የሳባ ንግሥት ሰሎሞንን ጐበኘች
9፥1-12 ተጓ ምብ – 1ነገ 10፥1-13
1የሳባ ንግሥት የሰሎሞንን ዝና በሰማች ጊዜ፣ አስቸጋሪ በሆኑ ጥያቄዎች ልትፈትነው ወደ ኢየሩሳሌም መጣች። ቅመማ ቅመም፣ እጅግ ብዙ ወርቅና የከበሩ ድንጋዮችን በግመሎች አስጭና ከታላቅ ጓዝ ጋር ደረሰች፤ ወደ ሰሎሞንም ቀርባ በልቧ ያለውን ሁሉ አጫወተችው። 2ሰሎሞንም የጠየቀችውን ሁሉ መለሰላት፤ ሊመልስላት የተሳነው አንዳች ነገር አልነበረም። 3የሳባ ንግሥት የሰሎሞንን ጥበብና የሠራውን ቤተ መንግሥት፣ 4በገበታው ላይ የሚቀርበውን መብል፣ የሹማምቱን አቀማመጥ፣ አስተናባሪዎቹንና አለባበሳቸውን፣ ጠጅ አሳላፊዎቹንና አለባበሳቸውን እንዲሁም በእግዚአብሔር ቤተ መቅደስ ያቀረባቸውን የሚቃጠሉ መሥዋዕቶች9፥4 ወይም ወደ ላይ የሚመጣባቸውን ደረጃዎች ተብሎ መተርጐም ይቻላል። ባየች ጊዜ እጅግ ተደነቀች። 5ንጉሡንም እንዲህ አለችው፤ “ስለ ሥራህና ስለ ጥበብህ በአገሬ ሳለሁ የሰማሁት ሁሉ እውነት ነው። 6ነገር ግን መጥቼ በዐይኔ እስካየሁ ጊዜ ድረስ የነገሩኝን አላመንሁም ነበር፤ በርግጥም የጥበብህ እኩሌታ እንኳ አልተነገረኝም፤ እኔ ከሰማሁት ዝና እጅግ ትልቃለህ። 7ሰዎችህ ምንኛ ታድለዋል! ዘወትር በፊትህ ቆመው ጥበብህን የሚሰሙ ሹማምትህስ ምንኛ ታድለዋል! 8ለአምላክህ ለእግዚአብሔር ንጉሥ ሆነህ እንድትገዛ፣ በአንተ ደስ የተሰኘውና በዙፋኑ ላይ ያስቀመጠህ አምላክህ እግዚአብሔር ቡሩክ ይሁን፤ አምላክህ ለእስራኤል ካለው ፍቅርና ለዘላለም ሊያጸናቸው ካለው ፍላጎት የተነሣ፣ ፍትሕና ጽድቅ እንዲሰፍን ታደርግ ዘንድ አንተን በላያቸው ላይ አንግሦሃልና።”
9ከዚያም ለንጉሡ አንድ መቶ ሃያ መክሊት9፥9 4 ሜትሪክ ቶን ያህል ነው። ወርቅ፣ እጅግ ብዙ ቅመማ ቅመምና የከበሩ ድንጋዮች ሰጠችው፤ የሳባ ንግሥት ለንጉሥ ሰሎሞን እንደ ሰጠችው ዐይነት ቅመማ ቅመም ያለ ከቶ አልነበረም።
10የኪራም ሰዎችና የሰሎሞን ሰዎች ወርቅ ከኦፊር እንደዚሁም ሰንደልና9፥10 የአልሙግ ዕንጨት ሊሆን ይችላል የከበሩ ድንጋዮች አመጡ። 11ንጉሡም የሰንደሉን ዕንጨት ለእግዚአብሔር ቤተ መቅደስና ለቤተ መንግሥቱ ደረጃ መሥሪያ እንደዚሁም ለመዘምራኑ የመሰንቆና የበገና መሥሪያ አደረገው፤ ይህን የመሰለ ነገር በይሁዳ ምድር ከቶ አልታየም።
12ንጉሥ ሰሎሞን ለሳባ ንግሥት የፈለገችውንና የጠየቀችውን ሁሉ ሰጣት፤ ስጦታውም እርሷ ካመጣችለት በላይ ነበር። ከዚያም ከአጃቢዎቿ ጋር ወደ አገሯ ተመለሰች።
የሰሎሞን ብልጽግና
9፥13-28 ተጓ ምብ – 1ነገ 10፥14-29፤ 2ዜና 1፥14-17
13ሰሎሞን በየዓመቱ የሚቀበለው ወርቅ ክብደቱ ስድስት መቶ ስድሳ ስድስት መክሊት9፥13 23 ሜትሪክ ቶን ያህል ነው። ነበር። 14ይህም ከታላላቅና ከተራ ነጋዴዎች ከሚገባው ቀረጥ ሌላ ነበር፤ እንዲሁም መላው የዐረብ ነገሥታትና የገዛ ምድሩ አገረ ገዦች ለሰሎሞን ወርቅና ብር ያመጡለት ነበር።
15ንጉሥ ሰሎሞን ሁለት መቶ ከጥፍጥፍ ወርቅ የተሠራ ታላላቅ ጋሻዎች አበጀ፤ በእያንዳንዱም ጋሻ የገባው ጥፍጥፍ ወርቅ ስድስት መቶ ሰቅል9፥15 3.5 ኪሎ ግራም ያህል ነው። ነበር። 16እንዲሁም ሦስት መቶ ትንንሽ ጋሻዎች በጥፍጥፍ ወርቅ ሠራ፤ በእነዚህም በእያንዳንዳቸው የገባው ጥፍጥፍ ወርቅ ሦስት መቶ ሰቅል9፥16 1.7 ኪሎ ግራም ይህል ነው ነበር። ንጉሡም ጋሻዎቹን “የሊባኖስ ደን” በተባለው ቤተ መንግሥት ውስጥ አኖራቸው።
17ከዚያም ንጉሡ በዝኆን ጥርስ ያጌጠና በንጹሕ ወርቅ የተለበጠ ትልቅ ዙፋን ሠራ። 18ዙፋኑ ስድስት መውጫ መውረጃ ደረጃዎች ሲኖሩት፣ ከዙፋኑ ጋር የተያያዘ ከወርቅ የተሠራ የእግር መርገጫ ነበረው። መቀመጫውም ግራና ቀኙ መደገፊያ ያለው ሆኖም ከመደገፊያዎቹም አጠገብ አንዳንድ አንበሳ ቆሞ ነበር። 19እንዲሁም በስድስቱ ደረጃዎች ዳርና ዳር ላይ አንዳንድ አንበሳ፣ በአጠቃላይ ዐሥራ ሁለት አንበሶች ቆመው ነበር፤ ይህን የመሰለ ዙፋን በየትኛውም አገር ተሠርቶ አያውቅም። 20ንጉሥ ሰሎሞን የሚጠጣባቸው ዕቃዎች በሙሉ ከወርቅ የተሠሩ ነበሩ፤ “የሊባኖስ ደንቃ” ተብሎ በሚጠራው ቤተ መንግሥት ውስጥ የነበሩትም ዕቃዎች ሁሉ ከንጹሕ ወርቅ የተሠሩ ነበሩ፤ በሰሎሞን ዘመን ብር ዋጋ እንደሌለው ስለሚቈጠር ከብር የተሠራ አንድም ነገር አልነበረም። 21ንጉሡ በኪራም ሰዎች የሚነዱ የንግድ መርከቦች ነበሩት፤9፥21 ዕብራይስጡ፣ ወደ ተርሴስ ሊሄዱ የሚችሉ መርከቦች ይላል። እነዚህም በየሦስት ዓመቱ አንድ ጊዜ ወርቅ፣ ብር፣ የዝሆን ጥርስ፣ ጦጣዎችና ዝንጀሮዎች እየያዙ ይመለሱ ነበር።
22ንጉሥ ሰሎሞን በሀብትም ሆነ በጥበብ ከምድር ነገሥታት ሁሉ የበለጠ ነበር። 23የምድር ነገሥታት ሁሉ እግዚአብሔር በልቡ ያኖረውን ጥበብ ለመስማት ከሰሎሞን ጋር መገናኘት ይፈልጉ ነበር። 24በየዓመቱ ወደ እርሱ የሚመጡትም ሁሉ የብርና የወርቅ ዕቃ፣ የልብስ፣ የጦር መሣሪያና የቅመማ ቅመም እንደዚሁም የፈረስና የበቅሎ ገጸ በረከት ያመጡለት ነበር።
25ሰሎሞን አራት ሺሕ የፈረሶችና የሠረገሎች9፥25 ወይም፣ ሠረገለኞች ተብሎ መተርጐም ይችላል። ጋጥ ነበረው፤ እንዲሁም በሚኖርበት በኢየሩሳሌምና በሰረገላ ከተሞች ዐሥራ ሁለት ሺሕ ፈረሶች ነበሩት። 26እርሱም ከኤፍራጥስ ወንዝ9፥26 የኤፍራጥስ ወንዝ ነው፤ ነገር ግን አንዳንድ ቅጆች ኤፍራጥስ የሚለውን ቃል አይጨምሩም እስከ ፍልስጥኤም ምድርና እስከ ግብፅ ዳርቻ ድረስ ባሉት ነገሥታት ሁሉ ላይ ገዛ። 27ንጉሡ በኢየሩሳሌም ብሩን እንደ ማንኛውም ድንጋይ፣ የዝግባውንም ዕንጨት ብዛት በየኰረብታው ግርጌ እንደሚበቅል ሾላ አደረገው። 28ለሰሎሞን ከግብፅና9፥28 በኪልቂያ የምትገኘው ሙዙር ነች። ከሌሎች አገሮች ሁሉ ፈረሶች ያመጡለት ነበር።
የሰሎሞን መሞት
9፥29-31 ተጓ ምብ – 1ነገ 11፥41-43
29ሰሎሞን በዘመነ መንግሥቱ የሠራው ሌላው ነገር በነቢዩ በናታን ታሪክና በሴሎናዊው በአሒያ ትንቢት እንዲሁም ባለ ራእዩ አዶ ስለ ናባጥ ልጅ ስለ ኢዮርብዓም ባየው ራእይ ውስጥ የተጻፈ አይደለምን? 30ሰሎሞን በኢየሩሳሌም ተቀምጦ በእስራኤል ሁሉ ላይ አርባ ዓመት ነገሠ። 31ከዚያም እንደ አባቶቹ አንቀላፋ፤ በአባቱም በዳዊት ከተማ ተቀበረ። ልጁም ሮብዓም በእርሱ ፈንታ ነገሠ።
The Queen of Sheba Visits Solomon
1The queen of Sheba heard about how famous Solomon was. So she came to Jerusalem to test him with hard questions. She arrived with a very large group of attendants. Her camels were carrying spices, huge amounts of gold, and valuable jewels. She came to Solomon and asked him about everything she wanted to know. 2He answered all her questions. There wasn’t anything too hard for him to explain to her. 3So the queen of Sheba saw how wise Solomon was. She saw the palace he had built. 4She saw the food on his table. She saw his officials sitting there. She saw the robes of the servants who waited on everyone. She saw the robes the wine tasters were wearing. And she saw the burnt offerings Solomon sacrificed at the Lord’s temple. She could hardly believe everything she had seen.
5She said to the king, “Back in my own country I heard a report about you. I heard about how much you had accomplished. I also heard about how wise you are. Everything I heard is true. 6But I didn’t believe what people were saying. So I came to see for myself. And now I believe it! You are twice as wise as people say you are. The report I heard doesn’t even begin to tell the whole story about you. 7How happy your people must be! How happy your officials must be! They always get to serve you and hear the wise things you say. 8May the Lord your God be praised. He takes great delight in you. He placed you on his throne as king. He put you there to rule for him. Your God loves Israel very much. He longs to take good care of them forever. That’s why he has made you king over them. He knows that you will do what is fair and right.”
9She gave the king four and a half tons of gold. She also gave him huge amounts of spices and valuable jewels. There had never been as many spices as the queen of Sheba gave to King Solomon.
10The servants of Hiram and the servants of Solomon brought gold from Ophir. They also brought algumwood and valuable jewels. 11The king used the algumwood to make steps for the Lord’s temple and the royal palace. He also used it to make harps and lyres for those who played the music. No one had ever seen anything like those instruments in Judah before.
12King Solomon gave the queen of Sheba everything she wanted and asked for. In fact, he gave her more than she had brought to him. Then she left. She returned to her own country with her attendants.
Solomon’s Greatness
13Each year Solomon received 25 tons of gold. 14That didn’t include the money brought in by business and trade. All the kings of Arabia also brought gold and silver to Solomon. So did the governors of the territories.
15King Solomon made 200 large shields out of hammered gold. Each one weighed 15 pounds. 16He also made 300 small shields out of hammered gold. Each one weighed almost eight pounds. The king put all the shields in the Palace of the Forest of Lebanon.
17Then he made a large throne. It was covered with ivory. And that was covered with pure gold. 18The throne had six steps. A gold stool for the king’s feet was connected to it. The throne had armrests on both sides of the seat. A statue of a lion stood on each side of the throne. 19Twelve lions stood on the six steps. There was one at each end of each step. Nothing like that throne had ever been made for any other kingdom. 20All of King Solomon’s cups were made out of gold. All the things used in the Palace of the Forest of Lebanon were made out of pure gold. Nothing was made out of silver. When Solomon was king, silver wasn’t considered to be worth very much. 21He had many ships that carried goods to be traded. The crews of those ships were made up of Hiram’s servants. Once every three years the ships returned. They brought gold, silver, ivory, apes and peacocks.
22King Solomon was richer than all the other kings on earth. He was also wiser than they were. 23All these kings wanted to meet Solomon in person. They wanted to see for themselves how wise God had made him. 24Year after year, everyone who came to him brought a gift. They brought gifts made out of silver and gold. They brought robes, weapons and spices. They also brought horses and mules.
25Solomon had 4,000 spaces where he kept his horses and chariots. He had 12,000 horses. He kept some of his horses and chariots in the chariot cities. He kept the others with him in Jerusalem. 26Solomon ruled over all the kings from the Euphrates River to the land of the Philistines. He ruled all the way to the border of Egypt. 27The king made silver as common in Jerusalem as stones. He made cedar wood as common there as sycamore-fig trees in the western hills. 28Solomon got horses from Egypt. He also got them from many other countries.
Solomon Dies
29The other events of Solomon’s rule from beginning to end are written down. They are written in the records of Nathan the prophet. They are written in the prophecy of Ahijah. He was from Shiloh. They are also written in the records of the visions of Iddo the prophet about Jeroboam. Jeroboam was the son of Nebat. 30Solomon ruled in Jerusalem over the whole nation of Israel for 40 years. 31Then he joined the members of his family who had already died. He was buried in the city of his father David. Solomon’s son Rehoboam became the next king after him.
