የእስራኤል ንጉሥ ኢዮአካዝ
1የይሁዳ ንጉሥ የአካዝያስ ልጅ ኢዮአስ በነገሠ በሃያ ሦስተኛው ዓመት፣ የኢዩ ልጅ ኢዮአካዝ በሰማርያ ከተማ በእስራኤል ላይ ነገሠ፤ ዐሥራ ሰባት ዓመትም ገዛ። 2እርሱም የናባጥ ልጅ ኢዮርብዓም እስራኤልን ያሳተበትን ኀጢአት በመከተል በእግዚአብሔር ፊት ክፉ ሥራ ሠራ፤ ከዚህ ድርጊቱም አልተመለሰም። 3የእግዚአብሔር ቍጣ በእስራኤል ላይ ነደደ፤ ስለዚህ የሶርያ ንጉሥ አዛሄልና ልጁ ቤን ሃዳድ በነበሩበት ዘመን ሁሉ አሳልፎ በእጃቸው ሰጣቸው።
4ከዚያም ኢዮአካዝ እግዚአብሔርን ለመነ፤ እግዚአብሔርም የሶርያ ንጉሥ እስራኤልን እንዴት አድርጎ እንዳስጨነቀ አይቷልና ልመናውን ሰማው። 5ስለዚህ እግዚአብሔር ለእስራኤል የሚታደጋቸውን ሰው ሰጠ፤ እነርሱም ከሶርያውያን ጭቈና ተላቀቁ፤ እንደ ቀድሞውም በየድንኳናቸው መኖር ጀመሩ፤ 6ይሁን እንጂ እስራኤልን ከአሳተው ከኢዮርብዓም ቤት ኀጢአት አልተመለሱም፤ በዚያው ገፉበት እንጂ። የአሼራም ምስል ዐምድ13፥6 በዚህ መጽሐፍ ውስጥ ሁሉ ይህ የአሼራን ሴት ጣዖት የሚያመለክት ነው። በሰማርያ መመለኩ ቀጠለ።
7ከኢዮአካዝ ሰራዊት የተረፈው አምሳ ፈረሰኞች፣ ዐሥር ሠረገሎችና ዐሥር ሺሕ እግረኛ ወታደር ብቻ ነው፤ ይህ የሆነበትም ምክንያት የሶርያ ንጉሥ የቀረውን ስለ አጠፋውና እንደ ዐውድማ ብናኝ ስለ አደረገው ነበር።
8ኢዮአካዝ በዘመነ መንግሥቱ ያከናወነው ሌላው ሥራ፣ ያደረገውና የፈጸመውም ሁሉ በእስራኤል ነገሥታት ታሪክ ተጽፎ የሚገኝ አይደለምን? 9ኢዮአካዝ ከአባቶቹ ጋር አንቀላፋ፤ በሰማርያም ተቀበረ። ልጁ ዮአስም በእግሩ ተተክቶ ነገሠ።
የእስራኤል ንጉሥ ዮአስ
10በይሁዳ ንጉሥ በኢዮአስ ዘመን፣ በሠላሳ ሰባተኛው ዓመት፣ የኢዮአካዝ ልጅ ዮአስ በሰማርያ ከተማ በእስራኤል ላይ ነገሠ፤ ዐሥራ ስድስት ዓመትም ገዛ። 11እርሱም በእግዚአብሔር ፊት ክፉ ሥራ ሠራ፤ የናባጥ ልጅ ኢዮርብዓም እስራኤልን ከአሳተበት ኀጢአት ሁሉ አልራቀም፤ በዚያው ገፋበት።
12ዮአስ በዘመነ መንግሥቱ ያከናወነው ሌላ ሥራ፣ ያደረገውና የፈጸመው ሁሉ እንዲሁም በይሁዳ ንጉሥ በአሜስያስ ላይ ያካሄደው ጦርነት ጭምር በእስራኤል ነገሥታት ታሪክ ተጽፎ የሚገኝ አይደለምን? 13ዮአስም ከአባቶቹ ጋር አንቀላፋ፤ ኢዮርብዓም በእግሩ ተተክቶ በዙፋኑ ተቀመጠ። ዮአስም በሰማርያ ከእስራኤል ነገሥታት ጋር ተቀበረ።
14በዚህ ጊዜ ኤልሳዕ ለሞት ባደረሰው ሕመም ታሞ ነበር። የእስራኤልም ንጉሥ ዮአስ ሊጠይቀው ወርዶ አለቀሰለት፤ “ወየው አባቴን! ወየው አባቴን! ወየው የእስራኤል ሠረገሎችና ፈረሰኞች!” እያለም ጮኸ።
15ኤልሳዕም፣ “አንድ ቀስትና ፍላጾች አምጣ” አለው፤ እርሱም አመጣ፤ 16የእስራኤልንም ንጉሥ፣ “ቀስቱን በእጅህ ያዘው” አለው፤ ቀስቱን በያዘውም ጊዜ ኤልሳዕ እጆቹን በንጉሡ እጆች ላይ አኖረ።
17ቀጥሎም፣ “የምሥራቁን መስኮት ክፈት” አለው፤ ከፈተውም፤ ኤልሳዕም፣ “በል አስፈንጥረው” አለው፤ አስፈነጠረውም፤ ከዚያም፣ “የእግዚአብሔር የድል ቀስት! ሶርያ ድል የምትሆንበት ቀስት!” አለ። ኤልሳዕም እንደ ገና “ሶርያውያንንም አፌቅ ላይ ፈጽመህ ድል ታደርጋቸዋለህ” አለው።
18ቀጥሎም፣ “በል ቀስቶቹን ውሰድ” አለው፤ ንጉሡም ወሰደ። ኤልሳዕም፣ “መሬቱን ውጋ” አለው፤ እርሱም ሦስት ጊዜ ወግቶ አቆመ።
19የእግዚአብሔርም ሰው ተቈጣውና፣ “መሬቱን አምስት ወይም ስድስት ጊዜ መውጋት ነበረብህ፤ እንዲህ ብታደርግ ኖሮ ሶርያን ታሸንፍና ፈጽመህ ትደመስሳት ነበር፤ አሁን ግን የምታሸንፈው ሦስት ጊዜ ብቻ ነው” አለው።
20ኤልሳዕ ሞተ፤ ቀበሩትም። በዚህም ጊዜ ሞዓባውያን አደጋ ጣዮች በየዓመቱ በጸደይ ወራት ወደ እስራኤል ምድር እየሰረጉ ይገቡ ነበር።
21አንድ ጊዜ እስራኤላውያን ሰው ሞቶ ሲቀብሩ፣ አንድ የአደጋ ጣይ ቡድን በድንገት አዩ፤ ስለዚህ የሞተውን ሰው ሬሳ ኤልሳዕ መቃብር ውስጥ ጣሉት፤ ሬሳው የኤልሳዕን ዐፅም እንደ ነካም ወዲያውኑ ሰውየው ድኖ በእግሩ ቆመ።
22በኢዮአካዝ ዘመነ መንግሥት ሁሉ፣ የሶርያ ንጉሥ አዛሄል፣ እስራኤልን ያስጨንቃቸው ነበር። 23እግዚአብሔር ግን ራራላቸው፤ ዐዘነላቸው፤ ፊቱን መለሰላቸው፤ ይህም ከአብርሃም፣ ከይስሐቅና ከያዕቆብ ጋር ስለ ገባው ኪዳን ሲል ነው፤ እስከ ዛሬ ድረስ ሊያጠፋቸው አልፈለገም፤ ከፊቱም አላስወገዳቸውም።
24የሶርያ ንጉሥ አዛሄል ሞተ፤ ልጁ ቤን ሃዳድም በእግሩ ተተክቶ ነገሠ። 25ከዚያም የኢዮአካዝ ልጅ ዮአስ፣ አዛሄል ከአባቱ ከኢዮአካዝ እጅ በጦርነት የወሰዳቸውን ከተሞች ከአዛሄል ልጅ ከቤን ሃዳድ አስመልሶ ያዘ። ዮአስ ሦስት ጊዜ ድል አደረገው፤ የእስራኤልንም ከተሞች በዚህ ሁኔታ መልሶ ያዘ።
Jehoahaz King of Israel
1In the twenty-third year of Joash son of Ahaziah king of Judah, Jehoahaz son of Jehu became king of Israel in Samaria, and he reigned seventeen years. 2He did evil in the eyes of the Lord by following the sins of Jeroboam son of Nebat, which he had caused Israel to commit, and he did not turn away from them. 3So the Lord’s anger burned against Israel, and for a long time he kept them under the power of Hazael king of Aram and Ben-Hadad his son.
4Then Jehoahaz sought the Lord’s favor, and the Lord listened to him, for he saw how severely the king of Aram was oppressing Israel. 5The Lord provided a deliverer for Israel, and they escaped from the power of Aram. So the Israelites lived in their own homes as they had before. 6But they did not turn away from the sins of the house of Jeroboam, which he had caused Israel to commit; they continued in them. Also, the Asherah pole13:6 That is, a wooden symbol of the goddess Asherah; here and elsewhere in 2 Kings remained standing in Samaria.
7Nothing had been left of the army of Jehoahaz except fifty horsemen, ten chariots and ten thousand foot soldiers, for the king of Aram had destroyed the rest and made them like the dust at threshing time.
8As for the other events of the reign of Jehoahaz, all he did and his achievements, are they not written in the book of the annals of the kings of Israel? 9Jehoahaz rested with his ancestors and was buried in Samaria. And Jehoash13:9 Hebrew Joash, a variant of Jehoash; also in verses 12-14 and 25 his son succeeded him as king.
Jehoash King of Israel
10In the thirty-seventh year of Joash king of Judah, Jehoash son of Jehoahaz became king of Israel in Samaria, and he reigned sixteen years. 11He did evil in the eyes of the Lord and did not turn away from any of the sins of Jeroboam son of Nebat, which he had caused Israel to commit; he continued in them.
12As for the other events of the reign of Jehoash, all he did and his achievements, including his war against Amaziah king of Judah, are they not written in the book of the annals of the kings of Israel? 13Jehoash rested with his ancestors, and Jeroboam succeeded him on the throne. Jehoash was buried in Samaria with the kings of Israel.
14Now Elisha had been suffering from the illness from which he died. Jehoash king of Israel went down to see him and wept over him. “My father! My father!” he cried. “The chariots and horsemen of Israel!”
15Elisha said, “Get a bow and some arrows,” and he did so. 16“Take the bow in your hands,” he said to the king of Israel. When he had taken it, Elisha put his hands on the king’s hands.
17“Open the east window,” he said, and he opened it. “Shoot!” Elisha said, and he shot. “The Lord’s arrow of victory, the arrow of victory over Aram!” Elisha declared. “You will completely destroy the Arameans at Aphek.”
18Then he said, “Take the arrows,” and the king took them. Elisha told him, “Strike the ground.” He struck it three times and stopped. 19The man of God was angry with him and said, “You should have struck the ground five or six times; then you would have defeated Aram and completely destroyed it. But now you will defeat it only three times.”
20Elisha died and was buried.
Now Moabite raiders used to enter the country every spring. 21Once while some Israelites were burying a man, suddenly they saw a band of raiders; so they threw the man’s body into Elisha’s tomb. When the body touched Elisha’s bones, the man came to life and stood up on his feet.
22Hazael king of Aram oppressed Israel throughout the reign of Jehoahaz. 23But the Lord was gracious to them and had compassion and showed concern for them because of his covenant with Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. To this day he has been unwilling to destroy them or banish them from his presence.
24Hazael king of Aram died, and Ben-Hadad his son succeeded him as king. 25Then Jehoash son of Jehoahaz recaptured from Ben-Hadad son of Hazael the towns he had taken in battle from his father Jehoahaz. Three times Jehoash defeated him, and so he recovered the Israelite towns.
