ዳዊት ለሰሎሞን የሰጠው መመሪያ
2፥10-12 ተጓ ምብ – 1ዜና 29፥26-28
1ዳዊት የሚሞትበት ጊዜ እንደ ተቃረበም፣ ልጁን ሰሎሞንን እንዲህ ሲል አዘዘው፤
2“እነሆ፤ እኔ የምድሩን ሁሉ መንገድ ልሄድ ነው፤ እንግዲህ በርታ፤ ሰውም ሁን። 3የአምላክህን የእግዚአብሔርን ትእዛዝ ጠብቅ፤ የምታደርገው ሁሉ እንዲከናወንልህ፣ በምትሄድበትም ሁሉ እንዲሳካልህ፣ በሙሴ ሕግ እንደ ተጻፈው በመንገዶቹ ተመላለስ፣ ሥርዐቶቹንና ትእዛዞቹን፣ ሕግጋቱንና ደንቦቹን ጠብቅ፤ 4እግዚአብሔርም፣ ‘ዘሮችህ መንገዳቸውን ቢጠብቁ፣ እንዲሁም በፍጹም ልባቸው፣ በፍጹም ነፍሳቸው በታማኝነት በፊቴ ቢመላለሱ፣ በእስራኤል ዙፋን የሚቀመጥ ሰው ከዘርህ አላሳጣህም’ ሲል የሰጠኝን ተስፋ ይፈጽምልኛል።
5“የጽሩያ ልጅ ኢዮአብ በእኔ ላይ ያደረገውን፣ እንዲሁም በእስራኤል ሰራዊት አዛዦች በኔር ልጅ በአበኔርና በዬቴሩ ልጅ በአሜሳይ ላይ የፈጸመውን አንተው ራስህ ታውቃለህ፤ ጦርነት ሳይኖር በሰላሙ ጊዜ ደማቸውን አፍስሷል፤ በዚህም ደም ወገቡ ላይ የታጠቀውን ቀበቶና በእግሩ ላይ ያደረገውን ጫማ በክሏል። 6መደረግ ያለበትን በጥበብህ አድርግ፤ ከነሽበቱ በሰላም ወደ መቃብር2፥6 በዚህ ስፍራና በቍጥር 9 ላይ ዕብራይስጡ ሲኦል ይላል። እንዲወርድ አታድርግ።
7“ከወንድምህ ከአቤሴሎም በሸሸሁ ጊዜ መልካም ነገር አድርገውልኛልና ለገለዓዳዊው ለቤርዜሊ ልጆች ግን በጎ ነገር አድርግላቸው፤ ማእድህን ከሚካፈሉ ሰዎችም ጋር አብረው ይብሉ።
8“ወደ መሃናይም በሄድሁ ጊዜ፣ ክፉኛ የረገመኝ የባሑሪም ሰው የብንያማዊው የጌራ ልጅ ሳሚ እነሆ፤ ከአንተ ዘንድ ይገኛል፤ ሊቀበለኝ ወደ ዮርዳኖስ ሲወርድ፣ ‘በሰይፍ አልገድልህም’ ብዬ በእግዚአብሔር ስም ምዬለታለሁ፤ 9አሁን ግን በደል እንደሌለበት ሰው አትተወው፤ ጥበበኛ ነህና መደረግ ያለበትን ታውቃለህ፤ ሽበቱን በደም ወደ መቃብር አውርድ።”
10ከዚያም ዳዊት ከአባቶቹ ጋር አንቀላፋ፤ በዳዊትም ከተማ ተቀበረ። 11ዳዊት በኬብሮን ሰባት ዓመት፣ በኢየሩሳሌም ሠላሳ ሦስት ዓመት በአጠቃላይ አርባ ዓመት በእስራኤል ላይ ነገሠ። 12ስለዚህ ሰሎሞን በአባቱ በዳዊት ዙፋን ተቀመጠ፤ መንግሥቱም እጅግ የጸና ሆነ።
የሰሎሞን መንግሥት መጽናት
13በዚህ ጊዜ የአጊት ልጅ አዶንያስ ወደ ሰሎሞን እናት ወደ ቤርሳቤህ ሄደ። ቤርሳቤህም፣ “የመጣኸው በሰላም ነውን?” ስትል ጠየቀችው፤
እርሱም፣ “አዎን በሰላም ነው” ብሎ መለሰ። 14ከዚያም፣ “የምነግርሽ ጕዳይ አለኝ” አላት።
እርሷም፣ “እሺ ተናገር” ብላ መለሰች።
15እርሱም፣ “መንግሥቱ የእኔ እንደ ነበረና እስራኤልም ሁሉ እኔ እንድነግሥ ዐይናቸውን ጥለውብኝ እንደ ነበር አንቺ ራስሽ ታውቂአለሽ፤ ሆኖም ነገሩ ከእግዚአብሔር የተቈረጠለት ሆነና ሁኔታዎች ተለዋውጠው፣ መንግሥቱ ለወንድሜ ተላለፈ። 16አሁንም አንዲት ነገር እለምንሻለሁ፤ አታሳፍሪኝ” አላት።
እርሷም፣ “በል እሺ ተናገር” አለችው።
17እርሱም፣ “ንጉሥ ሰሎሞን መቼም እንቢ አይልሽምና ሱነማዊቷን አቢሳን እንዲድርልኝ ለምኚልኝ” አላት።
18ቤርሳቤህም፣ “መልካም ነው፤ ይህንኑ ለንጉሡ እነግርልሃለሁ” ብላ መለሰች።
19ስለዚህም ቤርሳቤህ የአዶንያስን ጕዳይ ልትነግረው ወደ ንጉሥ ሰሎሞን ሄደች፤ ንጉሡም ሊቀበላት ተነሣ፤ እጅ ከነሣትም በኋላ በዙፋኑ ላይ ተቀመጠ፤ ንጉሡም ለእናቱ ሌላ ዙፋን አስመጥቶ በቀኙ አስቀመጣት።
20እርሷም፣ “የምለምንህ አንዲት ነገር አለችኝና እባክህ እሺ በለኝ” አለችው።
ንጉሡም፣ “እናቴ ሆይ፤ አላሳፍርሽምና ንገሪኝ” ሲል መለሰላት።
21ስለዚህም፣ “ሱነማዊቷን አቢሳን ወንድምህ አዶንያስ ቢያገባትስ?” አለችው።
22ንጉሥ ሰሎሞንም እናቱን፣ “ስለ ምን ሱነማዊቷን አቢሳን ብቻ ለአዶንያስ ትጠይቂለታለሽ? ታላቅ ወንድሜ ስለሆነ መንግሥቱንም ጠይቂለት እንጂ፤ ለእርሱ ብቻ ሳይሆን እንዲሁም ለካህኑ ለአብያታርና ለጽሩያ ልጅ ለኢዮአብ ጠይቂላቸው” አላት።
23ከዚያም ንጉሥ ሰሎሞን በእግዚአብሔር ስም እንዲህ ሲል ማለ፤ “አዶንያስ ይህን ስለ ጠየቀ በሞት ሳይቀጣ ቢቀር፣ እግዚአብሔር ይፍረድብኝ፤ ከዚህ የባሰም ያምጣብኝ፤ 24አሁንም በሚገባ ያጸናኝ፤ በአባቴ በዳዊት ዙፋን ያስቀመጠኝና በሰጠውም ተስፋ መሠረት ሥርወ መንግሥትን የመሠረተልኝ ሕያው እግዚአብሔርን አዶንያስ ዛሬ ይሞታል!” 25ስለዚህም አዶንያስን እንዲገድለው ንጉሥ ሰሎሞን፣ የዮዳሄን ልጅ በናያስን አዘዘው፤ በናያስም አዶንያስን መትቶ ገደለው።
26ንጉሡም ካህኑን አብያታርን፣ “ሞት የሚገባህ ሰው ነበርህ፤ ነገር ግን የጌታ እግዚአብሔርን ታቦት በአባቴ በዳዊት ፊት ስለ ተሸከምህ፣ አባቴ የተቀበለውንም መከራ ሁሉ አብረኸው ስለ ተቀበልህ፣ እኔ አሁን አልገድልህም፤ ዓናቶት ወዳለው ዕርሻህ ሂድ” አለው። 27ስለዚህ እግዚአብሔር ስለ ዔሊ ቤት በሴሎ የተናገረውን ቃል ለመፈጸም፣ ሰሎሞን አብያታርን ከእግዚአብሔር ክህነት አስወገደው።
28ከአቤሴሎም ጋር ሳይሆን ከአዶንያስ ጋር አሢሮ የነበረው ኢዮአብም ይህን በሰማ ጊዜ፣ ወደ እግዚአብሔር ድንኳን ሸሽቶ የመሠዊያውን ቀንድ ያዘ። 29ኢዮአብ ወደ እግዚአብሔር ድንኳን ሸሽቶ መሄዱንና በመሠዊያው አጠገብ መሆኑን ንጉሥ ሰሎሞን በሰማ ጊዜ፣ የዮዳሄን ልጅ በናያስን፣ “ሂድና ግደለው!” ብሎ አዘዘው።
30ስለዚህም በናያስ ወደ እግዚአብሔር ድንኳን ገብቶ ኢዮአብን፣ “ንጉሡ፣ ‘ከዚህ ውጣ’ ይልሃል” አለው።
እርሱ ግን “አልወጣም፣ እዚሁ እሞታለሁ” አለው።
በናያስም፣ “ኢዮአብ የሰጠኝ መልስ ይህ ነው” በማለት ለንጉሡ ተናገረ።
31ንጉሡም በናያስን እንዲህ ሲል አዘዘው፤ “በል እንዳለው አድርግ፤ ግደልና ቅበረው፤ ኢዮአብ በከንቱ ካፈሰሰው ንጹሕ ደምም እኔንና የአባቴን ቤት አንጻን። 32አባቴ ዳዊት ሳያውቅ ኢዮአብ በሁለቱ ሰዎች ላይ አደጋ ጥሎ በሰይፍ ገድሏቸዋልና ስላፈሰሰው ደም እግዚአብሔር ይበቀለዋል። የእስራኤል ሰራዊት አዛዥ የኔር ልጅ አበኔርና የይሁዳ ሰራዊት አዛዥ የዬቴሩ ልጅ አሜሳይ ሁለቱም ከእርሱ የተሻሉና ይበልጥ ትክክለኛ ሰዎች ነበሩ። 33የደማቸውም ዕዳ ለዘላለም በኢዮአብና በዘሩ ራስ ላይ ይሁን። ነገር ግን በዳዊትና በዘሩ፣ በቤቱና በዙፋኑ ላይ የእግዚአብሔር ሰላም ለዘላለም ጸንቶ ይኑር።”
34ስለዚህም የዮዳሄ ልጅ በናያስ ወጣ፤ ኢዮአብንም መትቶ ገደለው፤ እርሱም በምድረ በዳ ባለው በገዛ ምድሩ2፥34 ወይም በገዛ መቃብሩ ተብሎ ሊተረጐም ይችላል። ተቀበረ። 35ንጉሡም በኢዮአብ ቦታ የዮዳሄን ልጅ በናያስን በሰራዊቱ ላይ ሾመ፤ በአብያታርም ቦታ ካህኑን ሳዶቅን ተካ።
36ከዚያም ንጉሡ ሳሚን አስጠርቶ እንዲህ አለው፤ “በኢየሩሳሌም ቤት ሠርተህ እዚያው ተቀመጥ፤ ከዚያ ግን የትም እንዳትሄድ፤ 37ነገር ግን ከዚያ ወጥተህ የቄድሮንን ሸለቆ ከተሻገርህ እንደምትሞት ዕወቅ፤ ደምህም በራስህ ላይ ይሆናል።”
38ሳሚም መልሶ ንጉሡን፣ “መልካም፤ ባሪያህ ጌታዬ ንጉሡ ያለውን ይፈጽማል” አለው፤ እርሱም በኢየሩሳሌም ብዙ ጊዜ ተቀመጠ።
39ከሦስት ዓመት በኋላ ግን፣ ከሳሚ አገልጋዮች ሁለቱ ወደ ጌት ንጉሥ፣ ወደ መዓካ ልጅ ወደ አንኩስ ኰበለሉ፤ ለሳሚም፣ “እነሆ፣ አገልጋዮችህ በጌት ናቸው” ተብሎ ተነገረው። 40ሳሚ ይህን ሲሰማም አህዮቹን ጭኖ አገልጋዮቹን ለመፈለግ ጌት ወዳለው ወደ አንኩስ ሄደ፤ አገልጋዮቹንም ከጌት መልሶ አመጣቸው።
41ሳሚ ከኢየሩሳሌም ወደ ጌት ሄዶ መመለሱን ሰሎሞን በሰማ ጊዜ፣ 42ንጉሡ ሳሚን አስጠርቶ እንዲህ አለው፤ “ ‘ወደ ሌላ ቦታ የሄድህ ዕለት እንደምትሞት ዕወቅ’ ብዬ በእግዚአብሔር ስም አስምዬ አስጠንቅቄህ አልነበረምን? በዚያን ጊዜ አንተም፣ ‘መልካም ነው፤ እኔም እታዘዛለሁ’ ብለኸኝ ነበር፤ 43ታዲያ ለእግዚአብሔር የማልኸውን መሐላ ያልጠበቅኸውና እኔም የሰጠሁህን ትእዛዝ ያልፈጸምኸው ለምንድን ነው?”
44ንጉሡም መልሶ ሳሚን እንዲህ አለው፤ “በአባቴ በዳዊት ላይ ያደረግህበትን ክፉ ነገር ሁሉ ልብህ ያውቀዋል፤ ስለዚህ እግዚአብሔር ስለ ክፉ ሥራህ ብድሩን ይከፍልሃል። 45ንጉሥ ሰሎሞን ግን ይባረካል፤ የዳዊትም ዙፋን በእግዚአብሔር ፊት ለዘላለም ጸንቶ ይኖራል።” 46ከዚያም ንጉሡ የዮዳሄን ልጅ በናያስን አዘዘው፤ በናያስም ወጣ፤ ሳሚንም መትቶ ገደለው።
በዚህ ጊዜም መንግሥቱ በሰሎሞን እጅ ጸና።
David’s charge to Solomon
1When the time drew near for David to die, he gave a charge to Solomon his son.
2‘I am about to go the way of all the earth,’ he said. ‘So be strong, act like a man, 3and observe what the Lord your God requires: walk in obedience to him, and keep his decrees and commands, his laws and regulations, as written in the Law of Moses. Do this so that you may prosper in all you do and wherever you go 4and that the Lord may keep his promise to me: “If your descendants watch how they live, and if they walk faithfully before me with all their heart and soul, you will never fail to have a successor on the throne of Israel.”
5‘Now you yourself know what Joab son of Zeruiah did to me – what he did to the two commanders of Israel’s armies, Abner son of Ner and Amasa son of Jether. He killed them, shedding their blood in peacetime as if in battle, and with that blood he stained the belt round his waist and the sandals on his feet. 6Deal with him according to your wisdom, but do not let his grey head go down to the grave in peace.
7‘But show kindness to the sons of Barzillai of Gilead and let them be among those who eat at your table. They stood by me when I fled from your brother Absalom.
8‘And remember, you have with you Shimei son of Gera, the Benjaminite from Bahurim, who called down bitter curses on me the day I went to Mahanaim. When he came down to meet me at the Jordan, I swore to him by the Lord: “I will not put you to death by the sword.” 9But now, do not consider him innocent. You are a man of wisdom; you will know what to do to him. Bring his grey head down to the grave in blood.’
10Then David rested with his ancestors and was buried in the City of David. 11He had reigned for forty years over Israel – seven years in Hebron and thirty-three in Jerusalem. 12So Solomon sat on the throne of his father David, and his rule was firmly established.
Solomon’s throne established
13Now Adonijah, the son of Haggith, went to Bathsheba, Solomon’s mother. Bathsheba asked him, ‘Do you come peacefully?’
He answered, ‘Yes, peacefully.’ 14Then he added, ‘I have something to say to you.’
‘You may say it,’ she replied.
15‘As you know,’ he said, ‘the kingdom was mine. All Israel looked to me as their king. But things changed, and the kingdom has gone to my brother; for it has come to him from the Lord. 16Now I have one request to make of you. Do not refuse me.’
‘You may make it,’ she said.
17So he continued, ‘Please ask King Solomon – he will not refuse you – to give me Abishag the Shunammite as my wife.’
18‘Very well,’ Bathsheba replied, ‘I will speak to the king for you.’
19When Bathsheba went to King Solomon to speak to him for Adonijah, the king stood up to meet her, bowed down to her and sat down on his throne. He had a throne brought for the king’s mother, and she sat down at his right hand.
20‘I have one small request to make of you,’ she said. ‘Do not refuse me.’
The king replied, ‘Make it, my mother; I will not refuse you.’
21So she said, ‘Let Abishag the Shunammite be given in marriage to your brother Adonijah.’
22King Solomon answered his mother, ‘Why do you request Abishag the Shunammite for Adonijah? You might as well request the kingdom for him – after all, he is my older brother – yes, for him and for Abiathar the priest and Joab son of Zeruiah!’
23Then King Solomon swore by the Lord: ‘May God deal with me, be it ever so severely, if Adonijah does not pay with his life for this request! 24And now, as surely as the Lord lives – he who has established me securely on the throne of my father David and has founded a dynasty for me as he promised – Adonijah shall be put to death today!’ 25So King Solomon gave orders to Benaiah son of Jehoiada, and he struck down Adonijah and he died.
26To Abiathar the priest the king said, ‘Go back to your fields in Anathoth. You deserve to die, but I will not put you to death now, because you carried the ark of the Sovereign Lord before my father David and shared all my father’s hardships.’ 27So Solomon removed Abiathar from the priesthood of the Lord, fulfilling the word the Lord had spoken at Shiloh about the house of Eli.
28When the news reached Joab, who had conspired with Adonijah though not with Absalom, he fled to the tent of the Lord and took hold of the horns of the altar. 29King Solomon was told that Joab had fled to the tent of the Lord and was beside the altar. Then Solomon ordered Benaiah son of Jehoiada, ‘Go, strike him down!’
30So Benaiah entered the tent of the Lord and said to Joab, ‘The king says, “Come out!” ’
But he answered, ‘No, I will die here.’
Benaiah reported to the king, ‘This is how Joab answered me.’
31Then the king commanded Benaiah, ‘Do as he says. Strike him down and bury him, and so clear me and my whole family of the guilt of the innocent blood that Joab shed. 32The Lord will repay him for the blood he shed, because without my father David knowing it he attacked two men and killed them with the sword. Both of them – Abner son of Ner, commander of Israel’s army, and Amasa son of Jether, commander of Judah’s army – were better men and more upright than he. 33May the guilt of their blood rest on the head of Joab and his descendants for ever. But on David and his descendants, his house and his throne, may there be the Lord’s peace for ever.’
34So Benaiah son of Jehoiada went up and struck down Joab and killed him, and he was buried at his home out in the country. 35The king put Benaiah son of Jehoiada over the army in Joab’s position and replaced Abiathar with Zadok the priest.
36Then the king sent for Shimei and said to him, ‘Build yourself a house in Jerusalem and live there, but do not go anywhere else. 37The day you leave and cross the Kidron Valley, you can be sure you will die; your blood will be on your own head.’
38Shimei answered the king, ‘What you say is good. Your servant will do as my lord the king has said.’ And Shimei stayed in Jerusalem for a long time.
39But three years later, two of Shimei’s slaves ran off to Achish son of Maakah, king of Gath, and Shimei was told, ‘Your slaves are in Gath.’ 40At this, he saddled his donkey and went to Achish at Gath in search of his slaves. So Shimei went away and brought the slaves back from Gath.
41When Solomon was told that Shimei had gone from Jerusalem to Gath and had returned, 42the king summoned Shimei and said to him, ‘Did I not make you swear by the Lord and warn you, “On the day you leave to go anywhere else, you can be sure you will die”? At that time you said to me, “What you say is good. I will obey.” 43Why then did you not keep your oath to the Lord and obey the command I gave you?’
44The king also said to Shimei, ‘You know in your heart all the wrong you did to my father David. Now the Lord will repay you for your wrongdoing. 45But King Solomon will be blessed, and David’s throne will remain secure before the Lord for ever.’
46Then the king gave the order to Benaiah son of Jehoiada, and he went out and struck Shimei down and he died.
The kingdom was now established in Solomon’s hands.
