ሚክያስ በአክዓብ ላይ ትንቢት ተናገረ
22፥1-28 ተጓ ምብ – 2ዜና 18፥1-27
1በሶርያና በእስራኤል መካከል ለሦስት ዓመት ጦርነት አልነበረም። 2በሦስተኛው ዓመት ግን የይሁዳ ንጉሥ ኢዮሣፍጥ የእስራኤልን ንጉሥ ለመጐብኘት ወረደ። 3የእስራኤልም ንጉሥ ሹማምቱን፣ “በገለዓድ የምትገኘው ሬማት የእኛ ሆና ሳለች፣ ከሶርያው ንጉሥ እጅ ለመመለስ ምንም እንዳላደረግን አታውቁምን?” አላቸው።
4ስለዚህ ኢዮሣፍጥን፣ “በገለዓድ የምትገኘው ሬማት ላይ ለመዝመት አብረኸኝ ለመሄድ ትፈቅዳለህን?” ሲል ጠየቀው።
ኢዮሣፍጥም፣ “እኔ ያው እንደ አንተው ነኝ፤ ሕዝቤ እንደ ሕዝብህ፣ ፈረሶቼም እንደ ፈረሶችህ ናቸው” አለ። 5ኢዮሣፍጥም የእስራኤልን ንጉሥ፣ “በመጀመሪያ ግን የእግዚአብሔርን ሐሳብ ጠይቅ” አለው።
6ስለዚህ የእስራኤል ንጉሥ አራት መቶ ነቢያትን በአንድነት ሰብስቦ፣ “በገለዓድ በምትገኘው ሬማት ላይ ልዝመት ወይስ ልተው?” ሲል ጠየቃቸው።
እነርሱም፣ “እግዚአብሔር በንጉሡ እጅ አሳልፎ ይሰጣታልና ዝመትባት” አሉት።
7ኢዮሣፍጥ ግን፣ “የምንጠይቀው የእግዚአብሔር ነቢይ እዚህ የለምን?” አለ።
8የእስራኤልም ንጉሥ ለኢዮሣፍጥ፣ “መኖሩንማ በእርሱ አማካይነት የእግዚአብሔርን ፈቃድ የምንጠይቀው አንድ ሰው አሁንም አለ፤ ነገር ግን ምንጊዜም ቢሆን ስለ እኔ ክፉ እንጂ አንዳችም መልካም ትንቢት ተናግሮ ስለማያውቅ እጠላዋለሁ፤ ይህም ሰው የይምላ ልጅ ሚክያስ ነው” አለ። ኢዮሣፍጥም፣ “ንጉሡ እንዲህ ማለት አይገባውም” ሲል መለሰ።
9ስለዚህ የእስራኤል ንጉሥ ከሹማምቱ አንዱን ጠርቶ፣ “በል የይምላን ልጅ ሚክያስን በፍጥነት አምጣው” አለው።
10የእስራኤል ንጉሥና የይሁዳ ንጉሥ ኢዮሣፍጥ አልባሰ መንግሥታቸውን ለብሰው፣ በሰማርያ ቅጥር በር አጠገብ ባለው አውድማ ላይ በየዙፋናቸው ተቀምጠው ሳለ፣ ነቢያቱ ሁሉ በፊታቸው ትንቢት ይናገሩ ነበር።
11በዚህ ጊዜ ሴዴቅያስ የተባለው የክንዓና ልጅ የብረት ቀንዶች አበጅቶ፣ “እግዚአብሔር እንዲህ ይላል፤ ‘ሶርያውያን እስኪጠፉ ድረስ የምትወጋቸው በእነዚህ ነው’ ” አለው።
12የቀሩትም ነቢያት ሁሉ፣ “እግዚአብሔር በንጉሡ እጅ አሳልፎ ይሰጣታልና በገለዓድ የምትገኘውን ሬማትን ወግተህ ድል አድርግ” በማለት በአንድ ቃል ትንቢት ይናገሩ ነበር።
13ከዚያም ሚክያስን ሊጠራ የሄደው መልእክተኛ፣ “እነሆ፤ ሌሎቹ ነቢያት ንጉሡ ድል እንደሚያደርግ በአንድ ቃል ትንቢት እየተናገሩለት ነውና የአንተም ቃል ከእነርሱ ጋር አንድ እንዲሆን እባክህ መልካም ነገር ተናገር” አለው።
14ሚክያስ ግን፣ “ሕያው እግዚአብሔርን! ለእርሱ የምነግረው እግዚአብሔር የነገረኝን ብቻ ነው” አለ።
15እዚያም እንደ ደረሰ ንጉሡ፣ “ሚክያስ ሆይ፤ በገለዓድ በምትገኘው ሬማት ላይ እንዝመትባት ወይስ እንተው?” ሲል ጠየቀው።
እርሱም፣ “እግዚአብሔር በንጉሡ እጅ አሳልፎ ይሰጣታልና ዘምተህ ድል አድርጋት” ብሎ መለሰለት።
16ንጉሡም፣ “ከእውነት በቀር በእግዚአብሔር ስም አንዳች ነገር እንዳትነግረኝ የማምልህ ስንት ጊዜ ነው?” አለው።
17ከዚያም ሚክያስ እንዲህ ሲል መለሰ፣ “እስራኤል ሁሉ ጠባቂ እንደሌላቸው በጎች በየተራራው ላይ ተበትነው አየሁ፣ እግዚአብሔርም፣ ‘ይህ ሕዝብ ጌታ የለውም፤ እያንዳንዱ በሰላም ወደየቤቱ ይሂድ’ አለ።”
18የእስራኤልም ንጉሥ ለኢዮሣፍጥ፣ “ስለ እኔ ክፉ ብቻ እንጂ ከቶ መልካም ትንቢት አይናገርም አላልሁህምን?” አለው።
19ከዚያም ሚክያስ እንዲህ አለ፤ “እንግዲህ የእግዚአብሔር ቃል የሚለውን ስማ፤ እግዚአብሔር በዙፋኑ ላይ ተቀምጦ፣ የሰማይ ሰራዊት ሁሉ በቀኙና በግራው ቆመው አየሁ፤ 20እግዚአብሔርም፣ ‘በገለዓድ በምትገኘው ሬማት ላይ ዘምቶ እዚያው እንዲሞት፣ አክዓብን ማን ያስተው?’ አለ።
“ታዲያ አንዱ ይህን፣ ሌላውም ያን አለ፤ 21በመጨረሻም፣ አንድ መንፈስ ወጣ፤ ከዚያም በእግዚአብሔር ፊት ቆሞ፣ ‘እኔ አስተዋለሁ’ አለ።
22“እግዚአብሔርም፣ ‘እንዴት አድርገህ?’ ሲል ጠየቀው።
“እርሱም፣ ‘እኔ እወጣለሁ፤ በገዛ ነቢያቱም አፍ ሁሉ የሐሰት መንፈስ እሆናለሁ’ አለ።
“እግዚአብሔርም፣ ‘በል እንግዲያው ውጣና አስተው፤ ይሳካልሃል’ አለው።
23“ስለዚህ እነሆ እግዚአብሔር በእነዚህ ሁሉ ነቢያትህ አፍ የሐሰት መንፈስ አኖረ፤ በአንተም ላይ መዓቱን እንደሚያመጣብህ ተናገረ።”
24ከዚያም የክንዓና ልጅ ሴዴቅያስ ወጥቶ ሚክያስን በጥፊ መታውና፣ “ለመሆኑ የእግዚአብሔር መንፈስ ከእኔ በየት በኩል ዐልፎ ነው አንተን መጥቶ ያናገረህ?” ሲል ጠየቀው።
25ሚክያስም፤ “ይህንማ ለመደበቅ ወደ አንዲት እልፍኝ በሄድህ ዕለት ታውቀዋለህ” አለው።
26ከዚያም የእስራኤል ንጉሥ እንዲህ ሲል አዘዘ፤ “በሉ ሚክያስን ይዛችሁ ወደ ከተማዪቱ ገዥ ወደ አሞንና ወደ ንጉሡ ልጅ ወደ ኢዮአስ መልሱት፤ 27ከዚያም፣ ‘ንጉሡ፣ በደኅና እስክመለስ ድረስ፣ ይህን ሰው በእስር ቤት አቈዩት፤ ከደረቅ እንጀራና ከውሃ በስተቀር ሌላ እንዳትሰጡት’ ብሏል በሉት” አለ።
28ሚክያስም፣ “አንተ በደኅና ከተመለስህ እግዚአብሔር በእኔ አልተናገረማ!” አለ፤ ከዚያም በመቀጠል፣ “በዚህ ያለኸው ሕዝብ ሁሉ ይህን ቃሌን ልብ ብለህ ያዘው፤” አለ።
አክዓብ በገለዓድ በምትገኘው በሬማት ተገደለ
22፥29-36 ተጓ ምብ – 2ዜና 18፥28-34
29ስለዚህ የእስራኤል ንጉሥና የይሁዳ ንጉሥ ኢዮሣፍጥ በገለዓድ ወደምትገኘው ሬማት ወጡ። 30የእስራኤል ንጉሥ ኢዮሣፍጥን፣ “እንዳልታወቅ እኔ ልብስ ለውጬና ሌላ ሰው መስዬ እገባለሁ፤ አንተ ግን ልብሰ መንግሥትህን ልበስ” አለው። ስለዚህ የእስራኤል ንጉሥ ራሱን ደብቆ ወደ ጦርነቱ ገባ።
31በዚህ ጊዜ የሶርያ ንጉሥ ሠላሳ ሁለቱን የሠረገላ አዛዦች፣ “ከራሱ ከእስራኤል ንጉሥ በቀር ትንሽም ይሁን ትልቅ ከማንም ጋር እንዳትገጥሙ” ሲል አዝዟቸው ነበር፤ 32የሠረገላ አዛዦቹ ኢዮሣፍጥን ሲያዩት፣ “ያለ ጥርጥር ይህ የእስራኤል ንጉሥ ነው” አሉ፤ ስለዚህ አደጋ ሊጥሉበት ከበቡት፤ ኢዮሣፍጥ ሲጮህ ግን 33የሠረገላ አዛዦቹ እርሱ የእስራኤል ንጉሥ አለመሆኑን ዐውቀው መከታተሉን ተዉት።
34ነገር ግን አንዱ ቀስቱን ሳያልም እንዲሁ ሲያስፈነጥር በጦር ልብሱ መጋጠሚያ ላይ የእስራኤልን ንጉሥ ወጋው፤ ንጉሡም ሠረገላ ነጂውን፣ “ቈስያለሁና ወደ ኋላ አዙረህ ከጦሩ ሜዳ አውጣኝ” አለው። 35ጦርነቱም ቀኑን ሙሉ ተፋፍሞ ዋለ፤ በዚህ ጊዜም ንጉሡ በሶርያውያን ፊት ለፊት ሠረገላው ላይ ቀና ብሎ እንደ ተደገፈ ነበር፤ የቍስሉ ደም በሠረገላው ወለል ላይ ይወርድ ነበር፤ በዚያኑ ዕለት ማታም ንጉሡ ሞተ። 36ፀሓይ ስትጠልቅም በሰራዊቱ መካከል፣ “እያንዳንዱ ሰው ወደ ቤቱ፣ እያንዳንዱም ወደ ሀገሩ ይሂድ!” የሚል ጩኸት አስተጋባ።
37ንጉሡ ስለ ሞተም ወደ ሰማርያ አምጥተውት እዚያው ተቀበረ። 38ሠረገላውንም አመንዝሮች በታጠቡበት በሰማርያ22፥38 ወይም፣ የጦር መሣሪያ በሚታጠብበት በሰማርያ ተብሎ መተርጐም ይችላል ኵሬ ዐጠቡት፤ እግዚአብሔርም እንደ ተናገረው ቃል ደሙን ውሾች ላሱት።
39ሌላው በአክዓብ ዘመነ መንግሥት የተፈጸመውና ያደረገው ሁሉ፣ ቤተ መንግሥቱን መሥራቱና በዝኆን ጥርስ መለበጡ እንዲሁም የሠራቸው የምሽግ ከተሞች በእስራኤል ነገሥታት ታሪክ የተጻፈ አይደለምን? 40አክዓብም ከአባቶቹ ጋር አንቀላፋ፤ ልጁ አካዝያስም በእግሩ ተተክቶ ነገሠ።
የይሁዳ ንጉሥ ኢዮሣፍጥ
22፥41-50 ተጓ ምብ – 2ዜና 20፥31–21፥1
41የእስራኤል ንጉሥ አክዓብ በነገሠ በአራተኛው ዓመት የአሳ ልጅ ኢዮሣፍጥ በይሁዳ ነገሠ። 42ኢዮሣፍጥ ሲነግሥ ዕድሜው ሠላሳ አምስት ዓመት ነበር፤ እርሱም በኢየሩሳሌም ሃያ አምስት ዓመት ገዛ። እናቱ ዓዙባ ትባላለች፤ እርሷም የሺልሒ ልጅ ነበረች። 43በአካሄዱም ሁሉ የአባቱን የአሳን መንገድ ተከተለ፤ ከዚያች ፈቀቅ አላለም፤ በእግዚአብሔርም ፊት መልካም የሆነውን አደረገ፤ ይሁን እንጂ በየኰረብታው ላይ ያሉትን የማምለኪያ ቦታዎች አላጠፋም፤ ሕዝቡም በዚያ መሥዋዕት ይሠዋ፣ ዕጣንም ያጥን ነበር። 44እንዲሁም ኢዮሣፍጥ ከእስራኤል ንጉሥ ጋር በሰላም ኖረ።
45ሌላውም ኢዮሣፍጥ በዘመነ መንግሥቱ የፈጸመው፣ ያከናወነውና ያደረገው ጦርነት ሁሉ በይሁዳ ነገሥታት ታሪክ የተጻፈ አይደለምን? 46ከአባቱ ከአሳ ዘመን በኋላ እንኳ ተርፈው በጣዖት ማምለኪያ ቦታዎች የነበሩትን የወንደቃ ቅሬታዎች ከምድሪቱ አስወገደ። 47በዚያን ጊዜ ኤዶም ንጉሥ አልነበራትም፤ የሚገዛት እንደራሴ ነበር።
48ኢዮሣፍጥ ወርቅ ለማምጣት ወደ ኦፊር የሚሄዱ የንግድ መርከቦች22፥48 ዕብራይስጡ የተርሴስ መርከቦች ይላል አሠርቶ ነበር፤ ይሁን እንጂ በዔጽዮንጋብር ስለ ተሰበሩ ከቶ ወደዚያ መሄድ አልቻሉም ነበር። 49በዚያን ጊዜም የአክዓብ ልጅ አካዝያስ ኢዮሣፍጥን “ሰዎቼ ከሰዎችህ ጋር በመርከብ ይሂዱ” ሲል ጠይቆት ነበር፤ ኢዮሣፍጥ ግን እሺ አላለውም።
50ኢዮሣፍጥ ከአባቶቹ ጋር አንቀላፋ፤ እነርሱ በተቀበሩበት በአባቱ በዳዊት ከተማ ተቀበረ። ልጁ ኢዮራምም በእግሩ ተተክቶ ነገሠ።
የእስራኤል ንጉሥ አካዝያስ
51የይሁዳ ንጉሥ ኢዮሣፍጥ በነገሠ በዐሥራ ሰባተኛው ዓመት የአክዓብ ልጅ አካዝያስ የእስራኤል ንጉሥ ሆኖ በሰማርያ ነገሠ፤ እስራኤልንም ሁለት ዓመት ገዛ። 52እርሱም የአባቱንና የእናቱን፣ እንዲሁም እስራኤልን ያሳተውን የናባጥን ልጅ የኢዮርብዓምን መንገድ በመከተሉ፣ በእግዚአብሔር ፊት የተጠላ ክፉ ሥራ ሠራ። 53አባቱ እንዳደረገው ሁሉ፣ እርሱም በኣልን አመለከ፤ ሰገደለትም። በዚህም የእስራኤልን አምላክ እግዚአብሔርን ለቍጣ እንዲነሣሣ አደረገ።
Micaiah Prophesies Against Ahab
1For three years there wasn’t any war between Aram and Israel. 2In the third year Jehoshaphat went down to see Ahab, the king of Israel. Jehoshaphat was king of Judah. 3The king of Israel had spoken to his officials. He had said, “Don’t you know that Ramoth Gilead belongs to us? And we aren’t even doing anything to take it back from the king of Aram.”
4So Ahab asked Jehoshaphat, “Will you go with me to fight against Ramoth Gilead?”
Jehoshaphat replied to the king of Israel, “Yes. I’ll go with you. My men will go with you. My horses will also go with you.” 5Jehoshaphat continued, “First ask the Lord for advice.”
6So the king of Israel brought about 400 prophets together. He asked them, “Should I go to war against Ramoth Gilead? Or should I stay here?”
“Go,” they answered. “The Lord will hand it over to you.”
7But Jehoshaphat asked, “Is there no longer a prophet of the Lord here? If there is, ask him what we should do.”
8The king of Israel answered Jehoshaphat. He said, “There is still one other man we can go to. We can ask the Lord for advice through him. But I hate him. He never prophesies anything good about me. He only prophesies bad things. His name is Micaiah. He’s the son of Imlah.”
“You shouldn’t say bad things about him,” Jehoshaphat replied.
9So the king of Israel called for one of his officials. He told him, “Bring Micaiah, the son of Imlah, right away.”
10The king of Israel and Jehoshaphat, the king of Judah, were wearing their royal robes. They were sitting on their thrones at the threshing floor. It was near the entrance of the gate of Samaria. All the prophets were prophesying in front of them. 11Zedekiah was the son of Kenaanah. Zedekiah had made horns out of iron. They looked like animal horns. He announced, “The Lord says, ‘With these horns you will drive back the men of Aram until they are destroyed.’ ”
12All the other prophets were prophesying the same thing. “Attack Ramoth Gilead,” they said. “Win the battle over it. The Lord will hand it over to you.”
13A messenger went to get Micaiah. He said to him, “Look. The other prophets agree. All of them are saying the king will have success. So agree with them. Say the same thing they do.”
14But Micaiah said, “You can be sure that the Lord lives. And here is something you can be just as sure of. I can only tell the king what the Lord tells me to say.”
15When Micaiah arrived, the king spoke to him. He asked, “Should we go to war against Ramoth Gilead, or not?”
“Attack,” he answered. “You will win. The Lord will hand Ramoth Gilead over to you.”
16The king said to him, “I’ve made you promise to tell the truth many times before. So don’t tell me anything but the truth in the name of the Lord.”
17Then Micaiah answered, “I saw all the Israelites scattered on the hills. They were like sheep that didn’t have a shepherd. The Lord said, ‘These people do not have a master. Let each of them go home in peace.’ ”
18The king of Israel spoke to Jehoshaphat. He said, “Didn’t I tell you he never prophesies anything good about me? He only prophesies bad things.”
19Micaiah continued, “Listen to the Lord’s message. I saw the Lord sitting on his throne. All the angels of heaven were standing around him. Some were standing at his right side. The others were standing at his left side. 20The Lord said, ‘Who will get Ahab to attack Ramoth Gilead? I want him to die there.’
“One angel suggested one thing. Another suggested something else. 21Finally, a spirit came forward and stood in front of the Lord. The spirit said, ‘I’ll get Ahab to do it.’
22“ ‘How?’ the Lord asked.
“The spirit said, ‘I’ll go out and put lies in the mouths of all his prophets.’
“ ‘You will have success in getting Ahab to attack Ramoth Gilead,’ said the Lord. ‘Go and do it.’
23“So the Lord has put lies in the mouths of all your prophets. He has said that great harm will come to you.”
24Then Zedekiah, the son of Kenaanah, went up and slapped Micaiah in the face. Zedekiah asked Micaiah, “Do you think the spirit sent by the Lord left me? Do you think that spirit went to speak to you?”
25Micaiah replied, “You will find out on the day you go to hide in an inside room to save your life.”
26Then the king of Israel gave an order. He said, “Take Micaiah away. Send him back to Amon. Amon is the ruler of the city of Samaria. And send him back to Joash. Joash is a member of the royal court. 27Tell him, ‘The king says, “Put this fellow in prison. Don’t give him anything but bread and water until I return safely.” ’ ”
28Micaiah announced, “Do you really think you will return safely? If you do, the Lord hasn’t spoken through me.” He continued, “All of you people, remember what I’ve said!”
Ahab Is Killed at Ramoth Gilead
29So the king of Israel went up to Ramoth Gilead. Jehoshaphat, the king of Judah, went there too. 30The king of Israel spoke to Jehoshaphat. He said, “I’ll go into battle wearing different clothes. Then people won’t recognize me. But you wear your royal robes.” So the king of Israel put on different clothes. Then he went into battle.
31The king of Aram had given an order to his 32 chariot commanders. He had said, “Fight only against the king of Israel. Don’t fight against anyone else.” 32The chariot commanders saw Jehoshaphat. They thought, “That has to be the king of Israel.” So they turned to attack him. But Jehoshaphat cried out. 33Then the commanders saw he wasn’t the king of Israel after all. So they stopped chasing him.
34But someone shot an arrow without taking aim. The arrow hit the king of Israel between the parts of his armor. The king told his chariot driver, “Turn the chariot around. Get me out of this battle. I’ve been wounded.” 35All day long the battle continued. The king kept himself standing up by leaning against the inside of his chariot. He kept his face toward the men of Aram. The blood from his wound ran down onto the floor of the chariot. That evening he died. 36As the sun was setting, a cry spread through the army. “Every man must go to his own town!” they said. “Every man must go to his own land!”
37So the king died. He was brought to Samaria. They buried him there. 38They washed the chariot at a pool in Samaria. It was where the prostitutes took baths. The dogs licked up Ahab’s blood. It happened exactly as the Lord had said it would.
39The other events of Ahab’s rule are written down. Everything he did is written down. That includes the palace he built and decorated with ivory. It also includes the cities he built up and put high walls around. All these things are written in the official records of the kings of Israel. 40Ahab joined the members of his family who had already died. Ahab’s son Ahaziah became the next king after him.
Jehoshaphat King of Judah
41Jehoshaphat began to rule over Judah. It was in the fourth year that Ahab was king of Israel. Jehoshaphat was the son of Asa. 42Jehoshaphat was 35 years old when he became king. He ruled in Jerusalem for 25 years. His mother’s name was Azubah. She was the daughter of Shilhi. 43Jehoshaphat followed all the ways of his father Asa. He didn’t wander away from them. He did what was right in the sight of the Lord. But the high places weren’t removed. The people continued to offer sacrifices and burn incense at them. 44Jehoshaphat was also at peace with the king of Israel.
45The other events of Jehoshaphat’s rule are written down. The brave things he did in battle and everything else he accomplished are written down. All these things are written in the official records of the kings of Judah. 46Jehoshaphat got rid of the rest of the male prostitutes who were at the temples. They had remained in the land even after the rule of his father Asa. 47At that time Edom didn’t have a king. An area governor was in charge.
48Jehoshaphat built many ships that he used to carry goods to be traded. The ships were supposed to go to Ophir for gold. But they never had a chance to sail. They were wrecked at Ezion Geber. 49At that time Ahaziah, the son of Ahab, spoke to Jehoshaphat. He said, “Let my men sail with yours.” But Jehoshaphat refused.
50Jehoshaphat joined the members of his family who had already died. He was buried in the family tomb in the city of King David. Jehoshaphat’s son Jehoram became the next king after him.
Ahaziah King of Israel
51Ahaziah became king of Israel in Samaria. It was in the 17th year that Jehoshaphat was king of Judah. Ahaziah ruled over Israel for two years. He was the son of Ahab. 52Ahaziah did what was evil in the sight of the Lord. He lived the way his father and mother had lived. He lived the way Jeroboam, the son of Nebat, had lived. Jeroboam had caused Israel to sin. 53Ahaziah served and worshiped the god named Baal. He made the Lord, the God of Israel, very angry. That’s exactly what Ahaziah’s father had done.
