ንዕማን ከለምጽ ተፈወሰ
1በዚህ ጊዜ ንዕማን የሶርያ ንጉሥ ጦር አዛዥ ነበረ፤ እግዚአብሔር በዚህ ሰው አማካይነት፣ ሶርያ ድልን እንድትጐናጸፍ ስላደረጋት በጌታው ዘንድ ታላቅና የተከበረ ሰው ነበር። ጀግና ወታደር ቢሆንም ለምጽ5፥1 በዚህ ስፍራ እንዲሁም በቍጥር 3፡6፡7፡11 እና 12 ላይ የዕብራይስጡ ቃል ቈዳን የሚያጠቁ በሽታዎች ሁሉ የሚያሳይ ነው። ወጥቶበት ነበር።
2አደጋ ጣዮች ከሶርያ ወጥተው፣ ከእስራኤል ምድር አንዲት ልጃገረድ ማረኩ፤ እርሷም የንዕማንን ሚስት ታገለግላት ነበር። 3እመቤቷንም፣ “ጌታዬ በሰማርያ ያለውን ነቢይ ሄዶ ቢያገኘው እኮ ከዚህ ለምጹ ይፈውሰው ነበር” አለቻት።
4ንዕማንም ወደ ጌታው ሄዶ ከእስራኤል የመጣችው ልጃገረድ ያለችውን ነገረው። 5የሶርያም ንጉሥ፣ “በል እንግዲያው አሁኑኑ ሂድ፤ እኔም ለእስራኤል ንጉሥ ደብዳቤ እጽፋለሁ” አለው፤ ስለዚህ ንዕማን ዐሥር መክሊት5፥5 340 ኪሎ ግራም ያህል ነው። ብር፣ ስድስት ሺሕ ሰቅል5፥5 70 ኪሎ ግራም ያህል ነው። ወርቅና ዐሥር ሙሉ ልብስ ይዞ ሄደ። 6ለእስራኤልም ንጉሥ የያዘው ደብዳቤ፣ “ከለምጹ እንድትፈውሰው ይህን ደብዳቤ አስይዤ አገልጋዬን ንዕማንን ወደ አንተ ልኬዋለሁ” የሚል ነው።
7የእስራኤልም ንጉሥ ደብዳቤውን ወዲያው እንዳነበበ ልብሱን ቀድዶ፣ “ከለምጽ እንድፈውሰው ይህን ሰው ወደ እኔ መላኩ እኔ ገድዬ ማዳን የምችል አምላክ ሆኜ ነውን? እንግዲህ ጠብ ሲፈልገኝ እዩ!” አለ።
8የእግዚአብሔር ሰው ኤልሳዕ፣ የእስራኤል ንጉሥ ልብሱን መቅደዱን በሰማ ጊዜ፣ እንዲህ ሲል ላከበት፤ “ልብስህን ለምን ቀደድህ? ሰውየው ወደ እኔ ይምጣ፤ ከዚያም በእስራኤል ነቢይ መኖሩን ያውቃል።” 9ስለዚህ ንዕማን በፈረሶቹና በሠረገሎቹ ሆኖ በኤልሳዕ ቤት ደጃፍ ሲደርስ ቆመ። 10ኤልሳዕም፣ “ሂድና በዮርዳኖስ ሰባት ጊዜ ታጠብ፤ ሥጋህ ይፈወሳል፤ አንተም ትነጻለህ” ብሎ እንዲነግረው መልእክተኛ ላከበት።
11ንዕማን ግን ተቈጥቶ እንዲህ በማለት ሄደ፤ “እኔ እኮ በርግጥ ወደ እኔ መጥቶ በመቆም የአምላኩን የእግዚአብሔርን ስም የሚጠራ፣ በእጁም ዳስሶ ከለምጽ በሽታዬ የሚፈውሰኝ መስሎኝ ነበር። 12ለዚህ ለዚህ የደማስቆ ወንዞች አባናና ፋርፋር ከየትኞቹም የእስራኤል ውሆች አይሻሉምን? ለመታጠብ ለመታጠብማ በእነርሱ ታጥቤ መንጻት አልችልምን?” ስለዚህ በቍጣ ተመለሰ።
13የንዕማን አገልጋዮች ግን ወደ እርሱ ቀርበው፣ “አባት ሆይ፤ ነቢዩ ከዚህ ከበድ ያለ ነገር እንድታደርግ ቢነግርህ ኖሮ አታደርገውም ነበርን? ታዲያ፣ ‘ታጠብና ንጻ’ ቢልህ ምኑ አስቸገረህ?” አሉት። 14ስለዚህ ንዕማን ወረደ፤ የእግዚአብሔር ሰው እንደ ነገረውም በዮርዳኖስ ሰባት ጊዜ ብቅ ጥልቅ አለ፤ ሥጋውም እንደ ትንሽ ልጅ ሥጋ ሆነ፤ ነጻም።
15ከዚያም ንዕማን ከጭፍሮቹ ሁሉ ጋር ወደ እግዚአብሔር ሰው ተመልሶ ሄደ፤ በፊቱም ቆሞ፣ “እነሆ በእስራኤል አገር እንጂ በዓለም ሁሉ ሌላ አምላክ አለመኖሩን ተረድቻለሁ፤ ስለዚህ አሁንም ከአገልጋይህ ስጦታ እንድትቀበል እለምንሃለሁ” አለው። 16ነቢዩም፣ “የማገለግለውን ሕያው እግዚአብሔርን፣ ምንም ነገር አልቀበልም” ሲል መለሰ። ምንም እንኳ ንዕማን አስጨንቆ ቢለምነውም አልተቀበለም። 17ንዕማንም እንዲህ አለው፤ “ስጦታውን የማትቀበል ከሆነ፣ ከእግዚአብሔር በቀር ለማንኛውም አምላክ የሚቃጠል ወይም ሌላ መሥዋዕት ስለማላቀርብ፣ ሁለት የበቅሎ ጭነት ዐፈር እንድወስድ ትፈቅድልኝ ዘንድ እለምንሃለሁ። 18ነገር ግን እግዚአብሔር ስለ አንድ ነገር ብቻ አገልጋይህን ይቅር ይበለው፤ ይኸውም ጌታዬ ለመስገድ ወደ ሬሞን ቤተ ጣዖት በሚገባበት ጊዜ ክንዴን ሲደገፍ እኔም እንደ እርሱ በዚያ ብሰግድ፣ በሬሞን ቤተ ጣዖት በመስገዴ እግዚአብሔር አገልጋይህን ይቅር ይበለው።”
19ኤልሳዕም፣ “በሰላም ሂድ” አለው። ንዕማን ጥቂት ራቅ ብሎ እንደ ሄደ፣ 20የእግዚአብሔር ሰው አገልጋይ ግያዝ፣ “ጌታዬ፤ ይህ ሶርያዊ ንዕማን ያመጣውን አለመቀበሉ ደግም አይደል፤ ሕያው እግዚአብሔርን! ተከትዬ ሄጄ ከእርሱ አንድ ነገር ማግኘት አለብኝ” ብሎ ዐሰበ።
21ስለዚህ ግያዝ ንዕማንን ተከተለው፤ ንዕማንም ግያዝ እየሮጠ ወደ እርሱ መምጣቱን ባየ ጊዜ፣ ሊገናኘው ከሠረገላው ወርዶ፣ “ምነው፤ በደኅና መጣህን?” ሲል ጠየቀው።
22ግያዝም፣ “ሁሉም ደኅና ነው፤ ግን ጌታዬ፣ ‘ከነቢያት ማኅበር ሁለት ወጣቶች ከኰረብታማው አገር ከኤፍሬም ወደ እኔ አሁን በድንገት ስለ መጡ፣ እባክህ፤ አንድ መክሊት5፥22 34 ኪሎ ግራም ያህል ነው። ብርና ሁለት ሙሉ ልብስ ስጣቸው ብለህ ንገር’ ብሎ ልኮኛል” አለው።
23ንዕማንም፣ “እባክህ፤ ሁለት መክሊት ውሰድ” በማለት ግያዝን አስጨንቆ ለመነው። ከዚያም ሁለቱን መክሊት ብር፣ በሁለት ከረጢት ውስጥ አስሮ ሁለት ሙሉ ልብስ ጨምሮ ለሁለት አገልጋዮቹ አስያዘ፤ እነርሱም ያን ተሸክመው ከግያዝ ፊት ፊት ሄዱ። 24ግያዝም ወደ ኰረብታው እንደ ደረሰ፣ ዕቃዎቹን ከአገልጋዮቹ ተቀብሎ በቤቱ ውስጥ አስቀመጠ፤ ሰዎቹንም አሰናብቷቸው ሄዱ። 25ከዚያም ገብቶ በጌታው በኤልሳዕ ፊት ቆመ።
ኤልሳዕም፣ “ግያዝ ሆይ፤ የት ነበርህ?” ሲል ጠየቀው።
ግያዝም፣ “አገልጋይህ የትም አልሄደም” ብሎ መለሰ።
26ኤልሳዕ ግን እንዲህ አለው፤ “ያ ሰው ሊገናኝህ ከሠረገላው ሲወርድ፣ መንፈሴ ከአንተ ጋር አልሄደምን? እንዲያው ለመሆኑ ጊዜው ገንዘብና ልብስ፣ የወይራ ዘይት ተክልና የወይን ተክል ቦታ፣ የበግና የከብት መንጋ፣ ወንድና ሴት አገልጋይ የሚቀበሉበት ነውን? 27ስለዚህ የንዕማን ለምጽ በአንተ ላይ ይጣበቃል፤ ለዘላለምም ወደ ዘርህ ይተላለፋል።” ከዚያም ግያዝ ከኤልሳዕ ፊት ወጣ፤ እንደ በረዶ እስኪነጣም ድረስ ለምጻም ሆነ።
Naaman Healed of Leprosy
1Now Naaman was commander of the army of the king of Aram. He was a great man in the sight of his master and highly regarded, because through him the Lord had given victory to Aram. He was a valiant soldier, but he had leprosy.5:1 The Hebrew for leprosy was used for various diseases affecting the skin; also in verses 3, 6, 7, 11 and 27.
2Now bands of raiders from Aram had gone out and had taken captive a young girl from Israel, and she served Naaman’s wife. 3She said to her mistress, “If only my master would see the prophet who is in Samaria! He would cure him of his leprosy.”
4Naaman went to his master and told him what the girl from Israel had said. 5“By all means, go,” the king of Aram replied. “I will send a letter to the king of Israel.” So Naaman left, taking with him ten talents5:5 That is, about 750 pounds or about 340 kilograms of silver, six thousand shekels5:5 That is, about 150 pounds or about 69 kilograms of gold and ten sets of clothing. 6The letter that he took to the king of Israel read: “With this letter I am sending my servant Naaman to you so that you may cure him of his leprosy.”
7As soon as the king of Israel read the letter, he tore his robes and said, “Am I God? Can I kill and bring back to life? Why does this fellow send someone to me to be cured of his leprosy? See how he is trying to pick a quarrel with me!”
8When Elisha the man of God heard that the king of Israel had torn his robes, he sent him this message: “Why have you torn your robes? Have the man come to me and he will know that there is a prophet in Israel.” 9So Naaman went with his horses and chariots and stopped at the door of Elisha’s house. 10Elisha sent a messenger to say to him, “Go, wash yourself seven times in the Jordan, and your flesh will be restored and you will be cleansed.”
11But Naaman went away angry and said, “I thought that he would surely come out to me and stand and call on the name of the Lord his God, wave his hand over the spot and cure me of my leprosy. 12Are not Abana and Pharpar, the rivers of Damascus, better than all the waters of Israel? Couldn’t I wash in them and be cleansed?” So he turned and went off in a rage.
13Naaman’s servants went to him and said, “My father, if the prophet had told you to do some great thing, would you not have done it? How much more, then, when he tells you, ‘Wash and be cleansed’!” 14So he went down and dipped himself in the Jordan seven times, as the man of God had told him, and his flesh was restored and became clean like that of a young boy.
15Then Naaman and all his attendants went back to the man of God. He stood before him and said, “Now I know that there is no God in all the world except in Israel. So please accept a gift from your servant.”
16The prophet answered, “As surely as the Lord lives, whom I serve, I will not accept a thing.” And even though Naaman urged him, he refused.
17“If you will not,” said Naaman, “please let me, your servant, be given as much earth as a pair of mules can carry, for your servant will never again make burnt offerings and sacrifices to any other god but the Lord. 18But may the Lord forgive your servant for this one thing: When my master enters the temple of Rimmon to bow down and he is leaning on my arm and I have to bow there also—when I bow down in the temple of Rimmon, may the Lord forgive your servant for this.”
19“Go in peace,” Elisha said.
After Naaman had traveled some distance, 20Gehazi, the servant of Elisha the man of God, said to himself, “My master was too easy on Naaman, this Aramean, by not accepting from him what he brought. As surely as the Lord lives, I will run after him and get something from him.”
21So Gehazi hurried after Naaman. When Naaman saw him running toward him, he got down from the chariot to meet him. “Is everything all right?” he asked.
22“Everything is all right,” Gehazi answered. “My master sent me to say, ‘Two young men from the company of the prophets have just come to me from the hill country of Ephraim. Please give them a talent5:22 That is, about 75 pounds or about 34 kilograms of silver and two sets of clothing.’ ”
23“By all means, take two talents,” said Naaman. He urged Gehazi to accept them, and then tied up the two talents of silver in two bags, with two sets of clothing. He gave them to two of his servants, and they carried them ahead of Gehazi. 24When Gehazi came to the hill, he took the things from the servants and put them away in the house. He sent the men away and they left.
25When he went in and stood before his master, Elisha asked him, “Where have you been, Gehazi?”
“Your servant didn’t go anywhere,” Gehazi answered.
26But Elisha said to him, “Was not my spirit with you when the man got down from his chariot to meet you? Is this the time to take money or to accept clothes—or olive groves and vineyards, or flocks and herds, or male and female slaves? 27Naaman’s leprosy will cling to you and to your descendants forever.” Then Gehazi went from Elisha’s presence and his skin was leprous—it had become as white as snow.
