David and Ziba
1David went just beyond the top of the Mount of Olives. Ziba was waiting there to meet him. He was Mephibosheth’s manager. He had several donkeys with saddles on them. They were carrying 200 loaves of bread and 100 raisin cakes. They were also carrying 100 fig cakes and a bottle of wine. The bottle was made out of animal skin.
2The king asked Ziba, “Why have you brought all these things?”
Ziba answered, “The donkeys are for the king’s family to ride on. The bread and fruit are for the people to eat. The wine will make those who get tired in the desert feel like new again.”
3Then the king asked, “Where is your master’s grandson Mephibosheth?”
Ziba said to him, “He’s staying in Jerusalem. He thinks, ‘Today the Israelites will cause me to rule once again over my grandfather Saul’s kingdom.’ ”
4Then the king said to Ziba, “Everything that belonged to Mephibosheth belongs to you now.”
“You are my king and master,” Ziba said. “I make myself humble in front of you. I bow down to you. May you be pleased with me.”
Shimei Curses David
5King David approached Bahurim. As he did, a man came out toward him. The man was from the same family group that Saul was from. His name was Shimei. He was the son of Gera. As he came out of the town, he cursed David. 6He threw stones at David and all his officials. He did it even though all the troops and the special guard were there. They were to the right and left of David. 7As Shimei cursed, he said, “Get out! Get out, you murderer! You are a worthless and evil man! 8You spilled the blood of a lot of people in Saul’s family. You took over his kingdom. Now the Lord is paying you back. He has handed the kingdom over to your son Absalom. You have been destroyed because you are a murderer!”
9Then Abishai, the son of Zeruiah, spoke to the king. He said, “King David, why should we let this dead dog curse you? Let me go over there. I’ll cut off his head.”
10But the king said, “You and Joab are sons of Zeruiah. What does this have to do with you? Maybe the Lord said to him, ‘Curse David.’ If he did, who can ask him, ‘Why are you doing this?’ ”
11Then David spoke to Abishai and all his officials. He said, “My very own son Absalom is trying to kill me. How much more should this man from Benjamin want to kill me! Leave him alone. Let him curse. The Lord has told him to do it. 12Maybe the Lord will see how much I’m suffering. Maybe he’ll bring back to me his covenant blessing instead of his curse I’m hearing today.”
13So David and his men kept going along the road. At the same time, Shimei was going along the hillside across from him. He was cursing David as he went. He was throwing stones at David. He was showering him with dirt. 14The king and all the people with him came to the place they had planned to go to. They were very tired. So David rested there.
Ahithophel and Hushai Give Advice to Absalom
15During that time, Absalom and all the men of Israel came to Jerusalem. Ahithophel was with him. 16Then Hushai, the Arkite, went to Absalom. He said to him, “May the king live a long time! May the king live a long time!” Hushai was David’s trusted friend.
17Absalom said to Hushai, “So this is the way you show love to your friend? If he’s your friend, why didn’t you go with him?”
18Hushai said to Absalom, “Why should I? You are the one the Lord has chosen. These people and all the men of Israel have also chosen you. I want to be on your side. I want to stay with you. 19After all, who else should I serve? Shouldn’t I serve the king’s son? I will serve you, just as I served your father.”
20Absalom said to Ahithophel, “Give us your advice. What should we do?”
21Ahithophel answered, “Your father left some concubines behind to take care of the palace. Go and sleep with them. Then all the Israelites will hear about it. They will hear that you have made your father hate you. Everyone with you will be encouraged to give you more support.” 22So they set up a tent for Absalom on the roof of the palace. He went in and slept with his father’s concubines. Everyone in Israel saw it.
23In those days the advice Ahithophel gave was as good as advice from someone who asks God for guidance. That’s what David and Absalom thought about all of Ahithophel’s advice.
ዳዊትና ሲባ
1ዳዊት ከተራራው ጫፍ ባሻገር ጥቂት ዕልፍ ብሎ እንደ ሄደ፣ ሲባ የተባለው የሜምፊቦስቴ አገልጋይ፣ ሁለት መቶ እንጀራ፣ አንድ መቶ ጥፍጥፍ ዘቢብ፣ አንድ መቶ ጥፍጥፍ በለስና አንድ አቍማዳ የወይን ጠጅ የተጫኑ ሁለት አህዮች እየነዳ ሊገናኘው መጣ።
2ንጉሡም ሲባን፣ “ይህን ሁሉ ያመጣኸው ለምንድን ነው?” ሲል ጠየቀው።
ሲባም “አህዮቹን የንጉሡ ቤተ ሰዎች እንዲቀመጡባቸው፣ እንጀራውንና በለሱን ወጣቶቹ እንዲበሉት፣ የወይን ጠጁን ደግሞ በምድረ በዳ የደከሙት እንዲጠጡት ነው” አለው።
3ከዚያም ንጉሡ፣ “የጌታህ ልጅ የት ነው?” ሲል ጠየቀው።
ሲባም፣ “ ‘የእስራኤል ቤት ዛሬ የአባቴን መንግሥት ይመልስልኛል’ ብሎ ስለሚያስብ፣ በኢየሩሳሌም ተቀምጧል” አለው።
4ከዚያም ንጉሡ ሲባን፣ “የሜምፊቦስቴ የነበረው ሁሉ ከእንግዲህ ያንተ ነው” አለው።
ሲባም፣ “በታላቅ ትሕትና በግንባሬ ተደፍቼ እጅ እነሣለሁ፤ ንጉሥ ጌታዬ ሆይ፤ በፊትህ ሞገስ ላግኝ” አለው።
ሳሚ ንጉሥ ዳዊትን ረገመ
5ንጉሥ ዳዊት ወደ ብራቂም ሲደርስ፣ ከሳኦል ቤተ ሰብ ነገድ የሆነ አንድ ሰው ብቅ አለ፤ እርሱም የጌራ ልጅ ሳሚ ነው፤ እየተራገመም ወጣ። 6የንጉሡ ወታደሮችና የክብር ዘቦቹ ሁሉ በዳዊት ግራና ቀኝ ቢኖሩም እንኳ፣ በዳዊትና በሹማምቱ ላይ ሁሉ ድንጋይ ይወረውርባቸው ነበር። 7ሳሚም እንዲህ ብሎ ይራገም ነበር፤ “ውጣ! ከዚህ ውጣ! አንተ የደም ሰው፤ አንተ ክፉ ሰው፤ 8መንግሥቱን የወሰድህበትን የሳኦልን ቤተ ሰው ደም ሁሉ እግዚአብሔር ወደ አንተው እየመለሰው ነው። እግዚአብሔር መንግሥትህን ለልጅህ ለአቤሴሎም አሳልፎ ሰጥቶታል፤ አንተ የደም ሰው ስለ ሆንህ እነሆ፣ መከራ መጥቶብሃል።”
9ከዚያም የጽሩያ ልጅ አቢሳ ንጉሡን፣ “ይህ የሞተ ውሻ፣ ንጉሥ ጌታዬን እንዴት ይራገማል? ልሻገርና ራሱን ልቍረጠው” አለ።
10ንጉሡ ግን፣ “እናንት የጽሩያ ልጆች እናንተንና እኔን የሚያገናኘን ምን ነገር አለ? እግዚአብሔር፣ ‘ዳዊትን ርገመው’ ብሎት የሚረግመኝ ከሆነ፣ ‘ይህን ለምን አደረግህ’ ብሎ ማን ሊጠይቀው ይችላል?” አለው።
11ከዚያም ዳዊት አቢሳንና ሹማምቱን ሁሉ እንዲህ አላቸው፤ “ከአብራኬ የወጣው ልጄ ሕይወቴን ሊያጠፋት ከፈለገ፣ ይህ ብንያማዊ ቢያደርገው ምን ያስደንቃል? ስለዚህ ተዉት፤ እግዚአብሔር በል ብሎት ነውና ይራገም፤ 12ምናልባትም እግዚአብሔር ሐዘኔን አይቶ በዛሬውም ርግማን ፈንታ በጎ ነገር ያደርግልኝ ይሆናል።”
13ስለዚህም ዳዊትና ሰዎቹ መንገዳቸውን ቀጠሉ፤ ሳሚም በአንጻሩ ባለው ኰረብታ ጥግ ጥግ እየሄደ ይራገም፣ ድንጋይ ይወረውርበትና ዐፈር ይበትንበት ነበር። 14ንጉሡና አብረውት የነበሩት ሰዎች ሁሉ ለመሄድ ወዳሰቡበት ስፍራ ደረሱ፤ በጣም ደክሟቸው ስለ ነበር በዚያ ዐረፉ።
የኩሲና የአኪጦፌል ምክር
15በዚህን ጊዜ አቤሴሎምና የእስራኤል ሰዎች ሁሉ ወደ ኢየሩሳሌም መጡ፤ አኪጦፌልም አብሮት ነበር። 16የዳዊት ወዳጅ አርካዊው ኩሲም ወደ አቤሴሎም መጥቶ “ንጉሥ ሆይ፤ ለዘላለም ንገሥ፤ ንጉሥ ሆይ፤ ለዘላለም ንገሥ” አለው።
17አቤሴሎምም፣ ኩሲን፣ “ለወዳጅህ ያለህ ታማኝነት እስከዚህ ድረስ ነው? ለምን ከወዳጅህ ጋር አልሄድህም?” ሲል ጠየቀው።
18ኩሲም፣ አቤሴሎምን እንዲህ አለው፤ “ይህንስ አላዳርገውም! እኔ በእግዚአብሔር፣ በዚህ ሕዝብና በእስራኤል ሰዎች ሁሉ ለተመረጠው ለእርሱ እሆናለሁ፤ አብሬውም እኖራለሁ፤ 19እንግዲህ ልጁን ካላገለገልሁ ማንን ላገለግል ነው? አባትህን እንዳገለገልሁ ሁሉ፤ አንተንም አገለግላለሁ።”
20አቤሴሎምም አኪጦፌልን፤ “እስቲ ምክር አምጣ፤ ምን እናድርግ?” አለው።
21አኪጦፌልም መልሶ፣ “ቤተ መንግሥቱን እንዲጠብቁ አባትህ ከተዋቸው ቁባቶቹ ጋር ግባና ተኛ፤ ከዚያም አንተ፣ አባትህን እጅግ የጠላህ መሆንህን መላው እስራኤል ይሰማና አብሮህ ያለው ሁሉ ክንዱ ይበረታል” አለው። 22ስለዚህ ለአቤሴሎም በሰገነቱ ላይ ድንኳን ተከሉለት፤ እዚያም መላው እስራኤል እያየው ከአባቱ ቁባቶች ጋር ተኛ።
23በዚያም ጊዜ አኪጦፌል የሚሰጠው ምክር ሁሉ የእግዚአብሔርን ቃል እንደ መጠየቅ ይቈጠር ነበር፤ ዳዊትም ሆነ አቤሴሎም የአኪጦፌልን ምክር የሚቀበሉት በዚህ ሁኔታ ነበር።
