1 શમુએલ 23
1 લોકોએ દાઉદને કહ્યું, “પલિસ્તીઓએ કઈલાહ શહેર ઉપર હુમલો કર્યો છે અને ખળાં લૂંટી રહ્યા હતા.”
2 તેથી તેમણે યહોવાને પ્રશ્ર કર્યો કે, “માંરે જઈને આ પલિસ્તીઓ ઉપર હુમલો કરવો?”યહોવાએ જવાબ આપ્યો, “હા, તું જઈને પલિસ્તીઓ ઉપર હુમલો કર અને કઈલાહને બચાવ.”
3 પરંતુ દાઉદના માંણસોએ કહ્યું, “અહીં આપણે યહૂદાના લોકોથી છુપાઇ રહ્યા છીએ અને ભયભીત છીએ. આપણે કઇલાહમાં જઇને પલિસ્તીઓ સાથે યુદ્ધ કેવી રીતે કરીશુ?”
4 દાઉદે ફરી વાર યહોવાને પૂછયુ; યહોવાએ તેને કહ્યું, “કઇલાહ જાવ. હું તમને વિજયી બનાવીશ. તમે પલિસ્તીઓને હરાવશો.”
5 આથી દાઉદ અને તેના માંણસોએ કઈલાહ જઈને પલિસ્તીઓ ઉપર હુમલો કર્યો, તેમને સખત હાર આપી. અને તેઓ તેમનાં ઢોરને હાંકી ગયા. આમ તેમણે શહેરને બચાવી લીધું.
6 અને અહીમેલેખનો પુત્ર અબ્યાથાર દાઉદ પાસે કઈલાહ ભાગી ગયો, ત્યારે તે પોતાના હાથમાં એક એફોદ લેતો આવ્યો હતો.
7 શાઉલને જયારે સમાંચાર પ્રાપ્ત થયા કે દાઉદ કઈલાહ ગયો છે, ત્યારે તે બોલ્યો, “દેવે એને માંરા હાથમાં સોંપી દીધો છે, કારણ, દરવાજા અને ભૂંગળોવાળા શહેરમાં પેસીને તે ફસાયો છે.”
8 કઈલાહે જઈને દાઉદને અને તેના માંણસોને ઘેરી લેવા માંટે શાઉલે લશ્કરને તૈયાર થવા જણાવ્યું.
9 દાઉદને તેની વિરુદ્ધ શાઉલની યોજનાની ખબર પડી. દાઉદે અબ્યાથાર યાજકને એફોદ લઇ આવવા કહ્યું.
10 પછી દાઉદે કહ્યું, “હે યહોવા, ઇસ્રાએલના દેવ મેં, તારા સેવકે એવું સાંભળ્યું છે કે શાઉલ કઈલાહ આવીને માંરે કારણે શહેરનો નાશ કરવાનો છે.
11 કઈલાહના નાગરિકો મને શાઉલના હાથમાં સોંપી દેશે? મેં સાંભળ્યા પ્રમાંણે શાઉલ ખરેખર આવશે? ઓ ઇસ્રાએલના દેવ યહોવા, કૃપા કરીને આ સેવકને જવાબ આપો.”યહોવાએ કહ્યું, “શાઉલ આવશે.”
12 એટલે દાઉદે કહ્યું, “શું ‘કઈલાહ’ના માંણસો મને તથા માંરા માંણસોને શાઉલના હાથમાં સોંપી દેશે?”યહોવાએ જવાબ આપ્યો, “તેઓ તને સોંપી દેશે.”
13 આથી દાઉદ અને તેના આશરે 600 માંણસો તરત જ કઈલાહ છોડી ગયા અને અહીંથી તહીં ભટકતા રહ્યા. જયારે શાઉલને ખબર પડી કે દાઉદ કઈલાહથી ભાગી ગયો છે, ત્યારે તેણે હુમલાનો વિચાર માંડી વાળ્યો.
14 દાઉદ રણની અંદર કિલ્લામાં રહેતો. પદ્ધી તે તેના માણસો સાથે પર્વતોમાં ઝીફ રણમાં સંતાઇ ગયો. શાઉલ હમેશા તેઓને શોધતો હતો. પરંતુ દેવે શાઉલને દાઉદને પઢડવા ન દીધો.
15 તેમ છતાં દાઉદ ઝીફના રાનમાં આવેલા હોરેશમાં માંર્યો માંર્યો ફરતો હતો, કારણ, શાઉલ તેનો જીવ લેવા તેની પાછળ પડ્યો હતો.
16 પદ્ધી શાઉલનો દીકરો યોનૅંથાન હોરેશમાં દાઉદ જ્યા સંતાયો હતો ત્યાં મળવા ગયો અને દેવમાં વિશ્વાસ રાખવા પ્રોત્સાહન આપ્યું.
17 તેણે કહ્યું, “ગભરાઈશ નહિ. માંરા પિતા તને ઇજા કરી શકે તેમ નથી. તું ઇસ્રાએલનો રાજા થનાર છે, માંરું સ્થાન તારા પદ્ધી હશે. માંરા પિતા એ જાણે છે.”
18 અને બંનેએ યહોવાની સાક્ષીએ મૈત્રીના કરાર કર્યા. તેથી દાઉદ હોરેશમાં રહ્યો, અને યોનૅંથાન ઘેર ગયો.
19 ત્યારબાદ ઝીફીઓએ ગિબયાહમાં શાઉલ પાસે આવીને કહ્યું, “દાઉદ અમાંરા ક્ષેત્રમાં, યશીમોનની દક્ષિણમાં, હખીલાહ ડુંગર પર કિલ્લામાં સંતાએલો છે.
20 આપ નામદારની જયારે ઇચ્દ્ધા થાય ત્યારે આવો, અને તેને આપ નામદારને સોંપી દેવાનું કામ અમાંરું છે.”
21 શાઉલે કહ્યું, “માંરા ઉપર મહેરબાની કરવા બદલ યહોવા તમાંરું ભલું કરો.
22 તમે જઈને વધુ ખાતરી કરો, તે કયાં રહે છે અને કોણે તેને જોયો છે, તેની ચોક્કસ તપાસ કરો. ‘મને જાણવા મળ્યું છે કે તે બહું પાકો છે.’
23 તમે બધાં જાવ અને તે કયાં સંતાયો છે તેની તપાસ કરો; તમને એ વિષે ખાતરી થાય ત્યારે માંરી પાસે પાછા આવજો ત્યારે હું તમાંરી સૅંથે આવીશ, જો તે એ પ્રદેશમાં હશે તો, યહૂદાના એકે એક કુટુંબની શૅંેધ કરવી પડે તો ય હું તેને શોધી કાઢીશ.”
24 ત્યાર બાદ ઝીફનાં લોકો ઝીફ પહોંચી ગયા.દાઉદ અને તેના મૅંણસો યશિમોનની દક્ષિણે આવેલાં માંઓનના રણમાં હતા.
25 જ્યારે તેને દાઉદનાં સંતાવા વિષે ખબર પડી ત્યારે શાઉલ અને તેના મૅંણસો દાઉદની શોધમાં નીકળી પડ્યા. પણ દાઉદને એની જાણ થતાં તે માંઓનના રણમાં એક ખડકની ભેખડમાં ચાલ્યો ગયો. શાઉલને આની ખબર પડી અને ત્યાં તેનો પીછો કર્યો,
26 શાઉલ અને તેના મૅંણસો ડુંગરની એક બાજુએ હતા. દાઉદ અને તેના મૅંણસો બીજી બાજુએ હતાં. દાઉદ અને તેના મૅંણસો શાઉલથી ઝટપટ ભાગી છૂટવાનો પ્રયત્ન કરતા હતા, અને શાઉલ અને તેના મૅંણસો તેમને આંતરી લઈને પઢડી લેવાની અણી ઉપર હતા.
27 એવામાં એક કાસદે આવીને શાઉલને કહ્યું, “તાબડતોબ પાછા આવો! પલિસ્તીઓએ દેશ પર હુમલો કર્યો છે.”
28 શાઉલે દાઉદનો પીછો પઢડવાનું બૈંધ કર્યું અને પલિસ્તીઓનો સામનો કરવા તે પાછો વળ્યો. આથી તે જગ્યા “સેલા-હામ્માંહલઢોથ” ને નામે ઓળખાય છે.
29 દાઉદ માંઓનના રણમાંથી નીકળીને એન-ગેદીના ગઢોમાં ગયો.
1 Then they told David, saying, Behold, the Philistines fight against Keilah, and they rob the threshingfloors.
2 Therefore David inquired of the Lord, saying, Shall I go and smite these Philistines? And the Lord said unto David, Go, and smite the Philistines, and save Keilah.
3 And David’s men said unto him, Behold, we be afraid here in Judah: how much more then if we come to Keilah against the armies of the Philistines?
4 Then David inquired of the Lord yet again. And the Lord answered him and said, Arise, go down to Keilah; for I will deliver the Philistines into thine hand.
5 So David and his men went to Keilah, and fought with the Philistines, and brought away their cattle, and smote them with a great slaughter. So David saved the inhabitants of Keilah.
6 And it came to pass, when Abiathar the son of Ahimelech fled to David to Keilah, that he came down with an ephod in his hand.
7 And it was told Saul that David was come to Keilah. And Saul said, God hath delivered him into mine hand; for he is shut in, by entering into a town that hath gates and bars.
8 And Saul called all the people together to war, to go down to Keilah, to besiege David and his men.
9 And David knew that Saul secretly practised mischief against him; and he said to Abiathar the priest, Bring hither the ephod.
10 Then said David, O Lord God of Israel, thy servant hath certainly heard that Saul seeketh to come to Keilah, to destroy the city for my sake.
11 Will the men of Keilah deliver me up into his hand? will Saul come down, as thy servant hath heard? O Lord God of Israel, I beseech thee, tell thy servant. And the Lord said, He will come down.
12 Then said David, Will the men of Keilah deliver me and my men into the hand of Saul? And the Lord said, They will deliver thee up.
13 Then David and his men, which were about six hundred, arose and departed out of Keilah, and went whithersoever they could go. And it was told Saul that David was escaped from Keilah; and he forbare to go forth.
14 And David abode in the wilderness in strong holds, and remained in a mountain in the wilderness of Ziph. And Saul sought him every day, but God delivered him not into his hand.
15 And David saw that Saul was come out to seek his life: and David was in the wilderness of Ziph in a wood.
16 And Jonathan Saul’s son arose, and went to David into the wood, and strengthened his hand in God.
17 And he said unto him, Fear not: for the hand of Saul my father shall not find thee; and thou shalt be king over Israel, and I shall be next unto thee; and that also Saul my father knoweth.
18 And they two made a covenant before the Lord: and David abode in the wood, and Jonathan went to his house.
19 Then came up the Ziphites to Saul to Gibeah, saying, Doth not David hide himself with us in strong holds in the wood, in the hill of Hachilah, which is on the south of Jeshimon?
20 Now therefore, O king, come down according to all the desire of thy soul to come down; and our part shall be to deliver him into the king’s hand.
21 And Saul said, Blessed be ye of the Lord; for ye have compassion on me.
22 Go, I pray you, prepare yet, and know and see his place where his haunt is, and who hath seen him there: for it is told me that he dealeth very subtilly.
23 See therefore, and take knowledge of all the lurking places where he hideth himself, and come ye again to me with the certainty, and I will go with you: and it shall come to pass, if he be in the land, that I will search him out throughout all the thousands of Judah.
24 And they arose, and went to Ziph before Saul: but David and his men were in the wilderness of Maon, in the plain on the south of Jeshimon.
25 Saul also and his men went to seek him. And they told David: wherefore he came down into a rock, and abode in the wilderness of Maon. And when Saul heard that, he pursued after David in the wilderness of Maon.
26 And Saul went on this side of the mountain, and David and his men on that side of the mountain: and David made haste to get away for fear of Saul; for Saul and his men compassed David and his men round about to take them.
27 But there came a messenger unto Saul, saying, Haste thee, and come; for the Philistines have invaded the land.
28 Wherefore Saul returned from pursuing after David, and went against the Philistines: therefore they called that place Sela-hammahlekoth.
29 And David went up from thence, and dwelt in strong holds at En-gedi.
1 Now it came to pass upon a day, that Jonathan the son of Saul said unto the young man that bare his armour, Come, and let us go over to the Philistines’ garrison, that is on the other side. But he told not his father.
2 And Saul tarried in the uttermost part of Gibeah under a pomegranate tree which is in Migron: and the people that were with him were about six hundred men;
3 And Ahiah, the son of Ahitub, Ichabod’s brother, the son of Phinehas, the son of Eli, the Lord’s priest in Shiloh, wearing an ephod. And the people knew not that Jonathan was gone.
4 And between the passages, by which Jonathan sought to go over unto the Philistines’ garrison, there was a sharp rock on the one side, and a sharp rock on the other side: and the name of the one was Bozez, and the name of the other Seneh.
5 The forefront of the one was situate northward over against Michmash, and the other southward over against Gibeah.
6 And Jonathan said to the young man that bare his armour, Come, and let us go over unto the garrison of these uncircumcised: it may be that the Lord will work for us: for there is no restraint to the Lord to save by many or by few.
7 And his armourbearer said unto him, Do all that is in thine heart: turn thee; behold, I am with thee according to thy heart.
8 Then said Jonathan, Behold, we will pass over unto these men, and we will discover ourselves unto them.
9 If they say thus unto us, Tarry until we come to you; then we will stand still in our place, and will not go up unto them.
10 But if they say thus, Come up unto us; then we will go up: for the Lord hath delivered them into our hand: and this shall be a sign unto us.
11 And both of them discovered themselves unto the garrison of the Philistines: and the Philistines said, Behold, the Hebrews come forth out of the holes where they had hid themselves.
12 And the men of the garrison answered Jonathan and his armourbearer, and said, Come up to us, and we will shew you a thing. And Jonathan said unto his armourbearer, Come up after me: for the Lord hath delivered them into the hand of Israel.
13 And Jonathan climbed up upon his hands and upon his feet, and his armourbearer after him: and they fell before Jonathan; and his armourbearer slew after him.
14 And that first slaughter, which Jonathan and his armourbearer made, was about twenty men, within as it were an half acre of land, which a yoke of oxen might plow.
15 And there was trembling in the host, in the field, and among all the people: the garrison, and the spoilers, they also trembled, and the earth quaked: so it was a very great trembling.
16 And the watchmen of Saul in Gibeah of Benjamin looked; and, behold, the multitude melted away, and they went on beating down one another.
17 Then said Saul unto the people that were with him, Number now, and see who is gone from us. And when they had numbered, behold, Jonathan and his armourbearer were not there.
18 And Saul said unto Ahiah, Bring hither the ark of God. For the ark of God was at that time with the children of Israel.
19 And it came to pass, while Saul talked unto the priest, that the noise that was in the host of the Philistines went on and increased: and Saul said unto the priest, Withdraw thine hand.
20 And Saul and all the people that were with him assembled themselves, and they came to the battle: and, behold, every man’s sword was against his fellow, and there was a very great discomfiture.
21 Moreover the Hebrews that were with the Philistines before that time, which went up with them into the camp from the country round about, even they also turned to be with the Israelites that were with Saul and Jonathan.
22 Likewise all the men of Israel which had hid themselves in mount Ephraim, when they heard that the Philistines fled, even they also followed hard after them in the battle.
23 So the Lord saved Israel that day: and the battle passed over unto Beth-aven.
24 And the men of Israel were distressed that day: for Saul had adjured the people, saying, Cursed be the man that eateth any food until evening, that I may be avenged on mine enemies. So none of the people tasted any food.
25 And all they of the land came to a wood; and there was honey upon the ground.
26 And when the people were come into the wood, behold, the honey dropped; but no man put his hand to his mouth: for the people feared the oath.
27 But Jonathan heard not when his father charged the people with the oath: wherefore he put forth the end of the rod that was in his hand, and dipped it in an honeycomb, and put his hand to his mouth; and his eyes were enlightened.
28 Then answered one of the people, and said, Thy father straitly charged the people with an oath, saying, Cursed be the man that eateth any food this day. And the people were faint.
29 Then said Jonathan, My father hath troubled the land: see, I pray you, how mine eyes have been enlightened, because I tasted a little of this honey.
30 How much more, if haply the people had eaten freely to day of the spoil of their enemies which they found? for had there not been now a much greater slaughter among the Philistines?
31 And they smote the Philistines that day from Michmash to Aijalon: and the people were very faint.
32 And the people flew upon the spoil, and took sheep, and oxen, and calves, and slew them on the ground: and the people did eat them with the blood.
33 Then they told Saul, saying, Behold, the people sin against the Lord, in that they eat with the blood. And he said, Ye have transgressed: roll a great stone unto me this day.
34 And Saul said, Disperse yourselves among the people, and say unto them, Bring me hither every man his ox, and every man his sheep, and slay them here, and eat; and sin not against the Lord in eating with the blood. And all the people brought every man his ox with him that night, and slew them there.
35 And Saul built an altar unto the Lord: the same was the first altar that he built unto the Lord.
36 And Saul said, Let us go down after the Philistines by night, and spoil them until the morning light, and let us not leave a man of them. And they said, Do whatsoever seemeth good unto thee. Then said the priest, Let us draw near hither unto God.
37 And Saul asked counsel of God, Shall I go down after the Philistines? wilt thou deliver them into the hand of Israel? But he answered him not that day.
38 And Saul said, Draw ye near hither, all the chief of the people: and know and see wherein this sin hath been this day.
39 For, as the Lord liveth, which saveth Israel, though it be in Jonathan my son, he shall surely die. But there was not a man among all the people that answered him.
40 Then said he unto all Israel, Be ye on one side, and I and Jonathan my son will be on the other side. And the people said unto Saul, Do what seemeth good unto thee.
41 Therefore Saul said unto the Lord God of Israel, Give a perfect lot. And Saul and Jonathan were taken: but the people escaped.
42 And Saul said, Cast lots between me and Jonathan my son. And Jonathan was taken.
43 Then Saul said to Jonathan, Tell me what thou hast done. And Jonathan told him, and said, I did but taste a little honey with the end of the rod that was in mine hand, and, lo, I must die.
44 And Saul answered, God do so and more also: for thou shalt surely die, Jonathan.
45 And the people said unto Saul, Shall Jonathan die, who hath wrought this great salvation in Israel? God forbid: as the Lord liveth, there shall not one hair of his head fall to the ground; for he hath wrought with God this day. So the people rescued Jonathan, that he died not.
46 Then Saul went up from following the Philistines: and the Philistines went to their own place.
47 So Saul took the kingdom over Israel, and fought against all his enemies on every side, against Moab, and against the children of Ammon, and against Edom, and against the kings of Zobah, and against the Philistines: and whithersoever he turned himself, he vexed them.
48 And he gathered an host, and smote the Amalekites, and delivered Israel out of the hands of them that spoiled them.
49 Now the sons of Saul were Jonathan, and Ishui, and Melchi-shua: and the names of his two daughters were these; the name of the firstborn Merab, and the name of the younger Michal:
50 And the name of Saul’s wife was Ahinoam, the daughter of Ahimaaz: and the name of the captain of his host was Abner, the son of Ner, Saul’s uncle.
51 And Kish was the father of Saul; and Ner the father of Abner was the son of Abiel.
52 And there was sore war against the Philistines all the days of Saul: and when Saul saw any strong man, or any valiant man, he took him unto him.