ሳቤዔ በዳዊት ላይ ዐመፀ
1በዚህ ጊዜ የቢክሪ ልጅ ስሙ ሳቤዔ የተባለ አንድ ምናምንቴ ብንያማዊ በዚያ ነበረ፤ እርሱም መለከት ነፍቶ እንዲህ ሲል ጮኸ፤ “እኛ ከዳዊት ድርሻ የለንም፤ ከእሴይም ልጅ ርስት የለንም፤ እስራኤል ሆይ፤ እያንዳንድህ ወደ ድንኳንህ ተመለስ!”
2ስለዚህ የእስራኤል ሰው ሁሉ ዳዊትን ከድቶ የቢክሪን ልጅ ሳቤዔን ተከተለ። የይሁዳ ሰዎች ግን ከዮርዳኖስ አንሥቶ እስከ ኢየሩሳሌም ድረስ ከንጉሣቸው ሳይለዩ አብረውት ሄዱ።
3ዳዊት ኢየሩሳሌም ወዳለው ቤተ መንግሥቱ በተመለሰ ጊዜ፤ ቤተ መንግሥቱን እንዲጠብቁ ትቷቸው የሄደውን ዐሥሩን ቁባቶቹን ወሰደ፤ በአንድ ቤትም ውስጥ እንዲጠበቁ አደረገ። ቀለብ ሰጣቸው፤ ይሁን እንጂ ወደ እነርሱ አልገባም ነበር፤ እነርሱም እስከ ሞቱበት ጊዜ ድረስ መበለት ሆነው፣ ለብቻቸው ተገልለው ተቀመጡ።
4ከዚያም ንጉሡ አሜሳይን፣ “የይሁዳ ሰዎች ሁሉ በሦስት ቀን ውስጥ፣ ወደ እኔ እንዲመጡ ጥራልኝ፤ አንተ ራስህም ተገኝ” አለው። 5አሜሳይ ይሁዳን ለመጥራት ሄደ፤ ነገር ግን ንጉሡ ከወሰነው ጊዜ በላይ ቈየ።
6ዳዊትም አቢሳን፣ “ከአቤሴሎም ይልቅ አሁን የቢክሪ ልጅ ሳቤዔ የበለጠ ጕዳት ሊያደርስብን ስለሆነ የጌታህን ሰዎች ይዘህ አሳድደው፤ አለዚያ የተመሸገ ከተማ አግኝቶ ያመልጠናል” አለው። 7ስለዚህ የኢዮአብ ሰዎች፣ ከሊታውያን፣ ፈሊታውያን እንዲሁም ሌሎች ኀያላን ጦረኞች በሙሉ በአቢሳ አዛዥነት ወጡ፤ ከኢየሩሳሌም የወጡትም የቢክሪ ልጅ ሳቤዔን ለማሳደድ ነበር።
8በገባዖን ከታላቁ ቋጥኝ አጠገብ ሳሉ፣ አሜሳይ ሊገናኛቸው መጣ፤ ኢዮአብ የጦር ሜዳ ልብሱን ለብሶ ሰይፉን ከነሰገባው በወገቡ ላይ ታጥቆ ነበር፤ ወደ ፊት ራመድ እንዳለም ሰይፉ ከሰገባው ወጥቶ ወደቀ።
9ኢዮአብም አሜሳይን፣ “ወንድሜ ሆይ፤ እንደ ምንድን ነህ?” አለው፤ ከዚያም አሜሳይን የሚስም መስሎ በቀኝ እጁ ጢሙን ያዘው። 10አሜሳይ ግን በኢዮአብ እጅ ሰይፍ መኖሩን ልብ ስላላለ ጥንቃቄ አላደረገም፤ ስለዚህ ኢዮአብ ሰይፉን ሆዱ ላይ ሻጠበት፤ አንጀቱም መሬት ላይ ተዘረገፈ፤ ከዚያም ኢዮአብ መድገም ሳያስፈልገው፣ አሜሳይ በዚያው ሞተ። ከዚህ በኋላ ኢዮአብና ወንድሙ አቢሳ፣ የቢክሪን ልጅ ሳቤዔን ማሳደድ ጀመሩ።
11በአሜሳይ ሬሳ አጠገብ ከቆሙት ከኢዮአብ ሰዎች አንዱ፤ “ኢዮአብን የሚወድድ፣ የዳዊትም የሆነ ሁሉ ኢዮአብን ይከተል!” አለ። 12በዚህን ጊዜ የአሜሳይ ሬሳ በደም ተጨማልቆ በመንገዱ መካከል ወድቆ ነበር፤ በዚያ የሚያልፈው ሰራዊት ሁሉ መቆሙን ያ ሰው አየ፤ ወደ ሬሳው የደረሰው ሰራዊት ሁሉ መቆሙን በተረዳ ጊዜም፣ የአሜሳይን ሬሳ ከመንገድ ወደ ዕርሻ ፈቀቅ አድርጎ ልብስ ጣል አደረገበት። 13የአሜሳይ ሬሳ ከመንገድ ላይ ከተነሣ በኋላ ሕዝቡ ሁሉ ኢዮአብን ተከትሎ የቢክሪን ልጅ ሳቤዔን ሊያሳድድ ሄደ።
14ሳቤዔም በእስራኤል ነገዶች ሁሉ መካከል ዐልፎ ወደ አቤል ቤትማዓካና ወደ መላው የቢክሪያውያን ግዛት መጣ፤ የቢክሪ ሰዎችም ተሰብስበው ተከተሉት። 15ከኢዮአብ ጋር ያለውም ሰራዊት መጥቶ፣ ሳቤዔን በአቤል ቤትመዓካ በኩል ከበበው፤ በስተ ውጭም እስከ ከተማዪቱ ግንብ ጫፍ ድረስ ዙሪያውን የዐፈር ድልድል ሠሩ፤ ግንቡን ለመናድ በኀይል በሚደበድቡበት ጊዜ፣ 16አንዲት ብልኅ ሴት ድምፅዋን ከፍ አድርጋ፣ “ስሙ! ስሙ! ለኢዮአብ የምነግረው ነገር ስላለ ወደዚህ እንዲመጣ ንገሩት” አለቻቸው። 17ኢዮአብ ወደ እርሷ ሄደ፤ እርሷም፣ “ኢዮአብ አንተ ነህ?” ስትል ጠየቀችው።
እርሱም፣ “አዎን እኔ ነኝ” ብሎ መለሰላት።
እርሷም፣ “እንግዲህ አገልጋይህ የምትለውን አድምጥ” አለችው።
እርሱም፣ “እሺ፣ አደምጣለሁ” አላት።
18ከዚያ በመቀጠልም እንዲህ አለች፤ “በቀድሞው ጊዜ ሰዎች፣ ‘ምክርን ከአቤል ጠይቁ’ ይሉ ነበር፤ ታዲያ እንዳሉትም ይፈጸም ነበር፤ 19በእስራኤል ሰላማዊና ታማኝ ከሆኑ ሰዎች መካከል አንዷ እኔ ነኝ፤ አንተ በእስራኤል እናት የሆነችውን ከተማ ለማጥፋት ትሻለህ፤ የእግዚአብሔርን ርስት ለመዋጥ የፈለግኸው ለምንድን ነው?”
20ኢዮአብም እንዲህ ሲል መለሰ፤ “ይህስ ከእኔ ይራቅ! መዋጡና ማጥፋቱ አሁንም ከእኔ ይራቅ! 21ነገሩስ እንዲህ አይደለም፤ የኰረብታማው የኤፍሬሙ አገር ሰው፣ የቢክሪ ልጅ ሳቤዔ እጁን በንጉሡ በዳዊት ላይ አንሥቷል፤ እናንተ ይህን ሰው ብቻ ስጡኝ እንጂ እኔ ከተማዪቱን ትቼ እሄዳለሁ” አላት።
ሴቲቱም ኢዮአብን፣ “የሰውየው ራስ ተቈርጦ በግንቡ ላይ ይወረወርልሃል” አለችው።
22ከዚህም በኋላ ሴቲቱ ብልኅነት የተሞላበት ምክሯን ይዛ ወደ ሕዝቡ ሁሉ ሄደች፤ እነርሱም የቢክሪን ልጅ የሳቤዔን ራስ ቈርጠው ለኢዮአብ ወረወሩለት፤ ስለዚህ ኢዮአብ መለከቱን ነፋ፤ ሰዎቹም ከከተማዪቱ ርቀው በየአቅጣጫው ተበታተኑ፤ እያንዳንዳቸውም ወደየቤታቸው ሄዱ፤ ኢዮአብም ወደ ንጉሡ ወደ ኢየሩሳሌም ተመለሰ።
23ኢዮአብ በእስራኤል ሰራዊት ሁሉ ላይ የበላይ ሆነ፤
የዮዳሄ ልጅ በናያስ ደግሞ በከሊታውያንና በፈሊያታውያን ላይ አለቃ ሆነ።
24አዶኒራም20፥24 አንዳንድ የሰብዓ ሊቃናት ቅጆች (እንዲሁም 1ነገ 4፥6 እና 5፥14 ይመ) ከዚህ ጋር ይስማማሉ፤ ዕብራይስጡ ግን፣ አይራም ይላል። በግዳጅ ሥራ ላይ ለተሰማሩት ሰዎች አለቃ ሆነ፤
የአሒሉድ ልጅ ኢዮሣፍጥ ደግሞ ታሪክ ጸሓፊ ሆነ፤
25ሱሳ ጸሓፊ፣
ሳዶቅና አብያታር ካህናት ነበሩ፤
26እንዲሁም የኢያዕር ሰው ዒራስ የዳዊት አማካሪ ነበር።
Sheba Urges Israel Not to Follow David
1An evil man who always stirred up trouble happened to be in Gilgal. His name was Sheba, the son of Bikri. Sheba was from the tribe of Benjamin. He blew his trumpet. Then he shouted,
“We don’t have any share in David’s kingdom!
Jesse’s son is not our king!
Men of Israel, every one of you go back home!”
2So all the men of Israel deserted David. They followed Sheba, the son of Bikri. But the men of Judah stayed with their king. They remained with him from the Jordan River all the way to Jerusalem.
3David returned to his palace in Jerusalem. He had left ten concubines there to take care of the palace. He put them in a house and kept them under guard. He gave them what they needed. But he didn’t sleep with them. They were kept under guard until the day they died. They lived as if they were widows.
4The king said to Amasa, “Send for the men of Judah. Tell them to come to me within three days. And be here yourself.” 5So Amasa went to get the men of Judah. But he took longer than the time the king had set for him.
6David said to Abishai, “Sheba, the son of Bikri, will do more harm to us than Absalom ever did. Take my men and go after him. If you don’t, he’ll find cities that have high walls around them. He’ll go into one of them and escape from us.” 7So Joab’s men marched out with the Kerethites and Pelethites. They went out with all the mighty soldiers. All of them were under Abishai’s command. They marched out from Jerusalem and went after Sheba, the son of Bikri.
8They arrived at the great rock in Gibeon. Amasa went there to welcome them. Joab was wearing his military clothes. Over them at his waist he had strapped on a belt that held a dagger. As he stepped forward, he secretly took the dagger out.
9Joab said to Amasa, “How are you, my friend?” Then Joab reached out his right hand. He took hold of Amasa’s beard to kiss him. 10Amasa didn’t notice the dagger in Joab’s left hand. Joab stuck it into his stomach. His insides spilled out on the ground. Joab didn’t have to stab him again. Amasa was already dead. Then Joab and his brother Abishai went after Sheba, the son of Bikri.
11One of Joab’s men stood beside Amasa’s body. He said to the other men, “Are you pleased with Joab? Are you on David’s side? Then follow Joab!” 12Amasa’s body lay covered with his blood in the middle of the road. The man saw that all the troops stopped there. He realized that everyone was stopping to look at Amasa’s body. So he dragged it from the road into a field. Then he threw some clothes on top of it. 13After that happened, everyone continued on with Joab. They went after Sheba, the son of Bikri.
14Sheba passed through all the territory of the tribes of Israel. He arrived at the city of Abel Beth Maakah. He had gone through the entire area of the Bikrites. They had gathered together and followed him. 15Joab and all his troops came to Abel Beth Maakah. They surrounded it because Sheba was there. They built a ramp up to the city. It stood against the outer wall. They pounded the wall with huge logs to bring it down. 16While that was going on, a wise woman called out from the city. She shouted, “Listen! Listen! Tell Joab to come here. I want to speak to him.” 17So Joab went toward her. She asked, “Are you Joab?”
“I am,” he answered.
She said, “Listen to what I have to say.”
“I’m listening,” he said.
18She continued, “Long ago people used to say, ‘Get your answer at Abel.’ And that would settle the matter. 19We are the most peaceful and faithful people in Israel. You are trying to destroy a city that is like a mother in Israel. Why do you want to swallow up what belongs to the Lord?”
20“I would never do anything like that!” Joab said. “I would never swallow up or destroy what belongs to the Lord! 21That isn’t what I have in mind at all. There’s a man named Sheba, the son of Bikri, in your city. He’s from the hill country of Ephraim. He’s trying to kill King David. Hand that man over to me. Then I’ll pull my men back from your city.”
The woman said to Joab, “We’ll throw his head down to you from the wall.”
22Then the woman gave her wise advice to all the people in the city. They cut off the head of Sheba, the son of Bikri. They threw it down to Joab. So he blew his trumpet. Then his men pulled back from the city. Each of them returned to his home. And Joab went back to the king in Jerusalem.
David’s Officials
23Joab was commander over Israel’s entire army.
Benaiah, the son of Jehoiada, was commander over the Kerethites and Pelethites.
24Adoniram was in charge of those who were forced to work hard.
Jehoshaphat, the son of Ahilud, kept the records.
25Sheva was the secretary.
Zadok and Abiathar were priests.
26Ira, the Jairite, was David’s priest.
