ከይሁዳ የመጣ የእግዚአብሔር ሰው
1ኢዮርብዓም መሥዋዕት ለማቅረብ በመሠዊያው አጠገብ ቆሞ ሳለ፣ በእግዚአብሔር ቃል ታዝዞ አንድ የእግዚአብሔር ሰው ከይሁዳ ወደ ቤቴል መጣ። 2መሠዊያውንም በእግዚአብሔር ቃል በመቃወም እንዲህ አለ፤ “አንተ መሠዊያ ሆይ! እንግዲህ እግዚአብሔር የሚለው ይህ ነው፤ ‘እነሆ፤ ኢዮስያስ የተባለ ለዳዊት ቤት ይወለዳል፤ እርሱም አሁን እዚህ መሥዋዕት የሚያቀርቡትን የኰረብታ ማምለኪያ ካህናት በላይህ ይሠዋቸዋል፤ የሰዎችም ዐጥንት በአንተ ላይ ይነድዳል።’ ” 3በዚያች ዕለት ያ የእግዚአብሔር ሰው፣ እንዲህ ሲል ምልክት ሰጠ፤ “እግዚአብሔር የሰጠውም ምልክት፣ ‘እነሆ፣ መሠዊያው ይሰነጠቃል፤ በላዩም ላይ ያለው ዐመድ ይፈስሳል’ ” የሚል ነው።
4ንጉሥ ኢዮርብዓምም ያ የእግዚአብሔር ሰው በቤቴል መሠዊያ ላይ ጮኾ የተናገረውን ሲሰማ፣ እጁን መሠዊያው ካለበት በመዘርጋት፣ “ያዙት!” አለ፤ ነገር ግን ያች የዘረጋት እጁ ደርቃ ቀረች፤ ሊመልሳትም አልቻለም 5እንዲሁም ያ የእግዚአብሔር ሰው በእግዚአብሔር ቃል ተመርቶ በሰጠው ምልክት መሠረት መሠዊያው ተሰነጠቀ፤ ዐመዱም ፈሰሰ።
6ከዚያም ንጉሡ የእግዚአብሔርን ሰው፣ “እጄ ወደ ቦታዋ እንድትመለስ ወደ አምላክህ ወደ እግዚአብሔር ለምንልኝ፤ ጸልይልኝም” አለው፤ ስለዚህም የእግዚአብሔር ሰው እግዚአብሔርን ለመነ፤ የንጉሡ እጅ ወደ ቦታዋ ተመለሰች፤ እንደ ቀድሞዋም ሆነች።
7ንጉሡም የእግዚአብሔርን ሰው፣ “አብረኸኝ ወደ ቤት እንሂድ፤ አንድ ነገር ቅመስ፤ ስጦታም አደርግልሃለሁ” አለው።
8የእግዚአብሔር ሰው ግን ለንጉሡ እንዲህ ሲል መለሰለት፤ “ግማሽ ሀብትህን ብትሰጠኝ እንኳ፣ አብሬህ አልሄድም፤ እዚህ፣ እንጀራ አልበላም፤ ውሃም አልጠጣም። 9በእግዚአብሔር ቃል፤ ‘እንጀራ እንዳትበላ፣ ውሃም እንዳትጠጣ፣ በሄድህበትም መንገድ እንዳትመለስ’ ተብዬ ታዝዣለሁና።” 10ስለዚህም በመጣበት ሳይሆን በሌላ መንገድ ወደ ቤቴል ተመለሰ።
11በዚያን ጊዜ በቤቴል የሚኖር አንድ ሽማግሌ ነቢይ ነበር፤ ልጆቹም መጥተው በዚያች ዕለት የእግዚአብሔር ሰው እዚያ ያደረገውን ሁሉና ንጉሡንም ምን እንዳለው ለአባታቸው ነገሩት። 12አባታቸውም፣ “ለመሆኑ የተመለሰው በየትኛው መንገድ ነው?” በማለት ጠየቃቸው፤ ልጆቹም ከይሁዳ የመጣው የእግዚአብሔር ሰው የተመለሰበትን መንገድ ለአባታቸው አሳዩት። 13ስለዚህም ልጆቹን፣ “በሉ አህያውን ጫኑልኝ” አላቸው። እነርሱም አህያውን ጫኑለትና ተቀምጦበት 14እየጋለበ ያን የእግዚአብሔር ሰው ተከተለው። ከዚያም በአንድ የወርካ ዛፍ ሥር ተቀምጦ አገኘውና፣ “ከይሁዳ የመጣኸው የእግዚአብሔር ሰው አንተ ነህን?” ሲል ጠየቀው።
እርሱም፣ “አዎን እኔ ነኝ” ብሎ መለሰለት።
15ስለዚህ ነቢዩ፣ “አብረን ወደ ቤት እንሂድና ምግብ ብላ” አለው።
16የእግዚአብሔርም ሰው እንዲህ ሲል መለሰለት፤ “ተመልሼ ከአንተ ጋር አልሄድም፤ በዚህ ቦታም አብሬህ እንጀራ አልበላም፤ ውሃም አልጠጣም፤ 17‘እዚያ እንጀራ እንዳትበላ፣ ውሃም እንዳትጠጣ፣ በሄድህበትም መንገድ እንዳትመለስ’ ተብዬ በእግዚአብሔር ቃል ታዝዣለሁና” አለው።
18ሽማግሌው ነቢይ ግን፣ “እኔም እኮ እንደ አንተው ነቢይ ነኝ፤ መልአክ በእግዚአብሔር ቃል፣ ‘እንጀራ እንዲበላና ውሃ እንዲጠጣ መልሰህ ወደ ቤትህ አምጣው’ ብሎኝ ነው” አለው፤ ነገር ግን ውሸቱን ነበር። 19ስለዚህ የእግዚአብሔርም ሰው አብሮት ተመልሶ በቤቱ በላ፤ ጠጣም።
20በማእድ ተቀምጠው ሳሉ፣ የእግዚአብሔር ቃል መልሶ ወደ አመጣው ወደ ሽማግሌው ነቢይ መጣ፤ 21ከይሁዳ ለመጣውም የእግዚአብሔር ሰው፣ “እግዚአብሔር የሚለው ይህ ነው፣ ‘የእግዚአብሔርን ቃል አቃልለሃል፤ አምላክህ እግዚአብሔር የሰጠህንም ትእዛዞች አልጠበቅህም፤ 22ተመልሰህ በመምጣት እንዳትበላና እንዳትጠጣ በነገረህ ቦታ እንጀራ በላህ፤ ውሃም ጠጣህ። ስለዚህ ሬሳህ በአባቶችህ መቃብር አይቀበርም’ ” ሲል ጮኾ ተናገረው።
23የእግዚአብሔርም ሰው በልቶና ጠጥቶ ካበቃ በኋላ፣ ያ መልሶ ያመጣው ነቢይ አህያውን ጫነለት። 24ሲሄድ ሳለም አንበሳ መንገድ ላይ አግኝቶ ገደለው፤ ሬሳውም በመንገድ ላይ ተጋደመ፤ አህያውና አንበሳውም አጠገቡ ቆመው ነበር። 25በዚያ ያለፉ ሰዎች ሬሳው በመንገድ ላይ ተጋድሞ፣ አንበሳውም አጠገቡ ቆሞ ስላዩ፣ ሽማግሌው ነቢይ ወዳለበት ከተማ ሄደው ይህንኑ ተናገሩ።
26ያም ከመንገድ የመለሰው ነቢይ ይህን ሲሰማ፣ “ይህ የእግዚአብሔርን ቃል ያቃለለው ያ የእግዚአብሔር ሰው ነው፤ እግዚአብሔር ባስጠነቀቀው ቃል መሠረት አሳልፎ ሰጥቶት አንበሳ ሰብሮ ገድሎታል” አለ።
27ከዚያም ነቢዩ ልጆቹን፣ “በሉ አህያ ጫኑልኝ” አላቸውና ጫኑለት። 28ከዚያም ሄዶ ሬሳው መንገድ ላይ ተጋድሞ አንበሳውና አህያው በአጠገቡ ቆመው አገኘ፤ አንበሳው ሬሳውን አልበላውም፤ አህያውንም አልሰበረውም። 29ስለዚህ፣ ነቢዩ የዚያን የእግዚአብሔር ሰው ሬሳ አንሥቶ በአህያው ላይ ጫነ፤ አልቅሶ ለመቅበርም ራሱ ወደሚኖርበት ከተማ አመጣው። 30ከዚያም ሬሳውን በራሱ መቃብር ቀበረው፤ “አወይ ወንድሜን” እያሉም አለቀሱለት።
31ከቀበሩትም በኋላ ልጆቹን እንዲህ አላቸው፤ “እኔም በምሞትበት ጊዜ የእግዚአብሔር ሰው በተቀበረበት መቃብር ቅበሩኝ፤ ዐጥንቶቼንም በዐጥንቶቹ አጠገብ አኑሩ። 32በቤቴል ባለው መሠዊያ፣ በሰማርያ ከተሞችና በየኰረብታው ባሉ ማምለኪያ ስፍራዎች ላይ በእግዚአብሔር ቃል ጮኾ ያሰማው መልእክት በትክክል የሚፈጸም ነውና።”
33ይህም ሁሉ ሆኖ ኢዮርብዓም ከክፉ መንገዱ አልተመለሰም፤ ይልቁንም በኰረብታ ማምለኪያዎች ከሁሉም የሕዝብ ክፍል እንደ ገና ካህናትን ይሾም ጀመር፤ ካህን ለመሆን የሚፈልገውንም ሁሉ ለየኰረብታ ማምለኪያዎቹ ለየ። 34ይህም ኀጢአት የኢዮርብዓም ቤት እንዲወድቅና ከምድር ገጽም እንዲደመሰስ ምክንያት ሆነ።
The Man of God From Judah
1By the word of the Lord a man of God came from Judah to Bethel, as Jeroboam was standing by the altar to make an offering. 2By the word of the Lord he cried out against the altar: “Altar, altar! This is what the Lord says: ‘A son named Josiah will be born to the house of David. On you he will sacrifice the priests of the high places who make offerings here, and human bones will be burned on you.’ ” 3That same day the man of God gave a sign: “This is the sign the Lord has declared: The altar will be split apart and the ashes on it will be poured out.”
4When King Jeroboam heard what the man of God cried out against the altar at Bethel, he stretched out his hand from the altar and said, “Seize him!” But the hand he stretched out toward the man shriveled up, so that he could not pull it back. 5Also, the altar was split apart and its ashes poured out according to the sign given by the man of God by the word of the Lord.
6Then the king said to the man of God, “Intercede with the Lord your God and pray for me that my hand may be restored.” So the man of God interceded with the Lord, and the king’s hand was restored and became as it was before.
7The king said to the man of God, “Come home with me for a meal, and I will give you a gift.”
8But the man of God answered the king, “Even if you were to give me half your possessions, I would not go with you, nor would I eat bread or drink water here. 9For I was commanded by the word of the Lord: ‘You must not eat bread or drink water or return by the way you came.’ ” 10So he took another road and did not return by the way he had come to Bethel.
11Now there was a certain old prophet living in Bethel, whose sons came and told him all that the man of God had done there that day. They also told their father what he had said to the king. 12Their father asked them, “Which way did he go?” And his sons showed him which road the man of God from Judah had taken. 13So he said to his sons, “Saddle the donkey for me.” And when they had saddled the donkey for him, he mounted it 14and rode after the man of God. He found him sitting under an oak tree and asked, “Are you the man of God who came from Judah?”
“I am,” he replied.
15So the prophet said to him, “Come home with me and eat.”
16The man of God said, “I cannot turn back and go with you, nor can I eat bread or drink water with you in this place. 17I have been told by the word of the Lord: ‘You must not eat bread or drink water there or return by the way you came.’ ”
18The old prophet answered, “I too am a prophet, as you are. And an angel said to me by the word of the Lord: ‘Bring him back with you to your house so that he may eat bread and drink water.’ ” (But he was lying to him.) 19So the man of God returned with him and ate and drank in his house.
20While they were sitting at the table, the word of the Lord came to the old prophet who had brought him back. 21He cried out to the man of God who had come from Judah, “This is what the Lord says: ‘You have defied the word of the Lord and have not kept the command the Lord your God gave you. 22You came back and ate bread and drank water in the place where he told you not to eat or drink. Therefore your body will not be buried in the tomb of your ancestors.’ ”
23When the man of God had finished eating and drinking, the prophet who had brought him back saddled his donkey for him. 24As he went on his way, a lion met him on the road and killed him, and his body was left lying on the road, with both the donkey and the lion standing beside it. 25Some people who passed by saw the body lying there, with the lion standing beside the body, and they went and reported it in the city where the old prophet lived.
26When the prophet who had brought him back from his journey heard of it, he said, “It is the man of God who defied the word of the Lord. The Lord has given him over to the lion, which has mauled him and killed him, as the word of the Lord had warned him.”
27The prophet said to his sons, “Saddle the donkey for me,” and they did so. 28Then he went out and found the body lying on the road, with the donkey and the lion standing beside it. The lion had neither eaten the body nor mauled the donkey. 29So the prophet picked up the body of the man of God, laid it on the donkey, and brought it back to his own city to mourn for him and bury him. 30Then he laid the body in his own tomb, and they mourned over him and said, “Alas, my brother!”
31After burying him, he said to his sons, “When I die, bury me in the grave where the man of God is buried; lay my bones beside his bones. 32For the message he declared by the word of the Lord against the altar in Bethel and against all the shrines on the high places in the towns of Samaria will certainly come true.”
33Even after this, Jeroboam did not change his evil ways, but once more appointed priests for the high places from all sorts of people. Anyone who wanted to become a priest he consecrated for the high places. 34This was the sin of the house of Jeroboam that led to its downfall and to its destruction from the face of the earth.
