1Ahaz was twenty years old when he began to reign, and he reigned sixteen years in Jerusalem: but he did not that which was right in the sight of the LORD, like David his father: 2For he walked in the ways of the kings of Israel, and made also molten images for Baalim. 3Moreover he burnt incense in the valley of the son of Hinnom, and burnt his children in the fire, after the abominations of the heathen whom the LORD had cast out before the children of Israel.28.3 burnt…: or, offered sacrifice 4He sacrificed also and burnt incense in the high places, and on the hills, and under every green tree. 5Wherefore the LORD his God delivered him into the hand of the king of Syria; and they smote him, and carried away a great multitude of them captives, and brought them to Damascus. And he was also delivered into the hand of the king of Israel, who smote him with a great slaughter.28.5 Damascus: Heb. Darmesek
6¶ For Pekah the son of Remaliah slew in Judah an hundred and twenty thousand in one day, which were all valiant men; because they had forsaken the LORD God of their fathers.28.6 valiant…: Heb. sons of valour 7And Zichri, a mighty man of Ephraim, slew Maaseiah the king’s son, and Azrikam the governor of the house, and Elkanah that was next to the king.28.7 next…: Heb. the second to the king 8And the children of Israel carried away captive of their brethren two hundred thousand, women, sons, and daughters, and took also away much spoil from them, and brought the spoil to Samaria. 9But a prophet of the LORD was there, whose name was Oded: and he went out before the host that came to Samaria, and said unto them, Behold, because the LORD God of your fathers was wroth with Judah, he hath delivered them into your hand, and ye have slain them in a rage that reacheth up unto heaven. 10And now ye purpose to keep under the children of Judah and Jerusalem for bondmen and bondwomen unto you: but are there not with you, even with you, sins against the LORD your God? 11Now hear me therefore, and deliver the captives again, which ye have taken captive of your brethren: for the fierce wrath of the LORD is upon you. 12Then certain of the heads of the children of Ephraim, Azariah the son of Johanan, Berechiah the son of Meshillemoth, and Jehizkiah the son of Shallum, and Amasa the son of Hadlai, stood up against them that came from the war, 13And said unto them, Ye shall not bring in the captives hither: for whereas we have offended against the LORD already, ye intend to add more to our sins and to our trespass: for our trespass is great, and there is fierce wrath against Israel. 14So the armed men left the captives and the spoil before the princes and all the congregation. 15And the men which were expressed by name rose up, and took the captives, and with the spoil clothed all that were naked among them, and arrayed them, and shod them, and gave them to eat and to drink, and anointed them, and carried all the feeble of them upon asses, and brought them to Jericho, the city of palm trees, to their brethren: then they returned to Samaria.
16¶ At that time did king Ahaz send unto the kings of Assyria to help him. 17For again the Edomites had come and smitten Judah, and carried away captives.28.17 captives: Heb. a captivity 18The Philistines also had invaded the cities of the low country, and of the south of Judah, and had taken Beth-shemesh, and Ajalon, and Gederoth, and Shocho with the villages thereof, and Timnah with the villages thereof, Gimzo also and the villages thereof: and they dwelt there. 19For the LORD brought Judah low because of Ahaz king of Israel; for he made Judah naked, and transgressed sore against the LORD. 20And Tilgath-pilneser king of Assyria came unto him, and distressed him, but strengthened him not. 21For Ahaz took away a portion out of the house of the LORD, and out of the house of the king, and of the princes, and gave it unto the king of Assyria: but he helped him not.
22¶ And in the time of his distress did he trespass yet more against the LORD: this is that king Ahaz. 23For he sacrificed unto the gods of Damascus, which smote him: and he said, Because the gods of the kings of Syria help them, therefore will I sacrifice to them, that they may help me. But they were the ruin of him, and of all Israel.28.23 Damascus: Heb. Darmesek 24And Ahaz gathered together the vessels of the house of God, and cut in pieces the vessels of the house of God, and shut up the doors of the house of the LORD, and he made him altars in every corner of Jerusalem. 25And in every several city of Judah he made high places to burn incense unto other gods, and provoked to anger the LORD God of his fathers.28.25 to burn: or, to offer
26¶ Now the rest of his acts and of all his ways, first and last, behold, they are written in the book of the kings of Judah and Israel. 27And Ahaz slept with his fathers, and they buried him in the city, even in Jerusalem: but they brought him not into the sepulchres of the kings of Israel: and Hezekiah his son reigned in his stead.
የይሁዳ ንጉሥ አካዝ
28፥1-27 ተጓ ምብ – 2ነገ 16፥1-20
1አካዝ መንገሥ በጀመረ ጊዜ፣ ዕድሜው ሃያ ዓመት ነበር፤ በኢየሩሳሌም ተቀምጦም ዐሥራ ስድስት ዓመት ገዛ። እርሱም በእግዚአብሔር ፊት ቅን ነገር እንዳደረገው እንደ አባቱ እንደ ዳዊት አላደረገም። 2በእስራኤል ነገሥታት መንገድ ሄደ፤ በኣሊምን ለማምለክም የተቀረጹ ጣዖታትን ሠራ። 3እግዚአብሔር ከእስራኤላውያን ፊት ያስወገዳቸውን አሕዛብ ልማድ በመከተል፣ በሄኖም ልጅ ሸለቆ ዐጠነ፤ ወንዶች ልጆቹንም የሚቃጠል መሥዋዕት አድርጎ አቀረበ። 4በኰረብታ መስገጃዎችና በተራሮች ዐናት ላይ፣ በየዛፉም ጥላ ሥር መሥዋዕት አቀረበ፤ ዕጣንም ዐጠነ።
5ስለዚህ አምላኩ እግዚአብሔር ለሶርያ ንጉሥ አሳልፎ ሰጠው፤ ሶርያውያንም ድል አደረጉት፤ ከሕዝቡም ብዙዎቹን ምርኮኞች አድርገው ወደ ደማስቆ ወሰዷቸው። ደግሞም ለእስራኤል ንጉሥ ዐልፎ ተሰጠ፤ እርሱም ከባድ ጕዳት አደረሰበት። 6ይሁዳ የአባቶቹን አምላክ እግዚአብሔርን ስለ ተወ፣ የሮሜልዩ ልጅ ፋቁሔ በአንድ ቀን ከይሁዳ መቶ ሃያ ሺሕ ወታደሮች ገደለ። 7ጦረኛው ኤፍሬማዊ ዝክሪም የንጉሡን ልጅ መዕሤያን፣ የቤተ መንግሥቱ ኀላፊ የሆነውን ዓዝሪቃምንና ለንጉሡ በማዕረግ ሁለተኛ ሰው የሆነውን ሕልቃናን ገደለ። 8እስራኤላውያንም ከገዛ ወገኖቻቸው ሁለት መቶ ሺሕ ባለ ትዳር ሴቶችን፣ ወንዶችና ሴቶች ልጆችን ማረኩ፤ እንዲሁም እጅግ ብዙ ምርኮ ይዘው ወደ ሰማርያ ተመለሱ።
9ዖዴድ የተባለ የእግዚአብሔር ነቢይ በዚያ ስለ ነበር፣ ሰራዊቱ ወደ ሰማርያ በተመለሰ ጊዜ ለመቀበል ወጣ፤ እንዲህም አላቸው፤ “የአባቶቻችሁ አምላክ እግዚአብሔር ይሁዳን ስለ ተቈጣ በእጃችሁ አሳልፎ ሰጣችሁ፤ እናንተ ግን እስከ ሰማይ በሚደርስ ቍጣ ፈጃችኋቸው። 10አሁንም የይሁዳንና የኢየሩሳሌምን ወንዶችና ሴቶች፣ ባሪያዎቻችሁ ልታደርጓቸው ትፈልጋላችሁ፤ እናንተስ ብትሆኑ ኀጢአት ሠርታችሁ አምላካችሁን እግዚአብሔርን አልበደላችሁምን? 11እንግዲህ ስሙኝ፤ የእግዚአብሔር አስፈሪ ቍጣ በእናንተ ላይ ነድዷልና፣ በምርኮ ያመጣችኋቸውን ወገኖቻችሁን መልሷቸው።”
12ከዚያም ከኤፍሬም መሪዎች ጥቂቶቹ የዮሐናን ልጅ ዓዛርያስ፣ የምሺሌሞት ልጅ በራክያ፣ የሰሎም ልጅ ይሒዝቅያ፣ የሐድላይ ልጅ ዓሜሳይ ከጦርነቱ የተመለሱትን በመቃወም፣ 13“እነዚህን ምርኮኞች እዚህ ማምጣት አልነበረባችሁም፤ አለዚያ እኛ በእግዚአብሔር ፊት በደለኞች እንሆናለን፤ በኀጢአታችንና በበደላችን ላይ ሌላ ልትጨምሩ ታስባላችሁን? በደላችንማ ቀድሞውኑ በዝቷል፤ ቍጣውም በእስራኤል ላይ ነውና” አሉ።
14ስለዚህ ወታደሮቹ በሹማምቱና በጉባኤው ሁሉ ፊት ምርኮኞቹን ለቀቁ፤ የተማረከውንም ዕቃ መለሱ። 15በስም የተጠቀሱ ሰዎችም ምርኮኞቹን ተረክበው ዕራቍታቸውን ለቀሩት ሁሉ ከምርኮው አለበሷቸው፤ ልብስና ጫማ፣ ምግብና መጠጥ ሰጧቸው፣ በቅባትም ቀቧቸው፤ የደከሙትንም ሁሉ በአህያ ላይ አስቀመጧቸው። ከዚያም ወገኖቻቸው ወደሚገኙባት የዘንባባ ከተማ ተብላ ወደምትጠራው ወደ ኢያሪኮ ወስደዋቸው፣ ወደ ሰማርያ ተመለሱ።
16በዚያን ጊዜ ንጉሡ አካዝ ወደ አሦር ንጉሥ ልኮ ርዳታ ጠየቀ፤28፥16 አንድ የዕብራይስጥ ቅጅ፣ የሰብዓ ሊቃናትና የሱርስቱ ቅጅ እንዲሁም (2ነገ 16፥7) ከዚህ ጋር ይስማማል፤ አብዛኞቹ የዕብራይስጥ ትርጕሞች ግን ነገሥታት ይላሉ። 17ኤዶማውያን እንደ ገና መጥተው በይሁዳ ላይ አደጋ በመጣል ምርኮኞችን ወስደው ነበርና። 18ፍልስጥኤማውያን ደግሞ በየኰረብታው ግርጌና በይሁዳ ደቡብ ያሉትን ከተሞች በመውረር ቤትሳሚስን፣ ኤሎንን፣ ግዴሮትን፣ ሦኮን፣ ተምናን፣ ጊምዞንና በአካባቢአቸው የሚገኙትን መንደሮች ሁሉ ያዙ፤ ተቀመጡባቸውም። 19የእስራኤል28፥19 በዜና መዋዕል ካልዕ መጽሐፍ ተደጋግሞ እንደ ተጠቀሰው ይህ ይሁዳ ነው። ንጉሥ አካዝ ክፋትን በይሁዳ ምድር ስላስፋፋና ለእግዚአብሔርም የነበረውን ታማኝነት በከፍተኛ ደረጃ ስላጓደለ፣ እግዚአብሔር ይሁዳን አዋረደ። 20የአሦር ንጉሥ ቴልጌልቴልፌልሶር ወደ እርሱ መጥቶ ነበር፤ ሆኖም ችግር ፈጠረበት እንጂ አልረዳውም። 21አካዝ ከእግዚአብሔር ቤተ መቅደስ፣ ከቤተ መንግሥቱና ከመሳፍንቱ ጥቂት ዕቃዎች ወስዶ ለአሦር ንጉሥ ሰጥቶ ነበር፤ ይህም አልረዳውም።
22ንጉሥ አካዝ በተጨነቀ ጊዜም፣ ለእግዚአብሔር የነበረውን ታማኝነቱን ከምን ጊዜውም ይበልጥ አጓደለ፤ 23እርሱም “የሶርያ ነገሥታት አማልክት እነርሱን ስለ ረዷቸው፣ እኔንም ይረዱኝ ዘንድ እሠዋላቸዋለሁ” ሲል እርሱን ላሸነፉት የደማስቆ አማልክት መሥዋዕት አቀረበ።
24አካዝ የእግዚአብሔርን ቤተ መቅደስ ዕቃዎች ሁሉ አንድ ላይ ሰብስቦ ወሰደ28፥24 ወይም ሰበረ ተብሎ መተርጐም ይችላል።፤ የእግዚአብሔርን ቤተ መቅደስ በሮች ዘጋ፤ በኢየሩሳሌምም በየአውራ ጎዳናው ማእዘን ላይ መሠዊያ አቆመ። 25በይሁዳ ከተሞች ሁሉ ለሌሎች አማልክት መሥዋዕት የሚያቃጥልባቸውን የኰረብታ መስገጃዎች ሠራ፤ በዚህም የአባቶቹን አምላክ እግዚአብሔርን ለቍጣ አነሣሣው።
26በአካዝ ዘመነ መንግሥት የተከናወነው ሌላው ተግባርና አካሄዱ ሁሉ ከመጀመሪያው እስከ መጨረሻው በይሁዳና በእስራኤል ነገሥታት መጽሐፍ ተጽፏል። 27አካዝ እንደ አባቶቹ ሁሉ አንቀላፋ፤ በኢየሩሳሌምም ከተማ ተቀበረ፤ የተቀበረው ግን በእስራኤል ነገሥታት መካነ መቃብር አልነበረም። ልጁ ሕዝቅያስም በእርሱ ፈንታ ነገሠ።
