ሳኦል በዳዊት ቀና
1ዳዊት ከሳኦል ጋር የሚያደርገውን ንግግር እንዳበቃ፤ የዮናታን ነፍስ ከዳዊት ነፍስ ጋር ተቈራኘች፤ እንደ ራሱም አድርጎ ወደደው። 2ከዚያች ዕለት አንሥቶ ሳኦል ዳዊትን አብሮት እንዲኖር አደረገ፤ ወደ አባቱም ቤት እንዲመለስ አላሰናበተውም። 3ዮናታን እንደ ራሱ አድርጎ ስለ ወደደው፣ ከዳዊት ጋር ኪዳን አደረገ፤ 4ዮናታን የለበሰውን ካባ አውልቆ ከነጦር ልብሱ፣ በተጨማሪም ሰይፉን፣ ቀስቱንና መታጠቂያውን ሰጠው።
5ሳኦል በሚልከው በማናቸውም ስፍራ፣ ዳዊት ተልእኮውን በሚገባ18፥5 ወይም በብልኀት ይፈጽም ስለ ነበር፣ በሰራዊቱ ላይ ሾመው፤ ይህም ሕዝቡን በሙሉ፣ የሳኦልንም የጦር ሹማምት ደስ አሰኘ።
6ዳዊት ፍልስጥኤማዊውን ከገደለ በኋላ፣ ሰዎቹ ወደየቤታቸው በሚመለሱበት ጊዜ፣ ሴቶች ከበሮና መሰንቆ ይዘው እየዘፈኑ፣ እየጨፈሩና እልል እያሉ ንጉሥ ሳኦልን ለመቀበል ከእስራኤል ከተሞች ሁሉ ወጡ። 7ሴቶቹም እንዲህ ሲሉ በመቀባበል ዘፈኑ፤
“ሳኦል ሺሕ ገደለ፤
ዳዊት ግን ዐሥር ሺሕ ገደለ።”
8ሳኦል እጅግ ተቈጣ፤ ይህም ነገር አላስደሰተውም። እርሱም፣ “ለዳዊት ዐሥር ሺሕ አሉለት፤ ለእኔ ግን ሺሕ ብቻ! እንግዲህ መንግሥት እንጂ ሌላ ምን ቀረው” አለ። 9ከዚያች ዕለት አንሥቶ ሳኦል ዳዊትን በቅናት ዐይን ይመለከተው ጀመር።
10በማግስቱም ከእግዚአብሔር የታዘዘ ክፉ18፥10 ወይም የሚጐዳ መንፈስ በሳኦል ላይ በኀይል መጣበት፣ በዚህ ጊዜ ዳዊት ወትሮ እንደሚያደርገው ሁሉ በገና ሲደረድር፣ ሳኦል በቤቱ ሆኖ ትንቢት ይናገር ነበር። ሳኦል በእጁ ጦር ይዞ ነበር፤ 11እርሱም፣ “ዳዊትን ከግድግዳው ጋር አጣብቀዋለሁ” ብሎ በማሰብ ጦሩን ወረወረበት፤ ዳዊት ግን ሁለት ጊዜ ከፊቱ ዘወር አለ።
12እግዚአብሔር ከእርሱ ተለይቶ ከዳዊት ጋር ስለሆነ፣ ሳኦል ዳዊትን ፈራው። 13ስለዚህ ዳዊትን ከአጠገቡ በማራቅ የሺሕ አለቃ አደረገው። ዳዊትም ሰራዊቱን እየመራ በፊታቸው ይወጣና ይገባ ነበር። 14እግዚአብሔር ከእርሱ ጋር ስለ ነበር የሚያደርገው ነገር ሁሉ ይሳካለት18፥14 ወይም እጅግ ብልኅ ነበር ነበር። 15ሳኦልም፣ ዳዊት እንደ ተሳካለት18፥15 ወይም ብልኅ እንደ ሆነ ባየ ጊዜ ፈራው፤ 16መላው እስራኤልና ይሁዳ ግን ዳዊትን ወደዱት፤ በፊታቸው እየወጣና እየገባ የሚመራቸው እርሱ ነበርና።
17ሳኦል ዳዊትን፣ “ታላቋ ልጄ ሜሮብ እነኋት፤ እርሷን እድርልሃለሁ፤ አንተ ግን በጀግንነት አገልግለኝ፤ የእግዚአብሔርንም ጦርነቶች ተዋጋ” አለው፤ ሳኦል በልቡ፣ “ፍልስጥኤማውያን እጃቸውን ያንሡበት እንጂ እኔ በእርሱ ላይ እጄን አላነሣም” ብሎ ነበርና።
18ዳዊት ግን ሳኦልን፣ “የንጉሥ ዐማች እሆን ዘንድ እኔ ማን ነኝ? ቤተ ሰቤም ሆነ የአባቴ ጐሣስ በእስራኤል ዘንድ ምንድን ነው?” አለው። 19ይሁን እንጂ18፥19 ወይም ስለዚህ ተብሎ የሳኦል ልጅ ሜሮብ ለዳዊት የምትዳርበት ጊዜ ሲደርስ ለመሓላታዊው ለኤስድሪኤል ተዳረች።
20በዚህ ጊዜ የሳኦል ልጅ ሜልኮል ዳዊትን ወደደችው፤ ሳኦልም ይህን ሲሰማ ደስ አለው። 21ሳኦልም በልቡ፣ “ወጥመድ እንድትሆነው፣ በፍልስጥኤማውያንም እጅ እንዲጠፋ እርሷን እድርለታለሁ” ሲል ዐሰበ። ስለዚህ ሳኦል ዳዊትን፣ “እነሆ፤ ዛሬ ለሁለተኛ ጊዜ ዐማቼ ትሆናለህ” አለው።
22ከዚያም ሳኦል ባለሟሎቹን፣ “ለዳዊት፣ ‘እነሆ፤ ንጉሡ በአንተ ደስ ብሎታል፤ ባለሟሎቹም ሁሉ ይወዱሃል፤ ስለዚህ ዐማቹ ሁንለት’ ብላችሁ በምስጢር ንገሩት” ብሎ አዘዛቸው።
23እነርሱም ይህንኑ ለዳዊት ደግመው ነገሩት፤ ዳዊት ግን “ለመሆኑ የንጉሥ አማች መሆንን እስከዚህ ትንሽ ነገር አድርጋችሁ ትቈጥራላችሁን? እኔ አንድ ምስኪን ድኻና እምብዛም የማልታወቅ ሰው ነኝ” አላቸው።
24የሳኦል ባለሟሎችም ዳዊት ያላቸውን በነገሩት ጊዜ፣ 25ሳኦል፣ “ዳዊትን፣ ‘ንጉሡስ ለልጂቱ ካንተ የሚፈልገው ጥሎሽ ጠላቶቹን ለመበቀል የመቶ ፍልስጥኤማውያንን ሸለፈት እንጂ ሌላ አይደለም ብላችሁ ንገሩት’ ” አላቸው። ሳኦል ይህን ያቀደው ዳዊት በፍልስጥኤማውያን እጅ እንዲወድቅ ነበር።
26ባለሟሎቹ ይህን ለዳዊት በነገሩት ጊዜ የንጉሥ ዐማች መሆኑ ደስ አሰኘው። ስለዚህ የተወሰነው ጊዜ ከማለፉ በፊት፣ 27ዳዊትና አብረውት የነበሩት ሰዎቹ ሄደው ሁለት መቶ ፍልስጥኤማውያንን ገደሉ፤ ለንጉሡ ዐማች ይሆን ዘንድ፣ ሸለፈታቸውን አምጥቶ በቍጥራቸው ልክ ለንጉሡ አቀረበ፤ ከዚያም ሳኦል ልጁን ሜልኮልን ለዳዊት ዳረለት።
28ሳኦል እግዚአብሔር ከዳዊት ጋር እንደ ሆነና ልጁ ሜልኮልም እንደ ወደደችው በተረዳ ጊዜ፣ 29ሳኦል ከቀድሞው ይልቅ ፈራው፤ እስከ ዕድሜውም ፍጻሜ ድረስ ጠላቱ ሆነ።
30የፍልስጥኤማውያን ጦር አዛዦች እንደ ወትሮው ሁሉ፣ ለጦርነት ይወጡ ነበር፤ ዳዊትም ከቀሩት የሳኦል መኳንንት የበለጠ ድል አገኘ18፥30 ወይም ዳዊት…የበለጠ በብልኀት አደረገ፤ ስሙም የታወቀ ሆነ።
Saul’s Growing Fear of David
1David finished talking with Saul. After that, Jonathan and David became close friends. Jonathan loved David just as he loved himself. 2From that time on, Saul kept David with him. He didn’t let him return home to his family. 3Jonathan made a covenant with David because he loved him just as he loved himself. 4Jonathan took off the robe he was wearing and gave it to David. He also gave him his military clothes. He even gave him his sword, his bow and his belt.
5David did everything Saul sent him to do. He did it so well that Saul gave him a high rank in the army. That pleased Saul’s whole army, including his officers.
6After David had killed Goliath, the men of Israel returned home. The women came out of all the towns of Israel to meet King Saul. They danced and sang joyful songs. They played harps and tambourines. 7As they danced, they sang,
“Saul has killed thousands of men.
David has killed tens of thousands.”
8That song made Saul very angry. It really upset him. He said to himself, “They are saying David has killed tens of thousands of men. But they are saying I’ve killed only thousands. The only thing left for him to get is the kingdom itself.” 9From that time on, Saul watched David closely.
10The next day an evil spirit sent by God came powerfully on Saul. Saul began to prophesy in his house. At that same time David began to play the harp, just as he usually did. Saul was holding a spear. 11He threw it at David. As he did, he said to himself, “I’ll pin David to the wall.” But David got away from him twice.
12The Lord had left Saul and was with David. So Saul was afraid of David. 13He sent David away. He put him in command of 1,000 men. David led the troops in battle. 14In everything he did, he was very successful. That’s because the Lord was with him. 15When Saul saw how successful David was, he became afraid of him. 16But all the troops of Israel and Judah loved David. That’s because he led them in battle.
17Saul said to David, “Here is my older daughter Merab. I’ll give her to you to be your wife. Just serve me bravely and fight the Lord’s battles.” Saul said to himself, “I won’t have to lift my hand to strike him down. The Philistines will do that!”
18But David said to Saul, “Who am I? Is anyone in my whole family that important in Israel? Am I worthy to become the king’s son-in-law?” 19The time came for Saul to give his daughter Merab to David. Instead, Saul gave her to Adriel from Meholah to be his wife.
20Saul’s daughter Michal was in love with David. When they told Saul about it, he was pleased. 21“I’ll give her to David to be his wife,” Saul said to himself. “Then maybe she’ll trap him. And maybe the Philistines will strike him down.” So Saul said to David, “Now you have a second chance to become my son-in-law.”
22Then Saul gave an order to his attendants. He said, “Speak to David in private. Tell him, ‘The king likes you. All his attendants love you. So become his son-in-law.’ ”
23Saul’s attendants spoke those very words to David. But David said, “Do you think it’s a small thing to become the king’s son-in-law? I’m only a poor man. I’m not very well known.”
24Saul’s attendants told him what David had said. 25Saul said, “Tell David, ‘Here’s the price the king wants for the bride. He wants you to kill 100 Philistines. Then bring back the skins you cut off when you circumcise them. That’s how Saul will get even with his enemies.’ ” Saul hoped that the Philistines would strike David down.
26Saul’s attendants also told David those things. Then David was pleased to become the king’s son-in-law. So before the wedding day, 27David and his men went out and killed 200 Philistines. They circumcised the Philistines. Then David brought back all the skins. They counted out the full number and gave them to the king. By doing that, David could become the king’s son-in-law. So Saul gave David his daughter Michal to be his wife.
28Saul realized that the Lord was with David. He also realized that his daughter Michal loved David. 29So Saul became even more afraid of him. As long as Saul lived, he remained David’s enemy.
30The Philistine commanders kept on going out to battle. Every time they did, David had more success against them than the rest of Saul’s officers. So his name became well known.
