንበስ ብሎ እጅ ሲነሣው ተመለከተ፤ 9ዳዊትም ሳኦልን እንዲህ አለው፤ “ሰዎች፣ ‘እነሆ፤ ዳዊት ክፉ ነገር ሊያደርግብህ ይፈልጋል’ ሲሉ ለምን ትቀበላቸዋለህ? 10በዛሬው ዕለት በዋሻው ውስጥ እግዚአብሔር አንተን እንዴት አድርጎ በእጄ ላይ እንደ ጣለህ እነሆ፤ በገዛ ዐይንህ አይተሃል፤ አንዳንዶች እንድገድልህ ገፋፍተውኝ ነበር፤ እኔ ግን፣ ‘እግዚአብሔር በቀባው በጌታዬ ላይ እጄን አላነሣም’ በማለት ራራሁልህ። 11አባቴ ሆይ፤ የልብስህ ቍራጭ ይኸው በእጄ ላይ ተመልከት! የልብስህን ጫፍ ቈረጥሁ እንጂ አንተን አልገደልሁህም። አሁንም ክፋት ወይም ዐመፅ አለመፈጸሜን ዕወቅልኝ፤ ተረዳልኝም፤ እኔ ክፉ አልሠራሁብህም፤ አንተ ግን ሕይወቴን ለማጥፋት እያሳደድኸኝ ነው። 12እግዚአብሔር በአንተና በእኔ መካከል ይፍረድ። ክፉ ስላደረግህብኝ እግዚአብሔር ይበቀልህ እንጂ፣ እጄስ በአንተ ላይ አትሆንም፤ 13በጥንት አባባል፣ ‘ከክፉ አድራጊዎች ክፉ ድርጊት ይወጣል’ እንደ ተባለ፤ አሁንም እጄ በአንተ ላይ አትሆንም።
14“የእስራኤል ንጉሥ የወጣው በማን ላይ ነው? አንተስ የምታሳድደው ማንን ነው? የሞተ ውሻን? ወይስ ቍንጫ? 15አሁንም እግዚአብሔር ዳኛ ሆኖ በመካከላችን ይፍረድ፤ ጕዳዬን ተመልክቶ እርሱው ይሟገትልኝ፤ እኔንም ከእጅህ ነጻ በማውጣት እውነተኛ መሆኔን ይግለጠው።”
16ዳዊት ይህን ተናግሮ ሲያበቃ ሳኦል፣ “ልጄ ዳዊት ሆይ፤ ይህ የአንተ ድምፅ ነውን?” ሲል ጠየቀው፤ ጮኾም አለቀሰ። 17እንዲህም አለ፤ “ክፉ ሳደርግብህ፣ በጎ መልሰህልኛልና፣ አንተ ከእኔ ይልቅ ጻድቅ ነህ። 18ያደረግህልኝን በጎ ነገር ይኸው ነግረኸኛል፤ እግዚአብሔር እኔን በእጅህ ጥሎኝ ነበር፤ አንተ ግን አልገደልኸኝም። 19ለመሆኑ ጠላቱን አግኝቶ ጕዳት ሳያደርስበት የሚለቀው ማን ነው? ዛሬ ስላደረግህልኝ ቸርነት እግዚአብሔር ይመልስልህ። 20እነሆ፤ አንተ በርግጥ እንደምትነግሥና የእስራኤል መንግሥት በእጅህ እንደምትጸና ዐውቃለሁ። 21ዘሮቼን እንዳታጠፋ ስሜንም ከአባቴ ቤት እንዳት ደመስስ አሁን በእግዚአብሔር ማልልኝ።”
22ዳዊትም ለሳኦል ማለለት፤ ከዚያም ሳኦል ወደ ቤቱ ተመለሰ። ዳዊትና ሰዎቹ ግን ወደ ዐምባው ወጡ።
