1The war between Saul’s royal house and David’s royal house lasted a long time. David grew stronger and stronger. But the royal house of Saul grew weaker and weaker.
2Sons were born to David in Hebron.
His first son was Amnon. Amnon’s mother was Ahinoam from Jezreel.
3His second son was Kileab. Kileab’s mother was Abigail. She was Nabal’s widow from Carmel.
The third son was Absalom. His mother was Maakah. She was the daughter of Talmai, the king of Geshur.
4The fourth son was Adonijah. His mother was Haggith.
The fifth son was Shephatiah. His mother was Abital.
5The sixth son was Ithream. His mother was David’s wife Eglah.
Those sons were born to David in Hebron.
Abner Goes Over to David’s Side
6The fighting continued between David’s royal house and Saul’s royal house. Abner gained more and more power in the royal house of Saul. 7While Saul was still alive, he had a concubine named Rizpah. She was the daughter of Aiah. Ish-Bosheth said to Abner, “Why did you sleep with my father’s concubine?”
8Abner was very angry because of what Ish-Bosheth said. So Abner answered, “Do you think I’m only a dog’s head? Am I on Judah’s side? To this day I’ve been faithful to the royal house of your father Saul. I’ve been faithful to his family and friends. I haven’t handed you over to David. But now you claim that I’ve sinned with this woman! 9I will do for David what the Lord promised him. If I don’t, may God punish me greatly. 10I’ll take the kingdom away from Saul’s royal house. I’ll set up the throne of David’s kingdom over Israel and Judah. He will rule from Dan all the way to Beersheba.” 11Ish-Bosheth didn’t dare to say another word to Abner. He was much too afraid of him.
12Then Abner sent messengers to David to speak for him. They said, “Who will rule over this land? Make a covenant with me. Then I’ll help you bring all the Israelites over to your side.”
13“Good,” said David. “I will make a covenant with you. But there’s one thing I want you to do. Bring Saul’s daughter Michal to me. Don’t come to see me unless she’s with you.” 14Then David sent messengers to Saul’s son Ish-Bosheth. He ordered them to say, “Give me my wife Michal. She was promised to me. I paid for her the price that was demanded. I paid for her with the skins of 100 circumcised Philistines.”
15So Ish-Bosheth gave the order. He sent men who took Michal away from her husband Paltiel. Paltiel was the son of Laish. 16But her husband followed her to Bahurim. He was crying all the way. Then Abner said to him, “Go back home!” So he did.
17Abner talked with the elders of Israel. He said, “For some time you have wanted to make David your king. 18Now do it! The Lord made a promise to David. He said, ‘I will rescue my people Israel from the power of the Philistines. I will also rescue them from all their enemies. I will rescue them through my servant David.’ ”
19Abner also spoke to the people of Benjamin in person. Then he went to Hebron to tell David everything. He told him what Israel and all the people of Benjamin wanted to do. 20Abner had 20 men with him. They came to David at Hebron. So David prepared a feast for Abner and his men. 21Then Abner said to David, “Let me go right now. I’ll gather together all the Israelites for you. After all, you are now my king and master. The people can make a covenant with you. Then you can rule over everyone you want to.” So David sent Abner away. And he went in peace.
Joab Murders Abner
22Just then David’s men and Joab came back from attacking their enemies. They brought with them the large amount of goods they had taken. But Abner wasn’t with David in Hebron anymore. That’s because David had sent him away, and he had gone in peace. 23Joab and all the soldiers with him arrived. Then he was told that Abner, the son of Ner, had come to see the king. He was told that the king had sent Abner away. He was also told that Abner had gone in peace.
24So Joab went to the king. He said, “What have you done? Abner came to you. Why did you let him get away? Now he’s gone! 25You know what Abner, the son of Ner, is like. He came to trick you. He wanted to watch your every move. He came to find out everything you are doing.”
26Then Joab left David. He sent messengers to get Abner. They brought Abner back from the well of Sirah. But David didn’t know about it. 27When Abner returned to Hebron, Joab took him to one side. He brought him into an inside room. Joab acted as if he wanted to speak to him in private. But he really wanted to get even with him. That’s because Abner had spilled the blood of Joab’s brother Asahel. So Joab stabbed Abner in the stomach, and he died.
28Later on, David heard about it. He said, “I and the people of my kingdom aren’t guilty of spilling the blood of Abner, the son of Ner. We are free of blame forever in the sight of the Lord. 29May Joab and his whole family line be held accountable for spilling Abner’s blood! May Joab’s family never be without someone who has an open sore or skin disease. May his family never be without someone who has to use a crutch to walk. May his family never be without someone who gets killed by a sword. And may his family never be without someone who doesn’t have enough to eat.”
30Joab and his brother Abishai murdered Abner. They did it because he had killed their brother Asahel in the battle at Gibeon.
31David spoke to Joab and all the people with him. He said, “Tear your clothes. Put on the rough clothing people wear when they’re sad. Mourn when you walk in front of Abner’s body.” King David himself walked behind it. 32Abner’s body was buried in Hebron. The king wept out loud at Abner’s tomb. So did the rest of the people.
33King David sang a song of sadness over Abner. He said,
“Should Abner have died as sinful people do?
34His hands were not tied.
His feet were not chained.
He died as if he had been killed by evil people.”
All the people mourned over Abner again.
35Then all of them came and begged David to eat something. They wanted him to eat while it was still day. But David made a promise. He said, “I won’t taste bread or anything else before the sun goes down. If I do, may God punish me greatly!”
36All the people heard his promise and were pleased. In fact, everything the king did pleased them. 37So on that day all the people there and all the Israelites understood. They knew that the king didn’t have anything to do with the murder of Abner, the son of Ner.
38The king spoke to his men. He said, “Don’t you realize that a great commander has died in Israel today? 39I’m the anointed king. But today I’m weak. These sons of Zeruiah are too powerful for me. May the Lord pay back the one who killed Abner! May he pay him back for the evil thing he has done!”
1በዳዊት ቤትና በሳኦል ቤት መካከል የነበረው ጦርነት ብዙ ጊዜ ቈየ፤ ዳዊት እየበረታ ሲሄድ፣ የሳኦል ቤት ግን እየተዳከመ መጣ።
2ዳዊት በኬብሮን ሳለ፣ ስድስት ወንዶች ልጆች ተወለዱለት፤
የበኵር ልጁ፣ ከኢይዝራኤላዊቷ ከአኪናሆም የተወለደው አምኖን፣
3ሁለተኛው፣ የቀርሜሎሳዊው የናባል ሚስት ከነበረችው ከአቢግያ የተወለደው ኪልአብ፣
ሦስተኛው፣ ተልማይ ከተባለው ከጌሹር ንጉሥ ልጅ ከመዓካ የተወለደው አቤሴሎም፣
4አራተኛው፣ ከአጊት የተወለደው አዶንያስ፤
አምስተኛው፣ ከአቢጣል የተወለደው ሰፋጥያ፣
5ስድስተኛው፣ ከዳዊት ሚስት ከዔግላ የተወለደው ይትረኃም ነበር፤
እነዚህ ዳዊት በኬብሮን ሳለ የተወለዱለት ናቸው።
አበኔር ከዳዊት ጋር ተባበረ
6የሳኦል ቤትና የዳዊት ቤት በጦርነት ላይ በነበሩበት ጊዜ፣ አበኔር በሳኦል ቤት ላይ ኀይሉን ያጠናክር ነበር። 7ሳኦልም የኢዮሄልን ልጅ ሪጽፋን በቁባትነት አስቀምጧት ነበር፤ ኢያቡስቴም አበኔርን፣ “ለምንድን ነው ከአባቴ ቁባት ጋር የተኛኸው?” አለው።
8አበኔርም በኢያቡስቴ ንግግር እጅግ ስለ ተቈጣ እንዲህ አለ፤ “እኔ ለይሁዳ የምወግን የውሻ ጭንቅላት ነኝን? ለአባትህ ለሳኦል ቤት ለወንድሞቹና ለዘመዶቹ ታማኝነቴን እስከ ዛሬ ድረስ አላጓደልሁም፤ አንተንም አሳልፌ ለዳዊት አልሰጠሁም፤ አሁን ግን አንተ ከዚህች ሴት ጋር በፈጸምሁት ነገር ትከሰኛለህን? 9እግዚአብሔር ለዳዊት በመሐላ የሰጠውን ተስፋ እዳር እንዲደርስ ሳላደርግ ብቀር እግዚአብሔር በአበኔር ላይ ክፉ ያድርግበት፤ ከዚያ የባሰም ያምጣበት፤ 10የማለለትም መንግሥትን ከሳኦል ቤት አውጥቶ፣ ከዳን እስከ ቤርሳቤህ ባለው በእስራኤልና በይሁዳ ምድር ላይ የዳዊትን ዙፋን ለመመሥረት የሰጠው ተስፋ ነው።” 11ኢያቡስቴም አበኔርን አጥብቆ ፈርቶት ስለ ነበር፣ እንደ ገና አንዲት ቃል እንኳ ሊመልስለት አልደፈረም።
12ከዚያም አበኔር ለዳዊት፣ “ምድሪቱ የማን ናት? ከእኔ ጋር ተስማማ፤ እነሆ እስራኤል ሁሉ ወደ አንተ እንዲመለስ እኔ እረዳሃለሁ” ብለው ለዳዊት እንዲነግሩለት መልክተኞች ላከ።
13ዳዊትም፣ “ይሁን እሺ፣ ከአንተ ጋር ስምምነቱን አደርጋለሁ፤ ነገር ግን ከአንተ አንዲት ነገር እሻለሁ፤ ይኸውም ወደ እኔ ስትመጣ በመጀመሪያ የሳኦልን ሴት ልጅ ሜልኮልን ይዘህልኝ እንድትመጣ ነው፤ ያለዚያ ግን ወደ እኔ እንዳትመጣ” አለ። 14ከዚያም ዳዊት፣ “የመቶ ፍልስጥኤማውያን ሸለፈት ማጫ የከፈልሁባትን ሚስቴን ሜልኮልን ስጠኝ” ብሎ ወደ ሳኦል ልጅ ወደ ኢያቡስቴ መልክተኞች ላከበት።
15ስለዚህም ኢያቡስቴ መልክተኛ ልኮ፣ ሜልኮልን ከባሏ ከሌሳ ልጅ ከፈልጢኤል ወሰዳት። 16ባሏም እስከ ብራቂም ከተማ ድረስ እያለቀሰ ተከትሏት ሄደ፤ ከዚያም አበኔር፣ “በል ይበቃል! ወደ ቤትህ ተመለስ” አለው። ስለዚህም ተመለሰ።
17አበኔር ከእስራኤል ሽማግሌዎች ጋር ተመካከረ፤ እንዲህም አለ፤ “ባለፈው ጊዜ ዳዊት በላያችሁ እንዲነግሥ ፈልጋችሁ ነበር፤ 18እግዚአብሔር ለዳዊት፣ ‘በባሪያዬ በዳዊት ሕዝቤን እስራኤልን ከፍልስጥኤማውያን እጅና ከጠላቶቻቸው እጅ እታደጋቸዋለሁ’ ብሎ ተስፋ ስለ ሰጠው፣ ይህን አሁኑኑ አድርጉት።”
19እንዲሁም አበኔር ለብንያማውያን ራሱ ሄዶ ይህንኑ ነገራቸው፤ ከዚያም እስራኤልና መላው የብንያም ቤት ለማድረግ የፈለጉትን ሁሉ ለዳዊት ለመንገር ወደ ኬብሮን ሄደ። 20አበኔር ከሃያ ሰዎች ጋር ዳዊት ወዳለበት ወደ ኬብሮን መጣ፤ ዳዊትም ለአበኔርና አብረውት ለነበሩት ሰዎች ግብዣ አደረገላቸው። 21ከዚያም አበኔር ዳዊትን፤ “ከአንተ ጋር ቃል ኪዳን እንዲያደርጉ፣ ልብህ እንደተመኘውም ሁሉን እንድትገዛ ፈጥኜ ሄጄ፣ ለጌታዬ ለንጉሡ መላውን እስራኤልን ልሰብስብ” አለው። ስለዚህ ዳዊት አበኔርን አሰናበተው፤ በሰላምም ሄደ።
ኢዮአብ አበኔርን ገደለው
22የዳዊትና የኢዮአብ ሰዎች በዚያኑ ጊዜ ብዙ ምርኮ ይዘው ከዘመቻ ተመለሱ። አበኔር ግን ዳዊት በሰላም አሰናብቶት ስለ ሄደ፣ በኬብሮን አልነበረም። 23ኢዮአብና አብሮት የነበረው ሰራዊት ሁሉ እዚያ እንደ ደረሱ፣ የኔር ልጅ አበኔር ወደ ንጉሡ መምጣቱን፣ ንጉሡ እንዳሰናበተውና እርሱም በሰላም እንደ ሄደ፣ ኢዮአብ ሰማ።
24ስለዚህ ኢዮአብ ወደ ንጉሡ ገብቶ እንዲህ አለ፤ “ምን ማድረግህ ነው? እነሆ አበኔር መጥቶልህ እንዴት በሰላም እንዲሄድ አሰናበትኸው? 25የኔርን ልጅ አበኔርን ታውቀዋለህ፤ የመጣው ሊያታልልህ፣ መውጣት መግባትህን ለማወቅና የምታደርገውን ሁሉ ሊሰልል ነው።”
26ከዚያም ኢዮአብ ከዳዊት ዘንድ ወጣ፤ አበኔርን እንዲያመጡትም መልክተኞች ላከ፤ መልክተኞቹም ከሴይር የውሃ ጕድጓድ አጠገብ መለሱት። ዳዊት ግን ይህን አላወቀም ነበር። 27አበኔር ወደ ኬብሮን በተመለሰ ጊዜ፣ ኢዮአብ በቈይታ የሚያነጋግረው በመምሰል ዞር አድርጎ ወደ ቅጽሩ በር ይዞት ሄደ፤ እዚያም የወንድሙን የአሣሄልን ደም ለመበቀል ሲል፣ ሆዱ ላይ ወግቶ ገደለው።
28ዳዊት ይህን ነገር ቈይቶ በሰማ ጊዜ እንዲህ አለ፤ “እኔም ሆንሁ መንግሥቴ ከኔር ልጅ ከአበኔር ደም በእግዚአብሔር ፊት ለዘላለም ንጹሕ ነን፤ 29ደሙ በኢዮአብ ራስና በአባቱ ቤት ሁሉ ላይ ይሁን፤ ፈሳሽ ነገር የሚወጣው ወይም አሠቃቂ የቈዳ በሽታ3፥29 የዕብራይስጡ ቃል ማናቸውንም ዐይነት የቈዳ በሽታ የሚያመለክት ነው። ያለበት፣ በምርኵዝ የሚሄድ ዐንካሳ፣ ወይም በሰይፍ ተመትቶ የሚወድቅ ወይም የሚበላው ያጣ ራብተኛ ከኢዮአብ ቤት አይታጣ።”
30አበኔር ገባዖን ላይ በተደረገው ጦርነት የኢዮአብንና የአቢሳን ወንድም አሣሄልን ገድሎት ስለ ነበር፣ እነርሱም አበኔርን ገደሉት።
31ከዚያም ዳዊት ለኢዮአብና አብሮት ለነበረው ሕዝብ ሁሉ፣ “ልብሳችሁን ቀድዳችሁ፣ ማቅ ለብሳችሁ በአበኔር ፊት አልቅሱ” አላቸው፤ ራሱ ንጉሥ ዳዊትም አስከሬኑን አጀበ። 32ከዚያም አበኔርን በኬብሮን ቀበሩት፤ ንጉሡም በአበኔር መቃብር ላይ ጮኾ አለቀሰ፤ ሕዝቡም ሁሉ እንደዚሁ አለቀሱ።
33ንጉሡም ለአበኔር ይህን የሐዘን እንጕርጕሮ ተቀኘ፤
“አበኔር እንደ ተራ ሰው ይሙት?
34እጆችህ አልታሰሩም፤
እግሮችህ በእግር ብረት አልገቡም፤
ሰው በክፉ ሰዎች ፊት እንደሚወድቅ
አንተም እንደዚሁ ወደቅህ።”
ሕዝቡም ሁሉ እንደ ገና አለቀሱለት።
35ከዚያም ሕዝቡ ሁሉ እህል በሚቀምስበት ሰዓት ወደ ዳዊት መጥተው ምግብ እንዲበላ አጥብቀው ለመኑት። ዳዊት ግን፣ “ፀሓይ ከመጥለቋ በፊት እንጀራ ወይም ሌላ ነገር ብቀምስ፣ እግዚአብሔር ይህን ያድርግብኝ፤ ከዚህም የባሰ ያምጣብኝ” ብሎ ማለ።
36ሕዝቡም ሁሉ ይህንኑ ተመለከቱ፤ ደስም አላቸው፤ በርግጥ ንጉሡ ያደረገው ሁሉ ሕዝቡን ደስ አሰኛቸው። 37እንዲሁም በዚያን ዕለት ሕዝቡ ሁሉና እስራኤል በሙሉ ንጉሡ በኔር ልጅ በአበኔር ሞት እጁ እንዳልገባበት ዐወቁ። 38ከዚያም ንጉሡ ለራሱ ሰዎች እንዲህ አለ፤ “በዛሬዪቱ ዕለት በእስራኤል መስፍንና ታላቅ ሰው መውደቁን አላወቃችሁምን? 39ምንም እንኳ ዛሬ የተቀባሁ ንጉሥ ብሆንም፣ እኔ ደካማ ሰው ነኝ፤ እነዚህ የጽሩያ ልጆች እጅግ በርትተውብኛል። እግዚአብሔር ለክፉ አድራጊ የእጁን ይስጠው።”
