የይሁዳ ንጉሥ አሜስያስ
14፥1-7 ተጓ ምብ – 2ዜና 25፥1-4፡11-12
14፥8-22 ተጓ ምብ – 2ዜና 25፥17–26፥2
1የእስራኤል ንጉሥ የኢዮአካዝ ልጅ ዮአስ በነገሠ በሁለተኛው ዓመት፣ የይሁዳ ንጉሥ የኢዮአስ ልጅ አሜስያስ ነገሠ። 2በነገሠም ጊዜ ዕድሜው ሃያ አምስት ዓመት ነበር፤ በኢየሩሳሌም ተቀምጦም ሃያ ዘጠኝ ዓመት ገዛ። እናቱም ዮዓዳን የተባለች የኢየሩሳሌም ሴት ነበረች። 3እርሱም በእግዚአብሔር ፊት መልካም ነገር አደረገ፤ ነገር ግን አባቱ ዳዊት እንደ አደረገው ዐይነት አልነበረም፤ በማናቸውም ረገድ የአባቱን የኢዮአስን ፈለግ ተከተለ። 4በየኰረብታው ላይ ያሉት ማምለኪያዎች አልተወገዱም፤ ሕዝቡም በየኰረብታው ላይ መሥዋዕት ማቅረቡንና ዕጣን ማጤሱን እንደ ቀጠለ ነበር።
5አሜስያስ መንግሥቱን አጽንቶ ከያዘ በኋላ፣ ንጉሡን አባቱን የገደሉትን ሹማምት ገደላቸው፤ 6ይሁን እንጂ በሙሴ የሕግ መጽሐፍ እግዚአብሔር፣ “እያንዳንዱ በራሱ ኀጢአት ይገደል እንጂ አባቶች በልጆቻቸው፣ ልጆችም በአባቶቻቸው ኀጢአት አይገደሉ”14፥6 ዘዳ 2፥16 ይመ። ሲል ያዘዘ በመሆኑ፣ የነፍሰ ገዳዩን ልጆች አልገደላቸውም።
7የጨው ሸለቆ በተባለው ቦታ ዐሥር ሺሕ ኤዶማውያንን ድል ያደረገ፣ ሴላን በጦርነት የያዘና እስከ ዛሬም ድረስ ዮቅትኤል ተብላ የምትጠራበትን ስም ያወጣላት አሜስያስ ነው።
8ከዚያም አሜስያስ የኢዩ የልጅ ልጅ፣ የኢዮአካዝ ልጅ ወደ ሆነው ወደ እስራኤል ንጉሥ ወደ ዮአስ፣ “ናና ፊት ለፊት ይዋጣልን” ሲል መልእክተኞች ላከበት።
9የእስራኤል ንጉሥ ዮአስ ግን ለይሁዳ ንጉሥ ለአሜስያስ እንዲህ ሲል ላከበት፤ “አንድ የሊባኖስ ኵርንችት፣ ለአንድ የሊባኖስ ዝግባ፣ ‘ሴት ልጅህን ለልጄ በሚስትነት ስጠው’ አለው፤ ከዚያም አንድ የሊባኖስ ዱር አውሬ መጥቶ ኵርንችቱን በእግሩ ረገጠው። 10በርግጥ ኤዶምን ድል አድርገሃል፤ ልብህ አለመጠን አይኵራራ። ድል በማድረግህ አትንጠራራ፤ ዐርፈህ ተቀመጥ! ጠብ በመጫር የራስህን፣ የይሁዳንስ ውድቀት ለምን ትሻለህ?”
11አሜስያስ ግን አልሰማም፤ ስለዚህ የእስራኤል ንጉሥ ዮአስ ወጣ፤ እርሱና የይሁዳ ንጉሥ አሜስያስም በይሁዳ ምድር በቤትሳሚስ ፊት ለፊት ጦርነት ገጠሙ።
12ይሁዳ በእስራኤል ድል ሆነ፤ እያንዳንዱም ወደ ድንኳኑ ሸሸ። 13የእስራኤል ንጉሥ ዮአስም የአካዝያስን የልጅ ልጅ፣ የኢዮአስን ልጅ የይሁዳን ንጉሥ አሜስያስን ቤትሳሚስ ላይ ማረከው። ከዚያም ዮአስ ወደ ኢየሩሳሌም ሄደ፤ ከኤፍሬም ቅጥር በር አንሥቶ የማእዘን ቅጥር በር እስከ ተባለው ድረስ ርዝመቱ አራት መቶ ክንድ14፥13 ዕብራይስጡ 180 ሜትር ይላል። የሆነውን ቅጥር አፈረሰ። 14በእግዚአብሔር ቤተ መቅደስና በቤተ መንግሥቱ ግምጃ ቤቶች ያለውን ወርቅና ብር በሙሉ፣ በዚያም የተገኘውን ዕቃ ሁሉ በመውሰድ ምርኮኞችንም ይዞ ወደ ሰማርያ ተመለሰ። 15በዮአስ ዘመነ መንግሥት የተከናወነው ሌላው ነገር፣ ያደረገውና የፈጸመው ሁሉ በይሁዳ ንጉሥ በአሜስያስ ላይ ያደረገው ጦርነት ጭምር በእስራኤል ነገሥታት ታሪክ ተጽፎ የሚገኝ አይደለምን? 16ዮአስ ከአባቶቹ ጋር አንቀላፋ፤ በሰማርያም ከእስራኤል ነገሥታት ጋር ተቀበረ፤ ልጁ ኢዮርብዓምም በእግሩ ተተክቶ ነገሠ። 17የኢዮአስ ልጅ የይሁዳ ንጉሥ አሜስያስም የእስራኤል ንጉሥ የኢዮአካዝ ልጅ ዮአስ ከሞተ በኋላ ዐሥራ አምስት ዓመት ኖረ። 18በአሜስያስ ዘመነ መንግሥት የተከናወነው ሌላው ነገር በይሁዳ ነገሥታት ታሪክ ተጽፎ የሚገኝ አይደለምን?
19አሜስያስ በኢየሩሳሌም ሤራ ስለ ጠነሰሱበት ሸሽቶ ወደ ላኪሶ ሄደ፤ እነርሱ ግን የሚከታተሉት ሰዎች ወደዚያው ልከው አስገደሉት፤ 20ሬሳውም በፈረስ ተጭኖ መጥቶ በዳዊት ከተማ ከአባቶቹ ጋር በኢየሩሳሌም ተቀበረ።
21ከዚያም የይሁዳ ሕዝብ በሙሉ ዕድሜው ዐሥራ ስድስት ዓመት የሆነውን ዓዛርያስን ወስደው በአባቱ በአሜስያስ ፈንታ አነገሡት። 22አሜስያስ ከአባቶቹ ጋር ካንቀላፋ በኋላ ኤላትን እንደ ገና ሠርቶ ወደ ይሁዳ የመለሳት ይኸው ዓዛርያስ14፥22 ኢዩስያስ ነበር።
የእስራኤል ንጉሥ ዳግማዊ ኢዮርብዓም
23የኢዮስያስ ልጅ አሜስያስ በይሁዳ በነገሠ በዐሥራ አምስተኛው ዓመት፣ የእስራኤል ንጉሥ የዮአስ ልጅ ኢዮርብዓም በሰማርያ ነገሠ፤ አርባ አንድ ዓመትም ገዛ። 24በእግዚአብሔርም ፊት ክፉ ነገር አደረገ፤ የናባጥ ልጅ ኢዮርብዓም እስራኤልን ካሳተበት ኀጢአት አልተመለሰም። 25የእስራኤል አምላክ እግዚአብሔር በጋትሔፌር ነቢይ፣ በአማቴ ልጅ በባሪያው በዮናስ አማካይነት እንደ ተናገረው፣ ከሐማት መተላለፊያ14፥25 ሊቦ አንሥቶ እስከ ሙት ባሕር14፥25 የዓረባ ባሕር ድረስ የነበረውን የእስራኤልን ድንበር ያስመለሰ ኢዮርብዓም ነው።
26ባሪያም ይሁን ነጻ ዜጋ፣ በእስራኤል የሚኖር ሁሉ እንዴት እጅግ ይሠቃይ እንደ ነበር እግዚአብሔር አየ፤ የሚረዳቸውም አልነበረም። 27ይሁን እንጂ እግዚአብሔር የእስራኤልን ስም ከምድረ ገጽ እንደሚያጠፋ ስላልተናገረ፣ በዮአስ ልጅ በኢዮርብዓም አማካይነት ታደጋቸው።
28በኢዮርብዓም ዘመነ መንግሥት የተከናወነው ሌላው ነገር፣ የፈጸመው ሁሉና ያደረጋቸው ጦርነቶች እንዲሁም የይሁዳ ግዛት የነበሩትን ደማስቆንና ሐማትን እንዴት ለእስራኤል እንዳስመለሰ በእስራኤል ነገሥታት ታሪክ ተጽፎ የሚገኝ አይደለምን? 29ኢዮርብዓም ከአባቶቹ ከእስራኤል ነገሥታት ጋር አንቀላፋ፤ ልጁ ዘካርያስም በእግሩ ተተክቶ ነገሠ።
Amaziah King of Judah
1Amaziah began to rule as king over Judah. It was in the second year that Jehoash was king of Israel. He was the son of Jehoahaz. Amaziah was the son of Joash. 2Amaziah was 25 years old when he became king. He ruled in Jerusalem for 29 years. His mother’s name was Jehoaddan. She was from Jerusalem. 3Amaziah did what was right in the eyes of the Lord. But he didn’t do what King David had done. He always followed the example of his father Joash. 4But the high places weren’t removed. The people continued to offer sacrifices and burn incense there.
5The kingdom was firmly under his control. So he put to death the officials who had murdered his father, the king. 6But he didn’t put their children to death. He obeyed what is written in the Book of the Law of Moses. There the Lord commanded, “Parents must not be put to death because of what their children do. And children must not be put to death because of what their parents do. People must die because of their own sins.” (Deuteronomy 24:16)
7Amaziah won the battle over 10,000 men of Edom. It happened in the Valley of Salt. During the battle he captured the town of Sela. He called it Joktheel. That’s the name it still has to this day.
8After the battle, Amaziah sent messengers to Jehoash, the king of Israel. Jehoash was the son of Jehoahaz, the son of Jehu. Amaziah said, “Come on. Let us face each other in battle.”
9But Jehoash, the king of Israel, answered Amaziah, the king of Judah. Jehoash said, “A thorn bush in Lebanon sent a message to a cedar tree there. The thorn bush said, ‘Give your daughter to be married to my son.’ Then a wild animal in Lebanon came along. It crushed the thorn bush by walking on it. 10It’s true that you have won the battle over Edom. So you are proud. Enjoy your success while you can. But stay home and enjoy it! Why ask for trouble? Why bring yourself crashing down? Why bring Judah down with you?”
11But Amaziah wouldn’t listen. So Jehoash, the king of Israel, attacked. He and Amaziah, the king of Judah, faced each other in battle. The battle took place at Beth Shemesh in Judah. 12Israel drove Judah away. Every man ran home. 13Jehoash king of Israel captured Amaziah king of Judah at Beth Shemesh. Amaziah was the son of Joash. Joash was the son of Ahaziah. Jehoash went to Jerusalem. He broke down part of its wall. It’s the part that went from the Ephraim Gate to the Corner Gate. That part of the wall was 600 feet long. 14Jehoash took all the gold, silver and objects that were in the Lord’s temple. He also took all those same kinds of things that were among the treasures of the royal palace. And he took prisoners. Then he returned to Samaria.
15The other events of the rule of Jehoash are written down. That includes his war against Amaziah, the king of Judah. Everything he did and accomplished is written in the official records of the kings of Israel. 16Jehoash joined the members of his family who had already died. He was buried in Samaria in the royal tombs of Israel. Jehoash’s son Jeroboam became the next king after him.
17Amaziah king of Judah lived for 15 years after Jehoash king of Israel died. Amaziah was the son of Joash. Jehoash was the son of Jehoahaz. 18The other events of Amaziah’s rule are written down. They are written in the official records of the kings of Judah.
19Some people made evil plans against Amaziah in Jerusalem. So he ran away to Lachish. But they sent men to Lachish after him. There they killed him. 20His body was brought back on a horse. Then he was buried in the family tomb in Jerusalem, the City of David.
21All the people of Judah made Uzziah king. He was 16 years old. They made him king in place of his father Amaziah. 22Uzziah rebuilt Elath. He brought it under Judah’s control again. He did it after Amaziah joined the members of his family who had already died.
Jeroboam II King of Israel
23Jeroboam became king of Israel in Samaria. It was in the 15th year that Amaziah was king of Judah. Jeroboam ruled for 41 years. Amaziah was the son of Joash. Jeroboam was the son of Jehoash. 24Jeroboam did what was evil in the eyes of the Lord. He didn’t turn away from any of the sins the earlier Jeroboam, the son of Nebat, had committed. That Jeroboam had caused Israel to commit those same sins. 25Jeroboam, the son of Jehoash, made the borders of Israel the same as they were before. They reached from Lebo Hamath all the way to the Dead Sea. That’s what the Lord, the God of Israel, had said would happen. He had spoken that message through his servant Jonah. Jonah the prophet was the son of Amittai. Jonah was from the town of Gath Hepher.
26The Lord had seen how much everyone in Israel was suffering. It didn’t matter whether they were slaves or free. They didn’t have anyone to help them. 27The Lord hadn’t said he would wipe out Israel’s name from the earth. So he saved them by the power of Jeroboam, the son of Jehoash.
28The other events of the rule of Jeroboam are written down. What he and his army accomplished is written down. That includes how he brought Damascus and Hamath back under Israel’s control. Damascus and Hamath had belonged to the territory of Judah. Everything he did is written in the official records of the kings of Israel. 29Jeroboam joined the members of his family who had already died. He was buried in the royal tombs of Israel. Jeroboam’s son Zechariah became the next king after him.
