1It came to pass after this also, that the children of Moab, and the children of Ammon, and with them other beside the Ammonites, came against Jehoshaphat to battle. 2Then there came some that told Jehoshaphat, saying, There cometh a great multitude against thee from beyond the sea on this side Syria; and, behold, they be in Hazazon-tamar, which is En-gedi. 3And Jehoshaphat feared, and set himself to seek the LORD, and proclaimed a fast throughout all Judah.20.3 himself: Heb. his face 4And Judah gathered themselves together, to ask help of the LORD: even out of all the cities of Judah they came to seek the LORD.
5¶ And Jehoshaphat stood in the congregation of Judah and Jerusalem, in the house of the LORD, before the new court, 6And said, O LORD God of our fathers, art not thou God in heaven? and rulest not thou over all the kingdoms of the heathen? and in thine hand is there not power and might, so that none is able to withstand thee? 7Art not thou our God, who didst drive out the inhabitants of this land before thy people Israel, and gavest it to the seed of Abraham thy friend for ever?20.7 who: Heb. thou 8And they dwelt therein, and have built thee a sanctuary therein for thy name, saying, 9If, when evil cometh upon us, as the sword, judgment, or pestilence, or famine, we stand before this house, and in thy presence, (for thy name is in this house,) and cry unto thee in our affliction, then thou wilt hear and help. 10And now, behold, the children of Ammon and Moab and mount Seir, whom thou wouldest not let Israel invade, when they came out of the land of Egypt, but they turned from them, and destroyed them not; 11Behold, I say, how they reward us, to come to cast us out of thy possession, which thou hast given us to inherit. 12O our God, wilt thou not judge them? for we have no might against this great company that cometh against us; neither know we what to do: but our eyes are upon thee. 13And all Judah stood before the LORD, with their little ones, their wives, and their children.
14¶ Then upon Jahaziel the son of Zechariah, the son of Benaiah, the son of Jeiel, the son of Mattaniah, a Levite of the sons of Asaph, came the Spirit of the LORD in the midst of the congregation; 15And he said, Hearken ye, all Judah, and ye inhabitants of Jerusalem, and thou king Jehoshaphat, Thus saith the LORD unto you, Be not afraid nor dismayed by reason of this great multitude; for the battle is not yours, but God’s. 16To morrow go ye down against them: behold, they come up by the cliff of Ziz; and ye shall find them at the end of the brook, before the wilderness of Jeruel.20.16 cliff: Heb. ascent20.16 brook: or, valley 17Ye shall not need to fight in this battle: set yourselves, stand ye still, and see the salvation of the LORD with you, O Judah and Jerusalem: fear not, nor be dismayed; to morrow go out against them: for the LORD will be with you. 18And Jehoshaphat bowed his head with his face to the ground: and all Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem fell before the LORD, worshipping the LORD. 19And the Levites, of the children of the Kohathites, and of the children of the Korhites, stood up to praise the LORD God of Israel with a loud voice on high.
20¶ And they rose early in the morning, and went forth into the wilderness of Tekoa: and as they went forth, Jehoshaphat stood and said, Hear me, O Judah, and ye inhabitants of Jerusalem; Believe in the LORD your God, so shall ye be established; believe his prophets, so shall ye prosper. 21And when he had consulted with the people, he appointed singers unto the LORD, and that should praise the beauty of holiness, as they went out before the army, and to say, Praise the LORD; for his mercy endureth for ever.20.21 that…: Heb. praisers
22¶ And when they began to sing and to praise, the LORD set ambushments against the children of Ammon, Moab, and mount Seir, which were come against Judah; and they were smitten.20.22 And when…: Heb. And in the time that they, etc20.22 to sing…: Heb. in singing and praise20.22 they were…: or, they smote one another 23For the children of Ammon and Moab stood up against the inhabitants of mount Seir, utterly to slay and destroy them: and when they had made an end of the inhabitants of Seir, every one helped to destroy another.20.23 to destroy: Heb. for the destruction 24And when Judah came toward the watch tower in the wilderness, they looked unto the multitude, and, behold, they were dead bodies fallen to the earth, and none escaped.20.24 none…: Heb. there was not an escaping 25And when Jehoshaphat and his people came to take away the spoil of them, they found among them in abundance both riches with the dead bodies, and precious jewels, which they stripped off for themselves, more than they could carry away: and they were three days in gathering of the spoil, it was so much.
26¶ And on the fourth day they assembled themselves in the valley of Berachah; for there they blessed the LORD: therefore the name of the same place was called, The valley of Berachah, unto this day.20.26 Berachah: that is, blessing 27Then they returned, every man of Judah and Jerusalem, and Jehoshaphat in the forefront of them, to go again to Jerusalem with joy; for the LORD had made them to rejoice over their enemies.20.27 forefront: Heb. head 28And they came to Jerusalem with psalteries and harps and trumpets unto the house of the LORD. 29And the fear of God was on all the kingdoms of those countries, when they had heard that the LORD fought against the enemies of Israel. 30So the realm of Jehoshaphat was quiet: for his God gave him rest round about.
31¶ And Jehoshaphat reigned over Judah: he was thirty and five years old when he began to reign, and he reigned twenty and five years in Jerusalem. And his mother’s name was Azubah the daughter of Shilhi. 32And he walked in the way of Asa his father, and departed not from it, doing that which was right in the sight of the LORD. 33Howbeit the high places were not taken away: for as yet the people had not prepared their hearts unto the God of their fathers. 34Now the rest of the acts of Jehoshaphat, first and last, behold, they are written in the book of Jehu the son of Hanani, who is mentioned in the book of the kings of Israel.20.34 book of Jehu: Heb. words, etc20.34 is mentioned: Heb. was made to ascend
35¶ And after this did Jehoshaphat king of Judah join himself with Ahaziah king of Israel, who did very wickedly: 36And he joined himself with him to make ships to go to Tarshish: and they made the ships in Ezion-geber. 37Then Eliezer the son of Dodavah of Mareshah prophesied against Jehoshaphat, saying, Because thou hast joined thyself with Ahaziah, the LORD hath broken thy works. And the ships were broken, that they were not able to go to Tarshish.
ኢዮሣፍጥ ሞዓብንና አሞንን ድል ማድረጉ
1ከዚህ በኋላ ሞዓባውያንና አሞናውያን ከጥቂት ምዑናውያን20፥1 አንዳንድ የሰብዓ ሊቃናት ትርጕሞች ከዚህ ጋር ይስማማሉ፤ ነገር ግን ዕብራይስጡ ምድያማውያን ይላል። ጋር ሆነው ኢዮሣፍጥን ለመውጋት መጡ።
2ሰዎችም መጥተው ኢዮሣፍጥን፣ “ግዙፍ ሰራዊት ሊወጋህ ከሙት20፥2 አንድ የዕብራይስጥ ቅጅ ከዚህ ጋር ይስማማል፤ ዕብራይስጡ ግን አራም ይላል። ባሕር ወዲያ ካለው ከኤዶም20፥2 ምንም እንኳ የሙት ባሕር መሆኑን ግልጽ ቢሆንም አንዳንድ ቅጆች ሙት የሚለውን ቃል አይጨምሩም። መጥቶብሃል፤ እነሆም፣ ሐሴሶን ታማር በተባለው በዓይንጋዲ ናቸው” አሉት። 3ኢዮሣፍጥም እጅግ ስለ ፈራ እግዚአብሔርን ለመፈለግ ፊቱን አቀና፤ በይሁዳም ሁሉ ጾም ዐወጀ። 4የይሁዳ ሕዝብም የእግዚአብሔርን ርዳታ ይሻ ዘንድ በአንድነት ተሰበሰበ፤ ከይሁዳ ከተሞች ሁሉም እግዚአብሔርን ለመፈለግ መጡ። 5ኢዮሣፍጥም በእግዚአብሔር ቤተ መቅደስ፣ ከአዲሱ አደባባይ ፊት ለፊት በይሁዳና በኢየሩሳሌም ጉባኤ መካከል ቆመ፤ 6እንዲህም አለ፤
“የአባቶቻችን አምላክ እግዚአብሔር ሆይ፤ አንተ በሰማይ የምትኖር አምላክ አይደለህምን? የምድር ሕዝቦችን መንግሥታት ሁሉ የምትገዛ አንተ ነህ፤ ኀይልና ሥልጣን በእጅህ ነው፤ ሊቋቋምህም የሚችል ማንም የለም። 7አምላካችን ሆይ፤ የዚህችን ምድር ነዋሪዎች ከሕዝብህ ከእስራኤል ፊት አሳድደህ ያስወጣህና ለወዳጅህ ለአብርሃም ዘሮች ለዘላለም የሰጠሃቸው አንተ አይደለህምን? 8እነርሱም ተቀመጡባት፤ ለስምህ መቅደስ ሠሩባት፤ እንዲህም አሉ፤ 9‘የፍርድ ሰይፍም ሆነ የቸነፈር ወይም የራብ መከራ ቢደርስብን፣ ስምህ በተጠራበት በዚህ ቤተ መቅደስ ፊት ለፊት፣ በፊትህ ቆመን በጭንቀታችን ወደ አንተ እንጮሃለን፤ አንተም ትሰማናለህ፤ ታድነናለህም።’
10“እስራኤል ከግብፅ በወጡ ጊዜ፣ ግዛታቸውን እንዳይወርሩባቸው በማድረግህ ከእነርሱ ተመልሰው ሳያጠፏቸው የቀሩት የአሞን፣ የሞዓብና የሴይር ተራራ ሰዎች እነሆ እዚህ አሉ። 11እነሆ፣ አንተ ርስት አድርገህ ከሰጠኸን ምድር እኛን በማፈናቀል ወሮታ ሊመልሱልን መጥተዋል። 12አምላካችን ሆይ፤ አንተ አትፈርድባቸውምን? የመጣብንን ይህን ታላቅ ሰራዊት እንቋቋም ዘንድ ዐቅም የለንምና የምናደርገውን አናውቅም፤ ነገር ግን ዐይኖቻችን ወዳንተ ናቸው።”
13የይሁዳ ሰዎች ሁሉ ከሚስቶቻቸው፣ ከልጆቻቸውና ከሕፃኖቻቸው ጋር በእግዚአብሔር ፊት ቆመው ነበር።
14በዚህ ጊዜ የአሳፍ ዘር በሆነው በሌዋዊው በዘካርያስ ልጅ፣ በየሕዚኤል ላይ የእግዚአብሔር መንፈስ መጣ። ዘካርያስም የበናያስ ልጅ ሲሆን፣ በናያስም የማታን ልጅ የሆነው የይዒኤል ልጅ ነው።
15እርሱም እንዲህ አለ፤ “ንጉሥ ኢዮሣፍጥ፣ እናንተም በይሁዳና በኢየሩሳሌም የምትኖሩ ሁሉ አድምጡ! እግዚአብሔር እንዲህ ይላችኋል፤ ‘ውጊያው የእግዚአብሔር እንጂ የእናንተ አይደለምና፣ ከዚህ ታላቅ ሰራዊት የተነሣ አትፍሩ፣ አትደንግጡ፣ 16ነገ በእነርሱ ላይ ውረዱ፤ እነርሱ በጺጽ መተላለፊያ ሽቅብ ይወጣሉ፣ እናንተም በይሩኤል ምድረ በዳ ውስጥ በሸለቆው መጨረሻ ላይ ታገኟቸዋላችሁ። 17ይህን ጦርነት የምትዋጉት እናንተ አይደላችሁም፤ ይሁዳና ኢየሩሳሌም ሆይ፤ ቦታ ቦታችሁን ያዙ፤ ጸንታችሁ ቁሙ፤ እግዚአብሔር የሚሰጣችሁንም ማዳን እዩ። አትፍሩ፤ አትደንግጡም፤ ነገውኑ ውጡና ግጠሟቸው፤ እግዚአብሔርም ከእናንተ ጋር ይሆናል።’ ”
18ኢዮሣፍጥ በግንባሩ ወደ መሬት ተደፋ፤ የይሁዳና የኢየሩሳሌምም ሕዝብ ሁሉ በእግዚአብሔር ፊት ወደቁ፤ ሰገዱም። 19ከቀዓትና ከቆሬ ወገኖች ጥቂት ሌዋውያንም ቆመው፣ እጅግ ከፍ ባለ ድምፅ የእስራኤልን አምላክ እግዚአብሔርን አመሰገኑ።
20በማግስቱም ጧት በማለዳ ተነሥተው ወደ ቴቁሔ ምድረ በዳ ሄዱ። መንገድ እንደ ጀመሩም ኢዮሣፍጥ ቆሞ፣ “ይሁዳና የኢየሩሳሌም ሕዝብ ሆይ፣ አድምጡኝ! በአምላካችሁ በእግዚአብሔር እመኑ፤ ትጸኑማላችሁ። በነቢያቱም እመኑ፤ ይሳካላችሁማል” አላቸው። 21ከሕዝቡም ጋር ከተመካከረ በኋላ ከሰራዊቱ ፊት ቀድመው በመሄድ፣
“እግዚአብሔርን አመስግኑ፣
ፍቅሩ ለዘላለም ጸንቶ ይኖራልና”
እያሉ ለእግዚአብሔር የሚዘምሩና ስለ ቅድስናውም ክብር የሚያወድሱ ሰዎችን መደበ።
22መዘመርና ማወደስ እንደ ጀመሩም፣ እግዚአብሔር ይሁዳን በወረሩት በአሞን፣ በሞዓብና በሴይር ተራራ ሰዎች ላይ ድብቅ ጦር አመጣባቸው፤ ተሸነፉም። 23የአሞንና የሞዓብ ሰዎችም የሴይርን ተራራ ሰዎች ለማጥፋትና ለመደምሰስ ተነሡባቸው። ከሴይር የመጡትን ሰዎች ካጠፉ በኋላም፣ እርስ በርስ ተጠፋፉ።
24የይሁዳ ሰዎች ምድረ በዳውን ቍልቍል ወደሚያሳየው ቦታ መጥተው ግዙፉን ሰራዊት ሲመለከቱ፣ መሬቱ ሬሳ በሬሳ ሆኖ አዩ፤ አንድም ሰው አላመለጠም። 25ኢዮሣፍጥና ሰዎቹም ምርኳቸውን ለማጋዝ ሄዱ፤ በዚያም መካከል እጅግ ብዙ መሣሪያና ልብስ፣20፥25 አንዳንድ የዕብራይስጥና የቩልጌት ቅጆች ከዚህ ጋር ይስማማሉ፤ ነገር ግን አብዛኞቹ የዕብራይስጥ ቅጆች ሬሳ ይላል። ሊሸከሙ ከሚችሉትም በላይ ውድ ዕቃዎችን አገኙ። ምርኮውም ከመብዛቱ የተነሣ ለመሰብሰብ ሦስት ቀን ፈጀ። 26በአራተኛውም ቀን እግዚአብሔርን ባመሰገኑበት በበረከት20፥26 በዕብራይስጡ፣ በራካ ማለት በረከት ማለት ነው። ሸለቆ ተሰበሰቡ፤ ያም ስፍራ እስከ ዛሬ ድረስ የበረከት ሸለቆ ተብሎ የተጠራው ከዚህ የተነሣ ነው።
27እግዚአብሔር በጠላቶቻቸው ላይ እንዲደሰቱ ስላደረጋቸው፣ የይሁዳና የኢየሩሳሌም ሰዎች ሁሉ በኢዮሣፍጥ እየተመሩ፣ በታላቅ ደስታ ወደ ኢየሩሳሌም ተመለሱ። 28ወደ ኢየሩሳሌም ከተማ እንደ ገቡም በበገና፣ በመሰንቆና በመለከት ድምፅ ታጅበው ወደ እግዚአብሔር ቤተ መቅደስ አመሩ።
29እግዚአብሔር የእስራኤልን ጠላቶች እንዴት እንደ ተዋጋቸው በሰሙ መንግሥታት ሁሉ ላይ ከእግዚአብሔር ዘንድ ፍርሀት ወደቀባቸው።
30አምላኩ በየአቅጣጫው ዕረፍት ስለ ሰጠው፣ የኢዮሣፍጥ መንግሥት ሰላም አግኝቶ ነበር።
የኢዮሣፍጥ ዘመነ መንግሥት ፍጻሜ
20፥31–21፥1 ተጓ ምብ – 1ነገ 22፥41-50
31ኢዮሣፍጥ በይሁዳ ላይ ነገሠ። መንገሥ በጀመረ ጊዜም ዕድሜው ሠላሳ አምስት ዓመት ሲሆን፣ በኢየሩሳሌም ተቀሞጦ ሃያ አምስት ዓመት ገዛ። እናቱም የሺልሒ ልጅ ዓዙባ ነበረች። 32እርሱም በአባቱ በአሳ መንገድ ሄደ፤ ከዚያም ፈቀቅ አላለም፤ በእግዚአብሔርም ፊት መልካም የሆነውን ነገር አደረገ። 33ያም ሆኖ ግን ማምለኪያ ኰረብታዎች ሙሉ በሙሉ አልተወገዱም፤ ሕዝቡም ገና ልቡን በአባቶቹ አምላክ ላይ አልጣለም ነበር።
34በኢዮሣፍጥ ዘመነ መንግሥት ከመጀመሪያ እስከ መጨረሻ የተከናወኑት ሌሎች ተግባራት የአናኒ ልጅ ኢዩ በዘገበው የእስራኤል ነገሥታት የታሪክ መጽሐፍ ተመዝግቧል።
35ከዚህ በኋላ የይሁዳ ንጉሥ ኢዮሣፍጥ ሥራው እጅግ ክፉ ከሆነው ከእስራኤል ንጉሥ ከአካዝያስ ጋር የስምምነት ውል አደረገ፤ 36የንግድ መርከብ20፥36 ዕብራይስጡ፣ ወደ ተርሴስ ሊሄዱ የሚችሉ መርከቦች ይላል። ለመሥራትም ተስማሙ፤ መርከቦቹንም በዔጽዮንጋብር አሠሩ። 37የመሪሳ ሰው የሆነው የዶዳያ ልጅ አልዓዛር በኢዮሣፍጥ ላይ፣ “ከአካዝያስ ጋር የስምምነት ውል ስለ አደረግህ፣ እግዚአብሔር ሥራህን ያፈርሰዋል” ሲል ትንቢት ተናገረበት፤ መርከቦቹም ተሰበሩ፤ ለንግዱም ሥራ መንቀሳቀስ አልቻሉም።20፥37 ዕብራይስጡ፣ ወደ ተርሴስ መሄድ አልቻሉም ይላል።
