Nathan Rebukes David
1The Lord sent Nathan to David. When he came to him, he said, “There were two men in a certain town, one rich and the other poor. 2The rich man had a very large number of sheep and cattle, 3but the poor man had nothing except one little ewe lamb he had bought. He raised it, and it grew up with him and his children. It shared his food, drank from his cup and even slept in his arms. It was like a daughter to him.
4“Now a traveler came to the rich man, but the rich man refrained from taking one of his own sheep or cattle to prepare a meal for the traveler who had come to him. Instead, he took the ewe lamb that belonged to the poor man and prepared it for the one who had come to him.”
5David burned with anger against the man and said to Nathan, “As surely as the Lord lives, the man who did this must die! 6He must pay for that lamb four times over, because he did such a thing and had no pity.”
7Then Nathan said to David, “You are the man! This is what the Lord, the God of Israel, says: ‘I anointed you king over Israel, and I delivered you from the hand of Saul. 8I gave your master’s house to you, and your master’s wives into your arms. I gave you all Israel and Judah. And if all this had been too little, I would have given you even more. 9Why did you despise the word of the Lord by doing what is evil in his eyes? You struck down Uriah the Hittite with the sword and took his wife to be your own. You killed him with the sword of the Ammonites. 10Now, therefore, the sword will never depart from your house, because you despised me and took the wife of Uriah the Hittite to be your own.’
11“This is what the Lord says: ‘Out of your own household I am going to bring calamity on you. Before your very eyes I will take your wives and give them to one who is close to you, and he will sleep with your wives in broad daylight. 12You did it in secret, but I will do this thing in broad daylight before all Israel.’ ”
13Then David said to Nathan, “I have sinned against the Lord.”
Nathan replied, “The Lord has taken away your sin. You are not going to die. 14But because by doing this you have shown utter contempt for12:14 An ancient Hebrew scribal tradition; Masoretic Text for the enemies of the Lord, the son born to you will die.”
15After Nathan had gone home, the Lord struck the child that Uriah’s wife had borne to David, and he became ill. 16David pleaded with God for the child. He fasted and spent the nights lying in sackcloth12:16 Dead Sea Scrolls and Septuagint; Masoretic Text does not have in sackcloth. on the ground. 17The elders of his household stood beside him to get him up from the ground, but he refused, and he would not eat any food with them.
18On the seventh day the child died. David’s attendants were afraid to tell him that the child was dead, for they thought, “While the child was still living, he wouldn’t listen to us when we spoke to him. How can we now tell him the child is dead? He may do something desperate.”
19David noticed that his attendants were whispering among themselves, and he realized the child was dead. “Is the child dead?” he asked.
“Yes,” they replied, “he is dead.”
20Then David got up from the ground. After he had washed, put on lotions and changed his clothes, he went into the house of the Lord and worshiped. Then he went to his own house, and at his request they served him food, and he ate.
21His attendants asked him, “Why are you acting this way? While the child was alive, you fasted and wept, but now that the child is dead, you get up and eat!”
22He answered, “While the child was still alive, I fasted and wept. I thought, ‘Who knows? The Lord may be gracious to me and let the child live.’ 23But now that he is dead, why should I go on fasting? Can I bring him back again? I will go to him, but he will not return to me.”
24Then David comforted his wife Bathsheba, and he went to her and made love to her. She gave birth to a son, and they named him Solomon. The Lord loved him; 25and because the Lord loved him, he sent word through Nathan the prophet to name him Jedidiah.12:25 Jedidiah means loved by the Lord.
26Meanwhile Joab fought against Rabbah of the Ammonites and captured the royal citadel. 27Joab then sent messengers to David, saying, “I have fought against Rabbah and taken its water supply. 28Now muster the rest of the troops and besiege the city and capture it. Otherwise I will take the city, and it will be named after me.”
29So David mustered the entire army and went to Rabbah, and attacked and captured it. 30David took the crown from their king’s12:30 Or from Milkom’s (that is, Molek’s) head, and it was placed on his own head. It weighed a talent12:30 That is, about 75 pounds or about 34 kilograms of gold, and it was set with precious stones. David took a great quantity of plunder from the city 31and brought out the people who were there, consigning them to labor with saws and with iron picks and axes, and he made them work at brickmaking.12:31 The meaning of the Hebrew for this clause is uncertain. David did this to all the Ammonite towns. Then he and his entire army returned to Jerusalem.
ናታን ዳዊትን ገሠጸው
11፥1፤ 12፥29-31 ተጓ ምብ – 1ዜና 20፥1-3
1እግዚአብሔር ናታንን ወደ ዳዊት ላከው፤ እርሱም ወደ ዳዊት መጥቶ እንዲህ አለው፤ “በአንድ ከተማ የሚኖሩ ሁለት ሰዎች ነበሩ፤ ከእነርሱም አንዱ ባለጠጋ ሲሆን፣ ሌላው ደግሞ ድኻ ነበረ። 2ባለ ጠጋው እጅግ ብዙ በጎችና የቀንድ ከብቶች ነበሩት፤ 3ድኻው ግን ከገዛት ከአንዲት ጠቦት በግ በስተቀር ሌላ አልነበረውም። ተንከባከባት፤ አብራውም ከልጆቹ ጋር አደገች፤ አብራው ትበላ፤ ከጽዋው ትጠጣ እንዲሁም በዕቅፉ ትተኛ ነበር፤ ልክ እንደ ገዛ ልጁ ነበረች።
4“ወደ ባለ ጠጋውም ቤት እንግዳ መጣ፤ ባለ ጠጋው ግን ከራሱ በጎች ወይም ቀንድ ከብቶች ወስዶ ለመጣበት እንግዳ ምግብ ማዘጋጀት አልፈለገም፤ ከዚህ ይልቅ የድኻውን እንስት ጠቦት በግ ወስዶ ቤቱ ለመጣው እንግዳ አዘጋጀው።”
5ዳዊት በዚያ ሰው ላይ እጅግ ተቈጥቶ ናታንን እንዲህ አለው፤ “ሕያው እግዚአብሔርን ይህን ያደረገው ሰው ሞት ይገባዋል! 6እንዲህ ያለውን ነገር በማድረጉና ባለ ማዘኑም ስለ በጊቱ አራት ዕጥፍ መክፈል አለበት።”
7ከዚያም ናታን፣ ዳዊትን እንዲህ አለው፤ “ያ ሰው አንተ ነህ፤ የእስራኤል አምላክ እግዚአብሔር የሚለው ይህን ነው፤ ‘በእስራኤል ላይ ንጉሥ ትሆን ዘንድ ቀባሁህ፤ ከሳኦልም እጅ ታደግሁህ፤ 8የጌታህን ቤት ሰጠሁህ፣ የጌታህንም ሚስቶች በብብትህ አስታቀፍሁህ፤ የእስራኤልንና የይሁዳን ቤት ሰጠሁህ፤ ይህም ሁሉ አንሶህ ቢሆን ኖሮ፣ ከዚህ በላይ ጨምሬ በሰጠሁህ ነበር። 9ታዲያ በፊቱ ክፉ ነገር በማድረግ፣ የእግዚአብሔርን ቃል ያቃለልኸው ስለ ምንድን ነው? ኬጢያዊውን ኦርዮን በሰይፍ መታህ፤ ሚስት እንድትሆንህም ሚስቱን ወሰድሃት፤ እርሱንም በአሞናውያን ሰይፍ ገደልኸው። 10ስለዚህ ሰይፍ ለዘላለም ከቤትህ አይርቅም፤ እኔን አቃልለኸኛል፤ ሚስት እንድትሆንህም የኬጢያዊውን የኦርዮን ሚስት ወስደሃታልና።’
11“እግዚአብሔር እንዲህ ይላል፤ ‘እነሆ ከራስህ ቤት ክፉ ነገር አስነሣብሃለሁ፤ ዐይንህ እያየም ሚስቶችህን ወስጄ ለአንተ ቅርብ ለሆነ ሰው ለአንዱ እሰጣለሁ፤ እርሱም በቀን ብርሃን ከሚስቶችህ ጋር ይተኛል። 12አንተ ይህን በስውር አድርገኸዋል፤ እኔ ግን ይህንኑ ነገር በቀን ብርሃን በእስራኤል ሁሉ ፊት እገልጠዋለሁ።’ ”
13ከዚያም ዳዊት ለናታን፣ “እግዚአብሔርን በጣም በድያለሁ” አለው። ናታንም እንዲህ አለው፣ “እግዚአብሔር ኀጢአትህን አስወግዶልሃል። አንተ አትሞትም፤ 14ይህን በመፈጸምህ ግን፣ የእግዚአብሔር ጠላቶች እጅግ እንዲያቃልሉት12፥14 የማሶሬቱ ቅጅ ክዚህ ጋር ይስማማል፤ ጥንታዊው የዕብራይስጥ የጸሓፍት ትውፊት ግን፤ በዚህም እግዚአብሔርን እጅግ ስላቃለልህ ይላል። ስላደረግህ፣ የተወለደልህ ልጅ ይሞታል።”
15ናታን ወደ ቤቱ ከሄደ በኋላ፣ የኦርዮ ሚስት ለዳዊት የወለደችለትን ሕፃን እግዚአብሔር ከባድ ሕመም ላይ ጣለው። 16ዳዊት ስለ ሕፃኑ እግዚአብሔርን ለመነ፤ ጾመም፤ ከዚያም ወደ ክፍሉ ገብቶ በተከታታይ ሌሊቱን መሬት ላይ ተኝቶ ዐደረ። 17የቤተ ሰቡ ሰው፣ ሽማግሌዎችም ከመሬት ሊያስነሡት በአጠገቡ ቆሙ፤ እርሱ ግን እንቢ አለ፤ አብሯቸውም አንዳች ነገር አልበላም።
18በሰባተኛው ቀን ሕፃኑ ሞተ፤ የዳዊት አገልጋዮችም፣ “እነሆ ሕፃኑ በሕይወት እያለ የነገርነውን ዳዊት አልሰማንም፤ ታዲያ አሁን የሕፃኑን መሞት እንዴት አድርገን ልንነግረው እንችላለን? በራሱ ላይ ጕዳት ሊያደርስ ይችላል” ብለው መንገሩን ፈሩ።
19ዳዊት አገልጋዮቹ በሹክሹክታ ሲነጋገሩ አይቶ፣ ሕፃኑ መሞቱን ዐወቀ፤ ስለዚህ፣ “ሕፃኑ ሞተ?” ብሎ ጠየቃቸው።
እነርሱም፣ “አዎን ሞቷል” ብለው መለሱለት።
20በዚህ ጊዜ ዳዊት ከመሬት ተነሣ፤ ከታጠበ፣ ከተቀባና ልብሱን ከለወጠ በኋላ፣ ወደ እግዚአብሔርም ቤት ሄዶ ሰገደ። ከዚያም ወደ ክፍሉ ገባ፤ በራሱም ጥያቄ ምግብ አቅርበውለት በላ።
21አገልጋዮቹም፣ “እንደዚህ ያደረግኸው ለምንድን ነው? ሕፃኑ በሕይወት እያለ ጾምህ፤ አለቀስህ፤ ሕፃኑ ከሞተ በኋላ ግን ተነሥተህ በላህ” ብለው ጠየቁት።
22እርሱም እንዲህ አለ፤ “በርግጥ ሕፃኑ በሕይወት እያለ፣ ‘እግዚአብሔር ይቅር ብሎኝ ሕፃኑን በሕይወት ያኖረው ይሆናል’ ብዬ ጾምሁ፤ አለቀስሁ። 23አሁን ግን ሕፃኑ ስለ ሞተ፣ የምጾመው ለምንድን ነው? መልሼ ላመጣው እችላለሁን? እኔ ወደ እርሱ እሄዳለሁ እንጂ፣ እርሱ ወደ እኔ አይመለስ!”
24ከዚያም ዳዊት ሚስቱን ቤርሳቤህን አጽናናት፤ ወደ እርሷም ገብቶ አብሯት ተኛ፤ ወንድ ልጅ ወለደች፤ ስሙንም ሰሎሞን አለው። እግዚአብሔርም ወደደው፤ 25እግዚአብሔር ሕፃኑን ስለ ወደደም ስሙ ይዲድያ12፥25 ይዲድያ ማለት በእግዚአብሔር ያህዌ የተወደደ ማለት ነው። ተብሎ እንዲጠራ በነቢዩ በናታን በኩል ቃል ላከ።
26በዚያን ጊዜም ኢዮአብ የአሞናውያንን ከተማ ረባትን ወግቶ የቤተ መንግሥቱን ምሽግ ያዘ። 27ከዚያም ኢዮአብ እንዲህ በማለት ወደ ዳዊት መልክተኞችን ላከ፤ “ረባትን ወግቼ የውሃውን ከተማ ይዤአለሁ፤ 28እንግዲህ የቀረውን ሰራዊት አሰባስበህ ከተማዪቱን ክበብና ያዛት፤ አለዚያ እኔ ከተማዪቱን እይዛትና በስሜ መጠራቷ ነው።”
29ስለዚህ ዳዊት መላውን ሰራዊት አሰባስቦ ወደ ረባት በመሄድ ወግቶ ያዛት። 30የንጉሣቸውንም ዘውድ ከራሱ ላይ ወሰደ፤ የዘውዱ ክብደት አንድ መክሊት ወርቅ የሚመዝን ሲሆን፣ በከበረ ዕንቍም ያጌጠ ነበር፤ ይህም በዳዊት ራስ ላይ ተጫነ። ዳዊትም ከከተማዪቱ እጅግ ብዙ ምርኮ ወሰደ፤ 31እዚያ የነበሩትንም ሕዝብ አውጥቶ መጋዝ፣ የብረት መቈፈሪያና መጥረቢያ ተጠቅመው ሥራ እንዲሠሩ አደረጋቸው፣ እንዲሁም የሸክላ ጡብ አሠራቸው12፥31 በዕብራይስጡ የዚህ ሐረግ ትርጕም በትክክል አይታወቅም።። እንዲህ ያለውም ሥራ በሌሎቹ የአሞናውያን ከተሞች ሁሉ እንዲፈጸም አደረገ። ከዚያም ዳዊትና ሰራዊቱ በሙሉ ወደ ኢየሩሳሌም ተመለሱ።
