2 Chronicles 34 – NIVUK & NASV

New International Version – UK

2 Chronicles 34:1-33

Josiah’s reforms

1Josiah was eight years old when he became king, and he reigned in Jerusalem for thirty-one years. 2He did what was right in the eyes of the Lord and followed the ways of his father David, not turning aside to the right or to the left.

3In the eighth year of his reign, while he was still young, he began to seek the God of his father David. In his twelfth year he began to purge Judah and Jerusalem of high places, Asherah poles and idols. 4Under his direction the altars of the Baals were torn down; he cut to pieces the incense altars that were above them, and smashed the Asherah poles and the idols. These he broke to pieces and scattered over the graves of those who had sacrificed to them. 5He burned the bones of the priests on their altars, and so he purged Judah and Jerusalem. 6In the towns of Manasseh, Ephraim and Simeon, as far as Naphtali, and in the ruins around them, 7he tore down the altars and the Asherah poles and crushed the idols to powder and cut to pieces all the incense altars throughout Israel. Then he went back to Jerusalem.

8In the eighteenth year of Josiah’s reign, to purify the land and the temple, he sent Shaphan son of Azaliah and Maaseiah the ruler of the city, with Joah son of Joahaz, the recorder, to repair the temple of the Lord his God.

9They went to Hilkiah the high priest and gave him the money that had been brought into the temple of God, which the Levites who were the gatekeepers had collected from the people of Manasseh, Ephraim and the entire remnant of Israel and from all the people of Judah and Benjamin and the inhabitants of Jerusalem. 10Then they entrusted it to the men appointed to supervise the work on the Lord’s temple. These men paid the workers who repaired and restored the temple. 11They also gave money to the carpenters and builders to purchase dressed stone, and timber for joists and beams for the buildings that the kings of Judah had allowed to fall into ruin.

12The workers laboured faithfully. Over them to direct them were Jahath and Obadiah, Levites descended from Merari, and Zechariah and Meshullam, descended from Kohath. The Levites – all who were skilled in playing musical instruments – 13had charge of the labourers and supervised all the workers from job to job. Some of the Levites were secretaries, scribes and gatekeepers.

The Book of the Law found

14While they were bringing out the money that had been taken into the temple of the Lord, Hilkiah the priest found the Book of the Law of the Lord that had been given through Moses. 15Hilkiah said to Shaphan the secretary, ‘I have found the Book of the Law in the temple of the Lord.’ He gave it to Shaphan.

16Then Shaphan took the book to the king and reported to him: ‘Your officials are doing everything that has been committed to them. 17They have paid out the money that was in the temple of the Lord and have entrusted it to the supervisors and workers.’ 18Then Shaphan the secretary informed the king, ‘Hilkiah the priest has given me a book.’ And Shaphan read from it in the presence of the king.

19When the king heard the words of the Law, he tore his robes. 20He gave these orders to Hilkiah, Ahikam son of Shaphan, Abdon son of Micah,34:20 Also called Akbor son of Micaiah Shaphan the secretary and Asaiah the king’s attendant: 21‘Go and enquire of the Lord for me and for the remnant in Israel and Judah about what is written in this book that has been found. Great is the Lord’s anger that is poured out on us because those who have gone before us have not kept the word of the Lord; they have not acted in accordance with all that is written in this book.’

22Hilkiah and those the king had sent with him34:22 One Hebrew manuscript, Vulgate and Syriac; most Hebrew manuscripts do not have had sent with him. went to speak to the prophet Huldah, who was the wife of Shallum son of Tokhath,34:22 Also called Tikvah the son of Hasrah,34:22 Also called Harhas keeper of the wardrobe. She lived in Jerusalem, in the New Quarter.

23She said to them, ‘This is what the Lord, the God of Israel, says: tell the man who sent you to me, 24“This is what the Lord says: I am going to bring disaster on this place and its people – all the curses written in the book that has been read in the presence of the king of Judah. 25Because they have forsaken me and burned incense to other gods and aroused my anger by all that their hands have made,34:25 Or by everything they have done my anger will be poured out on this place and will not be quenched.” 26Tell the king of Judah, who sent you to enquire of the Lord, “This is what the Lord, the God of Israel, says concerning the words you heard: 27because your heart was responsive and you humbled yourself before God when you heard what he spoke against this place and its people, and because you humbled yourself before me and tore your robes and wept in my presence, I have heard you, declares the Lord. 28Now I will gather you to your ancestors, and you will be buried in peace. Your eyes will not see all the disaster I am going to bring on this place and on those who live here.” ’

So they took her answer back to the king.

29Then the king called together all the elders of Judah and Jerusalem. 30He went up to the temple of the Lord with the people of Judah, the inhabitants of Jerusalem, the priests and the Levites – all the people from the least to the greatest. He read in their hearing all the words of the Book of the Covenant, which had been found in the temple of the Lord. 31The king stood by his pillar and renewed the covenant in the presence of the Lord – to follow the Lord and keep his commands, statutes and decrees with all his heart and all his soul, and to obey the words of the covenant written in this book.

32Then he made everyone in Jerusalem and Benjamin pledge themselves to it; the people of Jerusalem did this in accordance with the covenant of God, the God of their ancestors.

33Josiah removed all the detestable idols from all the territory belonging to the Israelites, and he made all who were present in Israel serve the Lord their God. As long as he lived, they did not fail to follow the Lord, the God of their ancestors.

New Amharic Standard Version

2 ዜና መዋዕል 34:1-33

ኢዮስያስ ያደረገው ተሐድሶ

34፥1-2 ተጓ ምብ – 2ነገ 22፥1-2

34፥3-7 ተጓ ምብ – 2ነገ 23፥4-20

34፥8-13 ተጓ ምብ – 2ነገ 22፥3-7

1ኢዮስያስ በነገሠ ጊዜ፣ ዕድሜው ስምንት ዓመት ነበር፤ በኢየሩሳሌም ተቀምጦም ሠላሳ አንድ ዓመት ገዛ። 2እርሱም በእግዚአብሔር ፊት መልካም የሆነውን ነገር አደረገ፤ ወደ ቀኝም ወደ ግራም ሳይል፣ በአባቱ በዳዊት መንገድ ሄደ።

3በዘመነ መንግሥቱ በስምንተኛው ዓመት ገና ወጣት ሳለ፣ የአባቱን የዳዊትን አምላክ መፈለግ ጀመረ፤ በዐሥራ ሁለተኛውም ዓመት ይሁዳንና ኢየሩሳሌምን ከኰረብታ መስገጃ ስፍራዎች፣ ከአሼራ፣ ምስል ዐምዶች፣ ከተቀረጹ ጣዖታትና ቀልጠው ከተሠሩ ምስሎች አነጻ። 4በእርሱም ትእዛዝ የበኣሊም መሠዊያዎችን አፈራረሱ፤ እርሱም ከበላያቸው የነበሩትን የዕጣን መሠዊያዎችን አደቀቀ፤ የአሼራን ምስል ዐምዶችን፣ ጣዖታቱንና ምስሎቹን ሰባብሮ ከፈጫቸው በኋላ፣ ይሠዉላቸው በነበሩት ሰዎች መቃብር ላይ በተነ። 5የካህናቱን ዐጥንት በመሠዊያዎቻቸው ላይ አቃጠለ፤ በዚህ ዐይነትም ይሁዳንና ኢየሩሳሌምን አነጻ። 6እስከ ንፍታሌም ባሉ በምናሴ፣ በኤፍሬምና በስምዖን ከተሞች እንዲሁም በዙሪያቸው ባሉ የፈራረሱ አካባቢዎች፣ 7መሠዊያዎችንና የአሼራ ምስል ዐምዶችን አፈራረሰ፤ ጣዖታቱን እንደ ዱቄት አደቀቀ፤ በመላው እስራኤል የሚገኙትንም የዕጣን መሠዊያዎች አነካከተ፤ ከዚያም ወደ ኢየሩሳሌም ተመለሰ።

8ኢዮስያስ በነገሠ በዐሥራ ስምንተኛው ዓመት፣ ምድሪቱንና ቤተ መቅደሱን ካነጻ በኋላ፣ የኤዜልያስን ልጅ ሳፋንን፣ የከተማዪቱን ገዥ መዕሤያንና የጸሓፊውን የኢዮአካዝን ልጅ ኢዮአክን የአምላኩን የእግዚአብሔርን ቤተ መቅደስ ይጠግኑ ዘንድ ላካቸው።

9እነርሱም ወደ ሊቀ ካህኑ ወደ ኬልቅያስ ሄደው፣ ለእግዚአብሔር ቤተ መቅደስ የመጣውን ገንዘብ ሰጡት፤ ገንዘቡም በር ጠባቂዎች የነበሩት ሌዋውያን፣ ከምናሴ፣ ከኤፍሬምና ከመላው የእስራኤል ቅሬታዎች እንደዚሁም ከመላው ይሁዳና ከብንያም፣ ከኢየሩሳሌምም ነዋሪዎች የሰበሰቡት ነበር። 10እነርሱም የእግዚአብሔርን ቤተ መቅደስ ሥራ እየተቈጣጠሩ እንዲያሠሩ ለተሾሙት ሰዎች ዐደራ ሰጡ፤ እነዚህም ሰዎች ገንዘቡን ቤተ መቅደሱን ለጠገኑትና ላደሱት ሰዎች ከፈሉ። 11እንዲሁም የይሁዳ ነገሥታት እንዲፈርሱ ላደረጓቸው ሕንጻዎች ጥርብ ድንጋዮችን፣ ሠረገላዎችንና ማገጣጠሚያ ዕንጨቶችን እንዲገዙ ለዐናጢዎችና ለግንበኞች ገንዘብ ሰጡ።

12ሰዎቹም ሥራውን በታማኝነት አከናወኑ። የበላይ ሆነው አመራር የሚሰጧቸውም ከሜራሪ ጐሣ የሆኑት ሌዋውያን፣ ኢኤትና አብድዩ፣ ከቀዓት ጐሣ ዘካርያስና ሜሱላም ነበሩ። በዜማ ዕቃ የላቀ ችሎታ የነበራቸው ሌዋውያን ሁሉ፣ 13የጕልበት ሠራተኞች ኀላፊ በመሆን፣ በየሥራው ላይ የተመደቡትን ሠራተኞች ይቈጣጠሩ ነበር። ጥቂቶቹ ሌዋውያን ደግሞ ኀላፊዎች፣ ጸሓፊዎችና በር ጠባቂዎች ነበሩ።

የሙሴ ሕግ መጽሐፍ መገኘት

34፥14-28 ተጓ ምብ – 2ነገ 22፥8-20

34፥29-32 ተጓ ምብ – 2ነገ 23፥1-3

14ወደ እግዚአብሔር ቤተ መቅደስ የገባውን ገንዘብ በሚያወጡበት ጊዜ፣ ካህኑ ኬልቅያስ በሙሴ አማካይነት የተሰጠውን የእግዚአብሔርን ሕግ መጽሐፍ አገኘ። 15ኬልቅያስም ጸሓፊውን ሳፋንን፣ “የሕጉን መጽሐፍ በእግዚአብሔር ቤተ መቅደስ ውስጥ አገኘሁት” አለው፤ ከዚያም መጽሐፉን ለሳፋን ሰጠው።

16ሳፋንም መጽሐፉን ወደ ንጉሡ ወስዶ እንዲህ አለው፤ “ሹማምትህ የታዘዙትን ሁሉ በመፈጸም ላይ ናቸው፤ 17በእግዚአብሔር ቤተ መቅደስ የነበረውንም ገንዘብ አውጥተው ለተቈጣጣሪዎቹና ለሠራተኞቹ አስረክበዋል።”

18ከዚያም ጸሓፊው ሳፋን ንጉሡን፣ “ካህኑ ኬልቅያስ መጽሐፍ ሰጥቶኛል” አለው። ሳፋንም መጽሐፉን ለንጉሡ አነበበለት።

19ንጉሡም የሕጉን ቃል በሰማ ጊዜ ልብሱን ቀደደ። 20እርሱም ለኬልቅያስ፣ ለሳፋን ልጅ ለአኪቃም፣ ለሚክያስ ልጅ ለዓብዶን፣ ለጸሓፊው ለሳፋንና ለንጉሡ የቅርብ አገልጋይ ለዓሳያ ይህን ትእዛዝ ሰጠ፤ 21“ሄዳችሁ ስለ እኔ እንደዚሁም በእስራኤልና በይሁዳ ስላሉት ቅሬታዎች በተገኘው መጽሐፍ ውስጥ ስለ ተጻፈው ነገር እግዚአብሔርን ጠይቁ። አባቶቻችን የእግዚአብሔርን ቃል ስላልጠበቁ በላያችን ላይ ታላቅ የእግዚአብሔር ቍጣ ፈስሷል፤ በዚህ መጽሐፍ በተጻፈው መሠረት አልተመላለሱምና።”

22ኬልቅያስና ንጉሡ ከእርሱ ጋር የላካቸው34፥22 አንድ የዕብራይስጥ ቅጅ እንዲሁም ቩልጌትና የሱርስት ትርጕሞች በዚህ ሲስማሙ አብዛኞቹ የዕብራይስጥ ቅጆች ግን ከእርሱ ጋር የላካቸው የሚለውን አይጨምሩም። ሰዎች የአልባሳት ጠባቂ የነበረው የሐስራ ልጅ፣ የቲቁዋ ልጅ የሴሌም ሚስት ወደ ሆነችው ወደ ነቢዪቱ ወደ ሕልዳና ሄደው ነገሯት። እርሷም በኢየሩሳሌም ውስጥ በሁለተኛው ክፍለ ከተማ ትኖር ነበር።

23ነቢዪቱም እንዲህ አለቻቸው፤ “የእስራኤል አምላክ እግዚአብሔር እንዲህ ይላል፤ ወደ እኔ ለላካችሁ ሰው እንዲህ ብላችሁ ንገሩት፤ 24እግዚአብሔር እንዲህ ይላል፤ በይሁዳ ንጉሥ ፊት በተነበበው መጽሐፍ በተጻፈው ርግማን ሁሉ መሠረት፣ በዚህ ስፍራና በሕዝቡ ላይ ጥፋትን አመጣለሁ። 25እኔን ትተውኝ ለሌሎች አማልክት ዕጣን ስላጠኑና እጃቸው በሠራው ነገር ሁሉ34፥25 ወይም ባደረጉት ነገር ሁሉ ለቍጣ ስላነሣሡኝ፣ ቍጣዬ በዚህ ስፍራ ይነድዳል፤ አይጠፋምም።’ 26እግዚአብሔርን ለመጠየቅ የላካችሁን የይሁዳን ንጉሥ እንዲህ በሉት፤ ‘ስለ ሰማኸው ቃል የእስራኤል አምላክ እግዚአብሔር እንዲህ ይላል፤ 27በዚህ ስፍራና በሕዝቡ ላይ የተናገረውን በሰማህ ጊዜ፣ ልብህ ስለ ተነካና በእግዚአብሔርም ፊት ራስህን ስለ አዋረድህ፣ እንዲሁም በእኔ ፊት ራስህን ዝቅ ስላደረግህ፣ ልብስህንም በመቅደድ በፊቴ ስለ አለቀስህ፣ ሰምቼሃለሁ ይላል እግዚአብሔር28እነሆ፤ ወደ አባቶችህ እሰበስብሃለሁ፤ በሰላምም ትቀበራለህ፤ በዚህ ቦታና በነዋሪዎቹ ላይ የማመጣውን መከራ ሁሉ በዐይንህ አታይም።’ ” መልሷንም ይዘው ወደ ንጉሡ ሄዱ።

29ከዚያም ንጉሡ የይሁዳንና የኢየሩሳሌምን ሽማግሌዎች ሁሉ በአንድ ላይ ሰበሰበ። 30እርሱም ከትንሽ እስከ ትልቅ ካሉት ከይሁዳ ሰዎች፣ ከኢየሩሳሌም ሕዝብ፣ ከካህናትና ከሌዋውያን ጋር ወደ እግዚአብሔር ቤተ መቅደስ ወጣ። በእግዚአብሔር ቤተ መቅደስ የተገኘውንም የኪዳኑን መጽሐፍ ቃል ሁሉ ለሕዝቡ አነበበላቸው 31ንጉሡም በዐምዱ አጠገብ ቆሞ፣ እግዚአብሔርን ይከተል ዘንድ በፍጹም ልቡና በፍጹም ነፍሱ ትእዛዞቹን፣ ሕግጋቱንና ሥርዐቱን ለመጠበቅ፣ በዚህ መጽሐፍ ለተጻፈውም የኪዳን ቃል ለመታዘዝ በእግዚአብሔር ፊት ኪዳኑን ዐደሰ።

32ከዚህ በኋላ በኢየሩሳሌምና በብንያም የሚኖረው ሁሉ በዚህ ነገር ቃል እንዲገባ አደረገ፤ የኢየሩሳሌምም ሕዝብ የአባቶቹ አምላክ ባዘዘው የአምላክ ቃል ኪዳን መሠረት ፈጸሙ።

33ኢዮስያስም አስጸያፊ ጣዖታትን ሁሉ ከመላው የእስራኤል ግዛት አስወገደ፤ በእስራኤል የነበሩትም ሁሉ አምላካቸውን እግዚአብሔርን እንዲያመልኩ አደረገ፤ እርሱ በሕይወት እያለም የአባቶቻቸውን አምላክ እግዚአብሔርን ከመከተል ወደ ኋላ አላሉም።