ሳሙኤል ዳዊትን መቅባቱ
1እግዚአብሔር ሳሙኤልን፣ “በእስራኤል ላይ እንዳይነግሥ ለናቅሁት ለሳኦል የምታለቅስለት እስከ መቼ ነው? ወደ ቤተ ልሔሙ ሰው ወደ እሴይ ስለምልክህ፣ ዘይት በቀንድ ሞልተህ ሂድ፤ ከልጆቹ አንዱ ንጉሥ ይሆን ዘንድ መርጬዋለሁ” አለው።
2ሳሙኤል ግን፣ “ሳኦል ከሰማ ስለሚገድለኝ እንዴት መሄድ እችላለሁ?” አለ።
እግዚአብሔርም እንዲህ አለው፤ “አንዲት ጊደር ይዘህ ሂድና፣ ‘ለእግዚአብሔር ልሠዋ መጥቻለሁ’ በል። 3እሴይን ወደ መሥዋዕቱ ጥራው፤ ከዚያም የምታደርገውን አሳይሃለሁ፤ የምነግርህንም ሰው ትቀባልኛለህ።”
4ሳሙኤል እግዚአብሔር ያለውን ነገር አደረገ። ቤተ ልሔም እንደ ደረሰም፣ የከተማዪቱ ሽማግሌዎች እየተንቀጠቀጡ ሊገናኙት መጡ፣ እነርሱም “አመጣጥህ ለሰላም ነውን?” ብለው ጠየቁት።
5ሳሙኤልም፣ “አዎን፤ ለሰላም ነው፤ የመጣሁትም ለእግዚአብሔር መሥዋዕት ላቀርብ ነው፤ እናንተም ራሳችሁን ቀድሳችሁ ከእኔ ጋር ወደ መሥዋዕቱ ኑ” ሲል መለሰላቸው። ከዚያም እሴይንና ልጆቹን ቀደሳቸው፤ ወደ መሥዋዕቱም እንዲመጡ ጠራቸው።
6እዚያ በደረሱ ጊዜም፣ ሳሙኤል ኤልያብን አይቶ፣ “በርግጥ እግዚአብሔር የቀባው ሰው እነሆ፤ በእግዚአብሔር ፊት ቆሟል” ብሎ ዐሰበ።
7እግዚአብሔር ግን ሳሙኤልን፣ “መልኩን ወይም ቁመቱን አትይ፤ እኔ ንቄዋለሁና። እግዚአብሔር የሚያየው፣ ሰው እንደሚያየው አይደለም። ሰው የውጭውን ገጽታ ያያል፤ እግዚአብሔር ግን ልብን ያያል” አለው።
8ከዚያም እሴይ አሚናዳብን ጠርቶ በሳሙኤል ፊት እንዲያልፍ አደረገ፤ ሳሙኤል ግን፣ “እግዚአብሔር ይህንም አልመረጠውም” አለው። 9እሴይም ሣማን አሳለፈ፤ ሳሙኤልም፣ “እርሱንም እግዚአብሔር አልመረጠውም” አለ። 10እሴይም ሰባቱን ልጆቹን በሳሙኤል ፊት እንዲያልፉ አደረገ፤ ሳሙኤል ግን፣ “እግዚአብሔር እነዚህንም አልመረጣቸውም” አለው። 11ቀጥሎም እሴይን፣ “ልጆችህ እነዚሁ ብቻ ናቸውን?” ሲል ጠየቀው።
እሴይም፣ “የሁሉም ታናሽ ገና አልመጣም፤ ነገር ግን በጎች እየጠበቀ ነው” ብሎ መለሰ።
ሳሙኤልም፣ “በል ልከህ አስመጣው፤ እስኪመጣ ድረስ አንቀመጥምና16፥11 አንዳንድ የሰብዓ ሊቃናት ትርጕሞች ከዚህ ጋር ይስማማሉ፤ ዕብራይስጡ ግን አንሰበሰብምና ይላል።” አለው።
12ስለዚህ ልኮ አስመጣው፤ እርሱም ደም ግባት ያለው፣ ዐይኑ የሚያምርና መልከ መልካም ነበረ።
እግዚአብሔርም፣ “የመረጥሁት ይህ ነውና ተነሥተህ ቅባው” አለው።
13ሳሙኤልም የዘይቱን ቀንድ ወስዶ በወንድሞቹ ፊት ቀባው። ከዚያ ቀን ጀምሮ የእግዚአብሔር መንፈስ በዳዊት ላይ በኀይል መጣ፤ ሳሙኤልም ወደ አርማቴም ሄደ።
ዳዊት ሳኦልን ማገልገሉ
14የእግዚአብሔር መንፈስ ከሳኦል ስለ ራቀ፤ ከእግዚአብሔር ዘንድ የታዘዘ ክፉ16፥14 በዚህ እንዲሁም በቍጥር 15፡16 እና 23 ላይ ጐጂ መንፈስ ያሠቃየው ነበር።
15የሳኦል አገልጋዮችም እንዲህ አሉት፤ “እነሆ፤ ከእግዚአብሔር ዘንድ የታዘዘ ክፉ መንፈስ እያሠቃየህ ነው። 16እንግዲህ በገና መደርደር የሚችል ሰው እንዲፈልጉ፣ ጌታችን በፊቱ የሚቆሙትን አገልጋዮቹን ይዘዝ፤ ከዚያም ከእግዚአብሔር የታዘዘው ክፉ መንፈስ ባንተ ላይ በሚመጣ ጊዜ በገና ይደረድርልሃል፤ ደኅናም ትሆናለህ።”
17ስለዚህ ሳኦል አገልጋዮቹን፣ “መልካም አድርጎ በገና መደርደር የሚችል ሰው ፈልጋችሁ አምጡልኝ” አላቸው።
18ከአገልጋዮቹም አንዱ፣ “መልካም አድርጎ በገና መደርደር የሚችለውን የቤተ ልሔሙን የእሴይን ልጅ አይቻለሁ፣ እርሱም ጀግናና ተዋጊ ነው፤ በአነጋገሩ አስተዋይና የደስ ደስ ያለው ነው፤ እግዚአብሔርም ከእርሱ ጋር ነው” ብሎ መለሰ።
19ከዚያም ሳኦል፣ “ከበጎች ጋር ያለውን ልጅህን ዳዊትን ላክልኝ” ሲል መልክተኞችን ወደ እሴይ ላከ። 20እሴይም እንጀራና በወይን ጠጅ የተሞላ አቍማዳ በአህያ አስጭኖ፣ የፍየል ጠቦትም አስይዞ ልጁን ዳዊትን ወደ ሳኦል ላከው።
21ዳዊት ወደ ሳኦል መጥቶ አገልግሎቱን ጀመረ፤ ሳኦልም እጅግ ወደደው፣ እርሱም የሳኦል ጋሻ ጃግሬ ሆነ። 22ከዚያም ሳኦል፣ “ዳዊትን ወድጄዋለሁና ከእኔ ዘንድ ሆኖ እንዲያገለግለኝ ፍቀድልኝ” ብሎ ወደ እሴይ ላከ።
23ክፉው መንፈስ ከእግዚአብሔር ዘንድ በሳኦል ላይ በሚመጣበት ጊዜ፣ ዳዊት በገናውን ይዞ ይደረድር ነበር፤ ሳኦልም ይሻለው ነበር፤ ክፉውም መንፈስ ከእርሱ ይርቅ ነበር።
Samuel Anoints David to Be Israel’s King
1The Lord said to Samuel, “How long will you be filled with sorrow because of Saul? I have refused to have him as king over Israel. Fill your animal horn with olive oil and go on your way. I am sending you to Jesse in Bethlehem. I have chosen one of his sons to be king.”
2But Samuel said, “How can I go? Suppose Saul hears about it. Then he’ll kill me.”
The Lord said, “Take a young cow with you. Tell the elders of Bethlehem, ‘I’ve come to offer a sacrifice to the Lord.’ 3Invite Jesse to the sacrifice. Then I will show you what to do. You must anoint for me the one I point out to you.”
4Samuel did what the Lord said. He arrived at Bethlehem. The elders of the town met him. They were trembling with fear. They asked, “Have you come in peace?”
5Samuel replied, “Yes, I’ve come in peace. I’ve come to offer a sacrifice to the Lord. Set yourselves apart to him and come to the sacrifice with me.” Then he set Jesse and his sons apart to the Lord. He invited them to the sacrifice.
6When they arrived, Samuel saw Eliab. He thought, “This has to be the one the Lord wants me to anoint for him.”
7But the Lord said to Samuel, “Do not consider how handsome or tall he is. I have not chosen him. The Lord does not look at the things people look at. People look at the outside of a person. But the Lord looks at what is in the heart.”
8Then Jesse called for Abinadab. He had him walk in front of Samuel. But Samuel said, “The Lord hasn’t chosen him either.” 9Then Jesse had Shammah walk by. But Samuel said, “The Lord hasn’t chosen him either.” 10Jesse had seven of his sons walk in front of Samuel. But Samuel said to him, “The Lord hasn’t chosen any of them.” 11So he asked Jesse, “Are these the only sons you have?”
“No,” Jesse answered. “My youngest son is taking care of the sheep.”
Samuel said, “Send for him. We won’t sit down to eat until he arrives.”
12So Jesse sent for his son and had him brought in. He looked very healthy. He had a fine appearance and handsome features.
Then the Lord said, “Get up and anoint him. This is the one.”
13So Samuel got the animal horn that was filled with olive oil. He anointed David in front of his brothers. From that day on, the Spirit of the Lord came powerfully on David. Samuel went back to Ramah.
David Serves Saul
14The Spirit of the Lord had left Saul. And an evil spirit sent by the Lord terrified him.
15Saul’s attendants said to him, “An evil spirit sent by God is terrifying you. 16Give us an order to look for someone who can play the harp. He will play it when the evil spirit sent by God comes on you. Then you will feel better.”
17So Saul said to his attendants, “Find someone who plays the harp well. Bring him to me.”
18One of the servants said, “I’ve seen someone who knows how to play the harp. He is a son of Jesse from Bethlehem. He’s a brave man. He would make a good soldier. He’s a good speaker. He’s very handsome. And the Lord is with him.”
19Then Saul sent messengers to Jesse. He said, “Send me your son David, the one who takes care of your sheep.” 20So Jesse got some bread and a bottle of wine. The bottle was made out of animal skin. He also got a young goat. He loaded everything on the back of a donkey. He sent all of it to Saul with his son David.
21David went to Saul and began to serve him. Saul liked him very much. David became one of the men who carried Saul’s armor. 22Saul sent a message to Jesse. Saul said, “Let David stay here. I want him to serve me. I’m pleased with him.”
23When the evil spirit sent by God would come on Saul, David would get his harp and play it. That would help Saul. He would feel better, and the evil spirit would leave him.
