ዳዊትና ዮናታን
1ከዚህ በኋላ ዳዊት በአርማቴም ካለችው ከነዋት ዘራማ ሸሽቶ ወደ ዮናታን በመሄድ፣ “ምን አድርጌአለሁ? ምን በደልስ ፈጸምሁ? አባትህ ሕይወቴን ለማጥፋት የሚፈልገውስ በፊቱ ምን ተገኝቶብኝ ነው?” ሲል ጠየቀው።
2ዮናታንም፣ “ይህስ ከቶ አይሁንብህ፤ አትሞትም! እነሆ፤ አባቴ ትልቅም ይሁን ትንሽ ማናቸውንም ነገር አስቀድሞ ሳይነግረኝ አያደርገውም። ታዲያ አባቴ ይህን ለምን ይደብቀኛል? ነገሩ እንዲህ አይደለም” ብሎ መለሰለት።
3ዳዊት ግን፣ “በፊትህ ሞገስ ማግኘቴን አባትህ በሚገባ ያውቃል፤ እርሱም በልቡ፤ ‘ዮናታን እንዳያዝን ይህን ማወቅ የለበትም’ ብሏል፤ ነገር ግን ሕያው እግዚአብሔርን! በነፍስህ እምላለሁ በእኔና በሞት መካከል አንድ ርምጃ ብቻ ቀርቷል” ብሎ ማለ።
4ዮናታንም ዳዊትን፣ “እንዳደርግልህ የምትፈልገውን ማናቸውንም ነገር አደርግልሃለሁ” አለው።
5ስለዚህ ዳዊት እንዲህ አለ፤ “እነሆ፤ ነገ የወር መባቻ በዓል ስለሆነ፣ ከንጉሡ ጋር ምሳ መብላት ይጠበቅብኛል፤ ነገር ግን እስከ ከነገ ወዲያ ማታ ድረስ ከዱር ልደበቅ፤ 6አባትህ ከፈለገኝ፣ ‘ለቤተ ዘመዶቹ ሁሉ ዓመታዊ መሥዋዕት የሚቀርብ ስለሆነ፣ ዳዊት ወደ መኖሪያ ከተማው ወደ ቤተ ከቤተ ልሔም ቶሎ ለመሄድ አጥብቆ ፈቃድ ጠየቀኝ’ ብለህ ንገረው። 7እርሱም ‘መልካም ነው’ ካለ፣ አገልጋይህን የሚያሠጋው የለም፤ ከተቈጣ ግን፣ ክፉ ነገር እንዳሰበብኝ ታረጋግጣለህ። 8አንተ ግን፤ ለአገልጋይህ በጎነትን አሳይ፣ ከአገልጋይህ ጋር በእግዚአብሔር ፊት ቃል ኪዳን ገብታችኋልና። እኔ በደለኛ ከሆንሁ፣ አንተው ራስህ ግደለኝ፤ ለምንስ ለአባትህ አሳልፈህ ትሰጠኛለህ!”
9ዮናታንም፣ “ይህ ከአንተ ይራቅ! አባቴ ክፉ ነገር እንዳሰበብህ ባውቅ ኖሮ እንዴት ሳልነግርህ እቀራለሁ?” አለው።
10ዳዊትም፣ “አባትህ ክፉ ቃል ቢመልስልህ ማን ይነግረኛል?” ብሎ ጠየቀው።
11ዮናታን፣ “በል ና፤ ወደ ሜዳ እንውጣ” አለው፤ ተያይዘውም ወጡ።
12ከዚያም ዮናታን ዳዊትን እንዲህ አለው፤ “የእስራኤል አምላክ እግዚአብሔር ምስክር ይሁንብኝ፤ አባቴን ነገ መርምሬ ነገ ወይም ከነገ ወዲያ በዚህ ሰዓት እልክብሃለሁ፤ ስለ አንተ ያለው አመለካከት በጎ ከሆነም አሳውቅሃለሁ። 13ነገር ግን አባቴ ክፉ አስቦብህ፣ ይህን ሳላሳውቅህ ብቀርና በሰላም እንድትሄድ ባላደርግ፣ እግዚአብሔር ክፉ ያድርግብኝ፤ ከዚያም የባሰ ያምጣብኝ። እግዚአብሔር ከአባቴ ጋር እንደ ነበር እንደዚሁ ከአንተም ጋር ይሁን። 14አንተም እኔ በሕይወት እስካለሁ ድረስ እንዳልገደል የእግዚአብሔርን በጎነት አድርግልኝ። 15እግዚአብሔር የዳዊትን ጠላቶች ሁሉ ከምድረ ገጽ በሚደመስስበት ጊዜ እንኳ የበጎነት ሥራህ ከቤተ ሰቤ በፍጹም አይቋረጥ።”
16ስለዚህ ዮናታን፣ “የዳዊትን ጠላቶች እግዚአብሔር ይፋረዳቸው” በማለት ከዳዊት ቤት ጋር ቃል ኪዳን አደረገ። 17ዮናታን ከፍቅሩ የተነሣ ዳዊት እንደ ገና እንዲምልለት አደረገ፤ ዳዊትን የሚወድደውም እንደ ራሱ አድርጎ ነበርና።
18ከዚያም ዮናታን ዳዊትን እንዲህ አለው፤ “ነገ የወር መባቻ በዓል ነው፤ መቀመጫህ ባዶ ስለሚሆን፣ አለመኖርህ ይታወቃል። 19ከነገ ወዲያ ምሽት ላይ ይህ ችግር በተፈጠረ ዕለት ወደ ተደበቅህበት ስፍራ ሂድና ኤዜል በተባለው ድንጋይ አጠገብ ቈይ። 20እኔም በአንድ ዒላማ ላይ እንደሚያነጣጥር ሰው ወደ ድንጋዩ አጠገብ ሦስት ፍላጻ እወረውራለሁ፤ 21ከዚያም፣ ‘ሂድና ፍላጾቹን አምጣቸው’ ብዬ አንድ ልጅ እልካለሁ፤ ልጁንም፣ ‘እነሆ፤ ፍላጾቹ ያሉት፣ ከአንተ ወደዚህ ነው፤ ሄደህ አምጣቸው’ ያልሁት እንደ ሆነ፣ ሕያው እግዚአብሔርን! ክፉ ነገር አያገኝህም፤ አደጋም የለም፤ ውጣና ና። 22ነገር ግን ልጁን፣ ‘እነሆ፤ ፍላጾቹ ያሉት ከአንተ ወዲያ ዐልፎ ነው’ ያልሁት እንደ ሆነ እግዚአብሔር እንድትሄድ ፈቅዷልና ሂድ። 23አንተና እኔ ስለ ተነጋገርነው ነገር እነሆ፤ እግዚአብሔር በመካከላችን ለዘላለም ምስክር ነው።”
24ስለዚህም ዳዊት በዱር ተደበቀ፤ የወር መባቻ በዓል በተከበረበት ጊዜ፣ ንጉሡ ግብር ለመብላት ተቀመጠ፤ 25ንጉሡ እንደ ወትሮው በግድግዳው20፥25 የሰብዓ ሊቃናት ትርጕም ከዚህ ጋር ይስማማል፤ ዕብራይስጡ ዮናታን ሲነሣ ይላል። አጠገብ ተቀመጠ፤ ዮናታን ከፊት ለፊቱ፣ አበኔር ደግሞ ከአጠገቡ ተቀመጡ፤ የዳዊት መቀመጫ ግን ባዶ ነበር። 26ሳኦልም፣ “ዳዊት በሥርዐቱ መሠረት እንዳይነጻ የሚያደርገው አንድ ነገር ገጥሞታል፤ በርግጥም አልነጻም” ብሎ ስላሰበ፣ በዚያ ቀን ምንም አልተናገረም። 27በማግስቱም፣ ወር በገባ በሁለተኛው ቀን የዳዊት መቀመጫ ባዶ ነበር፤ ከዚያም ሳኦል ልጁን ዮናታንን፣ “የእሴይ ልጅ ትናንትናም፣ ዛሬም ግብር ላይ ያልተገኘው ለምንድን ነው?” ሲል ጠየቀው።
28ዮናታንም እንዲህ ብሎ መለሰለት፤ “ዳዊት ወደ ቤተ ልሔም እንዲሄድ እፈቅድለት ዘንድ አጥብቆ ለመነኝ። 29እርሱም ‘ቤተ ሰባችን በከተማዪቱ ውስጥ መሥዋዕት ስለሚያደርግ በዚያ እንድገኝ ወንድሜ አዞኛልና ልሂድ፤ በፊትህ ሞገስ አግኝቼ እንደ ሆነ ወንድሞቼን ለማየት እንድሄድ አሰናብተኝ’ አለኝ። በንጉሡ ግብር ላይ ሳይገኝ የቀረውም በዚህ ምክንያት ነው።”
30ሳኦል በዮናታን ላይ እጅግ ተቈጣ፤ እንዲህም አለው፤ “አንተ የዚያች ጠማማና ዐመፀኛ ሴት ልጅ! ለአንተው ለራስህ ውርደት፣ ለወላጅ እናትህም ዕፍረት ከሚሆነው ከእሴይ ልጅ ጋር መግጠምህን የማላውቅ መሰለህ? 31የእሴይ ልጅ በምድር ላይ በሕይወት እስካለ ድረስ አንተም ሆንህ መንግሥትህ አትጸኑም። መሞት ስለሚገባው፣ ሰው ላክና አስመጣልኝ!”
32ዮናታንም፣ “ለምን ይገደላል? ጥፋቱስ ምንድን ነው?” ሲል አባቱን ጠየቀ። 33ሳኦልም ዮናታንን ለመግደል ጦሩን ወረወረበት። ስለዚህ ዮናታን፣ አባቱ ዳዊትን ለመግደል ቈርጦ መነሣቱን ዐወቀ።
34ዮናታንም በታላቅ ቍጣ ከግብሩ ላይ ተነሣ፤ አባቱም ዳዊትን ስላዋረደው ወሩ በገባ በሁለተኛው ቀን ምግብ አልበላም።
35በማግስቱም ጧት ዮናታን አንድ ትንሽ ልጅ አስከትሎ፣ ከዳዊት ጋር ወደ ተቃጠረበት ቦታ ሄደ፤ 36ልጁንም፣ “ሩጥ! የምሰዳቸውን ፍላጻዎች ፈልጋቸው” አለው፤ ልጁም በሮጠ ጊዜ፣ ከእርሱ አሳልፎ አንድ ፍላጻ ወረወረ። 37ልጁም የዮናታን ፍላጻ ባረፈበት ስፍራ እንደ ደረሰ፤ ዮናታን ጠራውና፣ “ፍላጻው ካንተ ወዲያ ዐልፎ የለምን?” አለው።
38እርሱም “ቶሎ በል! ፍጠን! አትቁም!” ሲል ጮኸበት፤ ልጁም ፍላጻዎቹን ሰብስቦ ወደ ጌታው ተመለሰ። 39ከዮናታንና ከዳዊት በስተቀር ልጁ ስለዚህ ነገር የሚያውቀው አንዳች አልነበረም። 40ከዚያም ዮናታን የጦር መሣሪያውን ለልጁ ሰጥቶ፣ “ይዘህ ወደ ከተማ ተመለስ” አለው።
41ልጁ ከሄደ በኋላ፣ ዳዊት ከድንጋዩ በስተ ደቡብ ከተደበቀበት ቦታ ወጥቶ በዮናታን ፊት ሦስት ጊዜ በምድር ላይ ተደፍቶ ሰገደለት፤ ከዚያም ተሳሳሙ፤ ተላቀሱም፤ በይበልጥ ያለቀሰው ግን ዳዊት ነበር።
42ዮናታንም ዳዊትን፤ “ ‘በአንተና በእኔ፣ በዘሮችህና በዘሮቼ መካከል እግዚአብሔር ለዘላለም ምስክር ነው’ ተባብለን ወዳጅነታችን እንዲጸና በእግዚአብሔር ስም ስለ ተማማልን እንግዲህ በሰላም ሂድ” አለው። ከዚያም ዳዊት ተነሥቶ ሄደ፤ ዮናታንም ወደ ከተማ ተመለሰ።
1And David fled from Naioth in Ramah, and came and said before Jonathan, What have I done? what is mine iniquity? and what is my sin before thy father, that he seeketh my life? 2And he said unto him, God forbid; thou shalt not die: behold, my father will do nothing either great or small, but that he will shew it me: and why should my father hide this thing from me? it is not so.20.2 shew…: Heb. uncover mine ear 3And David sware moreover, and said, Thy father certainly knoweth that I have found grace in thine eyes; and he saith, Let not Jonathan know this, lest he be grieved: but truly as the LORD liveth, and as thy soul liveth, there is but a step between me and death. 4Then said Jonathan unto David, Whatsoever thy soul desireth, I will even do it for thee.20.4 Whatsoever…: or, Say what is thy mind and I will do, etc20.4 desireth: Heb. speaketh, or, thinketh 5And David said unto Jonathan, Behold, to morrow is the new moon, and I should not fail to sit with the king at meat: but let me go, that I may hide myself in the field unto the third day at even. 6If thy father at all miss me, then say, David earnestly asked leave of me that he might run to Beth-lehem his city: for there is a yearly sacrifice there for all the family.20.6 sacrifice: or, feast 7If he say thus, It is well; thy servant shall have peace: but if he be very wroth, then be sure that evil is determined by him. 8Therefore thou shalt deal kindly with thy servant; for thou hast brought thy servant into a covenant of the LORD with thee: notwithstanding, if there be in me iniquity, slay me thyself; for why shouldest thou bring me to thy father?
9And Jonathan said, Far be it from thee: for if I knew certainly that evil were determined by my father to come upon thee, then would not I tell it thee? 10Then said David to Jonathan, Who shall tell me? or what if thy father answer thee roughly?
11¶ And Jonathan said unto David, Come, and let us go out into the field. And they went out both of them into the field. 12And Jonathan said unto David, O LORD God of Israel, when I have sounded my father about to morrow any time, or the third day, and, behold, if there be good toward David, and I then send not unto thee, and shew it thee;20.12 sounded: Heb. searched20.12 shew…: Heb. uncover thine ear 13The LORD do so and much more to Jonathan: but if it please my father to do thee evil, then I will shew it thee, and send thee away, that thou mayest go in peace: and the LORD be with thee, as he hath been with my father.20.13 shew…: Heb. uncover thine ear 14And thou shalt not only while yet I live shew me the kindness of the LORD, that I die not: 15But also thou shalt not cut off thy kindness from my house for ever: no, not when the LORD hath cut off the enemies of David every one from the face of the earth. 16So Jonathan made a covenant with the house of David, saying, Let the LORD even require it at the hand of David’s enemies.20.16 made: Heb. cut 17And Jonathan caused David to swear again, because he loved him: for he loved him as he loved his own soul.20.17 because…: or, by his love toward him 18Then Jonathan said to David, To morrow is the new moon: and thou shalt be missed, because thy seat will be empty.20.18 empty: Heb. missed 19And when thou hast stayed three days, then thou shalt go down quickly, and come to the place where thou didst hide thyself when the business was in hand, and shalt remain by the stone Ezel.20.19 quickly: or, diligently: Heb. greatly20.19 when the…: Heb. in the day of the business20.19 Ezel: or, that sheweth the way 20And I will shoot three arrows on the side thereof, as though I shot at a mark. 21And, behold, I will send a lad, saying, Go, find out the arrows. If I expressly say unto the lad, Behold, the arrows are on this side of thee, take them; then come thou: for there is peace to thee, and no hurt; as the LORD liveth.20.21 no hurt: Heb. not any thing 22But if I say thus unto the young man, Behold, the arrows are beyond thee; go thy way: for the LORD hath sent thee away. 23And as touching the matter which thou and I have spoken of, behold, the LORD be between thee and me for ever.
24¶ So David hid himself in the field: and when the new moon was come, the king sat him down to eat meat. 25And the king sat upon his seat, as at other times, even upon a seat by the wall: and Jonathan arose, and Abner sat by Saul’s side, and David’s place was empty. 26Nevertheless Saul spake not any thing that day: for he thought, Something hath befallen him, he is not clean; surely he is not clean. 27And it came to pass on the morrow, which was the second day of the month, that David’s place was empty: and Saul said unto Jonathan his son, Wherefore cometh not the son of Jesse to meat, neither yesterday, nor to day? 28And Jonathan answered Saul, David earnestly asked leave of me to go to Beth-lehem: 29And he said, Let me go, I pray thee; for our family hath a sacrifice in the city; and my brother, he hath commanded me to be there: and now, if I have found favour in thine eyes, let me get away, I pray thee, and see my brethren. Therefore he cometh not unto the king’s table. 30Then Saul’s anger was kindled against Jonathan, and he said unto him, Thou son of the perverse rebellious woman, do not I know that thou hast chosen the son of Jesse to thine own confusion, and unto the confusion of thy mother’s nakedness?20.30 Thou…: or, Thou perverse rebel: Heb. Son of perverse rebellion 31For as long as the son of Jesse liveth upon the ground, thou shalt not be established, nor thy kingdom. Wherefore now send and fetch him unto me, for he shall surely die.20.31 shall…: Heb. is the son of death 32And Jonathan answered Saul his father, and said unto him, Wherefore shall he be slain? what hath he done? 33And Saul cast a javelin at him to smite him: whereby Jonathan knew that it was determined of his father to slay David. 34So Jonathan arose from the table in fierce anger, and did eat no meat the second day of the month: for he was grieved for David, because his father had done him shame.
35¶ And it came to pass in the morning, that Jonathan went out into the field at the time appointed with David, and a little lad with him. 36And he said unto his lad, Run, find out now the arrows which I shoot. And as the lad ran, he shot an arrow beyond him.20.36 beyond…: Heb. to pass over him 37And when the lad was come to the place of the arrow which Jonathan had shot, Jonathan cried after the lad, and said, Is not the arrow beyond thee? 38And Jonathan cried after the lad, Make speed, haste, stay not. And Jonathan’s lad gathered up the arrows, and came to his master. 39But the lad knew not any thing: only Jonathan and David knew the matter. 40And Jonathan gave his artillery unto his lad, and said unto him, Go, carry them to the city.20.40 artillery: Heb. instruments20.40 his lad: Heb. the lad that was his
41¶ And as soon as the lad was gone, David arose out of a place toward the south, and fell on his face to the ground, and bowed himself three times: and they kissed one another, and wept one with another, until David exceeded. 42And Jonathan said to David, Go in peace, forasmuch as we have sworn both of us in the name of the LORD, saying, The LORD be between me and thee, and between my seed and thy seed for ever. And he arose and departed: and Jonathan went into the city.20.42 forasmuch…: or, the LORD be witness of that which etc
