1የይሁዳ ንጉሥ ኢዮሣፍጥ ኢየሩሳሌም ወዳለው ቤተ መንግሥቱ በደኅና በተመለሰ ጊዜ፣ 2ባለ ራእዩ የአናኒ ልጅ ኢዩ ሊገናኘው ወጣ፤ እንዲህም አለው፣ “አንተ ክፉውን መርዳትህና እግዚአብሔርን የሚጠሉትን ማፍቀርህ19፥2 ወይም፣ ከሚጠሉት ጋር መተባበርህ ተገቢ ነውን? ስለዚህ የእግዚአብሔር ቍጣ ባንተ ላይ ነው፤ 3ይሁን እንጂ የአሼራን ዐምዶች ከምድሪቱ ስላስወገድህና እግዚአብሔርን ለመፈለግ ልብህን ስላዘጋጀህ፣ መልካም ነገር ተገኝቶብሃል”።
ኢዮሣፍጥ ዳኞችን ሾመ
4ኢዮሣፍጥ በኢየሩሳሌም ተቀመጠ፤ ከቤርሳቤህ እስከ ኰረብታማው አገር እስከ ኤፍሬም ድረስ እንደ ገና በመውጣት ወደ ሕዝቡ መካከል ገብቶ ወደ አባቶቻቸው አምላክ ወደ እግዚአብሔር መለሳቸው። 5በምድሪቱም ላይ በተመሸጉት የይሁዳ ከተሞች ሁሉ ዳኞችን ሾመ፤ 6እንዲህም አላቸው፤ “እናንተ የምትፈርዱት ለሰው ሳይሆን፣ ፍርድ በምትሰጡበት ጊዜ ሁሉ ከእናንተ ጋር ለሆነው ለእግዚአብሔር ስለሆነ፣ በምትሰጡት ውሳኔ ሁሉ ብርቱ ጥንቃቄ አድርጉ፤ 7አሁንም እግዚአብሔርን መፍራት በእናንተ ላይ ይሁን፤ በአምላካችን በእግዚአብሔር ዘንድ ፍርድ ማጣመም፣ አድልዎ ማድረግና መማለጃ መቀበል ስለሌለ ተጠንቅቃችሁ ፍረዱ።”
8ኢዮሣፍጥም በኢየሩሳሌም የእግዚአብሔርን ሕግ እንዲያስፈጽሙና ለሚነሡ ክርክሮችም እልባት እንዲሰጡ ከሌዋውያን፣ ከካህናትና ከእስራኤል ቤት አለቆች ጥቂት ሰዎች ሾመ፤ እነርሱም መኖሪያቸው በኢየሩሳሌም ሆነ። 9እነርሱንም እንዲህ ብሎ አዘዛቸው፤ “እግዚአብሔርን በመፍራት፣ በታማኝነትና በፍጹም ልብ አገልግሉ። 10በየከተማው ከሚኖሩት ወገኖቻችሁ ስለ ደም መፋሰስ ወይም ሕግን፣ ትእዛዞችን፣ ደንብንና ሥርዐትን ስለ መተላለፍ በሚቀርብላችሁ በማናቸውም ጕዳይ እግዚአብሔርን እንዳይበድሉ አስጠንቅቋቸው፤ አለዚያ ግን ቍጣው በእናንተና በወንድሞቻችሁ ላይ ይመጣል፤ ይህን ብታደርጉ በደለኞች አትሆኑም።
11“የእግዚአብሔር በሆነው ነገር ሁሉ ላይ የካህናቱ አለቃ አማርያ፣ የንጉሡ በሆነው ነገር ሁሉ ላይ የይሁዳ ነገድ መሪ የሆነው የእስማኤል ልጅ ዝባድያ በላያችሁ ተሾመዋል፤ ሌዋውያኑ ደግሞ በፊታችሁ አለቆች ሆነው ያገለግላሉ፤ በርትታችሁ ሥሩ፤ እግዚአብሔርም መልካም ከሚያደርጉ ጋር ይሁን።”
1And Jehoshaphat the king of Judah returned to his house in peace to Jerusalem. 2And Jehu the son of Hanani the seer went out to meet him, and said to king Jehoshaphat, Shouldest thou help the ungodly, and love them that hate the LORD? therefore is wrath upon thee from before the LORD. 3Nevertheless there are good things found in thee, in that thou hast taken away the groves out of the land, and hast prepared thine heart to seek God. 4And Jehoshaphat dwelt at Jerusalem: and he went out again through the people from Beer-sheba to mount Ephraim, and brought them back unto the LORD God of their fathers.19.4 he went…: Heb. he returned and went out
5¶ And he set judges in the land throughout all the fenced cities of Judah, city by city, 6And said to the judges, Take heed what ye do: for ye judge not for man, but for the LORD, who is with you in the judgment.19.6 in…: Heb. in the matter of judgment 7Wherefore now let the fear of the LORD be upon you; take heed and do it: for there is no iniquity with the LORD our God, nor respect of persons, nor taking of gifts.
8¶ Moreover in Jerusalem did Jehoshaphat set of the Levites, and of the priests, and of the chief of the fathers of Israel, for the judgment of the LORD, and for controversies, when they returned to Jerusalem. 9And he charged them, saying, Thus shall ye do in the fear of the LORD, faithfully, and with a perfect heart. 10And what cause soever shall come to you of your brethren that dwell in their cities, between blood and blood, between law and commandment, statutes and judgments, ye shall even warn them that they trespass not against the LORD, and so wrath come upon you, and upon your brethren: this do, and ye shall not trespass. 11And, behold, Amariah the chief priest is over you in all matters of the LORD; and Zebadiah the son of Ishmael, the ruler of the house of Judah, for all the king’s matters: also the Levites shall be officers before you. Deal courageously, and the LORD shall be with the good.19.11 Deal…: Heb. Take courage and do
