እስራኤል በሮብዓም ላይ ዐመፀ
10፥1–11፥4 ተጓ ምብ – 1ነገ 12፥1-24
1እስራኤላውያን ሁሉ ሊያነግሡት ወደዚያ ሄደው ስለ ነበር፣ ሮብዓም ወደ ሴኬም ሄደ። 2ከንጉሥ ሰሎሞን ሸሽቶ በግብፅ ይኖር የነበረው የናባጥ ልጅ ኢዮርብዓም ይህን ሲሰማ፣ ከግብፅ ተመልሶ መጣ። 3እርሱንም ልከው አስጠሩት፤ ከዚያም እርሱና እስራኤል ሁሉ ወደ ሮብዓም ሄደው እንዲህ አሉት፤ 4“አባትህ በላያችን ከባድ ቀንበር ጫነብን፤ አንተ ግን አስጨናቂውን ሥራና በላያችን የጫነብንን ከባድ ቀንበር አቅልልልን፤ እኛም እንገዛልሃለን።”
5ሮብዓምም፣ “ከሦስት ቀን በኋላ ተመልሳችሁ ወደ እኔ ኑ” አላቸው፤ ስለዚህ ሰዎቹ ወጥተው ሄዱ።
6ከዚያም ንጉሥ ሮብዓም፣ “ለዚህ ሕዝብ ምን እንድመልስለት ትመክሩኛላችሁ?” በማለት አባቱ ሰሎሞን በሕይወት ሳለ ያገለገሉትን የእስራኤልን ሽማግሌዎች ጠየቃቸው።
7እነርሱም፣ “ለዚህ ሕዝብ ደግ ከሆንህለት፣ ደስ ካሰኘኸውና የሚስማማው መልስ ከሰጠኸው ምንጊዜም ይገዛልሃል” አሉት።
8ሮብዓም ግን ሽማግሌዎች የሰጡትን ምክር ትቶ፣ አብሮ አደጎቹና አገልጋዮቹ ከሆኑት ወጣቶች ምክር ጠየቀ፤ 9እንዲህም አላቸው፤ “ ‘አባትህ የጫነብንን ቀንበር አቅልልልን’ ለሚሉኝ ለእነዚህ ሰዎች የምትሰጡኝ ምክር ምንድን ነው? ምንስ ብለን እንመልስላቸው?”
10አብሮ አደጎቹም ወጣቶች እንዲህ ሲሉ መለሱለት፤ “ለጠየቍህ ሕዝብ፤ ‘አባትህ በላያችን ከባድ ቀንበር ጫነብን፤ አንተ ግን ቀንበራችንን አቅልልልን’ ለሚሉህ እንዲህ በላቸው፤ ‘ትንሿ ጣቴ ከአባቴ ወገብ ይልቅ ትወፍራለች፤ 11አባቴ ከባድ ቀንበር ጫነባችሁ፤ እኔ ግን የባሰ አከብደዋለሁ፤ አባቴ በዐለንጋ ገረፋችሁ፤ እኔ ግን በጊንጥ እገርፋችኋለሁ።’ ”
12ንጉሡ፣ “ከሦስት ቀን በኋላ ተመልሳችሁ ኑ” ባላቸው መሠረት ኢዮርብዓምና ሕዝቡ ሁሉ ከሦስት ቀን በኋላ ወደ ሮብዓም ተመለሱ። 13ንጉሡም የሽማግሌዎችን ምክር በመናቅ፣ አመናጭቆ መለሰላቸው፤ 14እርሱም የወጣቶቹን ምክር በመቀበል፣ “አባቴ ቀንበራችሁን አከበደ፤ እኔ ደግሞ የባሰ አከብደዋለሁ፤ አባቴ በዐለንጋ ገረፋችሁ፤ እኔ ደግሞ በጊንጥ እገርፋችኋለሁ” አላቸው። 15እግዚአብሔር በሴሎናዊው በአሒያ አማካይነት ለናባጥ ልጅ ለኢዮርብዓም የተናገረው ቃል ይፈጸም ዘንድ፣ ወስኖ ስለ ነበር፣ ንጉሡ ሕዝቡን አላዳመጠም።
16መላው እስራኤልም ንጉሡ ሊሰማቸው አለመፈለጉን በተረዱ ጊዜ፣ እንዲህ ሲሉ መለሱለት፤
“ከዳዊት ምን ድርሻ አለን?
ከእሴይስ ልጅ ምን ክፍል አለን?
እስራኤል፣ ሆይ፤ ወደ ድንኳንህ ተመለስ፤
ዳዊት ሆይ፤ አንተም የገዛ ቤትህን ጠብቅ።”
ስለዚህ እስራኤላውያን ሁሉ ወደየቤታቸው ተመለሱ። 17ይሁን እንጂ በይሁዳ ከተሞች የሚኖሩትን እስራኤላውያን አሁንም የሚገዛቸው ሮብዓም ነበር።
18ንጉሥ ሮብዓም የገባሮች ኀላፊ የነበረውን አዶራምን ላከው፤ እስራኤላውያን ግን በድንጋይ ወግረው ገደሉት። ንጉሥ ሮብዓም ግን እንደ ምንም ብሎ ሰረገላው ላይ በመውጣት ወደ ኢየሩሳሌም ሸሽቶ አመለጠ። 19ስለዚህ እስራኤል እስከ ዛሬ ድረስ በዳዊት ቤት ላይ እንደ ዐመፀ ነው።
Israel Refuses to Follow Rehoboam
1Rehoboam went to the city of Shechem. All the Israelites had gone there to make him king. 2Jeroboam heard about it. He was the son of Nebat. Jeroboam was in Egypt at that time. He had gone there for safety. He wanted to get away from King Solomon. But now he returned from Egypt. 3So the people sent for Jeroboam. He and all the people went to Rehoboam. They said to him, 4“Your father put a heavy load on our shoulders. But now make our hard work easier. Make the heavy load on us lighter. Then we’ll serve you.”
5Rehoboam answered, “Come back to me in three days.” So the people went away.
6Then King Rehoboam asked the elders for advice. They had served his father Solomon while he was still living. Rehoboam asked them, “What advice can you give me? How should I answer these people?”
7They replied, “Be kind to them. Please them. Give them what they are asking for. Then they’ll always serve you.”
8But Rehoboam didn’t accept the advice the elders gave him. He asked for advice from the young men who had grown up with him and were now serving him. 9He asked them, “What’s your advice? How should I answer these people? They said to me, ‘Make the load your father put on our shoulders lighter.’ ”
10The young men who had grown up with him gave their answer. They replied, “The people have said to you, ‘Your father put a heavy load on our shoulders. Make it lighter.’ Now tell them, ‘My little finger is stronger than my father’s legs. 11My father put a heavy load on your shoulders. But I’ll make it even heavier. My father beat you with whips. But I’ll beat you with bigger whips.’ ”
12Three days later Jeroboam and all the people returned to Rehoboam. That’s because the king had said, “Come back to me in three days.” 13The king answered them in a mean way. He didn’t accept the advice of the elders. 14Instead, he followed the advice of the young men. He said, “My father put a heavy load on your shoulders. But I’ll make it even heavier. My father beat you with whips. But I’ll beat you with bigger whips.” 15So the king didn’t listen to the people. That’s because God had planned it that way. What the Lord had said through Ahijah came true. Ahijah had spoken the Lord’s message to Jeroboam, the son of Nebat. Ahijah was from Shiloh.
16All the Israelites saw that the king refused to listen to them. So they answered the king. They said,
“We don’t have any share in David’s royal family.
We don’t have any share in Jesse’s son.
People of Israel, let’s go back to our homes.
David’s royal family, take care of your own kingdom!”
So all the Israelites went home. 17But Rehoboam still ruled over the Israelites who were living in the towns of Judah.
18Adoniram was in charge of those who were forced to work hard for King Rehoboam. The king sent him out among the Israelites. But they killed Adoniram by throwing stones at him. Rehoboam was able to get away in his chariot. He escaped to Jerusalem. 19Israel has refused to follow the royal family of David to this day.
