ሰሎሞን ጥበብን ከእግዚአብሔር መለመኑ
3፥4-15 ተጓ ምብ – 2ዜና 1፥2-13
1ሰሎሞን የግብፅ ንጉሥ የፈርዖን ወዳጅ ሆነ፤ የፈርዖንንም ልጅ አገባ። እርሱም ቤተ መንግሥቱን፣ የእግዚአብሔርን ቤተ መቅደስና የኢየሩሳሌምን ዙሪያ ቅጥር ሠርቶ እስኪጨርስ ድረስ በዳዊት ከተማ አስቀመጣት።
2በዚያን ጊዜ ለእግዚአብሔር ስም ገና ቤተ መቅደስ ስላልተሠራ፣ ሕዝቡ አሁንም መሥዋዕት የሚያቀርበው በማምለኪያ ኰረብታ ላይ ነበር። 3ሰሎሞን እግዚአብሔርን ይወድድ ነበር፤ በአባቱ በዳዊት ሥርዐትም ይሄድ ነበር፤ ይሁን እንጂ፣ በኰረብታዎች ላይ መሥዋዕት ይሠዋና ዕጣን ያጥን ነበር።
4ከሁሉ የሚበልጠው የማምለኪያ ኰረብታ ገባዖን ስለ ነበረ፣ ንጉሡ መሥዋዕት ለማቅረብ ወደዚያ ሄደ። ሰሎሞን በዚያ መሠዊያ ላይ አንድ ሺሕ የሚቃጠል መሥዋዕት አቀረበ። 5በገባዖንም እግዚአብሔር ለሰሎሞን ሌሊት በሕልም ተገለጠለት፤ አምላክም፣ “እንድሰጥህ የምትፈልገውን ሁሉ ለምን” አለው።
6ሰሎሞን እንዲህ ሲል መለሰ፤ “አባቴ ዳዊት በእውነት፣ በጽድቅና በቅን ልቦና በፊትህ ስለ ተመላለሰ፣ ለባሪያህ ታላቅ ቸርነትን አሳይተኸዋል፤ ይህ ታላቅ ቸርነት እንዲቀጥል በማድረግ ዛሬም በዙፋኑ ላይ የሚቀመጥ ልጅ ሰጥተኸዋል።
7“እግዚአብሔር አምላኬ ሆይ፤ ባሪያህ በአባቴ በዳዊት እግር ተተክቼ እንድነግሥ አድርገሃል፤ እኔ ግን ገና ትንሽ ልጅ ስለሆንሁ፣ መውጫና መግቢያዬን አላውቅም። 8ባሪያህ አንተ በመረጥኸው ሕዝብ፣ ከብዛቱም የተነሣ ሊቈጠር በማይችል ታላቅ ሕዝብ መካከል ይገኛል። 9ስለዚህ መልካሙንና ክፉውን በመለየት ሕዝብህን ማስተዳደር እንዲችል ለባሪያህ አስተዋይ ልብ ስጠው፤ አለዚያማ ይህን ታላቅ ሕዝብህን ማን ሊያስተዳድር ይችላል?”
10ሰሎሞን ይህን በመለመኑ ጌታ ደስ አለው፤ 11ስለዚህ እንዲህ አለው፤ “ለራስህ ረዥም ዕድሜ፣ ብልጽግና እንድታገኝ ወይም ጠላቶችህ እንዲጠፉልህ ሳይሆን፣ በትክክል ማስተዳደር እንድትችል ማስተዋልን ስለ ጠየቅህ፣ 12ይህንኑ አደርግልሃለሁ፤ ከአንተ በፊት ማንም ያልነበረውን፣ ከአንተም በኋላ ማንም የማያገኘውን ጥበብና አስተዋይ ልቡና እሰጥሃለሁ፤ 13ከዚህም በላይ አንተ ያልጠየቅኸውን ብልጽግናና ክብር እሰጥሃለሁ፤ ይኸውም በሕይወት ዘመንህ የሚተካከልህ ማንም ንጉሥ እንዳይኖር ነው። 14አባትህ ዳዊት እንዳደረገው በመንገዴ ብትሄድ፣ ሥርዐቴንና ትእዛዜን ብትጠብቅ ዕድሜህን አረዝመዋለሁ።” 15ሰሎሞንም ከእንቅልፉ ነቃ፤ እነሆ ሕልም መሆኑን ተረዳ።
ከዚያም ወደ ኢየሩሳሌም ተመልሶ፣ በጌታ ኪዳን ታቦት ፊት ቆመ፤ የሚቃጠል መሥዋዕትና የኅብረት መሥዋዕት3፥15 በትውፊት የሰላም መሥዋዕት ይባላል። አቀረበ፤ ለሹማምቱም ሁሉ ግብዣ አደረገ።
ጥበብን የተሞላ ፍትሕ
16በዚህን ጊዜ ሁለት ዝሙት ዐዳሪዎች ወደ ንጉሡ መጥተው ከፊቱ ቆሙ። 17ከእነርሱም አንዲቱ እንዲህ አለች፣ “ጌታዬ ሆይ፤ ይህች ሴትና እኔ በአንድ ቤት አብረን እንኖራለን፤ አብራኝ እያለችም እኔ ልጅ ወለድሁ፤ 18እኔ ከወለድሁ ከሦስት ቀን በኋላም፣ ይህች ሴት ወለደች፤ የነበርነው እኛ ብቻ ነን፤ ከሁለታችን በቀር በዚያ ቤት ማንም አልነበረም።
19“የዚህች ሴት ሕፃን ልጅ ስለ ተኛችበት ሌሊት ሞተ። 20ስለዚህም በእኩለ ሌሊት ተነሥታ፣ እኔ አገልጋይህ ተኝቼ ሳለሁ ልጄን ከአጠገቤ ወሰደችው፤ ከዚያም የእኔን ልጅ ራሷ ታቅፋ፣ የሞተ ልጇን አምጥታ በዕቅፌ አደረገችው። 21በማግስቱም ልጄን ላጠባ ስነሣ እነሆ ሞቷል፤ ነገር ግን በማለዳ ብርሃን ትክ ብዬ ስመለከተው እኔ የወለድሁት ልጅ አለመሆኑን ተገነዘብሁ።”
22ሌላዪቱም ሴት፣ “ነገሩ አንቺ እንደምትዪው አይደለም፤ የሞተው የአንቺ፣ በሕይወት ያለውም የእኔ ነው” አለች።
የመጀመሪያዋ ሴት ግን አጠንክራ፣ “አይደለም! የሞተው የአንቺ፣ በሕይወት ያለው ግን የእኔ ልጅ ነው” አለች፤ በዚህ ሁኔታም በንጉሡ ፊት ተከራከሩ።
23ንጉሡም፣ “ይህችኛዪቱ፣ ‘የእኔ ልጅ በሕይወት ያለው ነው፣ የአንቺ የሞተው ነው’ ትላለች፤ ያችኛዪቱ ደግሞ፣ ‘አይደለም የአንቺ ልጅ ሞቷል፣ በሕይወት ያለው የእኔ ነው’ ትላለች” አለ።
24ከዚያም ንጉሡ፣ “እንግዲያውስ ሰይፍ አምጡልኝ” አለ፤ ለንጉሡም ሰይፍ አመጡለት። 25በዚህ ጊዜ ንጉሡ፣ “በሉ በሕይወት ያለውን ልጅ ከሁለት ክፈሉና ለአንዷ ግማሹን፣ ለሌላዪቱም ግማሹን ስጡ” ብሎ አዘዘ።
26በሕይወት ያለው ልጅ እናት ለልጇ እጅግ ስለ ራራች ንጉሡን፣ “ጌታዬ ሆይ፤ እባክህ በሕይወት ያለውን ሕፃን ለእርሷ ስጣት፤ አትግደለው” አለች።
ሌላዪቱ ግን፣ “ለእኔም ሆነ ለአንቺ አይሰጥም፤ ሁለት ላይ ይከፈል!” አለች።
27ከዚህ በኋላ ንጉሡ፣ “በሉ በሕይወት ያለውን ሕፃን ለመጀመሪያዪቱ ሴት ስጧት፤ አትግደሉት፤ እናቱ እርሷ ናት” አለ።
28እስራኤላውያን ሁሉ ንጉሡ የሰጠውን ፍርድ ሲሰሙ ፈሩት፤ ፍትሕ ለመስጠት የአምላክን ጥበብ የታደለ መሆኑን አይተዋልና።
1And Solomon made affinity with Pharaoh king of Egypt, and took Pharaoh’s daughter, and brought her into the city of David, until he had made an end of building his own house, and the house of the LORD, and the wall of Jerusalem round about. 2Only the people sacrificed in high places, because there was no house built unto the name of the LORD, until those days. 3And Solomon loved the LORD, walking in the statutes of David his father: only he sacrificed and burnt incense in high places. 4And the king went to Gibeon to sacrifice there; for that was the great high place: a thousand burnt offerings did Solomon offer upon that altar.
5¶ In Gibeon the LORD appeared to Solomon in a dream by night: and God said, Ask what I shall give thee. 6And Solomon said, Thou hast shewed unto thy servant David my father great mercy, according as he walked before thee in truth, and in righteousness, and in uprightness of heart with thee; and thou hast kept for him this great kindness, that thou hast given him a son to sit on his throne, as it is this day.3.6 mercy: or, bounty 7And now, O LORD my God, thou hast made thy servant king instead of David my father: and I am but a little child: I know not how to go out or come in. 8And thy servant is in the midst of thy people which thou hast chosen, a great people, that cannot be numbered nor counted for multitude. 9Give therefore thy servant an understanding heart to judge thy people, that I may discern between good and bad: for who is able to judge this thy so great a people?3.9 understanding: Heb. hearing 10And the speech pleased the Lord, that Solomon had asked this thing. 11And God said unto him, Because thou hast asked this thing, and hast not asked for thyself long life; neither hast asked riches for thyself, nor hast asked the life of thine enemies; but hast asked for thyself understanding to discern judgment;3.11 long life: Heb. many days3.11 discern: Heb. hear 12Behold, I have done according to thy words: lo, I have given thee a wise and an understanding heart; so that there was none like thee before thee, neither after thee shall any arise like unto thee. 13And I have also given thee that which thou hast not asked, both riches, and honour: so that there shall not be any among the kings like unto thee all thy days.3.13 shall…: or, hath not been 14And if thou wilt walk in my ways, to keep my statutes and my commandments, as thy father David did walk, then I will lengthen thy days. 15And Solomon awoke; and, behold, it was a dream. And he came to Jerusalem, and stood before the ark of the covenant of the LORD, and offered up burnt offerings, and offered peace offerings, and made a feast to all his servants.
16¶ Then came there two women, that were harlots, unto the king, and stood before him. 17And the one woman said, O my lord, I and this woman dwell in one house; and I was delivered of a child with her in the house. 18And it came to pass the third day after that I was delivered, that this woman was delivered also: and we were together; there was no stranger with us in the house, save we two in the house. 19And this woman’s child died in the night; because she overlaid it. 20And she arose at midnight, and took my son from beside me, while thine handmaid slept, and laid it in her bosom, and laid her dead child in my bosom. 21And when I rose in the morning to give my child suck, behold, it was dead: but when I had considered it in the morning, behold, it was not my son, which I did bear. 22And the other woman said, Nay; but the living is my son, and the dead is thy son. And this said, No; but the dead is thy son, and the living is my son. Thus they spake before the king. 23Then said the king, The one saith, This is my son that liveth, and thy son is the dead: and the other saith, Nay; but thy son is the dead, and my son is the living. 24And the king said, Bring me a sword. And they brought a sword before the king. 25And the king said, Divide the living child in two, and give half to the one, and half to the other. 26Then spake the woman whose the living child was unto the king, for her bowels yearned upon her son, and she said, O my lord, give her the living child, and in no wise slay it. But the other said, Let it be neither mine nor thine, but divide it.3.26 yearned: Heb. were hot 27Then the king answered and said, Give her the living child, and in no wise slay it: she is the mother thereof. 28And all Israel heard of the judgment which the king had judged; and they feared the king: for they saw that the wisdom of God was in him, to do judgment.3.28 in him: Heb. in the midst of him
