THE FIRST BOOK OF SAMUEL, OTHERWISE CALLED THE FIRST BOOK OF KINGS
This and the following Book are called by the Hebrews the books of Samuel, because they contain the history of Samuel, and of the two kings, Saul and David, whom he anointed. They are more commonly named by the Fathers, the first and second book of kings. As to the writer of them, it is the common opinion that Samuel composed the first book, as far as the twenty-fifth chapter; and that the prophets Nathan and Gad finished the first, and wrote the second book. See 1 Paralipomenon, alias 1 Chronicles, 29.29.
1 Kings Chapter 1
Anna the wife of Elcana being barren, by vow and prayer obtaineth a son: whom she calleth Samuel: and presenteth him to the service of God in Silo, according to her vow.
1:1. There was a man of Ramathaimsophim, of Mount Ephraim, and his name was Elcana, the son of Jeroham, the son of Eliu, the son of Thohu, the son of Suph, an Ephraimite:
An Ephraimite.... He was of the tribe of Levi, 1. Par. 6.34, but is called an Ephraimite from dwelling in mount Ephraim.
1:2. And he had two wives, the name of one was Anna, and the name of the other Phenenna. Phenenna had children: but Anna had no children.
1:3. And this man went up out of his city upon the appointed days, to adore and to offer sacrifice to the Lord of hosts in Silo. And the two sons of Heli, Ophni and Phinees, were there priests of the Lord.
1:4. Now the day came, and Elcana offered sacrifice, and gave to Phenenna, his wife, and to all her sons and daughters, portions:
1:5. But to Anna he gave one portion with sorrow, because he loved Anna. And the Lord had shut up her womb.
1:6. Her rival also afflicted her, and troubled her exceedingly, insomuch that she upbraided her, that the Lord had shut up her womb:
1:7. And thus she did every year, when the time returned, that they went up to the temple of the Lord: and thus she provoked her: but Anna wept, and did not eat.
1:8. Then Elcana, her husband, said to her: Anna, why weepest thou? and why dost thou not eat? and why dost thou afflict thy heart? Am not I better to thee than ten children?
1:9. So Anna arose after she had eaten and drunk in Silo: And Heli, the priest, sitting upon a stool before the door of the temple of the Lord;
1:10. As Anna had her heart full of grief, she prayed to the Lord, shedding many tears,
1:11. And she made a vow, saying: O Lord of hosts, if thou wilt look down on the affliction of thy servant, and wilt be mindful of me, and not forget thy handmaid, and wilt give to thy servant a manchild: I will give him to the Lord all the days of his life, and no razor shall come upon his head.
1:12. And it came to pass, as she multiplied prayers before the Lord, that Heli observed her mouth.
1:13. Now Anna spoke in her heart, and only her lips moved, but her voice was not heard at all. Heli therefore thought her to be drunk,
1:14. And said to her: How long wilt thou be drunk? digest a little the wine, of which thou hast taken too much.
1:15. Anna answering, said: Not so, my lord: for I am an exceeding unhappy woman, and have drunk neither wine nor any strong drink, but I have poured out my soul before the Lord.
1:16. Count not thy handmaid for one of the daughters of Belial: for out of the abundance of my sorrow and grief have I spoken till now.
1:17. Then Heli said to her: Go in peace: and the God of Israel grant thee thy petition, which thou hast asked of him.
1:18. And she said: Would to God thy handmaid may find grace in thy eyes. So the woman went on her way, and ate, and her countenance was no more changed.
1:19. And they rose in the morning, and worshipped before the Lord: and they returned, and came into their house at Ramatha. And Elcana knew Anna his wife: And the Lord remembered her.
1:20. And it came to pass when the time was come about, Anna conceived and bore a son, and called his name Samuel: because she had asked him of the Lord.
Samuel.... This name imports, asked of God.
1:21. And Elcana, her husband, went up, and all his house, to offer to the Lord the solemn sacrifice, and his vow.
1:22. But Anna went not up: for she said to her husband: I will not go till the child be weaned, and till I may carry him, that he may appear before the Lord, and may abide always there.
1:23. And Elcana, her husband, said to her: Do what seemeth good to thee, and stay till thou wean him: and I pray that the Lord may fulfil his word. So the woman staid at home, and gave her son suck, till she weaned him.
1:24. And after she had weaned him, she carried him with her, with three calves, and three bushels of flour, and a bottle of wine, and she brought him to the house of the Lord in Silo. Now the child was as yet very young:
1:25. And they immolated a calf, and offered the child to Heli.
1:26. And Anna said: I beseech thee, my lord, as thy soul liveth, my lord: I am that woman, who stood before thee here praying to the Lord.
1:27. For this child did I pray, and the Lord hath granted me my petition, which I asked of him.
1:28. Therefore I also have lent him to the Lord all the days of his life, he shall be lent to the Lord. And they adored the Lord there. And Anna prayed, and said:
1 Kings Chapter 2
The canticle of Anna. The wickedness of the sons of Heli: for which they are not duly corrected by their father. A prophecy against the house of Heli.
2:1. My heart hath rejoiced in the Lord, and my horn is exalted in my God: my mouth is enlarged over my enemies: because I have joyed in thy salvation.
My horn.... The horn in the scriptures signifies strength, power, the horn is said to be exalted, when a person receives an increase of strength or glory.
2:2. There is none holy as the Lord is: for there is no other beside thee, and there is none strong like our God.
2:3. Do not multiply to speak lofty things, boasting: let old matters depart from your mouth: for the Lord is a God of all knowledge, and to him are thoughts prepared.
2:4. The bow of the mighty is overcome, and the weak are girt with strength.
2:5. They that were full before, have hired out themselves for bread: and the hungry are filled, so that the barren hath borne many: and she that had many children is weakened.
2:6. The Lord killeth and maketh alive, he bringeth down to hell, and bringeth back again.
2:7. The Lord maketh poor and maketh rich, he humbleth and he exalteth:
2:8. He raiseth up the needy from the dust, and lifteth up the poor from the dunghill: that he may sit with princes, and hold the throne of glory. For the poles of the earth are the Lord’s, and upon them he hath set the world.
2:9. He will keep the feet of his saints, and the wicked shall be silent in darkness; because no man shall prevail by his own strength.
2:10. The adversaries of the Lord shall fear him: and upon them shall he thunder in the heavens: The Lord shall judge the ends of the earth, and he shall give empire to his king, and shall exalt the horn of his Christ.
2:11. And Elcana went to Ramatha, to his house: but the child ministered in the sight of the Lord before the face of Heli the priest.
2:12. Now the sons of Heli were children of Belial, not knowing the Lord,
2:13. Nor the office of the priests to the people: but whosoever had offered a sacrifice, the servant of the priest came, while the flesh was in boiling, with a fleshhook of three teeth in his hand,
2:14. And thrust it into the kettle, or into the cauldron, or into the pot, or into the pan: and all that the fleshhook brought up, the priest took to himself. Thus did they to all Israel that came to Silo.
2:15. Also before they burnt the fat, the servant of the priest came, and said to the man that sacrificed: Give me flesh to boil for the priest: for I will not take of thee sodden flesh, but raw.
2:16. And he that sacrificed said to him: Let the fat first be burnt to day, according to the custom, and then take to thee as much as thy soul desireth. But he answered, and said to him: Not so: but thou shalt give it me now, or else I will take it by force.
2:17. Wherefore the sin of the young men was exceeding great before the Lord: because they withdrew men from the sacrifice of the Lord.
2:18. But Samuel ministered before the face of the Lord: being a child girded with a linen ephod.
2:19. And his mother made him a little coat, which she brought to him on the appointed days, when she went up with her husband, to offer the solemn sacrifice.
2:20. And Heli blessed Elcana and his wife: and he said to him: The Lord give thee seed of this woman, for the loan thou hast lent to the Lord. And they went to their own home.
2:21. And the Lord visited Anna, and she conceived, and bore three sons, and two daughters: and the child Samuel became great before the Lord.
2:22. Now Heli was very old, and he heard all that his sons did to all Israel: and how they lay with the women that waited at the door of the tabernacle:
2:23. And he said to them: Why do ye these kinds of things, which I hear, very wicked things, from all the people?
2:24. Do not so, my sons: for it is no good report that I hear, that you make the people of the Lord to transgress.
2:25. If one man shall sin against another, God may be appeased in his behalf: but if a man shall sin against the Lord, who shall pray for him? And they hearkened not to the voice of their father, because the Lord would slay them.
Who shall pray for him.... By this word Heli would have his sons understand, that by their wicked abuse of sacred things, and of the very sacrifices which were appointed to appease the Lord, they deprived themselves of the ordinary means of reconciliation with God; which was by sacrifices. The more, because they were the chief priests whose business it was to intercede for all others, they had no other to offer sacrifices and to make atonement for them. Ibid. Because the Lord would slay them.... In consequence of their manifold sacrileges, he would not soften their hearts with his efficacious grace, but was determined to destroy them.
2:26. But the child Samuel advanced, and grew on, and pleased both the Lord and men.
2:27. And there came a man of God to Heli, and said to him: Thus saith the Lord: Did I not plainly appear to thy father’s house, when they were in Egypt in the house of Pharao?
2:28. And I chose him out of all the tribes of Israel to be my priest, to go up to my altar, and burn incense to me, and to wear the ephod before me: and I gave to thy father’s house of all the sacrifices of the children of Israel.
2:29. Why have you kicked away my victims, and my gifts which I commanded to be offered in the temple: and thou hast rather honoured thy sons than me, to eat the firstfruits of every sacrifice of my people Israel?
2:30. Wherefore thus saith the Lord the God of Israel: I said indeed that thy house, and the house of thy father, should minister in my sight, for ever. But now saith the Lord: Far be this from me: but whosoever shall glorify me, him will I glorify: but they that despise me, shall be despised.
2:31. Behold the days come: and I will cut off thy arm, and the arm of thy father’s house, that there shall not be an old man in thy house.
2:32. And thou shalt see thy rival in the temple, in all the prosperity of Israel, and there shall not be an old man in thy house for ever.
Thy rival.... A priest of another race. This was partly fulfilled, when Abiathar, of the race of Heli, was removed from the priesthood, and Sadoc, who was of another line, was substituted in his place. But it was more fully accomplished in the New Testament, when the priesthood of Aaron gave place to that of Christ.
2:33. However, I will not altogether take away a man of thee from my altar: but that thy eyes may faint, and thy soul be spent: and a great part of thy house shall die, when they come to man’s estate.
2:34. And this shall be a sign to thee, that shall come upon thy two sons, Ophni and Phinees: in one day they shall both of them die.
2:35. And I will raise me up a faithful priest, who shall do according to my heart, and my soul and I will build him a faithful house, and he shall walk all days before my anointed.
2:36. And it shall come to pass, that whosoever shall remain in thy house shall come that he may be prayed for, and shall offer a piece of silver, and a roll of bread, and shall say: Put me, I beseech thee, to somewhat of the priestly office, that I may eat a morsel of bread.
1 Kings Chapter 3
Samuel is four times called by the Lord: who revealeth to him the evil that shall fall on Heli, and his house.
3:1. Now the child Samuel ministered to the Lord before Heli, and the word of the Lord was precious in those days, there was no manifest vision.
Precious.... That is, rare.
3:2. And it came to pass one day when Heli lay in his place, and his eyes were grown dim, that he could not see:
3:3. Before the lamp of God went out, Samuel slept in the temple of the Lord, where the ark of God was.
3:4. And the Lord called Samuel. And he answered: Here am I.
3:5. And he ran to Heli, and said: Here am I: for thou didst call me. He said: I did not call: go back and sleep. And he went and slept.
3:6. And the Lord called Samuel again. And Samuel arose and went to Heli, and said: Here am I: for thou calledst me. He answered: I did not call thee, my son: return and sleep.
3:7. Now Samuel did not yet know the Lord, neither had the word of the Lord been revealed to him.
3:8. And the Lord called Samuel again the third time. And he arose up and went to Heli,
3:9. And said: Here am I: for thou didst call me. Then Heli understood that the Lord called the child, and he said to Samuel: Go, and sleep: and if he shall call thee any more, thou shalt say: Speak, Lord, for thy servant heareth. So Samuel went, and slept in his place.
3:10. And the Lord came, and stood, and he called, as he had called the other times, Samuel, Samuel. And Samuel said: Speak, Lord, for thy servant heareth.
3:11. And the Lord said to Samuel: Behold I do a thing in Israel: and whosoever shall hear it, both his ears shall tingle.
3:12. In that day I will raise up against Heli all the things I have spoken concerning his house: I will begin, and I will make an end.
3:13. For I have foretold unto him, that I will judge his house for ever, for iniquity, because he knew that his sons did wickedly, and did not chastise them.
3:14. Therefore have I sworn to the house of Heli, that the iniquity of his house shall not be expiated with victims nor offerings for ever.
3:15. And Samuel slept till morning, and opened the doors of the house of the Lord. And Samuel feared to tell the vision to Heli.
3:16. Then Heli called Samuel, and said: Samuel, my son. And he answered: Here am I.
3:17. And he asked him: What is the word that the Lord hath spoken to thee? I beseech thee hide it not from me. May God do so and so to thee, and add so and so, if thou hide from me one word of all that were said to thee.
3:18. So Samuel told him all the words, and did not hide them from him. And he answered: It is the Lord: let him do what is good in his sight.
3:19. And Samuel grew, and the Lord was with him, and not one of his words fell to the ground.
3:20. And all Israel, from Dan to Bersabee, knew that Samuel was a faithful prophet of the Lord.
3:21. And the Lord again appeared in Silo, for the Lord revealed himself to Samuel in Silo, according to the word of the Lord. And the word of Samuel came to pass to all Israel.
1 Kings Chapter 4
The Israelites being overcome by the Philistines, send for the ark of God: but they are beaten again, the sons of Heli are killed, and the ark taken: upon the hearing of the news Heli falleth backward and dieth.
4:1. And it came to pass in those days, that the Philistines gathered themselves together to fight: and Israel went out to war against the Philistines, and camped by the Stone of help. And the Philistines came to Aphec,
The Stone of help.... In Hebrew Eben-ezer; so called from the help which the Lord was pleased afterwards to give to his people Israel in that place, by the prayers of Samuel, chap. 7.12.
4:2. And put their army in array against Israel. And when they had joined battle, Israel turned their backs to the Philistines: and there were slain in that fight, here and there in the fields, about four thousand men.
4:3. And the people returned to the camp: and the ancients of Israel said: Why hath the Lord defeated us to day before the Philistines? Let us fetch unto us the ark of the covenant of the Lord from Silo, and let it come in the midst of us, that it may save us from the hand of our enemies.
4:4. So the people sent to Silo, and they brought from thence the ark of the covenant of the Lord of hosts, sitting upon the cherubims: and the two sons of Heli, Ophni and Phinees, were with the ark of the covenant of God.
4:5. And when the ark of the covenant of the Lord was come into the camp, all Israel shouted with a great shout, and the earth rang again.
4:6. And the Philistines heard the noise of the shout, and they said: What is this noise of a great shout in the camp of the Hebrews? And they understood that the ark of the Lord was come into the camp.
4:7. And the Philistines were afraid, saying: God is come into the camp. And sighing, they said:
4:8. Woe to us: for there was no such great joy yesterday, and the day before: Woe to us. Who shall deliver us from the hand of these high Gods? these are the Gods that struck Egypt with all the plagues in the desert.
4:9. Take courage, and behave like men, ye Philistines: lest you come to be servants to the Hebrews, as they have served you: take courage and fight.
4:10. So the Philistines fought, and Israel was overthrown, and every man fled to his own dwelling: and there was an exceeding great slaughter; for there fell of Israel thirty thousand footmen.
4:11. And the ark of God was taken: and the two sons of Heli, Ophni and Phinees, were slain.
4:12. And there ran a man of Benjamin out of the army, and came to Silo the same day, with his clothes rent, and his head strewed with dust.
4:13. And when he was come, Heli sat upon a stool over against the way, watching. For his heart was fearful for the ark of God. And when the man was come into the city, he told it: and all the city cried out.
4:14. And Heli heard the noise of the cry, and he said: What meaneth the noise of this uproar? But he made haste, and came, and told Heli.
4:15. Now Heli was ninety and eight years old, and his eyes were dim, and he could not see.
4:16. And he said to Heli: I am he that came from the battle, and have fled out of the field this day. And he said to him: What is there done, my son?
4:17. And he that brought the news answered, and said: Israel is fled before the Philistines, and there has been a great slaughter of the people: moreover thy two sons, Ophni and Phinees, are dead: and the ark of God is taken.
4:18. And when he had named the ark of God, he fell from his stool backwards by the door, and broke his neck and died. For he was an old man, and far advanced in years: And he judged Israel forty years.
Named the ark, etc.... There is great reason, by all these circumstances, to hope that Heli died in a state of grace; and by his temporal punishments escaped the eternal.
4:19. And his daughter in law, the wife of Phinees, was big with child, and near her time: and hearing the news that the ark of God was taken, and her father in law, and her husband, were dead, she bowed herself and fell in labour: for her pains came upon her on a sudden.
4:20. And when she was upon the point of death, they that stood about her said to her: Fear not, for thou hast borne a son. She answered them not, nor gave heed to them.
4:21. And she called the child Ichabod, saying: The glory is gone from Israel, because the ark of God was taken, and for her father in law, and for her husband:
Ichabod.... That is, Where is the glory? or, there is no glory. We see how much the Israelites lamented the loss of the ark, which was but the symbol of God’s presence among them. How much more ought Christians to lament the loss of God himself, when by sin they have driven him out of their souls.
4:22. And she said: The glory is departed from Israel, because the ark of God was taken.
1 Kings Chapter 5
Dagon twice falleth down before the ark. The Philistines are grievously afflicted, wherever the ark cometh.
5:1. And the Philistines took the ark of God, and carried it from the Stone of help into Azotus.
5:2. And the Philistines took the ark of God, and brought it into the temple of Dagon, and set it by Dagon.
5:3. And when the Azotians arose early the next day, behold Dagon lay upon his face on the ground before the ark of the Lord: and they took Dagon, and set him again in his place.
5:4. And the next day again, when they rose in the morning, they found Dagon lying upon his face on the earth before the ark of the Lord: and the head of Dagon, and both the palms of his hands, were cut off upon the threshold:
5:5. And only the stump of Dagon remained in its place. For this cause neither the priests of Dagon, nor any that go into the temple, tread on the threshold of Dagon in Azotus unto this day.
5:6. And the hand of the Lord was heavy upon the Azotians, and he destroyed them, and afflicted Azotus and the coasts thereof with emerods. And in the villages and fields in the midst of that country, there came forth a multitude of mice, and there was the confusion of a great mortality in the city.
5:7. And the men of Azotus seeing this kind of plague, said: The ark of the God of Israel shall not stay with us: for his hand is heavy upon us, and upon Dagon, our god.
5:8. And sending, they gathered together all the lords of the Philistines to them, and said: What shall we do with the ark of the God of Israel? And the Gethites answered: Let the ark of the God of Israel be carried about. And they carried the ark of the God of Israel about.
5:9. And while they were carrying it about, the hand of the Lord came upon every city with an exceeding great slaughter: and he smote the men of every city, both small and great, and they had emerods in their secret parts. And the Gethites consulted together, and made themselves seats of skins.
5:10. Therefore they sent the ark of God into Accaron. And when the ark of God was come into Accaron, the Accaronites cried out, saying: They have brought the ark of the God of Israel to us, to kill us and our people.
5:11. They sent therefore, and gathered together all the lords of the Philistines: and they said: Send away the ark of the God of Israel, and let it return into its own place, and not kill us and our people.
5:12. For there was the fear of death in every city, and the hand of God was exceeding heavy. The men also that did not die, were afflicted with the emerods: and the cry of every city went up to heaven.
1 Kings Chapter 6
The ark is sent back to Bethsames: where many are slain for looking through curiosity into it.
6:1. Now the ark of God was in the land of the Philistines seven months.
6:2. And the Philistines called for the priests and the diviners, saying: What shall we do with the ark of the Lord? tell us how we are to send it back to its place. And they said:
6:3. If you send back the ark of the God of Israel, send it not away empty, but render unto him what you owe for sin, and then you shall be healed: and you shall know why his hand departeth not from you.
6:4. They answered: What is it we ought to render unto him for sin? and they answered:
6:5. According to the number of the provinces of the Philistines you shall make five golden emerods, and five golden mice: for the same plague hath been upon you all, and upon your lords. And you shall make the likeness of your emerods, and the likeness of the mice, that have destroyed the land, and you shall give glory to the God of Israel: to see if he will take off his hand from you, and from your gods, and from your land.
6:6. Why do you harden your hearts, as Egypt and Pharao hardened their hearts? did not he, after he was struck, then let them go, and they departed?
6:7. Now, therefore, take and make a new cart: and two kine that have calved, on which there hath come no yoke, tie to the cart, and shut up their calves at home.
6:8. And you shall take the ark of the Lord, and lay it on the cart, and the vessels of gold, which you have paid him for sin, you shall put into a little box at the side thereof: and send it away, that it may go.
6:9. And you shall look: and if it go up by the way of his own coasts, towards Bethsames, then he hath done us this great evil: but if not, we shall know that it is not his hand hath touched us, but it hath happened by chance.
6:10. They did therefore in this manner: and taking two kine, that had sucking calves, they yoked them to the cart, and shut up their calves at home.
6:11. And they laid the ark of God upon the cart, and the little box that had in it the golden mice, and the likeness of the emerods.
6:12. And the kine took the straight way, that leadeth to Bethsames, and they went along the way, lowing as they went: and turned not aside neither to the right hand nor to the left: and the lords of the Philistines followed them as far as the borders of Bethsames.
6:13. Now the Bethsamites were reaping wheat in the valley: and lifting up their eyes, they saw the ark, and rejoiced to see it.
6:14. And the cart came into the field of Josue, a Bethsamite, and stood there. And there was a great stone, and they cut in pieces the wood of the cart, and laid the kine upon it a holocaust to the Lord.
6:15. And the Levites took down the ark of God, and the little box that was at the side of it, wherein were the vessels of gold, and they put them upon the great stone. The men also of Bethsames offered holocausts, and sacrificed victims that day to the Lord.
6:16. And the five princes of the Philistines saw, and they returned to Accaron the same day.
6:17. And these are the golden emerods, which the Philistines returned for sin to the Lord: For Azotus one, for Gaza one, for Ascalon one, for Geth one, for Accaron one:
6:18. And the golden mice, according to the number of the cities of the Philistines, of the five provinces, from the fenced city to the village that was without wall, and to the great Abel (the stone) whereon they set down the ark of the Lord, which was till that day in the field of Josue the Bethsamite.
6:19. But he slew of the men of Bethsames, because they had seen the ark of the Lord, and he slew of the people seventy men, and fifty thousand of the common people. And the people lamented, because the Lord had smitten the people with a great slaughter.
Seen.... And curiously looked into. It is likely this plague reached to all the neighbouring country, as well as the city of Bethsames.
6:20. And the men of Bethsames said: Who shall be able to stand before the Lord this holy God? and to whom shall he go up from us?
6:21. And they sent messengers to the inhabitants of Cariathiarim, saying: The Philistines have brought back the ark of the Lord, come ye down and fetch it up to you.
1 Kings Chapter 7
The ark is brought to Cariathiarim. By Samuel’s exhortation the people cast away their idols and serve God alone. The Lord defeateth the Philistines, while Samuel offereth sacrifice.
7:1. And the men of Cariathiarim came, and fetched up the ark of the Lord, and carried it into the house of Abinadab, in Gabaa: and they sanctified Eleazar, his son, to keep the ark of the Lord.
In Gabaa.... That is, on the hill, for Gabaa signifieth a hill.
7:2. And it came to pass, that from the day the ark of the Lord abode in Cariathiarim, days were multiplied (for it was now the twentieth year) and all the house of Israel rested, following the Lord.
7:3. And Samuel spoke to all the house of Israel, saying: If you turn to the Lord with all your heart, put away the strange gods from among you, Baalim and Astaroth: and prepare your hearts unto the Lord, and serve him only, and he will deliver you out of the hand of the Philistines.
7:4. Then the children of Israel put away Baalim and Astaroth, and served the Lord only.
7:5. And Samuel said: Gather all Israel to Masphath, that I may pray to the Lord for you.
7:6. And they gathered together to Masphath, and they drew water, and poured it out before the Lord, and they fasted on that day, and they said there: We have sinned against the Lord. And Samuel judged the children of Israel in Masphath.
7:7. And the Philistines heard that the children of Israel were gathered together to Masphath, and the lords of the Philistines went up against Israel. And when the children of Israel heard this, they were afraid of the Philistines.
7:8. And they said to Samuel: Cease not to cry to the Lord our God for us, that he may save us out of the hand of the Philistines.
7:9. And Samuel took a sucking lamb, and offered it whole for a holocaust to the Lord: and Samuel cried to the Lord for Israel, and the Lord heard him.
7:10. And it came to pass, when Samuel was offering the holocaust, the Philistines began the battle against Israel: but the Lord thundered with a great thunder on that day upon the Philistines, and terrified them, and they were overthrown before the face of Israel.
7:11. And the men of Israel going out of Masphath, pursued after the Philistines, and made slaughter of them till they came under Bethchar.
7:12. And Samuel took a stone, and laid it between Masphath and Sen: and he called the place The stone of help. And he said: Thus far the Lord hath helped us.
7:13. And the Philistines were humbled, and they did not come any more into the borders of Israel. And the hand of the Lord was against the Philistines, all the days of Samuel.
7:14. And the cities which the Philistines had taken from Israel, were restored to Israel, from Accaron to Geth, and their borders: and he delivered Israel from the hand of the Philistines, and there was peace between Israel and the Amorrhites.
7:15. And Samuel judged Israel all the days of his life:
7:16. And he went every year about to Bethel and to Galgal and to Masphath, and he judged Israel in the foresaid places.
7:17. And he returned to Ramatha: for there was his house, and there he judged Israel: he built also there an altar to the Lord.
1 Kings Chapter 8
Samuel growing old, and his sons not walking in his ways, the people desire a king.
8:1. And it came to pass, when Samuel was old, that he appointed his sons to be judges over Israel.
8:2. Now the name of his firstborn son was Joel: and the name of the second was Abia, judges in Bersabee.
8:3. And his sons walked not in his ways: but they turned aside after lucre, and took bribes, and perverted judgment.
8:4. Then all the ancients of Israel being assembled came to Samuel to Ramatha.
8:5. And they said to him: Behold thou art old, and thy sons walk not in thy ways: make us a king, to judge us, as all nations have.
8:6. And the word was displeasing in the eyes of Samuel, that they should say: Give us a king to judge us. And Samuel prayed to the Lord.
8:7. And the Lord said to Samuel: Hearken to the voice of the people in all that they say to thee. For they have not rejected thee, but me, that I should not reign over them.
Rejected, etc.... The government of Israel hitherto had been a theocracy, in which God himself immediately ruled, by laws which he had enacted, and by judges extraordinarily raised up by himself; and therefore he complains that his people rejected him, in desiring a change of government.
8:8. According to all their works, they have done from the day that I brought them out of Egypt until this day: as they have forsaken me, and served strange gods, so do they also unto thee.
8:9. Now, therefore, hearken to their voice: but yet testify to them, and foretell them the right of the king, that shall reign over them.
The right.... That is, the manner (misphat) after which he shall proceed, having no one to control him, when he has the power in his hand.
8:10. Then Samuel told all the words of the Lord to the people that had desired a king of him,
8:11. And said: This will be the right of the king that shall reign over you: He will take your sons, and put them in his chariots, and will make them his horsemen, and his running footmen, to run before his chariots,
8:12. And he will appoint of them to be his tribunes, and his centurions, and to plough his fields, and to reap his corn, and to make him arms and chariots.
8:13. Your daughters also he will take to make him ointments, and to be his cooks, and bakers.
8:14. And he will take your fields, and your vineyards, and your best oliveyards, and give them to his servants.
8:15. Moreover he will take the tenth of your corn, and of the revenues of your vineyards, to give to his eunuchs and servants.
8:16. Your servants also, and handmaids, and your goodliest young men, and your asses, he will take away, and put them to his work.
8:17. Your flocks also he will tithe, and you shall be his servants.
8:18. And you shall cry out in that day from the face of the king, whom you have chosen to yourselves: and the Lord will not hear you in that day, because you desired unto yourselves a king.
8:19. But the people would not hear the voice of Samuel, and they said, Nay: but there shall be a king over us,
8:20. And we also will be like all nations: and our king shall judge us, and go out before us, and fight our battles for us.
8:21. And Samuel heard all the words of the people, and rehearsed them in the ears of the Lord.
8:22. And the Lord said to Samuel: Hearken to their voice, and make them a king. And Samuel said to the men of Israel: Let every man go to his city.
1 Kings Chapter 9
Saul seeking his father’s asses, cometh to Samuel, by whom he is entertained.
9:1. Now there was a man of Benjamin, whose name was Cis, the son of Abiel, the son of Seror, the son of Bechorath, the son of Aphia, the son of a man of Jemini, valiant and strong.
9:2. And he had a son whose name was Saul, a choice and goodly man, and there was not among the children of Israel a goodlier person than he: from his shoulders and upward he appeared above all the people.
9:3. And the asses of Cis, Saul’s father, were lost: and Cis said to his son Saul: Take one of the servants with thee, and arise, go, and seek the asses. And when they had passed through Mount Ephraim,
9:4. And through the land of Salisa, and had not found them, they passed also through the land of Salim, and they were not there: and through the land of Jemini, and found them not.
9:5. And when they were come to the land of Suph, Saul said to the servant that was with him: Come, let us return, lest perhaps my father forget the asses, and be concerned for us.
9:6. And he said to him: Behold there is a man of God in this city, a famous man: all that he saith, cometh certainly to pass. Now, therefore, let us go thither, perhaps he may tell us of our way, for which we are come.
9:7. And Saul said to his servant: Behold we will go: but what shall we carry to the man of God? the bread is spent in our bags: and we have no present to make to the man of God, nor any thing at all.
9:8. The servant answered Saul again, and said: Behold there is found in my hand the fourth part of a sicle of silver, let us give it to the man of God, that he may tell us our way.
9:9. Now in time past in Israel, when a man went to consult God, he spoke thus: Come, let us go to the seer. For he that is now called a prophet, in time past was called a seer.
Seer.... Because of his seeing by divine light hidden things and things to come.
9:10. And Saul said to his servant: Thy word is very good, come let us go. And they went into the city, where the man of God was.
9:11. And when they went up the ascent to the city, they found maids coming out to draw water, and they said to them: Is the seer here?
9:12. They answered and said to them: He is: behold he is before you, make haste now: for he came to day into the city, for there is a sacrifice of the people to day in the high place.
A sacrifice.... The law did not allow of sacrifices in any other place, but at the tabernacle, or temple, in which the ark of the covenant was kept; but Samuel, by divine dispensation, offered sacrifices in other places. For which dispensation this reason may be alleged, that the house of God in Silo, having lost the ark, was now cast off; as a figure of the reprobation of the Jews, Ps. 77.60, 67. And in Cariathiarim where the ark was, there was neither tabernacle, nor altar.—Ibid. The high place.... Excelsum. The excelsa, or high places, so often mentioned in scripture, were places of worship, in which were altars for sacrifice. These were sometimes employed in the service of the true God, as in the present case: but more frequently in the service of idols; and were called excelsa, which is commonly (though perhaps not so accurately) rendered high places; not because they were always upon hills, for the very worst of all, which was that of Topheth, or Geennom, (Jer. 19.) was in a valley; but because of the high altars, and pillars, or monuments, erected there, on which were set up the idols, or images of their deities.
9:13. As soon as you come into the city, you shall immediately find him, before he go up to the high place to eat: for the people will not eat till he come; because he blesseth the victim, and afterwards they eat that are invited. Now, therefore, go up, for to day you shall find him.
9:14. And they went up into the city. And when they were walking in the midst of the city, behold Samuel was coming out over against them, to go up to the high place.
9:15. Now the Lord had revealed to the ear of Samuel the day before Saul came, saying:
9:16. To morrow about this same hour I will send thee a man of the land of Benjamin, and thou shalt anoint him to be ruler over my people Israel: and he shall save my people out of the hand of the Philistines: for I have looked down upon my people, because their cry is come to me.
9:17. And when Samuel saw Saul, the Lord said to him: Behold the man, of whom I spoke to thee, this man shall reign over my people.
9:18. And Saul came to Samuel in the midst of the gate, and said: Tell me, I pray thee, where is the house of the seer?
9:19. And Samuel answered Saul, saying: I am the seer; go up before me to the high place, that you may eat with me to day, and I will let thee go in the morning: and tell thee all that is in thy heart.
9:20. And as for the asses, which were lost three days ago, be not solicitous, because they are found. And for whom shall be all the best things of Israel? Shall they not be for thee and for all thy father’s house?
9:21. And Saul answering, said: Am not I a son of Jemini of the least tribe of Israel, and my kindred the last among all the families of the tribe of Benjamin? Why then hast thou spoken this word to me?
9:22. Then Samuel taking Saul, and his servant, brought them into the parlour, and gave them a place at the head of them that were invited. For there were about thirty men.
9:23. And Samuel said to the cook: Bring the portion which I gave thee, and commanded thee to set it apart by thee.
9:24. And the cook took up the shoulder, and set it before Saul. And Samuel said: Behold what is left, set it before thee, and eat; because it was kept of purpose for thee, when I invited the people. And Saul ate with Samuel that day.
9:25. And they went down from the high place into the town, and he spoke with Saul upon the top of the house: and he prepared a bed for Saul on the top of the house and he slept.
9:26. And when they were risen in the morning, and it began now to be light, Samuel called Saul on the top of the house, saying: Arise, that I may let thee go. And Saul arose: and they went out both of them: to wit, he and Samuel.
9:27. And as they were going down in the end of the city, Samuel said to Saul: Speak to the servant to go before us, and pass on: but stand thou still a while, that I may tell thee the word of the Lord.
1 Kings Chapter 10
Saul is anointed. He prophesieth, and is changed into another man. Samuel calleth the people together, to make a king: the lot falleth on Saul.
10:1. And Samuel took a little vial of oil, and poured it upon his head, and kissed him, and said: Behold, the Lord hath anointed thee to be prince over his inheritance, and thou shalt deliver his people out of the hands of their enemies, that are round about them. And this shall be a sign unto thee, that God hath anointed thee to be prince.
10:2. When thou shalt depart from me this day, thou shalt find two men by the sepulchre of Rachel in the borders of Benjamin to the south, and they shall say to thee: The asses are found which thou wentest to seek: and thy father, thinking no more of the asses, is concerned for you, and saith: What shall I do for my son?
10:3. And when thou shalt depart from thence, and go farther on, and shalt come to the oak of Thabor, there shall meet thee three men going up to God to Bethel, one carrying three kids, and another three loaves of bread, and another carrying a bottle of wine.
Bethel.... Where there was at that time an altar of God; it being one of the places where Samuel judged Israel.
10:4. And they will salute thee, and will give thee two loaves, and thou shalt take them at their hand.
10:5. After that thou shalt come to the hill of God, where the garrison of the Philistines is: and when thou shalt be come there into the city, thou shalt meet a company of prophets coming down from the high place, with a psaltery, and a timbrel, and a pipe, and a harp before them, and they shall be prophesying.
The hill of God.... Gabaa, in which there was also at that time, a high place or altar.—Prophets.... These were men whose office it was to sing hymns and praises to God; for such in holy writ are called prophets, and their singing praises to God is called prophesying. See 1 Par. alias 1 Chr. 15.22, and 25.1. Now there were in those days colleges, or schools for training up these prophets; and it seems there was one of these schools at this hill of God; and another at Najoth in Ramatha. See 1 Kings 19.20, 21, etc.
10:6. And the Spirit of the Lord shall come upon thee, and thou shalt prophesy with them, and shalt be changed into another man.
10:7. When therefore these signs shall happen to thee, do whatsoever thy hand shall find, for the Lord is with thee.
10:8. And thou shalt go down before me to Galgal, (for I will come down to thee), that thou mayst offer an oblation, and sacrifice victims of peace: seven days shalt thou wait, till I come to thee, and I will shew thee what thou art to do.
Galgal.... Here also by dispensation was an altar of God.
10:9. So when he had turned his back to go from Samuel, God gave unto him another heart, and all these things came to pass that day.
10:10. And they came to the foresaid hill, and behold a company of prophets met him: and the Spirit of the Lord came upon him, and he prophesied in the midst of them.
10:11. And all that had known him yesterday and the day before, seeing that he was with the prophets, and prophesied, said to each other: What is this that hath happened to the son of Cis? is Saul also among the prophets?
10:12. And one answered another, saying: And who is their father? therefore it became a proverb: Is Saul also among the prophets?
Their father.... That is, their teacher, or superior. As much as to say, Who could bring about such a wonderful change as to make Saul a prophet?
10:13. And when he had made an end of prophesying, he came to the high place.
10:14. And Saul’s uncle said to him, and to his servant: Whither went you? They answered: To seek the asses: and not finding them, we went to Samuel.
10:15. And his uncle said to him: Tell me what Samuel said to thee.
10:16. And Saul said to his uncle: He told us that the asses were found. But of the matter of the kingdom of which Samuel had spoken to him, he told him not.
10:17. And Samuel called together the people to the Lord in Maspha:
10:18. And he said to the children of Israel: Thus saith the Lord the God of Israel: I brought up Israel out of Egypt, and delivered you from the hand of the Egyptians, and from the hand of all the kings who afflicted you.
10:19. But you this day have rejected your God, who only hath saved you out of all your evils and your tribulations: and you have said: Nay: but set a king over us. Now therefore stand before the Lord by your tribes, and by your families.
10:20. And Samuel brought to him all the tribes of Israel, and the lot fell on the tribe of Benjamin.
10:21. And he brought the tribe of Benjamin and the kindreds thereof, and the lot fell upon the kindred of Metri, and it came to Saul, the son of Cis. They sought him therefore, and he was not found.
10:22. And after this they consulted the Lord whether he would come thither. And the Lord answered: Behold he is hidden at home.
10:23. And they ran and fetched him thence: and he stood in the midst of the people, and he was higher than any of the people from the shoulders and upward.
10:24. And Samuel said to all the people: Surely you see him whom the Lord hath chosen, that there is none like him among all the people. And all the people cried and said: God save the king.
10:25. And Samuel told the people the law of the kingdom, and wrote it in a book, and laid it up before the Lord: and Samuel sent away all the people, every one to his own house.
10:26. Saul also departed to his own house in Gabaa: and there went with him a part of the army, whose hearts God had touched.
10:27. But the children of Belial said: Shall this fellow be able to save us? And they despised him, and brought him no presents; but he dissembled as though he heard not.
1 Kings Chapter 11
Saul defeateth the Ammonites, and delivereth Jabes Galaad.
11:1. And it came to pass about a month after this, that Naas, the Ammonite, came up, and began to fight against Jabes Galaad. And all the men of Jabes said to Naas: Make a covenant with us, and we will serve thee.
11:2. And Naas, the Ammonite, answered them: On this condition will I make a covenant with you, that I may pluck out all your right eyes, and make you a reproach in all Israel.
11:3. And the ancients of Jabes said to him: Allow us seven days, that we may send messengers to all the coasts of Israel: and if there be no one to defend us, we will come out to thee.
11:4. The messengers therefore came to Gabaa of Saul: and they spoke these words in the hearing of the people: and all the people lifted up their voices, and wept.
11:5. And behold Saul came, following oxen out of the field, and he said: What aileth the people that they weep? And they told him the words of the men of Jabes.
11:6. And the Spirit of the Lord came upon Saul, when he had heard these words, and his anger was exceedingly kindled.
11:7. And taking both the oxen, he cut them in pieces, and sent them into all the coasts of Israel, by messengers, saying: Whosoever shall not come forth, and follow Saul and Samuel, so shall it be done to his oxen. And the fear of the Lord fell upon the people, and they went out as one man.
11:8. And he numbered them in Bezec: and there were of the children of Israel three hundred thousand: and of the men of Juda thirty thousand.
11:9. And they said to the messengers that came: Thus shall you say to the men of Jabes Galaad: To morrow, when the sun shall be hot, you shall have relief. The messengers therefore came, and told the men of Jabes, and they were glad.
11:10. And they said: In the morning we will come out to you: and you shall do what you please with us.
11:11. And it came to pass, when the morrow was come, that Saul put the people in three companies: and he came into the midst of the camp in the morning watch, and he slew the Ammonites until the day grew hot, and the rest were scattered, so that two of them were not left together.
11:12. And the people said to Samuel: Who is he that said: Shall Saul reign over us? Bring the men, and we will kill them.
11:13. And Saul said: No man shall be killed this day: because the Lord this day hath wrought salvation in Israel:
11:14. And Samuel said to the people: Come, and let us go to Galgal, and let us renew the kingdom there.
11:15. And all the people went to Galgal, and there they made Saul king, before the Lord in Galgal, and they sacrificed there victims of peace before the Lord. And there Saul and all the men of Israel rejoiced exceedingly.
1 Kings Chapter 12
Samuel’s integrity is acknowledged. God sheweth by a sign from heaven that they had done ill in asking for a king.
12:1. And Samuel said to all Israel: Behold I have hearkened to your voice in all that you said to me, and have made a king over you.
12:2. And now the king goeth before you: but I am old and greyheaded: and my sons are with you: having then conversed with you from my youth until this day, behold here I am.
12:3. Speak of me before the Lord, and before his anointed, whether I have taken any man’s ox, or ass: if I have wronged any man, if I have oppressed any man, if I have taken a bribe at any man’s hand: and I will despise it this day, and will restore it to you.
12:4. And they said: Thou hast not wronged us, nor oppressed us, nor taken ought at any man’s hand.
12:5. And he said to them: The Lord is witness against you, and his anointed is witness this day, that you have not found any thing in my hand. And they said: He is witness.
12:6. And Samuel said to the people: It is the Lord who made Moses and Aaron, and brought our fathers out of the land of Egypt.
12:7. Now, therefore, stand up, that I may plead in judgment against you before the Lord, concerning all the kindness of the Lord, which he hath shewn to you, and to your fathers:
12:8. How Jacob went into Egypt, and your fathers cried to the Lord: and the Lord sent Moses and Aaron, and brought your fathers out of Egypt, and made them dwell in this place.
12:9. And they forgot the Lord their God, and he delivered them into the hands of Sisara, captain of the army of Hasor, and into the hands of the Philistines, and into the hand of the king of Moab, and they fought against them.
12:10. But afterwards they cried to the Lord, and said: We have sinned, because we have forsaken the Lord, and have served Baalim and Astaroth: but now deliver us from the hand of our enemies, and we will serve thee.
12:11. And the Lord sent Jerobaal, and Badan, and Jephte, and Samuel, and delivered you from the hand of your enemies round about, and you dwelt securely.
Jerobaal and Badan.... That is, Gedeon and Samson called here Badan or Bedan, because he was of Dan.
12:12. But seeing that Naas, king of the children of Ammon, was come against you, you said to me: Nay, but a king shall reign over us: whereas the Lord your God was your king.
12:13. Now, therefore, your king is here, whom you have chosen and desired: Behold the Lord hath given you a king.
12:14. If you will fear the Lord, and serve him, and hearken to his voice, and not provoke the mouth of the Lord: then shall both you, and the king who reigneth over you, be followers of the Lord your God.
12:15. But if you will not hearken to the voice of the Lord, but will rebel against his words, the hand of the Lord shall be upon you, and upon your fathers.
12:16. Now then stand, and see this great thing which the Lord will do in your sight.
12:17. Is it not wheat harvest to day? I will call upon the Lord, and he shall send thunder and rain: and you shall know, and see that you yourselves have done a great evil in the sight of the Lord, in desiring a king over you.
Wheat harvest.... At which time of the year, it never thunders or rains in those countries.
12:18. And Samuel cried unto the Lord, and the Lord sent thunder and rain that day.
12:19. And all the people greatly feared the Lord and Samuel. And all the people said to Samuel: Pray for thy servants to the Lord thy God, that we may not die, for we have added to all our sins this evil, to ask for a king.
12:20. And Samuel said to the people: Fear not, you have done all this evil: but yet depart not from following the Lord, but serve the Lord with all your heart.
12:21. And turn not aside after vain things, which shall never profit you, nor deliver you, because they are vain.
12:22. And the Lord will not forsake his people for his great name’s sake: because the Lord hath sworn to make you his people.
12:23. And far from me be this sin against the Lord, that I should cease to pray for you: and I will teach you the good and right way.
12:24. Therefore fear the Lord, and serve him in truth, and with your whole heart, for you have seen the great works which he hath done among you.
12:25. But if you will still do wickedly: both you and your king shall perish together.
1 Kings Chapter 13
The war between Saul and the Philistines. The distress of the Israelites. Saul offereth sacrifice before the coming of Samuel: for which he is reproved.
13:1. Saul was a child of one year when he began to reign, and he reigned two years over Israel.
Of one year.... That is, he was good and like an innocent child, and for two years continued in that innocency.
13:2. And Saul chose him three thousand men of Israel: and two thousand were with Saul in Machmas, and in mount Bethel: and a thousand with Jonathan in Gabaa of Benjamin: and the rest of the people he sent back every man to their dwellings.
13:3. And Jonathan smote the garrison of the Philistines which was in Gabaa. And when the Philistines had heard of it, Saul sounded the trumpet over all the land, saying: Let the Hebrews hear.
13:4. And all Israel heard this report: Saul hath smitten the garrison of the Philistines: and Israel took courage against the Philistines. And the people were called together after Saul to Galgal.
13:5. The Philistines also were assembled to fight against Israel, thirty thousand chariots, and six thousand horsemen, and a multitude of people besides, like the sand on the seashore for number. And going up they camped in Machmas, at the east of Bethaven.
13:6. And when the men of Israel saw that they were straitened (for the people were distressed), they hid themselves in caves, and in thickets, and in rocks, and in dens, and in pits.
13:7. And some of the Hebrews passed over the Jordan into the land of Gad and Galaad. And when Saul was yet in Galgal, all the people that followed him were greatly afraid.
13:8. And he waited seven days, according to the appointment of Samuel, and Samuel came not to Galgal, and the people slipt away from him.
13:9. Then Saul said: Bring me the holocaust, and the peace offerings. And he offered the holocaust.
13:10. And when he had made an end of offering the holocaust, behold Samuel came: and Saul went forth to meet him and salute him.
13:11. And Samuel said to him: What hast thou done? Saul answered: Because I saw that the people slipt from me, and thou wast not come according to the days appointed, and the Philistines were gathered together in Machmas,
13:12. I said: Now will the Philistines come down upon me to Galgal, and I have not appeased the face of the Lord. Forced by necessity, I offered the holocaust.
13:13. And Samuel said to Saul: Thou hast done foolishly, and hast not kept the commandments of the Lord thy God, which he commanded thee. And if thou hadst not done thus, the Lord would now have established thy kingdom over Israel for ever:
13:14. But thy kingdom shall not continue. The Lord hath sought him a man according to his own heart: and him hath the Lord commanded to be prince over his people, because thou hast not observed that which the Lord commanded.
13:15. And Samuel arose and went up from Galgal to Gabaa of Benjamin. And the rest of the people went up after Saul, to meet the people who fought against them, going from Galgal to Gabaa, in the hill of Benjamin. And Saul numbered the people, that were found with him, about six hundred men.
13:16. And Saul, and Jonathan his son, and the people that were present with them, were in Gabaa of Benjamin: But the Philistines encamped in Machmas.
13:17. And there went out of the camp of the Philistines three companies to plunder. One company went towards the way of Ephra to the land of Sual;
13:18. And another went by the way of Bethoron, and the third turned to the way of the border, above the valley of Seboim towards the desert.
13:19. Now there was no smith to be found in all the land of Israel, for the Philistines had taken this precaution, lest the Hebrews should make them swords or spears.
13:20. So all Israel went down to the Philistines, to sharpen every man his ploughshare, and his spade, and his axe, and his rake.
13:21. So that their shares, and their spades, and their forks, and their axes, were blunt, even to the goad, which was to be mended.
13:22. And when the day of battle was come, there was neither sword nor spear found in the hand of any of the people that were with Saul and Jonathan, except Saul and Jonathan his son.
13:23. And the army of the Philistines went out in order to advance further in Machmas.
1 Kings Chapter 14
Jonathan attacketh the Philistines. A miraculous victory. Saul’s unadvised oath, by which Jonathan is put in danger of his life, but is delivered by the people.
14:1. Now it came to pass one day that Jonathan, the son of Saul, said to the young man that bore his armour: Come, and let us go over to the garrison of the Philistines, which is on the other side of yonder place. But he told not this to his father.
14:2. And Saul abode in the uttermost part of Gabaa, under the pomegranate tree, which was in Magron: and the people with him were about six hundred men.
14:3. And Achias, the son of Achitob, brother of Ichabod the son of Phinees, the son of Heli, the priest of the Lord in Silo, wore the ephod. And the people knew not whither Jonathan was gone.
14:4. Now there were between the ascents, by which Jonathan sought to go over to the garrison of the Philistines, rocks standing up on both sides, and steep cliffs like teeth on the one side, and on the other, the name of the one was Boses, and the name of the other was Sene:
14:5. One rock stood out toward the north, over against Machmas, and the other to the south, over against Gabaa.
14:6. And Jonathan said to the young man that bore his armour: Come, let us go over to the garrison of these uncircumcised, it may be the Lord will do for us: because it is easy for the Lord to save either by many, or by few.
14:7. And his armourbearer said to him: Do all that pleaseth thy mind: go whither thou wilt, and I will be with thee wheresoever thou hast a mind.
14:8. And Jonathan said: Behold we will go over to these men. And when we shall be seen by them,
14:9. If they shall speak thus to us: Stay till we come to you: let us stand still in our place, and not go up to them.
14:10. But if they shall say: Come up to us: let us go up, because the Lord hath delivered them into our hands, this shall be a sign unto us.
This shall be a sign.... It is likely Jonathan was instructed by divine inspiration to make a choice of this sign: otherwise the observation of omens is superstitious and sinful.
14:11. So both of them discovered themselves to the garrison of the Philistines: and the Philistines said: Behold the Hebrews come forth out of the holes wherein they were hid.
14:12. And the men of the garrison spoke to Jonathan, and to his armourbearer, and said: Come up to us, and we will shew you a thing. And Jonathan said to his armourbearer: Let us go up, follow me: for the Lord hath delivered them into the hands of Israel.
14:13. And Jonathan went up creeping on his hands and feet, and his armourbearer after him. And some fell before Jonathan, others his armourbearer slew as he followed him.
14:14. And the first slaughter which Jonathan and his armourbearer made, was of about twenty men, within half an acre of land, which a yoke of oxen is wont to plough in a day.
14:15. And there was a miracle in the camp, in the fields: and all the people of their garrison, who had gone out to plunder, were amazed, and the earth trembled: and it happened as a miracle from God.
14:16. And the watchmen of Saul, who were in Gabaa of Benjamin looked, and behold a multitude overthrown, and fleeing this way and that.
14:17. And Saul said to the people that were with him: Look, and see who is gone from us. And when they had sought, it was found that Jonathan and his armourbearer were not there.
14:18. And Saul said to Achias: Bring the ark of the Lord. (For the ark of God was there that day with the children of Israel.)
14:19. And while Saul spoke to the priest, there arose a great uproar in the camp of the Philistines: and it increased by degrees, and was heard more clearly. And Saul said to the priest: Draw in thy hand.
14:20. Then Saul, and all the people that were with him, shouted together, and they came to the place of the fight: and behold every man’s sword was turned upon his neighbour, and there was a very great slaughter.
14:21. Moreover, the Hebrews that had been with the Philistines yesterday and the day before, and went up with them into the camp, returned to be with the Israelites, who were with Saul and Jonathan.
14:22. And all the Israelites that had hid themselves in mount Ephraim, hearing that the Philistines fled, joined themselves with their countrymen in the fight. And there were with Saul about ten thousand men.
14:23. And the Lord saved Israel that day. And the fight went on as far as Bethaven.
14:24. And the men of Israel were joined together that day: and Saul adjured the people, saying: Cursed be the man that shall eat food till evening, till I be revenged of my enemies. So none of the people tasted any food.
14:25. And all the common people came into a forest, in which there was honey upon the ground.
14:26. And when the people came into the forest, behold the honey dropped, but no man put his hand to his mouth. For the people feared the oath.
14:27. But Jonathan had not heard when his father adjured the people: and he put forth the end of the rod, which he had in his hand, and dipt it in a honeycomb: and he carried his hand to his mouth, and his eyes were enlightened.
14:28. And one of the people answering, said: Thy father hath bound the people with an oath, saying: Cursed be the man that shall eat any food this day. (And the people were faint.)
14:29. And Jonathan said: My father hath troubled the land: you have seen yourselves that my eyes are enlightened, because I tasted a little of this honey:
14:30. How much more if the people had eaten of the prey of their enemies, which they found? had there not been made a greater slaughter among the Philistines?
14:31. So they smote that day the Philistines, from Machmas to Aialon. And the people were wearied exceedingly.
14:32. And falling upon the spoils, they took sheep, and oxen, and calves, and slew them on the ground: and the people ate them with the blood.
14:33. And they told Saul that the people had sinned against the Lord, eating with the blood. And he said: You have transgressed: roll here to me now a great stone.
14:34. And Saul said: Disperse yourselves among the people, and tell them to bring me every man his ox and his ram and slay them upon this stone, and eat, and you shall not sin against the Lord, in eating with the blood. So all the people brought every man his ox with him till the night: and slew them there.
14:35. And Saul built an altar to the Lord: and he then first began to build an altar to the Lord.
14:36. And Saul said: Let us fall upon the Philistines by night, and destroy them till the morning light, and let us not leave a man of them. And the people said: Do all that seemeth good in thy eyes. And the priest said: Let us draw near hither unto God.
14:37. And Saul consulted the Lord: Shall I pursue after the Philistines? wilt thou deliver them into the hands of Israel? And he answered him not that day.
14:38. And Saul said: Bring hither all the corners of the people: and know, and see by whom this sin hath happened to day.
14:39. As the Lord liveth, who is the Saviour of Israel, if it was done by Jonathan, my son, he shall surely die. In this none of the people gainsayed him.
14:40. And he said to all Israel: Be you on one side and I, with Jonathan, my son, will be on the other side. And the people answered Saul: Do what seemeth good in thy eyes.
14:41. And Saul said to the Lord: O Lord God of Israel, give a sign, by which we may know, what the meaning is, that thou answerest not thy servant to day: If this iniquity be in me, or in my son Jonathan, give a proof: or if this iniquity be in thy people, give holiness. And Jonathan and Saul were taken, and the people escaped.
14:42. And Saul said: Cast lots between me, and Jonathan, my son. And Jonathan was taken.
Jonathan was taken.... Though Jonathan was excused from sin, through ignorance of the prohibition, yet God was pleased on this occasion to let the lot fall upon him, to shew unto all the great obligation of obedience to princes and parents.
14:43. And 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, which was in my hand, and behold I must die.
14:44. And Saul said: May God do so and so to me, and add still more: for dying thou shalt die, O Jonathan.
14:45. And the people said to Saul: Shall Jonathan then die, who hath wrought this great salvation in Israel? this must not be: 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 delivered Jonathan, that he should not die.
14:46. And Saul went back, and did not pursue after the Philistines: and the Philistines went to their own places.
14:47. And Saul having his kingdom established over Israel, fought against all his enemies round about, against Moab, and against the children of Ammon, and Edom, and the kings of Soba, and the Philistines: and whithersoever he turned himself, he overcame.
14:48. And gathering together an army, he defeated Amalec, and delivered Israel from the hand of them that spoiled them.
14:49. And the sons of Saul, were Jonathan, and Jessui, and Melchisua: and the names of his two daughters, the name of the firstborn was Merob, and the name of the younger Michol.
14:50. And the name of Saul’s wife was Achinoam, the daughter of Achimaas; and the name of the captain of his army was Abner, the son of Ner, the cousin german of Saul.
14:51. For Cis was the father of Saul, and Ner, the father of Abner, was son of Abiel.
14:52. And there was a great war against the Philistines all the days of Saul. For whomsoever Saul saw to be a valiant man, and fit for war, he took him to himself.
1 Kings Chapter 15
Saul is sent to destroy Amalec: he spareth their king and the best of their cattle: for which disobedience he is cast off by the Lord.
15:1. And Samuel said to Saul: The Lord sent me to anoint thee king over his people Israel: now therefore hearken thou unto the voice of the Lord:
15:2. Thus saith the Lord of hosts: I have reckoned up all that Amalec hath done to Israel: how he opposed them in the way when they came up out of Egypt.
15:3. Now therefore go, and smite Amalec, and utterly destroy all that he hath: spare him not, nor covet anything that is his: but slay both man and woman, child and suckling, ox and sheep, camel and ass.
Child.... The great Master of life and death (who cuts off one half of all mankind whilst they are children) has been pleased sometimes to ordain that children should be put to the sword, in detestation of the crimes of their parents, and that they might not live to follow the same wicked ways. But without such ordinance of God it is not allowable, in any wars, how just soever, to kill children.
15:4. So Saul commanded the people, and numbered them as lambs: two hundred thousand footmen, and ten thousand of the men of Juda.
15:5. And when Saul was come to the city of Amalec, he laid ambushes in the torrent.
15:6. And Saul said to the Cinite: Go, depart, and get ye down from Amalec: lest I destroy thee with him. For thou hast shewn kindness to all the children of Israel, when they came up out of Egypt. And the Cinite departed from the midst of Amalec.
15:7. And Saul smote Amalec from Hevila, until thou comest to Sur, which is over against Egypt.
15:8. And he took Agag, the king of Amalec, alive: but all the common people he slew with the edge of the sword.
15:9. And Saul and the people spared Agag, and the best of the flocks of sheep, and of the herds, and the garments and the rams, and all that was beautiful, and would not destroy them: but every thing that was vile, and good for nothing, that they destroyed.
15:10. And the word of the Lord came to Samuel, saying:
15:11. It repenteth me that I have made Saul king: for he hath forsaken me, and hath not executed my commandments. And Samuel was grieved, and he cried unto the Lord all night.
15:12. And when Samuel rose early, to go to Saul in the morning, it was told Samuel that Saul was come to Carmel, and had erected for himself a triumphant arch, and returning had passed on, and gone down to Galgal. And Samuel came to Saul, and Saul was offering a holocaust to the Lord, out of the choicest of the spoils, which he had brought from Amalec.
15:13. And when Samuel was come to Saul, Saul said to him: Blessed be thou of the Lord, I have fulfilled the word of the Lord.
15:14. And Samuel said: What meaneth then this bleating of the flocks, which soundeth in my ears, and the lowing of the herds, which I hear?
15:15. And Saul said: They have brought them from Amalec: for the people spared the best of the sheep and of the herds, that they might be sacrificed to the Lord thy God, but the rest we have slain.
15:16. And Samuel said to Saul: Suffer me, and I will tell thee what the Lord hath said to me this night. And he said to him: Speak.
15:17. And Samuel said: When thou wast a little one in thy own eyes, wast thou not made the head of the tribes of Israel? And the Lord anointed thee to be king over Israel.
15:18. And the Lord sent thee on the way, and said: Go, and kill the sinners of Amalec, and thou shalt fight against them until thou hast utterly destroyed them.
15:19. Why then didst thou not hearken to the voice of the Lord: but hast turned to the prey, and hast done evil in the eyes of the Lord?
15:20. And Saul said to Samuel: Yea, I have hearkened to the voice of the Lord, and have walked in the way by which the Lord sent me, and have brought Agag, the king of Amalec, and Amalec I have slain.
15:21. But the people took of the spoils, sheep and oxen, as the firstfruits of those things that were slain, to offer sacrifice to the Lord their God in Galgal.
15:22. And Samuel said: Doth the Lord desire holocausts and victims, and not rather that the voice of the Lord should be obeyed? For obedience is better than sacrifices: and to hearken rather than to offer the fat of rams.
15:23. Because it is like the sin of witchcraft, to rebel: and like the crime of idolatry, to refuse to obey. Forasmuch, therefore, as thou hast rejected the word of the Lord, the Lord hath also rejected thee from being king.
15:24. And Saul said to Samuel: I have sinned, because I have transgressed the commandment of the Lord, and thy words, fearing the people, and obeying their voice.
15:25. But now bear, I beseech thee, my sin, and return with me, that I may adore the Lord.
15:26. And Samuel said to Saul: I will not return with thee, because thou hast rejected the word of the Lord, and the Lord hath rejected thee from being king over Israel.
15:27. And Samuel turned about to go away: but he laid hold upon the skirt of his mantle, and it rent.
15:28. And Samuel said to him: The Lord hath rent the kingdom of Israel from thee this day, and hath given it to thy neighbour who is better than thee.
15:29. But the triumpher in Israel will not spare, and will not be moved to repentance: for he is not a man that he should repent.
15:30. Then he said: I have sinned: yet honour me now before the ancients of my people, and before Israel, and return with me, that I may adore the Lord thy God.
15:31. So Samuel turned again after Saul: and Saul adored the Lord.
15:32. And Samuel said: Bring hither to me Agag, the king of Amalec. And Agag was presented to him very fat, and trembling. And Agag said: Doth bitter death separate in this manner?
15:33. And Samuel said: As thy sword hath made women childless, so shall thy mother be childless among women. And Samuel hewed him in pieces before the Lord in Galgal.
15:34. And Samuel departed to Ramatha: but Saul went up to his house in Gabaa.
15:35. And Samuel saw Saul no more till the day of his death: nevertheless, Samuel mourned for Saul, because the Lord repented that he had made him king over Israel.
Saw Saul no more till the day of his death.... That is, he went no more to see him: he visited him no more.
1 Kings Chapter 16
Samuel is sent to Bethlehem, where he anointeth David: who is taken into Saul’s family.
16:1. And the Lord said to Samuel: How long wilt thou mourn for Saul, whom I have rejected from reigning over Israel? fill thy horn with oil, and come, that I may send thee to Isai, the Bethlehemite: for I have provided me a king among his sons.
16:2. And Samuel said: How shall I go? for Saul will hear of it, and he will kill me. And the Lord said: Thou shalt take with thee a calf of the herd, and thou shalt say: I am come to sacrifice to the Lord.
16:3. And thou shalt call Isai to the sacrifice, and I will shew thee what thou art to do, and thou shalt anoint him whom I shall shew to thee.
16:4. Then Samuel did as the Lord had said to him. And he came to Bethlehem, and the ancients of the city wondered, and meeting him, they said: Is thy coming hither peaceable?
16:5. And he said: It is peaceable: I am come to offer sacrifice to the Lord, be ye sanctified, and come with me to the sacrifice. And he sanctified Isai and his sons, and called them to the sacrifice.
16:6. And when they were come in, he saw Eliab, and said: Is the Lord’s anointed before him?
16:7. And the Lord said to Samuel: Look not on his countenance, nor on the height of his stature: because I have rejected him, nor do I judge according to the look of man: for man seeth those things that appear, but the Lord beholdeth the heart.
16:8. And Isai called Abinadab, and brought him before Samuel. And he said: Neither hath the Lord chosen this,
16:9. And Isai brought Samma, and he said of him: Neither hath the Lord chosen this.
16:10. Isai therefore brought his seven sons before Samuel: and Samuel said to Isai: The Lord hath not chosen any one of these.
16:11. And Samuel said to Isai: Are here all thy sons? He answered: There remaineth yet a young one, who keepeth the sheep. And Samuel said to Isai: Send, and fetch him: for we will not sit down till he come hither.
16:12. He sent therefore and brought him. Now he was ruddy and beautiful to behold, and of a comely face. And the Lord said: Arise, and anoint him, for this is he.
16:13. Then Samuel took the horn of oil, and anointed him in the midst of his brethren: and the Spirit of the Lord came upon David from that day forward: and Samuel rose up, and went to Ramatha.
16:14. But the Spirit of the Lord departed from Saul, and an evil spirit from the Lord troubled him.
From the Lord.... An evil spirit, by divine permission, and for his punishment, either possessed or obsessed him.
16:15. And the servants of Saul said to him: Behold now an evil spirit from God troubleth thee.
16:16. Let our lord give orders, and thy servants who are before thee, will seek out a man skilful in playing on the harp, that when the evil spirit from the Lord is upon thee, he may play with his hand, and thou mayst bear it more easily.
16:17. And Saul said to his servants: Provide me then some man that can play well, and bring him to me.
16:18. And one of the servants answering, said: Behold I have seen a son of Isai, the Bethlehemite, a skilful player, and one of great strength, and a man fit for war, and prudent in his words, and a comely person: and the Lord is with him.
16:19. Then Saul sent messengers to Isai, saying: Send me David, thy son, who is in the pastures.
16:20. And Isai took an ass laden with bread, and a bottle of wine, and a kid of the flock, and sent them by the hand of David, his son, to Saul.
16:21. And David came to Saul, and stood before him: and he loved him exceedingly, and made him his armourbearer.
16:22. And Saul sent to Isai, saying: Let David stand before me: for he hath found favour in my sight.
16:23. So whensoever the evil spirit from the Lord was upon Saul, David took his harp, and played with his hand, and Saul was refreshed, and was better, for the evil spirit departed from him.
Departed from him.... Chased away by David’s devotion.
1 Kings Chapter 17
War with the Philistines. Goliath challengeth Israel. He is slain by David.
17:1. Now the Philistines gathering together their troops to battle, assembled at Socho of Juda: and camped between Socho and Azeca, in the borders of Dommim.
17:2. And Saul and the children of Israel being gathered together, came to the valley of Terebinth, and they set the army in array to fight against the Philistines.
17:3. And the Philistines stood on a mountain on the one side, and Israel stood on a mountain on the other side: and there was a valley between them.
17:4. And there went out a man baseborn from the camp of the Philistines, named Goliath, of Geth, whose height was six cubits and a span:
17:5. And he had a helmet of brass upon his head, and he was clothed with a coat of mail with scales, and the weight of his coat of mail was five thousand sicles of brass:
17:6. And he had greaves of brass on his legs, and a buckler of brass covered his shoulders.
17:7. And the staff of his spear was like a weaver’s beam, and the head of his spear weighed six hundred sicles of iron: and his armourbearer went before him.
17:8. And standing, he cried out to the bands of Israel, and said to them: Why are you come out prepared to fight? am not I a Philistine, and you the servants of Saul? Choose out a man of you, and let him come down and fight hand to hand.
17:9. If he be able to fight with me, and kill me, we will be servants to you: but if I prevail against him, and kill him, you shall be servants, and shall serve us.
17:10. And the Philistine said: I have defied the bands of Israel this day: give me a man, and let him fight with me hand to hand.
17:11. And Saul and all the Israelites hearing these words of the Philistine, were dismayed, and greatly afraid.
17:12. Now David was the son of that Ephrathite, of Bethlehem Juda, before mentioned, whose name was Isai, who had eight sons, and was an old man in the days of Saul, and of great age among men.
17:13. And his three eldest sons followed Saul to the battle: and the names of his three sons that went to the battle, were Eliab, the firstborn, and the second, Abinadab, and the third Samma:
17:14. But David was the youngest. So the three eldest having followed Saul,
17:15. David went, and returned from Saul, to feed his father’s flock at Bethlehem.
17:16. Now the Philistine came out morning and evening, and presented himself forty days.
17:17. And Isai said to David, his son: Take for thy brethren an ephi of frumenty, and these ten loaves, and run to the camp to thy brethren,
17:18. And carry these ten little cheeses to the tribune: and go see thy brethren, if they are well: and learn with whom they are placed.
17:19. But Saul, and they, and all the children of Israel, were in the valley of Terebinth, fighting against the Philistines.
17:20. David, therefore, arose in the morning, and gave the charge of the flock to the keeper: and went away loaded, as Isai had commanded him. And he came to the place of Magala, and to the army, which was going out to fight, and shouted for the battle.
17:21. For Israel had put themselves in array, and the Philistines who stood against them were prepared.
17:22. And David leaving the vessels which he had brought, under the care of the keeper of the baggage, ran to the place of the battle, and asked if all things went well with his brethren.
17:23. And as he talked with them, that baseborn man, whose name was Goliath, the Philistine, of Geth, shewed himself coming up from the camp of the Philistines: and he spoke according to the same words, and David heard them,
17:24. And all the Israelites, when they saw the man, fled from his face, fearing him exceedingly.
17:25. And some one of Israel said: Have you seen this man that is come up, for he is come up to defy Israel. And the man that shall slay him, the king will enrich with great riches, and will give him his daughter, and will make his father’s house free from tribute in Israel.
17:26. And David spoke to the men that stood by him, saying: What shall be given to the man that shall kill this Philistine, and shall take away the reproach from Israel? for who is this uncircumcised Philistine, that he should defy the armies of the living God?
17:27. And the people answered him the same words, saying: These things shall be given to the man that shall slay him.
17:28. Now when Eliab his eldest brother heard this, when he was speaking with others, he was angry with David, and said: Why camest thou hither? and why didst thou leave those few sheep in the desert? I know thy pride, and the wickedness of thy heart: that thou art come down to see the battle.
17:29. And David said: What have I done? is there not cause to speak?
17:30. And he turned a little aside from him to another: and said the same word. And the people answered him as before.
17:31. And the words which David spoke were heard, and were rehearsed before Saul.
17:32. And when he was brought to Saul, he said to him. Let not any man’s heart be dismayed in him: I thy servant will go, and will fight against the Philistine.
17:33. And Saul said to David: Thou art not able to withstand this Philistine, nor to fight against him: for thou art but a boy, but he is a warrior from his youth.
17:34. And David said to Saul: Thy servant kept his father’s sheep, and there came a lion, or a bear, and took a ram out of the midst of the flock:
17:35. And I pursued after them, and struck them, and delivered it out of their mouth: and they rose up against me, and I caught them by the throat, and I strangled, and killed them.
17:36. For I thy servant have killed both a lion and a bear: and this uncircumcised Philistine shall be also as one of them. I will go now, and take away the reproach of the people: for who is this uncircumcised Philistine, who hath dared to curse the army of the living God?
17:37. And David said: The Lord who delivered me out of the paw of the lion, and out of the paw of the bear, he will deliver me out of the hand of this Philistine. And Saul said to David: Go, and the Lord be with thee.
17:38. And Saul clothed David with his garments, and put a helmet of brass upon his head, and armed him with a coat of mail.
17:39. And David having girded his sword upon his armour, began to try if he could walk in armour: for he was not accustomed to it. And David said to Saul: I cannot go thus, for I am not used to it. And he laid them off,
17:40. And he took his staff, which he had always in his hands: and chose him five smooth stones out of the brook, and put them into the shepherd’s scrip, which he had with him, and he took a sling in his hand, and went forth against the Philistine.
17:41. And the Philistine came on, and drew nigh against David, and his armourbearer went before him.
17:42. And when the Philistine looked, and beheld David, he despised him. For he was a young man, ruddy, and of a comely countenance.
17:43. And the Philistine said to David: Am I a dog, that thou comest to me with a staff? And the Philistine cursed David by his gods.
17:44. And he said to David: Come to me, and I will give thy flesh to the birds of the air, and to the beasts of the earth.
17:45. And David said to the Philistine: Thou comest to me with a sword, and with a spear, and with a shield: but I come to thee in the name of the Lord of hosts, the God of the armies of Israel, which thou hast defied.
17:46. This day, and the Lord will deliver thee into my hand, and I will slay thee, and take away thy head from thee: and I will give the carcasses of the army of the Philistines this day to the birds of the air, and to the beasts of the earth: that all the earth may know that there is a God in Israel.
17:47. And all this assembly shall know that the Lord saveth not with sword and spear: for it is his battle, and he will deliver you into our hands.
17:48. And when the Philistine arose, and was coming, and drew nigh to meet David, David made haste, and ran to the fight to meet the Philistine.
17:49. And he put his hand into his scrip, and took a stone, and cast it with the sling, and fetching it about, struck the Philistine in the forehead: and the stone was fixed in his forehead, and he fell on his face upon the earth.
17:50. And David prevailed over the Philistine, with a sling and a stone, and he struck, and slew the Philistine. And as David had no sword in his hand,
17:51. He ran, and stood over the Philistine, and took his sword, and drew it out of the sheath, and slew him, and cut off his head. And the Philistines seeing that their champion was dead, fled away.
17:52. And the men of Israel and Juda rising up shouted, and pursued after the Philistines till they came to the valley and to the gates of Accaron, and there fell many wounded of the Philistines in the way of Saraim, and as far as Geth, and as far as Accaron.
17:53. And the children of Israel returning, after they had pursued the Philistines, fell upon their camp.
17:54. And David taking the head of the Philistine, brought it to Jerusalem: but his armour he put in his tent.
17:55. Now at the time that Saul saw David going out against the Philistines, he said to Abner, the captain of the army: Of what family is this young man descended, Abner? And Abner said: As thy soul liveth, O king, I know not.
17:56. And the king said: Inquire thou, whose son this young man is.
17:57. And when David was returned, after the Philistine was slain, Abner took him, and brought him in before Saul, with the head of the Philistine in his hand.
17:58. And Saul said to him: Young man, of what family art thou? And David said: I am the son of thy servant Isai the Bethlehemite.
1 Kings Chapter 18
The friendship of Jonathan and David. The envy of Saul, and his design upon David’s life. He marrieth him to his daughter Michol.
18:1. And it came to pass, when he had made an end of speaking to Saul, the soul of Jonathan was knit with the soul of David, and Jonathan loved him as his own soul.
18:2. And Saul took him that day, and would not let him return to his father’s house.
18:3. And David and Jonathan made a covenant, for he loved him as his own soul.
18:4. And Jonathan stripped himself of the coat with which he was clothed, and gave it to David, and the rest of his garments, even to his sword, and to his bow, and to his girdle.
18:5. And David went out to whatsoever business Saul sent him, and he behaved himself prudently: and Saul set him over the soldiers, and he was acceptable in the eyes of all the people, and especially in the eyes of Saul’s servants.
18:6. Now when David returned, after he slew the Philistine, the women came out of all the cities of Israel, singing and dancing, to meet king Saul, with timbrels of joy, and cornets.
18:7. And the women sung as they played, and they said: Saul slew his thousands, and David his ten thousands.
18:8. And Saul was exceeding angry, and this word was displeasing in his eyes, and he said: They have given David ten thousands, and to me they have given but a thousand, what can he have more but the kingdom?
18:9. And Saul did not look on David with a good eye from that day and forward.
18:10. And the day after, the evil spirit from God came upon Saul, and he prophesied in the midst of his house. And David played with his hand as at other times. And Saul held a spear in his hand,
Prophesied.... Acted the prophet in a mad manner.
18:11. And threw it, thinking to nail David to the wall: and David stept aside out of his presence twice.
18:12. And Saul feared David, because the Lord was with him, and was departed from himself.
18:13. Therefore Saul removed him from him, and made him a captain over a thousand men, and he went out and came in before the people.
18:14. And David behaved wisely in all his ways, and the Lord was with him.
18:15. And Saul saw that he was exceeding prudent, and began to beware of him.
18:16. But all Israel and Juda loved David, for he came in and went out before them.
18:17. And Saul said to David: Behold my elder daughter Merob, her will I give thee to wife: only be a valiant man, and fight the battles of the Lord. Now Saul said within himself: Let not my hand be upon him, but let the hands of the Philistines be upon him.
18:18. And David said to Saul: Who am I, or what is my life, or my father’s family in Israel, that I should be son in law of the king?
18:19. And it came to pass at the time when Merob, the daughter of Saul, should have been given to David, that she was given to Hadriel, the Molathite, to wife.
18:20. But Michol, the other daughter of Saul, loved David. And it was told Saul, and it pleased him.
18:21. And Saul said: I will give her to him, that she may be a stumblingblock to him, and that the hand of the Philistines may be upon him. And Saul said to David: In two things thou shalt be my son in law this day.
18:22. And Saul commanded his servants to speak to David privately, saying: Behold, thou pleasest the king, and all his servants love thee. Now, therefore be the king’s son in law.
18:23. And the servants of Saul spoke all these words in the ears of David. And David said: Doth it seem to you a small matter to be the king’s son in law? But I am a poor man, and of small ability.
18:24. And the servants of Saul told him, saying: Such words as these hath David spoken.
18:25. And Saul said: Speak thus to David: The king desireth not any dowry, but only a hundred foreskins of the Philistines, to be avenged of the king’s enemies. Now Saul thought to deliver David into the hands of the Philistines.
18:26. And when his servants had told David the words that Saul had said, the word was pleasing in the eyes of David to be the king’s son in law.
18:27. And after a few days David rose up, and went with the men that were under him, and he slew of the Philistines two hundred men, and brought their foreskins and numbered them out to the king, that he might be his son in law. Saul therefore gave him Michol, his daughter, to wife.
18:28. And Saul saw, and understood that the Lord was with David. And Michol, the daughter of Saul, loved him.
18:29. And Saul began to fear David more: and Saul became David’s enemy continually.
18:30. And the princes of the Philistines went forth: and from the beginning of their going forth, David behaved himself more wisely than all the servants of Saul, and his name became very famous.
1 Kings Chapter 19
Other attempts of Saul upon David’s life. He cometh to Samuel. Saul’s messengers, and Saul himself prophesy.
19:1. And Saul spoke to Jonathan, his son, and to all his servants, that they should kill David. But Jonathan, the son of Saul, loved David exceedingly.
19:2. And Jonathan told David, saying: Saul, my father, seeketh to kill thee: wherefore look to thyself, I beseech thee, in the morning and thou shalt abide in a secret place, and shalt be hid.
19:3. And I will go out and stand beside my father in the field where thou art: and I will speak of thee to my father, and whatsoever I shall see, I will tell thee.
19:4. And Jonathan spoke good things of David to Saul, his father: and said to him: Sin not, O king, against thy servant, David, because he hath not sinned against thee, and his works are very good towards thee.
19:5. And he put his life in his hand, and slew the Philistine, and the Lord wrought great salvation for all Israel. Thou sawest it and didst rejoice. Why therefore wilt thou sin against innocent blood, by killing David, who is without fault?
19:6. And when Saul heard this, he was appeased with the words of Jonathan, and swore: As the Lord liveth, he shall not be slain.
19:7. Then Jonathan called David, and told him all these words: and Jonathan brought in David to Saul, and he was before him, as he had been yesterday and the day before.
19:8. And the war began again, and David went out, and fought against the Philistines, and defeated them with a great slaughter, and they fled from his face.
19:9. And the evil spirit from the Lord came upon Saul; and he sat in his house, and held a spear in his hand: and David played with his hand.
19:10. And Saul endeavoured to nail David to the wall with his spear. And David slipt away out of the presence of Saul: and the spear missed him, and was fastened in the wall, and David fled, and escaped that night.
19:11. Saul therefore sent his guards to David’s house to watch him, that he might be killed in the morning. And when Michol, David’s wife, had told him this, saying: Unless thou save thyself this night, to morrow thou wilt die:
19:12. She let him down through a window. And he went and fled away, and escaped.
19:13. And Michol took an image, and laid it on the bed, and put a goat’s skin, with the hair at the head of it, and covered it with clothes.
19:14. And Saul sent officers to seize David; and it was answered that he was sick.
19:15. And again Saul sent to see David, saying: Bring him to me in the bed, that he may be slain.
19:16. And when the messengers were come in, they found an image upon the bed, and a goat skin at his head.
19:17. And Saul said to Michol: Why hast thou deceived me so, and let my enemy go and flee away? And Michol answered Saul: Because he said to me: Let me go, or else I will kill thee.
19:18. But David fled and escaped, and came to Samuel in Ramatha, and told him all that Saul had done to him: and he and Samuel went and dwelt in Najoth.
Najoth.... It was probably a school or college of prophets, in or near Ramath under the direction of Samuel.
19:19. And it was told Saul by some, saying: Behold David is in Najoth, in Ramatha.
19:20. So Saul sent officers to take David: and when they saw a company of prophets prophesying, and Samuel presiding over them, the Spirit of the Lord came also upon them, and they likewise began to prophesy.
Prophesying.... That is, singing praises to God by a divine impulse. God was pleased on this occasion that both Samuel’s messengers and himself should experience the like impulse, that he might understand, by this instance of the divine power, how vain are the designs of man against him whom God protects.
19:21. And when this was told Saul, he sent other messengers: but they also prophesied. And again Saul sent messengers the third time: and they prophesied also. And Saul being exceeding angry,
19:22. Went also himself to Ramatha, and came as far as the great cistern, which is in Socho, and he asked, and said: In what place are Samuel and David? And it was told him: Behold they are in Najoth, in Ramatha.
19:23. And he went to Najoth, in Ramatha, and the Spirit of the Lord came upon him also, and he went on, and prophesied till he came to Najoth, in Ramatha.
19:24. And he stripped himself also of his garments, and prophesied with the rest before Samuel, and lay down naked all that day and night. This gave occasion to a proverb: What! is Saul too among the prophets?
1 Kings Chapter 20
Saul being obstinately bent upon killing David, he is sent away by Jonathan.
20:1. But David fled from Najoth, which is in Ramatha, and came and said to Jonathan: What have I done? what is my iniquity, and what is my sin against thy father, that he seeketh my life?
20:2. And he said to him: God forbid, thou shalt not die: for my father will do nothing, great or little, without first telling me: hath then my father hid this word only from me? no, this shall not be.
20:3. And he swore again to David. And David said: Thy father certainly knoweth that I have found grace in thy sight, and he will say: Let not Jonathan know this, lest he be grieved. But truly as the Lord liveth, and thy soul liveth, there is but one step (as I may say) between me and death.
20:4. And Jonathan said to David: Whatsoever thy soul shall say to me, I will do for thee.
20:5. And David said to Jonathan: Behold to morrow is the new moon, and I, according to custom, am wont to sit beside the king to eat: let me go then that I may be hid in the field till the evening of the third day.
To morrow is the new moon.... The neomenia, or first day of the moon, kept according to the law, as a festival; and therefore Saul feasted on that day: and expected the attendance of his family.
20:6. If thy father look and inquire for me, thou shalt answer him: David asked me that he might run to Bethlehem, his own city: because there are solemn sacrifices there for all of his tribe.
20:7. If he shall say: It is well: thy servant shall have peace: but if he be angry, know that his malice is come to its height.
20:8. Deal mercifully then with thy servant: for thou hast brought me, thy servant, into a covenant of the Lord with thee. But if there be any iniquity in me, do thou kill me, and bring me not in to thy father.
20:9. And Jonathan said: Far be this from thee: for if I should certainly know that evil is determined by my father against thee, I could do no otherwise than tell thee.
20:10. And David answered Jonathan: Who shall bring me word, if thy father should answer thee harshly concerning me?
20:11. And Jonathan said to David: Come, and let us go out into the field. And when they were both of them gone out into the field,
20:12. Jonathan said to David: O Lord God of Israel, if I shall discover my father’s mind, to morrow, or the day after, and there be any thing good for David, and I send not immediately to thee, and make it known to thee,
20:13. May the Lord do so and so to Jonathan, and add still more. But if my father shall continue in malice against thee, I will discover it to thy ear, and will send thee away, that thou mayst go in peace, and the Lord be with thee, as he hath been with my father.
20:14. And if I live, thou shalt shew me the kindness of the Lord: but if I die,
20:15. Thou shalt not take away thy kindness from my house for ever, when the Lord shall have rooted out the enemies of David, every one of them from the earth, may he take away Jonathan from his house, and may the Lord require it at the hands of David’s enemies.
May he take away Jonathan, etc.... It is a curse upon himself, if he should not be faithful to his promise.—Ibid. Require it, etc.... That is, revenge it upon David’s enemies, and upon me, if I should fail of my word given to him.
20:16. Jonathan therefore made a covenant with the house of David: and the Lord required it at the hands of David’s enemies.
20:17. And Jonathan swore again to David, because he loved him: for he loved him as his own soul.
20:18. And Jonathan said to him: To morrow is the new moon, and thou wilt be missed:
20:19. For thy seat will be empty till after to morrow. So thou shalt go down quickly, and come to the place where thou must he hid, on the day when it is lawful to work, and thou shalt remain beside the stone, which is called Ezel.
20:20. And I will shoot three arrows near it, and will shoot as if I were exercising myself at a mark.
20:21. And I will send a boy, saying to him: Go and fetch me the arrows.
20:22. If I shall say to the boy: Behold the arrows are on this side of thee, take them up: come thou to me, because there is peace to thee, and there is no evil, as the Lord liveth. But if I shall speak thus to the boy: Behold the arrows are beyond thee: go in peace, for the Lord hath sent thee away.
20:23. And concerning the word which I and thou have spoken, the Lord be between thee and me forever.
20:24. So David was hid in the field, and the new moon came, and the king sat down to eat bread.
20:25. And when the king sat down upon his chair, (according to custom) which was beside the wall, Jonathan arose, and Abner sat by Saul’s side, and David’s place appeared empty.
20:26. And Saul said nothing that day, for he thought it might have happened to him, that he was not clean, nor purified.
20:27. And when the second day after the new moon was come, David’s place appeared empty again. And Saul said to Jonathan, his son: Why cometh not the son of Isai to meat neither yesterday, nor to day?
20:28. And Jonathan answered Saul: He asked leave of me earnestly to go to Bethlehem.
20:29. And he said: Let me go, for there is a solemn sacrifice in the city, one of my brethren hath sent for me: and now if I have found favour in thy eyes, I will go quickly, and see my brethren. For this cause he came not to the king’s table.
20:30. Then Saul being angry against Jonathan, said to him: Thou son of a woman that is the ravisher of a man, do I not know that thou lovest the son of Isai to thy own confusion, and to the confusion of thy shameless mother?
20:31. For as long as the son of Isai liveth upon earth, thou shalt not be established, nor thy kingdom. Therefore now presently send, and fetch him to me: for he is the son of death.
The son of death.... That is, one that deserveth death, and shall surely be put to death.
20:32. And Jonathan answering Saul, his father, said: Why shall he die? What hath he done?
20:33. And Saul caught up a spear to strike him. And Jonathan understood that it was determined by his father to kill David.
20:34. So Jonathan rose from the table in great anger, and did not eat bread on the second day after the new moon. For he was grieved for David, because his father had put him to confusion.
20:35. And when the morning came, Jonathan went into the field according to the appointment with David, and a little boy with him.
20:36. And he said to his boy: Go, and fetch me the arrows which I shoot. And when the boy ran, he shot another arrow beyond the boy.
20:37. The boy therefore came to the place of the arrow which Jonathan had shot: and Jonathan cried after the boy, and said: Behold the arrow is there further beyond thee.
20:38. And Jonathan cried again after the boy, saying: Make haste speedily, stand not. And Jonathan’s boy gathered up the arrows, and brought them to his master:
20:39. And he knew not at all what was doing: for only Jonathan and David knew the matter.
20:40. Jonathan therefore gave his arms to the boy, and said to him: Go, and carry them into the city.
20:41. And when the boy was gone, David rose out of his place, which was toward the south, and falling on his face to the ground, adored thrice: and kissing one another, they wept together; but David more.
20:42. And Jonathan said to David: Go in peace: and let all stand that we have sworn both of us in the name of the Lord, saying: The Lord be between me and thee, and between my seed and thy seed for ever.
20:43. And David arose, and departed: and Jonathan went into the city.
1 Kings Chapter 21
David receiveth holy bread of Achimelech, the priest: and feigneth himself mad before Achis, king of Geth.
21:1. And David came to Nobe, to Achimelech, the priest and Achimelech was astonished at David’s coming. And he said to him: Why art thou alone, and no man with thee?
Nobe.... A city in the tribe of Benjamin, to which the tabernacle of the Lord had been translated from Silo.
21:2. And David said to Achimelech, the priest: The king hath commanded me a business, and said: Let no man know the thing for which thou art sent by me, and what manner of commands I have given thee: and I have appointed my servants to such and such a place.
21:3. Now therefore if thou have any thing at hand, though it were but five loaves, give me, or whatsoever thou canst find.
21:4. And the priest answered David, saying: I have no common bread at hand, but only holy bread, if the young men be clean, especially from women?
If the young men be clean, etc.... If this cleanness was required of them that were to eat that bread, which was a figure of the bread of life which we receive in the blessed sacrament; how clean ought Christians to be when they approach to our tremendous mysteries. And what reason hath the church of God to admit none to be her ministers to consecrate and daily receive this most pure sacrament, but such as devote themselves to a life of perpetual purity.
21:5. And David answered the priest, and said to him: Truly, as to what concerneth women, we have refrained ourselves from yesterday and the day before, when we came out, and the vessels of the young men were holy. Now this way is defiled, but it shall also be sanctified this day in the vessels.
The vessels.... i. e., the bodies, have been holy, that is, have been kept from impurity.—Ibid. Is defiled.... Is liable to expose us to dangers of uncleanness.—Ibid. Be sanctified, etc.... That is, we shall take care, notwithstanding these dangerous circumstances, to keep our vessels holy, that is, to keep our bodies from every thing that may defile us.
21:6. The priest therefore gave him hallowed bread: for there was no bread there, but only the loaves of proposition, which had been taken away from before the face of the Lord, that hot loaves might be set up.
21:7. Now a certain man of the servants of Saul was there that day, within the tabernacle of the Lord: and his name was Doeg, an Edomite, the chiefest of Saul’s herdsmen.
21:8. And David said to Achimelech: Hast thou here at hand a spear, or a sword? for I brought not my own sword, nor my own weapons with me, for the king’s business required haste.
21:9. And the priest said: Lo, here is the sword of Goliath, the Philistine, whom thou slewest in the valley of Terebinth, wrapped up in a cloth behind the ephod: if thou wilt take this, take it, for here there is no other but this. And David said: There is none like that, give it me.
21:10. And David arose and fled that day from the face of Saul: and came to Achis, the king of Geth:
21:11. And the servants of Achis, when they saw David, said to him: Is not this David, the king of the land? Did they not sing to him in their dances, saying: Saul hath slain his thousands, and David his ten thousands?
21:12. But David laid up these words in his heart, and was exceedingly afraid at the face of Achis, the king of Geth.
21:13. And he changed his countenance before them, and slipt down between their hands: and he stumbled against the doors of the gate, and his spittle ran down upon his beard.
21:14. And Achis said to his servants: You saw the man was mad: why have you brought him to me?
21:15. Have we need of mad men, that you have brought in this fellow, to play the madman in my presence? shall this fellow come into my house?
1 Kings Chapter 22
Many resort to David. Doeg accuseth Achimelech to Saul. He ordereth him and all the other priests of Nobe to be slain. Abiathar escapeth.
22:1. David therefore went from thence, and fled to the cave of Odollam. And when his brethren, and all his father’s house, had heard of it, they went down to him thither.
22:2. And all that were in distress, and oppressed with debt, and under affliction of mind, gathered themselves unto him: and he became their prince, and there were with him about four hundred men.
22:3. And David departed from thence into Maspha of Moab: and he said to the king of Moab: Let my father and my mother tarry with you, I beseech thee, till I know what God will do for me.
22:4. And he left them under the eyes of the king of Moab, and they abode with him all the days that David was in the hold.
The hold.... The strong hold, or fortress of Maspha.
22:5. And Gad the prophet said to David: Abide not in the hold, depart, and go into the land of Juda. And David departed, and came into the forest of Haret.
22:6. And Saul heard that David was seen, and the men that were with him. Now whilst Saul abode in Gabaa, and was in the wood, which is by Rama, having his spear in his hand, and all his servants were standing about him,
22:7. He said to his servants that stood about him: Hear me now, ye sons of Jemini: will the son of Isai give every one of you fields, and vineyards, and make you all tribunes, and centurions:
22:8. That all of you have conspired against me, and there is no one to inform me, especially when even my son hath entered into league with the son of Isai? There is not one of you that pitieth my case, nor that giveth me any information: because my son hath raised up my servant against me, plotting against me to this day.
22:9. And Doeg, the Edomite, who stood by, and was the chief among the servants of Saul, answering, said: I saw the son of Isai, in Nobe, with Achimelech, the son of Achitob, the priest.
22:10. And he consulted the Lord for him, and gave him victuals, and gave him the sword of Goliath, the Philistine.
22:11. Then the king sent to call for Achimelech, the priest, the son of Achitob, and all his father’s house, the priests that were in Nobe, and they came all of them to the king.
22:12. And Saul said to Achimelech: Hear, thou son of Achitob. He answered: Here I am, my lord.
22:13. And Saul said to him: Why have you conspired against me, thou, and the son of Isai, and thou hast given him bread and a sword, and hast consulted the Lord for him, that he should rise up against me, continuing a traitor to this day.
22:14. And Achimelech answering the king, said: And who amongst all thy servants is so faithful as David, who is the king’s son in law, and goeth forth at thy bidding, and is honourable in thy house?
22:15. Did I begin to day to consult the Lord for him? far be this from me: let not the king suspect such a thing against his servant, or any one in all my father’s house: for thy servant knew nothing of this matter, either little or great.
22:16. And the king said: Dying thou shalt die, Achimelech, thou and all thy father’s house.
22:17. And the king said to the messengers that stood about him: Turn, and kill the priests of the Lord, for their hand is with David, because they knew that he was fled, and they told it not to me. And the king’s servants would not put forth their hands against the priests of the Lord.
22:18. And the king said to Doeg: Turn thou, and fall upon the priests. And Doeg, the Edomite, turned, and fell upon the priests, and slew in that day eighty-five men that wore the linen ephod.
22:19. And Nobe, the city of the priests, he smote with the edge of the sword, both men and women, children and sucklings, and ox, and ass, and sheep, with the edge of the sword.
22:20. But one of the sons of Achimelech, the son of Achitob, whose name was Abiathar, escaped, and fled to David,
22:21. And told him that Saul had slain the priests of the Lord.
22:22. And David said to Abiathar: I knew that day when Doeg, the Edomite, was there, that without doubt he would tell Saul: I have been the occasion of the death of all the souls of thy father’s house.
22:23. Abide thou with me, fear not: for he that seeketh my life, seeketh thy life also, and with me thou shalt be saved.
1 Kings Chapter 23
David relieveth Ceila, besieged by the Philistines. He fleeth into the desert of Ziph. Jonathan and he confirm their former covenant. The Ziphites discover him to Saul, who pursuing close after him, is called away by an invasion from the Philistines.
23:1. And they told David, saying: Behold the Philistines fight against Ceila, and they rob the barns.
23:2. Therefore David consulted the Lord, saying: Shall I go and smite these Philistines? And the Lord said to David: Go, and thou shalt smite the Philistines, and shalt save Ceila.
23:3. And the men that were with David, said to him: Behold we are in fear here in Judea, how much more if we go to Ceila against the bands of the Philistines?
23:4. Therefore David consulted the Lord again. And he answered and said to him: Arise, and go to Ceila: for I will deliver the Philistines into thy hand.
23:5. David, therefore, and his men, went to Ceila, and fought against the Philistines, and brought away their cattle, and made a great slaughter of them: and David saved the inhabitants of Ceila.
23:6. Now at that time, when Abiathar, the son of Achimelech, fled to David, to Ceila, he came down, having an ephod with him.
An ephod.... Or the ephod. That is, the vestment of the high priest, with the urim and thummim, by which the Lord gave his oracle.
23:7. And it was told Saul that David was come to Ceila: and Saul said: The Lord hath delivered him into my hands, and he is shut up, being come into a city that hath gates and bars.
23:8. And Saul commanded all the people to go down to fight against Ceila, and to besiege David and his men.
23:9. Now when David understood that Saul secretly prepared evil against him, he said to Abiathar, the priest: Bring hither the ephod.
23:10. And David said: O Lord God of Israel, thy servant hath heard a report, that Saul designeth to come to Ceila, to destroy the city for my sake:
23:11. Will the men of Ceila deliver me into his hands? and will Saul come down, as thy servant hath heard? O Lord God of Israel, tell thy servant. And the Lord said: He will come down.
23:12. And David said: Will the men of Ceila deliver me and my men into the hands of Saul? And the Lord said: They will deliver thee up.
23:13. Then David and his men, who were about six hundred, arose, and departing from Ceila, wandered up and down, uncertain where they should stay: and it was told Saul that David was fled from Ceila, and had escaped: wherefore he forbore to go out.
23:14. But David abode in the desert in strong holds, and he remained in a mountain of the desert of Ziph, in a woody hill. And Saul sought him always: but the Lord delivered him not into his hands.
23:15. And David saw that Saul was come out to seek his life. And David was in the desert of Ziph, in a wood.
23:16. And Jonathan, the son of Saul, arose, and went to David, into the wood, and strengthened his hands in God: and he said to him:
23:17. Fear not: for the hand of my father, Saul, shall not find thee, and thou shalt reign over Israel, and I shall be next to thee; yea and my father knoweth this.
23:18. And they two made a covenant before the Lord: and David abode in the wood: but Jonathan returned to his house.
23:19. And the Ziphites went up to Saul, in Gabaa, saying: Lo, doth not David lie hid with us in the strong holds of the wood, in mount Hachila, which is on the right hand of the desert.
23:20. Now therefore come down, as thy soul hath desired to come down: and it shall be our business to deliver him into the king’s hands.
23:21. And Saul said: Blessed be ye of the Lord, for you have pitied my case.
23:22. Go, therefore, I pray you, and use all diligence, and curiously inquire, and consider the place where his foot is, and who hath seen him there: for he thinketh of me, that I lie craftily in wait for him.
23:23. Consider, and see all his lurking holes, wherein he is hid, and return to me with the certainty of the thing, that I may go with you. And if he should even go down into the earth to hide himself, I will search him out in all the thousands of Juda.
23:24. And they arose, and went to Ziph before Saul: and David and his men were in the desert of Maon, in the plain at the right hand of Jesimon.
23:25. Then Saul and his men went to seek him: and it was told David, and forthwith he went down to the rock, and abode in the wilderness of Maon: and when Saul had heard of it, he pursued after David in the wilderness of Maon.
23:26. And Saul went on this side of the mountain: and David and his men were on the other side of the mountain: and David despaired of being able to escape from the face of Saul: and Saul and his men encompassed David and his men round about, to take them.
23:27. And a messenger came to Saul, saying: Make haste to come, for the Philistines have poured in themselves upon the land.
23:28. Wherefore Saul returned, leaving the pursuit of David, and went to meet the Philistines. For this cause they called that place the rock of division.
1 Kings Chapter 24
Saul seeketh David in the wilderness of Engaddi: he goeth into a cave where David hath him in his power.
24:1. Then David went up from thence, and dwelt in strong holds of Engaddi.
24:2. And when Saul was returned from following the Philistines, they told him, saying: Behold, David is in the desert of Engaddi.
24:3. Saul, therefore, took three thousand chosen men out of all Israel, and went out to seek after David and his men, even upon the most craggy rocks, which are accessible only to wild goats.
24:4. And he came to the sheepcotes which were in his way. And there was a cave, into which Saul went, to ease nature: now David and his men lay hid in the inner part of the cave.
24:5. And the servants of David said to him: Behold the day, of which the Lord said to thee: I will deliver thy enemy unto thee, that thou mayst do to him as it shall seem good in thy eyes. Then David arose, and secretly cut off the hem of Saul’s robe.
24:6. After which David’s heart struck him, because he had cut off the hem of Saul’s robe.
Heart struck him.... Viz., with remorse, as fearing he had done amiss.
24:7. And he said to his men: The Lord be merciful unto me, that I may do no such thing to my master, the Lord’s anointed, as to lay my hand upon him, because he is the Lord’s anointed.
24:8. And David stopped his men with his words, and suffered them not to rise against Saul: but Saul, rising up out of the cave, went on his way.
24:9. And David also rose up after him: and going out of the cave, cried after Saul, saying: My lord the king. And Saul looked behind him: and David bowing himself down to the ground, worshipped,
24:10. And said to Saul: Why dost thou hear the words of men that say: David seeketh thy hurt?
24:11. Behold this day thy eyes have seen, that the Lord hath delivered thee into my hand, in the cave, and I had a thought to kill thee, but my eye hath spared thee. For I said: I will not put out my hand against my lord, because he is the Lord’s anointed.
A thought to kill thee.... That is, a suggestion, to which I did not consent.
24:12. Moreover, see and know, O my father, the hem of thy robe in my hand, that when I cut off the hem of thy robe, I would not put out my hand against thee. Reflect, and see, that there is no evil in my hand, nor iniquity, neither have I sinned against thee: but thou liest in wait for my life, to take it away.
24:13. The Lord judge between me and thee and the Lord revenge me of thee: but my hand shall not be upon thee.
Revenge me of thee.... Or, as it is in the Hebrew, will revenge me. The meaning is, that he refers his whole cause to God, to judge and punish according to his justice: yet so as to keep himself in the mean time, from all personal hatred to Saul, or desire of gratifying his own passion, by seeking revenge. So far from it, that when Saul was afterwards slain, we find, that instead of rejoicing at his death, he mourned most bitterly for him.
24:14. As also it is said in the old proverb: From the wicked shall wickedness come forth: therefore my hand shall not be upon thee. After whom dost thou come out, O king of Israel?
24:15. After whom dost thou pursue? After a dead dog, after a flea.
24:16. Be the Lord judge, and judge between me and thee, and see, and judge my cause, and deliver me out of thy hand.
24:17. And when David had made an end of speaking these words to Saul, Saul said: Is this thy voice, my son David? And Saul lifted up his voice, and wept:
24:18. And he said to David: Thou art more just than I: for thou hast done good to me, and I have rewarded thee with evil.
24:19. And thou hast shewed this day what good things thou hast done to me: how the Lord delivered me into thy hand, and thou hast not killed me.
24:20. For who when he hath found his enemy, will let him go well away? But the Lord reward thee for this good turn, for what thou hast done to me this day.
24:21. And now as I know that thou shalt surely be king, and have the kingdom of Israel in thy hand:
24:22. Swear to me by the Lord, that thou wilt not destroy my seed after me, nor take away my name from the house of my father.
24:23. And David swore to Saul. So Saul went home: and David and his men went up into safer places.
1 Kings Chapter 25
The death of Samuel. David, provoked by Nabal, threateneth to destroy him: but is appeased by Abigail.
25:1. And Samuel died, and all Israel was gathered together, and they mourned for him, and buried him in his house in Ramatha. And David rose, and went down into the wilderness of Pharan.
25:2. Now there was a certain man in the wilderness of Maon, and his possessions were in Carmel, and the man was very great: and he had three thousand sheep, and a thousand goats: and it happened that he was shearing his sheep in Carmel.
25:3. Now the name of the man was Nabal: and the name of his wife was Abigail. And she was a prudent and very comely woman: but her husband was churlish, and very bad and ill natured: and he was of the house of Caleb.
25:4. And when David heard in the wilderness, that Nabal was shearing his sheep,
25:5. He sent ten young men, and said to them: Go up to Carmel, and go to Nabal, and salute him in my name with peace.
25:6. And you shall say: Peace be to my brethren, and to thee, and peace to thy house, and peace to all that thou hast.
25:7. I have heard that thy shepherds that were with us in the desert were shearing: we never molested them, neither was there ought missing to them of the flock at any time, all the while they were with us in Carmel.
25:8. Ask thy servants, and they will tell thee. Now therefore let thy servants find favour in thy eyes: for we are come in a good day, whatsoever thy hand shall find give to thy servants, and to thy son David.
25:9. And when David’s servants came, they spoke to Nabal all these words in David’s name, and then held their peace.
25:10. But Nabal answering the servants of David, said: Who is David? and what is the son of Isai? servants are multiplied now days who flee from their masters.
25:11. Shall I then take my bread, and my water, and the flesh of my cattle, which I have killed for my shearers, and give to men whom I know not whence they are?
25:12. So the servants of David went back their way, and returning came and told him all the words that he said.
25:13. Then David said to his young men: Let every man gird on his sword. And they girded on every man his sword. And David also girded on his sword: and there followed David about four hundred men, and two hundred remained with the baggage.
25:14. But one of the servants told, Abigail, the wife of Nabal, saying: Behold, David sent messengers out of the wilderness, to salute our master: and he rejected them.
25:15. These men were very good to us, and gave us no trouble: Neither did we ever lose any thing all the time that we conversed with them in the desert.
25:16. They were a wall unto us, both by night and day, all the while we were with them keeping the sheep.
25:17. Wherefore consider, and think what thou hast to do: for evil is determined against thy husband, and against thy house, and he is a son of Belial, so that no man can speak to him.
25:18. Then Abigail made haste and took two hundred loaves, and two vessels of wine, and five sheep ready dressed, and five measures of parched corn, and a hundred clusters of raisins, and two hundred cakes of dry figs, and laid them upon asses:
25:19. And she said to her servants: Go before me: behold, I will follow after you: but she told not her husband, Nabal.
25:20. And when she had gotten upon an ass, and was coming down to the foot of the mountain, David and his men came down over against her, and she met them.
25:21. And David said: Truly in vain have I kept all that belonged to this fellow in the wilderness, and nothing was lost of all that pertained unto him: and he hath returned me evil for good.
25:22. May God do so and so, and add more to the foes of David, if I leave of all that belong to him till the morning, any that pisseth against the wall.
If I leave, etc.... David certainly sinned in his designs against Nabal and his family, as he himself was afterwards sensible, when he blessed God for hindering him from executing the revenge he had proposed.
25:23. And when Abigail saw David, she made haste and lighted off the ass, and fell before David, on her face, and adored upon the ground.
25:24. And she fell at his feet, and said: Upon me let this iniquity be, my lord: let thy handmaid speak, I beseech thee, in thy ears, and hear the words of thy servant.
25:25. Let not my lord the king, I pray thee, regard this naughty man, Nabal: for according to his name, he is a fool, and folly is with him: but I, thy handmaid, did not see thy servants, my lord, whom thou sentest.
His name.... Nabal, in Hebrew, signifies a fool.
25:26. Now therefore, my lord, the Lord liveth, and thy soul liveth, who hath withholden thee from coming to blood, and hath saved thy hand to thee: and now let thy enemies be as Nabal, and all they that seek evil to my lord.
25:27. Wherefore receive this blessing, which thy handmaid hath brought to thee, my lord: and give it to the young men that follow thee, my lord.
25:28. Forgive the iniquity of thy handmaid: for the Lord will surely make for my lord a faithful house, because thou, my lord, fightest the battles of the Lord: let not evil therefore be found in thee all the days of thy life.
25:29. For if a man at any time shall rise, and persecute thee, and seek thy life, the soul of my lord shall be kept, as in the bundle of the living, with the Lord thy God: but the souls of thy enemies shall be whirled, as with the violence and whirling of a sling.
25:30. And when the Lord shall have done to thee, my lord, all the good that he hath spoken concerning thee, and shall have made thee prince over Israel,
25:31. This shall not be an occasion of grief to thee, and a scruple of heart to my lord, that thou hast shed innocent blood, or hast revenged thyself: and when the Lord shall have done well by my lord, thou shalt remember thy handmaid.
25:32. And David said to Abigail: Blessed be the Lord the God of Israel, who sent thee this day to meet me, and blessed be thy speech:
25:33. And blessed be thou, who hast kept me to day from coming to blood, and revenging me with my own hand.
25:34. Otherwise, as the Lord liveth, the God of Israel, who hath withholden me from doing thee any evil, if thou hadst not quickly come to meet me, there had not been left to Nabal by the morning light, any that pisseth against the wall.
25:35. And David received at her hand all that she had brought him, and said to her: Go in peace into thy house, behold I have heard thy voice, and honoured thy face.
25:36. And Abigail came to Nabal: and behold he had a feast in his house, like the feast of a king: and Nabal’s heart was merry, for he was very drunk: and she told him nothing less or more until morning.
25:37. But early in the morning, when Nabal had digested his wine, his wife told him these words, and his heart died within him, and he became as a stone.
25:38. And after ten days had passed, the Lord struck Nabal, and he died.
25:39. And when David had heard that Nabal was dead, he said: Blessed be the Lord, who hath judged the cause of my reproach, at the hand of Nabal, and hath kept his servant from evil, and the Lord hath returned the wickedness of Nabal upon his head. Then David sent and treated with Abigail, that he might take her to himself for a wife.
Blessed be, etc.... David praiseth God, on this occasion, not out of joy for the death of Nabal (which would have argued a rancour of heart), but because he saw that God had so visibly taken his cause in hand, in punishing the injury done to him; whilst, by a merciful providence he kept him from revenging himself.
25:40. And David’s servants came to Abigail, to Carmel, and spoke to her, saying: David hath sent us to thee, to take thee to himself for a wife.
25:41. And she arose, and bowed herself down with her face to the earth, and said: Behold, let thy servant be a handmaid, to wash the feet of the servants of my lord.
25:42. And Abigail arose, and made haste, and got upon an ass, and five damsels went with her, her waiting maids, and she followed the messengers of David, and became his wife.
25:43. Moreover David took also Achinoam of Jezrahel: and they were both of them his wives.
25:44. But Saul gave Michol, his daughter, David’s wife, to Phalti, the son of Lais, who was of Gallim.
1 Kings Chapter 26
Saul goeth out again after David, who cometh by night where Saul and his men are asleep, but suffereth him not to be touched. Saul again confesseth his fault, and promiseth peace.
26:1. And the men of Ziph came to Saul in Gabaa, saying: Behold David is hid in the hill of Hachila, which is over against the wilderness.
26:2. And Saul arose, and went down to the wilderness of Ziph having with him three thousand chosen men of Israel, to seek David in the wilderness of Ziph.
26:3. And Saul encamped in Gabaa Hachila, which was over against the wilderness in the way: and David abode in the wilderness. And seeing that Saul was come after him into the wilderness,
26:4. He sent spies, and learned that he was most certainly come thither.
26:5. And David arose secretly, and came to the place where Saul was: and when he had beheld the place, wherein Saul slept, and Abner, the son of Ner, the captain of his army, and Saul sleeping in a tent, and the rest of the multitude round about him,
26:6. David spoke to Achimelech, the Hethite, and Abisai, the son of Sarvia, the brother of Joab, saying: Who will go down with me to Saul into the camp? And Abisai said: I will go with thee.
26:7. So David and Abisai came to the people by night, and found Saul lying and sleeping in the tent, and his spear fixed in the ground at his head: and Abner and the people sleeping round about him.
26:8. And Abisai said to David: God hath shut up thy enemy this day into thy hands: now then I will run him through with my spear, even to the earth at once, and there shall be no need of a second time.
26:9. And David said to Abisai: Kill him not: for who shall put forth his hand against the Lord’s anointed, and shall be guiltless?
26:10. And David said: As the Lord liveth, unless the Lord shall strike him, or his day shall come to die, or he shall go down to battle, and perish:
26:11. The Lord be merciful unto me, that I extend not my hand upon the Lord’s anointed. But now take the spear, which is at his head, and the cup of water, and let us go.
26:12. So David took the spear, and the cup of water which was at Saul’s head, and they went away: and no man saw it, or knew it, or awaked, but they were all asleep, for a deep sleep from the Lord was fallen upon them.
26:13. And when David was gone over to the other side, and stood on the top of the hill afar off, and a good space was between them,
26:14. David cried to the people, and to Abner, the son of Ner, saying: Wilt thou not answer, Abner? And Abner answering, said: Who art thou, that criest, and disturbest the king?
26:15. And David said to Abner: Art not thou a man? and who is like unto thee in Israel? why then hast thou not kept thy lord the king? for there came one of the people in to kill the king thy lord.
26:16. This thing is not good, that thou hast done: as the Lord liveth, you are the sons of death, who have not kept your master, the Lord’s anointed. And now where is the king’s spear, and the cup of water, which was at his head?
26:17. And Saul knew David’s voice, and said: Is this thy voice, my son David? And David said: It is my voice, my lord the king.
26:18. And he said: Wherefore doth my lord persecute his servant? What have I done? or what evil is there in my hand?
26:19. Now therefore hear, I pray thee, my lord the king, the words of thy servant: If the Lord stir thee up against me, let him accept of sacrifice: but if the sons of men, they are cursed in the sight of the Lord, who have cast me out this day, that I should not dwell in the inheritance of the Lord, saying: Go, serve strange gods.
26:20. And now let not my blood be shed upon the earth before the Lord: for the king of Israel is come out to seek a flea, as the partridge is hunted in the mountains.
26:21. And Saul said: I have sinned; return, my son David, for I will no more do thee harm, because my life hath been precious in thy eyes this day: for it appeareth that I have done foolishly, and have been ignorant in very many things.
26:22. And David answering, said: Behold the king’s spear: let one of the king’s servants come over and fetch it.
26:23. And the Lord will reward every one according to his justice, and his faithfulness: for the Lord hath delivered thee this day into my hand, and I would not put forth my hand against the Lord’s anointed.
26:24. And as thy life hath been much set by this day in my eyes, so let my life be much set by in the eyes of the Lord, and let him deliver me from all distress.
26:25. Then Saul said to David: Blessed art thou, my son David: and truly doing thou shalt do, and prevailing thou shalt prevail. And David went on his way, and Saul returned to his place.
1 Kings Chapter 27
David goeth again to Achis king of Geth, and obtaineth of him the city of Siceleg.
27:1. And David said in his heart: I shall one day or other fall into the hands of Saul: is it not better for me to flee, and to be saved in the land of the Philistines, that Saul may despair of me, and cease to seek me in all the coasts of Israel? I will flee then out of his hands.
27:2. And David arose, and went away, both he and the six hundred men that were with him, to Achis, the son of Maoch, king of Geth.
27:3. And David dwelt with Achis at Geth, he and his men; every man with his household, and David with his two wives, Achinoam, the Jezrahelitess, and Abigail, the wife of Nabal of Carmel.
27:4. And it was told Saul that David was fled to Geth, and he sought no more after him.
27:5. And David said to Achis: If I have found favour in thy sight, let a place be given me in one of the cities of this country, that I may dwell there: for why should thy servant dwell in the royal city with thee?
27:6. Then Achis gave him Siceleg that day: for which reason Siceleg belongeth to the kings of Juda unto this day.
27:7. And the time that David dwelt in the country of the Philistines, was four months.
27:8. And David and his men went up, and pillaged Gessuri, and Gerzi, and the Amalecites: for these were of old the inhabitants of the countries, as men go to Sur, even to the land of Egypt.
Pillaged Gessuri, etc.... These probably were enemies of the people of God: and some, if not all of them, were of the number of those whom God had ordered to be destroyed: which justifies David’s proceedings in their regard. Though it is to be observed here, that we are not under an obligation of justifying every thing that he did: for the scripture, in relating what was done, does not say that it was well done. And even such as are true servants of God, are not to be imitated in all they do.
27:9. And David wasted all the land, and left neither man nor woman alive: and took away the sheep, and the oxen, and the asses, and the camels, and the apparel, and returned and came to Achis.
27:10. And Achis said to him: Whom hast thou gone against to day? David answered: Against the south of Juda, and against the south of Jerameel, and against the south of Ceni.
27:11. And David saved neither man nor woman, neither brought he any of them to Geth, saying: Lest they should speak against us. So did David, and such was his proceeding all the days that he dwelt in the country of the Philistines.
27:12. And Achis believed David, saying: He hath done much harm to his people Israel: Therefore he shall be my servant for ever.
1 Kings Chapter 28
The Philistines go out to war against Israel. Saul being forsaken by God, hath recourse to a witch. Samuel appeareth to him.
28:1. And it came to pass in those days, that the Philistines gathered together their armies, to be prepared for war against Israel: And Achis said to David: Know thou now assuredly, that thou shalt go out with me to the war, thou, and thy men.
28:2. And David said to Achis: Now thou shalt know what thy servant will do. And Achis said to David: And I will appoint thee to guard my life for ever.
28:3. Now Samuel was dead, and all Israel mourned for him, and buried him in Ramatha, his city. And Saul had put away all the magicians and soothsayers out of the land.
28:4. And the Philistines were gathered together, and came and encamped in Sunam: and Saul also gathered together all Israel, and came to Gelboe.
28:5. And Saul saw the army of the Philistines, and was afraid, and his heart was very much dismayed.
28:6. And he consulted the Lord, and he answered him not, neither by dreams, nor by priests, nor by prophets.
28:7. And Saul said to his servants: Seek me a woman that hath a divining spirit, and I will go to her, and enquire by her. And his servants said to him: There is a woman that hath a divining spirit at Endor.
28:8. Then he disguised himself: and put on other clothes, and he went, and two men with him, and they came to the woman by night, and he said to her: Divine to me by thy divining spirit, and bring me up him whom I shall tell thee.
28:9. And the woman said to him: Behold thou knowest all that Saul hath done, and how he hath rooted out the magicians and soothsayers from the land: why then dost thou lay a snare for my life, to cause me to be put to death?
28:10. And Saul swore unto her by the Lord, saying: As the Lord liveth, there shall no evil happen to thee for this thing.
28:11. And the woman said to him: Whom shall I bring up to thee? And he said, Bring me up Samuel.
28:12. And when the woman saw Samuel, she cried out with a loud voice, and said to Saul: Why hast thou deceived me? for thou art Saul.
28:13. And the king said to her: Fear not: what hast thou seen? and the woman said to Saul: I saw gods ascending out of the earth.
28:14. And he said to her: What form is he of? And she said: An old man cometh up, and he is covered with a mantle. And Saul understood that it was Samuel, and he bowed himself with his face to the ground, and adored.
Understood that it was Samuel.... It is the more common opinion of the holy fathers, and interpreters, that the soul of Samuel appeared indeed: and not, as some have imagined, an evil spirit in his shape. Not that the power of her magic could bring him thither, but that God was pleased for the punishment of Saul, that Samuel himself should denounce unto him the evils that were falling upon him. See Eccli. 46.23.
28:15. And Samuel said to Saul: Why hast thou disturbed my rest, that I should be brought up? And Saul said: I am in great distress: for the Philistines fight against me, and God is departed from me, and would not hear me, neither by the hand of prophets, nor by dreams: therefore I have called thee, that thou mayst shew me what I shall do.
28:16. And Samuel said: Why askest thou me, seeing the Lord has departed from thee, and is gone over to thy rival?
28:17. For the Lord will do to thee as he spoke by me, and he will rend thy kingdom out of thy hand, and will give it to thy neighbour David:
28:18. Because thou didst not obey the voice of the Lord, neither didst thou execute the wrath of his indignation upon Amalec. Therefore hath the Lord done to thee what thou sufferest this day.
28:19. And the Lord also will deliver Israel with thee into the hands of the Philistines: and to morrow thou and thy sons shall be with me: and the Lord will also deliver the army of Israel into the hands of the Philistines.
With me.... That is, in the state of the dead, and in another world, though not in the same place.
28:20. And forthwith Saul fell all along on the ground; for he was frightened with the words of Samuel, and there was no strength in him, for he had eaten no bread all that day.
28:21. And the woman came to Saul, (for he was very much troubled) and said to him: Behold thy handmaid hath obeyed thy voice, and I have put my life in my hand: and I hearkened unto the words which thou spokest to me.
28:22. Now therefore, I pray thee, hearken thou also to the voice of thy handmaid, and let me set before thee a morsel of bread, that thou mayst eat and recover strength, and be able to go on thy journey.
28:23. But he refused, and said: I will not eat. But his servants and the woman forced him, and at length hearkening to their voice, he arose from the ground, and sat upon the bed.
28:24. Now the woman had a fatted calf in the house, and she made haste and killed it: and taking meal, kneaded it, and baked some unleavened bread,
28:25. And set it before Saul, and before his servants. And when they had eaten they rose up, and walked all that night.
1 Kings Chapter 29
David going with the Philistines is sent back by their princes.
29:1. Now all the troops of the Philistines were gathered together to Aphec: and Israel also encamped by the fountain, which is in Jezrahel.
29:2. And the lords of the Philistines marched with their hundreds and their thousands: but David and his men were in the rear with Achis.
29:3. And the princes of the Philistines said to Achis: What mean these Hebrews? And Achis said to the princes of the Philistines: Do you not know David who was the servant of Saul, the king of Israel, and hath been with me many days, or years, and I have found no fault in him, since the day that he fled over to me until this day?
29:4. But the princes of the Philistines were angry with him, and they said to him: Let this man return, and abide in his place, which thou hast appointed him, and let him not go down with us to battle, lest he be an adversary to us, when we shall begin to fight: for how can he otherwise appease his master, but with our heads?
29:5. Is not this David, to whom they sung in their dances, saying: Saul slew his thousands, and David his ten thousands?
29:6. Then Achis called David, and said to him: As the Lord liveth, thou art upright and good in my sight: and so is thy going out, and thy coming in with me in the army: and I have not found any evil in thee, since the day that thou camest to me unto this day: but thou pleasest not the lords.
29:7. Return therefore, and go in peace, and offend not the eyes of the princes of the Philistines.
29:8. And David said to Achis: But what have I done, or what hast thou found in me thy servant, from the day that I have been in thy sight until this day, that I may not go and fight against the enemies of my lord the king?
29:9. And Achis answering, said to David: I know that thou art good in my sight, as an angel of God: But the princes of the Philistines have said: He shall not go up with us to the battle.
29:10. Therefore arise in the morning, thou, and the servants of thy lord, who came with thee: and when you are up before day, and it shall begin to be light, go on your way.
29:11. So David and his men arose in the night, that they might set forward in the morning, and returned to the land of the Philistines: and the Philistines went up to Jezrahel.
1 Kings Chapter 30
The Amalecites burn Siceleg, and carry off the prey: David pursueth after them, and recovereth all out of their hands.
30:1. Now when David and his men were come to Siceleg on the third day, the Amalecites had made an invasion on the south side upon Siceleg, and had smitten Siceleg, and burnt it with fire,
30:2. And had taken the women captives that were in it, both little and great: and they had not killed any person, but had carried them with them, and went on their way.
30:3. So when David and his men came to the city, and found it burnt with fire, and that their wives, and their sons, and their daughters, were taken captives,
30:4. David and the people that were with him, lifted up their voices, and wept till they had no more tears.
30:5. For the two wives also of David were taken captives, Achinoam, the Jezrahelitess, and Abigail, the wife of Nabal of Carmel.
30:6. And David was greatly afflicted: for the people had a mind to stone him, for the soul of every man was bitterly grieved for his sons and daughters: but David took courage in the Lord his God.
30:7. And he said to Abiathar, the priest, the son of Achimelech: Bring me hither the ephod. And Abiathar brought the ephod to David.
30:8. And David consulted the Lord, saying: Shall I pursue after these robbers, and shall I overtake them, or not? And the Lord said to him: Pursue after them: for thou shalt surely overtake them and recover the prey.
30:9. So David went, he and the six hundred men that were with him, and they came to the torrent Besor: and some, being weary, stayed there.
30:10. But David pursued, he and four hundred men: for two hundred stayed, who, being weary, could not go over the torrent Besor.
30:11. And they found an Egyptian in the field, and brought him to David: and they gave him bread to eat, and water to drink,
30:12. As also a piece of a cake of figs, and two bunches of raisins. And when he had eaten them, his spirit returned, and he was refreshed: for he had not eaten bread, nor drunk water, three days and three nights.
30:13. And David said to him: To whom dost thou belong; or whence dost thou come? and whither art thou going? He said: I am a young man of Egypt, the servant of an Amalecite: and my master left me, because I began to be sick three days ago.
30:14. For we made an invasion on the south side of Cerethi, and upon Juda, and upon the south of Caleb, and we burnt Siceleg with fire.
30:15. And David said to him: Canst thou bring me to this company? and he said: Swear to me by God, that thou wilt not kill me, nor deliver me into the hands of my master, and I will bring thee to this company. And David swore to him.
30:16. And when he had brought him, behold they were lying spread abroad upon all the ground, eating and drinking, and as it were keeping a festival day, for all the prey and the spoils which they had taken out of the land of the Philistines, and out of the land of Juda.
30:17. And David slew them from the evening unto the evening of the next day, and there escaped not a man of them, but four hundred young men, who had gotten upon camels, and fled.
30:18. So David recovered all that the Amalecites had taken, and he rescued his two wives.
30:19. And there was nothing missing small or great, neither of their sons or their daughters, nor of the spoils, and whatsoever they had taken, David recovered all.
30:20. And he took all the flocks and the herds, and made them go before him: and they said: This is the prey of David.
30:21. And David came to the two hundred men, who, being weary, had stayed, and were not able to follow David, and he had ordered them to abide at the torrent Besor: and they came out to meet David, and the people that were with him. And David coming to the people, saluted them peaceably.
30:22. Then all the wicked and unjust men, that had gone with David, answering, said: Because they came not with us, we will not give them any thing of the prey which we have recovered: but let every man take his wife, and his children, and be contented with them, and go his way.
30:23. But David said: You shall not do so, my brethren, with these things, which the Lord hath given us, who hath kept us, and hath delivered the robbers that invaded us into our hands:
30:24. And no man shall hearken to you in this matter. But equal shall be the portion of him that went down to battle, and of him that abode at the baggage, and they shall divide alike.
30:25. And this hath been done from that day forward, and since was made a statute and an ordinance, and as a law in Israel.
30:26. Then David came to Siceleg, and sent presents of the prey to the ancients of Juda, his neighbours, saying: Receive a blessing of the prey of the enemies of the Lord.
30:27. To them that were in Bethel, and that were in Ramoth to the south, and to them that were in Jether.
30:28. And to them that were in Aroer, and that were in Sephamoth, and that were in Esthamo,
30:29. And that were in Rachal, and that were in the cities of Jerameel, and that were in the cities of Ceni,
30:30. And that were in Arama, and that were in the lake Asan, and that were in Athach,
30:31. And that were in Hebron, and to the rest that were in those places, in which David had abode with his men.
1 Kings Chapter 31
Israel is defeated by the Philistines: Saul and his sons are slain.
31:1. And the Philistines fought against Israel, and the men of Israel fled from before the Philistines, and fell down slain in mount Gelboe.
31:2. And the Philistines fell upon Saul, and upon his sons, and they slew Jonathan, and Abinadab, and Melchisua, the sons of Saul.
31:3. And the whole weight of the battle was turned upon Saul: and the archers overtook him, and he was grievously wounded by the archers.
31:4. Then Saul said to his armourbearer: Draw thy sword, and kill me: lest these uncircumcised come, and slay me, and mock at me. And his armourbearer would not: for he was struck with exceeding great fear. Then Saul took his sword, and fell upon it.
31:5. And when his armourbearer saw this, to wit, that Saul was dead, he also fell upon his sword and died with him.
31:6. So Saul died, and his three sons, and his armourbearer, and all his men that same day together.
31:7. And the men of Israel, that were beyond the valley, and beyond the Jordan, seeing that the Israelites were fled, and that Saul was dead, and his sons, forsook their cities, and fled: and the Philistines came and dwelt there.
31:8. And on the morrow the Philistines came to strip the slain, and they found Saul and his three sons lying in mount Gelboe.
31:9. And they cut off Saul’s head, and stripped him of his armour, and sent into the land of the Philistines round about, to publish it in the temples of their idols and among their people.
31:10. And they put his armour in the temple of Astaroth, but his body they hung on the wall of Bethsan.
31:11. Now when the inhabitants of Jabes Galaad had heard all that the Philistines had done to Saul,
31:12. All the most valiant men arose, and walked all the night, and took the body of Saul, and the bodies of his sons, from the wall of Bethsan: and they came to Jabes Galaad, and burnt them there.
31:13. And they took their bones, and buried them in the wood of Jabes: and fasted seven days.
THE SECOND BOOK OF SAMUEL, OTHERWISE CALLED THE SECOND BOOK OF KINGS
This Book relates the transactions from the death of Saul until the end of David’s reign, being a history for the space of about forty-six years.
2 Kings Chapter 1
David mourneth for the death of Saul and Jonathan: he ordereth the man to be slain who pretended he had killed Saul.
1:1. Now it came to pass, after Saul was dead, that David returned from the slaughter of the Amalecites, and abode two days in Siceleg.
1:2. And on the third day, there appeared a man who came out of Saul’s camp, with his garments rent, and dust strewed on his head: and when he came to David, he fell upon his face, and adored.
1:3. And David said to him: From whence comest thou? And he said to him: I am fled out of the camp of Israel.
1:4. And David said unto him: What is the matter that is come to pass? tell me: He said: The people are fled from the battle, and many of the people are fallen and dead: moreover Saul and Jonathan his son are slain.
1:5. And David said to the young man that told him: How knowest thou that Saul and Jonathan his son, are dead?
1:6. And the young man that told him, said: I came by chance upon mount Gelboe, and Saul leaned upon his spear: and the chariots and horsemen drew nigh unto him,
1:7. And looking behind him, and seeing me, he called me. And I answered, Here am I.
1:8. And he said to me: Who art thou? And I said to him: I am an Amalecite.
1:9. And he said to me: Stand over me, and kill me: for anguish is come upon me, and as yet my whole life is in me.
1:10. So standing over him, I killed him: for I knew that he could not live after the fall: and I took the diadem that was on his head, and the bracelet that was on his arm, and have brought them hither to thee, my lord.
I killed him.... This story of the young Amalecite was not true, as may easily be proved by comparing it with the last chapter of the foregoing book.
1:11. Then David took hold of his garments and rent them, and likewise all the men that were with him.
1:12. And they mourned, and wept, and fasted until evening for Saul, and for Jonathan his son, and for the people of the Lord, and for the house of Israel, because they were fallen by the sword.
1:13. And David said to the young man that told him: Whence art thou? He answered: I am the son of a stranger of Amalec.
1:14. David said to him: Why didst thou not fear to put out thy hand to kill the Lord’s anointed?
1:15. And David calling one of his servants, said: Go near and fall upon him. And he struck him so that he died.
1:16. And David said to him: Thy blood be upon thy own head: for thy own mouth hath spoken against thee, saying: I have slain the Lord’s anointed.
1:17. And David made this kind of lamentation over Saul, and over Jonathan his son.
1:18. (Also he commanded that they should teach the children of Juda the use of the bow, as it is written in the book of the just.) And he said: Consider, O Israel, for them that are dead, wounded on thy high places.
1:19. The illustrious of Israel are slain upon thy mountains: how are the valiant fallen?
1:20. Tell it not in Geth, publish it not in the streets of Ascalon: lest the daughters of the Philistines rejoice, lest the daughters of the uncircumcised triumph.
1:21. Ye mountains of Gelboe, let neither dew, nor rain come upon you, neither be they fields of firstfruits: for there was cast away the shield of the valiant, the shield of Saul as though he had not been anointed with oil.
1:22. From the blood of the slain, from the fat of the valiant, the arrow of Jonathan never turned back, and the sword of Saul did not return empty.
1:23. Saul and Jonathan, lovely, and comely in their life, even in death they were not divided: they were swifter than eagles, stronger than lions.
1:24. Ye daughters of Israel, weep over Saul, who clothed you with scarlet in delights, who gave ornaments of gold for your attire.
1:25. How are the valiant fallen in battle? Jonathan slain in the high places?
1:26. I grieve for thee, my brother Jonathan: exceeding beautiful, and amiable to me above the love of women. As the mother loveth her only son, so did I love thee.
1:27. How are the valiant fallen, and the weapons of war perished?
2 Kings Chapter 2
David is received and anointed king of Juda. Isboseth the son of Saul reigneth over the rest of Israel. A battle between Abner and Joab.
2:1. And after these things David consulted the Lord, saying: Shall I go up into one of the cities of Juda? And the Lord said to him: Go up. And David said: Whither shall I go up? And he answered him: Into Hebron.
2:2. So David went up, and his two wives Achinoam the Jezrahelitess, and Abigail the wife of Nabal of Carmel:
2:3. And the men also that were with him, David brought up every man with his household: and they abode in the towns of Hebron.
2:4. And the men of Juda came, and anointed David there, to be king over the house of Juda. And it was told David that the men of Jabes Galaad had buried Saul.
2:5. David therefore sent messengers to the men of Jabes Galaad, and said to them: Blessed be you to the Lord, who have shewn this mercy to your master Saul, and have buried him.
2:6. And now the Lord surely will render you mercy and truth, and I also will requite you for this good turn, because you have done this thing.
2:7. Let your hands be strengthened, and be ye men of valour: for although your master Saul be dead, yet the house of Juda hath anointed me to be their king.
2:8. But Abner the son of Ner, general of Saul’s army, took Isboseth the son of Saul, and led him about through the camp,
2:9. And made him king over Galaad, and over Gessuri, and over Jezrahel, and over Ephraim, and over Benjamin, and over all Israel.
2:10. Isboseth the son of Saul was forty years old when he began to reign over Israel, and he reigned two years; and only the house of Juda followed David.
He reigned two years.... Viz., before he began visibly to decline: but in all he reigned seven years and six months; for so long David reigned in Hebron.
2:11. And the number of the days that David abode, reigning in Hebron over the house of Juda, was seven years and six months.
2:12. And Abner the son of Ner, and the servants of Isboseth the son of Saul, went out from the camp to Gabaon.
2:13. And Joab the son of Sarvia, and the servants of David went out, and met them by the pool of Gabaon. And when they were come together, they sat down over against one another: the one on the one side of the pool, and the other on the other side.
2:14. And Abner said to Joab: Let the young men rise, and play before us. And Joab answered: Let them rise.
2:15. Then there arose and went over twelve in number of Benjamin, of the part of Isboseth the son of Saul, and twelve of the servants of David.
2:16. And every one catching his fellow by the head, thrust his sword into the side of his adversary, and they fell down together: and the name of the place was called: The field of the valiant, in Gabaon.
2:17. And there was a very fierce battle that day: and Abner was put to flight, with the men of Israel, by the servants of David.
2:18. And there were the three sons of Sarvia there, Joab, and Abisai, and Asael: now Asael was a most swift runner, like one of the roes that abide in the woods.
2:19. And Asael pursued after Abner, and turned not to the right hand nor to the left from following Abner.
2:20. And Abner looked behind him, and said: Art thou Asael? And he answered: I am.
2:21. And Abner said to him: Go to the right hand or to the left, and lay hold on one of the young men and take thee his spoils. But Asael would not leave off following him close.
2:22. And again Abner said to Asael: Go off, and do not follow me, lest I be obliged to stab thee to the ground, and I shall not be able to hold up my face to Joab thy brother.
2:23. But he refused to hearken to him, and would not turn aside: wherefore Abner struck him with his spear with a back stroke in the groin, and thrust him through, and he died upon the spot: and all that came to the place where Asael fell down and died stood still.
2:24. Now while Joab and Abisai pursued after Abner, the sun went down: and they came as far as the hill of the aqueduct, that lieth over against the valley by the way of the wilderness in Gabaon.
2:25. And the children of Benjamin gathered themselves together to Abner: and being joined in one body, they stood on the top of a hill.
2:26. And Abner cried out to Joab, and said: Shall thy sword rage unto utter destruction? knowest thou not that it is dangerous to drive people to despair? how long dost thou defer to bid the people cease from pursuing after their brethren?
2:27. And Joab said: As the Lord liveth, if thou hadst spoke sooner, even in the morning the people should have retired from pursuing after their brethren.
2:28. Then Joab sounded the trumpet, and all the army stood still, and did not pursue after Israel any farther, nor fight any more.
2:29. And Abner and his men walked all that night through the plains: and they passed the Jordan, and having gone through all Beth-horon, came to the camp.
2:30. And Joab returning, after he had left Abner, assembled all the people: and there were wanting of David’s servants nineteen men, beside Asael.
2:31. But the servants of David had killed of Benjamin, and of the men that were with Abner, three hundred and sixty, who all died.
2:32. And they took Asael, and buried him in the sepulchre of his father in Bethlehem and Joab, and the men that were with him, marched all the night, and they came to Hebron at break of day.
2 Kings Chapter 3
David groweth daily stronger. Abner cometh over to him: he is treacherously slain by Joab.
3:1. Now there was a long war between the house of Saul and the house of David: David prospering and growing always stronger and stronger, but the house of Saul decaying daily.
There was a long war between the house of Saul, etc.... Rather a strife or emulation than a war with arms; it lasted five years and a half.
3:2. And sons were born to David in Hebron: and his firstborn was Amnon of Achinoam the Jezrahelitess:
3:3. And his second Cheleab of Abigail the wife of Nabal of Carmel: and the third Absalom the son of Maacha the daughter of Tholmai king of Gessur:
3:4. And the fourth Adonias, the son of Haggith: and the fifth Saphathia the son of Abital:
3:5. And the sixth Jethraam of Egla the wife of David: these were born to David in Hebron.
3:6. Now while there was war between the house of Saul and the house of David, Abner the son of Ner ruled the house of Saul.
3:7. And Saul had a concubine named Respha, the daughter of Aia. And Isboseth said to Abner:
3:8. Why didst thou go in to my father’s concubine? And he was exceedingly angry for the words of Isboseth, and said: Am I a dog’s head against Juda this day, who have shewn mercy to the house of Saul thy father, and to his brethren and friends, and have not delivered thee into the hands of David, and hast thou sought this day against me to charge me with a matter concerning a woman?
3:9. So do God to Abner, and more also, unless as the Lord hath sworn to David, so I do to him,
3:10. That the kingdom be translated from the house of Saul, and the throne of David be set up over Israel, and over Juda from Dan to Bersabee.
3:11. And he could not answer him a word, because he feared him.
3:12. Abner therefore sent messengers to David for himself, saying: Whose is the land? and that they should say: Make a league with me, and my hand shall be with thee: and I will bring all Israel to thee.
3:13. And he said: Very well: I will make a league with thee: but one thing I require of thee, saying: Thou shalt not see my face before thou bring Michol the daughter of Saul: and so thou shalt come, and see me.
3:14. And David sent messengers to Isboseth the son of Saul, saying: Restore my wife Michol, whom I espoused to me for a hundred foreskins of the Philistines.
3:15. And Isboseth sent, and took her from her husband Phaltiel, the son of Lais.
3:16. And her husband followed her, weeping as far as Bahurim: and Abner said to him: Go and return. And he returned.
3:17. Abner also spoke to the ancients of Israel, saying: Both yesterday and the day before you sought for David that he might reign over you.
3:18. Now then do it: because the Lord hath spoken to David, saying: By the hand of my servant David I will save my people Israel from the hands of the Philistines, and of all their enemies.
3:19. And Abner spoke also to Benjamin. And he went to speak to David in Hebron all that seemed good to Israel, and to all Benjamin.
3:20. And he came to David in Hebron with twenty men: and David made a feast for Abner, and his men that came with him.
3:21. And Abner said to David: I will rise, that I may gather all Israel unto thee my lord the king, and may enter into a league with thee, and that thou mayst reign over all as thy soul desireth. Now when David had brought Abner on his way, and he was gone in peace,
3:22. Immediately, David’s servants and Joab came, after having slain the robbers, with an exceeding great booty. And Abner was not with David in Hebron, for he had now sent him away, and he was gone in peace.
3:23. And Joab and all the army that was with him, came afterwards: and it was told Joab, that Abner the son of Ner came to the king, and he hath sent him away, and he is gone in peace.
3:24. And Joab went in to the king, and said: What hast thou done? Behold Abner came to thee: Why didst thou send him away, and he is gone and departed?
3:25. Knowest thou not Abner the son of Ner, that to this end he came to thee, that he might deceive thee, and to know thy going out, and thy coming in, and to know all thou dost?
3:26. Then Joab going out from David, sent messengers after Abner, and brought him back from the cistern of Sira, David knowing nothing of it.
3:27. And when Abner was returned to Hebron, Joab took him aside to the middle of the gate, to speak to him treacherously: and he stabbed him there in the groin, and he died, in revenge of the blood of Asael his brother.
3:28. And when David heard of it, after the thing was now done, he said: I, and my kingdom are innocent before the Lord for ever of the blood of Abner the son of Ner:
3:29. And may it come upon the head of Joab, and upon all his father’s house: and let there not fail from the house of Joab one that hath an issue of seed, or that is a leper, or that holdeth the distaff, or that falleth by the sword, or that wanteth bread.
3:30. So Joab and Abisai his brother slew Abner, because he had killed their brother Asael at Gabaon in the battle.
3:31. And David said to Joab, and to all the people that were with him: Rend your garments, and gird yourselves with sackcloths, and mourn before the funeral of Abner. And king David himself followed the bier.
3:32. And when they had buried Abner in Hebron, king David lifted up his voice, and wept at the grave of Abner: and all the people also wept.
3:33. And the king mourning and lamenting over Abner, said: Not as cowards are wont to die, hath Abner died.
3:34. Thy hands were not bound, nor thy feet laden with fetters: but as men fall before the children of iniquity, so didst thou fall. And all the people repeating it wept over him.
3:35. And when all the people came to take meat with David, while it was yet broad day, David swore, saying: So do God to me, and more also, if I taste bread or any thing else before sunset.
3:36. And all the people heard, and they were pleased, and all that the king did seemed good in the sight of all the people.
3:37. And all the people, and all Israel understood that day that it was not the king’s doing, that Abner the son of Ner was slain.
3:38. The king also said to his servants: Do you not know that a prince and a great man is slain this day in Israel?
3:39. But I as yet am tender, though anointed king. And these men the sons of Sarvia are too hard for me: the Lord reward him that doth evil according to his wickedness.
2 Kings Chapter 4
Isboseth is murdered by two of his servants. David punisheth the murderers.
4:1. And Isboseth the son of Saul heard that Abner was slain in Hebron: and his hands were weakened, and all Israel was troubled.
4:2. Now the son of Saul had two men captains of his bands, the name of the one was Baana, and the name of the other Rechab, the sons of Remmon a Berothite of the children of Benjamin: for Beroth also was reckoned in Benjamin.
4:3. And the Berothites fled into Gethaim, and were sojourners there until that time.
4:4. And Jonathan the son of Saul had a son that was lame of his feet: for he was five years old when the tidings came of Saul and Jonathan from Jezrahel. And his nurse took him up and fled: and as she made haste to flee, he fell and became lame: and his name was Miphiboseth.
4:5. And the sons of Remmon the Berothite, Rechab and Baana coming, went into the house of Isboseth in the heat of the day: and he was sleeping upon his bed at noon. And the doorkeeper of the house, who was cleansing wheat, was fallen asleep.
4:6. And they entered into the house secretly taking ears of corn, and Rechab and Baana his brother stabbed him in the groin, and fled away.
4:7. For when they came into the house, he was sleeping upon his bed in a parlour, and they struck him and killed him and taking away his head they went off by the way of the wilderness, walking all night.
4:8. And they brought the head of Isboseth to David to Hebron: and they said to the king: Behold the head of Isboseth the son of Saul thy enemy who sought thy life: and the Lord hath revenged my lord the king this day of Saul, and of his seed.
4:9. But David answered Rechab, and Baana his brother, the sons of Remmon the Berothite, and said to them: As the Lord liveth, who hath delivered my soul out of all distress,
4:10. The man that told me, and said: Saul is dead, who thought he brought good tidings, I apprehended, and slew him in Siceleg, who should have been rewarded for his news.
4:11. How much more now when wicked men have slain an innocent man in his own house, upon his bed, shall I not require his blood at your hand, and take you away from the earth?
4:12. And David commanded his servants and they slew them: and cutting off their hands and feet, hanged them up over the pool in Hebron: but the head of Isboseth they took and buried in the sepulchre of Abner in Hebron.
2 Kings Chapter 5
David is anointed king of all Israel. He taketh Jerusalem, and dwelleth there. He defeateth the Philistines.
5:1. Then all the tribes of Israel came to David in Hebron, saying: Behold we are thy bone and thy flesh.
5:2. Moreover yesterday also and the day before, when Saul was king over us, thou wast he that did lead out and bring in Israel: and the Lord said to thee: Thou shalt feed my people Israel, and thou shalt be prince over Israel.
5:3. The ancients also of Israel came to the king of Hebron, and king David made a league with them in Hebron before the Lord: and they anointed David to be king over Israel.
5:4. David was thirty years old when he began to reign, and he reigned forty years.
5:5. In Hebron he reigned over Juda seven years and six months: and in Jerusalem he reigned three and thirty years over all Israel and Juda.
5:6. And the king and all the men that were with him went to Jerusalem to the Jebusites the inhabitants of the land: and they said to David: Thou shalt not come in hither unless thou take away the blind and the lame that say: David shall not come in hither.
5:7. But David took the castle of Sion, the same is the city of David.
5:8. For David had offered that day a reward to whosoever should strike the Jebusites and get up to the gutters of the tops of the houses, and take away the blind and the lame that hated the soul of David: therefore it is said in the proverb: The blind and the lame shall not come into the temple.
5:9. And David dwelt in the castle, and called it, The city of David: and built round about from Mello and inwards.
5:10. And he went on prospering and growing up, and the Lord God of hosts was with him.
5:11. And Hiram the king of Tyre sent messengers to David, and cedar trees, and carpenters, and masons for walls: and they built a house for David.
5:12. And David knew that the Lord had confirmed him king over Israel, and that he had exalted his kingdom over his people Israel.
5:13. And David took more concubines and wives of Jerusalem, after he was come from Hebron: and there were born to David other sons also and daughters:
David took more concubines and wives of Jerusalem.... Not harlots, but wives of an inferior condition; for such, in scripture, are styled concubines.
5:14. And these are the names of them, that were born to him in Jerusalem, Samua, and Sobab, and Nathan, and Solomon,
5:15. And Jebahar, and Elisua, and Nepheg,
5:16. And Japhia, and Elisama, and Elioda, and Eliphaleth.
5:17. And the Philistines heard that they had anointed David to be king over Israel: and they all came to seek David: and when David heard of it, he went down to a strong hold.
5:18. And the Philistines coming spread themselves in the valley of Raphaim.
5:19. And David consulted the Lord, saying: Shall I go up to the Philistines? and wilt thou deliver them into my hand? And the Lord said to David: Go up, for I will surely deliver the Philistines into thy hand.
5:20. And David came to Baal Pharisim: and defeated them there, and he said, The Lord hath divided my enemies before me, as waters are divided. Therefore the name of the place was called Baal Pharisim.
5:21. And they left there their idols: which David and his men took away.
5:22. And the Philistines came up again and spread themselves into the valley of Raphaim.
5:23. And David consulted the Lord: Shall I go up against the Philistines, and wilt thou deliver them into my hands? He answered: Go not up against them but fetch a compass behind them, and thou shalt come upon them over against the pear trees.
5:24. And when thou shalt hear the sound of one going in the tops of the pear trees, then shalt thou join battle: for then will the Lord go out before thy face to strike the army of the Philistines.
5:25. And David did as the Lord had commanded him, and he smote the Philistines from Gabaa until thou come to Gezer.
2 Kings Chapter 6
David fetcheth the ark from Cariathiarim. Oza is struck dead for touching it. It is deposited in the house of Obededom: and from thence carried to David’s house.
6:1. And David again gathered together all the chosen men of Israel, thirty thousand.
6:2. And David arose and went, with all the people that were with him of the men of Juda to fetch the ark of God, upon which the name of the Lord of Hosts is invoked, who sitteth over it upon the cherubims.
6:3. And they laid the ark of God upon a new cart: and took it out of the house of Abinadab, who was in Gabaa, and Oza and Ahio, the sons of Abinadab, drove the new cart.
Gabaa.... The hill of Cariathiarim, where the ark had been in the house of Abinadab, from the time of its being restored back by the Philistines.
6:4. And when they had taken it out of the house of Abinadab, who was in Gabaa, Ahio having care of the ark of God went before the ark.
6:5. But David and all Israel played before the Lord on all manner of instruments made of wood, on harps and lutes and timbrels and cornets and cymbals.
6:6. And when they came to the floor of Nachon, Oza put forth his hand to the ark of God, and took hold of it: because the oxen kicked and made it lean aside.
6:7. And the indignation of the Lord was enkindled against Oza, and he struck him for his rashness: and he died there before the ark of God.
6:8. And David was grieved because the Lord had struck Oza, and the name of that place was called: The striking of Oza, to this day.
6:9. And David was afraid of the Lord that day, saying: How shall the ark of the Lord come to me?
6:10. And he would not have the ark of the Lord brought in to himself into the city of David: but he caused it to be carried into the house of Obededom the Gethite.
6:11. And the ark of the Lord abode in the house of Obededom the Gethite three months: and the Lord blessed Obededom, and all his household.
6:12. And it was told king David, that the Lord had blessed Obededom, and all that he had, because of the ark of God. So David went, and brought away the ark of God out of the house of Obededom into the city of David with joy. And there were with David seven choirs, and calves for victims.
Choirs.... Or companies of musicians.
6:13. And when they that carried the ark of the Lord had gone six paces, he sacrificed an ox and a ram:
6:14. And David danced with all his might before the Lord: and David was girded with a linen ephod.
6:15. And David and all the house of Israel brought the ark of the covenant of the Lord with joyful shouting, and with sound of trumpet.
6:16. And when the ark of the Lord was come into the city of David, Michol the daughter of Saul, looking out through a window, saw king David leaping and dancing before the Lord: and she despised him in her heart.
6:17. And they brought the ark of the Lord, and set it in its place in the midst of the tabernacle, which David had pitched for it: and David offered holocausts, and peace offerings before the Lord.
6:18. And when he had made an end of offering holocausts and peace offerings, he blessed the people in the name of the Lord of hosts.
6:19. And he distributed to all the multitude of Israel, both men and women, to every one, a cake of bread, and a piece of roasted beef, and fine flour fried with oil: and all the people departed every one to his own house.
6:20. And David returned to bless his own house: and Michol the daughter of Saul coming out to meet David, said: How glorious was the king of Israel to day, uncovering himself before the handmaids of his servants, and was naked, as if one of the buffoons should be naked.
6:21. And David said to Michol: Before the Lord, who chose me rather than thy father, and than all his house, and commanded me to be ruler over the people of the Lord in Israel,
6:22. I will both play and make myself meaner than I have done: and I will be little in my own eyes: and with the handmaids of whom thou speakest, I shall appear more glorious.
6:23. Therefore Michol the daughter of Saul had no child to the day of her death.
2 Kings Chapter 7
David’s purpose to build a temple is rewarded with the promise of great blessings in his seed: his prayer and thanksgiving.
7:1. And it came to pass when the king sat in his house, and the Lord had given him rest on every side from all his enemies,
7:2. He said to Nathan the prophet: Dost thou see that I dwell in a house of cedar, and the ark of God is lodged within skins?
7:3. And Nathan said to the king: Go, do all that is in thy heart: because the Lord is with thee.
7:4. But it came to pass that night, that the word of the Lord came to Nathan, saying:
7:5. Go, and say to my servant David: Thus saith the Lord: Shalt thou build me a house to dwell in?
7:6. Whereas I have not dwelt in a house from the day that I brought the children of Israel out of the land of Egypt even to this day: but have walked in a tabernacle, and in a tent.
7:7. In all the places that I have gone through with all the children of Israel, did ever I speak a word to any one of the tribes of Israel, whom I commanded to feed my people Israel, saying: Why have you not built me a house of cedar?
7:8. And now thus shalt thou speak to my servant David: Thus saith the Lord of hosts: I took thee out of the pastures from following the sheep to be ruler over my people Israel:
7:9. And I have been with thee wheresoever thou hast walked, and have slain all thy enemies from before thy face: and I have made thee a great man, like unto the name of the great ones that are on the earth.
7:10. And I will appoint a place for my people Israel, and I will plant them, and they shall dwell therein, and shall be disturbed no more: neither shall the children of iniquity afflict them any more as they did before,
7:11. From the day that I appointed judges over my people Israel: and I will give thee rest from all thy enemies. And the Lord foretelleth to thee, that the Lord will make thee a house.
7:12. And when thy days shall be fulfilled, and thou shalt sleep with thy fathers, I will raise up thy seed after thee, which shall proceed out of thy bowels, and I will establish his kingdom.
I will establish his kingdom.... This prophecy partly relateth to Solomon: but much more to Christ, who is called the son of David in scripture, and who is the builder of the true temple, which is the church, his everlasting kingdom, which shall never fail.
7:13. He shall build a house to my name, and I will establish the throne of his kingdom for ever.
7:14. I will be to him a father, and he shall be to me a son: and if he commit any iniquity, I will correct him with the rod of men, and with the stripes of the children of men.
7:15. But my mercy I will not take away from him, as I took it from Saul, whom I removed from before my face.
7:16. And thy house shall be faithful, and thy kingdom for ever before thy face, and thy throne shall be firm for ever.
7:17. According to all these words and according to all this vision so did Nathan speak to David.
7:18. And David went in, and sat before the Lord, and said: Who am I, O Lord God, and what is my house, that thou hast brought me thus far?
7:19. But yet this hath seemed little in thy sight, O Lord God, unless thou didst also speak of the house of thy servant for a long time to come: for this is the law of Adam, O Lord God:
7:20. And what can David say more unto thee? for thou knowest thy servant, O Lord God:
7:21. For thy word’s sake, and according to thy own heart thou has done all these great things, so that thou wouldst make it known to thy servant.
7:22. Therefore thou art magnified, O Lord God, because there is none like to thee, neither is there any God besides thee, in all the things that we have heard with our ears.
7:23. And what nation is there upon earth, as thy people Israel, whom God went to redeem for a people to himself, and to make him a name, and to do for them great and terrible things, upon the earth, before the face of thy people, whom thou redeemedst to thyself out of Egypt, from the nations and their gods.
7:24. For thou hast confirmed to thyself thy people Israel to be an everlasting people: and thou, O Lord God, art become their God.
7:25. And now, O Lord God, raise up for ever the word that thou hast spoken, concerning thy servant and concerning his house: and do as thou hast spoken,
7:26. That thy name may be magnified for ever, and it may be said: The Lord of hosts is God over Israel. And the house of thy servant David shall be established before the Lord.
7:27. Because thou, O Lord of hosts, God of Israel, hast revealed to the ear of thy servant, saying: I will build thee a house: therefore hath thy servant found in his heart to pray this prayer to thee.
7:28. And now, O Lord God, thou art God, and thy words shall be true: for thou hast spoken to thy servant these good things.
7:29. And now begin, and bless the house of thy servant, that it may endure for ever before thee: because thou, O Lord God, hast spoken it, and with thy blessing let the house of thy servant be blessed for ever.
2 Kings Chapter 8
David’s victories, and his chief officers.
8:1. And it came to pass after this that David defeated the Philistines, and brought them down, and David took the bridle of tribute out of the hand of the Philistines,
8:2. And he defeated Moab, and measured them with a line, casting them down to the earth: and he measured with two lines, one to put to death, and one to save alive: and Moab was made to serve David under tribute.
8:3. David defeated also Adarezer the son of Rohob king of Soba, when he went to extend his dominion over the river Euphrates.
8:4. And David took from him a thousand and seven hundred horsemen, and twenty thousand footmen, and houghed all the chariot horses: and only reserved of them for one hundred chariots.
8:5. And the Syrians of Damascus came to succour Adarezer the king of Soba: and David slew of the Syrians two and twenty thousand men.
8:6. And David put garrisons in Syria of Damascus: and Syria served David under tribute, and the Lord preserved David in all his enterprises, whithersoever he went.
8:7. And David took the arms of gold, which the servants of Adarezer wore and brought them to Jerusalem.
8:8. And out of Bete, and out of Beroth, cities of Adarezer, king David took an exceeding great quantity of brass.
8:9. And Thou the king of Emath heard that David had defeated all the forces of Adarezer.
8:10. And Thou sent Joram his son to king David, to salute him, and to congratulate with him, and to return him thanks: because he had fought against Adarezer, and had defeated him. For Thou was an enemy to Adarezer, and in his hand were vessels of gold, and vessels of silver, and vessels of brass:
8:11. And king David dedicated them to the Lord, together with the silver and gold that he had dedicated of all the nations, which he had subdued:
8:12. Of Syria, and of Moab, and of the children of Ammon, and of the Philistines, and of Amalec, and of the spoils of Adarezer the son of Rohob king of Soba.
8:13. David also made himself a name, when he returned after taking Syria in the valley of the saltpits, killing eighteen thousand:
8:14. And he put guards in Edom, and placed there a garrison: and all Edom was made to serve David: and the Lord preserved David in all enterprises he went about.
8:15. And David reigned over all Israel: and David did judgment and justice to all his people.
8:16. And Joab the son of Sarvia was over the army: and Josaphat the son of Ahilud was recorder:
Recorder.... Or chancellor.
8:17. And Sadoc the son of Achitob, and Achimelech the son of Abiathar, were the priests: and Saraias was the scribe:
Scribe.... Or secretary.
8:18. And Banaias the son of Joiada was over the Cerethi and Phelethi: and the sons of David were the princes.
The Cerethi and Phelethi.... The king’s guards.—Ibid. Princes.... Literally priests. (Cohen) So called, by a title of honour, and not from exercising the priestly functions.
2 Kings Chapter 9
David’s kindness to Miphiboseth for the sake of his father Jonathan.
9:1. And David said: Is there any one, think you, left of the house of Saul, that I may shew kindness to him for Jonathan’s sake?
9:2. Now there was of the house of Saul, a servant named Siba: and when the king had called him to him, he said to him: Art thou Siba? And he answered: I am Siba thy servant.
9:3. And the king said: Is there any one left of the house of Saul, that I may shew the mercy of God unto him? And Siba said to the king: There is a son of Jonathan left, who is lame of his feet.
9:4. Where is he? said he. And Siba said to the king: Behold he is in the house of Machir the son of Ammiel in Lodabar.
9:5. Then King David sent, and brought him out of the house of Machir the son of Ammiel of Lodabar.
9:6. And when Miphiboseth the son of Jonathan the son of Saul was come to David, he fell on his face and worshipped. And David said: Miphiboseth? And he answered: Behold thy servant.
9:7. And David said to him: Fear not, for I will surely shew thee mercy for Jonathan thy father’s sake, and I will restore the lands of Saul thy father, and thou shalt eat bread at my table always.
9:8. He bowed down to him, and said: Who am I thy servant, that thou shouldst look upon such a dead dog as I am?
9:9. Then the King called Siba the servant of Saul, and said to him: All that belonged to Saul, and all his house, I have given to thy master’s son.
9:10. Thou therefore and thy sons and thy servants shall till the land for him: and thou shalt bring in food for thy master’s son, that he may be maintained: and Miphiboseth the son of thy master shall always eat bread at my table. And Siba had fifteen sons and twenty servants.
9:11. And Siba said to the king: As thou my lord the king hast commanded thy servant, so will thy servant do: and Miphiboseth shall eat at my table, as one of the sons of the King.
9:12. And Miphiboseth had a young son whose name was Micha: and all that kindred of the house of Siba served Miphiboseth.
9:13. But Miphiboseth dwelt in Jerusalem: because he ate always of the king’s table: and he was lame of both feet.
2 Kings Chapter 10
The Ammonites shamefully abuse the ambassadors of David: they hire the Syrians to the their assistance: but are overthrown with their allies.
10:1. And it came to pass after this, that the king of the children of Ammon died, and Hanon his son reigned in his stead.
10:2. And David said: I will shew kindness to Hanon the son of Daas, as his father shewed kindness to me. So David sent his servants to comfort him for the death of his father. But when the servants of David were come into the land of the children of Ammon,
10:3. The princes of the children of Ammon said to Hanon their lord: Thinkest thou that for the honour of thy father, David hath sent comforters to thee, and hath not David rather sent his servants to thee to search, and spy into the city, and overthrow it?
10:4. Wherefore Hanon took the servants of David, and shaved off the one half of their beards, and cut away half of their garments even to the buttocks, and sent them away.
10:5. When this was told David, he sent to meet them: for the men were sadly put to confusion, and David commanded them, saying: Stay at Jericho, till your beards be grown, and then return.
10:6. And the children of Ammon seeing that they had done an injury to David, sent and hired the Syrians of Rohob, and the Syrians of Soba, twenty thousand footmen, and of the king of Maacha a thousand men, and of Istob twelve thousand men.
10:7. And when David heard this, he sent Joab and the whole army of warriors.
10:8. And the children of Ammon came out, and set their men in array at the entering in of the gate: but the Syrians of Soba, and of Rohob, and of Istob, and of Maacha were by themselves in the field.
10:9. Then Joab seeing that the battle was prepared against him, both before and behind, chose of all the choice men of Israel, and put them in array against the Syrians:
10:10. And the rest of the people he delivered to Abisai his brother, who set them in array against the children of Ammon.
10:11. And Joab said: If the Syrians are too strong for me, then thou shalt help me, but if the children of Ammon are too strong for thee, then I will help thee.
10:12. Be of good courage, and let us fight for our people, and for the city of our God: and the Lord will do what is good in his sight.
10:13. And Joab and the people that were with him, began to fight against the Syrians: and they immediately fled before him.
10:14. And the children of Ammon seeing that the Syrians were fled, they fled also before Abisai, and entered into the city: and Joab returned from the children of Ammon, and came to Jerusalem.
10:15. Then the Syrians seeing that they had fallen before Israel, gathered themselves together.
10:16. And Adarezer sent and fetched the Syrians, that were beyond the river, and brought over their army: and Sobach, the captain of the host of Adarezer, was their general.
10:17. And when this was told David, he gathered all Israel together, and passed over the Jordan, and came to Helam: and the Syrians set themselves in array against David, and fought against him.
10:18. And the Syrians fled before Israel, and David slew of the Syrians the men of seven hundred chariots, and forty thousand horsemen: and smote Sobach the captain of the army, who presently died.
10:19. And all the kings that were auxiliaries of Adarezer, seeing themselves overcome by Israel, were afraid and fled away, eight and fifty thousand men before Israel. And they made peace with Israel: and served them, and all the Syrians were afraid to help the children of Ammon any more.
2 Kings Chapter 11
David falleth into the crime of adultery with Bethsabee: and not finding other means to conceal it, causeth her husband Urias to be slain. Then marrieth her, who beareth him a son.
11:1. And it came to pass at the return of the year, at the time when kings go forth to war, that David sent Joab and his servants with him, and all Israel, and they spoiled the children of Ammon, and besieged Rabba: but David remained in Jerusalem.
11:2. In the mean time it happened that David arose from his bed after noon, and walked upon the roof of the king’s house: And he saw from the roof of his house a woman washing herself, over against him: and the woman was very beautiful.
11:3. And the king sent, and inquired who the woman was. And it was told him, that she was Bethsabee the daughter of Eliam, the wife of Urias the Hethite.
11:4. And David sent messengers, and took her, and she came in to him, and he slept with her: and presently she was purified from her uncleanness:
11:5. And she returned to her house having conceived. And she sent and told David, and said: I have conceived.
11:6. And David sent to Joab, saying: Send me Urias the Hethite. And Joab sent Urias to David.
11:7. And Urias came to David. And David asked how Joab did, and the people, and how the war was carried on.
11:8. And David said to Urias: Go into thy house, and wash thy feet. And Urias went out from the king’s house, and there went out after him a mess of meat from the king.
11:9. But Urias slept before the gate of the king’s house, with the other servants of his lord, and went not down to his own house.
11:10. And it was told David by some that said: Urias went not to his house. And David said to Urias: Didst thou not come from thy journey? why didst thou not go down to thy house?
11:11. And Urias said to David: The ark of God and Israel and Juda dwell in tents, and my lord Joab and the servants of my lord abide upon the face of the earth: and shall I go into my house, to eat and to drink, and to sleep with my wife? By thy welfare and by the welfare of thy soul I will not do this thing.
11:12. Then David said to Urias: Tarry here to day, and to morrow I will send thee away. Urias tarried in Jerusalem that day and the next.
11:13. And David called him to eat and to drink before him, and he made him drunk: and he went out in the evening, and slept on his couch with the servants of his lord, and went not down into his house.
11:14. And when the morning was come, David wrote a letter to Joab: and sent it by the hand of Urias,
11:15. Writing in the letter: Set ye Urias in the front of the battle, where the fight is strongest: and leave ye him, that he may be wounded and die.
11:16. Wherefore as Joab was besieging the city, he put Urias in the place where he knew the bravest men were.
11:17. And the men coming out of the city, fought against Joab, and there fell some of the people of the servants of David, and Urias the Hethite was killed also.
11:18. Then Joab sent, and told David all things concerning the battle.
11:19. And he charged the messenger, saying: When thou hast told all the words of the battle to the king,
11:20. If thou see him to be angry, and he shall say: Why did you approach so near to the wall to fight? knew you not that many darts are thrown from above off the wall?
11:21. Who killed Abimelech the son of Jerobaal? did not a woman cast a piece of a millstone upon him from the wall and slew him in Thebes? Why did you go near the wall? Thou shalt say: Thy servant Urias the Hethite is also slain.
11:22. So the messenger departed, and came and told David all that Joab had commanded him.
11:23. And the messenger said to David: The men prevailed against us, and they came out to us into the field: and we vigorously charged and pursued them even to the gate of the city.
11:24. And the archers shot their arrows at thy servants from off the wall above: and some of the king’s servants are slain, and thy servant Urias the Hethite is also dead.
11:25. And David said to the messenger: Thus shalt thou say to Joab: Let not this thing discourage thee: for various is the event of war: and sometimes one, sometimes another is consumed by the sword: encourage thy warriors against the city, and exhort them that thou mayest overthrow it.
11:26. And the wife of Urias heard that Urias her husband was dead, and she mourned for him.
11:27. And the mourning being over, David sent and brought her into his house, and she became his wife, and she bore him a son: and this thing which David had done, was displeasing to the Lord.
2 Kings Chapter 12
Nathan’s parable. David confesseth his sin, and is forgiven: yet so as to be sentenced to most severe temporal punishments. The death of the child. The birth of Solomon. The taking of Rabbath.
12:1. And the Lord sent Nathan to David: and when he was come to him, he said to him: There were two men in one city, the one rich, and the other poor.
12:2. The rich man had exceeding many sheep and oxen.
12:3. But the poor man had nothing at all but one little ewe lamb, which he had bought and nourished up, and which had grown up in his house together with his children, eating of his bread, and drinking of his cup, and sleeping in his bosom: and it was unto him as a daughter.
12:4. And when a certain stranger was come to the rich man, he spared to take of his own sheep and oxen, to make a feast for that stranger, who was come to him, but took the poor man’s ewe, and dressed it for the man that was come to him.
12:5. And David’s anger being exceedingly kindled against that man, he said to Nathan: As the Lord liveth, the man that hath done this is a child of death.
12:6. He shall restore the ewe fourfold, because he did this thing, and had no pity.
12:7. And Nathan said to David: Thou art the man. Thus saith the Lord the God of Israel: I anointed thee king over Israel, and I delivered thee from the hand of Saul,
12:8. And gave thee thy master’s house and thy master’s wives into thy bosom, and gave thee the house of Israel and Juda: and if these things be little, I shall add far greater things unto thee.
12:9. Why therefore hast thou despised the word of the Lord, to do evil in my sight? Thou hast killed Urias the Hethite with the sword, and hast taken his wife to be thy wife, and hast slain him with the sword of the children of Ammon.
12:10. Therefore the sword shall never depart from thy house, because thou hast despised me, and hast taken the wife of Urias the Hethite to be thy wife.
12:11. Thus saith the Lord: Behold, I will raise up evil against thee out of thy own house, and I will take thy wives before thy eyes and give them to thy neighbour, and he shall lie with thy wives in the sight of this sun.
I will raise, etc.... All these evils, inasmuch as they were punishments, came upon David by a just judgment of God, for his sin, and therefore God says, I will raise, etc.; but inasmuch as they were sins, on the part of Absalom and his associates, God was not the author of them, but only permitted them.
12:12. For thou didst it secretly: but I will do this thing in the sight of all Israel, and in the sight of the sun.
12:13. And David said to Nathan: I have sinned against the Lord. And Nathan said to David: The Lord also hath taken away thy sin: thou shalt not die.
12:14. Nevertheless, because thou hast given occasion to the enemies of the Lord to blaspheme, for this thing, the child that is born to thee, shall surely die.
12:15. And Nathan returned to his house. The Lord also struck the child which the wife of Urias had borne to David, and his life was despaired of.
12:16. And David besought the Lord for the child: and David kept a fast, and going in by himself lay upon the ground.
12:17. And the ancients of his house came, to make him rise from the ground: but he would not, neither did he eat meat with them.
12:18. And it came to pass on the seventh day that the child died: and the servants of David feared to tell him, that the child was dead. For they said: Behold when the child was yet alive, we spoke to him, and he would not hearken to our voice: how much more will he afflict himself if we tell him that the child is dead?
12:19. But when David saw his servants whispering, he understood that the child was dead: and he said to his servants: Is the child dead? They answered him He is dead.
12:20. Then David arose from the ground, and washed and anointed himself: and when he had changed his apparel, he went into the house of the Lord: and worshipped, and then he came into his own house, and he called for bread, and ate.
12:21. And his servants said to him: What thing is this that thou hast done? thou didst fast and weep for the child, while it was alive, but when the child was dead, thou didst rise up, and eat bread.
12:22. And he said: While the child was yet alive, I fasted and wept for him: for I said: Who knoweth whether the Lord may not give him to me, and the child may live?
12:23. But now that he is dead, why should I fast? Shall I be able to bring him back any more? I shall go to him rather: but he shall not return to me.
12:24. And David comforted Bethsabee his wife, and went in unto her, and slept with her: and she bore a son, and he called his name Solomon, and the Lord loved him.
12:25. And he sent by the hand of Nathan the prophet, and called his name, Amiable to the Lord, because the Lord loved him.
Amiable to the Lord.... Or, beloved of the Lord. In Hebrew, Jedidiah.
12:26. And Joab fought against Rabbath of the children of Ammon, and laid close siege to the royal city.
12:27. And Joab sent messengers to David, saying: I have fought against Rabbath, and the city of waters is about to be taken.
The city of waters.... Rabbath the royal city of the Ammonites, was called the city of waters, from being encompassed with waters.
12:28. Now therefore gather thou the rest of the people together, and besiege the city and take it: lest when the city shall be wasted by me, the victory be ascribed to my name.
12:29. Then David gathered all the people together, and went out against Rabbath: and after fighting, he took it.
12:30. And he took the crown of their king from his head, the weight of which was a talent of gold, set with most precious stones, and it was put upon David’s head, and the spoils of the city which were very great he carried away.
12:31. And bringing forth the people thereof he sawed them, and drove over them chariots armed with iron: and divided them with knives, and made them pass through brickkilns: so did he to all the cities of the children of Ammon: and David returned, with all the army to Jerusalem.
2 Kings Chapter 13
Ammon ravisheth Thamar. For which Absalom killeth him, and flieth to Gessur.
13:1. And it came to pass after this that Amnon the son of David loved the sister of Absalom the son of David, who was very beautiful, and her name was Thamar.
13:2. And he was exceedingly fond of her, so that he fell sick for the love of her: for as she was a virgin, he thought it hard to do any thing dishonestly with her.
13:3. Now Amnon had a friend, named Jonadab the son of Semmaa the brother of David, a very wise man:
A very wise man.... That is, a crafty and subtle man: for the counsel he gave on this occasion shews that his wisdom was but carnal and worldly.
13:4. And he said to him: Why dost thou grow so lean from day to day, O son of the king? why dost thou not tell me the reason of it? And Amnon said to him: I am in love with Thamar the sister of my brother Absalom.
13:5. And Jonadab said to him: Lie down upon thy bed, and feign thyself sick: and when thy father shall come to visit thee, say to him: Let my sister Thamar, I pray thee, come to me, to give me to eat, and to make me a mess, that I may eat it at her hand.
13:6. So Amnon lay down, and made as if he were sick: and when the king came to visit him, Amnon said to the king: I pray thee let my sister Thamar come, and make in my sight two little messes, that I may eat at her hand.
13:7. Then David sent home to Thamar, saying: Come to the house of thy brother Amnon, and make him a mess.
13:8. And Thamar came to the house of Amnon her brother: but he was laid down: and she took meal and tempered it: and dissolving it in his sight she made little messes.
13:9. And taking what she had boiled, she poured it out, and set it before him, but he would not eat: and Amnon said: Put out all persons from me. And when they had put all persons out,
13:10. Amnon said to Thamar: Bring the mess into the chamber, that I may eat at thy hand. And Thamar took the little messes which she had made, and brought them in to her brother Amnon in the chamber.
13:11. And when she had presented him the meat, he took hold of her, and said: Come lie with me, my sister.
13:12. She answered him: Do not so, my brother, do not force me: for no such thing must be done in Israel. Do not thou this folly.
13:13. For I shall not be able to bear my shame, and thou shalt be as one of the fools in Israel: but rather speak to the king, and he will not deny me to thee.
13:14. But he would not hearken to her prayers, but being stronger overpowered her and lay with her.
13:15. Then Amnon hated her with an exceeding great hatred: so that the hatred wherewith he hated her was greater than the love with which he had loved her before. And Amnon said to her: Arise, and get thee gone.
13:16. She answered him: This evil which now thou dost against me, in driving me away, is greater than that which thou didst before. And he would not hearken to her:
13:17. But calling the servants that ministered to him, he said: Thrust this woman out from me: and shut the door after her.
13:18. And she was clothed with a long robe: for the king’s daughters that were virgins, used such kind of garments. Then his servant thrust her out: and shut the door after her.
13:19. And she put ashes on her head, and rent her long robe and laid her hands upon her head, and went on crying.
13:20. And Absalom her brother said to her: Hath thy brother Amnon lain with thee? but now, sister, hold thy peace, he is thy brother: and afflict not thy heart for this thing. So Thamar remained pining away in the house of Absalom her brother.
13:21. And when king David heard of these things he was exceedingly grieved: and he would not afflict the spirit of his son Amnon, for he loved him, because he was his firstborn.
13:22. But Absalom spoke not to Amnon neither good nor evil: for Absalom hated Amnon because he had ravished his sister Thamar.
13:23. And it came to pass after two years, that the sheep of Absalom were shorn in Baalhasor, which is near Ephraim: and Absalom invited all the king’s sons:
13:24. And he came to the king, and said to him: Behold thy servant’s sheep are shorn. Let the king, I pray, with his servants come to his servant.
13:25. And the king said to Absalom: Nay, my son, do not ask that we should all come, and be chargeable to thee. And when he pressed him, and he would not go, he blessed him.
13:26. And Absalom said: If thou wilt not come, at least let my brother Amnon, I beseech thee, come with us. And the king said to him: It is not necessary that he should go with thee.
13:27. But Absalom pressed him, so that he let Amnon and all the king’s sons go with him. And Absalom made a feast as it were the feast of a king.
13:28. And Absalom had commanded his servants, saying: Take notice when Amnon shall be drunk with wine, and when I shall say to you: Strike him, and kill him, fear not: for it is I that command you: take courage, and be valiant men.
13:29. And the servants of Absalom did to Amnon as Absalom had commanded them. And all the king’s sons arose and got up every man upon his mule, and fled.
13:30. And while they were yet in the way, a rumour came to David, saying: Absalom hath slain all the king’s sons, and there is not one of them left.
13:31. Then the king rose up, and rent his garments: and fell upon the ground, and all his servants, that stood about him, rent their garments.
13:32. But Jonadab the son of Semmaa David’s brother answering, said: Let not my lord the king think that all the king’s sons are slain: Amnon only is dead, for he was appointed by the mouth of Absalom from the day that he ravished his sister Thamar.
13:33. Now therefore let not my lord the king take this thing into his heart, saying: All the king’s sons are slain: for Amnon only is dead.
13:34. But Absalom fled away: and the young man that kept the watch, lifted up his eyes and looked, and behold there came much people by a by-way on the side of the mountain.
13:35. And Jonadab said to the king: Behold the king’s sons are come: as thy servant said, so it is.
13:36. And when he made an end of speaking, the king’s sons also appeared: and coming in they lifted up their voice, and wept: and the king also and all his servants wept very much.
13:37. But Absalom fled, and went to Tholomai the son of Ammiud the king of Gessur. And David mourned for his son every day.
13:38. And Absalom after he was fled, and come into Gessur, was there three years. And king David ceased to pursue after Absalom, because he was comforted concerning the death of Amnon.
2 Kings Chapter 14
Joab procureth Absalom’s return, and his admittance to the king’s presence.
14:1. And Joab the son of Sarvia, understanding that the king’s heart was turned to Absalom,
14:2. Sent to Thecua, and fetched from thence a wise woman: and said to her: Feign thyself to be a mourner, and put on mourning apparel, and be not anointed with oil, that thou mayest be as a woman that had a long time been mourning for one dead.
14:3. And thou shalt go in to the king, and shalt speak to him in this manner. And Joab put the words in her mouth.
14:4. And when the woman of Thecua was come in to the king, she fell before him upon the ground, and worshipped, and said: Save me, O king.
14:5. And the king said to her: What is the matter with thee? She answered: Alas, I am a widow woman: for my husband is dead.
14:6. And thy handmaid had two sons: and they quarrelled with each other in the field, and there was none to part them: and the one struck the other, and slew him.
14:7. And behold the whole kindred rising against thy handmaid, saith: Deliver him that hath slain his brother, that we may kill him for the life of his brother, whom he slew, and that we may destroy the heir: and they seek to quench my spark which is left, and will leave my husband no name, nor remainder upon the earth.
14:8. And the king said to the woman: Go to thy house, and I will give charge concerning thee.
14:9. And the woman of Thecua said to the king: Upon me, my lord be the iniquity, and upon the house of my father: but may the king and his throne be guiltless.
14:10. And the king said: If any one shall say ought against thee, bring him to me, and he shall not touch thee any more.
14:11. And she said: Let the king remember the Lord his God, that the next of kin be not multiplied to take revenge, and that they may not kill my son. And he said: As the Lord liveth, there shall not one hair of thy son fall to the earth.
14:12. Then the woman said: Let thy hand maid speak one word to my lord the king. And he said: Speak.
14:13. And the woman said: Why hast thou thought such a thing against the people of God, and why hath the king spoken this word, to sin, and not bring home again his own exile?
14:14. We all die, and like waters that return no more, we fall down into the earth: neither will God have a soul to perish, but recalleth, meaning that he that is cast off should not altogether perish.
14:15. Now therefore I am come, to speak this word to my lord the king before the people. And thy handmaid said: I will speak to the king, it maybe the king will perform the request of his handmaid.
14:16. And the king hath hearkened to me to deliver his handmaid out of the hand of all that would destroy me and my son together out of the inheritance of God.
14:17. Then let thy handmaid say, that the word of the Lord the king be made as a sacrifice. For even as an angel of God, so is my lord the king, that he is neither moved with blessing nor cursing: wherefore the Lord thy God is also with thee.
14:18. And the king answering, said to the woman: Hide not from me the thing that I ask thee. And the woman said to him: Speak, my lord the king.
14:19. And the king said: Is not the hand of Joab with thee in all this? The woman answered, and said: By the health of thy soul, my lord, O king, it is neither on the left hand, nor on the right, in all these things which my lord the king hath spoken: for thy servant Joab, he commanded me, and he put all these words into the mouth of thy handmaid.
14:20. That I should come about with this form of speech, thy servant Joab commanded this: but thou, my lord, O king, art wise, according to the wisdom of an angel of God, to understand all things upon earth.
14:21. And the king said to Joab: Behold I am appeased and have granted thy request: Go therefore and fetch back the boy Absalom.
14:22. And Joab falling down to the ground upon his face, adored, and blessed the king: and Joab said: This day thy servant hath understood, that I have found grace in thy sight, my lord, O king: for thou hast fulfilled the request of thy servant.
Blessed.... That is, and gave thanks to the king.
14:23. Then Joab arose and went to Gessur, and brought Absalom to Jerusalem.
14:24. But the king said: Let him return into his house, and let him not see my face. So Absalom returned into his house, and saw not the king’s face.
14:25. But in all Israel there was not a man so comely, and so exceedingly beautiful as Absalom: from the sole of the foot to the crown of his head there was no blemish in him.
14:26. And when he polled his hair (now he was polled once a year, because his hair was burdensome to him) he weighed the hair of his head at two hundred sicles, according to the common weight.
14:27. And there were born to Absalom three sons: and one daughter, whose name was Thamar, and she was very beautiful.
14:28. And Absalom dwelt two years in Jerusalem, and saw not the king’s face.
14:29. He sent therefore to Joab, to send him to the king: but he would not come to him. And when he had sent the second time, and he would not come to him,
14:30. He said to his servants: You know the field of Joab near my field, that hath a crop of barley: go now and set it on fire. So the servants of Absalom set the corn on fire. And Joab’s servants coming with their garments rent, said: The servants of Absalom have set part of the field on fire.
14:31. Then Joab arose, and came to Absalom to his house, and said: Why have thy servants set my corn on fire?
14:32. And Absalom answered Joab: I sent to thee beseeching thee to come to me, that I might send thee to the king, to say to him: Wherefore am I come from Gessur? it had been better for me to be there: I beseech thee therefore that I may see the face of the king: and if he be mindful of my iniquity, let him kill me.
14:33. So Joab going in to the king, told him all: and Absalom was called for, and, he went in to the king: and prostrated himself on the ground before him: and the king kissed Absalom.
2 Kings Chapter 15
Absalom’s policy and conspiracy. David is obliged to flee.
15:1. Now after these things Absalom made himself chariots, and horsemen, and fifty men to run before him.
15:2. And Absalom rising up early stood by the entrance of the gate, and when any man had business to come to the king’s judgment, Absalom called him to him, and said: Of what city art thou? He answered, and said: Thy servant is of such tribe of Israel.
15:3. And Absalom answered him: Thy words seem to me good and just. But there is no man appointed by the king to hear thee. And Absalom said:
15:4. O that they would make me judge over the land, that all that have business might come to me, that I might do them justice.
15:5. Moreover when any man came to him to salute him, he put forth his hand, and took him, and kissed him.
15:6. And this he did to all Israel that came for judgment, to be heard by the king, and he enticed the hearts of the men of Israel.
15:7. And after forty years, Absalom said to king David: Let me go, and pay my vows which I have vowed to the Lord in Hebron.
15:8. For thy servant made a vow, when he was in Gessur of Syria, saying: If the Lord shall bring me again into Jerusalem, I will offer sacrifice to the Lord.
15:9. And king David said to him: Go in peace. And he arose, and went to Hebron.
15:10. And Absalom sent spies into all the tribes of Israel, saying: As soon as you shall hear the sound of the trumpet, say ye: Absalom reigneth in Hebron.
15:11. Now there went with Absalom two hundred men out of Jerusalem that were called, going with simplicity of heart, and knowing nothing of the design.
15:12. Absalom also sent for Achitophel the Gilonite, David’s counsellor, from his city Gilo. And while he was offering sacrifices, there was a strong conspiracy, and the people running together increased with Absalom.
15:13. And there came a messenger to David, saying: All Israel with their whole heart followeth Absalom.
15:14. And David said to his servants, that were with him in Jerusalem: Arise and let us flee: for we shall not escape else from the face of Absalom: make haste to go out, lest he come and overtake us, and bring ruin upon us, and smite the city with the edge of the sword.
15:15. And the king’s servants said to him: Whatsoever our lord the king shall command, we thy servants will willingly execute.
15:16. And the king went forth, and all his household on foot: and the king left ten women his concubines to keep the house:
Concubines.... That is, wives of an inferior degree.
15:17. And the king going forth and all Israel on foot, stood afar off from the house:
15:18. And all his servants walked by him, and the bands of the Cerethi, and the Phelethi, and all the Gethites, valiant warriors, six hundred men who had followed him from Geth on foot, went before the king.
15:19. And the king said to Ethai the Gethite: Why comest thou with us: return and dwell with the king, for thou art a stranger, and art come out of thy own place.
15:20. Yesterday thou camest, and to day shalt thou be forced to go forth with us? but I shall go whither I am going: return thou, and take back thy brethren with thee, and the Lord will shew thee mercy, and truth, because thou hast shewn grace and fidelity.
15:21. And Ethai answered the king, saying: As the Lord liveth, and as my lord the king liveth: in what place soever thou shalt be, my lord, O king, either in death, or in life, there will thy servant be.
15:22. And David said to Ethai: Come, and pass over. And Ethai the Gethite passed, and all the men that were with him, and the rest of the people.
15:23. And they all wept with a loud voice, and all the people passed over: the king also himself went over the brook Cedron, and all the people marched towards the way that looketh to the desert.
15:24. And Sadoc the priest also came, and all the Levites with him carrying the ark of the covenant of God, and they set down the ark of God: and Abiathar went up, till all the people that was come out of the city had done passing.
15:25. And the king said to Sadoc: Carry back the ark of God into the city: if I shall find grace in the sight of the Lord, he will bring me again, and he will shew me it, and his tabernacle.
15:26. But if he shall say to me: Thou pleasest me not: I am ready, let him do that which is good before him.
15:27. And the king said to Sadoc the priest: O seer, return into the city in peace: and let Achimaas thy son, and Jonathan the son of Abiathar, your two sons, be with you.
15:28. Behold I will lie hid in the plains of the wilderness, till there come word from you to certify me.
15:29. So Sadoc and Abiathar carried back the ark of God into Jerusalem: and they tarried there.
15:30. But David went up by the ascent of mount Olivet, going up and weeping, walking barefoot, and with his head covered, and all the people that were with them, went up with their heads covered weeping.
Weeping, etc.... David on this occasion wept for his sins, which he knew were the cause of all his sufferings.
15:31. And it was told David that Achitophel also was in the conspiracy with Absalom, and David said: Infatuate, O Lord, I beseech thee, the counsel of Achitophel.
15:32. And when David was come to the top of the mountain, where he was about to adore the Lord, behold Chusai the Arachite, came to meet him with his garment rent and his head covered with earth.
15:33. And David said to him: If thou come with me, thou wilt be a burden to me:
15:34. But if thou return into the city, and wilt say to Absalom: I am thy servant, O king: as I have been thy father’s servant, so I will be thy servant: thou shalt defeat the counsel of Achitophel.
15:35. And thou hast with thee Sadoc, and Abiathar the priests: and what thing soever thou shalt hear out of the king’s house, thou shalt tell it to Sadoc and Abiathar the priests.
15:36. And there are with them their two sons Achimaas; the son of Sadoc, and Jonathan the son of Abiathar: and you shall send by them to me every thing that you shall hear.
15:37. Then Chusai the friend of David went into the city, and Absalom came into Jerusalem.
2 Kings Chapter 16
Siba bringeth provisions to David. Semei curseth him. Absalom defileth his father’s wives.
16:1. And when David was a little past the top of the hill, behold Siba the servant of Miphiboseth came to meet him with two asses, laden with two hundred loaves of bread, and a hundred bunches of raisins, a hundred cakes of figs, and a vessel of wine.
16:2. And the king said to Siba: What mean these things? And Siba answered: The asses are for the king’s household to sit on: and the loaves and the figs for thy servants to eat, and the wine to drink if any man be faint in the desert.
16:3. And the king said: Where is thy master’s son? And Siba answered the king: He remained in Jerusalem, saying: To day, will the house of Israel restore me the kingdom of my father.
16:4. And the king said to Siba: I give thee all that belonged to Miphiboseth. And Siba said: I beseech thee let me find grace before thee, my lord, O king.
16:5. And king David came as far as Bahurim: and behold there came out from thence a man of the kindred of the house of Saul named Semei, the son of Gera, and coming out he cursed as he went on,
16:6. And he threw stones at David, and at all the servants of king David: and all the people, and all the warriors walked on the right, and on the left side of the king.
16:7. And thus said Semei when he cursed the king: Come out, come out, thou man of blood, and thou man of Belial.
16:8. The Lord hath repaid thee for all the blood of the house of Saul: because thou hast usurped the kingdom in his stead, and the Lord hath given the kingdom into the hand of Absalom thy son: and behold thy evils press upon thee, because thou art a man of blood.
16:9. And Abisai the son of Sarvia said to the king: Why should this dead dog curse my lord the king? I will go, and cut off his head.
16:10. And the king said: What have I to do with you, ye sons of Sarvia? Let him alone and let him curse: for the Lord hath bid him curse David: and who is he that shall dare say, why hath he done so?
Hath bid him curse.... Not that the Lord was the author of Semei’s sin, which proceeded purely from his own malice, and the abuse of his free will. But that knowing, and suffering his malicious disposition to break out on this occasion, he made use of him as his instrument to punish David for his sins.
16:11. And the king said to Abisai, and to all his servants: Behold my son, who came forth from my bowels, seeketh my life: how much more now a son of Jemini? let him alone that he may curse as the Lord hath bidden him.
16:12. Perhaps the Lord may look upon my affliction, and the Lord may render me good for the cursing of this day.
16:13. And David and his men with him went by the way. And Semei by the hill’s side went over against him, cursing, and casting stones at him, and scattering earth.
16:14. And the king and all the people with him came weary, and refreshed themselves there.
16:15. But Absalom and all his people came into Jerusalem, and Achitophel was with him.
16:16. And when Chusai the Arachite, David’s friend, was come to Absalom, he said to him: God save thee, O king, God save thee, O king.
16:17. And Absalom said to him, Is this thy kindness to thy friend? Why wentest thou not with thy friend?
16:18. And Chusai answered Absalom: Nay: for I will be his, whom the Lord hath chosen, and all this people, and all Israel, and with him will I abide.
16:19. Besides this, whom shall I serve? is it not the king’s son? as I have served thy father, so will I serve thee also.
16:20. And Absalom said to Achitophel: Consult what we are to do.
16:21. And Achitophel said to Absalom: Go in to the concubines of thy father, whom he hath left to keep the house: that when all Israel shall hear that thou hast disgraced thy father, their hands may be strengthened with thee.
Their hands may be strengthened, etc.... The people might apprehend lest Absalom should be reconciled to his father, and therefore they followed him with some fear of being left in the lurch, till they saw such a crime committed as seemed to make a reconciliation impossible.
16:22. So they spread a tent for Absalom on the top of the house, and he went in to his father’s concubines before all Israel.
16:23. Now the counsel of Achitophel, which he gave in those days, was as if a man should consult God: so was all the counsel of Achitophel, both when he was with David, and when he was with Absalom.
2 Kings Chapter 17
Achitophel’s counsel is defeated by Chusai: who sendeth intelligence to David. Achitophel hangeth himself.
17:1. And Achitophel said to Absalom: I will choose me twelve thousand men, and I will arise and pursue after David this night.
17:2. And coming upon him (for he is now weary, and weak handed) I will defeat him: and when all the people is put to flight that is with him, I will kill the king who will be left alone.
17:3. And I will bring back all the people, as if they were but one man: for thou seekest but one man: and all the people shall be in peace.
17:4. And his saying pleased Absalom, and all the ancients of Israel.
17:5. But Absalom said: Call Chusai the Arachite, and let us hear what he also saith.
17:6. And when Chusai was come to Absalom, Absalom said to him: Achitophel hath spoken after this manner: shall we do it or not? what counsel dost thou give?
17:7. And Chusai said to Absalom: The counsel that Achitophel hath given this time is not good.
17:8. And again Chusai said: Thou knowest thy father, and the men that are with him, that they are very valiant, and bitter in their mind, as a bear raging in the wood when her whelps are taken away: and thy father is a warrior, and will not lodge with the people.
17:9. Perhaps he now lieth hid in pits, or in some other place where he list: and when any one shall fall at the first, every one that heareth it shall say: There is a slaughter among the people that followed Absalom.
17:10. And the most valiant man whose heart is as the heart of a lion, shall melt for fear: for all the people of Israel know thy father to be a valiant man, and that all who are with him are valiant.
17:11. But this seemeth to me to be good counsel: Let all Israel be gathered to thee, from Dan to Bersabee, as the sand of the sea which cannot be numbered: and thou shalt be in the midst of them.
17:12. And we shall come upon him in what place soever he shall be found: and we shall cover him, as the dew falleth upon the ground, and we shall not leave of the men that are with him, not so much as one.
17:13. And if he shall enter into any city, all Israel shall cast ropes round about that city, and we will draw it into the river, so that there shall not be found so much as one small stone thereof.
17:14. And Absalom, and all the men of Israel said: The counsel of Chusai the Arachite is better than the counsel of Achitophel: and by the will of the Lord the profitable counsel of Achitophel was defeated, that the Lord might bring evil upon Absalom.
17:15. And Chusai said to Sadoc and Abiathar the priests: Thus and thus did Achitophel counsel Absalom, and the ancients of Israel: and thus and thus did I counsel them.
17:16. Now therefore send quickly, and tell David, saying: Tarry not this night in the plains of the wilderness, but without delay pass over: lest the king be swallowed up, and all the people that is with him.
17:17. And Jonathan and Achimaas stayed by the fountain Rogel: and there went a maid and told them: and they went forward, to carry the message to king David, for they might not be seen, nor enter into the city.
17:18. But a certain boy saw them, and told Absalom: but they making haste went into the house of a certain man in Bahurim, who had a well in his court, and they went down into it.
17:19. And a woman took, and spread a covering over the mouth of the well, as it were to dry sodden barley and so the thing was not known.
17:20. And when Absalom’s servants were come into the house, they said to the woman: Where is Achimaas and Jonathan? and the woman answered them: They passed on in haste, after they had tasted a little water. But they that sought them, when they found them not, returned into Jerusalem.
17:21. And when they were gone, they came up out of the well, and going on told king David, and said: Arise, and pass quickly over the river: for this manner of counsel has Achitophel given against you.
17:22. So David arose, and all the people that were with him, and they passed over the Jordan, until it grew light, and not one of them was left that was not gone over the river.
17:23. But Achitophel seeing that his counsel was not followed, saddled his ass, and arose and went home to his house and to his city, and putting his house in order, hanged himself, and was buried in the sepulchre of his father.
17:24. But David came to the camp, and Absalom passed over the Jordan, he and all the men of Israel with him.
To the camp.... The city of Mahanaim, the name of which, in Hebrew, signifies The camp. It was a city of note at that time, as appears from its having been chosen by Isboseth for the place of his residence.
17:25. Now Absalom appointed Amasa in Joab’s stead over the army: and Amasa was the son of a man who was called Jethra, of Jezrael, who went in to Abigail the daughter of Naas, the sister of Sarvia who was the mother of Joab.
17:26. And Israel camped with Absalom in the land of Galaad.
17:27. And when David was come to the camp, Sobi the son of Naas of Rabbath of the children of Ammon, and Machir the son of Ammihel of Lodabar and Berzellai the Galaadite of Rogelim,
17:28. Brought him beds, and tapestry, and earthen vessels, and wheat, and barley, and meal, and parched corn, and beans, and lentils, and fried pulse,
17:29. And honey, and butter, and sheep, and fat calves, and they gave to David and the people that were with him, to eat: for they suspected that the people were faint with hunger and thirst in the wilderness.
2 Kings Chapter 18
Absalom is defeated, and slain by Joab. David mourneth for him.
18:1. And David, having reviewed his people, appointed over them captains of thousands and of hundreds,
18:2. And sent forth a third part of the people under the hand of Joab, and a third part under the hand of Abisai the son of Sarvia Joab’s brother, and a third part under the hand of Ethai, who was of Geth: and the king said to the people: I also will go forth with you.
18:3. And the people answered: Thou shalt not go forth: for if we flee away, they will not much mind us: or if half of us should fall, they will not greatly care: for thou alone art accounted for ten thousand: it is better therefore that thou shouldst be in the city to succour us.
18:4. And the king said to them: What seemeth good to you, that will I do. And the king stood by the gate: and all the people went forth by their troops, by hundreds and by thousands.
18:5. And the king commanded Joab, and Abisai, and Ethai, saying: Save me the boy Absalom. And all the people heard the king giving charge to all the princes concerning Absalom.
18:6. So the people went out into the field against Israel, and the battle was fought in the forest of Ephraim.
18:7. And the people of Israel were defeated there by David’s army, and a great slaughter was made that day of twenty thousand men.
18:8. And the battle there was scattered over the face of all the country, and there were many more of the people whom the forest consumed, than whom the sword devoured that day.
Consumed.... Viz., by pits and precipices.
18:9. And it happened that Absalom met the servants of David, riding on a mule: and as the mule went under a thick and large oak, his head stuck in the oak: and while he hung between the heaven and the earth, the mule on which he rode passed on.
18:10. And one saw this and told Joab, saying: I saw Absalom hanging upon an oak.
18:11. And Joab said to the man that told him: If thou sawest him, why didst thou not stab him to the ground, and I would have given thee ten sicles of silver, and a belt?
18:12. And he said to Joab: If thou wouldst have paid down in my hands a thousand pieces of silver, I would not lay my hands upon the king’s son for in our hearing the king charged thee, and Abisai, and Ethai, saying: Save me the boy Absalom.
18:13. Yea and if I should have acted boldly against my own life, this could not have been hid from the king, and wouldst thou have stood by me?
18:14. And Joab said: Not as thou wilt, but I will set upon him in thy sight. So he took three lances in his hand, and thrust them into the heart of Absalom: and whilst he yet panted for life, sticking on the oak,
18:15. Ten young men, armourbearers of Joab, ran up, and striking him slew him.
18:16. And Joab sounded the trumpet, and kept back the people from pursuing after Israel in their flight, being willing to spare the multitude.
18:17. And they took Absalom, and cast him into a great pit in the forest, and they laid an exceeding great heap of stones upon him: but all Israel fled to their own dwellings.
18:18. Now Absalom had reared up for himself, in his lifetime, a pillar, which is in the king’s valley: for he said: I have no son, and this shall be the monument of my name. And he called the pillar by his own name, and it is called the hand of Absalom, to this day.
No son.... The sons mentioned above, chap. 14.27, were dead when this pillar was erected: unless we suppose he raised this pillar before they were born.
18:19. And Achimaas the son of Sadoc said: I will run and tell the king, that the Lord hath done judgment for him from the hand of his enemies.
18:20. And Joab said to him: Thou shalt not be the messenger this day, but shalt bear tidings another day: this day I will not have thee bear tidings, because the king’s son is dead.
18:21. And Joab said to Chusai: Go, and tell the king what thou hast seen. Chusai bowed down to Joab, and ran.
18:22. Then Achimaas the son of Sadoc said to Joab again: Why might not I also run after Chusai? And Joab said to him: Why wilt thou run, my son? thou wilt not be the bearer of good tidings.
18:23. He answered: But what if I run? And he said to him: Run. Then Achimaas running by a nearer way passed Chusai.
18:24. And David sat between the two gates: and the watchman that was on the top of the gate upon the wall, lifting up his eyes, saw a man running alone.
18:25. And crying out he told the king: and the king said: If he be alone, there are good tidings in his mouth. And as he was coming apace, and drawing nearer,
18:26. The watchman saw another man running, and crying aloud from above, he said: I see another man running alone. And the king said: He also is a good messenger.
18:27. And the watchman said: The running of the foremost seemeth to me like the running of Achimaas the son of Sadoc. And the king said: He is a good man: and cometh with good news.
18:28. And Achimaas crying out, said to the king: God save thee, O king. And falling down before the king with his face to the ground, he said: Blessed be the Lord thy God, who hath shut up the men that have lifted up their hands against the lord my king.
18:29. And the king said: Is the young man Absalom safe? And Achimaas said: I saw a great tumult, O king, when thy servant Joab sent me thy servant: I know nothing else.
18:30. And the king said to him: Pass, and stand here.
18:31. And when he had passed, and stood still, Chusai appeared and coming up he said: I bring good tidings, my lord, the king, for the Lord hath judged for thee this day from the hand of all that have risen up against thee.
18:32. And the king said to Chusai: Is the young man Absalom safe? And Chusai answering him, said: Let the enemies of my lord, the king, and all that rise against him unto evil, be as the young man is.
18:33. The king therefore being much moved, went up to the high chamber over the gate, and wept. And as he went he spoke in this manner: My son Absalom, Absalom my son: would to God that I might die for thee, Absalom my son, my son Absalom.
Would to God.... David lamented the death of Absalom, because of the wretched state in which he died: and therefore would have been glad to have saved his life, even by dying for him. In which he was a figure of Christ weeping, praying and dying for his rebellious children, and even for them that crucified him.
2 Kings Chapter 19
David, at the remonstrances of Joab, ceaseth his mourning. He is invited back and met by Semei and Miphiboseth: a strife between the men of Juda and the men of Israel.
19:1. And it was told Joab, that the king wept and mourned for his son:
19:2. And the victory that day was turned into mourning unto all the people: for the people heard say that day: The king grieveth for his son.
19:3. And the people shunned the going into the city that day as a people would do that hath turned their backs, and fled away from the battle.
19:4. And the king covered his head, and cried with a loud voice: O my son Absalom, O Absalom my son, O my son.
19:5. Then Joab going into the house to the king, said: Thou hast shamed this day the faces of all thy servants, that have saved thy life, and the lives of thy sons, and of thy daughters, and the lives of thy wives, and the lives of thy concubines.
19:6. Thou lovest them that hate thee, and thou hatest them that love thee: and thou hast shewn this day that thou carest not for thy nobles, nor for thy servants: and I now plainly perceive that if Absalom had lived, and all we had been slain, then it would have pleased thee.
19:7. Now therefore arise, and go out, and speak to the satisfaction of thy servants: for I swear to thee by the Lord, that if thou wilt not go forth, there will not tarry with thee so much as one this night: and that will be worse to thee, than all the evils that have befallen thee from thy youth until now.
19:8. Then the king arose and sat in the gate: and it was told to all the people that the king sat in the gate: and all the people came before the king, but Israel fled to their own dwellings.
19:9. And all the people were at strife in all the tribes of Israel, saying: The king delivered us out of the hand of our enemies, and he saved us out of the hand of the Philistines: and now he is fled out of the land for Absalom.
19:10. But Absalom, whom we anointed over us, is dead in the battle: how long are you silent, and bring not back the king?
19:11. And king David sent to Sadoc, and Abiathar the priests, saying: Speak to the ancients of Juda, saying: Why are you the last to bring the king back to his house? (For the talk of all Israel was come to the king in his house.)
19:12. You are my brethren, you are my bone, and my flesh, why are you the last to bring back the king?
19:13. And say ye to Amasa: Art not thou my bone, and my flesh? So do God to me and add more, if thou be not the chief captain of the army before me always in the place of Joab.
19:14. And he inclined the heart of all the men of Juda, as it were of one man: and they sent to the king, saying: Return thou, and all thy servants.
19:15. And the king returned and came as far as the Jordan, and all Juda came as far as Galgal to meet the king, and to bring him over the Jordan.
19:16. And Semei the son of Gera the son of Jemini of Bahurim, made haste and went down with the men of Juda to meet king David,
19:17. With a thousand men of Benjamin, and Siba the servant of the house of Saul: and his fifteen sons, and twenty servants were with him: and going over the Jordan,
19:18.They passed the fords before the king, that they might help over the king’s household, and do according to his commandment. And Semei the son of Gera falling down before the king, when he was come over the Jordan,
19:19. Said to him: Impute not to me, my lord, the iniquity, nor remember the injuries of thy servant on the day that thou, my lord, the king, wentest out of Jerusalem, nor lay it up in thy heart, O king.
19:20. For I thy servant acknowledge my sin: and therefore I am come this day the first of all the house of Joseph, and am come down to meet my lord the king.
19:21. But Abisai the son of Sarvia answering, said: Shall Semei for these words not be put to death, because he cursed the Lord’s anointed?
19:22. And David said: What have I to do with you, ye sons of Sarvia? why are you a satan this day to me? shall there any man be killed this day in Israel? do not I know that this day I am made king over Israel?
19:23. And the king said to Semei: Thou shalt not die. And he swore unto him.
19:24. And Miphiboseth the son of Saul came down to meet the king, and he had neither washed his feet, nor trimmed his beard: nor washed his garments from the day that the king went out, until the day of his return in peace.
19:25. And when he met the king at Jerusalem, the king said to him: Why camest thou not with me, Miphiboseth?
19:26. And he answering, said: My lord, O king, my servant despised me: for I thy servant spoke to him to saddle me an ass, that I might get on and go with the king: for I thy servant am lame.
19:27. Moreover he hath also accused me thy servant to thee, my lord the king: but thou my lord the king art as an angel of God, do what pleaseth thee.
19:28. For all of my father’s house were no better than worthy of death before my lord the king; and thou hast set me thy servant among the guests of thy table: what just complaint therefore have I? or what right to cry any more to the king?
19:29. Then the king said to him: Why speakest thou any more? what I have said is determined: thou and Siba divide the possessions.
19:30. And Miphiboseth answered the king: Yea, let him take all, forasmuch as my lord the king is returned peaceably into his house.
19:31. Berzellai also the Galaadite coming down from Rogelim, brought the king over the Jordan, being ready also to wait on him beyond the river.
19:32. Now Berzellai the Galaadite was of a great age, that is to say, fourscore years old, and he provided the king with sustenance when he abode in the camp: for he was a man exceeding rich.
19:33. And the king said to Berzellai: Come with me that thou mayest rest secure with me in Jerusalem.
19:34. And Berzellai said to the king: How many are the days of the years of my life, that I should go up with the king to Jerusalem?
19:35. I am this day fourscore years old, are my senses quick to discern sweet and bitter? or can meat or drink delight thy servant? or can I hear any more the voice of singing men and singing women? why should thy servant be a burden to my lord, the king?
19:36. I thy servant will go on a little way from the Jordan with thee: I need not this recompense.
19:37. But I beseech thee let thy servant return, and die in my own city, and be buried by the sepulchre of my father, and of my mother. But there is thy servant Chamaam, let him go with thee, my lord, the king, and do to him whatsoever seemeth good to thee.
19:38. Then the king said to him: Let Chamaam go over with me, and I will do for him whatsoever shall please thee, and all that thou shalt ask of me, thou shalt obtain.
19:39. And when all the people and the king had passed over the Jordan, the king kissed Berzellai, and blessed him: and he returned to his own place.
19:40. So the king went on to Galgal, and Chamaam with him. Now all the people of Juda had brought the king over, and only half of the people of Israel were there.
19:41. Therefore all the men of Israel running together to the king, said to him: Why have our brethren the men of Juda stolen thee away, and have brought the king and his household over the Jordan, and all the men of David with him?
19:42. And all the men of Juda answered the men of Israel: Because the king is nearer to me: why art thou angry for this matter? have we eaten any thing of the king’s, or have any gifts been given us?
19:43. And the men of Israel answered the men of Juda, and said: I have ten parts in the king more than thou, and David belongeth to me more than to thee: why hast thou done me a wrong, and why was it not told me first, that I might bring back my king? And the men of Juda answered more harshly than the men of Israel.
2 Kings Chapter 20
Seba’s rebellion. Amasa is slain by Joab. Abela is besieged, but upon the citizens casting over the wall the head of Seba, Joab departeth with all his army.
20:1. And there happened to be there a man of Belial, whose name was Seba, the son of Bochri, a man of Jemini: and he sounded the trumpet, and said: We have no part in David, nor inheritance in the son of Isai: return to thy dwellings, O Israel.
20:2. And all Israel departed from David, and followed Seba the son of Bochri: but the men of Juda stuck to their king from the Jordan unto Jerusalem.
20:3. And when the king was come into his house at Jerusalem, he took the ten women his concubines, whom he had left to keep the house, and put them inward, allowing them provisions: and he went not in unto them, but they were shut up unto the day of their death living in widowhood.
20:4. And the king said to Amasa: Assemble to me all the men of Juda against the third day, and be thou here present.
20:5. So Amasa went to assemble the men of Juda, but he tarried beyond the set time which the king had appointed him.
20:6. And David said to Abisai: Now will Seba the son of Bochri do us more harm than did Absalom: take thou therefore the servants of thy lord, and pursue after him, lest he find fenced cities, and escape us.
20:7. So Joab’s men went out with him, and the Cerethi and the Phelethi: and all the valiant men went out of Jerusalem to pursue after Seba the son of Bochri.
20:8. And when they were at the great stone which is in Gabaon, Amasa coming met them. And Joab had on a close coat of equal length with his habit, and over it was girded with a sword hanging down to his flank, in a scabbard, made in such manner as to come out with the least motion and strike.
20:9. And Joab said to Amasa: God save thee, my brother. And he took Amasa by the chin with his right hand to kiss him.
20:10. But Amasa did not take notice of the sword, which Joab had, and he struck him in the side, and shed out his bowels to the ground, and gave him not a second wound, and he died. And Joab, and Abisai his brother pursued after Seba the son of Bochri.
20:11. In the mean time some men of Joab’s company stopping at the dead body of Amasa, said: Behold he that would have been in Joab’s stead the companion of David.
20:12. And Amasa imbrued with blood, lay in the midst of the way. A certain man saw this that all the people stood still to look upon him, so he removed Amasa out of the highway into the field, and covered him with a garment, that they who passed might, not stop on his account.
20:13. And when he was removed out of the way, all the people went on following Joab to pursue after Seba the son of Bochri.
20:14. Now he had passed through all the tribes of Israel unto Abela and Bethmaacha: and all the chosen men were gathered together unto him.
Abela and Bethmaacha.... Cities of the tribe of Nephtali.
20:15. And they came, and besieged him in Abela, and in Bethmaacha, and they cast up works round the city, and the city was besieged: and all the people that were with Joab, laboured to throw down the walls.
20:16. And a wise woman cried out from the city: Hear, hear, and say to Joab: Come near hither, and I will speak with thee.
20:17. And when he was come near to her, she said to him: Art thou Joab? And he answered: I am. And she spoke thus to him: Hear the words of thy handmaid. He answered: I do hear.
20:18. And she again said: A saying was used in the old proverb: They that inquire, let them inquire in Abela: and so they made an end.
20:19. Am not I she that answer truth in Israel, and thou seekest to destroy the city, and to overthrow a mother in Israel? Why wilt thou throw down the inheritance of the Lord?
20:20. And Joab answering said: God forbid, God forbid that I should, I do not throw down, nor destroy.
20:21. The matter is not so, but a man of mount Ephraim, Seba the son of Bochri by name, hath lifted up his hand against king David: deliver him only, and we will depart from the city. And the woman said to Joab: Behold his head shall be thrown to thee from the wall.
20:22. So she went to all the people, and spoke to them wisely: and they cut off the head of Seba the son of Bochri, and cast it out to Joab. And he sounded the trumpet, and they departed from the city, every one to their home: and Joab returned to Jerusalem to the king.
20:23. So Joab was over all the army of Israel: and Banaias the son of Joiada was over the Cerethites and Phelethites,
20:24. But Aduram over the tributes: and Josaphat the son of Ahilud was recorder.
20:25. And Siva was scribe: and Sadoc and Abiathar, priests.
20:26. And Ira the Jairite was the priest of David.
2 Kings Chapter 21
A famine of three years, for the sin of Saul against the Gabaonites, at whose desire seven of Saul’s race are crucified. War again with the Philistines.
21:1. And there was a famine in the days of David for three years successively: and David consulted the oracle of the Lord. And the Lord said: It is for Saul, and his bloody house, because he slew the Gabaonites.
21:2. Then the king, calling for the Gabaonites, said to them: (Now the Gabaonites were not of the children of Israel, but the remains of the Amorrhites: and the children of Israel had sworn to them, and Saul sought to slay them out of zeal, as it were for the children of Israel and Juda:)
21:3. David therefore said to the Gabaonites: What shall I do for you? and what shall be the atonement for you, that you may bless the inheritance of the Lord?
21:4. And the Gabaonites said to him: We have no contest about silver and gold, but against Saul and against his house: neither do we desire that any man be slain of Israel. And the king said to them: What will you then that I should do for you?
21:5. And they said to the king: The man that crushed us and oppressed us unjustly, we must destroy in such manner that there be not so much as one left of his stock in all the coasts of Israel.
21:6. Let seven men of his children be delivered unto us, that we may crucify them to the Lord in Gabaa of Saul, once the chosen of the Lord. And the king said: I will give them.
21:7. And the king spared Miphiboseth the son of Jonathan the son of Saul, because of the oath of the Lord, that had been between David and Jonathan the son of Saul.
21:8. So the king took the two sons of Respha the daughter of Aia, whom she bore to Saul, Armoni, and Miphiboseth: and the five sons of Michol the daughter of Saul, whom she bore to Hadriel the son of Berzellai, that was of Molathi:
Of Michol.... They were the sons of Merob, who was married to Hadriel: but they are here called the sons of Michol, because she adopted them, and brought them up as her own.
21:9. And gave them into the hands of the Gabaonites: and they crucified them on a hill before the Lord: and these seven died together in the first days of the harvest, when the barley began to be reaped.
21:10. And Respha the daughter of Aia took haircloth, and spread it under her upon the rock from the beginning of the harvest, till water dropped upon them out of heaven: and suffered neither the birds to tear them by day, nor the beasts by night.
21:11. And it was told David, what Respha the daughter of Aia, the concubine of Saul, had done.
21:12. And David went, and took the bones of Saul, and the bones of Jonathan his son from the men of Jabes Galaad, who had stolen them from the street of Bethsan, where the Philistines had hanged them when they had slain Saul in Gelboe.
21:13. And he brought from thence the bones of Saul, and the bones of Jonathan his son, and they gathered up the bones of them that were crucified,
21:14. And they buried them with the bones of Saul, and of Jonathan his son in the land of Benjamin, in the side, in the sepulchre of Cis his father: and they did all that the king had commanded, and God shewed mercy again to the land after these things.
21:15. And the Philistines made war again against Israel, and David went down, and his servants with him, and fought against the Philistines. And David growing faint,
21:16. Jesbibenob, who was of the race of Arapha, the iron of whose spear weighed three hundred ounces, being girded with a new sword, attempted to kill David.
21:17. And Abisai the son of Sarvia rescued him, and striking the Philistine killed him. Then David’s men swore unto him saying: Thou shalt go no more out with us to battle, lest thou put out the lamp of Israel.
21:18. There was also a second battle in Gob against the Philistines: then Sobochai of Husathi slew Saph of the race of Arapha of the family of the giants.
21:19. And there was a third battle in Gob against the Philistines, in which Adeodatus the son of the Forrest an embroiderer of Bethlehem slew Goliath the Gethite, the shaft of whose spear was like a weaver’s beam.
Adeodatus the son of the Forrest.... So it is rendered in the Latin Vulgate, by giving the interpretation of the Hebrew names, which are Elhanan the son of Jaare.
21:20. A fourth battle was in Geth: where there was a man of great stature, that had six fingers on each hand, and six toes on each foot, four and twenty in all, and he was of the race of Arapha.
21:21. And he reproached Israel: and Jonathan the son of Samae the brother of David slew him.
21:22. These four were born of Arapha in Geth, and they fell by the hand of David, and of his servants.
2 Kings Chapter 22
King David’s psalm of thanksgiving for his deliverance from all his enemies.
22:1. And David spoke to the Lord the words of this canticle, in the day that the Lord delivered him out of the hand of all his enemies, and out of the hand of Saul,
22:2. And he said: The Lord is my rock, and my strength, and my saviour.
22:3. God is my strong one, in him will I trust: my shield, and the horn of my salvation: he lifteth me up, and is my refuge: my saviour, thou wilt deliver me from iniquity.
22:4. I will call on the Lord who is worthy to be praised: and I shall be saved from my enemies.
22:5. For the pangs of death have surrounded me: the floods of Belial have made me afraid.
22:6. The cords of hell compassed me: the snares of death prevented me.
22:7. In my distress I will call upon the Lord, and I will cry to my God: and he will hear my voice out of his temple, and my cry shall come to his ears.
22:8. The earth shook and trembled, the foundations of the mountains were moved, and shaken, because he was angry with them.
22:9. A smoke went up from his nostrils, and a devouring fire out of his mouth: coals were kindled by it.
22:10. He bowed the heavens, and came down: and darkness was under his feet.
22:11. And he rode upon the cherubims, and flew: and slid upon the wings of the wind.
22:12. He made darkness a covering round about him: dropping waters out of the clouds of the heavens.
22:13. By the brightness before him, the coals of fire were kindled.
22:14. The Lord shall thunder from heaven: and the most high shall give forth his voice.
22:15. He shot arrows and scattered them: lightning, and consumed them.
22:16. And the overflowings of the sea appeared, and the foundations of the world were laid open at the rebuke of the Lord, at the blast of the spirit of his wrath.
22:17. He sent from on high, and took me, and drew me out of many waters.
22:18. He delivered me from my most mighty enemy, and from them that hated me: for they were too strong for me.
22:19. He prevented me in the day of my affliction, and the Lord became my stay.
22:20. And he brought me forth into a large place, he delivered me, because I pleased him.
22:21. The Lord will reward me according to my justice: and according to the cleanness of my hands he will render to me.
22:22. Because I have kept the ways of the Lord, and have not wickedly departed from my God.
22:23. For all his judgments are in my sight: and his precepts I have not removed from me.
22:24. And I shall be perfect with him: and shall keep myself from my iniquity.
22:25. And the Lord will recompense me according to my justice: and according to the cleanness of my hands in the sight of his eyes.
22:26. With the holy one thou wilt be holy: and with the valiant perfect.
22:27. With the elect thou wilt be elect: and with the perverse thou wilt be perverted.
22:28. And the poor people thou wilt save: and with thy eyes thou shalt humble the haughty.
22:29. For thou art my lamp O Lord: and thou, O Lord, wilt enlighten my darkness.
22:30. For in thee I will run girded: in my God I will leap over the wall.
22:31. God, his way is immaculate, the word of the Lord is tried by fire: he is the shield of all that trust in him.
22:32. Who is God but the Lord: and who is strong but our God?
22:33. God who hath girded me with strength, and made my way perfect.
22:34. Making my feet like the feet of harts, and setting me upon my high places.
22:35. He teacheth my hands to war: and maketh my arms like a bow of brass.
22:36. Thou hast given me the shield of my salvation: and thy mildness hath multiplied me.
22:37. Thou shalt enlarge my steps under me: and my ankles shall not fail.
22:38. I will pursue after my enemies, and crush them: and will not return again till I consume them.
22:39. I will consume them and break them in pieces, so that they shall not rise: they shall fall under my feet.
22:40. Thou hast girded me with strength to battle: thou hast made them that resisted me to bow under me.
22:41. My enemies thou hast made to turn their back to me: them that hated me, and I shall destroy them.
22:42. They shall cry, and there shall be none to save: to the Lord, and he shall not hear them.
22:43. I shall beat them as small as the dust of the earth: I shall crush them and spread them abroad like the mire of the streets.
22:44. Thou wilt save me from the contradictions of my people: thou wilt keep me to be the head of the Gentiles: the people which I know not, shall serve me,
22:45. The sons of the stranger will resist me, at the hearing of the ear they will obey me.
22:46. The strangers are melted away, and shall be straitened in their distresses.
22:47. The Lord liveth, and my God is blessed: and the strong God of my salvation shall be exalted:
22:48. God who giveth me revenge, and bringest down people under me,
22:49. Who bringest me forth from my enemies, and liftest me up from them that resist me: from the wicked man thou shalt deliver me.
22:50. Therefore will I give thanks to thee, O Lord, among the Gentiles, and will sing to thy name.
22:51. Giving great salvation to his king, and shewing mercy to David his anointed, and to his seed for ever.
2 Kings Chapter 23
The last words of David. A catalogue of his valiant men.
23:1. Now these are David’s last words. David the son of Isai said: The man to whom it was appointed concerning the Christ of the God of Jacob, the excellent psalmist of Israel said:
23:2. The spirit of the Lord hath spoken by me and his word by my tongue.
23:3. The God of Israel said to me, the strong one of Israel spoke, the ruler of men, the just ruler in the fear of God.
23:4. As the light of the morning, when the sun riseth, shineth in the morning without clouds, and as the grass springeth out of the earth by rain.
As the light, etc.... So shall be the kingdom of Christ.
23:5. Neither is my house so great with God, that he should make with me an eternal covenant, firm in all things and assured. For he is all my salvation, and all my will: neither is there ought thereof that springeth not up.
Neither is my house, etc.... As if he should say: This everlasting covenant was not due to my house: but purely owing to his bounty; who is all my salvation, and my will: that is, who hath always saved me, and granted me what I beseeched of him; so that I and my house, through his blessing, have sprung up, and succeeded in all things.
23:6. But transgressors shall all of them be plucked up as thorns: which are not taken away with hands.
23:7. And if a man will touch them, he must be armed with iron and with the staff of a lance: but they shall be set on fire and burnt to nothing.
23:8. These are the names of the valiant men of David: Jesbaham sitting in the chair was the wisest chief among the three, he was like the most tender little worm of the wood, who killed eight hundred men at one onset.
Jesbaham.... The son of Hachamoni. For this was the name of this hero, as appears from 1 Chron. or Paralip. 11.—Ibid. Most tender, etc.... He appeared like one tender and weak, but was indeed most valiant and strong. It seems the Latin has here given the interpretation of the Hebrew name of the hero, to whom Jesbaham was like, instead of the name itself, which was Adino the Eznite, one much renowned of old for his valour.
23:9. After him was Eleazar the son of Dodo the Ahohite, one of the three valiant men that were with David when they defied the Philistines, and they were there gathered together to battle.
Dodo.... In Latin, Patrui ejus, which is the interpretation of the Hebrew name Dodo. The same occurs in ver. 24.
23:10. And when the men of Israel were gone away, he stood and smote the Philistines till his hand was weary, and grew stiff with the sword: and the Lord wrought a great victory that day: and the people that were fled away, returned to take spoils of them that were slain.
23:11. And after him was Semma the son of Age of Arari. And the Philistines were gathered together in a troop: for there was a field full of lentils. And when the people were fled from the face of the Philistines,
23:12. He stood in the midst of the field, and defended it, and defeated the Philistines: and the Lord gave a great victory.
23:13. Moreover also before this the three who were princes among the thirty, went down and came to David in the harvest time into the cave of Odollam: and the camp of the Philistines was in the valley of the giants.
23:14. And David was then in a hold: and there was a garrison of the Philistines then in Bethlehem.
23:15. And David longed, and said: O that some man would get me a drink of the water out of the cistern, that is in Bethlehem, by the gate.
23:16. And the three valiant men broke through the camp of the Philistines, and drew water out of the cistern of Bethlehem, that was by the gate, and brought it to David: but he would not drink, but offered it to the Lord,
23:17. Saying: The Lord be merciful to me, that I may not do this: shall I drink the blood of these men that went, and the peril of their lives? therefore he would not drink. These things did these three mighty men.
23:18. Abisai also the brother of Joab, the son of Sarvia, was chief among three: and he lifted up his spear against three hundred whom he slew, and he was renowned among the three,
23:19. And the noblest of three, and was their chief, but to the three first he attained not.
23:20. And Banaias the son of Joiada a most valiant man, of great deeds, of Cabseel: he slew the two lions of Moab, and he went down, and slew a lion in the midst of a pit, in the time of snow.
23:21. He also slew an Egyptian, a man worthy to be a sight, having a spear in his hand: but he went down to him with a rod, and forced the spear out of the hand of the Egyptian, and slew him with his own spear.
23:22. These things did Banaias the son of Joiada.
23:23. And he was renowned among the three valiant men, who were the most honourable among the thirty: but he attained not to the first three: and David made him of his privy council.
23:24. Asael the brother of Joab was one of the thirty, Elehanan the son of Dodo of Bethlehem.
23:25. Semma of Harodi, Elica of Harodi,
23:26. Heles of Phalti, Hira the son of Acces of Thecua,
23:27. Abiezer of Anathoth, Mobonnai of Husati,
23:28. Selmon the Ahohite, Maharai the Netophathite,
23:29. Heled the son of Baana, also a Netophathite, Ithai the son of Ribai of Gabaath of the children of Benjamin,
23:30. Banaia the Pharathonite, Heddai of the torrent Gaas,
23:31. Abialbon the Arbathite, Azmaveth of Beromi,
23:32. Eliaba of Salaboni. The sons of Jassen, Jonathan,
23:33. Semma of Orori, Aliam the son of Sarar the Arorite,
23:34. Eliphelet the son of Aasbai the son of Machati, Eliam the son of Achitophel the Gelonite,
23:35. Hesrai of Carmel, Pharai of Arbi,
23:36. Igaal the son of Nathan of Soba, Bonni of Gadi,
23:37. Selec of Ammoni, Naharai the Berothite, armourbearer of Joab the son of Sarvia,
23:38. Ira the Jethrite, Gareb also a Jethrite;
23:39. Urias the Hethite, thirty and seven in all.
2 Kings Chapter 24
David numbereth the people: God sendeth a pestilence, which is stopt by David’s prayer and sacrifice.
24:1. And the anger of the Lord was again kindled against Israel, and stirred up David among them, saying: Go, number Israel and Juda.
Stirred up, etc.... This stirring up was not the doing of God, but of Satan; as it is expressly declared, 1 Chron. or Paralip. 21.1.
24:2. And the king said to Joab the general of his army: Go through all the tribes of Israel from Dan to Bersabee, and number ye the people that I may know the number of them.
24:3. And Joab said to the king: The Lord thy God increase thy people, and make them as many more as they are now, and again multiply them a hundredfold in the sight of my lord the king: but what meaneth my lord the king by this kind of thing?
24:4. But the king’s words prevailed over the words of Joab, and of the captains of the army: and Joab, and the captains of the soldiers went out from the presence of the king, to number the people of Israel.
24:5. And when they had passed the Jordan, they came to Aroer to the right side of the city, which is in the vale of Gad.
24:6. And by Jazer they passed into Galaad, and to the lower land of Hodsi, and they came into the woodlands of Dan. And going about by Sidon,
24:7. They passed near the walls of Tyre, and all the land of the Hevite, and the Chanaanite, and they came to the south of Juda into Bersabee:
24:8. And having gone through the whole land, after nine months and twenty days, they came to Jerusalem.
24:9. And Joab gave up the sum of the number of the people to the king, and there were found of Israel eight hundred thousand valiant men that drew the sword: and of Juda five hundred thousand fighting men.
24:10. But David’s heart struck him, after the people were numbered: and David said to the Lord: I have sinned very much in what I have done: but I pray thee, O Lord, to take away the iniquity of thy servant, because I have done exceeding foolishly.
David’s heart struck him, after the people were numbered.... That is he was touched with a great remorse for the vanity and pride which had put him upon numbering the people.
24:11. And David arose in the morning, and the word of the Lord came to Gad the prophet and the seer of David, saying:
24:12. Go, and say to David: Thus saith the Lord: I give thee thy choice of three things, choose one of them which thou wilt, that I may do it to thee.
24:13. And when Gad was come to David, he told him, saying: Either seven years of famine shall come to thee in thy land: or thou shalt flee three months before thy adversaries, and they shall pursue thee: or for three days there shall be a pestilence in thy land. Now therefore deliberate, and see what answer I shall return to him that sent me.
24:14. And David said to Gad: I am in a great strait: but it is better that I should fall into the hands of the Lord (for his mercies are many) than into the hands of men.
24:15. And the Lord sent a pestilence upon Israel, from the morning unto the time appointed, and there died of the people from Dan to Bersabee seventy thousand men.
24:16. And when the angel of the Lord had stretched out his hand over Jerusalem to destroy it, the Lord had pity on the affliction, and said to the angel that slew the people: It is enough: now hold thy hand. And the angel of the Lord was by the thrashingfloor of Areuna the Jebusite.
24:17. And David said to the Lord, when he saw the angel striking the people: It is I; I am he that have sinned, I have done wickedly: these that are the sheep, what have they done? let thy hand, I beseech thee, be turned against me, and against my father’s house.
24:18. And Gad came to David that day, and said: Go up, and build an altar to the Lord in the thrashingfloor of Areuna the Jebusite.
24:19. And David went up according to the word of Gad which the Lord had commanded him.
24:20. And Areuna looked, and saw the king and his servants coming towards him:
24:21. And going out he worshipped the king, bowing with his face to the earth, and said: Wherefore is my lord the king come to his servant? And David said to him: To buy the thrashingfloor of thee, and build an altar to the Lord, that the plague, which rageth among the people, may cease.
24:22. And Areuna said to David: Let my lord the king take, and offer, as it seemeth good to him: thou hast here oxen for a holocaust, and the wain, and the yokes of the oxen for wood.
24:23. All these things Areuna as a king gave to the king: and Areuna said to the king: The Lord thy God receive thy vow.
24:24. And the king answered him, and said: Nay, but I will buy it of thee, at a price, and I will not offer to the Lord my God holocausts free cost. So David bought the floor, and the oxen, for fifty sicles of silver:
24:25. And David built there an altar to the Lord, and offered holocausts and peace offerings: and the Lord became merciful to the land, and the plague was stayed from Israel.
THE THIRD BOOK OF KINGS
This and the following Book are called by the holy fathers the third and fourth book of Kings; but by the Hebrews, the first and second. They contain the history of the kingdoms of Israel and Juda, from the beginning of the reign of Solomon, to the captivity. As to the writer of these books, it seems most probable they were not written by one man; nor at one time; but as there was all along a succession of prophets in Israel, who recorded, by divine inspiration, the most remarkable things that happened in their days, these books seem to have been written by these prophets. See 2 Paralip. alias 2 Chron. 9.29; 12.15; 13.22; 20.34; 26.22; 32.32.
3 Kings Chapter 1
King David growing old, Abisag a Sunamitess is brought to him. Adonias pretending to reign, Nathan and Bethsabee obtain that Solomon should be declared and anointed king.
1:1. Now king David was old, and advanced in years: and when he was covered with clothes he was not warm.
1:2. His servants therefore, said to him: Let us seek for our lord the king, a young virgin, and let her stand before the king, and cherish him, and sleep in his bosom and warm our lord the king.
1:3. So they sought a beautiful young woman, in all the coasts of Israel and they found Abisag, a Sunamitess, and brought her to the king.
1:4. And the damsel was exceedingly beautiful, and she slept with the king, and served him, but the king did not know her.
1:5. And Adonias, the son of Haggith, exalted himself, saying: I will be king. And he made himself chariots and horsemen, and fifty men to run before him.
1:6. Neither did his father rebuke him at any time, saying: Why hast thou done this? And he also was very beautiful, the next in birth after Absalom.
1:7. And he conferred with Joab, the son of Sarvia, and with Abiathar, the priest, who furthered Adonias’s side.
1:8. But Sadoc, the priest, and Banaias, the son of Joiada, and Nathan, the prophet, and Semei, and Rei, and the strength of David’s army, was not with Adonias.
1:9. And Adonias having slain rams and calves, and all fat cattle, by the stone of Zoheleth, which was near the fountain Rogel, invited all his brethren, the king’s sons, and all the men of Juda, the king’s servants:
1:10. But Nathan, the prophet, and Banaias, and all the valiant men, and Solomon, his brother, he invited not.
1:11. And Nathan said to Bethsabee, the mother of Solomon: Hast thou not heard that Adonias, the son of Haggith, reigneth, and our lord David knoweth it not?
1:12. Now then, come, take my counsel, and save thy life, and the life of thy son Solomon.
1:13. Go, and get thee in to king David, and say to him: Didst not thou, my lord, O king, swear to me, thy handmaid, saying: Solomon, thy son, shall reign after me, and he shall sit on my throne? why then doth Adonias reign?
1:14. And while thou art yet speaking there with the king, I will come in after thee, and will fill up thy words.
1:15. So Bethsabee went in to the king into the chamber. Now the king was very old, and Abisag, the Sunamitess, ministered to him.
1:16. Bethsabee bowed herself, and worshipped the king. And the king said to her: What is thy will?
1:17. She answered, and said: My lord, thou didst swear to thy handmaid, by the Lord thy God, saying: Solomon, thy son, shall reign after me, and he shall sit on my throne.
1:18. And behold, now Adonias reigneth, and thou, my lord the king, knowest nothing of it.
1:19. He hath killed oxen, and all fat cattle, and many rams, and invited all the king’s sons, and Abiathar, the priest, and Joab, the general of the army: but Solomon, thy servant, he invited not.
1:20. And now, my lord, O king, the eyes of all Israel are upon thee, that thou shouldst tell them, who shall sit on thy throne, my lord the king, after thee.
1:21. Otherwise it shall come to pass, when my lord the king sleepeth with his fathers, that I, and my son, Solomon, shall be accounted offenders.
1:22. As she was yet speaking with the king, Nathan, the prophet, came.
1:23. And they told the king, saying: Nathan, the prophet, is here. And when he was come in before the king, and had worshipped, bowing down to the ground,
1:24. Nathan said: My lord, O king, hast thou said: Let Adonias reign after me, and let him sit upon my throne?
1:25. Because he is gone down to day, and hath killed oxen, and fatlings, and many rams, and invited all the king’s sons, and the captains of the army, and Abiathar the priest: and they are eating and drinking before him, and saying: God save king Adonias:
1:26. But me, thy servant, and Sadoc, the priest, and Banaias, the son of Joiada, and Solomon, thy servant, he hath not invited.
1:27. Is this word come out from my lord the king, and hast thou not told me, thy servant, who should sit on the throne of my lord the king after him?
1:28. And king David answered, and said: Call to me Bethsabee. And when she was come in to the king, and stood before him,
1:29. The king swore, and said: As the Lord liveth, who hath delivered my soul out of all distress,
1:30. Even as I swore to thee, by the Lord, the God of Israel, saying: Solomon thy son, shall reign after me, and he shall sit upon my throne in my stead, so will I do this day.
1:31. And Bethsabee, bowing with her face to the earth, worshipped the king, saying: May my lord David live for ever.
1:32. King David also said: Call me Sadoc, the priest, and Nathan, the prophet, and Banaias, the son of Joiada. And when they were come in before the king,
1:33. He said to them: Take with you the servants of your lord, and set my son Solomon upon my mule: and bring him to Gihon:
1:34. And let Sadoc, the priest, and Nathan, the prophet, anoint him there king over Israel: and you shall sound the trumpet, and shall say: God save king Solomon.
1:35. And you shall come up after him, and he shall come, and shall sit upon my throne, and he shall reign in my stead: and I will appoint him to be ruler over Israel, and over Juda.
1:36. And Banaias, the son of Joiada, answered the king, saying: Amen: so say the Lord, the God of my lord the king.
1:37. As the Lord hath been with my lord the king, so be he with Solomon, and make his throne higher than the throne of my lord king David.
1:38. So Sadoc, the priest, and Nathan, the prophet, went down, and Banaias, the son of Joiada, and the Cerethi, and Phelethi: and they set Solomon upon the mule of king David, and brought him to Gihon.
1:39. And Sadoc, the priest, took a horn of oil out of the tabernacle, and anointed Solomon: and they sounded the trumpet, and all the people said: God save king Solomon.
1:40. And all the multitude went up after him, and the people played with pipes, and rejoiced with a great joy, and the earth rang with the noise of their cry.
1:41. And Adonias, and all that were invited by him, heard it, and now the feast was at an end. Joab also, hearing the sound of the trumpet, said: What meaneth this noise of the city in an uproar?
1:42. While he yet spoke, Jonathan, the son of Abiathar, the priest, came: and Adonias said to him: Come in, because thou art a valiant man, and bringest good news.
1:43. And Jonathan answered Adonias: Not so: for our lord, king David, hath appointed Solomon king;
1:44. And hath sent with him Sadoc, the priest, and Nathan, the prophet, and Banaias, the son of Joiada, and the Cerethi, and the Phelethi, and they have set him upon the king’s mule:
1:45. And Sadoc, the priest, and Nathan, the prophet, have anointed him king, in Gihon: and they are gone up from thence rejoicing, so that the city rang again: this is the noise that you have heard.
1:46. Moreover, Solomon sitteth upon the throne of the kingdom.
1:47. And the king’s servants going in, have blessed our lord king David, saying: May God make the name of Solomon greater than thy name, and make his throne greater than thy throne. And the king adored in his bed:
1:48. And he said: Blessed be the Lord, the God of Israel, who hath given this day one to sit on my throne, my eyes seeing it.
1:49. Then all the guests of Adonias were afraid, and they all arose, and every man went his way.
1:50. And Adonias fearing Solomon, arose and went, and took hold of the horn of the altar.
1:51. And they told Solomon, saying: Behold Adonias fearing king Solomon, hath taken hold of the horn of the altar, saying: Let king Solomon swear to me this day, that he will not kill his servant with the sword.
1:52. And Solomon said: If he be a good man, there shall not so much as one hair of his head fall to the ground: but if evil be found in him, he shall die.
1:53. Then king Solomon sent, and brought him out from the altar: and going in, he worshipped king Solomon: and Solomon said to him: Go to thy house.
3 Kings Chapter 2
David, after giving his last charge to Solomon, dieth. Adonias is put to death: Abiathar is banished: Joab and Semei are slain.
2:1. And the days of David drew nigh that he should die, and he charged his son Solomon, saying:
2:2. I am going the way of all flesh: take thou courage and shew thyself a man.
2:3. And keep the charge of the Lord thy God, to walk in his ways, and observe his ceremonies, and his precepts, and judgments, and testimonies, as it is written in the law of Moses: that thou mayst understand all thou dost, and whithersoever thou shalt turn thyself:
2:4. That the Lord may confirm his words, which he hath spoken of me, saying: If thy children shall take heed to their ways, and shall walk before me in truth, with all their heart, and with all their soul, there shall not be taken away from thee a man on the throne of Israel.
2:5. Thou knowest also what Joab, the son of Sarvia, hath done to me, what he did to the two captains of the army of Israel, to Abner, the son of Ner, and to Amasa, the son of Jether: whom he slew, and shed the blood of war in peace, and put the blood of war on his girdle that was about his loins, and in his shoes that were on his feet.
Joab.... These instructions given by David to his son, with relation to Joab and Semei, proceeded not from any rancour of heart, or private pique; but from a zeal for justice, that crimes so public and heinous might not pass unpunished.
2:6. Do, therefore, according to thy wisdom, and let not his hoary head go down to hell in peace.
To hell.... This word hell doth not here signify the place or state of damnation; but the place and state of the dead.
2:7. But shew kindness to the sons of Berzellai, the Galaadite, and let them eat at thy table: for they met me when I fled from the face of Absalom, thy brother.
2:8. Thou hast also with thee Semei, the son of Gera, the son of Jemini, of Bahurim, who cursed me with a grievous curse, when I went to the camp: but because he came down to meet me when I passed over the Jordan, and I swore to him by the Lord, saying: I will not kill thee with the sword:
2:9. Do not thou hold him guiltless. But thou art a wise man, and knowest what to do with him, and thou shalt bring down his grey hairs with blood to the grave.
2:10. So David slept with his fathers, and was buried in the city of David.
2:11. And the days that David reigned in Israel, were forty years: in Hebron he reigned seven years, in Jerusalem thirty-three.
2:12. And Solomon sat upon the throne of his father David, and his kingdom was strengthened exceedingly.
2:13. And Adonias, the son of Haggith, came to Bethsabee the mother of Solomon. And she said to him: Is thy coming peaceable? He answered: It is peaceable.
2:14. And he added: I have a word to speak with thee. She said to him: Speak. And he said:
2:15. Thou knowest that the kingdom was mine, and all Israel had preferred me to be their king: but the kingdom is transferred, and is become my brother’s: for it was appointed him by the Lord.
2:16. Now therefore, I ask one petition of thee; turn not away my face. And she said to him: Say on.
2:17. And he said I pray thee speak to king Solomon (for he cannot deny thee any thing) to give me Abisag, the Sunamitess, to wife.
2:18. And Bethsabee said: Well, I will speak for thee to the king.
2:19. Then Bethsabee came to king Solomon, to speak to him for Adonias: and the king arose to meet her, and bowed to her, and sat down upon his throne: and a throne was set for the king’s mother, and she sat on his right hand.
2:20. And she said to him: I desire one small petition of thee; do not put me to confusion. And the king said to her: My mother ask, for I must not turn away thy face.
2:21. And she said: Let Abisag, the Sunamitess, be given to Adonias, thy brother, to wife.
2:22. And king Solomon answered, and said to his mother: Why dost thou ask Abisag, the Sunamitess, for Adonias? ask for him also the kingdom; for he is my elder brother, and hath Abiathar, the priest, and Joab, the son of Sarvia.
2:23. Then king Solomon swore by the Lord, saying: So and so may God do to me, and add more, if Adonias hath not spoken this word against his own life.
2:24. And now, as the Lord liveth, who hath established me, and placed me upon the throne of David, my father, and who hath made me a house, as he promised, Adonias shall be put to death this day.
2:25. And king Solomon sent by the hand of Banaias, the son of Joiada, who slew him, and he died.
2:26. And the king said also to Abiathar, the priest: Go to Anathoth, to thy lands, for indeed thou art worthy of death: but I will not at this time put thee to death, because thou didst carry the ark of the Lord God before David, my father, and hast endured trouble in all the troubles my father endured.
2:27. So Solomon cast out Abiathar from being the priest of the Lord, that the word of the Lord might be fulfilled, which he spoke concerning the house of Heli in Silo.
2:28. And the news came to Joab, because Joab had turned after Adonias, and had not turned after Solomon: and Joab fled into the tabernacle of the Lord, and took hold on the horn of the altar.
2:29. And it was told king Solomon, that Joab was fled into the tabernacle of the Lord, and was by the altar: and Solomon sent Banaias, the son of Joiada, saying. Go, kill him.
2:30. And Banaias came to the tabernacle of the Lord, and said to him: Thus saith the king: Come forth. And he said: I will not come forth, but here I will die. Banaias brought word back to the king, saying: Thus saith Joab, and thus he answered me.
2:31. And the king said to him: Do as he hath said; and kill him, and bury him, and thou shalt remove the innocent blood which hath been shed by Joab, from me, and from the house of my father:
2:32. And the Lord shall return his blood upon his own head; because he murdered two men, just and better than himself: and slew them with the sword, my father, David, not knowing it; Abner, the son of Ner, general of the army of Israel, and Amasa, the son of Jether general of the army of Juda;
2:33. And their blood shall return upon the head of Joab, and upon the head of his seed for ever. But to David and his seed, and his house, and to his throne, be peace for ever from the Lord.
2:34. So Banaias, the son of Joiada, went up, and setting upon him slew him, and he was buried in his house in the desert.
2:35. And the king appointed Banaias, the son of Joiada in his room over the army; and Sadoc, the priest, he put in the place of Abiathar.
2:36. The king also sent, and called for Semei, and said to him: Build thee a house in Jerusalem, and dwell there: and go not out from thence any where.
2:37. For on what day soever thou shalt go out, and shalt pass over the brook Cedron, know that thou shalt be put to death: thy blood shall be upon thy own head.
2:38. And Semei said to the king: The saying is good: as my lord the king hath said, so will thy servant do. And Semei dwelt in Jerusalem many days.
2:39. And it came to pass after three years, that the servants of Semei ran away to Achis, the son of Maacha, the king of Geth: and it was told Semei that his servants were gone to Geth.
2:40. And Semei arose, and saddled his ass, and went to Achis, to Geth, to seek his servants, and he brought them out of Geth.
2:41. And it was told Solomon, that Semei had gone from Jerusalem to Geth, and was come back.
2:42. And sending he called for him, and said to him: Did I not protest to thee by the Lord, and tell thee before: On what day soever thou shalt go out and walk abroad any where, know that thou shalt die? And thou answeredst me: The word that I have heard is good.
2:43. Why then hast thou not kept the oath of the Lord, and the commandment that I laid upon thee?
2:44. And the king said to Semei: Thou knowest all the evil, of which thy heart is conscious, which thou didst to David, my father: the Lord hath returned thy wickedness upon thy own head.
2:45. And king Solomon shall be blessed, and the throne of David shall be established before the Lord for ever.
2:46. So the king commanded Banaias, the son of Joiada: and he went out and struck him; and he died.
3 Kings Chapter 3
Solomon marrieth Pharao’s daughter. He sacrificeth in Gabaon: in the choice which God gave him he preferreth wisdom. His wise judgment between the two harlots.
3:1. And the kingdom was established in the hand of Solomon, and he made affinity with Pharao, the king of Egypt: for he took his daughter, and brought her into the city of David: until he had made an end of building his own house, and the house of the Lord, and the wall of Jerusalem round about.
3:2. But yet the people sacrificed in the high places: for there was no temple built to the name of the Lord until that day.
High places.... That is, altars where they worshipped the Lord, but not according to the ordinance of the law; which allowed of no other places for sacrifice but the temple of God. Among these high places that of Gabaon was the chiefest, because there was the tabernacle of the testimony, which had been removed from Silo to Nobe and from Nobe to Gabaon.
3:3. And Solomon loved the Lord, walking in the precepts of David, his father; only he sacrificed in the high places, and burnt incense.
3:4. He went therefore to Gabaon, to sacrifice there: for that was the great high place: a thousand victims for holocausts, did Solomon offer upon that altar, in Gabaon.
3:5. And the Lord appeared to Solomon in a dream by night, saying: Ask what thou wilt that I should give thee.
3:6. And Solomon said: Thou hast shewed great mercy to thy servant David, my father, even as he walked before thee in truth, and justice, and an upright heart with thee: and thou hast kept thy great mercy for him, and hast given him a son to sit on his throne, as it is this day.
3:7. And now, O Lord God, thou hast made thy servant king instead of David, my father: and I am but a child, and know not how to go out and come in;
3:8. And thy servant is in the midst of the people which thou hast chosen, an immense people, which cannot be numbered nor counted for multitude.
3:9. Give therefore to thy servant an understanding heart, to judge thy people, and discern between good and evil. For who shall be able to judge this people, thy people, which is so numerous?
3:10. And the word was pleasing to the Lord, that Solomon had asked such a thing.
3:11. And the Lord said to Solomon: Because thou hast asked this thing, and hast not asked for thyself long life nor riches, nor the lives of thy enemies, but hast asked for thyself wisdom to discern judgment;
3:12. Behold I have done for thee according to thy words, and have given thee a wise and understanding heart, in so much that there hath been no one like thee before thee, nor shall arise after thee.
3:13. Yea, and the things also which thou didst not ask, I have given thee; to wit, riches and glory: so that no one hath been like thee among the kings in all days heretofore.
3:14. And if thou wilt walk in my ways, and keep my precepts and my commandments, as thy father walked, I will lengthen thy days.
3:15. And Solomon awaked, and perceived that it was a dream: and when he was come to Jerusalem, he stood before the ark of the covenant of the Lord, and offered holocausts, and sacrificed victims of peace offerings, and made a great feast for all his servants.
3:16. Then there came two women that were harlots, to the king, and stood before him.
3:17. And one of them said: I beseech thee, my lord, I and this woman dwelt in one house, and I was delivered of a child with her in the chamber.
3:18. And the third day after I was delivered, she also was delivered; and we were together, and no other person with us in the house; only we two.
3:19. And this woman’s child died in the night: for in her sleep she overlaid him.
3:20. And rising in the dead time of the night, she took my child from my side, while I, thy handmaid, was asleep, and laid it in her bosom: and laid her dead child in my bosom.
3:21. And when I arose in the morning, to give my child suck, behold it was dead: but considering him more diligently, when it was clear day, I found that it was not mine which I bore.
3:22. And the other woman answered: It is not so as thou sayest, but thy child is dead, and mine is alive. On the contrary, she said; Thou liest: for my child liveth, and thy child is dead. And in this manner they strove before the king.
3:23. Then said the king: The one saith, My child is alive, and thy child is dead. And the other answereth: Nay; but thy child is dead, and mine liveth.
3:24. The king therefore said: Bring me a sword. And when they had brought a sword before the king,
3:25. Divide, said he, the living child in two, and give half to the one and half to the other.
3:26. But the woman, whose child was alive, said to the king; (for her bowels were moved upon her child) I beseech thee, my lord, give her the child alive, and do not kill it. But the other said: Let it be neither mine nor thine; but divide it.
3:27. The king answered, and said: Give the living child to this woman, and let it not be killed; for she is the mother thereof.
3:28. And all Israel heard the judgment which the king had judged, and they feared the king, seeing that the wisdom of God was in him to do judgment.
3 Kings Chapter 4
Solomon’s chief officers. His riches and wisdom.
4:1. And king Solomon reigned over all Israel:
4:2. And these were the princes which he had: Azarias, the son of Sadoc, the priest:
4:3. Elihoreph, and Ahia, the sons of Sisa, scribes: Josaphat, the son of Ahilud, recorder:
4:4. Banaias, the son of Joiada, over the army: and Sadoc, and Abiathar, priests.
Abiathar.... By this it appears that Abiathar was not altogether deposed from the high priesthood; but only banished to his country house, and by that means excluded from the exercise of his functions.
4:5. Azarias, the son of Nathan, over them that were about the king: Zabud, the son of Nathan, the priest, the king’s friend:
4:6. And Ahisar, governor of the house: and Adoniram, the son of Abda, over the tribute.
4:7. And Solomon had twelve governors over all Israel, who provided victuals for the king and for his house hold: for every one provided necessaries, each man his month in the year.
4:8. And these are their names: Benhur, in mount Ephraim.
4:9. Bendecar, in Macces, and in Salebim, and in Bethsames, and in Elon, and in Bethanan.
4:10. Benhesed, in Aruboth: his was Socho, and all the land of Epher.
4:11. Benabinadab, to whom belonged all Nephath-Dor: he had Tapheth, the daughter of Solomon, to wife.
4:12. Bana, the son of Ahilud, who governed Thanac, and Mageddo, and all Bethsan, which is by Sarthana, beneath Jezrael, from Bethsan unto Abelmehula, over against Jecmaan.
4:13. Bengaber, in Ramoth Galaad: he had the town of Jair, the son of Manasses, in Galaad: he was chief in all the country of Argob, which is in Basan, threescore great cities with walls, and brazen bolts.
4:14. Ahinadab, the son of Addo, was chief in Manaim.
4:15. Achimaas, in Nephthali: he also had Basemath, the daughter of Solomon, to wife.
4:16. Baana, the son of Husi, in Aser, and in Baloth.
4:17. Josaphat, the son of Pharue, in Issachar.
4:18. Semei, the son of Ela, in Benjamin.
4:19. Gaber, the son of Uri, in the land of Galaad, in the land of Sehon, the king of the Amorrhites, and of Og, the king of Basan, over all that were in that land.
4:20. Juda and Israel were innumerable, as the sand of the sea in multitude; eating and drinking, and rejoicing.
4:21. And Solomon had under him all the kingdoms, from the river to the land of the Philistines, even to the border of Egypt: and they brought him presents, and served him all the days of his life.
The river.... Euphrates.
4:22. And the provision of Solomon, for each day, was thirty measures of fine flour, and threescore measures of meal;
4:23. Ten fat oxen, and twenty out of the pastures, and a hundred rams; besides venison of harts, roes, and buffles, and fatted fowls.
4:24. For he had all the country which was beyond the river, from Thaphsa to Gazan, and all the kings of those countries: and he had peace on every side round about.
4:25. And Juda, and Israel, dwelt without any fear, every one under his vine, and under his fig tree, from Dan to Bersabee, all the days of Solomon.
4:26. And Solomon had forty thousand stalls of chariot horses, and twelve thousand for the saddle.
4:27. And the foresaid governors of the king fed them; and they furnished the necessaries also for king Solomon’s table, with great care, in their time.
4:28. They brought barley also, and straw for the horses and beasts, to the place where the king was, according as it was appointed them.
4:29. And God gave to Solomon wisdom, and understanding exceeding much, and largeness of heart, as the sand that is on the sea shore.
4:30. And the wisdom of Solomon surpassed the wisdom of all the Orientals, and of the Egyptians;
4:31. And he was wiser than all men: wiser than Ethan, the Ezrahite, and Heman, and Chalcol, and Dorda, the sons of Mahol, and he was renowned in all nations round about.
4:32. Solomon also spoke three thousand parables: and his poems were a thousand and five.
Three thousand parables, etc.... These works are all lost, excepting some part of the parables extant in the book of Proverbs; and his chief poem called the Canticle of Canticles.
4:33. And he treated about trees, from the cedar that is in Libanus, unto the hyssop that cometh out of the wall: and he discoursed of beasts, and of fowls, and of creeping things, and of fishes.
4:34. And they came from all nations to hear the wisdom of Solomon, and from all the kings of the earth, who heard of his wisdom.
3 Kings Chapter 5
Hiram king of Tyre agreeth to furnish timber and workmen for building the temple: the number of workmen and overseers.
5:1. And Hiram, king of Tyre, sent his servants to Solomon: for he heard that they had anointed him king in the room of his father: for Hiram had always been David’s friend.
5:2. And Solomon sent to Hiram, saying:
5:3. Thou knowest the will of David, my father, and that he could not build a house to the name of the Lord his God, because of the wars that were round about him, until the Lord put them under the soles of his feet.
5:4. But now the Lord my God hath given me rest round about; and there is no adversary nor evil occurrence.
5:5. Wherefore I purpose to build a temple to the name of the Lord my God, as the Lord spoke to David my father, saying: Thy son, whom I will set upon the throne, in thy place, he shall build a house to my name.
5:6. Give orders, therefore, that thy servants cut me down cedar trees, out of Libanus, and let my servants be with thy servants: and I will give thee the hire of thy servants whatsoever thou wilt ask: for thou knowest how there is not among my people a man that has skill to hew wood like to the Sidonians.
5:7. Now when Hiram had heard the words of Solomon, he rejoiced exceedingly, and said: Blessed be the Lord God this day, who hath given to David a very wise son over this numerous people.
5:8. And Hiram sent to Solomon, saying: I have heard all thou hast desired of me; and I will do all thy desire concerning cedar trees, and fir trees.
5:9. My servants shall bring them down from Libanus to the sea: and I will put them together in floats, on the sea, and convey them to the place, which thou shalt signify to me, and will land them there, and thou shalt receive them: and thou shalt allow me necessaries to furnish food for my household.
5:10. So Hiram gave Solomon cedar trees, and fir trees, according to all his desire.
5:11. And Solomon allowed Hiram twenty thousand measures of wheat, for provision for his house, and twenty measures of the purest oil: thus gave Solomon to Hiram every year.
5:12. And the Lord gave wisdom to Solomon, as he promised him: and there was peace between Hiram and Solomon, and they two made a league together.
5:13. And king Solomon chose workmen out of all Israel, and the levy was of thirty thousand men.
5:14. And he sent them to Libanus, ten thousand every month, by turns, so that two months they were at home: and Adoniram was over this levy.
5:15. And Solomon had seventy thousand to carry burdens, and eighty thousand to hew stones in the mountain:
5:16. Besides the overseers who were over every work, in number three thousand and three hundred, that ruled over the people, and them that did the work.
5:17. And the king commanded that they should bring great stones, costly stones, for the foundation of the temple, and should square them:
5:18. And the masons of Solomon, and the masons of Hiram, hewed them: and the Giblians prepared timber and stones to build the house.
3 Kings Chapter 6
The building of Solomon’s temple.
6:1. And it came to pass in the four hundred and eightieth year after the children of Israel came out of the land of Egypt, in the fourth year of the reign of Solomon over Israel, in the month Zio, (the same is the second month) he began to build a house to the Lord.
6:2. And the house, which king Solomon built to the Lord, was threescore cubits in length, and twenty cubits in breadth, and thirty cubits in height.
6:3. And there was a porch before the temple, of twenty cubits in length, according to the measure of the breadth of the temple: and it was ten cubits in breadth, before the face of the temple.
6:4. And he made in the temple oblique windows.
6:5. And upon the wall of the temple, he built floors round about, in the walls of the house, round about the temple and the oracle, and he made chambers in the sides round about.
Upon the wall, i. e., joining to the wall.—Ibid. He built floors round about.... Chambers or cells adjoining to the temple, for the use of the temple and of the priests, so contrived as to be between the inward and outward wall of the temple, in three stories, one above another.—Ibid. The oracle.... The inner temple or holy of holies, where God gave his oracles.
6:6. The floor that was underneath was five cubits in breadth, and the middle floor was six cubits in breadth, and the third floor was seven cubits in breadth. And he put beams in the house round about on the outside, that they might not be fastened in the walls of the temple.
6:7. And the house, when it was in building, was built of stones, hewed and made ready: so that there was neither hammer nor axe, nor any tool of iron heard in the house when it was in building.
Made ready, etc.... So the stones for the building of God’s eternal temple in the heavenly Jerusalem, (who are the faithful,) must first be hewn and polished here by many trials and sufferings, before they can be admitted to have a place in that celestial structure.
6:8. The door, for the middle side, was on the right hand of the house: and by winding stairs they went up to the middle room, and from the middle to the third.
6:9. So he built the house, and finished it: and he covered the house with roofs of cedar.
6:10. And he built a floor over all the house, five cubits in height, and he covered the house with timber of cedar.
6:11. And the word of the Lord came to Solomon, saying:
6:12. As for this house, which thou art building, if thou wilt walk in my statutes, and execute my judgments, and keep all my commandments, walking in them, I will fulfil my word to thee, which I spoke to David thy father.
6:13. And I will dwell in the midst of the children of Israel, and I will not forsake my people Israel.
6:14. So Solomon built the house, and finished it.
6:15. And he built the walls of the house on the inside, with boards of cedar, from the floor of the house to the top of the walls, and to the roofs, he covered it with boards of cedar on the inside: and he covered the floor of the house with planks of fir.
6:16. And he built up twenty cubits with boards of cedar at the hinder part of the temple, from the floor to the top: and made the inner house of the oracle to be the holy of holies.
6:17. And the temple itself, before the doors of the oracle, was forty cubits long.
6:18. And all the house was covered within with cedar, having the turnings, and the joints thereof artfully wrought, and carvings projecting out: all was covered with boards of cedar: and no stone could be seen in the wall at all.
6:19. And he made the oracle in the midst of the house, in the inner part, to set there the ark of the covenant of the Lord.
6:20. Now the oracle was twenty cubits in length, and twenty cubits in breadth, and twenty cubits in height. And he covered it, and overlaid it with most pure gold. And the altar also he covered with cedar.
6:21. And the house before the oracle he overlaid with most pure gold, and fastened on the plates with nails of gold.
6:22. And there was nothing in the temple that was not covered with gold: the whole altar of the oracle he covered also with gold.
6:23. And he made in the oracle two cherubims of olive tree, of ten cubits in height.
6:24. One wing of the cherub was five cubits, and the other wing of the cherub was five cubits: that is, in all ten cubits, from the extremity of one wing to the extremity of the other wing.
6:25. The second cherub also was ten cubits: and the measure, and the work was the same in both the cherubims:
6:26. That is to say, one cherub was ten cubits high, and in like manner the other cherub.
6:27. And he set the cherubims in the midst of the inner temple: and the cherubims stretched forth their wings, and the wing of the one touched one wall, and the wing of the other cherub touched the other wall: and the other wings in the midst of the temple touched one another.
6:28. And he overlaid the cherubims with gold.
6:29. And all the walls of the temple round about he carved with divers figures and carvings: and he made in them cherubims and palm trees, and divers representations, as it were standing out, and coming forth from the wall.
6:30. And the floor of the house he also overlaid with gold within and without.
6:31. And in the entrance of the oracle, he made little doors of olive tree, and posts of five corners,
6:32. And two doors of olive tree: and he carved upon them figures of cherubims, and figures of palm trees, and carvings very much projecting; and he overlaid them with gold: and he covered both the cherubims and the palm trees, and the other things, with gold.
6:33. And he made in the entrance of the temple posts of olive tree foursquare:
6:34. And two doors of fir tree, one of each side: and each door was double, and so opened with folding leaves.
6:35. And he carved cherubims, and palm trees, and carved work standing very much out: and he overlaid all with golden plates in square work by rule.
6:36. And he built the inner court with three rows of polished stones, and one row of beams of cedar.
6:37. In the fourth year was the house of the Lord founded, in the month Zio:
6:38. And in the eleventh year, in the month Bul. (which is the eighth month) the house was finished in all the works thereof, and in all the appurtenances thereof: and he was seven years in building it.
3 Kings Chapter 7
Solomon’s palace, his house in the forest, and the queen’s house: the work of the two pillars: the sea (or laver) and other vessels.
7:1. And Solomon built his own house in thirteen years, and brought it to perfection.
7:2. He built also the house of the forest of Libanus; the length of it was a hundred cubits, and the breadth fifty cubits, and the height thirty cubits: and four galleries between pillars of cedar: for he had cut cedar trees into pillars.
7:3. And he covered the whole vault with boards of cedar, and it was held up with five and forty pillars. And one row had fifteen pillars,
7:4. Set one against another,
7:5. And looking one upon another, with equal space between the pillars, and over the pillars were square beams in all things equal.
7:6. And he made a porch of pillars of fifty cubits in length, and thirty cubits in breadth: and another porch before the greater porch, and pillars, and chapiters upon the pillars.
7:7. He made also the porch of the throne wherein is the seat of judgment; and covered it with cedar wood from the floor to the top.
7:8. And in the midst of the porch, was a small house, where he sat in judgment of the like work. He made also a house for the daughter of Pharao (whom Solomon had taken to wife) of the same work, as this porch;
7:9. All of costly stones, which were sawed by a certain rule and measure, both within and without: from the foundation to the top of the walls, and without, unto the great court.
7:10. And the foundations were of costly stones, great stones of ten cubits or eight cubits.
7:11. And above there were costly stones of equal measure hewed, and in like manner planks of cedar.
7:12. And the great court was made round with three rows of hewed stones, and one row of planks of cedar, which also was observed in the inner court of the house of the Lord, and in the porch of the house.
7:13. And king Solomon sent, and brought Hiram from Tyre,
7:14. The son of a widow woman, of the tribe of Nephthali, whose father was a Tyrian, an artificer in brass, and full of wisdom, and understanding, and skill to work all work in brass. And when he was come to king Solomon, he wrought all his work.
7:15. And he cast two pillars in brass, each pillar was eighteen cubits high: and a line of twelve cubits compassed both the pillars.
7:16. He made also two chapiters of molten brass, to be set upon the tops of the pillars: the height of one chapiter was five cubits, and the height of the other chapiter was five cubits:
7:17. And a kind of network, and chain work wreathed together with wonderful art. Both the chapiters of the pillars were cast: seven rows of nets were on one chapiter, and seven nets on the other chapiter.
7:18. And he made the pillars, and two rows round about each network to cover the chapiters, that were upon the top, with pomegranates: and in like manner did he to the other chapiter.
7:19. And the chapiters that were upon the top of the pillars, were of lily work, in the porch of four cubits.
7:20. And again there were other chapiters on the top of the pillars above, according to the measure of the pillar over against the network: and of pomegranates there were two hundred, in rows round about the other chapiter.
7:21. And he set up the two pillars in the porch of the temple: and when he had set up the pillar on the right hand, he called the name thereof Jachin: in like manner he set up the second pillar, and called the name thereof Booz.
Jachin.... That is, firmly established.—Ibid. Booz.... That is, in its strength. By recording these names in holy writ, the spirit of God would have us understand the invincible firmness and strength of the pillars on which the true temple of God, which is the church, is established.
7:22. And upon the tops of the pillars he made lily work: so the work of the pillars was finished.
7:23. He made also a molten sea, of ten cubits, from brim to brim, round all about; the height of it was five cubits, and a line of thirty cubits compassed it round about.
7:24. And a graven work, under the brim of it, compassed it for ten cubits going about the sea: there were two rows cast of chamfered sculptures.
7:25. And it stood upon twelve oxen, of which three looked towards the north, and three towards the west, and three towards the south, and three towards the east: and the sea was above upon them, and their hinder parts were all hid within.
7:26. And the laver was a hand breadth thick: and the brim thereof was like the brim of a cup, or the leaf of a crisped lily: it contained two thousand bates.
Two thousand bates.... That is, about ten thousand gallons. This was the quantity of water which was usually put into it: but it was capable, if brimful, of holding three thousand. See 2 Par. 4.5.
7:27. And he made ten bases of brass, every base was four cubits in length, and four cubits in breadth, and three cubits high.
7:28. And the work itself of the bases, was intergraven: and there were gravings between the joinings.
7:29. And between the little crowns and the ledges, were lions, and oxen, and cherubims; and in the joinings likewise above: and under the lions and oxen, as it were bands of brass hanging down.
7:30. And every base had four wheels, and axletrees of brass: and at the four sides were undersetters, under the laver molten, looking one against another.
7:31. The mouth also of the laver within, was in the top of the chapiter: and that which appeared without, was of one cubit all round, and together it was one cubit and a half: and in the corners of the pillars were divers engravings: and the spaces between the pillars were square, not round.
7:32. And the four wheels, which were at the four corners of the base, were joined one to another under the base: the height of a wheel was a cubit and a half.
7:33. And they were such wheels as are used to be made in a chariot: and their axletrees, and spokes, and strakes, and naves, were all cast.
7:34. And the four undersetters, that were at every corner of each base, were of the base itself, cast and joined together.
7:35. And on the top of the base, there was a round compass of half a cubit, so wrought that the laver might be set thereon, having its gravings, and divers sculptures of itself.
7:36. He engraved also in those plates, which were of brass, and in the corners, cherubims, and lions, and palm trees, in likeness of a man standing, so that they seemed not to be engraven, but added round about.
7:37. After this manner, he made ten bases, of one casting and measure, and the like graving.
7:38. He made also ten lavers of brass: one laver contained four bases, and was of four cubits: and upon every base, in all ten, he put as many lavers.
7:39. And he set the ten bases, five on the right side of the temple, and five on the left: and the sea he put on the right side of the temple, over against the east southward.
7:40. And Hiram made cauldrons, and shovels, and basins, and finished all the work of king Solomon in the temple of the Lord.
7:41. The two pillars and the two cords of the chapiters, upon the chapiters of the pillars: and the two networks, to cover the two cords, that were upon the top of the pillars.
7:42. And four hundred pomegranates for the two networks: two rows of pomegranates for each network, to cover the cords of the chapiters, which were upon the tops of the pillars.
7:43. And the ten bases, and the ten lavers on the bases.
7:44. And one sea, and twelve oxen under the sea.
7:45. And the cauldrons, and the shovels, and the basins. All the vessels that Hiram made for king Solomon, for the house of the Lord, were of fine brass.
7:46. In the plains of the Jordan, did the king cast them in a clay ground, between Socoth and Sartham.
7:47. And Solomon placed all the vessels: but for its exceeding great multitude the brass could not be weighed.
7:48. And Solomon made all the vessels for the house of the Lord: the altar of gold, and the table of gold, upon which the loaves of proposition should be set:
7:49. And the golden candlesticks, five on the right hand, and five on the left, over against the oracle, of pure gold: and the flowers like lilies, and the lamps over them of gold: and golden snuffers,
7:50. And pots, and fleshhooks, and bowls, and mortars, and censers, of most pure gold: and the hinges for the doors of the inner house of the holy of holies, and for the doors of the house of the temple, were of gold.
7:51. And Solomon finished all the work that he made in the house of the Lord, and brought in the things that David, his father, had dedicated, the silver and the gold, and the vessels, and laid them up in the treasures of the house of the Lord.
3 Kings Chapter 8
The dedication of the temple: Solomon’s prayer and sacrifices.
8:1. Then all the ancients of Israel, with the princes of the tribes, and the heads of the families of the children of Israel, were assembled to king Solomon, in Jerusalem: that they might carry the ark of the covenant of the Lord, out of the city of David, that is, out of Sion.
8:2. And all Israel assembled themselves to king Solomon, on the festival day, in the month of Ethanim, the same is the seventh month.
8:3. And all the ancients of Israel came, and the priests took up the ark,
8:4. And carried the ark of the Lord, and the tabernacle of the covenant, and all the vessels of the sanctuary, that were in the tabernacle: and the priests and the Levites carried them.
8:5. And king Solomon, and all the multitude of Israel, that were assembled unto him, went with him before the ark, and they sacrificed sheep and oxen, that could not be counted or numbered.
8:6. And the priests brought in the ark of the covenant of the Lord into its place, into the oracle of the temple, into the holy of holies, under the wings of the cherubims.
8:7. For the cherubims spread forth their wings over the place of the ark, and covered the ark, and the staves thereof above.
8:8. And whereas the staves stood out, the ends of them were seen without, in the sanctuary before the oracle, but were not seen farther out, and there they have been unto this day.
8:9. Now in the ark there was nothing else but the two tables of stone, which Moses put there at Horeb, when the Lord made a covenant with the children of Israel, when they came out of the land of Egypt.
Nothing else, etc.... There was nothing else but the tables of the law within the ark: but on the outside of the ark, or near the ark were also the rod of Aaron, and a golden urn with manna, Heb. 9.4.
8:10. And it came to pass, when the priests were come out of the sanctuary, that a cloud filled the house of the Lord,
8:11. And the priests could not stand to minister because of the cloud: for the glory of the Lord had filled the house of the Lord.
8:12. Then Solomon said: The Lord said that he would dwell in a cloud.
8:13. Building, I have built a house for thy dwelling, to be thy most firm throne for ever.
8:14. And the king turned his face, and blessed all the assembly of Israel: for all the assembly of Israel stood.
8:15. And Solomon said: Blessed be the Lord the God of Israel, who spoke with his mouth to David, my father, and with his own hands hath accomplished it, saying:
8:16. Since the day that I brought my people Israel, out of Egypt, I chose no city out of all the tribes of Israel, for a house to be built, that my name might be there: but I chose David to be over my people Israel.
8:17. And David, my father, would have built a house to the name of the Lord, the God of Israel:
8:18. And the Lord said to David, my father: Whereas, thou hast thought in thy heart to build a house to my name, thou hast done well in having this same thing in thy mind.
8:19. Nevertheless, thou shalt not build me a house, but thy son, that shall come forth out of thy loins, he shall build a house to my name.
8:20. The Lord hath performed his word which he spoke. And I stand in the room of David, my father, and sit upon the throne of Israel, as the Lord promised: and have built a house to the name of the Lord, the God of Israel.
8:21. And I have set there a place for the ark, wherein is the covenant of the Lord, which he made with our fathers, when they came out of the land of Egypt.
8:22. And Solomon stood before the altar of the Lord, in the sight of the assembly of Israel, and spread forth his hands towards heaven,
8:23. And said: Lord God of Israel, there is no God like thee, in heaven above, or on the earth beneath: who keepest covenant and mercy with thy servants, that have walked before thee with all their heart:
8:24. Who hast kept with thy servant David, my father, what thou hast promised him: with thy mouth thou didst speak, and with thy hands thou hast performed, as this day proveth.
8:25. Now, therefore, O Lord God of Israel, keep with thy servant David, my father, what thou hast spoken to him, saying: There shall not be taken away of thee a man in my sight, to sit on the throne of Israel: yet so that thy children take heed to their way, that they walk before me as thou hast walked in my sight.
8:26. And now, Lord God of Israel, let thy words be established, which thou hast spoken to thy servant David, my father.
8:27. Is it then to be thought that God should indeed dwell upon earth? for if heaven, and the heavens of heavens, cannot contain thee, how much less this house which I have built?
8:28. But have regard to the prayer of thy servant, and to his supplications, O Lord, my God: hear the hymn and the prayer, which thy servant prayeth before thee this day:
8:29. That thy eyes may be open upon this house, night and day: upon the house of which thou hast said: My name shall be there: that thou mayst hearken to the prayer which thy servant prayeth, in this place to thee:
8:30. That thou mayst hearken to the supplication of thy servant, and of thy people Israel, whatsoever they shall pray for in this place, and hear them in the place of thy dwelling in heaven; and when thou hearest, shew them mercy.
8:31. If any man trespass against his neighbour, and have an oath upon him, wherewith he is bound, and come, because of the oath, before thy altar, to thy house,
8:32. Then hear thou in heaven: and do and judge thy servants, condemning the wicked, and bringing his way upon his own head, and justifying the just, and rewarding him according to his justice.
8:33. If thy people Israel shall fly before their enemies (because they will sin against thee) and doing penance, and confessing to thy name, shall come and pray, and make supplications to thee in this house:
8:34. Then hear thou in heaven, and forgive the sin of thy people Israel, and bring them back to the land which thou gavest to their fathers.
8:35. If heaven shall be shut up, and there shall be no rain, because of their sins, and they, praying in this place, shall do penance to thy name, and shall be converted from their sins, by occasion of their afflictions:
8:36. Then hear thou them in heaven, and forgive the sins of thy servants, and of thy people Israel: and shew them the good way wherein they should walk, and give rain upon thy land, which thou hast given to thy people in possession.
8:37. If a famine arise in the land, or a pestilence, or corrupt air, or blasting, or locust, or mildew; if their enemy afflict them, besieging the gates, whatsoever plague, whatsoever infirmity,
8:38. Whatsoever curse or imprecation shall happen to any man of thy people Israel: when a man shall know the wound of his own heart, and shall spread forth his hands in this house;
8:39. Then hear thou in heaven, in the place of thy dwelling, and forgive, and do so as to give to every one according to his ways, as thou shalt see his heart (for thou only knowest the heart of all the children of men)
8:40. That they may fear thee all the days that they live upon the face of the land, which thou hast given to our fathers.
8:41. Moreover also the stranger, who is not of thy people Israel, when he shall come out of a far country for thy name’s sake, (for they shall hear every where of thy great name, and thy mighty hand,
8:42. And thy stretched out arm) so when he shall come, and shall pray in this place,
8:43. Then hear thou in heaven, in the firmament of thy dwelling place, and do all those things, for which that stranger shall call upon thee: that all the people of the earth may learn to fear thy name, as do thy people Israel, and may prove that thy name is called upon on this house, which I have built.
8:44. If thy people go out to war against their enemies, by what way soever thou shalt send them, they shall pray to thee towards the way of the city, which thou hast chosen, and towards the house, which I have built to thy name:
8:45. And then hear thou in heaven their prayers, and their supplications, and do judgment for them.
8:46. But if they sin against thee, (for there is no man who sinneth not) and thou being angry, deliver them up to their enemies, so that they be led away captives into the land of their enemies, far or near;
8:47. Then if they do penance in their heart, in the place of captivity, and being converted, make supplication to thee in their captivity, saying: We have sinned, we have done unjustly, we have committed wickedness:
8:48. And return to thee with all their heart, and all their soul, in the land of their enemies, to which they have been led captives: and pray to thee towards the way of their land, which thou gavest to their fathers, and of the city which thou hast chosen, and of the temple which I have built to thy name:
8:49. Then hear thou in heaven, in the firmament of thy throne, their prayers, and their supplications, and do judgment for them:
8:50. And forgive thy people, that have sinned against thee, and all their iniquities, by which they have transgressed against thee: and give them mercy before them that have made them captives, that they may have compassion on them.
8:51. For they are thy people, and thy inheritance, whom thou hast brought out of the land of Egypt, from the midst of the furnace of iron.
8:52. That thy eyes may be open to the supplication of thy servant, and of thy people Israel, to hear them in all things for which they shall call upon thee.
8:53. For thou hast separated them to thyself for an inheritance, from amongst all the people of the earth, as thou hast spoken by Moses, thy servant, when thou broughtest our fathers out of Egypt, O Lord God.
8:54. And it came to pass, when Solomon had made an end of praying all this prayer and supplication to the Lord, that he rose from before the altar of the Lord: for he had fixed both knees on the ground, and had spread his hands towards heaven.
8:55. And he stood, and blessed all the assembly of Israel with a loud voice, saying:
8:56. Blessed be the Lord, who hath given rest to his people Israel, according to all that he promised: there hath not failed so much as one word of all the good things that he promised by his servant Moses.
8:57. The Lord our God be with us, as he was with our fathers, and not leave us, nor cast us off:
8:58. But may he incline our hearts to himself, that we may walk in all his ways, and keep his commandments, and his ceremonies, and all his judgments, which he commanded our fathers.
8:59. And let these my words, wherewith I have prayed before the Lord, be nigh unto the Lord our God day and night, that he may do judgment for his servant, and for his people Israel, day by day:
8:60. That all the people of the earth may know, that the Lord he is God, and there is no other besides him.
8:61. Let our hearts also be perfect with the Lord our God, that we may walk in his statutes, and keep his commandments, as at this day.
8:62. And the king, and all Israel with him, offered victims before the Lord.
8:63. And Solomon slew victims of peace offerings, which he sacrificed to the Lord, two and twenty thousand oxen, and a hundred and twenty thousand sheep so the king, and all the children of Israel, dedicated the temple of the Lord.
8:64. In that day the king sanctified the middle of the court, that was before the house of the Lord for there he offered the holocaust, and sacrifice, and the fat of the peace offerings: because the brazen altar that was before the Lord, was too little to receive the holocaust, and sacrifice, and the fat of the peace offerings.
8:65. And Solomon made at the same time a solemn feast, and all Israel with him, a great multitude, from the entrance of Emath to the river of Egypt, before the Lord our God, seven days and seven days, that is, fourteen days.
8:66. And on the eighth day, he sent away the people: and they blessed the king, and went to their dwellings, rejoicing, and glad in heart, for all the good things that the Lord had done for David, his servant, and for Israel, his people.
3 Kings Chapter 9
The Lord appeareth again to Solomon: he buildeth cities: he sendeth a fleet to Ophir.
9:1. And it came to pass when Solomon had finished the building of the house of the Lord, and the king’s house, and all that he desired and was pleased to do,
9:2. That the Lord appeared to him the second time, as he had appeared to him in Gabaon.
9:3. And the Lord said to him: I have heard thy prayer and thy supplication, which thou hast made before me: I have sanctified this house, which thou hast built, to put my name there for ever; and my eyes, and my heart, shall be there always.
9:4. And if thou wilt walk before me, as thy father walked, in simplicity of heart, and in uprightness: and wilt do all that I have commanded thee, and wilt keep my ordinances, and my judgments,
As thy father walked, in simplicity of heart.... That is, in the sincerity and integrity of a single heart, as opposite to all double dealing and deceit.
9:5. I will establish the throne of thy kingdom over Israel for ever, as I promised David, thy father, saying: There shall not fail a man of thy race upon the throne of Israel.
9:6. But if you and your children, revolting, shall turn away from following me, and will not keep my commandments, and my ceremonies, which I have set before you, but will go and worship strange gods, and adore them:
9:7. I will take away Israel from the face of the land which I have given them; and the temple which I have sanctified to my name, I will cast out of my sight; and Israel shall be a proverb, and a byword among all people.
9:8. And this house shall be made an example of: every one that shall pass by it, shall be astonished, and shall hiss, and say: Why hath the Lord done thus to this land, and to this house?
9:9. And they shall answer: Because they forsook the Lord their God, who brought their fathers out of the land of Egypt, and followed strange gods, and adored them, and worshipped them: therefore hath the Lord brought upon them all this evil.
9:10. And when twenty years were ended, after Solomon had built the two houses; that is, the house of the Lord, and the house of the king,
9:11. (Hiram, the king of Tyre, furnishing Solomon with cedar trees, and fir trees, and gold, according to all he had need of) then Solomon gave Hiram twenty cities in the land of Galilee.
9:12. And Hiram came out of Tyre, to see the towns which Solomon had given him, and they pleased him not;
9:13. And he said: Are these the cities which thou hast given me, brother? And he called them the land of Chabul, unto this day.
Chabul.... That is, dirty or displeasing.
9:14. And Hiram sent to king Solomon a hundred and twenty talents of gold.
9:15. This is the sum of the expenses, which king Solomon offered to build the house of the Lord, and his own house, and Mello, and the wall of Jerusalem, and Heser, and Mageddo, and Gazer.
9:16. Pharao, the king of Egypt, came up and took Gazer, and burnt it with fire: and slew the Chanaanite that dwelt in the city, and gave it for a dowry to his daughter, Solomon’s wife.
9:17. So Solomon built Gazer, and Bethhoron the nether,
9:18. And Baalath, and Palmira, in the land of the wilderness.
9:19. And all the towns that belonged to himself, and were not walled, he fortified; the cities also of the chariots, and the cities of the horsemen, and whatsoever he had a mind to build in Jerusalem, and in Libanus, and in all the land of his dominion.
9:20. All the people that were left of the Amorrhites, and Hethites, and Pherezites, and Hevites, and Jebusites, that are not of the children of Israel:
9:21. Their children, that were left in the land; to wit, such as the children of Israel had not been able to destroy, Solomon made tributary unto this day.
9:22. But of the children of Israel, Solomon made not any to be bondmen, but they were warriors, and his servants, and his princes, and captains, and overseers of the chariots and horses.
9:23. And there were five hundred and fifty chief officers set over all the works of Solomon, and they had people under them, and had charge over the appointed works.
9:24. And the daughter of Pharao came up out of the city of David to her house, which Solomon had built for her: then did he build Mello.
9:25. Solomon also offered three times every year holocausts, and victims of peace offerings, upon the altar which he had built to the Lord, and he burnt incense before the Lord: and the temple was finished.
9:26. And king Solomon made a fleet in Asiongaber, which is by Ailath, on the shore of the Red Sea, in the land of Edom.
9:27. And Hiram sent his servants in the fleet, sailors that had knowledge of the sea, with the servants of Solomon.
9:28. And they came to Ophir; and they brought from thence to king Solomon four hundred and twenty talents of gold.
3 Kings Chapter 10
The queen of Saba cometh to king Solomon: his riches and glory.
10:1. And the queen of Saba having heard of the fame of Solomon in the name of the Lord, came to try him with hard questions.
10:2. And entering into Jerusalem with a great train, and riches, and camels that carried spices, and an immense quantity of gold, and precious stones, she came to king Solomon, and spoke to him all that she had in her heart.
10:3. And Solomon informed her of all the things she proposed to him: there was not any word the king was ignorant of, and which he could not answer her.
10:4. And when the queen of Saba saw all the wisdom of Solomon, and the house which he had built,
10:5. And the meat of his table, and the apartments of his servants, and the order of his ministers, and their apparel, and the cupbearers, and the holocausts, which he offered in the house of the Lord, she had no longer any spirit in her;
10:6. And she said to the king: The report is true, which I heard in my own country,
10:7. Concerning thy words, and concerning thy wisdom. And I did not believe them that told me, till I came myself, and saw with my own eyes, and have found that the half hath not been told me: thy wisdom and thy works exceed the fame which I heard.
10:8. Blessed are thy men, and blessed are thy servants, who stand before thee always, and hear thy wisdom.
10:9. Blessed be the Lord thy God, whom thou hast pleased, and who hath set thee upon the throne of Israel, because the Lord hath loved Israel for ever, and hath appointed thee king, to do judgment and justice.
10:10. And she gave the king a hundred and twenty talents of gold, and of spices a very great store, and precious stones: there was brought no more such abundance of spices as these which the queen of Saba gave to king Solomon.
10:11. (The navy also of Hiram, which brought gold from Ophir, brought from Ophir great plenty of thyine trees, and precious stones.
10:12. And the king made of the thyine trees the rails of the house of the Lord, and of the king’s house: and citterns and harps for singers: there were no such thyine trees as these brought nor seen unto this day.)
10:13. And king Solomon gave the queen of Saba all that she desired, and asked of him: besides what he offered her of himself of his royal bounty. And she returned, and went to her own country, with her servants.
10:14. And the weight of the gold that was brought to Solomon every year, was six hundred and sixty-six talents of gold:
10:15. Besides that which the men brought him that were over the tributes, and the merchants, and they that sold by retail, and all the kings of Arabia, and the governors of the country.
10:16. And Solomon made two hundred shields of the purest gold: he allowed six hundred sicles of gold for the plates of one shield.
10:17. And three hundred targets of fine gold: three hundred pounds of gold covered one target: and the king put them in the house of the forest of Libanus.
10:18. King Solomon also made a great throne of ivory: and overlaid it with the finest gold.
10:19. It had six steps: and the top of the throne was round behind: and there were two hands on either side holding the seat: and two lions stood, one at each hand,
10:20. And twelve little lions stood upon the six steps, on the one side and on the other: there was no such work made in any kingdom.
10:21. Moreover, all the vessels out of which king Solomon drank, were of gold: and all the furniture of the house of the forest of Libanus was of most pure gold: there was no silver, nor was any account made of it in the days of Solomon:
10:22. For the king’s navy, once in three years, went with the navy of Hiram by sea to Tharsis, and brought from thence gold, and silver, and elephants’ teeth, and apes, and peacocks.
10:23. And king Solomon exceeded all the kings of the earth in riches and wisdom.
10:24. And all the earth desired to see Solomon’s face, to hear his wisdom, which God had given in his heart.
10:25. And every one brought him presents, vessels of silver and of gold, garments, and armour, and spices, and horses, and mules, every year.
10:26. And Solomon gathered together chariots and horsemen, and he had a thousand four hundred chariots, and twelve thousand horsemen: and he bestowed them in fenced cities, and with the king in Jerusalem.
10:27. And he made silver to be as plentiful in Jerusalem as stones: and cedars to be as common as sycamores which grow in the plains.
10:28. And horses were brought for Solomon out of Egypt, and Coa: for the king’s merchants bought them out of Coa, and brought them at a set price.
10:29. And a chariot of four horses came out of Egypt, for six hundred sicles of silver, and a horse for a hundred and fifty. And after this manner did all the kings of the Hethites, and of Syria, sell horses.
3 Kings Chapter 11
Solomon by means of his wives falleth into idolatry: God raiseth him adversaries, Adad, Razon, and Jeroboam: Solomon dieth.
11:1. And king Solomon loved many strange women, besides the daughter of Pharao, and women of Moab, and of Ammon, and of Edom, and of Sidon, and of the Hethites:
11:2. Of the nations concerning which the Lord said to the children of Israel: You shall not go in unto them, neither shall any of them come into yours: for they will most certainly turn away your hearts to follow their gods. And to these was Solomon joined with a most ardent love.
11:3. And he had seven hundred wives as queens, and three hundred concubines: and the women turned away his heart.
11:4. And when he was now old, his heart was turned away by women to follow strange gods: and his heart was not perfect with the Lord his God, as was the heart of David, his father.
11:5. But Solomon worshipped Astarthe, the goddess of the Sidonians, and Moloch, the idol of the Ammonites.
11:6. And Solomon did that which was not pleasing before the Lord, and did not fully follow the Lord, as David, his father.
11:7. Then Solomon built a temple for Chamos, the idol of Moab, on the hill that is over against Jerusalem, and for Moloch, the idol of the children of Ammon.
11:8. And he did in this manner for all his wives that were strangers, who burnt incense, and offered sacrifice to their gods.
11:9. And the Lord was angry with Solomon, because his mind was turned away from the Lord, the God of Israel, who had appeared to him twice;
11:10. And had commanded him concerning this thing, that he should not follow strange gods: but he kept not the things which the Lord commanded him.
11:11. The Lord therefore said to Solomon: Because thou hast done this, and hast not kept my covenant, and my precepts, which I have commanded thee, I will divide and rend thy kingdom, and will give it to thy servant.
11:12. Nevertheless, in thy days I will not do it, for David thy father’s sake: but I will rend it out of the hand of thy son.
11:13. Neither will I take away the whole kingdom; but I will give one tribe to thy son, for the sake of David, my servant, and Jerusalem, which I have chosen.
One tribe.... Besides that of Juda, his own native tribe.
11:14. And the Lord raised up an adversary to Solomon, Adad, the Edomite, of the king’s seed, in Edom.
11:15. For when David was in Edom, and Joab, the general of the army, was gone up to bury them that were slain, and had killed every male in Edom,
11:16. (For Joab remained there six months with all Israel, till he had slain every male in Edom,)
11:17. Then Adad fled, he and certain Edomites of his father’s servants, with him, to go into Egypt: and Adad was then a little boy.
11:18. And they arose out of Madian, and came into Pharan, and they took men with them from Pharan, and went into Egypt, to Pharao, the king of Egypt: who gave him a house, and appointed him victuals, and assigned him land.
11:19. And Adad found great favour before Pharao, insomuch that he gave him to wife the own sister of his wife, Taphnes, the queen.
11:20. And the sister of Taphnes bore him his son, Genubath; and Taphnes brought him up in the house of Pharao: and Genubath dwelt with Pharao among his children.
11:21. And when Adad heard in Egypt that David slept with his fathers, and that Joab, the general of the army, was dead, he said to Pharao: Let me depart, that I may go to my own country.
11:22. And Pharao said to him: Why, what is wanting to thee with me, that thou seekest to go to thy own country? But he answered: Nothing; yet I beseech thee to let me go.
11:23. God also raised up against him an adversary, Razon, the son of Eliada, who had fled from his master, Adarezer, the king of Soba.
11:24. And he gathered men against him, and he became a captain of robbers, when David slew them of Soba: and they went to Damascus, and dwelt there, and they made him king in Damascus.
11:25. And he was an adversary to Israel all the days of Solomon: and this is the evil of Adad, and his hatred against Israel; and he reigned in Syria.
11:26. Jeroboam also, the son of Nabat, an Ephrathite, of Sareda, a servant of Solomon, whose mother was named Sarua, a widow woman, lifted up his hand against the king.
11:27. And this is the cause of his rebellion against him; for Solomon built Mello, and filled up the breach of the city of David, his father.
11:28. And Jeroboam was a valiant and mighty man: and Solomon seeing him a young man ingenious and industrious, made him chief over the tributes of all the house of Joseph.
11:29. So it came to pass at that time, that Jeroboam went out of Jerusalem, and the prophet Ahias, the Silonite, clad with a new garment, found him in the way: and they two were alone in the field.
11:30. And Ahias taking his new garment, wherewith he was clad, divided it into twelve parts:
11:31. And he said to Jeroboam: Take to thee ten pieces: for thus saith the Lord, the God of Israel: Behold, I will rend the kingdom out of the hand of Solomon, and will give thee ten tribes.
11:32. But one tribe shall remain to him for the sake of my servant, David, and Jerusalem, the city which I have chosen out of all the tribes of Israel:
11:33. Because he hath forsaken me, and hath adored Astarthe, the goddess of the Sidonians, and Chamos, the god of Moab, and Moloch, the god of the children of Ammon: and hath not walked in my ways, to do justice before me, and to keep my precepts, and judgments, as did David, his father.
11:34. Yet I will not take away all the kingdom out of his hand, but I will make him prince all the days of his life, for David my servant’s sake, whom I chose, who kept my commandments, and my precepts.
11:35. But I will take away the kingdom out of his son’s hand, and will give thee ten tribes:
11:36. And to his son I will give one tribe, that there may remain a lamp for my servant, David, before me always in Jerusalem, the city which I have chosen, that my name might be there.
11:37. And I will take thee, and thou shalt reign over all that thy soul desireth, and thou shalt be king over Israel.
11:38. If then thou wilt hearken to all that I shall command thee, and wilt walk in my ways, and do what is right before me, keeping my commandments and my precepts, as David, my servant, did: I will be with thee, and will build thee up a faithful house, as I built a house for David, and I will deliver Israel to thee:
11:39. And I will for this afflict the seed of David, but yet not for ever.
11:40. Solomon, therefore, sought to kill Jeroboam: but he arose, and fled into Egypt, to Sesac, the king of Egypt, and was in Egypt till the death of Solomon.
11:41. And the rest of the words of Solomon, and all that he did and his wisdom: behold they are all written in the book of the words of the days of Solomon.
The book of the words, etc.... This book is lost, with divers others mentioned in holy writ.
11:42. And the days that Solomon reigned in Jerusalem, over all Israel, were forty years.
11:43. And Solomon slept with his fathers, and was buried in the city of David, his father; and Roboam, his son, reigned in his stead.
Solomon slept, etc.... That is, died. He was then about fifty-eight years of age, having reigned forty years.
3 Kings Chapter 12
Roboam, following the counsel of young men alienateth from him the minds of the people. They make Jeroboam king over ten tribes: he setteth up idolatry.
12:1. And Roboam went to Sichem: for thither were all Israel come together to make him king.
12:2. But Jeroboam, the son of Nabat, who was yet in Egypt, a fugitive from the face of king Solomon, hearing of his death, returned out of Egypt.
12:3. And they sent and called him: and Jeroboam came, and all the multitude of Israel, and they spoke to Roboam, saying:
12:4. Thy father laid a grievous yoke upon us: now, therefore, do thou take off a little of the grievous service of thy father, and of his most heavy yoke, which he put upon us, and we will serve thee.
12:5. And he said to them: Go till the third day, and come to me again. And when the people was gone,
12:6. King Roboam took counsel with the old men, that stood before Solomon, his father, while he yet lived, and he said: What counsel do you give me, that I may answer this people?
12:7. They said to him: If thou wilt yield to this people to day, and condescend to them, and grant their petition, and wilt speak gentle words to them, they will be thy servants always.
12:8. But he left the counsel of the old men, which they had given him, and consulted with the young men that had been brought up with him, and stood before him.
12:9. And he said to them: What counsel do you give me, that I may answer this people, who have said to me: Make the yoke, which thy father put upon us, lighter?
12:10. And the young men that had been brought up with him, said: Thus shalt thou speak to this people, who have spoken to thee, saying: Thy father made our yoke heavy, do thou ease us. Thou shalt say to them: My little finger is thicker than the back of my father.
12:11. And now my father put a heavy yoke upon you, but I will add to your yoke: my father beat you with whips, but I will beat you with scorpions.
12:12. So Jeroboam, and all the people, came to Roboam the third day, as the king had appointed, saying: Come to me again the third day.
12:13. And the king answered the people roughly, leaving the counsel of the old men, which they had given him,
12:14. And he spoke to them according to the counsel of the young men, saying: My father made your yoke heavy, but I will add to your yoke: My father beat you with whips, but I will beat you with scorpions.
12:15. And the king condescended not to the people: for the Lord was turned away from him, to make good his word, which he had spoken in the hand of Ahias, the Silonite, to Jeroboam, the son of Nabat.
12:16. Then the people, seeing that the king would not hearken to them, answered him, saying: What portion have we in David? or what inheritance in the son of Isai? Go home to thy dwellings, O Israel: now, David, look to thy own house. So Israel departed to their dwellings.
12:17. But as for all the children of Israel that dwelt in the cities of Juda, Roboam reigned over them.
12:18. Then king Roboam sent Aduram, who was over the tribute: and all Israel stoned him, and he died. Wherefore king Roboam made haste to get him up into his chariot, and he fled to Jerusalem:
12:19. And Israel revolted from the house of David, unto this day.
12:20. And it came to pass when all Israel heard that Jeroboam was come again, that they gathered an assembly, and sent and called him, and made him king over all Israel, and there was none that followed the house of David but the tribe of Juda only.
Juda only.... Benjamin was a small tribe, and so intermixed with the tribe of Juda, (the very city of Jerusalem being partly in Juda, partly in Benjamin,) that they are here counted but as one tribe.
12:21. And Roboam came to Jerusalem, and gathered together all the house of Juda, and the tribe of Benjamin, a hundred fourscore thousand chosen men for war, to fight against the house of Israel, and to bring the kingdom again under Roboam, the son of Solomon.
12:22. But the word of the Lord came to Semeias, the man of God, saying:
12:23. Speak to Roboam, the son of Solomon, the king of Juda, and to all the house of Juda, and Benjamin, and the rest of the people, saying:
12:24. Thus saith the Lord: You shall not go up, nor fight against your brethren, the children of Israel: let every man return to his house, for this thing is from me. They hearkened to the word of the Lord, and returned from their journey, as the Lord had commanded them.
12:25. And Jeroboam built Sichem in mount Ephraim, and dwelt there, and going out from thence, he built Phanuel.
12:26. And Jeroboam said in his heart: Now shall the kingdom return to the house of David,
12:27. If this people go up to offer sacrifices in the house of the Lord at Jerusalem: and the heart of this people will turn to their lord Roboam, the king of Juda, and they will kill me, and return to him.
12:28. And finding out a device, he made two golden calves, and said to them: Go ye up no more to Jerusalem: Behold thy gods, O Israel, who brought thee out of the land of Egypt.
Golden calves.... It is likely, by making his gods in this form, he mimicked the Egyptians, among whom he had sojourned, who worshipped their Apis and their Osiris under the form of a bullock.
12:29. And he set the one in Bethel, and the other in Dan:
Bethel and Dan.... Bethel was a city of the tribe of Ephraim in the southern part of the dominions of Jeroboam, about six leagues from Jerusalem; Dan was in the extremity of his dominions to the north in the confines of Syria.
12:30. And this thing became an occasion of sin: for the people went to adore the calf as far as Dan.
12:31. And he made temples in the high places, and priests of the lowest of the people, who were not of the sons of Levi.
12:32. And he appointed a feast in the eighth month, on the fifteenth day of the month, after the manner of the feast that was celebrated in Juda. And going up to the altar, he did in like manner in Bethel, to sacrifice to the calves, which he had made: and he placed in Bethel priests of the high places, which he had made.
12:33. And he went up to the altar, which he had built in Bethel, on the fifteenth day of the eighth month, which he had devised of his own heart: and he ordained a feast to the children of Israel, and went up on the altar to burn incense.
3 Kings Chapter 13
A prophet sent from Juda to Bethel foretelleth the birth of Josias, and the destruction of Jeroboam’s altar. Jeroboam’s hand offering violence to the prophet withereth, but is restored by the prophet’s prayer: the same prophet is deceived by another prophet, and slain by a lion.
13:1. And behold there came a man of God out of Juda, by the word of the Lord, to Bethel, when Jeroboam was standing upon the altar, and burning incense.
13:2. And he cried out against the altar in the word of the Lord, and said: O altar, altar, thus saith the Lord: Behold a child shall be born to the house of David, Josias by name, and he shall immolate upon thee the priests of the high places, who now burn incense upon thee, and he shall burn men’s bones upon thee.
13:3. And he gave a sign the same day, saying: This shall be the sign, that the Lord hath spoken: Behold the altar shall be rent, and the ashes that are upon it, shall be poured out.
13:4. And when the king had heard the word of the man of God, which he had cried out against the altar in Bethel, he stretched forth his hand from the altar, saying: Lay hold on him. And his hand which he stretched forth against him, withered: and he was not able to draw it back again to him.
13:5. The altar also was rent, and the ashes were poured out from the altar, according to the sign which the man of God had given before in the word of the Lord.
13:6. And the king said to the man of God: Entreat the face of the Lord thy God, and pray for me, that my hand may be restored to me. And the man of God besought the face of the Lord, and the king’s hand was restored to him, and it became as it was before.
13:7. And the king said to the man of God: Come home with me to dine, and I will make thee presents.
13:8. And the man of God answered the king: If thou wouldst give me half thy house, I will not go with thee, nor eat bread, nor drink water in this place:
13:9. For so it was enjoined me by the word of the Lord commanding me: Thou shalt not eat bread, nor drink water, nor return by the same way that thou camest.
13:10. So he departed by another way, and returned not by the way that he came into Bethel.
13:11. Now a certain old prophet dwelt in Bethel, and his sons came to him, and told him all the works that the man of God had done that day in Bethel: and they told their father the words which he had spoken to the king.
13:12. And their father said to them: What way went he? His sons shewed him the way by which the man of God went, who came out of Juda.
13:13. And he said to his sons: Saddle me the ass. And when they had saddled it, he got up,
13:14. And went after the man of God, and found him sitting under a turpentine tree: and he said to him: Art thou the man of God who camest from Juda? He answered: I am.
13:15. And he said to him: Come home with me to eat bread.
13:16. But he said: I must not return, nor go with thee, neither will I eat bread, or drink water in this place:
13:17. Because the Lord spoke to me, in the word of the Lord, saying: Thou shalt not eat bread, and thou shalt not drink water there, nor return by the way thou wentest.
13:18. He said to him: I also am a prophet like unto thee: and an angel spoke to me, in the word of the Lord, saying: Bring him back with thee into thy house, that he may eat bread, and drink water. He deceived him,
An angel spoke to me, etc.... This old man of Bethel was indeed a prophet, but he sinned in thus deceiving the man of God; the more because he pretended a revelation for what he did.
13:19. And brought him back with him: so he ate bread, and drank water in his house.
13:20. And as they sat at table, the word of the Lord came to the prophet that brought him back:
13:21. And he cried out to the man of God who came out of Juda, saying: Thus saith the Lord: Because thou hast not been obedient to the Lord, and hast not kept the commandment which the Lord thy God commanded thee,
13:22. And hast returned, and eaten bread, and drunk water in the place wherein he commanded thee that thou shouldst not eat bread, nor drink water, thy dead body shall not be brought into the sepulchre of thy fathers.
13:23. And when he had eaten and drunk, he saddled his ass for the prophet, whom he had brought back.
13:24. And when he was gone, a lion found him in the way, and killed him, and his body was cast in the way: and the ass stood by him, and the lion stood by the dead body.
Killed him.... Thus the Lord often punishes his servants here, that he may spare them hereafter. For the generality of divines are of opinion, that the sin of this prophet, considered with all its circumstances, was not mortal.
13:25. And behold, men passing by, saw the dead body cast in the way, and the lion standing by the body. And they came and told it in the city, wherein that old prophet dwelt.
13:26. And when that prophet, who had brought him back out of the way, heard of it, he said: It is the man of God, that was disobedient to the mouth of the Lord, and the Lord hath delivered him to the lion, and he hath torn him, and killed him, according to the word of the Lord, which he spoke to him.
13:27. And he said to his sons: Saddle me an ass. And when they had saddled it,
13:28. And he was gone, he found the dead body cast in the way, and the ass and the lion standing by the carcass: the lion had not eaten of the dead body, nor hurt the ass.
13:29. And the prophet took up the body of the man of God, and laid it upon the ass, and going back brought it into the city of the old prophet, to mourn for him.
13:30. And he laid his dead body in his own sepulchre: and they mourned over him, saying: Alas! alas, my brother.
13:31. And when they had mourned over him, he said to his sons: When I am dead, bury me in the sepulchre wherein the man of God is buried: lay my bones beside his bones.
13:32. For assuredly the word shall come to pass which he hath foretold in the word of the Lord, against the altar that is in Bethel: and against all the temples of the high places, that are in the cities of Samaria.
13:33. After these words, Jeroboam came not back from his wicked way: but on the contrary, he made of the meanest of the people priests of the high places: whosoever would, he filled his hand, and he was made a priest of the high places.
13:34. And for this cause did the house of Jeroboam sin, and was cut off, and destroyed from the face of the earth.
3 Kings Chapter 14
Ahias prophesieth the destruction of the family of Jeroboam. He dieth, and is succeeded by his son Nadab. The king of Egypt taketh and pillageth Jerusalem. Roboam dieth and his son Abiam succeedeth.
14:1. At that time Abia, the son of Jeroboam, fell sick.
14:2. And Jeroboam said to his wife: Arise, and change thy dress, that thou be not known to be the wife of Jeroboam, and go to Silo, where Ahias, the prophet is, who told me that I should reign over this people.
14:3. Take also with thee ten loaves, and cracknels, and a pot of honey, and go to him: for he will tell thee what will become of this child.
14:4. Jeroboam’s wife did as he told her: and rising up, went to Silo, and came to the house of Ahias; but he could not see, for his eyes were dim by reason of his age.
14:5. And the Lord said to Ahias: Behold the wife of Jeroboam cometh in, to consult thee concerning her son, that is sick: thus and thus shalt thou speak to her. So when she was coming in, and made as if she were another woman,
14:6. Ahias heard the sound of her feet, coming in at the door, and said: Come in, thou wife of Jeroboam: why dost thou feign thyself to be another? But I am sent to thee with heavy tidings.
14:7. Go, and tell Jeroboam: Thus saith the Lord, the God of Israel: For as much as I exalted thee from among the people, and made thee prince over my people Israel;
14:8. And rent the kingdom away from the house of David, and gave it to thee, and thou hast not been as my servant, David, who kept my commandments, and followed me with all his heart, doing that which was well pleasing in my sight:
14:9. But hast done evil above all that were before thee, and hast made thee strange gods, and molten gods, to provoke me to anger, and hast cast me behind thy back:
14:10. Therefore, behold I will bring evils upon the house of Jeroboam, and will cut off from Jeroboam him that pisseth against the wall, and him that is shut up, and the last in Israel: and I will sweep away the remnant of the house of Jeroboam, as dung is swept away till all be clean.
14:11. Them that shall die of Jeroboam in the city, the dogs shall eat: and them that shall die in the field, the birds of the air shall devour: for the Lord hath spoken it.
14:12. Arise thou, therefore, and go to thy house: and when thy feet shall be entering into the city, the child shall die,
14:13. And all Israel shall mourn for him, and shall bury him: for he only of Jeroboam shall be laid in a sepulchre, because in his regard there is found a good word from the Lord, the God of Israel, in the house of Jeroboam.
14:14. And the Lord hath appointed himself a king over Israel, who shall cut off the house of Jeroboam in this day, and in this time:
14:15. And the Lord God shall strike Israel as a reed is shaken in the water: and he shall root up Israel out of this good land, which he gave to their fathers, and shall scatter them beyond the river: because they have made to themselves groves, to provoke the Lord.
14:16. And the Lord shall give up Israel for the sins of Jeroboam, who hath sinned, and made Israel to sin.
14:17. And the wife of Jeroboam arose, and departed, and came to Thersa: and when she was coming in to the threshold of the house, the child died,
14:18. And they buried him. And all Israel mourned for him, according to the word of the Lord, which he spoke by the hand of his servant Ahias, the prophet.
14:19. And the rest of the acts of Jeroboam, how he fought, and how he reigned, behold they are written in the book of the words of the days of the kings of Israel.
The book of the words of the days of the kings of Israel.... This book, which is often mentioned in the Book of Kings, is long since lost. For as to the books of Paralipomenon, or Chronicles, (which the Hebrews call the words of the days,) they were certainly written after the Book of Kings, since they frequently refer to them.
14:20. And the days that Jeroboam reigned, were two and twenty years: and he slept with his fathers: and Nadab, his son, reigned in his stead.
14:21. And Roboam, the son of Solomon, reigned in Juda: Roboam was one and forty years old when he began to reign: and he reigned seventeen years in Jerusalem, the city which the Lord chose out of all the tribes of Israel to put his name there. And his mother’s name was Naama, an Ammonitess.
14:22. And Juda did evil in the sight of the Lord, and provoked him above all that their fathers had done, in their sins which they committed.
14:23. For they also built them altars, and statues, and groves, upon every high hill, and under every green tree:
14:24. There were also the effeminate in the land, and they did according to all the abominations of the people, whom the Lord had destroyed before the face of the children of Israel.
The effeminate.... Catamites, or men addicted to unnatural lust.
14:25. And in the fifth year of the reign of Roboam, Sesac, king of Egypt, came up against Jerusalem.
14:26. And he took away the treasures of the house of the Lord, and the king’s treasures, and carried all off: as also the shields of gold which Solomon had made:
14:27. And Roboam made shields of brass instead of them, and delivered them into the hand of the captains of the shieldbearers, and of them that kept watch before the gate of the king’s house.
14:28. And when the king went into the house of the Lord, they whose office it was to go before him, carried them: and afterwards they brought them back to the armoury of the shieldbearers.
14:29. Now the rest of the acts of Roboam, and all that he did, behold they are written in the book of the words of the days of the kings of Juda.
14:30. And there was war between Roboam and Jeroboam always.
14:31. And Roboam slept with his fathers, and was buried with them, in the city of David: and his mother’s name was Naama, an Ammonitess: and Abiam, his son, reigned in his stead.
3 Kings Chapter 15
The acts of Abiam and of Asa kings of Juda. And of Nadab and Baasa kings of Israel.
15:1. Now in the eighteenth year of the reign of Jeroboam, the son of Nabat, Abiam reigned over Juda.
15:2. He reigned three years in Jerusalem: the name of his mother was Maacha, the daughter of Abessalom.
Maacha, etc.... She is called elsewhere Michaia, daughter of Uriel; but it was common in those days for the same person to have two names.
15:3. And he walked in all the sins of his father, which he had done before him: and his heart was not perfect with the Lord his God, as was the heart of David, his father.
15:4. But for David’s sake the Lord his God gave him a lamp in Jerusalem, to set up his son after him, and to establish Jerusalem:
15:5. Because David had done that which was right in the eyes of the Lord, and had not turned aside from any thing that he commanded him, all the days of his life, except the matter of Urias, the Hethite.
15:6. But there was war between Roboam and Jeroboam all the time of his life.
15:7. And the rest of the words of Abiam, and all that he did, are they not written in the book of the words of the days of the kings of Juda? And there was war between Abiam and Jeroboam.
15:8. And Abiam slept with his fathers, and they buried him in the city of David: and Asa, his son, reigned in his stead.
15:9. So in the twentieth year of Jeroboam, king of Israel, reigned Asa, king of Juda,
15:10. And he reigned one and forty years in Jerusalem. His mother’s name was Maacha, the daughter of Abessalom.
His mother, etc.... That is, his grandmother; unless we suppose, which is not improbable, that the Maacha here named is different from the Maacha mentioned, ver. 2.
15:11. And Asa did that which was right in the sight of the Lord, as did David, his father:
15:12. And he took away the effeminate out of the land, and removed all the filth of the idols, which his fathers had made.
15:13. Moreover, he also removed his mother, Maacha, from being the princess in the sacrifices of Priapus, and in the grove which she had consecrated to him: and he destroyed her den, and broke in pieces the filthy idol, and burnt it by the torrent Cedron:
15:14. But the high places he did not take away. Nevertheless, the heart of Asa was perfect with the Lord all his days:
The high places.... There were excelsa or high places of two different kinds. Some were set up, and dedicated to the worship of idols, or strange gods; and these Asa removed, 2 Par. 14.2; others were only altars of the true God, but were erected contrary to the law, which allowed of no sacrifices but in the temple; and these were not removed by Asa.—Ibid. Perfect with the Lord.... Asa had his faults; but never forsook the worship of the Lord.
15:15. And he brought in the things which his father had dedicated, and he had vowed, into the house of the Lord, silver and gold, and vessels.
15:16. And there was war between Asa, and Baasa, king of Israel, all their days.
15:17. And Baasa, king of Israel, went up against Juda, and built Rama, that no man might go out or come in of the side of Asa, king of Juda.
15:18. Then Asa took all the silver and gold that remained in the treasures of the house of the Lord, and in the treasures of the king’s house, and delivered it into the hands of his servants: and sent them to Benadad, son of Tabremon, the son of Hezion, king of Syria, who dwelt in Damascus, saying:
15:19. There is a league between me and thee, and between my father and thy father: therefore I have sent thee presents of silver and gold: and I desire thee to come, and break thy league with Baasa, king of Israel, that he may depart from me.
15:20. Benadad, hearkening to king Asa, sent the captains of his army against the cities of Israel, and they smote Ahion, and Dan, and Abeldomum Maacha, and all Cenneroth; that is all the land of Nephthali.
15:21. And when Baasa had heard this, he left off building Rama, and returned into Thersa.
15:22. But king Asa sent word into all Juda, saying: Let no man be excused: and they took away the stones from Rama, and the timber thereof, wherewith Baasa had been building, and with them king Asa built Gabaa of Benjamin, and Maspha.
15:23. But the rest of all the acts of Asa, and all his strength, and all that he did, and the cities that he built, are they not written in the book of the words of the days of the kings of Juda? But in the time of his old age he was diseased in his feet.
15:24. And he slept with his fathers, and was buried with them in the city of David, his father. And Josaphat, his son, reigned in his place.
15:25. But Nadab, the son of Jeroboam, reigned over Israel the second year of Asa, king of Juda: and he reigned over Israel two years.
15:26. And he did evil in the sight of the Lord, and walked in the ways of his father, and in his sins, wherewith he made Israel to sin.
15:27. And Baasa, the son of Ahias, of the house of Issachar, conspired against him, and slew him in Gebbethon, which is a city of the Philistines: for Nadab and all Israel besieged Gebbethon.
15:28. So Baasa slew him in the third year of Asa, king of Juda, and reigned in his place.
15:29. And when he was king, he cut off all the house of Jeroboam: he left not so much as one soul of his seed, till he had utterly destroyed him, according to the word of the Lord, which he had spoken in the hand of Ahias, the Silonite:
15:30. Because of the sin of Jeroboam, which he had sinned, and wherewith he had made Israel to sin, and for the offence wherewith he provoked the Lord, the God of Israel.
15:31. But the rest of the acts of Nadab, and all that he did, are they not written in the book of the words of the days of the kings of Israel?
15:32. And there was war between Asa and Baasa, the king of Israel, all their days.
15:33. In the third year of Asa, king of Juda, Baasa, the son of Ahias, reigned over all Israel, in Thersa, four and twenty years.
15:34. And he did evil before the Lord, and walked in the ways of Jeroboam, and in his sins, wherewith he made Israel to sin.
3 Kings Chapter 16
Jehu prophesieth against Baasa: his son Ela is slain and all his family destroyed by Zambri. Of the reign of Amri father of Achab.
16:1. Then the word of the Lord came to Jehu, the son of Hanani, against Baasa, saying:
16:2. For as much as I have exalted thee out of the dust and made thee prince over my people Israel, and thou hast walked in the way of Jeroboam, and hast made my people Israel to sin, to provoke me to anger with their sins:
16:3. Behold I will cut down the posterity of Baasa, and the posterity of his house, and I will make thy house as the house of Jeroboam, the son of Nabat.
16:4. Him that dieth of Baasa, in the city, the dogs shall eat: and him that dieth of his in the country, the fowls of the air shall devour.
16:5. But the rest of the acts of Baasa, and all that he did, and his battles, are they not written in the book of the words of the days of the kings of Israel?
16:6. So Baasa slept with his fathers, and was buried in Thersa: and Ela, his son, reigned in his stead.
16:7. And when the word of the Lord came in the hand of Jehu, the son of Hanani, the prophet, against Baasa, and against his house, and against all the evil that he had done before the Lord, to provoke him to anger by the works of his hands, to become as the house of Jeroboam: for this cause he slew him; that is to say, Jehu, the son of Hanani, the prophet.
16:8. In the six and twentieth year of Asa, king of Juda, Ela, the son of Baasa, reigned over Israel, in Thersa, two years.
16:9. And his servant Zambri, who was captain of half the horsemen, rebelled against him: now Ela was drinking in Thersa, and drunk in the house of Arsa, the governor of Thersa.
16:10. And Zambri rushing in, struck him, and slew him, in the seven and twentieth year of Asa, king of Juda and he reigned in his stead.
16:11. And when he was king, and sat upon his throne, he slew all the house of Baasa, and he left not one thereof to piss against a wall and all his kinsfolks and friends.
16:12. And Zambri destroyed all the house of Baasa, according to the word of the Lord, that he had spoken to Baasa, in the hand of Jehu, the prophet,
16:13. For all the sins of Baasa, and the sins of Ela, his son, who sinned, and made Israel to sin, provoking the Lord, the God of Israel, with their vanities.
16:14. But the rest of the acts of Ela, and all that he did, are they not written in the book of the words of the days of the kings of Israel?
16:15. In the seven and twentieth year of Asa, king of Juda, Zambri reigned seven days in Thersa: now the army was besieging Gebbethon, a city of the Philistines.
16:16. And when they heard that Zambri had rebelled, and slain the king, all Israel made Amri their king, who was general over Israel in the camp that day.
16:17. And Amri went up, and all Israel with him, from Gebbethon, and they besieged Thersa.
16:18. And Zambri, seeing that the city was about to be taken, went into the palace, and burnt himself with the king’s house: and he died
16:19. In his sins, which he had sinned, doing evil before the Lord, and walking in the way of Jeroboam, and in his sin, wherewith he made Israel to sin.
16:20. But the rest of the acts of Zambri, and of his conspiracy and tyranny, are they not written in the book of the words of the days of the kings of Israel?
16:21. Then were the people of Israel divided into two parts: one half of the people followed Thebni, the son of Gineth, to make him king: and one half followed Amri.
16:22. But the people that were with Amri, prevailed over the people that followed Thebni, the son of Gineth: and Thebni died, and Amri reigned.
16:23. In the one and thirtieth year of Asa, king of Juda, Amri reigned over Israel twelve years: in Thersa he reigned six years.
In the one and thirtieth year, etc.... Amri began to reign in the seven and twentieth year of Asa; but had not quiet possession of the kingdom till the death of his competitor Thebni, which was in the one and thirtieth year of Asa’s reign.
16:24. And he bought the hill of Samaria of Semer, for two talents of silver: and he built upon it, and he called the city which he built Samaria, after the name of Semer, the owner of the hill.
16:25. And Amri did evil in the sight of the Lord, and acted wickedly above all that were before him.
16:26. And he walked in all the way of Jeroboam, the son of Nabat, and in his sins, wherewith he made Israel to sin: to provoke the Lord, the God of Israel, to anger with their vanities.
With their vanities.... That is, their idols their golden calves, vain, false, deceitful things.
16:27. Now the rest of the acts of Amri, and the battles he fought, are they not written in the book of the words of the days of the kings of Israel?
16:28. And Amri slept with his fathers, and was buried in Samaria, and Achab, his son, reigned in his stead.
16:29. Now Achab, the son of Amri, reigned over Israel in the eight and thirtieth year of Asa, king of Juda. And Achab, the son of Amri, reigned over Israel in Samaria two and twenty years.
16:30. And Achab, the son of Amri, did evil in the sight of the Lord above all that were before him.
16:31. Nor was it enough for him to walk in the sins of Jeroboam, the son of Nabat: but he also took to wife Jezabel, daughter of Ethbaal, king of the Sidonians. And he went, and served Baal, and adored him.
16:32. And he set up an altar for Baal, in the temple of Baal, which he had built in Samaria;
16:33. And he planted a grove: and Achab did more to provoke the Lord, the God of Israel, than all the kings of Israel that were before him.
16:34. In his days Hiel, of Bethel, built Jericho: in Abiram, his firstborn, he laid its foundations: and in his youngest son, Segub, he set up the gates thereof: according to the word of the Lord, which he spoke in the hand of Josue, the son of Nun.
3 Kings Chapter 17
Elias shutteth up the heaven from raining. He is fed by ravens, and afterwards by a widow of Sarephta. He raiseth the window’s son to life.
17:1. And Elias the Thesbite, of the inhabitants of Galaad, said to Achab: As the Lord liveth, the God of Israel, in whose sight I stand, there shall not be dew nor rain these years, but according to the words of my mouth.
17:2. And the word of the Lord came to him, saying:
17:3. Get thee hence, and go towards the east, and hide thyself by the torrent of Carith, which is over against the Jordan;
17:4. And there thou shalt drink of the torrent: and I have commanded the ravens to feed thee there.
17:5. So he went, and did according to the word of the Lord: and going, he dwelt by the torrent Carith, which is over against the Jordan.
17:6. And the ravens brought him bread and flesh in the morning, and bread and flesh in the evening; and he drank of the torrent.
17:7. But after some time the torrent was dried up: for it had not rained upon the earth.
17:8. Then the word of the Lord came to him, saying:
17:9. Arise, and go to Sarephta of the Sidonians, and dwell there: for I have commanded a widow woman there to feed thee.
Sarephta of the Sidonians.... That is, a city of the Sidonians.
17:10. He arose, and went to Sarephta. And when he was come to the gate of the city, he saw the widow woman gathering sticks, and he called her, and said to her: Give me a little water in a vessel, that I may drink.
17:11. And when she was going to fetch it, he called after her, saying: Bring me also, I beseech thee, a morsel of bread in thy hand.
17:12. And she answered: As the Lord thy God liveth, I have no bread, but only a handful of meal in a pot, and a little oil in a cruise: behold I am gathering two sticks, that I may go in and dress it, for me and my son, that we may eat it and die.
17:13. And Elias said to her: Fear not; but go, and do as thou hast said but first make for me of the same meal a little hearth cake, and bring it to me, and after make for thyself and thy son.
17:14. For thus saith the Lord, the God of Israel: The pot of meal shall not waste, nor the cruise of oil be diminished, until the day wherein the Lord will give rain upon the face of the earth.
17:15. She went, and did according to the word of Elias: and he ate, and she, and her house: and from that day
17:16. The pot of meal wasted not, and the cruise of oil was not diminished according to the word of the Lord, which he spoke in the hand of Elias.
17:17. And it came to pass after this, that the son of the woman, the mistress of the house, fell sick, and the sickness was very grievous, so that there was no breath left in him.
17:18. And she said to Elias: What have I to do with thee, thou man of God? art thou come to me, that my iniquities should be remembered, and that thou shouldst kill my son?
17:19. And Elias said to her: Give me thy son. And he took him out of her bosom, and carried him into the upper chamber where he abode, and laid him upon his own bed.
17:20. And he cried to the Lord, and said: O Lord, my God, hast thou afflicted also the widow, with whom I am after a sort maintained, so as to kill her son?
17:21. And he stretched, and measured himself upon the child three times, and cried to the Lord, and said: O Lord, my God, let the soul of this child, I beseech thee, return into his body.
17:22. And the Lord heard the voice of Elias: and the soul of the child returned into him, and he revived.
17:23. And Elias took the child, and brought him down from the upper chamber to the house below, and delivered him to his mother, and said to her: Behold thy son liveth.
17:24. And the woman said to Elias: Now by this I know that thou art a man of God, and the word of the Lord in thy mouth is true.
3 Kings Chapter 18
Elias cometh before Achab. He convinceth the false prophets by bringing fire from heaven: he obtaineth rain by his prayer.
18:1. After many days, the word of the Lord came to Elias, in the third year, saying: Go, and shew thyself to Achab, that I may give rain upon the face of the earth.
18:2. And Elias went to shew himself to Achab, and there was a grievous famine in Samaria.
18:3. And Achab called Abdias the governor of his house: now Abdias feared the Lord very much.
18:4. For when Jezabel killed the prophets of the Lord, he took a hundred prophets, and hid them by fifty and fifty in caves, and fed them with bread and water.
18:5. And Achab said to Abdias: Go into the land unto all fountains of waters, and into all valleys, to see if we can find grass, and save the horses and mules, that the beasts may not utterly perish.
18:6. And they divided the countries between them, that they might go round about them: Achab went one way, and Abdias another way by himself.
18:7. And as Abdias was in the way, Elias met him: and he knew him, and fell on his face, and said: Art thou my lord Elias?
18:8. And he answered: I am. Go, and tell thy master: Elias is here.
18:9. And he said: What have I sinned, that thou wouldst deliver me, thy servant, into the hand of Achab, that he should kill me?
18:10. As the Lord thy God liveth, there is no nation or kingdom, whither my lord hath not sent to seek thee: and when all answered: He is not here: he took an oath of every kingdom and nation, because thou wast not found.
18:11. And now thou sayest to me: Go and tell thy master: Elias is here.
18:12. And when I am gone from thee, the Spirit of the Lord will carry thee into a place that I know not: and I shall go in and tell Achab; and he, not finding thee, will kill me: but thy servant feareth the Lord from his infancy.
18:13. Hath it not been told thee, my lord, what I did when Jezabel killed the prophets of the Lord; how I hid a hundred men of the prophets of the Lord, by fifty and fifty in caves, and fed them with bread and water?
18:14. And now thou sayest: Go and tell thy master: Elias is here: that he may kill me.
18:15. And Elias said: As the Lord of hosts liveth, before whose face I stand, this day I will shew myself unto him.
18:16. Abdias therefore went to meet Achab, and told him: and Achab came to meet Elias.
18:17. And when he had seen him, he said: Art thou he that troublest Israel?
18:18. And he said: I have not troubled Israel, but thou and thy father’s house, who have forsaken the commandments of the Lord, and have followed Baalim.
18:19. Nevertheless send now, and gather unto me all Israel, unto Mount Carmel, and the prophets of Baal four hundred and fifty, and the prophets of the groves four hundred, who eat at Jezabel’s table.
18:20. Achab sent to all the children of Israel, and gathered together the prophets unto mount Carmel.
18:21. And Elias coming to all the people, said: How long do you halt between two sides? If the Lord be God, follow him: but if Baal, then follow him. And the people did not answer him a word.
18:22. And Elias said again to the people: I only remain a prophet of the Lord: but the prophets of Baal are four hundred and fifty men.
18:23. Let two bullocks be given us, and let them choose one bullock for themselves, and cut it in pieces, and lay it upon wood, but put no fire under: and I will dress the other bullock, and lay it on wood, and put no fire under it.
18:24. Call ye on the names of your gods, and I will call on the name of my Lord: and the God that shall answer by fire, let him be God. And all the people answering, said: A very good proposal.
18:25. Then Elias said to the prophets of Baal: Choose you one bullock and dress it first, because you are many: and call on the names of your gods; but put no fire under.
18:26. And they took the bullock, which he gave them, and dressed it: and they called on the name of Baal from morning even until noon, saying: O Baal, hear us. But there was no voice, nor any that answered: and they leaped over the altar that they had made.
18:27. And when it was now noon, Elias jested at them, saying: Cry with a louder voice: for he is a god; and perhaps he is talking, or is in an inn, or on a journey; or perhaps he is asleep, and must be awaked.
18:28. So they cried with a loud voice, and cut themselves after their manner with knives and lancets, till they were all covered with blood.
18:29. And after midday was past, and while they were prophesying, the time was come of offering sacrifice, and there was no voice heard, nor did any one answer, nor regard them as they prayed.
18:30. Elias said to all the people: Come ye unto me. And the people coming near unto him, he repaired the altar of the Lord, that was broken down:
18:31. And he took twelve stones, according to the number of the tribes of the sons of Jacob to whom the word of the Lord came, saying: Israel shall be thy name.
18:32. And he built with the stones an altar to the name of the Lord: and he made a trench for water, of the breadth of two furrows, round about the altar.
18:33. And he laid the wood in order, and cut the bullock in pieces, and laid it upon the wood.
18:34. And he said: Fill four buckets with water, and pour it upon the burnt offering, and upon the wood. And again he said: Do the same the second time. And when they had done it the second time, he said: Do the same also the third time. And they did so the third time.
18:35. And the water run round about the altar, and the trench was filled with water.
18:36. And when it was now time to offer the holocaust, Elias, the prophet, came near and said: O Lord God of Abraham, and Isaac, and Israel, shew this day that thou art the God of Israel, and I thy servant, and that according to thy commandment I have done all these things.
18:37. Hear me, O Lord, hear me: that this people may learn that thou art the Lord God, and that thou hast turned their heart again.
18:38. Then the fire of the Lord fell, and consumed the holocaust, and the wood, and the stones, and the dust, and licked up the water that was in the trench.
18:39. And when all the people saw this, they fell on their faces, and they said: The Lord, he is God; the Lord, he is God.
18:40. And Elias said to them: Take the prophets of Baal, and let not one of them escape. And when they had taken them, Elias brought them down to the torrent Cison, and killed them there.
18:41. And Elias said to Achab: Go up, eat and drink: for there is a sound of abundance of rain.
18:42. Achab went up to eat and drink: and Elias went up to the top of Carmel, and casting himself down upon the earth, put his face between his knees,
18:43. And he said to his servant: Go up, and look towards the sea. And he went up, and looked, and said: There is nothing. And again he said to him: Return seven times.
18:44. And at the seventh time: Behold a little cloud arose out of the sea like a man’s foot. And he said: Go up, and say to Achab: Prepare thy chariot, and go down, lest the rain prevent thee.
18:45. And while he turned himself this way and that way, behold the heavens grew dark, with clouds and wind, and there fell a great rain. And Achab getting up, went away to Jezrahel:
18:46. And the hand of the Lord was upon Elias, and he girded up his loins, and ran before Achab, till he came to Jezrahel.
3 Kings Chapter 19
Elias, fleeing from Jezabel, is fed by an angel in the desert; and by the strength of that food walketh forty days, till he cometh to Horeb, where he hath a vision of God.
19:1. And Achab told Jezabel all that Elias had done, and how he had slain all the prophets with the sword.
19:2. And Jezabel sent a messenger to Elias, saying: Such and such things may the gods do to me, and add still more, if by this hour to morrow I make not thy life as the life of one of them.
19:3. Then Elias was afraid, and rising up, he went whithersoever he had a mind: and he came to Bersabee of Juda, and left his servant there,
19:4. And he went forward, one day’s journey into the desert. And when he was there, and sat under a juniper tree, he requested for his soul that he might die, and said: It is enough for me, Lord; take away my soul: for I am no better than my fathers.
That he might die.... Elias requested to die, not out of impatience or pusillanimity, but out of zeal against sin; and that he might no longer be witness of the miseries of his people; and the war they were waging against God and his servants. See ver. 10.
19:5. And he cast himself down, and slept in the shadow of the juniper tree: and behold an angel of the Lord touched him, and said to him: Arise and eat.
19:6. He looked, and behold there was at his head a hearth cake, and a vessel of water: and he ate and drank, and he fell asleep again.
19:7. And the angel of the Lord came again the second time, and touched him, and said to him: Arise, eat: for thou hast yet a great way to go.
19:8. And he arose, and ate and drank, and walked in the strength of that food forty days and forty nights, unto the mount of God, Horeb.
In the strength of that food, etc.... This bread, with which Elias was fed in the wilderness, was a figure of the bread of life which we receive in the blessed sacrament; by the strength of which we are to be supported in our journey through the wilderness of this world till we come to the true mountain of God, and his vision in a happy eternity.
19:9. And when he was come thither, he abode in a cave: and behold the word of the Lord came unto him, and he said to him: What dost thou here, Elias?
19:10. And he answered: With zeal have I been zealous for the Lord God of hosts: for the children of Israel have forsaken thy covenant: they have thrown down thy altars, they have slain thy prophets with the sword, and I alone am left, and they seek my life to take it away.
I alone am left.... Viz., of the prophets in the kingdom of Israel, or of the ten tribes; for in the kingdom of Juda religion was at that time in a very flourishing condition under the kings Asa and Josaphat. And even in Israel there remained several prophets, though not then known to Elias. See chap. 20.13, 28, 35.
19:11. And he said to him: Go forth, and stand upon the mount before the Lord: and behold the Lord passeth, and a great and strong wind before the Lord, overthrowing the mountains, and breaking the rocks in pieces: but the Lord is not in the wind. And after the wind, an earthquake: but the Lord is not in the earthquake.
19:12. And after the earthquake, a fire: but the Lord is not in the fire. And after the fire, a whistling of a gentle air.
19:13. And when Elias heard it, he covered his face with his mantle, and coming forth, stood in the entering in of the cave, and behold a voice unto him, saying: What dost thou here, Elias? And he answered:
19:14. With zeal have I been zealous for the Lord God of hosts: because the children of Israel have forsaken thy covenant: they have destroyed thy altars, they have slain thy prophets with the sword; and I alone am left, and they seek my life to take it away.
19:15. And the Lord said to him: Go, and return on thy way, through the desert, to Damascus: and when thou art come thither, thou shalt anoint Hazael to be king over Syria;
19:16. And thou shalt anoint Jehu, the son of Namsi, to be king over Israel: and Eliseus, the son of Saphat, of Abelmeula, thou shalt anoint to be prophet in thy room.
19:17. And it shall come to pass, that whosoever shall escape the sword of Hazael, shall be slain by Jehu: and whosoever shall escape the sword of Jehu, shall be slain by Eliseus.
Shall be slain by Eliseus.... Eliseus did not kill any of the idolaters with the material sword: but he is here joined with Hazael and Jehu, the great instruments of God in punishing the idolatry of Israel, because he foretold to the former his exaltation to the kingdom of Syria, and the vengeance he would execute against Israel, and anointed the latter by one of his disciples to be king of Israel, with commission to extirpate the house of Achab.
19:18. And I will leave me seven thousand men in Israel, whose knees have not been bowed before Baal, and every mouth that hath not worshipped him, kissing the hands.
19:19. And Elias departing from thence, found Eliseus, the son of Saphat, ploughing with twelve yoke of oxen: and he was one of them that were ploughing with, twelve yoke of oxen: and when Elias came up to him, he cast his mantle upon him.
19:20. And he forthwith left the oxen, and ran after Elias, and said: Let me, I pray thee, kiss my father and my mother, and then I will follow thee. And he said to him: Go, and return back: for that which was my part, I have done to thee.
19:21. And returning back from him, he took a yoke of oxen, and killed them, and boiled the flesh with the plough of the oxen, and gave to the people, and they ate: and rising up, he went away, and followed Elias, and ministered to him.
3 Kings Chapter 20
The Syrians besiege Samaria: they are twice defeated by Achab: who is reprehended by a prophet for letting Benadad go.
20:1. And Benadad, king of Syria, gathered together all his host, and there were two and thirty kings with him, and horses, and chariots: and going up, he fought against Samaria, and besieged it.
20:2. And sending messengers to Achab, king of Israel, into the city,
20:3. He said: Thus saith Benadad: Thy silver and thy gold is mine: and thy wives and thy goodliest children are mine.
20:4. And the king of Israel answered: According to thy word, my lord, O king, I am thine, and all that I have.
20:5. And the messengers came again, and said: Thus saith Benadad, who sent us unto thee: Thy silver and thy gold, and thy wives and thy children, thou shalt deliver up to me.
20:6. To morrow, therefore, at this same hour, I will send my servants to thee, and they shall search thy house, and the houses of thy servants: and all that pleaseth them, they shall put in their hands, and take away.
20:7. And the king of Israel called all the ancients of the land, and said: Mark, and see that he layeth snares for us. For he sent to me for my wives, and for my children, and for my silver and gold: and I said not nay.
20:8. And all the ancients, and all the people said to him: Hearken not to him, nor consent to him.
20:9. Wherefore he answered the messengers of Benadad: Tell my lord, the king: All that thou didst send for to me, thy servant at first, I will do: but this thing I cannot do.
20:10. And the messengers returning brought him word. And he sent again, and said: Such and such things may the gods do to me, and more may they add, if the dust of Samaria shall suffice for handfuls for all the people that follow me.
20:11. And the king of Israel answering, said: Tell him: Let not the girded boast himself as the ungirded.
Let not the girded, etc.... Let him not boast before the victory: it will then be time to glory when he putteth off his armour, having overcome his adversary.
20:12. And it came to pass, when Benadad heard this word, that he and the kings were drinking in pavilions, and he said to his servants: Beset the city. And they beset it.
20:13. And behold a prophet coming to Achab, king of Israel, said to him: Thus saith the Lord: Hast thou seen all this exceeding great multitude? behold I will deliver them into thy hand this day: that thou mayst know that I am the Lord.
20:14. And Achab said: By whom? And he said to him: Thus saith the Lord: By the servants of the princes of the provinces. And he said: Who shall begin to fight? And he said: Thou.
20:15. So he mustered the servants of the princes of the provinces, and he found the number of two hundred and thirty-two: and he mustered after them the people, all the children of Israel, seven thousand:
20:16. And they went out at noon. But Benadad was drinking himself drunk in his pavilion, and the two and thirty kings with him, who were come to help him.
20:17. And the servants of the princes of the provinces went out first. And Benadad sent. And they told him, saying: There are men come out of Samaria.
20:18. And he said: Whether they come for peace, take them alive: or whether they come to fight, take them alive.
20:19. So the servants of the princes of the provinces went out, and the rest of the army followed:
20:20. And every one slew the man that came against him: and the Syrians fled, and Israel pursued after them. And Benadad, king of Syria, fled away on horseback with his horsemen.
20:21. But the king of Israel going out overthrew the horses and chariots, and slew the Syrians with a great slaughter.
20:22. (And a prophet coming to the king of Israel, said to him: Go, and strengthen thyself, and know, and see what thou dost: for the next year the king of Syria will come up against thee.)
20:23. But the servants of the king of Syria said to him: Their gods are gods of the hills, therefore they have overcome us: but it is better that we should fight against them in the plains, and we shall overcome them.
20:24. Do thou, therefore, this thing: Remove all the kings from thy army, and put captains in their stead:
20:25. And make up the number of soldiers that have been slain of thine, and horses, according to the former horses, and chariots, according to the chariots which thou hadst before: and we will fight against them in the plains, and thou shalt see that we shall overcome them. He believed their counsel, and did so.
20:26. Wherefore, at the return of the year, Benadad mustered the Syrians, and went up to Aphec, to fight against Israel.
20:27. And the children of Israel were mustered, and taking victuals, went out on the other side, and encamped over against them, like two little flocks of goats: but the Syrians filled the land.
20:28. (And a man of God coming, said to the king of Israel: Thus saith the Lord: Because the Syrians have said: The Lord is God of the hills, but is not God of the valleys: I will deliver all this great multitude into thy hand, and you shall know that I am the Lord.)
20:29. And both sides set their armies in array one against the other seven days, and on the seventh day the battle was fought: and the children of Israel slew, of the Syrians, a hundred thousand footmen in one day.
20:30. And they that remained fled to Aphec, into the city: and the wall fell upon seven and twenty thousand men, that were left. And Benadad fleeing, went into the city, into a chamber that was within a chamber.
20:31. And his servants said to him: Behold, we have heard that the kings of the house of Israel are merciful; so let us put sackcloths on our loins, and ropes on our heads, and go out to the king of Israel: perhaps he will save our lives.
20:32. So they girded sackcloths on their loins, and put ropes on their heads, and came to the king of Israel, and said to him: Thy servant, Benadad, saith: I beseech thee let me have my life. And he said: If he be yet alive, he is my brother.
20:33. The men took this for good luck: and in haste caught the word out of his mouth, and said: Thy brother Benadad. And he said to them: Go, and bring him to me. Then Benadad came out to him, and he lifted him up into his chariot.
20:34. And he said to him: The cities which my father took from thy father, I will restore: and do thou make thee streets in Damascus, as my father made in Samaria and having made a league, I will depart from thee. So he made a league with him, and let him go.
20:35. Then a certain man of the sons of the prophets, said to his companion, in the word of the Lord: Strike me. But he would not strike.
20:36. Then he said to him: Because thou wouldst not hearken to the word of the Lord, behold thou shalt depart from me, and a lion shall slay thee. And when he was gone a little from him, a lion found him, and slew him.
20:37. Then he found another man, and said to him: Strike me. And he struck him and wounded him.
20:38. So the prophet went, and met the king in the way, and disguised himself by sprinkling dust on his face and his eyes.
20:39. And as the king passed by, he cried to the king, and said: Thy servant went out to fight hand to hand: and when a certain man was run away, one brought him to me, and said: Keep this man: and if he shall slip away, thy life shall be for his life, or thou shalt pay a talent of silver.
20:40. And whilst I, in the hurry, turned this way and that, on a sudden he was not to be seen. And the king of Israel said to him: This is thy judgment, which thyself hast decreed.
20:41. But he forthwith wiped off the dust from his face, and the king of Israel knew him, that he was one of the prophets.
20:42. And he said to him: Thus saith the Lord. Because thou hast let go out of thy hand a man worthy of death, thy life shall be for his life, and thy people for his people.
20:43. And the king of Israel returned to his house, slighting to hear, and raging came into Samaria.
3 Kings Chapter 21
Naboth, for denying his vineyard to king Achab, is by Jezabel’s commandment, falsely accused and stoned to death. For which crime Elias denounceth to Achab the judgments of God: upon his humbling himself the sentence is mitigated.
21:1. And after these things, Naboth the Jezrahelite, who was in Jezrahel, had at that time a vineyard, near the palace of Achab, king of Samaria.
21:2. And Achab spoke to Naboth, saying: Give me thy vineyard, that I may make me a garden of herbs, because it is nigh, and adjoining to my house; and I will give thee for it a better vineyard: or if thou think it more convenient for thee, I will give thee the worth of it in money.
21:3. Naboth answered him: The Lord be merciful to me, and not let me give thee the inheritance of my fathers.
21:4. And Achab came into his house angry and fretting, because of the word that Naboth, the Jezrahelite, had spoken to him, saying: I will not give thee the inheritance of my fathers. And casting himself upon his bed, he turned away his face to the wall, and would eat no bread.
21:5. And Jezabel, his wife, went in to him, and said to him: What is the matter that thy soul is so grieved? and why eatest thou no bread?
21:6. And he answered her: I spoke to Naboth, the Jezrahelite, and said to him: Give me thy vineyard, and take money for it: or if it please thee, I will give thee a better vineyard for it. And he said: I will not give thee my vineyard.
21:7. Then Jezabel, his wife, said to him. Thou art of great authority indeed, and governest well the kingdom of Israel. Arise, and eat bread, and be of good cheer; I will give thee the vineyard of Naboth, the Jezrahelite.
21:8. So she wrote letters in Achab’s name, and sealed them with his ring, and sent them to the ancients, and the chief men that were in his city, and that dwelt with Naboth.
21:9. And this was the tenor of the letters: Proclaim a fast, and make Naboth sit among the chief of the people;
21:10. And suborn two men, sons of Belial, against him, and let them bear false witness; that he hath blasphemed God and the king: and then carry him out, and stone him, and so let him die.
21:11. And the men of his city, the ancients and nobles, that dwelt with him in the city, did as Jezabel had commanded them, and as it was written in the letters which she had sent to them;
21:12. They proclaimed a fast, and made Naboth sit among the chief of the people.
21:13. And bringing two men, sons of the devil, they made them sit against him: and they, like men of the devil, bore witness against him before the people: saying: Naboth hath blasphemed God and the king. Wherefore they brought him forth without the city, and stoned him to death.
21:14. And they sent to Jezabel, saying: Naboth is stoned, and is dead.
21:15. And it came to pass, when Jezabel heard that Naboth was stoned, and dead, that she said to Achab: Arise, and take possession of the vineyard of Naboth, the Jezrahelite, who would not agree with thee, and give it thee for money: for Naboth is not alive, but dead.
21:16. And when Achab heard this, to wit, that Naboth was dead, he arose, and went down into the vineyard of Naboth, the Jezrahelite, to take possession of it.
21:17. And the word of the Lord came to Elias, the Thesbite, saying:
21:18. Arise, and go down to meet Achab, king of Israel, who is in Samaria: behold he is going down to the vineyard of Naboth, to take possession of it:
21:19. And thou shalt speak to him, saying: Thus saith the Lord: Thou hast slain: moreover also thou hast taken possession. And after these words thou shalt add: Thus saith the Lord: In this place, wherein the dogs have licked the blood of Naboth, they shall lick thy blood also.
21:20. And Achab said to Elias: Hast thou found me thy enemy? He said: I have found thee because thou art sold, to do evil in the sight of the Lord.
Sold, to do evil in the sight, etc.... That is, so addicted to evil, as if thou hadst sold thyself to the devil, to be his slave to work all kinds of evil.
21:21. Behold I will bring evil upon thee, and I will cut down thy posterity, and I will kill of Achab him that pisseth against the wall, and him that is shut up, and the last in Israel.
21:22. And I will make thy house like the house of Jeroboam the son of Nabat, and like the house of Baasa the son of Ahias: for what thou hast done to provoke me to anger, and for making Israel to sin.
21:23. And of Jezabel also, the Lord spoke, saying: The dogs shall eat Jezabel in the field of Jezrahel.
21:24. If Achab die in the city, the dogs shall eat him: but if he die in the field, the birds of the air shall eat him.
21:25. Now, there was not such another as Achab, who was sold to do evil in the sight of the Lord: for his wife, Jezabel, set him on,
21:26. And he became abominable, insomuch that he followed the idols which the Amorrhites had made, whom the Lord destroyed before the face of the children of Israel.
21:27. And when Achab had heard these words, he rent his garments, and put haircloth upon his flesh, and fasted, and slept in sackcloth, and walked with his head cast down.
21:28. And the word of the Lord came to Elias, the Thesbite, saying:
21:29. Hast thou not seen Achab humbled before me? therefore, because he hath humbled himself, for my sake, I will not bring the evil in his days, but in his son’s days will I bring the evil upon his house.
3 Kings Chapter 22
Achab believing his false prophets, rather than Micheas, is slain in Ramoth Galaad. Ochozias succeedeth him. Good king Josaphat dieth, and his son Joram succeedeth him.
22:1. And there passed three years without war between Syria and Israel.
22:2. And in the third year, Josaphat, king of Juda, came down to the king of Israel.
22:3. (And the king of Israel said to his servants: Know ye not that Ramoth Galaad is ours, and we neglect to take it out of the hand of the king of Syria?)
22:4. And he said to Josaphat: Wilt thou come with me to battle to Ramoth Galaad?
22:5. And Josaphat said to the king of Israel: As I am, so art thou: my people and thy people are one: and my horsemen are thy horsemen. And Josaphat said to the king of Israel: Inquire, I beseech thee, this day the word of the Lord.
22:6. Then the king of Israel assembled the prophets, about four hundred men, and he said to them: Shall I go to Ramoth Galaad to fight, or shall I forbear? They answered: Go up, and the Lord will deliver it into the hand of the king.
22:7. And Josaphat said: Is there not here some prophet of the Lord, that we may inquire by him?
22:8. And the king of Israel said to Josaphat. There is one man left, by whom we may inquire of the Lord; Micheas, the son of Jemla: but I hate him, for he doth not prophecy good to me, but evil. And Josaphat said: Speak not so, O king.
22:9. Then the king of Israel called an eunuch, and said to him: Make haste, and bring hither Micheas, the son of Jemla.
22:10. And the king of Israel, and Josaphat, king of Juda, sat each on his throne, clothed with royal robes, in a court, by the entrance of the gate of Samaria, and all the prophets prophesied before them.
22:11. And Sedecias, the son of Chanaana, made himself horns of iron, and said: Thus saith the Lord: With these shalt thou push Syria, till thou destroy it.
22:12. And all the prophets prophesied in like manner, saying: Go up to Ramoth Galaad, and prosper, for the Lord will deliver it into the king’s hands.
22:13. And the messenger that went to call Micheas, spoke to him, saying: Behold the words of the prophets with one mouth declare good things to the king: let thy word, therefore, be like to theirs, and speak that which is good.
22:14. But Micheas said to him: As the Lord liveth, whatsoever the Lord shall say to me, that will I speak.
22:15. So he came to the king, and the king said to him: Micheas, shall we go to Ramoth Galaad to battle, or shall we forbear? He answered him: Go up, and prosper, and the Lord shall deliver it into the king’s hands.
Go up, etc.... This was spoken ironically, and by way of jesting at the flattering speeches of the false prophets: and so the king understood it, as appears by his adjuring Micheas, in the following verse, to tell him the truth in the name of the Lord.
22:16. But the king said to him: I adjure thee again and again, that thou tell me nothing but that which is true, in the name of the Lord.
22:17. And he said: I saw all Israel scattered upon the hills, like sheep that have no shepherd; and the Lord said: These have no master: let every man of them return to his house in peace.
22:18. (Then the king of Israel said to Josaphat: Did I not tell thee, that he prophesieth no good to me, but always evil?)
22:19. And he added and said: Hear thou, therefore, the word of the Lord: I saw the Lord sitting on his throne, and all the army of heaven standing by him on the right hand and on the left:
22:20. And the Lord said: Who shall deceive Achab, king of Israel, that he may go up, and fall at Ramoth Galaad? And one spoke words of this manner, and another otherwise.
The Lord said, etc.... God standeth not in need of any counsellor; nor are we to suppose that things pass in heaven in the manner here described: but this representation was made to the prophet, to be delivered by him in a manner adapted to the common ways and notions of men.
22:21. And there came forth a spirit, and stood before the Lord, and said: I will deceive him. And the Lord said to him: By what means?
22:22. And he said: I will go forth, and be a lying spirit, in the mouth of all his prophets. And the Lord said: Thou shalt deceive him, and shalt prevail: go forth, and do so.
Go forth, and do so.... This was not a command, but a permission: for God never ordaineth lies; though he often permitteth the lying spirit to deceive those who love not the truth. 2 Thess. 2.10. And in this sense it is said in the following verse, The Lord hath given a lying spirit in the mouth of all thy prophets.
22:23. Now, therefore, behold the Lord hath given a lying spirit in the mouth of all thy prophets that are here, and the Lord hath spoken evil against thee.
22:24. And Sedecias, the son of Chanaana, came, and struck Micheas on the cheek, and said: Hath then the spirit of the Lord left me, and spoken to thee?
22:25. And Micheas said: Thou shalt see in the day when thou shalt go into a chamber within a chamber to hide thyself.
Go into a chamber, etc.... This happened when he heard the king was slain, and justly apprehended that he should be punished for his false prophecy.
22:26. And the king of Israel said: Take Micheas and let him abide with Amon, the governor of the city, and with Joas, the son of Amalech;
22:27. And tell them: Thus saith the king: Put this man in prison, and feed him with bread of affliction, and water of distress till I return in peace.
22:28. And Micheas said: If thou return in peace, the Lord hath not spoken by me. And he said: Hear, all ye people.
22:29. So the king of Israel, and Josaphat, king of Juda, went up to Ramoth-Galaad.
22:30. And the king of Israel said to Josaphat: Take thy armour, and go into the battle, and put on thy own garments. But the king of Israel changed his dress, and went into the battle.
22:31. And the king of Syria had commanded the two and thirty captains of the chariots, saying: You shall not fight against any, small or great, but against the king of Israel only.
22:32. So when the captains of the chariots saw Josaphat, they suspected that he was the king of Israel, and making a violent assault, they fought against him: and Josaphat cried out.
22:33. And the captains of the chariots perceived that he was not the king of Israel, and they turned away from him.
22:34. And a certain man bent his bow, shooting at a venture, and chanced to strike the king of Israel, between the lungs and the stomach. But he said to the driver of his chariot: Turn thy hand, and carry me out of the army, for I am grievously wounded.
22:35. And the battle was fought that day, and the king of Israel stood in his chariot against the Syrians, and he died in the evening: and the blood ran out of the wound into the midst of the chariot.
22:36. And the herald proclaimed through all the army, before the sun set, saying: Let every man return to his own city, and to his own country.
22:37. And the king died, and was carried into Samaria: and they buried the king in Samaria.
22:38. And they washed his chariot in the pool of Samaria and the dogs licked up his blood, and they washed the reins according to the word of the Lord which he had spoken.
22:39. But the rest of the acts of Achab, and all that he did, and the house of ivory that he made, and all the cities that he built, are they not written in the book of the words of the days of the kings of Israel?
22:40. So Achab slept with his fathers; and Ochozias, his son, reigned in his stead.
22:41. But Josaphat, the son of Asa, began to reign over Juda, in the fourth year of Achab, king of Israel.
22:42. He was five and thirty years old when he began to reign, and he reigned five and twenty years in Jerusalem: the name of his mother was Azuba, the daughter of Salai.
22:43. And he walked in all the way of Asa, his father, and he declined not from it: and he did that which was right in the sight of the Lord.
22:44. Nevertheless, he took not away the high places for as yet the people offered sacrifice, and burnt incense in the high places.
He took not away, etc.... He left some of the high places, viz., those in which they worshipped the true God: but took away all others, 2 Par. 17.6, and note ver. 14 of chap. 15. 3 Kings.
22:45. And Josaphat had peace with the king of Israel.
22:46. But the rest of the acts of Josaphat, and his works which he did, and his battles, are they not written in the book of the words of the days of the kings of Juda?
22:47. And the remnant also of the effeminate, who remained in the days of Asa, his father, he took out of the land.
22:48. And there was then no king appointed in Edom.
22:49. But king Josaphat made navies on the sea, to sail into Ophir for gold: but they could not go, for the ships were broken in Asiongaber.
22:50. Then Ochozias, the son of Achab, said to Josaphat: Let my servants go with thy servants in the ships. And Josaphat would not.
Would not.... He had been reprehended before for admitting such a partner: and therefore would have no more to do with him.
22:51. And Josaphat slept with his fathers, and was buried with them in the city of David, his father: and Joram, his son, reigned in his stead.
22:52. And Ochozias, the son of Achab, began to reign over Israel, in Samaria, in the seventeenth year of Josaphat, king of Juda, and he reigned over Israel two years.
22:53. And he did evil in the sight of the Lord, and walked in the way of his father and his mother, and in the way of Jeroboam, the son of Nabat, who made Israel to sin.
22:54. He served also Baal, and worshipped him, and provoked the Lord, the God of Israel, according to all that his father had done.
THE FOURTH BOOK OF KINGS
4 Kings Chapter 1
Ochozias sendeth to consult Beelzebub: Elias foretelleth his death: and causeth fire to come down from heaven, upon two captains and their companies.
1:1. And Moab rebelled against Israel, after the death of Achab.
1:2. And Ochozias fell through the lattices of his upper chamber, which he had in Samaria, and was sick: and he sent messengers, saying to them: Go, consult Beelzebub, the god of Accaron, whether I shall recover of this my illness.
1:3. And an angel of the Lord spoke to Elias, the Thesbite, saying: Arise, and go up to meet the messengers of the king of Samaria, and say to them: Is there not a God in Israel, that ye go to consult Beelzebub, the god of Accaron?
1:4. Wherefore, thus saith the Lord: From the bed, on which thou art gone up, thou shalt not come down, but thou shalt surely die. And Elias went away.
1:5. And the messengers turned back to Ochozias. And he said to them: Why are you come back?
1:6. But they answered him: A man met us, and said to us: Go, and return to the king, that sent you, and you shall say to him: Thus saith the Lord: Is it because there was no God in Israel, that thou sendest to Beelzebub, the god of Accaron? Therefore thou shalt not come down from the bed, on which thou art gone up, but thou shalt surely die.
1:7. And he said to them: What manner of man was he who met you, and spoke these words?
1:8. But they said: A hairy man, with a girdle of leather about his loins. And he said: It is Elias, the Thesbite.
1:9. And he sent to him a captain of fifty, and the fifty men that were under him. And he went up to him, and as he was sitting on the top of a hill, he said to him: Man of God, the king hath commanded that thou come down.
1:10. And Elias answering, said to the captain of fifty: If I be a man of God, let fire come down from heaven and consume thee, and thy fifty. And there came down fire from heaven and consumed him, and the fifty that were with him.
Let fire, etc.... Elias was inspired to call for fire from heaven upon these captains, who came to apprehend him; not out of a desire to gratify any private passion; but to punish the insult offered to religion, to confirm his mission, and to shew how vain are the efforts of men against God, and his servants, whom he willeth to protect.
1:11. And he again sent to him another captain of fifty men, and his fifty with him. And he said to him: Man of God: Thus saith the king: Make haste and come down.
1:12. Elias answering, said: If I be a man of God, let fire come down from heaven, and consume thee, and thy fifty. And fire came down from heaven, and consumed him and his fifty.
1:13. Again he sent a third captain of fifty men, and the fifty that were with him. And when he was come, he fell upon his knees before Elias, and besought him, and said: Man of God, despise not my life, and the lives of thy servants that are with me.
1:14. Behold fire came down from heaven, and consumed the two first captains of fifty men, and the fifties that were with them: but now I beseech thee to spare my life.
1:15. And the angel of the Lord spoke to Elias, saying: Go down with him, fear not. He arose therefore, and went down with him to the king,
1:16. And said to him: Thus saith the Lord: Because thou hast sent messengers to consult Beelzebub, the god of Accaron, as though there were not a God in Israel, of whom thou mightest inquire the word; therefore, from the bed on which thou art gone up, thou shalt not come down, but thou shalt surely die.
1:17. So he died, according to the word of the Lord, which Elias spoke; and Joram, his brother, reigned in his stead, in the second year of Joram, the son of Josaphat, king of Juda, because he had no son.
The second year of Joram, etc.... Counted from the time that he was associated to the throne by his father Josaphat.
1:18. But the rest of the acts of Ochozias, which he did, are they not written in the book of the words of the days of the kings of Israel?
4 Kings Chapter 2
Eliseus will not part from Elias. The water of the Jordan is divided by Elias’ cloak. Elias is taken up in a fiery chariot, and his double spirit is given to Eliseus. Eliseus healeth the waters by casting in salt. Boys are torn by bears for mocking Eliseus.
2:1. And it came to pass, when the Lord would take up Elias, into heaven, by a whirlwind, that Elias and Eliseus were going from Galgal.
Heaven.... By heaven here is meant the air, the lowest of the heavenly regions.
2:2. And Elias said to Eliseus: Stay thou here, because the Lord hath sent me as far as Bethel. And Eliseus said to him: As the Lord liveth, and as thy soul liveth, I will not leave thee. And when they were come down to Bethel,
2:3. The sons of the prophets, that were at Bethel, came forth to Eliseus, and said to him: Dost thou know that, this day, the Lord will take away thy master from thee? And he answered: I also know it: hold your peace.
The sons of the prophets.... That is, the disciples of the prophets; who seem to have had their schools, like colleges or communities, in Bethel, Jericho, and other places in the days of Elias and Eliseus.
2:4. And Elias said to Eliseus: Stay here, because the Lord hath sent me to Jericho. And he said: As the Lord liveth, and as thy soul liveth, I will not leave thee. And when they were come to Jericho,
2:5. The sons of the prophets, that were at Jericho, came to Eliseus, and said to him: Dost thou know that, this day, the Lord will take away thy master from thee? And he said: I also know it: hold your peace.
2:6. And Elias said to him: Stay here, because the Lord hath sent me as far as the Jordan. And he said: as the Lord liveth, and as thy soul liveth, I will not leave thee. And they two went on together.
2:7. And fifty men, of the sons of the prophets, followed them, and stood in sight, at a distance: but they two stood by the Jordan.
2:8. And Elias took his mantle, and folded it together, and struck the waters, and they were divided hither and thither, and they both passed over on dry ground.
2:9. And when they were gone over, Elias said to Eliseus: Ask what thou wilt have me to do for thee, before I be taken away from thee. And Eliseus said: I beseech thee, that in me may be thy double spirit.
Double spirit.... A double portion of thy spirit, as the eldest son and heir: or thy spirit which is double in comparison of that which God usually imparteth to his prophets.
2:10. And he answered: Thou hast asked a hard thing; nevertheless, if thou see me when I am taken from thee, thou shalt have what thou hast asked: but if thou see me not, thou shalt not have it.
2:11. And as they went on, walking and talking together, behold, a fiery chariot and fiery horses parted them both asunder: and Elias went up by a whirlwind into heaven.
2:12. And Eliseus saw him, and cried: My father, my father, the chariot of Israel, and the driver thereof. And he saw him no more: and he took hold of his own garments, and rent them in two pieces.
2:13. And he took up the mantle of Elias, that fell from him: and going back, he stood on the bank of the Jordan;
2:14. And he struck the waters with the mantle of Elias, that had fallen from him, and they were not divided. And he said: Where is now the God of Elias? And he struck the waters, and they were divided hither and thither, and Eliseus passed over.
2:15. And the sons of the prophets, at Jericho, who were over against him, seeing it, said: The spirit of Elias hath rested upon Eliseus. And coming to meet him, they worshipped him, falling to the ground.
They worshipped him.... viz., with an inferior, yet religious veneration, not for any temporal, but spiritual excellency.
2:16. And they said to him: Behold, there are with thy servants, fifty strong men, that can go, and seek thy master, lest, perhaps, the spirit of the Lord, hath taken him up and cast him upon some mountain, or into some valley. And he said: Do not send.
2:17. But they pressed him, till he consented, and said: Send. And they sent fifty men: and they sought three days, but found him not.
2:18. And they came back to him: for he abode at Jericho, and he said to them: Did I not say to you? Do not send.
2:19. And the men of the city, said to Eliseus: Behold the situation of this city is very good, as thou, my lord, seest: but the waters are very bad, and the ground barren.
2:20. And he said: Bring me a new vessel, and put salt into it. And when they had brought it,
2:21. He went out to the spring of the waters, and cast the salt into it, and said: Thus saith the Lord: I have healed these waters, and there shall be no more in them death or barrenness.
2:22. And the waters were healed unto this day, according to the word of Eliseus, which he spoke.
2:23. And he went up from thence to Bethel: and as he was going up by the way, little boys came out of the city and mocked him, saying: Go up, thou bald head, go up, thou bald head.
2:24. And looking back, he saw them, and cursed them in the name of the Lord: and there came forth two bears out of the forest, and tore of them, two and forty boys.
Cursed them.... This curse, which was followed by so visible a judgment of God, was not the effect of passion, or of a desire of revenging himself; but of zeal for religion, which was insulted by these boys, in the person of the prophet; and of a divine inspiration: God punishing in this manner the inhabitants of Bethel, (the chief seat of the calf worship,) who had trained up their children in a prejudice against the true religion and its ministers.
2:25. And from thence he went to mount Carmel, and from thence he returned to Samaria.
4 Kings Chapter 3
The kings of Israel, Juda, and Edom, fight against the king of Moab. They want water, which Eliseus procureth without rain: and prophesieth victory. The king of Moab is overthrown, his city is besieged: he sacrificeth his firstborn son: so the Israelites raise the siege.
3:1. And Joram the son of Achab, reigned over Israel, in Samaria, in the eighteenth year of Josaphat, king of Juda. And he reigned twelve years.
3:2. And he did evil before the Lord, but not like his father and his mother: for he took away the statues of Baal, which his father had made.
3:3. Nevertheless, he stuck to the sins of Jeroboam, the son of Nabat, who made Israel to sin, nor did he depart from them.
3:4. Now Mesa, king of Moab, nourished many sheep, and he paid to the king of Israel a hundred thousand lambs, and a hundred thousand rams, with their fleeces.
3:5. And when Achab was dead, he broke the league which he had made with the king of Israel.
3:6. And king Joram went out that day from Samaria, and mustered all Israel.
3:7. And he sent to Josaphat; king of Juda, saying: The king of Moab is revolted from me: come with me against him to battle. And he answered: I will come up: he that is mine, is thine: my people are thy people: and my horses, thy horses.
3:8. And he said: Which way shall we go up? But he answered: By the desert of Edom.
3:9. So the king of Israel, and the king of Juda, and the king of Edom, went, and they fetched a compass of seven days journey, and there was no water for the army, and for the beasts, that followed them.
3:10. And the king of Israel said: Alas, alas, alas, the Lord hath gathered us three kings together, to deliver us into the hands of Moab.
3:11. And Josaphat said: Is there not here a prophet of the Lord, that we may beseech the Lord by him? And one of the servants of the king of Israel answered: Here is Eliseus, the son of Saphat, who poured water on the hands of Elias.
3:12. And Josaphat said: The word of the Lord is with him. And the king of Israel, and Josaphat, king of Juda, and the king of Edom, went down to him.
3:13. And Eliseus said to the king of Israel: What have I to do with thee? go to the prophets of thy father, and thy mother. And the king of Israel said to him: Why hath the Lord gathered together these three kings, to deliver them into the hands of Moab?
3:14. And Eliseus said to him: As the Lord of hosts liveth, in whose sight I stand, if I did not reverence the face of Josaphat, king of Juda, I would not have hearkened to thee, nor looked on thee.
3:15. But now bring me hither a minstrel. And when the minstrel played, the hand of the Lord came upon him, and he said:
3:16. Thus saith the Lord: Make the channel of this torrent full of ditches.
3:17. For thus saith the Lord: You shall not see wind, nor rain: and yet this channel shall be filled with waters, and you shall drink, you and your families, and your beasts.
3:18. And this is a small thing in the sight of the Lord: moreover, he will deliver, also, Moab into your hands.
3:19. And you shall destroy every fenced city, and every choice city, and shall cut down every fruitful tree, and shall stop up all the springs of waters, and every goodly field you shall cover with stones.
3:20. And it came to pass, in the morning, when the sacrifices used to be offered, that behold, water came by the way of Edom, and the country was filled with water.
3:21. And all the Moabites hearing that the kings were come up to fight against them, gathered together all that were girded with a belt upon them, and stood in the borders.
3:22. And they rose early in the morning, and the sun being now up, and shining upon the waters, the Moabites saw the waters over against them red, like blood,
3:23. And they said: It is the blood of the sword: the kings have fought among themselves, and they have killed one another: go now, Moab, to the spoils.
3:24. And they went into the camp of Israel: but Israel rising up, defeated Moab, who fled before them. And they being conquerors, went and smote Moab.
3:25. And they destroyed the cities: and they filled every goodly field, every man casting his stone: and they stopt up all the springs of waters: and cut down all the trees that bore fruit, so that brick walls only remained: and the city was beset by the slingers, and a great part thereof destroyed.
Brick walls only remained.... It was the proper name of the capital city of the Moabites. In Hebrew, Kir-Haraseth.
3:26. And when the king of Moab saw this, to wit, that the enemies had prevailed, he took with him seven hundred men that drew the sword, to break in upon the king of Edom: but they could not.
3:27. Then he took his eldest son, that should have reigned in his stead, and offered him for a burnt offering upon the wall: and there was great indignation in Israel, and presently they departed from him, and returned into their own country.
4 Kings Chapter 4
Miracles of Eliseus. He raiseth a dead child to life.
4:1. Now a certain woman of the wives of the prophets, cried to Eliseus, saying: Thy servant, my husband, is dead, and thou knowest that thy servant was one that feared God, and behold the creditor is come to take away my two sons to serve him.
4:2. And Eliseus said to her: What wilt thou have me do for thee? Tell me, what hast thou in thy house? And she answered: I, thy handmaid, have nothing in my house but a little oil, to anoint me.
4:3. And he said to her: Go, borrow of all thy neighbours empty vessels, not a few.
4:4. And go in, and shut thy door, when thou art within, and thy sons: and pour out thereof into all those vessels: and when they are full, take them away.
4:5. So the woman went, and shut the door upon her, and upon her sons: they brought her the vessels, and she poured in.
4:6. And when the vessels were full, she said to her son: Bring me yet a vessel. And he answered: I have no more. And the oil stood.
4:7. And she came, and told the man of God. And he said: Go, sell the oil, and pay thy creditor: and thou and thy sons live of the rest.
4:8. And there was a day when Eliseus passed by Sunam: now there was a great woman there, who detained him to eat bread: and as he passed often that way, he turned into her house to eat bread.
4:9. And she said to her husband: I perceive that this is a holy man of God, who often passeth by us.
4:10. Let us, therefore, make him a little chamber, and put a little bed in it for him, and a table, and a stool, and a candlestick, that when he cometh to us he may abide there.
4:11. Now, there was a certain day, when he came, and turned into the chamber, and rested there.
4:12. And he said to Giezi, his servant: Call this Sunamitess. And when he had called her, and she stood before him,
4:13. He said to his servant: Say to her: Behold, thou hast diligently served us in all things; what wilt thou have me to do for thee? Hast thou any business, and wilt thou, that I speak to the king, or to the general of the army? And she answered: I dwell in the midst of my own people.
4:14. And he said: What will she then that I do for her? And Giezi said: Do not ask, for she hath no son, and her husband is old.
4:15. Then he bid him call her. And when she was called, and stood before the door,
4:16. He said to her: At this time, and this same hour, if life be in company, thou shalt have a son in thy womb. But she answered: Do not, I beseech thee, my lord, thou man of God, do not lie to thy handmaid.
4:17. And the woman conceived, and brought forth a son in the time, and at the same hour that Eliseus had said.
4:18. And the child grew. And on a certain day, when he went out to his father to the reapers,
4:19. He said to his father: My head acheth, my head acheth. But he said to his servant. Take him, and carry him to his mother.
4:20. And when he had taken him, and brought him to his mother, she sat him on her knees, until noon, and then he died.
4:21. And she went up, and laid him upon the bed of the man of God, and shut the door: and going out,
4:22. She called her husband, and said: Send with me, I beseech thee, one of thy servants, and an ass, that I may run to the man of God, and come again.
4:23. And he said to her: Why dost thou go to him? to day is neither new moon nor sabbath. She answered: I will go.
4:24. And she saddled an ass, and commanded her servant: Drive, and make haste, make no stay in going: And do that which I bid thee.
4:25. So she went forward, and came to the man of God, to mount Carmel: and when the man of God saw her coming towards, he said to Giezi, his servant: Behold that Sunamitess.
4:26. Go, therefore, to meet her, and say to her: Is all well with thee, and with thy husband, and with thy son? And she answered: Well.
4:27. And when she came to the man of God, to the mount, she caught hold on his feet: and Giezi came to remove her. And the man of God said: Let her alone for her soul is in anguish, and the Lord hath hid it from me, and hath not told me.
4:28. And she said to him: Did I ask a son of my lord? did I not say to thee: Do not deceive me?
4:29. Then he said to Giezi: Gird up thy loins, and take my staff in thy hand, and go. If any man meet thee, salute him not: and if any man salute thee, answer him not: and lay my staff upon the face of the child.
Salute him not.... He that is sent to raise to life the sinner spiritually dead, must not suffer himself to be called off, or diverted from his enterprise, by the salutations or ceremonies of the world.
4:30. But the mother of the child said: As the Lord liveth, and as thy soul liveth, I will not leave thee. He arose, therefore, and followed her.
4:31. But Giezi was gone before them, and laid the staff upon the face of the child, and there was no voice nor sense: and he returned to meet him, and told him, saying: The child is not risen.
St. Augustine considers a great mystery in this miracle wrought by the prophet Eliseus, thus: By the staff sent by his servant is figured the rod of Moses, or the Old Law, which was not sufficient to bring mankind to life then dead in sin. It was necessary that Christ himself should come, and by taking on human nature, become flesh of our flesh, and restore us to life. In this Eliseus was a figure of Christ, as it was necessary that he should come himself to bring the dead child to life and restore him to his mother, who is here, in a mystical sense, a figure of the Church.
4:32. Eliseus, therefore, went into the house, and behold the child lay dead on his bed:
4:33. And going in, he shut the door upon him, and upon the child, and prayed to the Lord.
4:34. And he went up, and lay upon the child: and put his mouth upon his mouth, and his eyes upon his eyes, and his hands upon his hands: and he bowed himself upon him, and the child’s flesh grew warm.
4:35. Then he returned and walked in the house, once to and fro: and he went up, and lay upon him: and the child gaped seven times, and opened his eyes.
4:36. And he called Giezi, and said to him: Call this Sunamitess. And she being called, went in to him: and he said: Take up thy son.
4:37. She came and fell at his feet, and worshipped upon the ground: and took up her son, and went out.
4:38. And Eliseus returned to Galgal, and there was a famine in the land, and the sons of the prophets dwelt before him: And he said to one of his servants: Set on the great pot, and boil pottage for the sons of the prophets.
4:39. And one went out into the field to gather wild herbs: and he found something like a wild vine, and gathered of it wild gourds of the field, and filled his mantle, and coming back, he shred them into the pot of pottage; for he knew not what it was.
Wild gourds of the field.... Colocynthidas. They are extremely bitter, and therefore are called the gall of the earth; and are poisonous if taken in a great quantity.
4:40. And they poured it out for their companions to eat: and when they had tasted of the pottage, they cried out, saying: Death is in the pot, O man of God. And they could not eat thereof.
4:41. But he said: Bring some meal. And when they had brought it, he cast it into the pot, and said: Pour out for the people, that they may eat. And there was now no bitterness in the pot.
4:42. And a certain man came from Baalsalisa, bringing to the man of God, bread of the firstfruits, twenty loaves of barley, and new corn in his scrip. And he said: Give to the people, that they may eat.
4:43. And his servant answered him: How much is this, that I should set it before a hundred men? He said again: Give to the people, that they may eat: for thus saith the Lord: They shall eat, and there shall be left.
4:44. So he set it before them: and they ate, and there was left, according to the word of the Lord.
4 Kings Chapter 5
Naaman the Syrian is cleansed of his leprosy. He professeth his belief in one God, promising to serve him. Giezi taketh gifts of Naaman, and is struck with leprosy.
5:1. Naaman, general of the army, of the king of Syria, was a great man with his master, and honourable: for by him the Lord gave deliverance to Syria: and he was a valiant man, and rich, but a leper.
5:2. Now there had gone out robbers from Syria, and had led away captive out of the land of Israel, a little maid, and she waited upon Naaman’s wife.
5:3. And she said to her mistress: I wish my master had been with the prophet that is in Samaria: he would certainly have healed him of the leprosy which he hath.
5:4. Then Naaman went in to his lord, and told him, saying: Thus and thus said the girl from the land of Israel.
5:5. And the king of Syria said to him: Go; and I will send a letter to the king of Israel. And he departed, and took with him ten talents of silver, and six thousand pieces of gold, and ten changes of raiment;
5:6. And brought the letter to the king of Israel, in these words: When thou shalt receive this letter, know that I have sent to thee Naaman, my servant, that thou mayst heal him of his leprosy.
5:7. And when the king of Israel had read the letter, he rent his garments, and said: Am I God, to be able to kill and give life, that this man hath sent to me to heal a man of his leprosy? mark, and see how he seeketh occasions against me.
5:8. And when Eliseus, the man of God, had heard this, to wit, that the king of Israel had rent his garments, he sent to him, saying: Why hast thou rent thy garments? let him come to me, and let him know that there is a prophet in Israel.
5:9. So Naaman came with his horses and chariots, and stood at the door of the house of Eliseus:
5:10. And Eliseus sent a messenger to him, saying: Go, and wash seven times in the Jordan, and thy flesh shall recover health, and thou shalt be clean.
5:11. Naaman was angry, and went away, saying: I thought he would have come out to me, and standing, would have invoked the name of the Lord his God, and touched with his hand the place of the leprosy, and healed me.
5:12. Are not the Abana, and the Pharphar, rivers of Damascus, better than all the waters of Israel, that I may wash in them, and be made clean? So as he turned, and was going away with indignation,
5:13. His servants came to him, and said to him: Father, if the prophet had bid thee do some great thing, surely thou shouldst have done it: how much rather what he now hath said to thee: Wash, and thou shalt be clean?
5:14. Then he went down, and washed in the Jordan seven times, according to the word of the man of God; and his flesh was restored, like the flesh of a little child: and he was made clean.
5:15. And returning to the man of God, with all his train, he came, and stood before him, and said: In truth, I know there is no other God, in all the earth, but only in Israel: I beseech thee, therefore, take a blessing of thy servant.
A blessing.... a present.
5:16. But he answered: As the Lord liveth, before whom I stand, I will receive none. And when he pressed him, he still refused.
5:17. And Naaman said: As thou wilt: but I beseech thee, grant to me, thy servant, to take from hence two mules’ burden of earth: for thy servant will not henceforth offer holocaust, or victim, to other gods, but to the Lord.
5:18. But there is only this, for which thou shalt entreat the Lord for thy servant; when my master goeth into the temple of Remmon, to worship there, and he leaneth on my hand: if I bow down in the temple of Remmon, when he boweth down in the same place, that the Lord pardon me, thy servant, for this thing.
5:19. And he said to him: Go in peace. So he departed from him, in the spring time of the earth.
Go in peace.... What the prophet here allowed, was not an outward conformity to an idolatrous worship; but only a service which by his office he owed to his master: who on all public occasions leaned on him: so that his bowing down when his master bowed himself down was not in effect adoring the idols: nor was it so understood by the standers by, since he publicly professed himself a worshipper of the only true and living God, but it was no more than doing a civil office to the king his master, whose leaning upon him obliged him to bow at the same time that he bowed.
5:20. But Giezi, the servant of the man of God, said: My master hath spared Naaman this Syrian, in not receiving of him that which he brought: as the Lord liveth, I will run after him, and take something of him.
5:21. And Giezi followed after Naaman: and when he saw him running after him, he leapt down from his chariot to meet him, and said: Is all well?
5:22. And he said: Well: my master hath sent me to thee, saying: Just now there are come to me from mount Ephraim, two young men of the sons of the prophets: give them a talent of silver, and two changes of garments.
5:23. And Naaman said: It is better that thou take two talents. And he forced him, and bound two talents of silver in two bags, and two changes of garments, and laid them upon two of his servants, and they carried them before him.
5:24. And when he was come, and now it was the evening, he took them from their hands, and laid them up in the house, and sent the men away, and they departed.
5:25. But he went in, and stood before his master. And Eliseus said: Whence comest thou, Giezi? He answered: Thy servant went no whither.
5:26. But he said: Was not my heart present, when the man turned back, from his chariot, to meet thee? So now thou hast received money, and received garments, to buy oliveyards and vineyards, and sheep, and oxen, and men-servants, and maid-servants.
5:27. But the leprosy of Naaman, shall also stick to thee, and to thy seed for ever. And he went out from him a leper, as white as snow.
4 Kings Chapter 6
Eliseus maketh iron to swim upon the water: he leadeth the Syrians that were sent to apprehend him into Samaria, where there eyes being opened, they are courteously entertained. The Syrians besiege Samaria: the famine there causeth a woman to eat her own child. Upon this the king commandeth Eliseus to be put to death.
6:1. And the sons of the prophets said to Eliseus: Behold, the place where we dwell with thee is too strait for us.
6:2. Let us go as far as the Jordan, and take out of the wood every man a piece of timber, that we may build us there a place to dwell in. And he said: Go.
6:3. And one of them said: But come thou also with thy servants. He answered: I will come.
6:4. So he went with them. And when they were come to the Jordan, they cut down wood.
6:5. And it happened, as one was felling some timber, that the head of the ax fell into the water: and he cried out, and said: Alas, alas, alas, my lord, for this same was borrowed.
6:6. And the man of God said: Where did it fall? and he shewed him the place: Then he cut off a piece of wood, and cast it in thither: and the iron swam.
6:7. And he said: Take it up. And he put out his hand, and took it.
6:8. And the king of Syria warred against Israel, and took counsel with his servants, saying: In such and such a place, let us lay an ambush.
6:9. And the man of God sent to the king of Israel, saying: Beware that thou pass not to such a place: for the Syrians are there in ambush.
6:10. And the king of Israel, sent to the place which the man of God had told him, and prevented him, and looked well to himself there not once nor twice.
6:11. And the heart of the king of Syria, was troubled for this thing. And calling together his servants, he said: Why do you not tell me who it is that betrays me to the king of Israel?
6:12. And one of his servants said: No one, my lord, O king: but Eliseus, the prophet, that is in Israel, telleth the king of Israel all the words, that thou speakest in thy privy chamber.
6:13. And he said to them: Go, and see where he is: that I may send and take him. And they told him: saying: Behold he is in Dothan.
6:14. Therefore, he sent thither horses, and chariots, and the strength of an army: and they came by night, and beset the city.
6:15. And the servant of the man of God, rising early went out, and saw an army round about the city, and horses and chariots: and he told him, saying: Alas, alas, alas, my lord, what shall we do?
6:16. But he answered: Fear not: for there are more with us than with them.
6:17. And Eliseus prayed, and said: Lord, open his eyes, that he may see. And the Lord opened the eyes of the servant, and he saw: and behold, the mountain was full of horses, and chariots of fire round about Eliseus.
6:18. And the enemies came down to him: but Eliseus prayed to the Lord, saying: Strike, I beseech thee, this people with blindness: and the Lord struck them with blindness, according to the word of Eliseus.
Blindness.... The blindness here spoken of was of a particular kind, which hindered them from seeing the objects that were really before them; and represented other different objects to their imagination: so that they no longer perceived the city of Dothan, nor were able to know the person of Eliseus; but were easily led by him, whom they took to be another man, to Samaria. So that he truly told them, this is not the way, neither is this the city, etc., because he spoke with relation to the way and to the city, which was represented to them.
6:19. And Eliseus said to them: This is not the way, neither is this the city: follow me, and I will shew you the man whom you seek. So he led them into Samaria.
6:20. And when they were come into Samaria, Eliseus said: Lord, open the eyes of these men, that they may see. And the Lord opened their eyes, and they saw themselves to be in the midst of Samaria.
6:21. And the king of Israel said to Eliseus, when he saw them: My father, shall I kill them?
6:22. And he said: Thou shalt not kill them: for thou didst not take them with thy sword, or thy bow, that thou mayst kill them: but set bread and water before them, that they may eat and drink, and go to their master.
6:23. And a great provision of meats was set before them, and they ate and drank; and he let them go: and they went away to their master: and the robbers of Syria came no more into the land of Israel.
6:24. And it came to pass, after these things, that Benadad, king of Syria, gathered together all his army, and went up and besieged Samaria.
6:25. And there was a great famine in Samaria: and so long did the siege continue, till the head of an ass was sold for fourscore pieces of silver, and the fourth part of a cabe of pigeons’ dung, for five pieces of silver.
6:26. And as the king of Israel was passing by the wall, a certain woman cried out to him, saying: Save me, my lord, O king.
6:27. And he said: If the Lord doth not save thee, how can I save thee? out of the barnfloor, or out of the winepress? And the king said to her: What aileth thee? And she answered:
6:28. This woman said to me: Give thy son, that we may eat him today, and we will eat my son tomorrow.
6:29. So we boiled my son, and ate him. And I said to her on the next day: Give thy son, that we may eat him. And she hath hid her son.
6:30. When the king heard this, he rent his garments, and passed by upon the wall. And all the people saw the haircloth which he wore within next to his flesh.
6:31. And the king said: May God do so and so to me, and may he add more, if the head of Eliseus, the son of Saphat, shall stand on him this day.
6:32. But Eliseus sat in his house, and the ancients sat with him. So he sent a man before: and before that messenger came, he said to the ancients: Do you know that this son of a murderer hath sent to cut off my head? Look then when the messenger shall come, shut the door, and suffer him not to come in: for behold the sound of his master’s feet is behind him.
6:33. While he was yet speaking to them, the messenger appeared, who was coming to him. And he said: Behold, so great an evil is from the Lord: what shall I look for more from the Lord?
4 Kings Chapter 7
Eliseus prophesieth a great plenty, which presently ensueth upon the sudden flight of the Syrians; of which four lepers bring the news to the city. The incredulous nobleman is trod to death.
7:1. And Eliseus said: Hear ye the word of the Lord: Thus saith the Lord: Tomorrow, about this time, a bushel of fine flour shall be sold for a stater, and two bushels of barley for a stater, in the gate of Samaria.
A stater.... It is the same as a sicle or shekel.
7:2. Then one of the lords, upon whose hand the king leaned, answering the man of God, said: If the Lord should make flood-gates in heaven, can that possibly be which thou sayest? And he said: Thou shalt see it with thy eyes, but shalt not eat thereof.
7:3. Now there were four lepers, at the entering in of the gate: and they said one to another: What mean we to stay here till we die?
7:4. If we will enter into the city, we shall die with the famine: and if we will remain here, we must also die: come therefore, and let us run over to the camp of the Syrians. If they spare us, we shall live: but if they kill us, we shall but die.
7:5. So they arose in the evening, to go to the Syrian camp. And when they were come to the first part of the camp of the Syrians, they found no man there.
7:6. For the Lord had made them hear, in the camp of Syria, the noise of chariots, and of horses, and of a very great army: and they said one to another: Behold, the king of Israel hath hired against us the kings of the Hethites, and of the Egyptians; and they are come upon us.
7:7. Wherefore they arose, and fled away in the dark, and left their tents, and their horses and asses in the camp, and fled, desiring to save their lives.
7:8. So when these lepers were come to the beginning of the camp, they went into one tent, and ate and drank: and they took from thence silver, and gold, and raiment, and went, and hid it: and they came again, and went into another tent, and carried from thence in like manner, and hid it.
7:9. Then they said one to another: We do not well: for this is a day of good tidings. If we hold our peace, and do not tell it till the morning, we shall be charged with a crime: come, let us go, and tell it in the king’s court.
7:10. So they came to the gate of the city, and told them, saying: We went to the camp of the Syrians, and we found no man there, but horses, and asses tied, and the tents standing.
7:11. Then the guards of the gate went, and told it within in the king’s palace.
7:12. And he arose in the night, and said to his servants: I tell you what the Syrians have done to us: They know that we suffer great famine, and therefore they are gone out of the camp, and lie hid in the fields, saying: When they come out of the city, we shall take them alive, and then we may get into the city.
7:13. And one of his servants answered: Let us take the five horses that are remaining in the city (because there are no more in the whole multitude of Israel, for the rest are consumed), and let us send and see.
7:14. They brought therefore two horses, and the king sent into the camp of the Syrians, saying: Go, and see.
7:15. And they went after them, as far as the Jordan: and behold, all the way was full of garments, and vessels, which the Syrians had cast away, in their fright, and the messengers returned, and told the king.
7:16. And the people going out, pillaged the camp of the Syrians: and a bushel of fine flour was sold for a stater, and two bushels of barley for a stater, according to the word of the Lord.
7:17. And the king appointed that lord on whose hand he leaned, to stand at the gate: and the people trod upon him in the entrance of the gate; and he died, as the man of God had said, when the king came down to him.
7:18. And it came to pass, according to the word of the man of God, which he spoke to the king, when he said: Two bushels of barley shall be for a stater, and a bushel of fine flour for a stater, at this very time tomorrow, in the gate of Samaria.
7:19. When that lord answered the man of God, and said: Although the Lord should make flood-gates in heaven, could this come to pass which thou sayest? And he said to him: Thou shalt see it with thy eyes, and shalt not eat thereof.
7:20. And so it fell out to him, as it was foretold, and the people trod upon him in the gate, and he died.
4 Kings Chapter 8
After seven years’ famine foretold by Eliseus, the Sunamitess returning home, recovereth her lands, and revenues. Eliseus foresheweth the death of Benadad, king of Syria, and the reign of Hazael. Joram’s wicked reign in Juda. He dieth, and his son Ochozias succeedeth.
8:1.And Eliseus spoke to the woman, whose son he had restored to life, saying: Arise, and go thou, and thy household, and sojourn wheresoever thou canst find: for the Lord hath called a famine, and it shall come upon the land seven years.
8:2. And she arose, and did according to the word of the man of God: and going with her household, she sojourned in the land of the Philistines many days.
8:3. And when the seven years were ended, the woman returned out of the land of the Philistines, and she went forth to speak to the king for her house and for her lands.
8:4. And the king talked with Giezi, the servant of the man of God, saying: Tell me all the great things that Eliseus hath done.
8:5. And when he was telling the king how he had raised one dead to life, the woman appeared, whose son he had restored to life, crying to the king for her house, and her lands. And Giezi said: My lord, O king, this is the woman, and this is her son, whom Eliseus raised to life.
8:6. And the king asked the woman: and she told him. And the king appointed her an eunuch, saying: Restore her all that is hers, and all the revenues of the lands, from the day that she left the land to this present.
8:7. Eliseus also came to Damascus, and Benadad, king of Syria was sick; and they told him, saying: The man of God is come hither.
8:8. And the king said to Hazael: Take with thee presents, and go to meet the man of God, and consult the Lord by him, saying: Can I recover of this my illness?
8:9. And Hazael went to meet him, taking with him presents, and all the good things of Damascus, the burdens of forty camels. And when he stood before him, he said: Thy son, Benadad, the king of Syria, hath sent me to thee, saying: Can I recover of this my illness?
8:10. And Eliseus said to him: Go tell him: Thou shalt recover: but the Lord hath shewed me that he shall surely die.
Tell him: thou shalt recover.... By these words the prophet signified that the king’s disease was not mortal: and that he would recover if no violence were used. Or he might only express himself in this manner, by way of giving Hazael to understand that he knew both what he would say and do; that he would indeed tell the king he should recover; but would be himself the instrument of his death.
8:11. And he stood with him, and was troubled so far as to blush: and the man of God wept.
8:12. And Hazael said to him: Why doth my lord weep? And he said: Because I know the evil that thou wilt do to the children of Israel. Their strong cities thou wilt burn with fire, and their young men thou wilt kill with the sword, and thou wilt dash their children, and rip up their pregnant women.
8:13. And Hazael said: But what am I, thy servant, a dog, that I should do this great thing? And Eliseus said: The Lord hath shewed me that thou shalt be king of Syria.
8:14. And when he was departed from Eliseus he came to his master, who said to him: What said Eliseus to thee? And he answered: He told me: Thou shalt recover.
8:15. And on the next day, he took a blanket, and poured water on it, and spread it upon his face: and he died, and Hazael reigned in his stead.
8:16. In the fifth year of Joram, son of Achab, king of Israel, and of Josaphat, king of Juda, reigned Joram, son of Josaphat, king of Juda.
And of Josaphat, etc.... That is, Josaphat being yet alive, who sometime before his death made his son Joram king, as David had done before by his own son Solomon.
8:17. He was two and thirty years old when he began to reign, and he reigned eight years in Jerusalem.
8:18. And he walked in the ways of the kings of Israel, as the house of Achab had walked: for the daughter of Achab was his wife: and he did that which was evil in the sight of the Lord.
8:19. But the Lord would not destroy Juda, for David his servant’s sake, as he had promised him, to give him a light, and to his children always.
8:20. In his days Edom revolted from being under Juda, and made themselves a king.
8:21. And Joram came to Seira, and all the chariots with him: and he arose in the night, and defeated the Edomites that had surrounded him, and the captains of the chariots, but the people fled into their tents.
8:22. So Edom revolted from being under Juda, unto this day. Then Lobna also revolted at the same time.
8:23. But the rest of the acts of Joram, and all that he did, are they not written in the book of the words of the days of the kings of Juda?
8:24. And Joram slept with his fathers, and was buried with them in the city of David, and Ochozias, his son, reigned in his stead.
8:25. In the twelfth year of Joram, the son of Achab, king of Israel, reigned Ochozias, son of Joram, king of Juda.
8:26. Ochozias was two and twenty years old when he began to reign, and he reigned one year in Jerusalem: the name of his mother was Athalia the daughter of Amri king of Israel.
Daughter.... That is, grand-daughter; for she was daughter of Achab son of Amri, ver. 18.
8:27. And he walked in the ways of the house of Achab: and he did evil before the Lord, as did the house of Achab: for he was the son in law of the house of Achab.
8:28. He went also with Joram, son of Achab, to fight against Hazael, king of Syria, in Ramoth Galaad, and the Syrians wounded Joram:
8:29. And he went back to be healed, in Jezrahel: because the Syrians had wounded him in Ramoth, when he fought against Hazael, king of Syria And Ochozias, the son of Joram, king of Juda, went down to visit Joram, the son of Achab, in Jezrahel, because he was sick there.
4 Kings Chapter 9
Jehu is anointed king of Israel, to destroy the house of Achab and Jezebel. He killeth Joram king of Israel, and Ochozias king of Juda. Jezebel is eaten by dogs.
9:1. And Eliseus the prophet, called one of the sons of the prophets, and said to him: Gird up thy loins, and take this little bottle of oil in thy hand, and go to Ramoth Galaad.
9:2. And when thou art come thither, thou shalt see Jehu the son of Josaphat the son of Namsi: and going in, thou shalt make him rise up from amongst his brethren, and carry him into an inner chamber.
9:3. Then taking the little bottle of oil, thou shalt pour it on his head, and shalt say: Thus saith the Lord: I have anointed thee king over Israel. And thou shalt open the door and flee, and shalt not stay there.
9:4. So the young man, the servant of the prophet, went away to Ramoth Galaad,
9:5. And went in thither: and behold, the captains of the army were sitting, and he said: I have a word to thee, O prince. And Jehu said: Unto whom of us all? And he said: To thee, O prince.
9:6. And he arose, and went into the chamber: and he poured the oil upon his head, and said: Thus saith the Lord God of Israel: I have anointed thee king over Israel, the people of the Lord.
9:7. And thou shalt cut off the house of Achab, thy master, and I will revenge the blood of my servants, the prophets, and the blood of all the servants of the Lord, at the hand of Jezabel.
9:8. And I will destroy all the house of Achab, and I will cut off from Achab, him that pisseth against the wall, and him that is shut up, and the meanest in Israel.
9:9. And I will make the house of Achab, like the house of Jeroboam, the son of Nabat, and like the house of Baasa, the son of Ahias.
9:10. And the dogs shall eat Jezabel, in the field of Jezrahel, and there shall be no one to bury her. And he opened the door and fled.
9:11. Then Jehu went forth to the servants of his lord: and they said to him: Are all things well? why came this madman to thee? And he said to them: You know the man, and what he said.
9:12. But they answered: It is false; but rather do thou tell us. And he said to them: Thus and thus did he speak to me: and he said: Thus saith the Lord: I have anointed thee king over Israel.
9:13. Then they made haste, and taking every man his garment, laid it under his feet, after the manner of a judgment seat, and they sounded the trumpet, and said: Jehu is king.
9:14. So Jehu, the son of Josaphat, the son of Namsi, conspired against Joram. Now Joram had besieged Ramoth Galaad, he, and all Israel, fighting with Hazael, king of Syria:
9:15. And was returned to be healed in Jezrahel of his wounds; for the Syrians had wounded him, when he fought with Hazael, king of Syria. And Jehu said: If it please you, let no man go forth or flee out of the city, lest he go, and tell in Jezrahel.
9:16. And he got up, and went into Jezrahel for Joram was sick there, and Ochozias king of Juda, was come down to visit Joram.
9:17. The watchman therefore, that stood upon the tower of Jezrahel, saw the troop of Jehu coming, and said: I see a troop. And Joram said: Take a chariot, and send to meet them, and let him that goeth say: Is all well?
9:18. So there went one in a chariot to meet him, and said: Thus saith the king: Are all things peaceable? And Jehu said: What hast thou to do with peace? go behind and follow me. And the watchman told, saying: The messenger came to them, but he returneth not.
9:19. And he sent a second chariot of horses: and he came to them, and said: Thus saith the king: Is there peace? And Jehu said: What hast thou to do with peace? pass, and follow me.
9:20. And the watchman told, saying: He came even to them, but returneth not: and the driving is like the driving of Jehu, the son of Namsi; for he drives furiously.
9:21. And Joram said: Make ready the chariot. And they made ready his chariot: and Joram, king of Israel, and Ochozias, king of Juda, went out, each in his chariot, and they went out to meet Jehu, and met him in the field of Naboth, the Jezrahelite.
9:22. And when Joram saw Jehu, he said: Is there peace, Jehu? And he answered: What peace? so long as the fornications of Jezabel, thy mother, and her many sorceries, are in their vigour.
9:23. And Joram turned his hand, and fleeing, said to Ochozias: There is treachery, Ochozias.
9:24. But Jehu bent his bow with his hand, and shot Joram between the shoulders: and the arrow went out through his heart, and immediately he fell in his chariot.
9:25. And Jehu said to Badacer, his captain: Take him, and cast him into the field of Naboth, the Jezrahelite: for I remember, when I and thou, sitting in a chariot, followed Achab, this man’s father, that the Lord laid this burden upon him, saying:
9:26. If I do not requite thee in this field, saith the Lord, for the blood of Naboth, and for the blood of his children, which I saw yesterday, saith the Lord. So now take him, and cast him into the field, according to the word of the Lord.
9:27. But Ochozias, king of Juda, seeing this, fled by the way of the garden house: and Jehu pursued him, and said: Strike him also in his chariot. And they struck him in the going up to Gaver, which is by Jeblaam: and he fled into Mageddo, and died there.
9:28. And his servants laid him upon his chariot, and carried him to Jerusalem: and they buried him in his sepulchre with his fathers, in the city of David.
9:29. In the eleventh year of Joram, the son of Achab, Ochozias reigned over Juda;
9:30. And Jehu came into Jezrahel. But Jezabel, hearing of his coming in, painted her face with stibic stone, and adorned her head, and looked out of a window.
9:31. At Jehu coming in at the gate, and said: Can there be peace for Zambri, that hath killed his master?
9:32. And Jehu lifted up his face to the window, and said: Who is this? And two or three eunuchs bowed down to him.
9:33. And he said to them: Throw her down headlong; And they threw her down, and the wall was sprinkled with her blood, and the hoofs of the horses trod upon her.
9:34. And when he was come in to eat, and to drink, he said: Go, and see after that cursed woman, and bury her; because she is a king’s daughter.
9:35. And when they went to bury her, they found nothing but the skull, and the feet, and the extremities of her hands.
9:36. And coming back they told him. And Jehu said: It is the word of the Lord, which he spoke by his servant Elias, the Thesbite, saying: In the field of Jezrahel the dogs shall eat the flesh of Jezabel.
9:37. And the flesh of Jezabel shall be as dung upon the face of the earth in the field of Jezrahel; so that they who pass by shall say: Is this that same Jezabel?
4 Kings Chapter 10
Jehu destroyeth the house of Achab: abolisheth the worship of Baal, and killeth the worshippers: but sticketh to the calves of Jeroboam. Israel is afflicted by the Syrians.
10:1. And Achab had seventy sons in Samaria: so Jehu wrote letters, and sent to Samaria, to the chief men of the city, and to the ancients, and to them that brought up Achab’s children, saying:
10:2. As soon as you receive these letters, ye that have your master’s sons, and chariots, and horses, and fenced cities, and armour,
10:3. Choose the best, and him that shall please you most of your master’s sons, and set him on his father’s throne, and fight for the house of your master.
10:4. But they were exceedingly afraid, and said: Behold two kings could not stand before him, and how shall we be able to resist?
10:5. Therefore they that were over the king’s house, and the rulers of the city, and the ancients, and the bringers up of the children, sent to Jehu, saying: We are thy servants: whatsoever thou shalt command us we will do; we will not make us any king: do thou all that pleaseth thee.
10:6. And he wrote letters the second time to them, saying: If you be mine, and will obey me, take the heads of the sons of your master, and come to me to Jezrahel by tomorrow at this time. Now the king’s sons, being seventy men, were brought up with the chief men of the city.
10:7. And when the letters came to them, they took the king’s sons, and slew seventy persons, and put their heads in baskets, and sent them to him to Jezrahel.
10:8. And a messenger came, and told him, saying: They have brought the heads of the king’s sons. And he said: Lay ye them in two heaps by the entering in of the gate until the morning.
10:9. And when it was light, he went out, and standing, said to all the people: You are just: if I conspired against my master, and slew him; who hath slain all these?
10:10. See therefore now that there hath not fallen to the ground any of the words of the Lord, which the Lord spoke concerning the house of Achab, and the Lord hath done that which he spoke in the hand of his servant Elias.
10:11. So Jehu slew all that were left of the house of Achab in Jezrahel, and all his chief men, and his friends, and his priests, till there were no remains left of him.
10:12. And he arose, and went to Samaria: and when he was come to the shepherds’ cabin in the way,
10:13. He met with the brethren of Ochozias, king of Juda, and he said to them: Who are you? And they answered: We are the brethren of Ochozias, and are come down to salute the sons of the king, and the sons of the queen.
10:14. And he said: Take them alive. And they took them alive, and killed them at the pit by the cabin, two and forty men, and he left not any of them.
10:15. And when he was departed thence, he found Jonadab, the son of Rechab, coming to meet him, and he blessed him. And he said to him: Is thy heart right as my heart is with thy heart? And Jonadab said: It is. If it be, said he, give me thy hand. He gave him his hand. And he lifted him up to him into the chariot,
10:16. And said to him: Come with me, and see my zeal for the Lord. So he made him ride in his chariot,
10:17. And brought him into Samaria. And he slew all that were left of Achab, in Samaria, to a man, according to the word of the Lord which he spoke by Elias.
10:18. And Jehu gathered together all the people, and said to them: Achab worshipped Baal a little, but I will worship him more.
I will worship him more.... Jehu sinned in thus pretending to worship Baal, and causing sacrifice to be offered to him: because evil is not to be done, that good may come of it. Rom. 3.8.
10:19. Now therefore call to me all the prophets of Baal, and all his servants, and all his priests: let none be wanting, for I have a great sacrifice to offer to Baal: whosoever shall be wanting, shall not live. Now Jehu did this craftily, that he might destroy the worshippers of Baal.
10:20. And he said: Proclaim a festival for Baal. And he called,
10:21. And he sent into all the borders of Israel; and all the servants of Baal came: there was not one left that did not come. And they went into the temple of Baal: and the house of Baal was filled, from one end to the other.
10:22. And he said to them that were over the wardrobe: Bring forth garments for all the servants of Baal. And they brought them forth garments.
10:23. And Jehu, and Jonadab, the son of Rechab, went to the temple of Baal, and said to the worshippers of Baal: Search, and see that there be not any with you of the servants of the Lord, but that there be the servants of Baal only.
10:24. And they went in to offer sacrifices and burnt offerings: but Jehu had prepared him fourscore men without, and said to them: If any of the men escape, whom I have brought into your hands, he that letteth him go, shall answer life for life.
10:25. And it came to pass, when the burnt offering was ended, that Jehu commanded his soldiers and captains, saying: Go in, and kill them: let none escape. And the soldiers and captains slew them with the edge of the sword, and cast them out: and they went into the city of the temple of Baal,
10:26. And brought the statue out of Baal’s temple, and burnt it,
10:27. And broke it in pieces. They destroyed also the temple of Baal, and made a jakes in its place unto this day.
10:28. So Jehu destroyed Baal out of Israel:
10:29. But yet he departed not from the sins of Jeroboam, the son of Nabat, who made Israel to sin, nor did he forsake the golden calves that were in Bethel, and Dan.
10:30. And the Lord said to Jehu: because thou hast diligently executed that which was right and pleasing in my eyes, and hast done to the house of Achab according to all that was in my heart: thy children shall sit upon the throne of Israel to the fourth generation.
10:31. But Jehu took no heed to walk in the law of the Lord, the God of Israel, with all his heart: for he departed not from the sins of Jeroboam, who had made Israel to sin.
10:32. In those days the Lord began to be weary of Israel: and Hazael ravaged them in all the coasts of Israel,
10:33. From the Jordan eastward, all the land of Galaad, and Gad, and Ruben, and Manasses, from Aroer, which is upon the torrent Arnon, and Galaad, and Basan.
10:34. But the rest of the acts of Jehu, and all that he did, and his strength, are they not written in the book of the words of the days of the kings of Israel?
10:35. And Jehu slept with his fathers, and they buried him in Samaria: and Joachaz, his son, reigned in his stead.
10:36. And the time that Jehu reigned over Israel, in Samaria, was eight and twenty years.
4 Kings Chapter 11
Athalia’s usurpation and tyranny. Joas is made king. Athalia is slain.
11:1. Now Athalia, the mother of Ochozias, seeing that her son was dead, arose and slew all the royal seed.
11:2. But Josaba the daughter of king Joram, sister of Ochozias, took Joas, the son of Ochozias, and stole him from among the king’s sons that were slain, out of the bedchamber with his nurse: and hid him from the face of Athalia; so that he was not slain.
11:3. And he was with her six years, hid in the house of the Lord. And Athalia reigned over the land.
11:4. And in the seventh year Joiada sent, and taking the centurions and soldiers, brought them in to him into the temple of the Lord, and made a covenant with them: and taking an oath of them in the house of the Lord, shewed them the king’s son:
11:5. And he commanded them, saying: This is the thing that you must do.
11:6. Let a third part of you go in on the sabbath, and keep the watch of the king’s house. And let a third part be at the gate of Sur; and let a third part be at the gate behind the dwelling of the shieldbearers; and you shall keep the watch of the house of Messa.
11:7. But let two parts of you all that go forth on the sabbath, keep the watch of the house of the Lord about the king.
11:8. And you shall compass him round about, having weapons in your hands: and if any man shall enter the precinct of the temple, let him be slain: and you shall be with the king, coming in and going out.
11:9. And the centurions did according to all things that Joiada the priest, had commanded them: and taking every one their men, that went in on the sabbath, with them that went out in the sabbath, came to Joiada, the priest.
11:10. And he gave them the spears, and the arms of king David, which were in the house of the Lord.
11:11. And they stood, having every one their weapons in their hands, from the right side of the temple, unto the left side of the altar, and of the temple, about the king.
11:12. And he brought forth the king’s son, and put the diadem upon him, and the testimony: and they made him king, and anointed him: and clapping their hands, they said: God save the king.
The testimony.... The book of the law.
11:13. And Athalia heard the noise of the people running: and going in to the people into the temple of the Lord,
11:14. She saw the king standing upon a tribunal, as the manner was, and the singers, and the trumpets near him, and all the people of the land rejoicing, and sounding the trumpets: and she rent her garments, and cried: A conspiracy, a conspiracy.
A tribunal.... A tribune, or a place elevated above the rest.
11:15. But Joiada commanded the centurions that were over the army, and said to them: Have her forth without the precinct of the temple, and whosoever shall follow her, let him be slain with the sword. For the priest had said: Let her not be slain in the temple of the Lord.
11:16. And they laid hands on her: and thrust her out by the way by which the horses go in, by the palace, and she was slain there.
11:17. And Joiada made a covenant between the Lord, and the king, and the people, that they should be the people of the Lord; and between the king and the people.
11:18. And all the people of the land went into the temple of Baal, and broke down his altars, and his images they broke in pieces thoroughly: they slew also Mathan the priest of Baal before the altar. And the priest set guards in the house of the Lord.
11:19. And he took the centurions, and the bands of the Cerethi, and the Phelethi, and all the people of the land, and they brought the king from the house of the Lord: and they came by the way of the gate of the shieldbearers into the palace, and he sat on the throne of the kings.
11:20. And all the people of the land rejoiced, and the city was quiet: but Athalia was slain with the sword in the king’s house.
11:21. Now Joas was seven years old when he began to reign.
4 Kings Chapter 12
The temple is repaired. Hazael is bought off from attacking Jerusalem. Joas is slain.
12:1. In the seventh year of Jehu, Joas began to reign: and he reigned forty years in Jerusalem. The name of his mother was Sebia, of Bersabee.
12:2. And Joas did that which was right before the Lord all the days that Joiada, the priest, taught him.
12:3. But yet he took not away the high places: for the people still sacrificed and burnt incense in the high places.
12:4. And Joas said to the priests: all the money of the sanctified things, which is brought into the temple of the Lord by those that pass, which is offered for the price of a soul, and which of their own accord, and of their own free heart, they bring into the temple of the Lord:
Sanctified.... That is, dedicated to God’s service.—Ibid. The price of a soul.... That is, the ordinary oblation, which every soul was to offer by the law. Ex. 30.
12:5. Let the priests take it according to their order and repair the house, wheresoever they shall see any thing that wanteth repairing.
12:6. Now till the three and twentieth year of king Joas the priests did not make the repairs of the temple.
12:7. And king Joas called Joiada, the high priest, and the priests, saying to them: Why do you not repair the temple? Take you, therefore, money no more according to your order, but restore it for the repairing of the temple.
12:8. And the priests were forbidden to take any more money of the people, and to make the repairs of the house.
12:9. And Joiada, the high priest, took a chest, and bored a hole in the top, and set it by the altar at the right hand of them that came into the house of the Lord; and the priests that kept the doors, put therein all the money that was brought to the temple of the Lord.
12:10. And when they saw that there was very much money in the chest, the king’s scribe, and the high priest, came up, and poured it out, and counted the money that was found in the house of the Lord.
12:11. And they gave it out by number and measure into the hands of them that were over the builders of the house of the Lord: and they laid it out to the carpenters, and the masons, that wrought in the house of the Lord,
12:12. And made the repairs: and to them that cut stones, and to buy timber, and stones to be hewed, that the repairs of the house of the Lord might be completely finished, and wheresoever there was need of expenses to uphold the house.
12:13. But there were not made of the same money for the temple of the Lord, bowls, or fleshhooks, or censers, or trumpets, or any vessel of gold and silver, of the money that was brought into the temple of the Lord:
12:14. For it was given to them that did the work, that the temple of the Lord might be repaired.
12:15. And they reckoned not with the men that received the money to distribute it to the workmen, but they bestowed it faithfully.
12:16. But the money for trespass, and the money for sins, they brought not into the temple of the Lord, because it was for the priests.
12:17. Then Hazael, king of Syria, went up, and fought against Geth, and took it, and set his face to go up to Jerusalem.
12:18. Wherefore Joas, king of Juda, took all the sanctified things, which Josaphat, and Joram, and Ochozias, his fathers, the kings of Juda, had dedicated to holy uses, and which he himself had offered: and all the silver that could be found in the treasures of the temple of the Lord, and in the king’s palace: and sent it to Hazael, king of Syria, and he went off from Jerusalem.
12:19. And the rest of the acts of Joas, and all that he did, are they not written in the book of the words of the days of the kings of Juda?
12:20. And his servants arose, and conspired among themselves, and slew Joas, in the house of Mello, in the descent of Sella.
12:21. For Josachar the son of Semaath, and Jozabad the son of Somer his servant, struck him, and he died: and they buried him with his fathers in the city of David; and Amasias, his son, reigned in his stead.
The city of David.... He was buried in the same city with his fathers, but not in the sepulchres of the kings. 2 Par. 14.
4 Kings Chapter 13
The reign of Joachaz and of Joas kings of Israel. The last acts and death of Eliseus the prophet: a dead man is raised to life by the touch of his bones.
13:1. In the three and twentieth year of Joas son of Ochozias, king of Juda, Joachaz, the son of Jehu, reigned over Israel, in Samaria, seventeen years.
13:2. And he did evil before the Lord, and followed the sins of Jeroboam, the son of Nabat, who made Israel to sin; and he departed not from them.
13:3. And the wrath of the Lord was kindled against Israel, and he delivered them into the hand of Hazael, the king of Syria, and into the hand of Benadad, the son of Hazael, all days.
13:4. But Joachaz besought the face of the Lord, and the Lord heard him: for he saw the distress of Israel, because the king of Syria had oppressed them:
13:5. And the Lord gave Israel a saviour, and they were delivered out of the hand of the king of Syria: and the children of Israel dwelt in their pavilions as yesterday and the day before.
13:6. But yet they departed not from the sins of the house of Jeroboam, who made Israel to sin, but walked in them: and there still remained a grove also in Samaria.
A grove.... Dedicated to the worship of idols.
13:7. And Joachaz had no more left of the people than fifty horsemen, and ten chariots, and ten thousand footmen: for the king of Syria had slain them, and had brought them low as dust by threshing in the barnfloor.
13:8. But the rest of the acts of Joachaz, and all that he did, and his valour, are they not written in the book of the words of the days of the kings of Israel?
13:9. And Joachaz slept with his fathers, and they buried him in Samaria: and Joas, his son, reigned in his stead.
13:10. In the seven and thirtieth year of Joas, king of Juda, Joas the son of Joachaz reigned over Israel, in Samaria, sixteen years.
13:11. And he did that which is evil in the sight of the Lord: he departed not from all the sins of Jeroboam, the son of Nabat, who made Israel to sin; but he walked in them.
13:12. But the rest of the acts of Joas, and all that he did, and his valour wherewith he fought against Amasias, king of Juda, are they not written in the book of the words of the days of the kings of Israel?
13:13. And Joas slept with his fathers; and Jeroboam sat upon his throne. But Joas was buried in Samaria, with the kings of Israel.
13:14. Now Eliseus was sick of the illness whereof he died: and Joas, king of Israel, went down to him, and wept before him, and said: O my father, my father, the chariot of Israel, and the guider thereof.
13:15. And Eliseus said to him: Bring a bow and arrows. And when he had brought him a bow and arrows,
13:16. He said to the king of Israel: Put thy hand upon the bow. And when he had put his hand, Eliseus put his hands over the king’s hands,
13:17. And said: Open the window to the east. And when he had opened it, Eliseus said: Shoot an arrow. And he shot. And Eliseus said: The arrow of the Lord’s deliverance, and the arrow of the deliverance from Syria: and thou shalt strike the Syrians in Aphec, till thou consume them.
13:18. And he said: Take the arrows. And when he had taken them, he said to him: Strike with an arrow upon the ground. And he struck three times, and stood still.
13:19. And the man of God was angry with him, and said: If thou hadst smitten five or six or seven times, thou hadst smitten Syria even to utter destruction: but now three times shalt thou smite it.
If thou hadst smitten, etc.... By this it appears that God had revealed to the prophet that the king should overcome the Syrians as many times as he should then strike on the ground; but as he had not at the same time revealed to him how often the king would strike, the prophet was concerned to see that he struck but thrice.
13:20. And Eliseus died, and they buried him. And the rovers from Moab came into the land the same year.
13:21. And some that were burying a man, saw the rovers, and cast the body into the sepulchre of Eliseus. And when it had touched the bones of Eliseus, the man came to life and stood upon his feet.
13:22. Now Hazael, king of Syria, afflicted Israel all the days of Joachaz.
13:23. And the Lord had mercy on them, and returned to them, because of his covenant, which he had made with Abraham, and Isaac, and Jacob: and he would not destroy them, nor utterly cast them away, unto this present time.
13:24. And Hazael, king of Syria, died; and Benadad, his son, reigned in his stead.
13:25. Now Joas the son of Joachaz, took the cities out of the hand of Benadad, the son of Hazael, which he had taken out of the hand of Joachaz, his father, by war; three times did Joas beat him, and he restored the cities to Israel.
4 Kings Chapter 14
Amasias reigneth in Juda: he overcometh the Edomites: but is overcome by Joas king of Israel. Jereboam the second reigneth in Israel.
14:1. In the second year of Joas son of Joachaz, king of Israel, reigned Amasias son of Joas, king of Juda.
14:2. He was five and twenty years old when he began to reign; and nine and twenty years he reigned in Jerusalem; the name of his mother was Joadan, of Jerusalem.
14:3. And he did that which was right before the Lord, but yet not like David his father. He did according to all things that Joas his father, did:
14:4. But this only, that he took not away the high places; for yet the people sacrificed, and burnt incense in the high places:
14:5. And when he had possession of the kingdom, he put his servants to death that had slain the king, his father.
14:6. But the children of the murderers he did not put to death, according to that which is written in the book of the law of Moses, wherein the Lord commanded, saying: The fathers shall not be put to death for the children, neither shall the children be put to death for the fathers: but every man shall die for his own sin.
14:7. He slew of Edom in the valley of the Saltpits, ten thousand men, and took the rock by war, and called the name thereof Jectehel, unto this day.
14:8. Then Amasias sent messengers to Joas, son of Joachaz, son of Jehu, king of Israel, saying: Come, let us see one another.
Let us see one another.... This was a challenge to fight.
14:9. And Joas, king of Israel, sent again to Amasias, king of Juda, saying: A thistle of Libanus sent to a cedar tree, which is in Libanus, saying: Give thy daughter to my son to wife. And the beasts of the forest, that are in Libanus, passed, and trod down the thistle.
14:10. Thou hast beaten and prevailed over Edom, and thy heart hath lifted thee up; be content with this glory, and sit at home; why provokest thou evil, that thou shouldst fall, and Juda with thee?
14:11. But Amasias did not rest satisfied. So Joas, king of Israel, went up; and he and Amasias, king of Juda, saw one another in Bethsames, a town in Juda.
14:12. And Juda was put to the worse before Israel, and they fled every man to their dwellings.
14:13. But Joas, king of Israel, took Amasias, king of Juda, the son of Joas, the son of Ochozias, in Bethsames, and brought him into Jerusalem; and he broke down the wall of Jerusalem, from the gate of Ephraim to the gate of the corner, four hundred cubits.
14:14. And he took all the gold and silver, and all the vessels that were found in the house of the Lord, and in the king’s treasures, and hostages, and returned to Samaria.
14:15. But the rest of the acts of Joas, which he did, and his valour, wherewith he fought against Amasias, king of Juda, are they not written in the book of the words of the days of the kings of Israel?
14:16. And Joas slept with his fathers, and was buried in Samaria, with the kings of Israel: and Jeroboam, his son, reigned in his stead.
14:17. And Amasias, the son of Joas, king of Juda, lived after the death of Joas, son of Joachaz, king of Israel, fifteen years.
14:18. And the rest of the acts of Amasias, are they not written in the book of the words of the days of the kings of Juda?
14:19. Now they made a conspiracy against him in Jerusalem: and he fled to Lachis. And they sent after him to Lachis, and killed him there.
14:20. And they brought him away upon horses, and he was buried in Jerusalem with his fathers, in the city of David.
14:21. And all the people of Juda took Azarias, who was sixteen years old, and made him king instead of his father, Amasias.
14:22. He built Elath, and restored it to Juda, after that the king slept with his fathers.
14:23. In the fifteenth year of Amasias, son of Joas, king of Juda, reigned Jeroboam, the son of Joas, king of Israel, in Samaria, one and forty years:
14:24. And he did that which is evil before the Lord. He departed not from all the sins of Jeroboam, the son of Nabat, who made Israel to sin.
14:25. He restored the borders of Israel from the entrance of Emath, unto the sea of the wilderness, according to the word of the Lord, the God of Israel, which he spoke by his servant, Jonas, the son of Amathi, the prophet, who was of Geth, which is in Opher.
Opher.... The tribe of Zabulon.
14:26. For the Lord saw the affliction of Israel, that it was exceedingly bitter, and that they were consumed even to them that were shut up in prison, and the lowest persons, and that there was no one to help Israel.
14:27. And the Lord did not say that he would blot out the name of Israel from under heaven; but he saved them by the hand of Jeroboam, the son of Joas.
14:28. But the rest of the acts of Jeroboam, and all that he did, and his valour, wherewith he fought, and how he restored Damascus and Emath to Juda, in Israel, are they not written in the book of the words of the days of the kings of Israel?
14:29. And Jeroboam slept with his fathers, the kings of Israel; and Zacharias, his son, reigned in his stead.
4 Kings Chapter 15
The reign of Azarias, and Joatham in Juda: and of Zacharias, Sellum, Manahem, Phaceia, and Phacee in Israel.
15:1. In the seven and twentieth year of Jeroboam, king of Israel, reigned Azarias, son of Amasias, king of Juda.
Azarias.... Otherwise called Ozias.
15:2. He was sixteen years old when he began to reign, and he reigned two and fifty years in Jerusalem: the name of his mother was Jechelia, of Jerusalem.
15:3. And he did that which was pleasing before the Lord, according to all that his father, Amasias, had done.
15:4. But the high places he did not destroy, for the people sacrificed, and burnt incense in the high places.
15:5. And the Lord struck the king, so that he was a leper unto the day of his death, and he dwelt in a free house apart: but Joatham, the king’s son, governed the palace, and judged the people of the land.
A leper.... In punishment of his usurping the priestly function. 2 Par. 26.
15:6. And the rest of the acts of Azarias, and all that he did, are they not written in the book of the words of the days of the kings of Juda?
15:7. And Azarias slept with his fathers: and they buried him with his ancestors in the city of David, and Joatham, his son, reigned in his stead.
15:8. In the eight and thirtieth year of Azarias, king of Juda, reigned Zacharias, son of Jeroboam, over Israel, in Samaria, six months:
15:9. And he did that which is evil before the Lord, as his fathers had done: he departed not from the sins of Jeroboam the son of Nabat, who made Israel to sin.
15:10. And Sellum, the son of Jabes, conspired against him: and struck him publicly, and killed him, and reigned in his place.
15:11. Now the rest of the acts of Zacharias, are they not written in the book of the words of the days of the kings of Israel?
15:12. This was the word of the Lord, which he spoke to Jehu, saying: Thy children, to the fourth generation, shall sit upon the throne of Israel. And so it came to pass.
15:13. Sellum, the son of Jabes, began to reign in the nine and thirtieth year of Azarias, king of Juda: and reigned one month in Samaria.
15:14. And Manahem, the son of Gadi, went up from Thersa, and he came into Samaria, and struck Sellum, the son of Jabes, in Samaria, and slew him, and reigned in his stead.
15:15. And the rest of the acts of Sellum, and his conspiracy which he made, are they not written in the book of the words of the days of the kings of Israel?
15:16. Then Manahem destroyed Thapsa and all that were in it, and the borders thereof from Thersa, because they would not open to him: and he slew all the women thereof that were with child, and ripped them up.
15:17. In the nine and thirtieth year of Azarias, king of Juda, reigned Manahem, son of Gadi, over Israel, ten years, in Samaria.
15:18. And he did that which was evil before the Lord: he departed not from the sins of Jeroboam, the son of Nabat, who made Israel to sin, all his days.
15:19. And Phul, king of the Assyrians, came into the land, and Manahem gave Phul a thousand talents of silver to aid him and to establish him in the kingdom.
15:20. And Manahem laid a tax upon Israel, on all that were mighty and rich, to give the king of the Assyrians, each man fifty sicles of silver: so the king of the Assyrians turned back, and did not stay in the land.
15:21. And the rest of the acts of Manahem, and all that he did, are they not written in the book of the words of the days of the kings of Israel?
15:22. And Manahem slept with his fathers: and Phaceia, his son, reigned in his stead.
15:23. In the fiftieth year of Azarias, king of Juda, reigned Phaceia, the son of Manahem, over Israel, in Samaria, two years.
15:24. And he did that which was evil before the Lord: he departed not from the sins of Jeroboam, the son of Nabat, who made Israel to sin.
15:25. And Phacee the son of Romelia, his captain, conspired against him, and smote him in Samaria, in the tower of the king’s house, near Argob, and near Arie, and with him fifty men of the sons of the Galaadites, and he slew him, and reigned in his stead.
15:26. And the rest of the acts of Phaceia, and all that he did, are they not written in the book of the words of the days of the kings of Israel?
15:27. In the two and fiftieth year of Azarias, king of Juda, reigned Phacee, the son of Romelia, over Israel, in Samaria, twenty years.
15:28. And he did that which was evil before the Lord: he departed not from the sins of Jeroboam, the son of Nabat, who made Israel to sin.
15:29. In the days of Phacee, king of Israel, came Theglathphalasar, king of Assyria, and took Aion, and Abel Domum Maacha, and Janoe, and Cedes, and Asor, and Galaad, and Galilee, and all the land of Nephthali: and carried them captives into Assyria.
15:30. Now Osee, son of Ela, conspired, and formed a plot against Phacee, the son of Romelia, and struck him, and slew him: and reigned in his stead in the twentieth year of Joatham, the son of Ozias.
In the twentieth year of Joatham.... That is, in the twentieth year, from the beginning of Joatham’s reign. The sacred writer chooses rather to follow here this date than to speak of the years of Achaz, who had not yet been mentioned.
15:31. But the rest of the acts of Phacee, and all that he did, are they not written in the book of the words of the days of the kings of Israel?
15:32. In the second year of Phacee, the son of Romelia king of Israel, reigned Joatham, son of Ozias, king of Juda.
15:33. He was five and twenty years old when he began to reign, and he reigned sixteen years in Jerusalem: the name of his mother was Jerusa, the daughter of Sadoc.
15:34. And he did that which was right before the Lord: according to all that his father Ozias had done, so did he.
15:35. But the high places he took not away: the people still sacrificed, and burnt incense in the high places: he built the highest gate of the house of the Lord.
15:36. But the rest of the acts of Joatham, and all that he did, are they not written in the book of the words of the days of the kings of Juda?
15:37. In those days the Lord began to send into Juda, Rasin king of Syria, and Phacee the son of Romelia.
15:38. And Joatham slept with his fathers, and was buried with them in the city of David, his father; and Achaz, his son, reigned in his stead.
4 Kings Chapter 16
The wicked reign of Achaz: the kings of Syria and Israel war against him: he hireth the king of the Assyrians to assist him: he causeth an altar to be made after the pattern of that of Damascus.
16:1. In the seventeenth year of Phacee, the son of Romelia reigned Achaz, the son of Joatham, king of Juda.
16:2. Achaz was twenty years old when he began to reign, and he reigned sixteen years in Jerusalem: he did not that which was pleasing in the sight of the Lord, his God, as David, his father.
16:3. But he walked in the way of the kings of Israel: moreover, he consecrated also his son, making him pass through the fire, according to the idols of the nations which the Lord destroyed before the children of Israel.
16:4. He sacrificed also, and burnt incense in the high places, and on the hills, and under every green tree.
16:5. Then Rasin, king of Syria, and Phacee, son of Romelia, king of Israel, came up to Jerusalem to fight: and they besieged Achaz, but were not able to overcome him.
16:6. At that time Rasin, king of Syria, restored Aila to Syria, and drove the men of Juda out of Aila: and the Edomites came into Aila, and dwelt there unto this day.
16:7. And Achaz sent messengers to Theglathphalasar, king of the Assyrians, saying: I am thy servant, and thy son: come up, and save me out of the hand of the king of Syria, and out of the hand of the king of Israel, who are risen up together against me.
16:8. And when he had gathered together the silver and gold that could be found in the house of the Lord, and in the king’s treasures, he sent it for a present to the king of the Assyrians.
16:9. And he agreed to his desire: for the king of the Assyrians went up against Damascus, and laid it waste: and he carried away the inhabitants thereof to Cyrene; but Rasin he slew.
16:10. And king Achaz went to Damascus to meet Theglathphalasar, king of the Assyrians, and when he had seen the altar of Damascus, king Achaz sent to Urias, the priest, a pattern of it, and its likeness, according to all the work thereof.
16:11. And Urias, the priest, built an altar according to all that king Achaz had commanded from Damascus so did Urias, the priest, until king Achaz came from Damascus.
16:12. And when the king was come from Damascus, he saw the altar and worshipped it: and went up and offered holocausts, and his own sacrifice;
16:13. And he offered libations, and poured the blood of the peace offerings, which he had offered, upon the altar.
16:14. But the altar of brass that was before the Lord, he removed from the face of the temple, and from the place of the altar, and from the place of the temple of the Lord: and he set it at the side of the altar towards the north.
16:15. And king Achaz commanded Urias, the priest, saying: Upon the great altar offer the morning holocaust, and the evening sacrifice, and the king’s holocaust, and his sacrifice, and the holocaust of the whole people of the land, and their sacrifices, and their libations: and all the blood of the holocaust, and all the blood of the victim, thou shalt pour out upon it: but the altar of brass shall be ready at my pleasure.
16:16. So Urias, the priest, did according to all that king Achaz had commanded him.
16:17. And king Achaz took away the graven bases, and the laver that was upon them: and he took down the sea from the brazen oxen that held it up, and put it upon a pavement of stone.
16:18. The Musach also for the sabbath, which he had built in the temple, and the king’s entry from without, he turned into the temple of the Lord, because of the king of the Assyrians.
Musach.... The covert, or pavilion, or tribune, for the king.
16:19. Now the rest of the acts of Achaz which he did, are they not written in the book of the words of the days of the kings of Juda?
16:20. And Achaz slept with his fathers, and was buried with them in the city of David, and Ezechias, his son, reigned in his stead.
4 Kings Chapter 17
The reign of Osee. The Israelites for their sins are carried into captivity: other inhabitants are sent to Samaria, who make a mixture of religion.
17:1. In the twelfth year of Achaz king of Juda, Osee the son of Ela reigned in Samaria, over Israel, nine years.
In the twelfth year of Achaz king of Juda.... He began to reign before: but was not in quiet possession of the kingdom to the twelfth year of Achaz.
17:2. And he did evil before the Lord: but not as the kings of Israel that had been before him.
17:3. Against him came up Salmanasar, king of the Assyrians; and Osee became his servant, and paid him tribute.
17:4. And when the king of the Assyrians found that Osee, endeavouring to rebel, had sent messengers to Sua, the king of Egypt, that he might not pay tribute to the king of the Assyrians, as he had done every year, he besieged him, bound him, and cast him into prison.
17:5. And he went through all the land: and going up to Samaria, he besieged it three years.
17:6. And in the ninth year of Osee, the king of the Assyrians took Samaria, and carried Israel away to Assyria: and he placed them in Hala, and Habor, by the river of Gozan, in the cities of the Medes.
17:7. For so it was that the children of Israel had sinned against the Lord, their God, who brought them out of the land of Egypt, from under the hand of Pharao, king of Egypt; and they worshipped strange gods.
17:8. And they walked according to the way of the nations which the Lord had destroyed in the sight of the children of Israel, and of the kings of Israel: because they had done in like manner.
17:9. And the children of Israel offended the Lord, their God, with things that were not right: and built them high places in all their cities, from the tower of the watchmen to the fenced city.
17:10. And they made them statues and groves on every high hill, and under every shady tree:
17:11. And they burnt incense there upon altars, after the manner of the nations which the Lord had removed from their face: and they did wicked things, provoking the Lord.
17:12. And they worshipped abominations, concerning which the Lord had commanded them that they should not do this thing.
17:13. And the Lord testified to them in Israel, and in Juda, by the hand of all the prophets and seers, saying: Return from your wicked ways, and keep my precepts, and ceremonies, according to all the law which I commanded your fathers: and as I have sent to you in the hand of my servants the prophets.
17:14. And they hearkened not, but hardened their necks like to the neck of their fathers, who would not obey the Lord, their God.
17:15. And they rejected his ordinances, and the covenant that he made with their fathers, and the testimonies which he testified against them: and they followed vanities, and acted vainly: and they followed the nations that were round about them, concerning which the Lord had commanded them that they should not do as they did.
17:16. And they forsook all the precepts of the Lord, their God: and made to themselves two molten calves, and groves, and adored all the host of heaven: and they served Baal,
17:17. And consecrated their sons, and their daughters, through fire: and they gave themselves to divinations, and soothsayings: and they delivered themselves up to do evil before the Lord, to provoke him.
17:18. And the Lord was very angry with Israel, and removed them from his sight, and there remained only the tribe of Juda.
17:19. But neither did Juda itself keep the commandments of the Lord, their God: but they walked in the errors of Israel, which they had wrought.
17:20. And the Lord cast off all the seed of Israel, and afflicted them, and delivered them into the hand of spoilers, till he cast them away from his face:
17:21. Even from that time, when Israel was rent from the house of David, and made Jeroboam, son of Nabat, their king: for Jeroboam separated Israel from the Lord, and made them commit a great sin.
17:22. And the children of Israel walked in all the sins of Jeroboam, which he had done: and they departed not from them,
17:23. Till the Lord removed Israel from his face, as he had spoken in the hand of all his servants, the prophets: and Israel was carried away out of their land to Assyria, unto this day.
17:24. And the king of the Assyrians brought people from Babylon, and from Cutha, and from Avah, and from Emath, and from Sepharvaim: and placed them in the cities of Samaria instead of the children of Israel: and they possessed Samaria, and dwelt in the cities thereof.
17:25. And when they began to dwell there, they feared not the Lord: and the Lord sent lions among them, which killed them.
17:26. And it was told the king of the Assyrians, and it was said: The nations which thou hast removed, and made to dwell in the cities of Samaria, know not the ordinances of the God of the land: and the Lord hath sent lions among them: and behold they kill them, because they know not the manner of the God of the land.
17:27. And the king of the Assyrians commanded, saying: Carry thither one of the priests whom you brought from thence captive, and let him go, and dwell with them: and let him teach them the ordinances of the God of the land.
17:28. So one of the priests, who had been carried away captive from Samaria, came and dwelt in Bethel, and taught them how they should worship the Lord.
17:29. And every nation made gods of their own and put them in the temples of the high places, which the Samaritans had made, every nation in their cities where they dwelt.
17:30. For the men of Babylon made Sochothbenoth: and the Cuthites made Nergel: and the men of Emath made Asima.
17:31. And the Hevites made Nebahaz, and Tharthac. And they that were of Sepharvaim burnt their children in fire, to Adramelech and Anamelech, the gods of Sepharvaim.
17:32. And nevertheless they worshipped the Lord. And they made to themselves, of the lowest of the people, priests of the high places, and they placed them in the temples of the high places.
17:33. And when they worshipped the Lord, they served also their own gods, according to the custom of the nations out of which they were brought to Samaria:
17:34. Unto this day they follow the old manner: they fear not the Lord, neither do they keep his ceremonies, and judgments, and law, and the commandment, which the Lord commanded the children of Jacob, whom he surnamed Israel:
17:35. With whom he made a covenant, and charged them, saying: You shall not fear strange gods, nor shall you adore them, nor worship them, nor sacrifice to them.
17:36. But the Lord, your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, with great power, and a stretched out arm, him shall you fear, and him shall you adore, and to him shall you sacrifice.
17:37. And the ceremonies, and judgments, and law, and the commandment, which he wrote for you, you shall observe to do them always: and you shall not fear strange gods.
17:38. And the covenant that he made with you, you shall not forget: neither shall ye worship strange gods,
17:39. But fear the Lord, your God, and he shall deliver you out of the hand of all your enemies.
17:40. But they did not hearken to them, but did according to their old custom.
17:41. So these nations feared the Lord, but nevertheless served also their idols: their children also, and grandchildren, as their fathers did, so do they unto this day.
4 Kings Chapter 18
The reign of Ezechias: he abolisheth idolatry and prospereth. Sennacherib cometh up against him: Rabsaces soliciteth the people to revolt; and blasphemeth the Lord.
18:1. In the third year of Osee, the son of Ela, king of Israel, reigned Ezechias, the son of Achaz, king of Juda.
18:2. He was five and twenty years old when he began to reign: and he reigned nine and twenty years in Jerusalem: the name of his mother was Abi, the daughter of Zacharias.
18:3. And he did that which was good before the Lord, according to all that David, his father, had done.
18:4. He destroyed the high places, and broke the statues in pieces, and cut down the groves, and broke the brazen serpent, which Moses had made: for till that time the children of Israel burnt incense to it: and he called its name Nohestan.
And he called its name Noheston.... That is, their brass; or a little brass. So he called it in contempt, because they had made an idol of it.
18:5. He trusted in the Lord, the God of Israel: so that after him there was none like him among all the kings of Juda, nor any of them that were before him:
18:6. And he stuck to the Lord, and departed not from his steps, but kept his commandments, which the Lord commanded Moses.
18:7. Wherefore the Lord also was with him, and in all things, to which he went forth, he behaved himself wisely. And he rebelled against the king of the Assyrians, and served him not.
18:8. He smote the Philistines as far as Gaza, and all their borders, from the tower of the watchmen to the fenced city.
18:9. In the fourth year of king Ezechias, which was the seventh year of Osee, the son of Ela, king of Israel, Salmanasar, king of the Assyrians, came up to Samaria, and besieged it,
18:10. And took it. For after three years, in the sixth year of Ezechias, that is, in the ninth year of Osee, king of Israel, Samaria was taken:
18:11. And the king of the Assyrians carried away Israel into Assyria, and placed them in Hala, and in Habor, by the rivers of Gozan, in the cities of the Medes.
18:12. Because they hearkened not to the voice of the Lord, their God, but transgressed his covenant: all that Moses, the servant of the Lord, commanded, they would not hear, nor do.
18:13. In the fourteenth year of king Ezechias, Sennacherib, king of the Assyrians, came up against the fenced cities of Juda, and took them.
18:14. Then Ezechias, king of Juda, sent messengers to the king of the Assyrians, to Lachis, saying: I have offended, depart from me: and all that thou shalt put upon me, I will bear. And the king of the Assyrians put a tax upon Ezechias, king of Juda, of three hundred talents of silver, and thirty talents of gold.
18:15. And Ezechias gave all the silver that was found in the house of the Lord, and in the king’s treasures.
18:16. At that time Ezechias broke the doors of the temple of the Lord, and the plates of gold which he had fastened on them, and gave them to the king of the Assyrians.
18:17. And the king of the Assyrians sent Tharthan, and Rabsaris, and Rabsaces, from Lachis, to king Ezechias, with a strong army, to Jerusalem: and they went up and came to Jerusalem, and they stood by the conduit of the upper pool, which is in the way of the fuller’s field.
18:18. And they called for the king: and there went out to them Eliacim, the son of Helcias, who was over the house, and Sobna, the scribe, and Joahe, the son of Asaph, the recorder.
18:19. And Rabsaces said to them: Speak to Ezechias: Thus saith the great king, the king of the Assyrians: What is this confidence, wherein thou trustest?
18:20. Perhaps thou hast taken counsel, to prepare thyself for battle. On whom dost thou trust, that thou darest to rebel?
18:21. Dost thou trust in Egypt a staff of a broken reed, upon which if a man lean, it will break and go into his hand, and pierce it? so is Pharao, king of Egypt, to all that trust in him.
18:22. But if you say to me: We trust in the Lord, our God: is it not he, whose high places and altars Ezechias hath taken away: and hath commanded Juda and Jerusalem: You shall worship before this altar in Jerusalem?
18:23. Now therefore come over to my master, the king of the Assyrians, and I will give you two thousand horses, and see whether you be able to have riders for them.
18:24. And how can you stand against one lord of the least of my master’s servants? Dost thou trust in Egypt for chariots and for horsemen?
18:25. Is it without the will of the Lord that I am come up to this place to destroy it? The Lord said to me: Go up to this land, and destroy it.
18:26. Then Eliacim, the son of Helcias, and Sobna, and Joahe, said to Rabsaces: We pray thee, speak to us, thy servants, in Syriac: for we understand that tongue: and speak not to us in the Jews’ language, in the hearing of the people that are upon the wall.
18:27. And Rabsaces answered them, saying: Hath my master sent me to thy master, and to thee, to speak these words, and not rather to the men that sit upon the wall, that they may eat their own dung, and drink their urine with you?
18:28. Then Rabsaces stood, and cried out with a loud voice in the Jews’ language, and said: Hear the word of the great king, the king of the Assyrians.
18:29. Thus saith the king: Let not Ezechias deceive you: for he shall not be able to deliver you out of my hand.
18:30. Neither let him make you trust in the Lord, saying: The Lord will surely deliver us, and this city shall not be given into the hand of the king of the Assyrians.
18:31. Do not hearken to Ezechias. For thus saith the king of the Assyrians: Do with me that which is for your advantage, and come out to me: and every man of you shall eat of his own vineyard, and of his own fig tree: and you shall drink water of your own cisterns,
18:32. Till I come, and take you away, to a land, like to your own land, a fruitful land, and plentiful in wine, a land of bread and vineyards, a land of olives, and oil, and honey, and you shall live, and not die. Hearken not to Ezechias, who deceiveth you, saying: The Lord will deliver us.
18:33. Have any of the gods of the nations delivered their land from the hand of the king of Assyria?
18:34. Where is the god of Emath, and of Arphad? where is the god of Sepharvaim, of Ana, and of Ava? have they delivered Samaria out of my hand?
18:35. Who are they among all the gods of the nations that have delivered their country out of my hand, that the Lord may deliver Jerusalem out of my hand?
18:36. But the people held their peace, and answered him not a word: for they had received commandment from the king that they should not answer him.
18:37. And Eliacim, the son of Helcias, who was over the house, and Sobna, the scribe, and Joahe, the son of Asaph, the recorder, came to Ezechias, with their garments rent, and told him the words of Rabsaces.
4 Kings Chapter 19
Ezechias is assured of God’s help by Isaias the prophet. The king of the Assyrians still threateneth and blasphemeth. Ezechias prayeth, and God promiseth to protect Jerusalem. An angel destroyeth the army of the Assyrians, their king returneth to Nineve, and is slain by his two sons.
19:1. And when king Ezechias heard these words, he rent his garments, and covered himself with sackcloth, and went into the house of the Lord.
19:2. And he sent Eliacim, who was over the house, and Sobna, the scribe, and the ancients of the priests, covered with sackcloths, to Isaias, the prophet, the son of Amos.
19:3. And they said to him: Thus saith Ezechias: This day is a day of tribulation, and of rebuke, and of blasphemy: the children are come to the birth, and the woman in travail hath not strength.
19:4. It may be the Lord, thy God, will hear all the words of Rabsaces, whom the king of the Assyrians, his master, hath sent to reproach the living God, and to reprove with words, which the Lord, thy God, hath heard: and do thou offer prayer for the remnants that are found.
19:5. So the servants of king Ezechias came to Isaias.
19:6. And Isaias said to them: Thus shall you say to your master: Thus saith the Lord: Be not afraid for the words which thou hast heard, with which the servants of the king of the Assyrians have blasphemed me.
19:7. Behold I will send a spirit upon him, and he shall hear a message, and shall return into his own country, and I will make him fall by the sword in his own country.
19:8. And Rabsaces returned, and found the king of the Assyrians besieging Lobna: for he had heard that he was departed from Lachis.
19:9. And when he heard of Tharaca, king of Ethiopia: Behold, he is come out to fight with thee: and was going against him, he sent messengers to Ezechias, saying:
19:10. Thus shall you say to Ezechias, king of Juda: Let not thy God deceive thee, in whom thou trustest: and do not say: Jerusalem shall not be delivered into the hands of the king of the Assyrians.
19:11. Behold, thou hast heard what the kings of the Assyrians have done to all countries, how they have laid them waste: and canst thou alone be delivered?
19:12. Have the gods of the nations delivered any of them, whom my fathers have destroyed, to wit, Gozan, and Haran, and Reseph, and the children of Eden, that were in Thelassar?
19:13. Where is the king of Emath, and the king of Arphad, and the king of the city of Sepharvaim, and of Ana, and of Ava?
19:14. And when Ezechias had received the letter of the hand of the messengers, and had read it, he went up to the house of the Lord, and spread it before the Lord,
19:15. And he prayed in his sight, saying: O Lord God of Israel, who sittest upon the cherubims, thou alone art the God of all the kings of the earth: thou madest heaven and earth:
19:16. Incline thy ear, and hear: open, O Lord, thy eyes and see: and hear all the words of Sennacherib, who hath sent to upbraid unto us the living God.
19:17. Of a truth, O Lord, the kings of the Assyrians have destroyed nations, and the lands of them all.
19:18. And they have cast their gods into the fire: for they were not gods, but the work of men’s hands, of wood and stone, and they destroyed them.
19:19. Now therefore, O Lord our God, save us from his hand, that all the kingdoms of the earth may know that thou art the Lord, the only God.
19:20. And Isaias, the son of Amos, sent to Ezechias, saying: Thus saith the Lord, the God of Israel: I have heard the prayer thou hast made to me concerning Sennacherib, king of the Assyrians.
19:21. This is the word that the Lord hath spoken of him: The virgin, the daughter of Sion, hath despised thee, and laughed thee to scorn: the daughter of Jerusalem hath wagged her head behind thy back.
19:22. Whom hast thou reproached, and whom hast thou blasphemed? against whom hast thou exalted thy voice, and lifted up thy eyes on high? against the holy one of Israel.
19:23. By the hand of thy servants thou hast reproached the Lord, and hast said: With the multitude of my chariots I have gone up to the height of the mountains, to the top of Libanus, and have cut down its tall cedars, and its choice fir trees. And I have entered into the furthest parts thereof, and the forest of its Carmel.
Carmel.... A pleasant fruitful hill in the forest. These expressions are figurative, signifying under the names of mountains and forests, the kings and provinces whom the Assyrians had triumphed over.
19:24. I have cut down, and I have drunk strange waters, and have dried up with the soles of my feet all the shut up waters.
19:25. Hast thou not heard what I have done from the beginning? from the days of old I have formed it, and now I have brought it to effect: that fenced cities of fighting men should be turned to heaps of ruins:
I have formed it, etc.... All thy exploits, in which thou takest pride, are no more than what I have decreed; and are not to be ascribed to thy wisdom or strength, but to my will and ordinance: who have given to thee to take and destroy so many fenced cities, and to carry terror wherever thou comest.—Ibid. Heaps of ruin.... Literally ruin of the hills.
19:26. And the inhabitants of them were weak of hand, they trembled and were confounded, they became like the grass of the field, and the green herb on the tops of houses, which withered before it came to maturity.
19:27. Thy dwelling, and thy going out, and thy coming in, and thy way I knew before, and thy rage against me.
19:28. Thou hast been mad against me, and thy pride hath come up to my ears: therefore I will put a ring in thy nose, and a bit between thy lips, and I will turn thee back by the way by which thou camest.
19:29. And to thee, O Ezechias, this shall be a sign: Eat this year what thou shalt find: and in the second year, such things as spring of themselves: but in the third year sow and reap: plant vineyards, and eat the fruit of them.
19:30. And whatsoever shall be left of the house of Juda, shall take root downward, and bear fruit upward.
19:31. For out of Jerusalem shall go forth a remnant, and that which shall be saved out of mount Sion: the zeal of the Lord of hosts shall do this.
19:32. Wherefore thus saith the Lord concerning the king of the Assyrians: He shall not come into this city, nor shoot an arrow into it, nor come before it with shield, nor cast a trench about it.
19:33. By the way that he came he shall return: and into this city he shall not come, saith the Lord.
19:34. And I will protect this city, and will save it for my own sake, and for David, my servant’s sake.
19:35. And it came to pass that night, that an angel of the Lord came, and slew in the camp of the Assyrians a hundred and eighty-five thousand. And when he arose early in the morning, he saw all the bodies of the dead.
19:36. And Sennacherib, king of the Assyrians, departing, went away, and he returned and abode in Ninive.
19:37. And as he was worshipping in the temple of Nesroch, his god, Adramelech and Sarasar, his sons, slew him with the sword, and they fled into the land of the Armenians, and Asarhaddon, his son, reigned in his stead.
4 Kings Chapter 20
Ezechias being sick, is told by Isaias that he shall die; but praying to God, he obtaineth longer life, and in confirmation thereof receiveth a sign by the sun’s returning back. He sheweth all his treasures to the ambassadors of the king of Babylon: Isaias reproving him for it, foretelleth the Babylonish captivity.
20:1. In those days Ezechias was sick unto death: and Isaias, the son of Amos, the prophet, came and said to him: Thus saith the Lord God: Give charge concerning thy house, for thou shalt die, and not live.
20:2. And he turned his face to the wall, and prayed to the Lord, saying:
20:3. I beseech thee, O Lord, remember how I have walked before thee in truth, and with a perfect heart, and have done that which is pleasing before thee. And Ezechias wept with much weeping.
20:4. And before Isaias was gone out of the middle of the court, the word of the Lord came to him, saying:
20:5. Go back, and tell Ezechias, the captain of my people: Thus saith the Lord, the God of David, thy father: I have heard thy prayer, and I have seen thy tears: and behold I have healed thee: on the third day thou shalt go up to the temple of the Lord.
20:6. And I will add to thy days fifteen years: and I will deliver thee and this city out of the hand of the king of the Assyrians, and I will protect this city for my own sake, and for David, my servant’s sake.
20:7. And Isaias said: Bring me a lump of figs. And when they had brought it, and laid it upon his boil, he was healed.
20:8. And Ezechias had said to Isaias: What shall be the sign that the Lord will heal me, and that I will go up to the temple of the Lord the third day?
20:9. And Isaias said to him: This shall be the sign from the Lord, that the Lord will do the word which he hath spoken: Wilt thou that the shadow go forward ten lines, or that it go back so many degrees?
20:10. And Ezechias said: It is an easy matter for the shadow to go forward ten lines: and I do not desire that this be done, but let it return back ten degrees.
20:11. And Isaias, the prophet, called upon the Lord, and he brought the shadow ten degrees backwards by the lines, by which it had already gone down on the dial of Achaz.
20:12. At that time Berodach Baladan, the son of Baladan, king of the Babylonians, sent letters and presents to Ezechias: for he had heard that Ezechias had been sick.
20:13. And Ezechias rejoiced at their coming, and he shewed them the house of his aromatical spices, and the gold, and the silver, and divers precious odours, and ointments, and the house of his vessels, and all that he had in his treasures. There was nothing in his house, nor in all his dominions, that Ezechias shewed them not.
20:14. And Isaias, the prophet, came to king Ezechias, and said to him: What said these men? or from whence came they to thee? And Ezechias said to him: From a far country, they came to me out of Babylon.
20:15. And he said: What did they see in thy house? Ezechias said: They saw all the things that are in my house: There is nothing among my treasures that I have not shewed them.
20:16. And Isaias said to Ezechias: Hear the word of the Lord.
20:17. Behold the days shall come, that all that is in thy house, and that thy fathers have laid up in store unto this day, shall be carried into Babylon: nothing shall be left, saith the Lord.
20:18. And of thy sons also that shall issue from thee, whom thou shalt beget, they shall take away, and they shall be eunuchs in the palace of the king of Babylon.
20:19. Ezechias said to Isaias: The word of the Lord, which thou hast spoken, is good: let peace and truth be in my days.
20:20. And the rest of the acts of Ezechias, and all his might, and how he made a pool, and a conduit, and brought waters into the city, are they not written in the book of the words of the days of the kings of Juda?
20:21. And Ezechias slept with his fathers, and Manasses, his son reigned in his stead.
4 Kings Chapter 21
The wickedness of Manasses: God’s threats by his prophets. His wicked son Amon succeedeth him, and is slain by his servants.
21:1. Manasses was twelve years old when he began to reign, and he reigned five and fifty years in Jerusalem: the name of his mother was Haphsiba.
21:2. And he did evil in the sight of the Lord, according to the idols of the nations, which the Lord destroyed from before the face of the children of Israel.
21:3. And he turned, and built up the high places, which Ezechias, his father, had destroyed: and he set up altars to Baal, and made groves, as Achab, the king of Israel, had done: and he adored all the host of heaven, and served them.
21:4. And he built altars in the house of the Lord, of which the Lord said: In Jerusalem I will put my name.
21:5. And he built altars for all the host of heaven, in the two courts of the temple of the Lord.
21:6. And he made his son pass through fire: and he used divinations, and observed omens, and appointed pythons, and multiplied soothsayers, to do evil before the Lord, and to provoke him.
Pythons.... That is, diviners by spirits.
21:7. He set also an idol of the grove, which he had made, in the temple of the Lord: concerning which the Lord said to David, and to Solomon his son: In this temple, and in Jerusalem, which I have chosen out of all the tribes of Israel, I will put my name for ever.
21:8. And I will no more make the feet of Israel to be moved out of the land, which I gave to their fathers: only if they will observe to do all that I have commanded them, according to the law which my servant Moses commanded them.
21:9. But they hearkened not: but were seduced by Manasses, to do evil more than the nations which the Lord destroyed before the children of Israel.
21:10. And the Lord spoke in the hand of his servants, the prophets, saying:
21:11. Because Manasses, king of Juda, hath done these most wicked abominations, beyond all that the Amorrhites did before him, and hath made Juda also to sin with his filthy doings:
21:12. Therefore thus saith the Lord, the God of Israel: Behold, I will bring on evils upon Jerusalem and Juda: that whosoever shall hear of them, both his ears shall tingle.
21:13. And I will stretch over Jerusalem the line of Samaria, and the weight of the house of Achab: and I will efface Jerusalem, as writings tables are wont to be effaced, and I will erase and turn it, and draw the pencil often over the face thereof.
21:14. And I will leave the remnants of my inheritance, and will deliver them into the hands of their enemies: and they shall become a prey, and a spoil to all their enemies.
21:15. Because they have done evil before me, and have continued to provoke me, from the day that their fathers came out of Egypt, even unto this day.
21:16. Moreover, Manasses shed also very much innocent blood, till he filled Jerusalem up to the mouth: besides his sins, wherewith he made Juda to sin, to do evil before the Lord.
21:17. Now the rest of the acts of Manasses, and all that he did, and his sin, which he sinned, are they not written in the book of the words of the days of the kings of Juda?
21:18. And Manasses slept with his fathers, and was buried in the garden of his own house, in the garden of Oza: and Amon, his son, reigned in his stead.
21:19. Two and twenty years old was Amon when he began to reign, and he reigned two years in Jerusalem: the name of his mother was Messalemeth, the daughter of Harus, of Jeteba.
21:20. And he did evil in the sight of the Lord, as Manasses, his father, had done.
21:21. And he walked in all the way in which his father had walked: and he served the abominations which his father had served, and he adored them.
21:22. And forsook the Lord, the God of his fathers, and walked not in the way of the Lord.
21:23. And his servants plotted against him, and slew the king in his own house.
21:24. But the people of the land slew all them that had conspired against king Amon: and made Josias, his son, their king in his stead.
21:25. But the rest of the acts of Amon, which he did, are they not written in the book of the words of the days of the kings of Juda?
21:26. And they buried him in his sepulchre, in the garden of Oza: and his son, Josias, reigned in his stead.
4 Kings Chapter 22
Josias repaireth the temple. The book of the law is found, upon which they consult the Lord, and are told that great evils shall fall upon them, but not in the time of Josias.
22:1. Josias was eight years old when he began to reign: he reigned one and thirty years in Jerusalem: the name of his mother was Idida, the daughter of Hadaia, of Besecath.
22:2. And he did that which was right in the sight of the Lord, and walked in all the ways of David, his father: he turned not aside to the right hand, or to the left.
22:3. And in the eighteenth year of king Josias, the king sent Saphan, the son of Assia, the son of Messulam, the scribe of the temple of the Lord, saying to him:
22:4. Go to Helcias, the high priest, that the money may be put together which is brought into the temple of the Lord, which the doorkeepers of the temple have gathered of the people.
22:5. And let it be given to the workmen by the overseers of the house of the Lord: and let them distribute it to those that work in the temple of the Lord, to repair the temple:
22:6. That is, to carpenters and masons, and to such as mend breaches: and that timber may be bought, and stones out of the quarries, to repair the temple of the Lord.
22:7. But let there be no reckoning made with them of the money which they receive, but let them have it in their power, and in their trust.
22:8. And Helcias, the high priest, said to Saphan, the scribe: I have found the book of the law in the house of the Lord: and Helcias gave the book to Saphan, and he read it.
The book of the law.... That is, Deuteronomy.
22:9. And Saphan, the scribe, came to the king, and brought him word again concerning that which he had commanded, and said: Thy servants have gathered together the money that was found in the house of the Lord: and they have given it to be distributed to the workmen, by the overseers of the works of the temple of the Lord.
22:10. And Saphan, the scribe, told the king, saying: Helcias, the priest, hath delivered to me a book. And when Saphan had read it before the king,
22:11. And the king had heard the words of the law of the Lord, he rent his garments.
22:12. And he commanded Helcias, the priest, and Ahicam, the son of Saphan, and Achobor, the son of Micha, and Saphan, the scribe, and Asaia, the king’s servant, saying:
22:13. Go and consult the Lord for me, and for the people, and for all Juda, concerning the words of this book which is found: for the great wrath of the Lord is kindled against us, because our fathers have not hearkened to the words of this book, to do all that is written for us.
22:14. So Helcias, the priest, and Ahicam, and Achobor, and Saphan, and Asaia, went to Holda, the prophetess, the wife of Sellum, the son of Thecua, the son of Araas, keeper of the wardrobe, who dwelt in Jerusalem, in the Second: and they spoke to her.
The Second.... A street, or part of the city, so called; in Hebrew, Massem.
22:15. And she said to them: Thus saith the Lord, the God of Israel: Tell the man that sent you to me:
22:16. Thus saith the Lord: Behold, I will bring evils upon this place, and upon the inhabitants thereof, all the words of the law which the king of Juda hath read:
22:17. Because they have forsaken me, and have sacrificed to strange gods, provoking me by all the works of their hands: therefore my indignation shall be kindled against this place, and shall not be quenched.
22:18. But to the king of Juda, who sent you to consult the Lord, thus shall you say: Thus saith the Lord, the God of Israel: for as much as thou hast heard the words of the book,
22:19. And thy heart hath been moved to fear, and thou hast humbled thyself before the Lord, hearing the words against this place, and the inhabitants thereof, to wit, that they should become a wonder and a curse: and thou hast rent thy garments, and wept before me; I also have heard thee; saith the Lord.
22:20. Therefore I will gather thee to thy fathers, and thou shalt be gathered to thy sepulchre in peace; that thy eyes may not see all the evils which I will bring upon this place.
4 Kings Chapter 23
Josias readeth the law before all the people. They promise to observe it. He abolisheth all idolatry, celebrateth the phase: is slain in battle by the king of Egypt. The short reign of Joachaz, in whose place Joakim is made king.
23:1. And they brought the king word again what she had said. And he sent: and all the ancients of Juda and Jerusalem were assembled to him.
23:2. And the king went up to the temple of the Lord, and all the men of Juda, and all the inhabitants of Jerusalem with him, the priests, and the prophets, and all the people, both little and great: and in the hearing of them all he read all the words of the book of the covenant, which was found in the house of the Lord.
23:3. And the king stood upon the step: and he made a covenant with the Lord, to walk after the Lord, and to keep his commandments, and his testimonies, and his ceremonies, with all their heart, and with all their soul, and to perform the words of this covenant, which were written in that book: and the people agreed to the covenant.
The king stood upon the step.... That is, his tribune, or tribunal, a more eminent place, from whence he might be seen and heard by the people.
23:4. And the king commanded Helcias, the high priest, and the priests of the second order, and the doorkeepers, to cast out of the temple of the Lord all the vessels that had been made for Baal, and for the grove, and for all the host of heaven: and he burnt them without Jerusalem, in the valley of Cedron, and he carried the ashes of them to Bethel.
23:5. And he destroyed the soothsayers, whom the kings of Juda had appointed to sacrifice in the high places in the cities of Juda, and round about Jerusalem: them also that burnt incense to Baal, and to the sun, and to the moon, and to the twelve signs, and to all the host of heaven.
23:6. And he caused the grove to be carried out from the house of the Lord, without Jerusalem, to the valley of Cedron, and he burnt it there, and reduced it to dust, and cast the dust upon the graves of the common people.
23:7. He destroyed also the pavilions of the effeminate, which were in the house of the Lord, for which the women wove as it were little dwellings for the grove.
23:8. And he gathered together all the priests out of the cities of Juda: and he defiled the high places, where the priests offered sacrifice, from Gabaa to Bersabee: and he broke down the altars of the gates that were in the entering in of the gate of Josue, governor of the city, which was on the left hand of the gate of the city.
23:9. However, the priests of the high places came not up to the altar of the Lord, in Jerusalem: but only ate of the unleavened bread among their brethren.
23:10. And he defiled Topheth, which is in the valley of the son of Ennom: that no man should consecrate there his son, or his daughter, through fire, to Moloch.
23:11. And he took away the horses which the kings of Juda had given to the sun, at the entering in of the temple of the Lord, near the chamber of Nathanmelech the eunuch, who was in Pharurim: and he burnt the chariots of the sun with fire.
23:12. And the altars that were upon the top of the upper chamber of Achaz, which the kings of Juda had made, and the altars which Manasses had made in the two courts of the temple of the Lord, the king broke down: and he ran from thence, and cast the ashes of them into the torrent Cedron.
23:13. The high places also that were at Jerusalem, on the right side of the Mount of Offence, which Solomon, king of Israel, had built to Astaroth, the idol of the Sidonians, and to Chamos, the scandal of Moab, and to Melchom, the abomination of the children of Ammon, the king defiled.
23:14. And he broke in pieces the statues, and cut down the groves: and he filled their places with the bones of dead men.
23:15. Moreover, the altar also that was at Bethel, and the high place, which Jeroboam, the son of Nabat, who made Israel to sin, had made: both the altar, and the high place, he broke down and burnt, and reduced to powder, and burnt the grove.
23:16. And as Josias turned himself, he saw there the sepulchres that were in the mount: and he sent and took the bones out of the sepulchres, and burnt them upon the altar, and defiled it according to the word of the Lord, which the man of God spoke, who had foretold these things.
23:17. And he said: What is that monument which I see? And the men of that city answered: It is the sepulchre of the man of God, who came from Juda, and foretold these things which thou hast done upon the altar of Bethel.
23:18. And he said: Let him alone, let no man move his bones. So his bones were left untouched with the bones of the prophet, that came out of Samaria.
23:19. Moreover all the temples of the high places which were in the cities of Samaria, which the kings of Israel had made to provoke the Lord, Josias took away: and he did to them according to all the acts that he had done in Bethel.
23:20. And he slew all the priests of the high places, that were there, upon the altars; and he burnt men’s bones upon them: and returned to Jerusalem.
23:21. And he commanded all the people, saying: Keep the Phase to the Lord your God, according as it is written in the book of this covenant.
23:22. Now there was no such a Phase kept from the days of the judges, who judged Israel, nor in all the days of the kings of Israel, and of the kings of Juda,
23:23. As was this Phase, that was kept to the Lord in Jerusalem, in the eighteenth year of king Josias.
23:24. Moreover the diviners by spirits, and soothsayers, and the figures of idols, and the uncleannesses, and the abominations, that had been in the land of Juda and Jerusalem, Josias took away: that he might perform the words of the law, that were written in the book, which Helcias the priest had found in the temple of the Lord.
23:25. There was no king before him like unto him, that returned to the Lord with all his heart, and with all his soul, and with all his strength, according to all the law of Moses: neither after him did there arise any like unto him.
23:26. But yet the Lord turned not away from the wrath of his great indignation, wherewith his anger was kindled against Juda: because of the provocations, wherewith Manasses had provoked him.
23:27. And the Lord said: I will remove Juda also from before my face, as I have removed Israel: and I will cast off this city Jerusalem, which I chose, and the house, of which I said: My name shall be there.
23:28. Now the rest of the acts of Josias, and all that he did, are they not written in the book of the words of the days of the kings of Juda?
23:29. In his days Pharao Nechao, king of Egypt, went up against the king of Assyria to the river Euphrates: and king Josias went to meet him: and was slain at Mageddo, when he had seen him.
23:30. And his servants carried him dead from Mageddo: and they brought him to Jerusalem, and buried him in his own sepulchre. And the people of the land took Joachaz, the son of Josias: and they anointed him, and made him king in his father’s stead.
23:31. Joachaz was three and twenty years old when he began to reign, and he reigned three months in Jerusalem: the name of his mother was Amital, the daughter of Jeremias, of Lobna.
23:32. And he did evil before the Lord, according to all that his fathers had done.
23:33. And Pharao Nechao bound him at Rebla, which is in the land of Emath, that he should not reign in Jerusalem: and he set a fine upon the land, of a hundred talents of silver, and a talent of gold.
23:34. And Pharao Nechao made Eliacim, the son of Josias, king in the room of Josias his father: and turned his name to Joakim. And he took Joachaz away and carried him into Egypt, and he died there.
23:35. And Joakim gave the silver and the gold to Pharao, after he had taxed the land for every man, to contribute according to the commandment of Pharao: and he exacted both the silver and the gold of the people of the land, of every man according to his ability: to give to Pharao Nechao.
23:36. Joakim was five and twenty years old when he began to reign: and he reigned eleven years in Jerusalem: the name of his mother was Zebida, the daughter of Phadaia, of Ruma.
23:37. And he did evil before the Lord according to all that his fathers had done.
4 Kings Chapter 24
The reign of Joakim, Joachin, and Sedecias.
24:1. In his days Nabuchodonosor, king of Babylon came up, and Joakim became his servant three years: then again he rebelled against him.
24:2. And the Lord sent against him the rovers of the Chaldees, and the rovers of Syria, and the rovers of Moab, and the rovers of the children of Ammon: and he sent them against Juda, to destroy it, according to the word of the Lord, which he had spoken by his servants, the prophets.
The Lord sent against him the rovers.... Latrunculos. Bands or parties of men, who pillaged and plundered wherever they came.
24:3. And this came by the word of the Lord against Juda, to remove them from before him for all the sins of Manasses which he did;
24:4. And for the innocent blood that he shed, filling Jerusalem with innocent blood: and therefore the Lord would not be appeased.
24:5. But the rest of the acts of Joakim, and all that he did, are they not written in the book of the words of the days of the kings of Juda? And Joakim slept with his fathers:
24:6. And Joachin, his son, reigned in his stead.
24:7. And the king of Egypt came not again any more out of his own country: for the king of Babylon had taken all that had belonged to the king of Egypt, from the river of Egypt, unto the river Euphrates.
24:8. Joachin was eighteen years old when he began to reign, and he reigned three months in Jerusalem: the name of his mother was Nohesta, the daughter of Elnathan, of Jerusalem.
24:9. And he did evil before the Lord, according to all that his father had done.
24:10. At that time the servants of Nabuchodonosor, king of Babylon, came up against Jerusalem, and the city was surrounded with their forts.
24:11. And Nabuchodonosor, king of Babylon, came to the city, with his servants, to assault it.
24:12. And Joachin, king of Juda, went out to the king of Babylon, he, and his mother, and his servants, and his nobles, and his eunuchs: and the king of Babylon received him in the eighth year of his reign.
24:13. And he brought out from thence all the treasures of the house of the Lord, and the treasures of the king’s house: and he cut in pieces all the vessels of gold which Solomon, king of Israel, had made in the temple of the Lord, according to the word of the Lord.
24:14. And he carried away all Jerusalem, and all the princes, and all the valiant men of the army, to the number of ten thousand, into captivity: and every artificer and smith: and none were left, but the poor sort of the people of the land.
24:15. And he carried away Joachin into Babylon, and the king’s mother, and the king’s wives, and his eunuchs: and the judges of the land he carried into captivity, from Jerusalem, into Babylon.
24:16. And all the strong men, seven thousand, and the artificers, and the smiths, a thousand, all that were valiant men, and fit for war: and the king of Babylon led them captives into Babylon.
24:17. And he appointed Matthanias, his uncle, in his stead: and called his name Sedecias.
24:18. Sedecias was one and twenty years old when he began to reign, and he reigned eleven years in Jerusalem: the name of his mother was Amital, the daughter of Jeremias, of Lobna.
24:19. And he did evil before the Lord, according to all that Joakim had done.
24:20. For the Lord was angry against Jerusalem and against Juda, till he cast them out from his face: and Sedecias revolted from the king of Babylon.
4 Kings Chapter 25
Jerusalem is besieged and taken by Nabuchodonosor: Sedecias is taken: the city and temple are destroyed. Godolias, who is left governor, is slain. Joachin is exalted by Evilmerodach.
25:1. And it came to pass in the ninth year of his reign, in the tenth month, the tenth day of the month, that Nabuchodonosor, king of Babylon, came, he and all his army, against Jerusalem: and they surrounded it: and raised works round about it.
25:2. And the city was shut up and besieged till the eleventh year of king Sedecias,
25:3. The ninth day of the month: and a famine prevailed in the city, and there was no bread for the people of the land.
25:4. And a breach was made into the city: and all the men of war fled in the night between the two walls by the king’s garden (now the Chaldees besieged the city round about), and Sedecias fled by the way that leadeth to the plains of the wilderness.
25:5. And the army of the Chaldees pursued after the king, and overtook him in the plains of Jericho: and all the warriors that were with him were scattered, and left him:
25:6. So they took the king, and brought him to the king of Babylon, to Reblatha, and he gave judgment upon him.
25:7. And he slew the sons of Sedecias before his face, and he put out his eyes, and bound him with chains, and brought him to Babylon.
25:8. In the fifth month, the seventh day of the month, the same is the nineteenth year of the king of Babylon, came Nabuzardan, commander of the army, a servant of the king of Babylon, into Jerusalem.
25:9. And he burnt the house of the Lord, and the king’s house, and the houses of Jerusalem, and every house he burnt with fire.
25:10. And all the army of the Chaldees, which was with the commander of the troops, broke down the walls of Jerusalem round about.
25:11. And Nabuzardan, the commander of the army, carried away the rest of the people, that remained in the city, and the fugitives, that had gone over to the king of Babylon, and the remnant of the common people.
25:12. But of the poor of the land he left some dressers of vines and husbandmen.
25:13. And the pillars of brass that were in the temple of the Lord, and the bases, and the sea of brass, which was in the house of the Lord, the Chaldees broke in pieces, and carried all the brass of them to Babylon.
25:14. They took away also the pots of brass, and the mazers, and the forks, and the cups, and the mortars, and all the vessels of brass, with which they ministered.
25:15. Moreover also the censers, and the bowls, such as were of gold in gold: and such as were of silver in silver, the general of the army took away.
25:16. That is, two pillars, one sea, and the bases which Solomon had made in the temple of the Lord: the brass of all these vessels was without weight.
25:17. One pillar was eighteen cubits high: and the chapiter of brass, which was upon it, was three cubits high: and the network, and the pomegranates that were upon the chapiter of the pillar, were all of brass: and the second pillar had the like adorning.
25:18. And the general of the army took Seraias, the chief priest, and Sophonias, the second priest, and three doorkeepers:
25:19. And out of the city one eunuch, who was captain over the men of war: and five men of them who had stood before the king, whom he found in the city, and Sopher, the captain of the army, who exercised the young soldiers of the people of the land: and threescore men of the common people, who were found in the city:
25:20. These Nabuzardan, the general of the army, took away, and carried them to the king of Babylon, to Reblatha.
25:21. And the king of Babylon smote them, and slew them at Reblatha, in the land of Emath: so Juda was carried away out of their land.
25:22. But over the people that remained in the land of Juda, which Nabuchodonosor, king of Babylon, had left, he gave the government to Godolias, the son of Ahicam, the son of Saphan.
25:23. And when all the captains of the soldiers had heard this, they and the men that were with them, to wit, that the king of Babylon had made Godolias governor they came to Godolias to Maspha, Ismael, the son of Nathanias, and Johanan, the son of Caree, and Saraia, the son of Thanehumeth, the Netophathite, and Jezonias, the son of Maachathi, they and their men.
25:24. And Godolias swore to them and to their men, saying: Be not afraid to serve the Chaldees: stay in the land, and serve the king of Babylon, and it shall be well with you.
25:25. But it came to pass in the seventh month, that Ismael, the son of Nathanias, the son of Elisama, of the seed royal came, and ten men with him, and smote Godolias; so that he died: and also the Jews and the Chaldees that were with him in Maspha.
25:26. And all the people, both little and great, and the captains of the soldiers, rising up, went to Egypt, fearing the Chaldees.
25:27. And it came to pass in the seven and thirtieth year of the captivity of Joachin, king of Juda, in the twelfth month, the seven and twentieth day of the month: Evilmerodach, king of Babylon, in the year that he began to reign, lifted up the head of Joachin, king of Juda, out of prison.
25:28. And he spoke kindly to him: and he set his throne above the throne of the kings that were with him in Babylon.
25:29. And he changed his garments which he had in prison, and he ate bread always before him, all the days of his life.
25:30. And he appointed him a continual allowance, which was also given him by the king, day by day, all the days of his life.
THE FIRST BOOK OF PARALIPOMENON
These Books are called by the Greek interpreters, Paralipomenon, that is, of things left out, or omitted; because they are a kind of a supplement of such things as were passed over in the books of the Kings. The Hebrews call them Dibre Haijamim, that is, The words of the days, or The Chronicles.—Not that they are the books which are so often quoted in the Kings, under the title of the words of the days of the kings of Israel, and of the kings of Juda: for the books of Paralipomenon were written after the books of Kings: but because in all probability they have been abridged from those ancient words of the days, by Esdras or some other sacred writer.
1 Paralipomenon Chapter 1
The genealogy of the patriarchs down to Abraham: The posterity of Abraham and of Esau.
1:1. Adam, Seth, Enos,
1:2. Cainan, Malaleel, Jared,
1:3. Henoc, Mathusale, Lamech,
1:4. Noe, Sem, Cham, and Japheth.
1:5. The sons of Japheth: Gomer, and Magog, and Madai, and Javan, Thubal, Mosoch, Thiras.
1:6. And the sons of Gomer: Ascenez, and Riphath, and Thogorma.
1:7. And the sons of Javan: Elisa and Tharsis, Cethim and Dodanim.
1:8. The sons of Cham: Chus, and Mesrai, and Phut, and Chanaan.
1:9. And the sons of Chus: Saba, and Hevila, Sabatha, and Regma, and Sabathaca. And the sons of Regma: Saba, and Dadan.
1:10. Now Chus begot Nemrod: he began to be mighty upon earth.
1:11. But Mesraim begot Ludim, and Anamim, and Laabim, and Nephtuim,
1:12. Phetrusim also, and Casluim: from whom came the Philistines, and Caphtorim.
1:13. And Chanaan begot Sidon his firstborn, and the Hethite,
1:14. And the Jebusite, and the Amorrhite, and the Gergesite,
1:15. And the Hevite, and the Aracite, and the Sinite,
1:16. And the Aradian, and the Samarite, and the Hamathite.
1:17. The sons of Sem: Elam and Asur, and Arphaxad, and Lud, and Aram, and Hus, and Hul, and Gether, and Mosoch.
1:18. And Arphaxad begot Sale, and Sale begot Heber.
1:19. And to Heber were born two sons, the name of the one was Phaleg, because in his days the earth was divided; and the name of his brother was Jectan.
1:20. And Jectan begot Elmodad, and Saleph, and Asarmoth, and Jare,
1:21. And Adoram, and Usal, and Decla,
1:22. And Hebal, and Abimael, and Saba,
1:23. And Ophir, and Hevila, and Jobab. All these are the sons of Jectan.
1:24. Sem, Arphaxad, Sale,
1:25. Heber, Phaleg, Ragau,
1:26. Serug, Nachor, Thare,
1:27. Abram, this is Abraham.
1:28. And the sons of Abraham, Isaac and Ismahel.
1:29. And these are the generations of them. The firstborn of Ismahel, Nabajoth, then Cedar, and Adbeel, and Mabsam,
1:30. And Masma, and Duma, Massa, Hadad, and Thema,
1:31. Jetur, Naphis, Cedma: these are the sons of Ismahel.
1:32. And the sons of Cetura, Abraham’s concubine, whom she bore: Zamran, Jecsan, Madan, Madian, Jesboc, and Sue. And the sons of Jecsan, Saba, and Dadan. And the sons of Dadan: Assurim, and Latussim, and Laomin.
Concubine.... She was his lawful wife, but of an inferior degree.
1:33. And the sons of Madian: Epha, and Epher, and Henoch, and Abida, and Eldaa. All these are the sons of Cetura.
1:34. And Abraham begot Isaac: and his sons were Esau and Israel.
1:35. The sons of Esau: Eliphaz, Rahuel, Jehus, Ihelom, and Core.
1:36. The sons of Eliphaz: Theman, Omar, Sephi, Gathan, Cenez, and by Thamna, Amalec.
1:37. The sons of Rahuel: Nahath, Zara, Samma, Meza.
1:38. The sons of Seir: Lotan, Sobal, Sebeon, Ana, Dison, Eser, Disan.
1:39. The sons of Lotan: Hori, Homam. And the sister of Lotan was Thamna.
1:40. The sons of Sobal: Alian, and Manahath, and Ebal, Sephi, and Onam. The sons of Sebeon: Aia, and Ana. The son of Ana: Dison.
1:41. The sons of Dison: Hamram, and Eseban, and Jethran, and Charan.
1:42. The sons of Eser: Balaan, and Zavan, and Jacan. The sons of Disan: Hus and Aran.
1:43. Now these are the kings that reigned in the land of Edom, before there was a king over the children of Israel: Bale the son of Beor: and the name of his city was Denaba.
1:44. And Bale died, and Jobab the son of Zare of Bosra, reigned in his stead.
1:45. And when Jobab also was dead, Husam of the land of the Themanites reigned in his stead.
1:46. And Husam also died, and Adad the son of Badad reigned in his stead, and he defeated the Madianites in the land of Moab: the name of his city was Avith.
1:47. And when Adad also was dead, Semla of Masreca reigned in his stead.
1:48. Semla also died, and Saul of Rohoboth, which is near the river, reigned in his stead.
1:49. And when Saul was dead, Balanan the son of Achobor reigned in his stead.
1:50. He also died, and Adad reigned in his stead: and the name of his city was Phau, and his wife was called Meetabel the daughter of Matred, the daughter of Mezaab.
1:51. And after the death of Adad, there began to be dukes in Edom instead of kings: duke Thamna, duke Alva, duke Jetheth,
1:52. Duke Oolibama, duke Ela, duke Phinon,
1:53. Duke Cenez, duke Theman, duke Mabsar,
1:54. Duke Magdiel, duke Hiram. These are the dukes of Edom.
1 Paralipomenon Chapter 2
The twelve tribes of Israel. The genealogy of Juda down to David. Other genealogies of the tribe of Juda.
2:1. And these are the sons of Israel: Ruben, Simeon, Levi, Juda, Issachar, and Zabulon,
2:2. Dan, Joseph, Benjamin, Nephtali, Gad, and Aser.
2:3. The sons of Juda: Her, Onan and Sela. These three were born to him of the Chanaanitess the daughter of Sue. And Her the firstborn of Juda, was wicked in the sight of the Lord, and he slew him.
2:4. And Thamar his daughter in law bore him Phares and Zara. So all the sons of Juda were five.
2:5. And the sons of Phares, were Hesron and Hamul.
2:6. And the sons also of Zare: Zamri, and Ethan, and Eman, and Chalchal, and Dara, five in all.
2:7. And the sons of Charmi: Achar, who troubled Israel, and sinned by the theft of the anathema.
Achar.... Alias Achan. Jos. 7.—Ibid. The anathema.... The thing devoted or accursed, viz., the spoils of Jericho.
2:8. The sons of Ethan: Azarias,
2:9. And the sons of Hesron that were born to him: Jerameel, and Ram, and Calubi.
2:10. And Ram begot Aminadab, and Aminadab begot Nahasson, prince of the children of Juda.
Ram.... He is commonly called Aram. But it is to be observed here, once for all, that it was a common thing among the Hebrews for the same persons to have different names: and that it is not impossible among so many proper names, as here occur in the first nine chapters of this book, that the transcribers of the ancient Hebrew copies may have made some slips in the orthography.
2:11. And Nahasson begot Salma, the father of Booz.
2:12. And Booz begot Obed, and Obed begot Isai.
2:13. And Isai begot Eliab his firstborn, the second Abinadab, the third Simmaa,
2:14. The fourth, Nathanael, the fifth Raddai,
2:15. The sixth Asom, the seventh David.
2:16. And their sisters were Sarvia, and Abigail. The sons of Sarvia: Abisai, Joab, and Asael, three.
2:17. And Abigail bore Amasa, whose father was Jether the Ismahelite.
2:18. And Caleb the son of Hesron took a wife named Azuba, of whom he had Jerioth: and her sons were Jaser, and Sobab, and Ardon.
Caleb.... Alias Calubi, ver. 9.
2:19. And when Azuba was dead, Caleb took to wife Ephrata: who bore him Hur.
2:20. And Hur begot Uri: and Uri begot Bezeleel.
2:21. And afterwards Hesron went in to the daughter of Machir the father of Galaad, and took her to wife when he was threescore years old: and she bore him Segub.
2:22. And Segub begot Jair, and he had three and twenty cities in the land of Galaad.
2:23. And he took Gessur, and Aram the towns of Jair, and Canath, and the villages thereof, threescore cities. All these, the sons of Machir father of Galaad.
2:24. And when Hesron was dead, Caleb went in to Ephrata. Hesron also had to wife Abia who bore him Ashur the father of Thecua.
2:25. And the sons of Jerameel the firstborn of Hesron, were Ram his firstborn, and Buna, and Aram, and Asom, and Achia.
2:26. And Jerameel married another wife, named Atara, who was the mother of Onam.
2:27. And the sons of Ram the firstborn of Jerameel, were Moos, Jamin, and Achar.
2:28. And Onam had sons Semei, and Jada. And the sons of Semei: Nadab, and Abisur.
2:29. And the name of Abisur’s wife was Abihail, who bore him Ahobban, and Molid.
2:30. And the sons of Nadab were Saled and Apphaim. And Saled died without children.
2:31. But the son of Apphaim was Jesi: and Jesi begot Sesan. And Sesan begot Oholai.
2:32. And the sons of Jada the brother of Semei: Jether and Jonathan. And Jether also died without children.
2:33. But Jonathan begot Phaleth, and Ziza. These were the sons of Jerameel.
2:34. And Sesan had no sons, but daughters and a servant an Egyptian, named Jeraa.
2:35. And he gave him his daughter to wife: and she bore him Ethei.
2:36. And Ethei begot Nathan, and Nathan begot Zabad.
2:37. And Zabad begot Ophlal, and Ophlal begot Obed.
2:38. Obed begot Jehu, Jehu begot Azarias.
2:39. Azarias begot Helles, and Helles begot Elasa.
2:40. Elasa begot Sisamoi, Sisamoi begot Sellum,
2:41. Sellum begot Icamia, and Icamia begot Elisama.
2:42. Now the sons of Caleb the brother of Jerameel were Mesa his firstborn, who was the father of Siph: and the sons of Maresa father of Hebron.
2:43. And the sons of Hebron, Core, and Thaphua, and Recem, and Samma.
2:44. And Samma begot Raham, the father of Jercaam, and Recem begot Sammai.
2:45. The son of Sammai, Maon: and Maon the father of Bethsur.
2:46. And Epha the concubine of Caleb bore Haran, and Mosa, and Gezez. And Haran begot Gezez.
2:47. And the sons of Jahaddai, Rogom, and Joathan, and Gesan, and Phalet, and Epha, and Saaph.
2:48. And Maacha the concubine of Caleb bore Saber, and Tharana.
2:49. And Saaph the father of Madmena begot Sue the father of Machbena, and the father of Gabaa. And the daughter of Caleb was Achsa.
2:50. These were the sons of Caleb, the son of Hur the firstborn of Ephrata, Sobal the father of Cariathiarim.
2:51. Salma the father of Bethlehem, Hariph the father of Bethgader.
2:52. And Sobal the father of Cariathiarim had sons: he that saw half of the places of rest.
He that saw, etc.... The Latin interpreter seems to have given us here, instead of the proper names, the meaning of those names in the Hebrew. He has done in like manner, ver. 55.
2:53. And of the kindred of Cariathiarim, the Jethrites, and Aphuthites, and Semathites, and Maserites. Of them came the Saraites, and Esthaolites.
2:54. The sons of Salma, Bethlehem, and Netophathi, the crowns of the house of Joab, and half of the place of rest of Sarai.
2:55. And the families of the scribes that dwell in Jabes, singing and making melody, and abiding in tents. These are the Cinites, who came of Calor (Chamath) father of the house of Rechab.
1 Paralipomenon Chapter 3
The genealogy of the house of David.
3:1. Now these were the sons of David that were born to him in Hebron: the firstborn Amnon of Achinoam the Jezrahelitess, the second Daniel of Abigail the Carmelitess.
3:2. The third Absalom the son of Maacha the daughter of Tolmai king of Gessur, the fourth Adonias the son of Aggith,
3:3. The fifth Saphatias of Abital, the sixth Jethrahem of Egla his wife.
3:4. So six sons were born to him in Hebron, where he reigned seven years and six months. And in Jerusalem he reigned three and thirty years.
3:5. And these sons were born to him in Jerusalem: Simmaa, and Sobab, and Nathan, and Solomon, four of Bethsabee the daughter of Ammiel.
3:6. Jebaar also and Elisama,
3:7. And Eliphaleth, and Noge, and Nepheg, and Japhia,
3:8. And Elisama, and Eliada, and Elipheleth, nine:
3:9. All these the sons of David, beside the sons of the concubines: and they had a sister Thamar.
The concubines.... The inferior wives.
3:10. And Solomon’s son was Roboam: whose son Abia begot Asa. And his son was Josaphat,
3:11. The father of Joram: and Joram begot Ochozias, of whom was born Joas:
3:12. And his son Amasias begot Azarias. And Joathan the son of Azarias
3:13. Begot Achaz, the father of Ezechias, of whom was born Manasses.
3:14. And Manasses begot Amon the father of Josias.
3:15. And the sons of Josias were, the firstborn Johanan, the second Joakim, the third Sedecias, the fourth Sellum.
3:16. Of Joakim was born Jechonias, and Sedecias.
3:17. The sons of Jechonias were Asir, Salathiel,
3:18. Melchiram, Phadaia, Senneser and Jecemia, Sama, and Nadabia.
3:19. Of Phadaia were born Zorobabel and Semei. Zorobabel begot Mosollam, Hananias, and Salomith their sister:
3:20. Hasaba also, and Ohol, and Barachias, and Hasadias, Josabhesed, five.
3:21. And the son of Hananias was Phaltias the father of Jeseias, whose son was Raphaia. And his son was Arnan, of whom was born Obdia, whose son was Sechenias.
3:22. The son of Sechenias was Semeia, whose sons were Hattus, and Jegaal, and Baria, and Naaria, and Saphat, six in number.
Six.... Counting the father in the number.
3:23. The sons of Naaria, Elioenai, and Ezechias, and Ezricam, three.
3:24. The sons of Elioenai, Oduia, and Eliasub, and Pheleia, and Accub, and Johanan, and Dalaia, and Anani, seven.
1 Paralipomenon Chapter 4
Other genealogies of Juda and Simeon, and their victories.
4:1. The sons of Juda: Phares, Hesron, and Charmi and Hur, and Sobal.
4:2. And Raia the son of Sobal begot Jahath, of whom were born Ahumai, and Laad. These are the families of Sarathi.
4:3. And this is the posterity of Etam: Jezrahel, and Jesema, And Jedebos: and the name of their sister was Asalelphuni.
4:4. And Phanuel the father of Gedor, and Ezar the father of Hosa, these are the sons of Hur the firstborn of Ephratha the father of Bethlehem.
4:5. And Assur the father of Thecua had two wives, Halaa and Naara:
4:6. And Naara bore him Ozam, and Hepher, and Themani, and Ahasthari: these are the sons of Naara.
4:7. And the sons of Halaa, Sereth, Isaar, and Ethnan.
4:8. And Cos begot Anob, and Soboba, and the kindred of Aharehel the son of Arum.
4:9. And Jabes was more honourable than any of his brethren, and his mother called his name Jabes, saying: Because I bore him with sorrow.
Jabes.... That is, sorrowful.
4:10. And Jabes called upon the God of Israel, saying: If blessing thou wilt bless me, and wilt enlarge my borders, and thy hand be with me, and thou save me from being oppressed by evil. And God granted him the things he prayed for.
4:11. And Caleb the brother of Sua begot Mahir, who was the father of Esthon.
4:12. And Esthon begot Bethrapha, and Phesse, and Tehinna father of the city of Naas: these are the men of Recha.
4:13. And the sons of Cenez were Othoniel, and Saraia. And the sons of Othoniel, Hathath, and Maonathi.
4:14. Maonathi begot Ophra, and Saraia begot Joab the father of the Valley of artificers: for artificers were there.
4:15. And the sons of Caleb the son of Jephone, were Hir, and Ela, and Naham. And the sons of Ela: Cenez.
4:16. The sons also of Jaleleel: Ziph, and Zipha, Thiria and Asrael.
4:17. And the sons of Esra, Jether, and Mered, and Epher, and Jalon, and he begot Mariam, and Sammai, and Jesba the father of Esthamo.
4:18. And his wife Judaia, bore Jared the father of Gedor, and Heber the father of Socho, and Icuthiel the father of Zanoe. And these are the sons of Bethia the daughter of Pharao, whom Mered took to wife.
4:19. And the sons of his wife Odaia the sister of Naham the father of Celia, Garmi, and Esthamo, who was of Machathi.
4:20. The sons also of Simon, Amnon, and Rinna the son of Hanan, and Thilon. And the sons of Jesi Zoheth, and Benzoheth.
4:21. The sons of Sela the son of Juda: Her the father of Lecha, and Laada the father of Maresa, and the families of the house of them that wrought fine linen in the House of oath.
4:22. And he that made the sun to stand, and the men of Lying, and Secure, and Burning, who were princes in Moab, and who returned into Lahem. Now these are things of old.
He that made, etc.... Viz., Joazim, the meaning of whose name in Hebrew is, he that made the sun to stand. In like manner the following names, Lying (Chozeba), Secure (Joas), and Burning (Saraph), are substituted in place of the Hebrew names of the same signification.
4:23. These are the potters, and they dwelt in Plantations, and Hedges, with the king for his works, and they abode there.
Plantations and Hedges.... These are the proper names of the places where they dwelt. In Hebrew Atharim and Gadira.
4:24. The sons of Simeon: Namuel and Jamin, Jarib, Zara, Saul:
4:25. Sellum his son, Mapsam his son, Masma his son.
4:26. The sons of Masma: Hamuel his son, Zachur his son, Semei his son.
4:27. The sons of Semei were sixteen, and six daughters: but his brethren had not many sons, and the whole kindred could not reach to the sum of the children of Juda.
4:28. And they dwelt in Bersabee, and Molada, and Hasarsuhal,
4:29. And in Bala, and in Asom, and in Tholad,
4:30. And in Bathuel, and in Horma, and in Siceleg,
4:31. And in Bethmarchaboth, and in Hasarsusim, and in Bethberai, and in Saarim. These were their cities unto the reign of David.
4:32. Their towns also were Etam, and Aen, Remmon, and Thochen, and Asan, five cities.
4:33. And all their villages round about these cities as far as Baal. This was their habitation, and the distribution of their dwellings.
4:34. And Mosabab and Jemlech, and Josa, the son of Amasias,
4:35. And Joel, and Jehu the son of Josabia the son of Saraia, the son of Asiel,
4:36. And Elioenai, and Jacoba, and Isuhaia, and Asaia, and Adiel, and Ismiel, and Banaia,
4:37. Ziza also the son of Sephei the son of Allon the son of Idaia the son of Semri the son of Samaia.
4:38. These were named princes in their kindreds, and in the houses of their families were multiplied exceedingly.
4:39. And they went forth to enter into Gador as far as to the east side of the valley, to seek pastures for their flocks.
4:40. And they found fat pastures, and very good, and a country spacious, and quiet, and fruitful, in which some of the race of Cham had dwelt before.
4:41. And these whose names are written above, came in the days of Ezechias king of Juda: and they beat down their tents, and slew the inhabitants that were found there, and utterly destroyed them unto this day: and they dwelt in their place, because they found there fat pastures.
4:42. Some also of the children of Simeon, five hundred men, went into mount Seir, having for their captains Phaltias and Naaria and Raphaia and Oziel the sons of Jesi:
4:43. And they slew the remnant of the Amalecites, who had been able to escape, and they dwelt there in their stead unto this day.
1 Paralipomenon Chapter 5
Genealogies of Ruben and Gad: their victories over the Agarites: their captivity.
5:1. Now the sons of Ruben the firstborn of Israel, (for he was his firstborn: but forasmuch as he defiled his father’s bed, his first birthright was given to the sons of Joseph the son of Israel, and he was not accounted for the firstborn.
5:2. But of the race of Juda, who was the strongest among his brethren, came the princes: but the first birthright was accounted to Joseph.)
Accounted to Joseph.... Viz., as to the double portion, which belonged to the firstborn; but the princely dignity was given to Juda, and the priesthood to Levi.
5:3. The sons then of Ruben the firstborn of Israel were Enoch, and Phallu, Esron, and Charmi.
5:4. The sons of Joel: Samaia his son, Gog his son, Semei his son,
5:5. Micha his son, Reia his son, Baal his son,
5:6. Beera his son, whom Thelgathphalnasar king of the Assyrians carried away captive, and he was prince in the tribe of Ruben.
5:7. And his brethren, and all his kindred, when they were numbered by their families, had for princes Jehiel, and Zacharias.
5:8. And Bala the son of Azaz, the son of Samma, the son of Joel, dwelt in Aroer as far as Nebo, and Beelmeon.
5:9. And eastward he had his habitation as far as the entrance of the desert, and the river Euphrates. For they possessed a great number of cattle in the land of Galaad.
5:10. And in the days of Saul they fought against the Agarites, and slew them, and dwelt in their tents in their stead, in all the country, that looketh to the east of Galaad.
5:11. And the children of Gad dwelt over against them in the land of Basan, as far as Selcha:
5:12. Johel the chief, and Saphan the second: and Janai, and Saphat in Basan.
5:13. And their brethren according to the houses of their kindreds, were Michael and Mosollam, and Sebe, and Jorai, and Jacan, and Zie, and Heber, seven.
5:14. These were the sons of Abihail, the son of Huri, the son of Jara, the son of Galaad, the son of Michael, the son of Jesisi, the son of Jeddo, the son of Buz.
5:15. And their brethren the sons of Abdiel, the son of Guni, chief of the house in their families,
5:16. And they dwelt in Galaad, and in Basan and in the towns thereof, and in all the suburbs of Saron, unto the borders.
5:17. All these were numbered in the days of Joathan king of Juda, and in the days of Jeroboam king of Israel.
5:18. The sons of Ruben, and of Gad, and of the half tribe of Manasses, fighting men, bearing shields, and swords, and bending the bow, and trained up to battles, four and forty thousand seven hundred and threescore that went out to war.
5:19. They fought against the Agarites: but the Itureans, and Naphis, and Nodab,
5:20. Gave them help. And the Agarites were delivered into their hands, and all that were with them, because they called upon God in the battle: and he heard them, because they had put their faith in him.
5:21. And they took all that they possessed, of camels fifty thousand, and of sheep two hundred and fifty thousand, and of asses two thousand, and of men a hundred thousand souls.
5:22. And many fell down slain: for it was the battle of the Lord. And they dwelt in their stead till the captivity.
5:23. And the children of the half tribe of Manasses possessed the land, from the borders of Basan unto Baal, Hermon, and Sanir, and mount Hermon, for their number was great.
5:24. And these were the heads of the house of their kindred, Epher, and Jesi, and Eliel, and Esriel, and Jeremia, and Odoia, and Jediel, most valiant and powerful men, and famous chiefs in their families.
5:25. But they forsook the God of their fathers, and went astray after the gods of the people of the land, whom God destroyed before them.
5:26. And the God of Israel stirred up the spirit of Phul king of the Assyrians, and the spirit of Thelgathphalnasar king of Assur: and he carried away Ruben, and Gad, and the half tribe of Manasses, and brought them to Lahela, and to Habor, and to Ara, and to the river of Gozan, unto this day.
1 Paralipomenon Chapter 6
The genealogies of Levi, and of Aaron: the cities of the Levites.
6:1. The sons of Levi were Gerson, Caath, and Merari.
6:2. The sons of Caath: Amram, Isaar, Hebron, and Oziel.
6:3. The children of Amram: Aaron, Moses, and Mary. The sons of Aaron: Nadab and Abiu, Eleazar and Ithamar.
6:4. Eleazar begot Phinees, and Phinees begot Abisue,
6:5. And Abisue begot Bocci, and Bocci begot Ozi.
6:6. Ozi begot Zaraias, and Zaraias begot Maraioth.
6:7. And Maraioth begot Amarias, and Amarias begot Achitob.
6:8. Achitob begot Sadoc, and Sadoc begot Achimaas.
6:9. Achimaas begot Azarias, Azarias begot Johanan,
6:10. Johanan begot Azarias. This is he that executed the priestly office in the house which Solomon built in Jerusalem.
6:11. And Azarias begot Amarias, and Amarias begot Achitob.
6:12. And Achitob begot Sadoc, and Sadoc begot Sellum,
6:13. Sellum begot Helcias, and Helcias begot Azarias,
6:14. Azarias begot Saraias, and Saraias begot Josedec.
6:15. Now Josedec went out, when the Lord carried away Juda, and Jerusalem, by the hands of Nabuchodonosor.
6:16. So the sons of Levi were Gerson, Caath, and Merari.
6:17. And these are the names of the sons of Gerson: Lobni and Semei.
6:18. The sons of Caath: Amram, and Isaar, and Hebron, and Oziel.
6:19. The sons of Merari: Moholi and Musi. And these are the kindreds of Levi according to their families.
6:20. Of Gerson: Lobni his son, Jahath his son, Zamma his son,
6:21. Joah his son, Addo his son, Zara his son, Jethrai his son.
6:22. The sons of Caath, Aminadab his son, Core his son, Asir his son,
6:23. Elcana his son, Abiasaph his son, Asir his son,
6:24. Thahath his son, Uriel his son, Ozias his son, Saul his son.
6:25. The sons of Elcana: Amasai, and Achimoth.
6:26. And Elcana. The sons of Elcana: Sophai his son, Nahath his son,
6:27. Eliab his son, Jeroham his son, Elcana his son.
6:28. The sons of Samuel: the firstborn Vasseni, and Abia.
6:29. And the sons of Merari, Moholi: Lobni his son, Semei his son, Oza his son,
6:30. Sammaa his son, Haggia his son, Asaia his son.
6:31. These are they, whom David set over the singing men of the house of the Lord, after that the ark was placed.
6:32. And they ministered before the tabernacle of the testimony, with singing, until Solomon built the house of the Lord in Jerusalem, and they stood according to their order in the ministry.
6:33. And these are they that stood with their sons, of the sons of Caath, Hemam a singer, the son of Joel, the son of Sammuel,
6:34. The son of Elcana, the son of Jeroham, the son of Eliel, the son of Thohu,
6:35. The son of Suph, the son of Elcana, the son of Mahath, the son of Amasai,
6:36. The son of Elcana, the son of Johel, the son of Azarias, the son of Sophonias,
6:37. The son of Thahath, the son of Asir, the son of Abiasaph, the son of Core,
6:38. The son of Isaar, the son of Caath, the son of Levi, the son of Israel.
6:39. And his brother Asaph, who stood on his right hand, Asaph the son of Barachias, the son of Samaa.
6:40. The son of Michael, the son of Basaia, the son of Melchia.
6:41. The son of Athanai, the son of Zara, the son of Adaia.
6:42. The son of Ethan, the son of Zamma, the son of Semei.
6:43. The son of Jeth, the son of Gerson, the son of Levi.
6:44. And the sons of Merari their brethren, on the left hand, Ethan the son of Cusi, the son of Abdi, the son of Meloch,
6:45. The son of Hasabia, the son of Amasai, the son of Helcias,
6:46. The son of Amasai, the son of Boni, the son of Somer,
6:47. The son of Moholi, the son of Musi, the son of Merari, the son of Levi.
6:48. Their brethren also the Levites, who were appointed for all the ministry of the tabernacle of the house of the Lord.
6:49. But Aaron and his sons offered burnt offerings upon the altar of holocausts, and upon the altar of incense, for every work of the holy of holies: and to pray for Israel according to all that Moses the servant of God had commanded.
6:50. And these are the sons of Aaron: Eleazar his son, Phinees his son, Abisue his son,
6:51. Bocci his son, Ozi his son, Zarahia his son,
6:52. Meraioth his son, Amarias his son, Achitob his son,
6:53. Sadoc his son, Achimaas his son.
6:54. And these are their dwelling places by the towns and confines, to wit, of the sons of Aaron, of the families of the Caathites: for they fell to them by lot.
6:55. And they gave them Hebron in the land of Juda, and the suburbs thereof round about:
6:56. But the fields of the city, and the villages to Caleb son of Jephone.
6:57. And to the sons of Aaron they gave the cities for refuge Hebron, and Lobna, and the suburbs thereof,
6:58. And Jether and Esthemo, with their suburbs, and Helon, and Dabir with their suburbs:
6:59. Asan also, and Bethsames, with their suburbs.
6:60. And out of the tribe of Benjamin: Gabee and its suburbs, Almath with its suburbs, Anathoth also with its suburbs: all their cities throughout their families were thirteen.
6:61. And to the sons of Caath that remained of their kindred they gave out of the half tribe of Manasses ten cities in possession.
6:62. And to the sons of Gerson by their families out of the tribe of Issachar, and out of the tribe of Aser, and out of the tribe of Nephtali, and out of the tribe of Manasses in Basan, thirteen cities.
6:63. And to the sons of Merari by their families out of the tribe of Ruben, and out of the tribe of Gad, and out of the tribe of Zabulon, they gave by lot twelve cities.
6:64. And the children of Israel gave to the Levites the cities, and their suburbs.
6:65. And they gave them by lot, out of the tribe of the sons of Juda, and out of the tribe of the sons of Simeon, and out of the tribe of the sons of Benjamin, these cities which they called by their names.
6:66. And to them that were of the kindred of the sons of Caath, and the cities in their borders were of the tribe of Ephraim.
6:67. And they gave the cities of refuge Sichem with its suburbs in mount Ephraim, and Gazer with its suburbs,
6:68. Jecmaan also with its suburbs, and Beth-horon in like manner,
6:69. Helon also with its suburbs, and Gethremmon in like manner,
6:70. And out of the half tribe of Manasses, Aner and its suburbs, Baalam and its suburbs, to wit, to them that were left of the family of the sons of Caath.
6:71. And to the sons of Gersom, out of the kindred of the half tribe of Manasses, Gaulon, in Basan, and its suburbs, and Astharoth with its suburbs.
6:72. Out of the tribe of Issachar, Cedes and its suburbs, and Dabereth with its suburbs;
6:73. Ramoth also and its suburbs, and Anem with its suburbs.
6:74. And out of the tribe of Aser: Masal with its suburbs, and Abdon in like manner;
6:75. Hucac also and its suburbs, and Rohol with its suburbs.
6:76. And out of the tribe of Nephtali, Cedes in Galilee and its suburbs, Hamon with its suburbs, and Cariathaim, and its suburbs.
6:77. And to the sons of Merari that remained: out of the tribe of Zabulon, Remmono and its suburbs, and Thabor with its suburbs.
6:78. Beyond the Jordan also over against Jericho, on the east side of the Jordan, out of the tribe of Ruben, Bosor in the wilderness with its suburbs, and Jassa with its suburbs;
6:79. Cademoth also and its suburbs, and Mephaath with its suburbs;
6:80. Moreover also out of the tribe of Gad, Ramoth in Galaad and its suburbs, and Manaim with its suburbs;
6:81. Hesebon also with its suburbs, and Jazer with its suburbs.
1 Paralipomenon Chapter 7
Genealogies of Issachar, Benjamin, Nephtali, Manasses, Ephraim, and Aser.
7:1. Now the sons of Issachar were Thola, and Phua, Jasub and Simeron, four.
7:2. The sons of Thola: Ozi and Raphaia, and Jeriel, and Jemai, and Jebsem, and Samuel, chiefs of the houses of their kindreds. Of the posterity of Thola were numbered in the days of David, two and twenty thousand six hundred most valiant men.
7:3. The sons of Ozi: Izrahia, of whom were born Michael, and Obadia, and Joel, and Jesia, five all great men.
7:4. And there were with them by their families and peoples, six and thirty thousand most valiant men ready for war: for they had many wives and children.
7:5. Their brethren also throughout all the house of Issachar, were numbered fourscore and seven thousand most valiant men for war.
7:6. The sons of Benjamin were Bela, and Bechor, and Jadihel, three.
7:7. The sons of Bela: Esbon, and Ozi, and Ozial, and Jerimoth and Urai, five chiefs of their families, and most valiant warriors, and their number was twenty-two thousand and thirty-four.
7:8. And the sons of Bechor were Zamira, and Joas, and Eliezer, and Elioenai, and Amai, and Jerimoth, and Abia, and Anathoth, and Almath: all these were the sons of Bechor.
7:9. And they were numbered by the families, heads of their kindreds, most valiant men for war, twenty thousand and two hundred.
7:10. And the son of Jadihel: Balan. And the sons of Balan: Jehus and Benjamin, and Aod, and Chanana, and Zethan and Tharsis, and Ahisahar.
7:11. All these were sons of Jadihel, heads of their kindreds, most valiant men, seventeen thousand and two hundred fifty to go out to war.
7:12. Sepham also and Hapham the sons of Hir: and Hasim the sons of Aher.
7:13. And the sons of Nephtali were Jasiel, and Guni, and Jezer, and Sellum, sons of Bala.
7:14. And the son of Manasses, Ezriel: and his concubine the Syrian bore Machir the father of Galaad.
7:15. And Machir took wives for his sons Happhim, and Saphan: and he had a sister named Maacha: the name of the second was Salphaad, and Salphaad had daughters.
7:16. And Maacha the wife of Machir bore a son, and she called his name Phares: and the name of his brother was Sares: and his sons were Ulam and Recen.
7:17. And the son of Ulam, Baden. These are the sons of Galaad, the son of Machir, the son of Manasses.
7:18. And his sister named Queen bore Goodlyman, and Abiezer, and Mohola.
7:19. And the sons of Semida were Ahiu, and Sechem, and Leci and Aniam.
7:20. And the sons of Ephraim were Suthala, Bared his son, Thahath his son, Elada his son, Thahath his son, and his son Zabad,
7:21. And his son Suthala, and his son Ezer, and Elad: and the men of Geth born in the land slew them, because they came down to invade their possessions.
7:22. And Ephraim their father mourned many days, and his brethren came to comfort him.
7:23. And he went in to his wife: and she conceived and bore a son, and he called his name Beria, because he was born when it went evil with his house:
Beria.... This name signifies in evil, or in affliction.
7:24. And his daughter was Sara, who built Bethoron, the nether and the upper, and Ozensara.
7:25. And Rapha was his son, and Reseph, and Thale, of whom was born Thaan,
7:26. Who begot Laadan: and his son was Ammiud, who begot Elisama,
7:27. Of whom was born Nun, who had Josue for his son.
7:28. And their possessions and habitations were Bethel with her daughters, and eastward Noran, and westward Gazer and her daughters, Sichem also with her daughters, as far as Asa with her daughters.
7:29. And by the borders of the sons of Manasses Bethsan and her daughters, Thanach and her daughters, Mageddo and her daughters: Dor and her daughters: in these dwelt the children of Joseph, the son of Israel.
7:30. The children of Aser were Jemna, and Jesua, and Jessui, and Baria, and Sara their sister.
7:31. And the sons of Baria: Haber, and Melchiel: he is the father of Barsaith.
7:32. And Heber begot Jephlat, and Somer, and Hotham, and Suaa their sister.
7:33. The sons of Jephlat: Phosech, and Chamaal, and Asoth: these are the sons of Jephlat.
7:34. And the sons of Somer: Ahi, and Roaga and Haba, and Aram.
7:35. And the sons of Helem his brother: Supha, and Jemna, and Selles, and Amal.
7:36. The sons of Supha: Sue, Hernapher, and Sual, and Beri, and Jamra.
7:37. Bosor and Hod, and Samma, and Salusa, and Jethran, and Bera.
7:38. The sons of Jether: Jephone, and Phaspha, and Ara.
7:39. And the sons of Olla: Aree, and Haniel, and Resia.
7:40. All these were sons of Aser, heads of their families, choice and most valiant captains of captains: and the number of them that were of the age that was fit for war, was six and twenty thousand.
1 Paralipomenon Chapter 8
The posterity of Benjamin is further declared down to Saul. His issue.
8:1. Now Benjamin begot Bale his firstborn, Asbel the second, Ahara the third,
8:2. Nohaa the fourth, and Rapha the fifth.
8:3. And the sons of Bale were Addar, and Gera, and Abiud,
8:4. And Abisue, and Naaman, and Ahoe,
8:5. And Gera, and Sephuphan, and Huram.
8:6. These are the sons of Ahod, heads of families that dwelt in Gabaa, who were removed into Manahath.
8:7. And Naaman, and Achia, and Gera he removed them, and begot Oza, and Ahiud.
8:8. And Saharim begot in the land of Moab, after he sent away Husim and Bara his wives.
8:9. And he begot of Hodes his wife Jobab, and Sebia, and Mosa, and Molchom,
8:10. And Jehus and Sechia, and Marma. These were his sons heads of their families.
8:11. And Mehusim begot Abitob, and Elphaal.
8:12. And the sons of Elphaal were Heber, and Misaam, and Samad: who built Ono, and Lod, and its daughters.
8:13. And Baria, and Sama were heads of their kindreds that dwelt in Aialon: these drove away the inhabitants of Geth.
8:14. And Ahio, and Sesac, and Jerimoth,
8:15. And Zabadia, and Arod, and Heder,
8:16. And Michael, and Jespha, and Joha, the sons of Baria.
8:17. And Zabadia, and Mosollam, and Hezeci, and Heber,
8:18. And Jesamari, and Jezlia, and Jobab, sons of Elphaal,
8:19. And Jacim, and Zechri, and Zabdi,
8:20. And Elioenai, and Selethai, and Elial,
8:21. And Adaia, and Baraia, and Samareth, the sons of Semei.
8:22. And Jespham, and Heber, and Eliel,
8:23. And Abdon, and Zechri, and Hanan,
8:24. And Hanania, and Elam, and Anathothia.
8:25. And Jephdaia, and Phanuel the sons of Sesac.
8:26. And Samsari, and Sohoria and Otholia,
8:27. And Jersia, and Elia, and Zechri, the sons of Jeroham.
8:28. These were the chief fathers, and heads of their families who dwelt in Jerusalem.
8:29. And at Gabaon dwelt Abigabaon, and the name of his wife was Maacha:
8:30. And his firstborn son Abdon, and Sur, and Cis, and Baal, and Nadab,
8:31. And Gedor, and Ahio, and Zacher, and Macelloth:
8:32. And Macelloth begot Samaa: and they dwelt over against their brethren in Jerusalem with their brethren.
8:33. And Ner begot Cis and Cis begot Saul. And Saul begot Jonathan and Melchisua, and Abinadab, and Esbaal.
Esbaal.... Alias Isboseth.
8:34. And the son of Jonathan was Meribbaal: and Meribbaal begot Micha.
Meribbaal.... Alias Miphiboseth. 2 Kings 4.4.
8:35. And the sons of Micha were Phithon, and Melech, and Tharaa, and Ahaz.
8:36. And Ahaz begot Joada: and Joada begot Alamath, and Azmoth, and Zamri: and Zamri begot Mosa,
8:37. And Mosa begot Banaa, whose son was Rapha, of whom was born Elasa, who begot Asel.
8:38. And Asel had six sons whose names were Ezricam, Bochru, Ismahel, Saria, Obdia, and Hanan. All these were the sons of Asel.
8:39. And the sons of Esec, his brother, were Ulam the firstborn, and Jehus the second, and Eliphalet the third.
8:40. And the sons of Ulam were most valiant men, and archers of great strength: and they had many sons and grandsons, even to a hundred and fifty. All these were children of Benjamin.
1 Paralipomenon Chapter 9
The Israelites, priests, and Levites, who first dwelt in Jerusalem after the captivity. A repetition of the genealogy of Saul.
9:1. And all Israel was numbered: and the sum of them was written in the book of the kings of Israel, and Juda: and they were carried away to Babylon for their transgression.
9:2. Now the first that dwelt in their possessions, and in their cities, were the Israelites, and the priests, and the Levites, and the Nathineans.
Nathineans.... These were the posterity of the Gabaonites, whose office was to bring wood, water, etc., for the service of the temple.
9:3. And in Jerusalem dwelt of the children of Juda, and of the children of Benjamin, and of the children of Ephraim, and of Manasses.
9:4. Othei the son of Ammiud, the son of Amri, the son of Omrai, the son of Bonni of the sons of Phares the son of Juda.
9:5. And of Siloni: Asaia the firstborn, and his sons.
9:6. And of the sons of Zara: Jehuel and their brethren, six hundred and ninety.
9:7. And of the sons of Benjamin: Salo the son of Mosollam, the son of Oduia, the son of Asana:
9:8. And Jobania the son of Jeroham: and Ela the son of Ozi, the son of Mochori and Mosallam the son of Saphatias, the son of Rahuel, the son of Jebania:
9:9. And their brethren by their families, nine hundred and fifty-six. All these were heads of their families, by the houses of their fathers.
9:10. And of the priests: Jedaia, Joiarib, and Jachin:
9:11. And Azarias the son of Helcias, the son of Mosollam, the son of Sadoc, the son of Maraioth, the son of Achitob, high priest of the house of God.
9:12. And Adaias the son of Jeroham, the son of Phassur, the son of Melchias, and Maasai the son of Adiel, the son of Jezra, the son of Mosollam, the son of Mosollamith, the son of Emmer.
9:13. And their brethren heads in their families a thousand seven hundred and threescore, very strong and able men for the work of the ministry in the house of God.
9:14. And of the Levites: Semeia the son of Hassub the son of Ezricam, the son of Hasebia of the sons of Merari.
9:15. And Bacbacar the carpenter, and Galal, and Mathania the son of Micha, the son of Zechri the son of Asaph:
9:16. And Obdia the son of Semeia, the son of Galal, the son of Idithum: and Barachia the son of Asa, the son of Elcana, who dwelt in the suburbs of Netophati.
9:17. And the porters were Sellum, and Accub, and Telmon, and Ahiman: and their brother Sellum was the prince,
9:18. Until that time, in the king’s gate eastward, the sons of Levi waited by their turns.
9:19. But Sellum the son of Core, the son of Abiasaph, the son of Core, with his brethren and his father’s house, the Corites were over the works of the service, keepers of the gates of the tabernacle: and their families in turns were keepers of the entrance of the camp of the Lord.
9:20. And Phinees the son of Eleazar, was their prince before the Lord,
9:21. And Zacharias the son of Mosollamia, was porter of the gate of the tabernacle of the testimony:
9:22. All these that were chosen to be porters at the gates, were two hundred and twelve: the they were registered in their proper towns: whom David and Samuel the seer appointed in their trust.
9:23. As well them as their sons, to keep the gates of the house of the Lord, and the tabernacle by their turns.
9:24. In four quarters were the porters: that is to say, toward the east, and west, and north, and south.
9:25. And their brethren dwelt in villages, and came upon their sabbath days from time to time.
9:26. To these four Levites were committed the whole number of the porters, and they were over the chambers, and treasures, of the house of the Lord.
9:27. And they abode in their watches round about the temple of the Lord: that when it was time, they might open the gates in the morning.
9:28. And some of their stock had the charge of the vessels for the ministry: for the vessels were both brought in and carried out by number.
9:29. Some of them also had the instruments of the sanctuary committed unto them, and the charge of the fine flour, and wine, and oil, and frankincense, and spices.
9:30. And the sons of the priests made the ointments of the spices.
9:31. And Mathathias a Levite, the firstborn of Sellum the Corite, was overseer of such things as were fried in the fryingpan.
9:32. And some of the sons of Caath their brethren, were over the loaves of proposition, to prepare always new for every sabbath.
9:33. These are the chief of the singing men of the families of the Levites, who dwelt in the chambers, by the temple, that they might serve continually day and night in their ministry.
9:34. The heads of the Levites, princes in their families, abode in Jerusalem.
9:35. And in Gabaon dwelt Jehiel the father of Gabaon, and the name of his wife was Maacha:
9:36. His firstborn son Abdon, and Sur, and Cis, and Baal, and Ner, and Nadab,
9:37. Gedor also, and Ahio, and Zacharias, and Macelloth.
9:38. And Macelloth begot Samaan: these dwelt over against their brethren in Jerusalem, with their brethren.
9:39. Now Ner begot Cis: and Cis begot Saul: and Saul begot Jonathan and Melchisua, and Abinadab, and Esbaal.
9:40. And the son of Jonathan, was Meribbaal: and Meribbaal begot Micha.
9:41. And the sons of Micha, were Phithon, and Melech, and Tharaa, and Ahaz.
9:42. And Ahaz begot Jara, and Jara begot Alamath, and Azmoth, and Zamri. And Zamri begot Mosa.
9:43. And Mosa begot Banaa: whose son Raphaia begot Elasa: of whom was born Asel.
9:44. And Asel had six sons whose names are, Ezricam Bochru, Ismahel, Saria, Obdia, Hanan: these are the sons of Asel.
1 Paralipomenon Chapter 10
Saul is slain for his sins: he is buried by the men of Jabes.
10:1. Now the Philistines fought against Israel, and the men of Israel fled from before the Philistines, and fell down wounded in mount Gelboe.
10:2. And the Philistines drew near pursuing after Saul, and his sons, and they killed Jonathan, and Abinadab, and Melchisua the sons of Saul.
10:3. And the battle grew hard against Saul and the archers reached him, and wounded him with arrows.
10:4. And Saul said to his armourbearer: Draw thy sword, and kill me: lest these uncircumcised come, and mock me. But his armourbearer would not, for he was struck with fear: so Saul took his sword, and fell upon it.
10:5. And when his armourbearer saw it, to wit, that Saul was dead, he also fell upon his sword and died.
10:6. So Saul died, and his three sons, and all his house fell together.
10:7. And when the men of Israel, that dwelt in the plains, saw this, they fled: and Saul and his sons being dead, they forsook their cities, and were scattered up and down: and the Philistines came, and dwelt in them.
10:8. And the next day the Philistines taking away the spoils of them that were slain, found Saul and his sons lying on mount Gelboe.
10:9. And when they had stripped him, and cut off his head, and taken away his armour, they sent it into their land, to be carried about, and shewn in the temples of the idols and to the people.
10:10. And his armour they dedicated in the temple of their god, and his head they fastened up in the temple of Dagon.
10:11. And when the men of Jabes Galaad had heard this, to wit, all that the Philistines had done to Saul,
10:12. All the valiant men of them arose, and took the bodies of Saul and of his sons, and brought them to Jabes, and buried their bones under the oak that was in Jabes, and they fasted seven days.
10:13. So Saul died for his iniquities, because he transgressed the commandment of the Lord, which he had commanded, and kept it not: and moreover consulted also a witch,
10:14. And trusted not in the Lord: therefore he slew him, and transferred his kingdom to David the son of Isai.
1 Paralipomenon Chapter 11
David is made king. He taketh the castle of Sion. A catalogue of his valiant men.
11:1. Then all Israel gathered themselves to David in Hebron, saying: We are thy bone, and thy flesh.
11:2. Yesterday also, and the day before when Saul was king, thou wast he that leddest out and broughtest in Israel: for the Lord thy God said to thee: Thou shalt feed my people Israel, and thou shalt be ruler over them.
11:3. So all the ancients of Israel came to the king to Hebron, and David made a covenant with them before the Lord: and they anointed him king over Israel according to the word of the Lord which he spoke in the hand of Samuel.
11:4. And David and all Israel went to Jerusalem, which is Jebus, where the Jebusites were the inhabitants of the land.
11:5. And the inhabitants of Jebus said to David: Thou shalt not come in here. But David took the castle of Sion, which is the city of David.
11:6. And he said: Whosoever shall first strike the Jebusites, shall be the head and chief captain. And Joab the son of Sarvia went up first, and was made the general.
11:7. And David dwelt in the castle, and therefore it was called the city of David,
11:8. And he built the city round about from Mello all round, and Joab built the rest of the city.
11:9. And David went on growing and increasing, and the Lord of hosts was with him.
11:10. These are the chief of the valiant men of David, who helped him to be made king over all Israel, according to the word of the Lord, which he spoke to Israel.
11:11. And this is the number of the heroes of David: Jesbaam the son of Hachamoni the chief among the thirty: he lifted up his spear against three hundred wounded by him at one time.
11:12. And after him was Eleazar his uncle’s son the Ahohite, who was one of the three mighties.
11:13. He was with David in Phesdomim, when the Philistines were gathered to that place to battle: and the field of that country was full of barley, and the people fled from before the Philistines.
11:14. But these men stood in the midst of the field, and defended it: and they slew the Philistines, and the Lord gave a great deliverance to his people.
11:15. And three of the thirty captains went down to the rock, wherein David was, to the cave of Odollam, when the Philistines encamped in the valley of Raphaim.
11:16. And David was in a hold, and the garrison of the Philistines in Bethlehem.
11:17. And David longed, and said: O that some man would give me water of the cistern of Bethlehem, which is in the gate.
11:18. And these three broke through the midst of the camp of the Philistines, and drew water out of the cistern of Bethlehem, which was in the gate, and brought it to David to drink: and he would not drink of it, but rather offered it to the Lord,
11:19. Saying: God forbid that I should do this in the sight of my God, and should drink the blood of these men: for with the danger of their lives they have brought me the water. And therefore he would not drink. These things did the three most valiant.
11:20. And Abisai the brother of Joab, he was chief of three, and he lifted up his spear against three hundred whom he slew, and he was renowned among the three,
11:21. And illustrious among the second three, and their captain: but yet he attained not to the first three.
11:22. Banaias the son of Joiada a most valiant man, of Cabseel, who had done many acts: he slew the two ariels of Moab: and he went down, and killed a lion in the midst of a pit in the time of snow.
Two ariels.... That is, two lions, or lion-like men; for Ariel in Hebrew signifies a lion.
11:23. And he slew an Egyptian, whose stature was of five cubits, and who had a spear like a weaver’s beam: and he went down to him with a staff, and plucked away the spear, that he held in his hand, and slew him with his own spear.
11:24. These things did Banaias the son of Joiada, who was renowned among the three valiant ones,
11:25. And the first among the thirty, but yet to the three he attained not: and David made him of his council.
11:26. Moreover the most valiant men of the army, were Asahel brother of Joab, and Elchanan the son of his uncle of Bethlehem,
11:27. Sammoth an Arorite, Helles a Phalonite,
11:28. Ira the son of Acces a Thecuite, Abiezer an Anathothite,
11:29. Sobbochai a Husathite, Ilai an Ahohite,
11:30. Maharai a Netophathite, Heled the son of Baana a Netophathite,
11:31. Ethai the son of Ribai of Gabaath of the sons of Benjamin, Banai a Pharathonite,
11:32. Hurai of the torrent Gaas, Abiel an Arbathite, Azmoth a Bauramite, Eliaba a Salabonite,
11:33. The sons of Assem a Gezonite, Jonathan the son of Sage an Ararite,
11:34. Ahiam the son of Sachar an Ararite,
11:35. Eliphal the son of Ur,
11:36. Hepher a Mecherathite, Ahia a Phelonite,
11:37. Hesro a Carmelite, Naarai the son of Azbai,
11:38. Joel the brother of Nathan, Mibahar the son of Agarai.
11:39. Selec an Ammonite, Naharai a Berothite, the armourbearer of Joab the son of Sarvia.
11:40. Ira a Jethrite, Gareb a Jethrite,
11:41. Urias a Hethite, Zabad the son of Oholi,
11:42. Adina the son of Siza a Rubenite the prince of the Rubenites, and thirty with him:
11:43. Hanan the son of Maacha, and Josaphat a Mathanite,
11:44. Ozia an Astarothite, Samma, and Jehiel the sons of Hotham an Arorite,
11:45. Jedihel the son of Zamri, and Joha his brother a Thosaite,
11:46. Eliel a Mahumite, and Jeribai, and Josaia the sons of Elnaim, and Jethma a Moabite, Eliel, and Obed, and Jasiel of Masobia.
1 Paralipomenon Chapter 12
Who followed David when he fled from Saul. And who came to Hebron to make him king.
12:1. Now these are they that came to David to Siceleg, while he yet fled from Saul the son of Cis, and they were most valiant and excellent warriors,
12:2. Bending the bow, and using either hand in hurling stones with slings, and shooting arrows: of the brethren of Saul of Benjamin.
12:3. The chief was Ahiezer, and Joas, the sons of Samaa of Gabaath, and Jaziel, and Phallet the sons of Azmoth, and Beracha, and Jehu an Anathothite.
12:4. And Samaias of Gabaon, the stoutest amongst the thirty and over the thirty; Jeremias, and Jeheziel and Johanan, and Jozabad of Gaderoth;
12:5. And Eluzai, and Jerimuth, and Baalia, and Samaria, and Saphatia the Haruphite;
12:6. Elcana, and Jesia, and Azareel, and Joezer, and Jesbaam of Carehim:
12:7. And Joela, and Zabadia the sons of Jeroham of Gedor.
12:8. From Gaddi also there went over to David, when he lay hid in the wilderness most valiant men, and excellent warriors, holding shield and spear: whose faces were like the faces of a lion, and they were swift like the roebucks on the mountains.
12:9. Ezer the chief, Obdias the second, Eliab the third,
12:10. Masmana the fourth, Jeremias the fifth,
12:11. Ethi the sixth, Eliel the seventh,
12:12. Johanan the eighth, Elzebad the ninth,
12:13. Jerenias the tenth, Machbani the eleventh,
12:14. These were of the sons of Gad, captains of the army: the least of them was captain over a hundred soldiers, and the greatest over a thousand.
12:15. These are they who passed over the Jordan in the first month, when it is used to flow over its banks: and they put to flight all that dwelt in the valleys both toward the east and toward the west.
12:16. And there came also of the men of Benjamin, and of Juda to the hold, in which David abode.
12:17. And David went out to meet them, and said: If you are come peaceably to me to help me, let my heart be joined to you: but if you plot against me for my enemies whereas I have no iniquity in my hands, let the God of our fathers see, and judge.
12:18. But the spirit came upon Amasai the chief among thirty, and he said: We are thine, O David, and for thee, O son of Isai: peace, peace be to thee, and peace to thy helpers. For thy God helpeth thee. So David received them, and made them captains of the band.
12:19. And there were some of Manasses that went over to David, when he came with the Philistines against Saul to fight: but he did not fight with them: because the lords of the Philistines taking counsel sent him back, saying: With the danger of our heads he will return to his master Saul.
12:20. So when he went back to Siceleg, there fled to him of Manasses, Ednas and Jozabad, and Jedihel, and Michael, and Ednas, and Jozabad, and Eliu, and Salathi, captains of thousands in Manasses.
12:21. These helped David against the rovers: for they were all most valiant men, and were made commanders in the army.
12:22. Moreover day by day there came some to David to help him till they became a great number, like the army of God.
12:23. And this is the number of the chiefs of the army who came to David, when he was in Hebron, to transfer to him the kingdom of Saul, according to the word of the Lord.
12:24. The sons of Juda bearing shield and spear, six thousand eight hundred well appointed to war.
12:25. Of the sons of Simeon valiant men for war, seven thousand one hundred.
12:26. Of the sons of Levi, four thousand six hundred.
12:27. And Joiada prince of the race of Aaron, and with him three thousand seven hundred.
12:28. Sadoc also a young man of excellent disposition, and the house of his father, twenty-two principal men.
12:29. And of the sons of Benjamin the brethren of Saul, three thousand: for hitherto a great part of them followed the house of Saul.
12:30. And of the sons of Ephraim twenty thousand eight hundred, men of great valour renowned in their kindreds.
12:31. And of the half tribe of Manasses, eighteen thousand, every one by their names, came to make David king.
12:32. Also of the sons of Issachar men of understanding, that knew all times to order what Israel should do, two hundred principal men: and all the rest of the tribe followed their counsel.
12:33. And of Zabulon such as went forth to battle, and stood in array well appointed with armour for war, there came fifty thousand to his aid, with no double heart.
12:34. And of Nephtali, a thousand leaders: and with them seven and thirty thousand, furnished with shield and spear.
12:35. Of Dan also twenty-eight thousand six hundred prepared for battle.
12:36. And of Aser forty thousand going forth to fight, and challenging in battle.
12:37. And on the other side of the Jordan of the sons of Ruben, and of Gad, and of the half of the tribe of Manasses a hundred and twenty thousand, furnished with arms for war.
12:38. All these men of war well appointed to fight, came with a perfect heart to Hebron, to make David king over all Israel: and all the rest also of Israel, were of one heart to make David king.
12:39. And they were there with David three days eating and drinking: for their brethren had prepared for them.
12:40. Moreover they that were near them even as far as Issachar, and Zabulon, and Nephtali, brought loaves on asses, and on camels, and on mules, and on oxen, to eat: meal, figs, raisins, wine, oil, and oxen, and sheep in abundance, for there was joy in Israel.
1 Paralipomenon Chapter 13
The ark is brought from Cariathiarim. Oza for touching it is struck dead.
13:1. David consulted with the captains of thousands, and of hundreds, and with all the commanders.
13:2. And he said to all the assembly of Israel: If it please you; and if the words which I speak come from the Lord our God, let us send to the rest of our brethren into all the countries of Israel, and to the priests, and the Levites, that dwell in the suburbs of the cities, to gather themselves to us,
13:3. And let us bring again the ark of our God to us: for we sought it not in the days of Saul.
13:4. And all the multitude answered that it should be so: for the word pleased all the people.
13:5. So David assembled all Israel from Sihor of Egypt, even to the entering into Emath, to bring the ark of God from Cariathiarim.
13:6. And David went up with all the men of Israel to the hill of Cariathiarim which is in Juda, to bring thence the ark of the Lord God sitting upon the cherubims, where his name is called upon.
13:7. And they carried the ark of God upon a new cart out of the house of Abinadab. And Oza and his brother drove the cart.
13:8. And David and all Israel played before God with all their might with hymns, and with harps, and with psalteries, and timbrels, and cymbals, and trumpets,
13:9. And when they came to the floor of Chidon, Oza put forth his hand, to hold up the ark: for the ox being wanton had made it lean a little on one side.
13:10. And the Lord was angry with Oza, and struck him, because he had touched the ark; and he died there before the Lord.
13:11. And David was troubled because the Lord had divided Oza: and he called that place the Breach of Oza to this day.
13:12. And he feared God at that time, saying: How can I bring in the ark of God to me?
13:13. And therefore he brought it not home to himself, that is, into the city of David, but carried it aside into the house of Obededom the Gethite.
13:14. And the ark of God remained in the house of Obededom three months: and the Lord blessed his house, and all that he had.
1 Paralipomenon Chapter 14
David’s house, and children: his victories over the Philistines.
14:1. And Hiram king of Tyre sent messengers to David, and cedar trees, and masons, and carpenters, to build him a house.
14:2. And David perceived that the Lord had confirmed him king over Israel, and that his kingdom was exalted over his people Israel.
14:3. And David took other wives in Jerusalem: and he begot sons, and daughters.
14:4. Now these are the names of them that were born to him in Jerusalem: Samua, and Sobad, Nathan, and Solomon,
14:5. Jebahar, and Elisua, and Eliphalet,
14:6. And Noga, and Napheg, and Japhia,
14:7. Elisama, and Baaliada, and Eliphalet.
14:8. And the Philistines hearing that David was anointed king over all Israel, went all up to seek him: and David heard of it, and went out against them.
14:9. And the Philistines came and spread themselves in the vale of Raphaim.
14:10. And David consulted the Lord, saying: Shall I go up against the Philistines, and wilt thou deliver them into my hand? And the Lord said to him: Go up, and I will deliver them into thy hand.
14:11. And when they were come to Baalpharasim, David defeated them there, and he said: God hath divided my enemies by my hand, as waters are divided: and therefore the name of that place was called Baalpharasim.
14:12. And they left there their gods, and David commanded that they should be burnt.
14:13. Another time also the Philistines made an irruption, and spread themselves abroad in the valley.
14:14. And David consulted God again, and God said to him: Go not up after them, turn away from them, and come upon them over against the pear trees.
14:15. And when thou shalt hear the sound of one going in the tops of the pear trees, then shalt thou go out to battle. For God is gone out before thee to strike the army of the Philistines.
14:16. And David did as God had commanded him, and defeated the army of the Philistines, slaying them from Gabaon to Gazera.
14:17. And the name of David became famous in all countries, and the Lord made all nations fear him.
1 Paralipomenon Chapter 15
The ark is brought into the city of David, with great solemnity. Michol derideth David’s devotion.
15:1. He made also houses for himself in the city of David: and built a place for the ark of God, and pitched a tabernacle for it.
15:2. Then David said: No one ought to carry the ark of God, but the Levites, whom the Lord hath chosen to carry it, and to minister unto himself for ever.
15:3. And he gathered all Israel together into Jerusalem, that the ark of God might be brought into its place, which he had prepared for it.
15:4. And the sons of Aaron also, and the Levites.
15:5. Of the children of Caath, Uriel was the chief, and his brethren a hundred and twenty.
15:6. Of the sons of Merari, Asaia the chief, and his brethren two hundred and twenty.
15:7. Of the sons of Gersom, Joel the chief, and his brethren a hundred and thirty.
15:8. Of the sons of Elisaphan, Semeias the chief: and his brethren two hundred.
15:9. Of the sons of Hebron, Eliel the chief: and his brethren eighty.
15:10. Of the sons of Oziel, Aminadab the chief: and his brethren a hundred and twelve.
15:11. And David called Sadoc, and Abiathar the priests, and the Levites, Uriel, Asaia, Joel, Semeia, Eliel, and Aminadab:
15:12. And he said to them: You that are the heads of the Levitical families, be sanctified with your brethren, and bring the ark of the Lord the God of Israel to the place, which is prepared for it:
15:13. Lest as the Lord at first struck us, because you were not present, the same should now also come to pass, by our doing some thing against the law.
15:14. So the priests and the Levites were sanctified, to carry the ark of the Lord the God of Israel.
15:15. And the sons of Levi took the ark of God as Moses had commanded, according to the word of the Lord, upon their shoulders, with the staves.
15:16. And David spoke to the chiefs of the Levites, to appoint some of their brethren to be singers with musical instruments, to wit, on psalteries, and harps, and cymbals, that the joyful noise might resound on high.
15:17. And they appointed Levites, Hemam the son of Joel, and of his brethren Asaph the son of Barachias: and of the sons of Merari, their brethren: Ethan the son of Casaia.
15:18. And with them their brethren: in the second rank, Zacharias, and Ben, and Jaziel, and Semiramoth, and Jahiel, and Ani, and Eliab, and Banaias, and Maasias, and Mathathias, and Eliphalu, and Macenias, and Obededom, and Jehiel, the porters.
15:19. Now the singers, Heman, Asaph, and Ethan, sounded with cymbals of brass.
15:20. And Zacharias, and Oziel, and Semiramoth, and Jehiel, and Ani, and Eliab, and Maasias, and Banaias, sung mysteries upon psalteries.
15:21. And Mathathias, and Eliphalu, and Macenias and Obededom, and Jehiel and Ozaziu, sung a song of victory for the octave upon harps.
15:22. And Chonenias chief of the Levites, presided over the prophecy, to give out the tunes: for he was very skilful.
The prophecy, to give out the tunes.... Singing praises to God is here called prophecy: the more, because these singers were often inspired men.
15:23. And Barachias, and Elcana, were doorkeepers of the ark.
15:24. And Sebenias, and Josaphat, and Nathanael, and Amasai, and Zacharias, and Banaias, and Eliezer the priests, sounded with trumpets, before the ark of God: and Obededom and Jehias were porters of the ark.
15:25. So David and all the ancients of Israel, and the captains over thousands, went to bring the ark of the covenant of the Lord out of the house of Obededom with joy.
15:26. And when God had helped the Levites who carried the ark of the covenant of the Lord, they offered in sacrifice seven oxen, and seven rams.
15:27. And David was clothed with a robe of fine linen, and all the Levites that carried the ark, and the singing men, and Chonenias the ruler of the prophecy among the singers: and David also had on him an ephod of linen.
15:28. And all Israel brought the ark of the covenant of the Lord with joyful shouting, and sounding with the sound of the cornet, and with trumpets, and cymbals, and psalteries, and harps.
15:29. And when the ark of the covenant of the Lord was come to the city of David, Michol the daughter of Saul looking out at a window, saw king David dancing and playing, and she despised him in her heart.
1 Paralipomenon Chapter 16
The ark is placed in the tabernacle. Sacrifice is offered. David blesseth the people, disposeth the offices of Levites, and maketh a psalm of praise to God.
16:1. So they brought the ark of God, and set it in the midst of the tent, which David had pitched for it: and they offered holocausts, and peace offerings before God.
16:2. And when David had made an end of offering holocausts, and peace offerings, he blessed the people in the name of the Lord.
16:3. And he divided to all and every one, both men and women, a loaf of bread, and a piece of roasted beef, and flour fried with oil.
16:4. And he appointed Levites to minister before the ark of the Lord, and to remember his works, and to glorify, and praise the Lord God of Israel.
16:5. Asaph the chief, and next after him Zacharias: moreover Jahiel, and Semiramoth, and Jehiel, and Mathathias, and Eliab, and Banaias, and Obededom: and Jehiel over the instruments of psaltery, and harps: and Asaph sounded with cymbals:
16:6. But Banaias, and Jaziel the priests, to sound the trumpet continually before the ark of the covenant of the Lord.
16:7. In that day David made Asaph the chief to give praise to the Lord with his brethren.
16:8. Praise ye the Lord, and call upon his name: make known his doings among the nations.
16:9. Sing to him, yea, sing praises to him: and relate all his wondrous works.
16:10. Praise ye his holy name: let the heart of them rejoice, that seek the Lord.
16:11. Seek ye the Lord, and his power: seek ye his face evermore.
16:12. Remember his wonderful works, which he hath done: his signs, and the judgments of his mouth.
16:13. O ye seed of Israel his servants, ye children of Jacob his chosen.
16:14. He is the Lord our God: his judgments are in all the earth.
16:15. Remember for ever his covenant: the word, which he commanded to a thousand generations.
16:16. The covenant which he made with Abraham: and his oath to Isaac.
16:17. And he appointed the same to Jacob for a precept: and to Israel for an everlasting covenant:
16:18. Saying: To thee will I give the land of Chanaan: the lot of your inheritance.
16:19. When they were but a small number: very few and sojourners in it.
16:20. And they passed from nation to nation: and from a kingdom to another people.
16:21. He suffered no man to do them wrong: and reproved kings for their sake.
16:22. Touch not my anointed: and do no evil to my prophets.
16:23. Sing ye to the Lord, all the earth: shew forth from day to day his salvation.
16:24. Declare his glory among the Gentiles: his wonders among all people.
16:25. For the Lord is great and exceedingly to be praised: and he is to be feared above all gods.
16:26. For all the gods of the nations are idols: but the Lord made the heavens.
16:27. Praise and magnificence are before him: strength and joy in his place.
16:28. Bring ye to the Lord, O ye families of the nations: bring ye to the Lord glory and empire.
16:29. Give to the Lord glory to his name, bring up sacrifice, and come ye in his sight: and adore the Lord in holy becomingness.
16:30. Let all the earth be moved at his presence: for he hath founded the world immoveable.
16:31. Let the heavens rejoice, and the earth be glad: and let them say among the nations: The Lord hath reigned.
16:32. Let the sea roar, and the fulness thereof: let the fields rejoice, and all things that are in them.
16:33. Then shall the trees of the wood give praise before the Lord: because he is come to judge the earth.
16:34. Give ye glory to the Lord, for he is good: for his mercy endureth for ever.
16:35. And say ye: Save us, O God our savior: and gather us together, and deliver us from the nations, that we may give glory to thy holy name, and may rejoice in singing thy praises.
16:36. Blessed be the Lord the God of Israel from eternity to eternity: and let all the people say Amen, and a hymn to God.
16:37. So he left there before the ark of the covenant of the Lord, Asaph and his brethren to minister in the presence of the ark continually day by day, and in their courses.
16:38. And Obededom, with his brethren sixty-eight: and Obededom the son of Idithun, and Hosa he appointed to be porters.
16:39. And Sadoc the priest, and his brethren priests, before the tabernacle of the Lord in the high place, which was in Gabaon.
16:40. That they should offer holocausts to the Lord upon the altar of holocausts continually, morning and evening, according to all that is written in the law of the Lord, which he commanded Israel.
16:41. And after him Heman, and Idithun, and the rest that were chosen, every one by his name to give praise to the Lord: because his mercy endureth for ever.
16:42. And Heman and Idithun sounded the trumpet, and played on the cymbals, and all kinds of musical instruments to sing praises to God: and the sons of Idithun he made porters.
16:43. And all the people returned to their houses: and David to bless also his own house.
1 Paralipomenon Chapter 17
David’s purpose to build a temple, is rewarded by most ample promises: David’s thanksgiving.
17:1. Now when David was dwelling in his house, he said to Nathan the prophet: Behold I dwell in a house of cedar: and the ark of the covenant of the Lord is under skins.
17:2. And Nathan said to David: Do all that is in thy heart: for God is with thee.
17:3. Now that night the word of God came to Nathan, saying:
17:4. Go, and speak to David my servant: Thus saith the Lord: Thou shalt not build me a house to dwell in.
17:5. For I have not remained in a house from the time that I brought up Israel, to this day: but I have been always changing places in a tabernacle, and in a tent,
17:6. Abiding with all Israel. Did I ever speak to any one, of all the judges of Israel whom I charged to feed my people, saying: Why have you not built me a house of cedar?
17:7. Now therefore thus shalt thou say to my servant David: Thus saith the Lord of hosts: I took thee from the pastures, from following the flock, that thou shouldst be ruler of my people Israel.
17:8. And I have been with thee whithersoever thou hast gone: and have slain all thy enemies before thee, and have made thee a name like that of one of the great ones that are renowned in the earth.
17:9. And I have given a place to my people Israel: they shall be planted, and shall dwell therein, and shall be moved no more, neither shall the children of iniquity waste them, as at the beginning,
17:10. Since the days that I gave judges to my people Israel, and have humbled all thy enemies. And I declare to thee, that the Lord will build thee a house.
17:11. And when thou shalt have ended thy days to go to thy fathers, I will raise up thy seed after thee, which shall be of thy sons: and I will establish his kingdom.
17:12. He shall build me a house, and I will establish his throne for ever.
17:13. I will be to him a father, and he shall be to me a son: and I will not take my mercy away from him, as I took it from him that was before thee.
17:14. But I will settle him in my house, and in my kingdom for ever: and his throne shall be most firm for ever.
17:15. According to all these words, and according to all this vision, so did Nathan speak to David.
17:16. And king David came and sat before the Lord, and said: Who am I, O Lord God, and what is my house, that thou shouldst give such things to me?
17:17. But even this hath seemed little in thy sight, and therefore thou hast also spoken concerning the house of thy servant for the time to come: and hast made me remarkable above all men, O Lord God.
17:18. What can David add more, seeing thou hast thus glorified thy servant, and known him?
17:19. O Lord, for thy servant’s sake, according to thy own heart, thou hast shewn all this magnificence, and wouldst have all the great things to be known.
17:20. O Lord there is none like thee: and here is no other God beside thee, of all whom we have heard of with our ears.
17:21. For what other nation is there upon earth like thy people Israel, whom God went to deliver, and make a people for himself, and by his greatness and terrors cast out nations before their face whom he had delivered out of Egypt?
17:22. And thou hast made thy people Israel to be thy own people for ever, and thou, O Lord, art become their God.
17:23. Now therefore, O Lord, let the word which thou hast spoken to thy servant, and concerning his house, be established for ever, and do as thou hast said.
17:24. And let thy name remain and be magnified for ever: and let it be said: The Lord of hosts is God of Israel, and the house of David his servant remaineth before him.
17:25. For thou, O Lord my God, hast revealed to the ear of thy servant, that thou wilt build him a house: and therefore thy servant hath found confidence to pray before thee.
17:26. And now O Lord, thou art God: and thou hast promised to thy servant such great benefits.
17:27. And thou hast begun to bless the house of thy servant, that it may be always before thee: for seeing thou blessest it, O Lord, it shall be blessed for ever.
1 Paralipomenon Chapter 18
David’s victories. His chief officers.
18:1. And it came to pass after this, that David defeated the Philistines, and humbled them, and took away Geth, and her daughters out of the hands of the Philistines,
18:2. And he defeated Moab, and the Moabites were made David’s servants, and brought him gifts.
18:3. At that time David defeated also Adarezer king of Soba of the land of Hemath, when he went to extend his dominions as far as the river Euphrates.
18:4. And David took from him a thousand chariots, and seven thousand horsemen, and twenty thousand footmen, and he houghed all the chariot horses, only a hundred chariots, which he reserved for himself.
18:5. And the Syrians of Damascus came also to help Adarezer king of Soba: and David slew of them likewise two and twenty thousand men.
18:6. And he put a garrison in Damascus, that Syria also should serve him, and bring gifts. And the Lord assisted him in all things to which he went.
18:7. And David took the golden quivers which the servants of Adarezer had, and he brought them to Jerusalem.
18:8. Likewise out of Thebath and Chun, cities of Adarezer, he brought very much brass, of which Solomon made the brazen sea, and the pillars, and the vessels of brass.
18:9. Now when Thou king of Hemath heard that David had defeated all the army of Adarezer king of Soba,
18:10. He sent Adoram his son to king David to desire peace of him, and to congratulate him that he had defeated and overthrown Adarezer: for Thou was an enemy to Adarezer.
18:11. And all the vessels of gold, and silver and brass king David consecrated to the Lord, with the silver and gold which he had taken from all the nations, as well from Edom, and from Moab, and from the sons of Ammon, as from the Philistines, and from Amalec.
18:12. And Abisai the son of Sarvia slew of the Edomites in the vale of the saltpits, eighteen thousand:
18:13. And he put a garrison in Edom, that Edom should serve David: and the Lord preserved David in all things to which he went.
18:14. So David reigned over all Israel, and executed judgment and justice among all his people.
18:15. And Joab the son of Sarvia was over the army, and Josaphat the son of Ahilud recorder.
18:16. And Sadoc the son of Achitob, and Achimelech the son of Abiathar, were the priests: and Susa, scribe.
18:17. And Banaias the son of Joiada was over the bands of the Cerethi, and the Phelethi: and the sons of David were chief about the king.
1 Paralipomenon Chapter 19
The Ammonites abuse David’s ambassadors: both they and their confederates are overthrown.
19:1. Now it came to pass that Naas the king of the children of Ammon died, and his son reigned in his stead.
19:2. And David said: I will shew kindness to Hanon the son of Naas: for his father did a favour to me. And David sent messengers to comfort him upon the death of his father. But when they were come into the land of the children of Ammon, to comfort Hanon,
19:3. The princes of the children of Ammon said to Hanon: Thou thinkest perhaps that David to do honour to thy father hath sent comforters to thee: and thou dost not take notice, that his servants are come to thee to consider, and search, and spy out thy land.
19:4. Wherefore Hanon shaved the heads and beards of the servants of David, and cut away their garments from the buttocks to the feet, and sent them away.
19:5. And when they were gone, they sent word to David, who sent to meet them (for they had suffered a great affront) and ordered them to stay at Jericho till their beards grew and then to return.
19:6. And when the children of Ammon saw that they had done an injury to David, Hanon and the rest of the people sent a thousand talents of silver, to hire them chariots and horsemen out of Mesopotamia and out of Syria Maacha, and out of Soba.
19:7. And they hired two and thirty thousand chariots, and the king of Maacha, with his people. And they came and camped over against Medaba. And the children of Ammon gathered themselves together out of their cities, and came to battle.
19:8. And when David heard of it, he sent Joab, and all the army of valiant men:
19:9. And the children of Ammon came out and put their army in array before the gate of the city: and the kings, that were come to their aid, stood apart in the field.
19:10. Wherefore Joab understanding that the battle was set against him before and behind, chose out the bravest men of all Israel, and marched against the Syrians,
19:11. And the rest of the people he delivered into the hand of Abisai his brother, and they went against the children of Ammon.
19:12. And he said: If the Syrians be too strong for me, then thou shalt help me: but if the children of Ammon be too strong for thee, I will help thee.
19:13. Be of good courage and let us behave ourselves manfully for our people, and for the cities of our God: and the Lord will do that which is good in his sight.
19:14. So Joab and the people that were with him, went against the Syrians to the battle: and he put them to flight.
19:15. And the children of Ammon seeing that the Syrians were fled, they likewise fled from Abisai his brother, and went into the city: and Joab also returned to Jerusalem.
19:16. But the Syrians seeing that they had fallen before Israel, sent messengers, and brought to them the Syrians that were beyond the river: and Sophach, general of the army of Adarezer, was their leader.
19:17. And it was told David, and he gathered together all Israel, and passed the Jordan, and came upon them, and put his army in array against them, and they fought with him.
19:18. But the Syrian fled before Israel: and David slew of the Syrians seven thousand chariots, and forty thousand footmen, and Sophach the general of the army.
Seven thousand chariots.... That is, of men who fought in chariots.
19:19. And when the servants of Adarezer saw themselves overcome by Israel, they went over to David, and served him: and Syria would not help the children of Ammon any more.
1 Paralipomenon Chapter 20
Rabba is taken. Other victories over the Philistines.
20:1. And it came to pass after the course of a year, at the time that kings go out to battle, Joab gathered together an army and the strength of the troops, and wasted the land of the children of Ammon: and went and besieged Rabba. But David stayed at Jerusalem, when Joab smote Rabba, and destroyed it.
20:2. And David took the crown of Melchom from his head, and found in it a talent weight of gold, and most precious stones, and he made himself a diadem of it: he took also the spoils of the city which were very great.
20:3. And the people that were therein he brought out: and made harrows, and sleds, and chariots of iron to go over them, so that they were cut and bruised to pieces: in this manner David dealt with all the cities of the children of Ammon: and he returned with all his people to Jerusalem.
20:4. After this there arose a war at Gazer against the Philistines: in which Sabachai the Husathite slew Saphai of the race of Raphaim, and humbled them.
20:5. Another battle also was fought against the Philistines, in which Adeodatus the son of Saltus a Bethlehemite slew the brother of Goliath the Gethite, the staff of whose spear was like a weaver’s beam.
20:6. There was another battle also in Geth, in which there was a man of great stature, whose fingers and toes were four and twenty, six on each hand and foot: who also was born of the stock of Rapha.
20:7. He reviled Israel: but Jonathan the son of Samaa the brother of David slew him. These were the sons of Rapha in Geth, who fell by the hand of David and his servants.
1 Paralipomenon Chapter 21
David’s sin in numbering the people is punished by a pestilence: which ceaseth upon his offering sacrifice in the thrashingfloor of Ornan.
21:1. And Satan rose up against Israel: and moved David to number Israel.
21:2. And David said to Joab, and to the rulers of the people: Go, and number Israel from Bersabee even to Dan, and bring me the number of them that I may know it.
21:3. And Joab answered: The Lord make his people a hundred times more than they are: but, my lord the king, are they not all thy servants: why doth my lord seek this thing, which may be imputed as a sin to Israel?
21:4. But the king’s word rather prevailed: and Joab departed, and went through all Israel: and returned to Jerusalem.
21:5. And he gave David the number of them, whom he had surveyed: and all the number of Israel was found to be eleven hundred thousand men that drew the sword: and of Juda four hundred and seventy thousand fighting men.
The number, etc.... The difference of the numbers here and 2 Kings 24. is to be accounted for, by supposing the greater number to be that which was really found, and the lesser to be that which Joab gave in.
21:6. But Levi and Benjamin he did not number: for Joab unwillingly executed the king’s orders.
21:7. And God was displeased with this thing that was commanded: and he struck Israel.
21:8. And David said to God: I have sinned exceedingly in doing this: I beseech thee take away the iniquity of thy servant, for I have done foolishly.
21:9. And the Lord spoke to Gad the seer of David, saying:
21:10. Go, and speak to David, and tell him: Thus saith the Lord: I give thee the choice of three things: choose one which thou wilt, and I will do it to thee.
21:11. And when Gad was come to David, he said to him: Thus saith the Lord: choose which thou wilt:
21:12. Either three years famine: or three months to flee from thy enemies, and not to be able to escape their sword: or three days to have the sword of the Lord, and pestilence in the land, and the angel of the Lord destroying in all the coasts of Israel: now therefore see what I shall answer him who sent me.
Three years famine.... Which joined with the three foregoing years of famine mentioned, 2 Kings 21. and the seventh year of the land’s resting, would make up the seven years proposed by the prophet, 2 Kings 24.13.
21:13. And David said to Gad: I am on every side in a great strait: but it is better for me to fall into the hands of the Lord, for his mercies are many, than into the hands of men.
21:14. So the Lord sent a pestilence upon Israel. And there fell of Israel seventy thousand men.
21:15. And he sent an angel to Jerusalem, to strike it: and as he was striking it, the Lord beheld, and took pity for the greatness of the evil: and said to the angel that destroyed: It is enough, now stop thy hand. And the angel of the Lord stood by the thrashingfloor of Ornan the Jebusite.
Ornan.... Otherwise Areuna.
21:16. And David lifting up his eyes, saw the angel of the Lord standing between heaven and earth, with a drawn sword in his hand, turned against Jerusalem: and both he and the ancients clothed in haircloth, fell down flat on the ground.
21:17. And David said to God: Am not I he that commanded the people to be numbered? It is I that have sinned: it is I that have done the evil: but as for this flock, what hath it deserved? O Lord my God, let thy hand be turned, I beseech thee, upon me, and upon my father’s house: and let not thy people be destroyed.
21:18. And the angel of the Lord commanded Gad to tell David, to go up, and build an altar to the Lord God in the thrashingfloor of Ornan the Jebusite.
21:19. And David went up, according to the word of Gad, which he spoke to him in the name of the Lord.
21:20. Now when Ornan looked up, and saw the angel, he and his four sons hid themselves: for at that time he was thrashing wheat in the floor.
21:21. And as David was coming to Ornan, Ornan saw him, and went out of the thrashingfloor to meet him, and bowed down to him with his face to the ground.
21:22. And David said to him: Give me this place of thy thrashingfloor, that I may build therein an altar to the Lord: but thou shalt take of me as much money as it is worth, that the plague may cease from the people.
21:23. And Ornan said to David: Take it, and let my lord the king do all that pleaseth him: and moreover the oxen also I give for a holocaust, and the drays for wood, and the wheat for the sacrifice: I will give it all willingly.
21:24. And king David said to him: It shall not be so, but I will give thee money as much as it is worth: for I must not take it from thee, and so offer to the Lord holocausts free cost.
21:25. So David gave to Ornan for the place, six hundred sicles of gold of just weight.
Six hundred sicles, etc.... This was the price of the whole place, on which the temple was afterwards built; but the price of the oxen was fifty sicles of silver. 2 Kings 24.24.
21:26. And he built there an altar to the Lord: and he offered holocausts, and peace offerings, and he called upon the Lord, and he heard him by sending fire from heaven upon the altar of the holocaust.
21:27. And the Lord commanded the angel: and he put up his sword again into the sheath.
21:28. And David seeing that the Lord had heard him in the thrashingfloor of Ornan the Jebusite, forthwith offered victims there.
21:29. But the tabernacle of the Lord, which Moses made in the desert, and the altar of holocausts, was at that time in the high place of Gabaon.
21:30. And David could not go to the altar there to pray to God: for he was seized with an exceeding great fear, seeing the sword of the angel of the Lord.
1 Paralipomenon Chapter 22
David having prepared all necessaries, chargeth Solomon to build the temple and the princes to assist him.
22:1. Then David said: This is the house of God, And this is the altar for the holocaust of Israel.
22:2. And he commanded to gather together all the proselytes of the land of Israel, and out of them he appointed stonecutters to hew stones and polish them, to build the house of God.
22:3. And David prepared in abundance iron for the nails of the gates, and for the closures and joinings: and of brass an immense weight.
22:4. And the cedar trees were without number, which the Sidonians, and Tyrians brought to David.
22:5. And David said: Solomon my son is very young and tender, and the house which I would have to be built to the Lord, must be such as to be renowned in all countries: therefore I will prepare him necessaries. And therefore before his death he prepared all the charges.
22:6. And he called for Solomon his son: and commanded him to build a house to the Lord the God of Israel.
22:7. And David said to Solomon: My son, it was my desire to have built a house to the name of the Lord my God.
22:8. But the word of the Lord came to me, saying: Thou hast shed much blood, and fought many battles, so thou canst not build a house to my name, after shedding so much blood before me:
22:9. The son, that shall be born to thee, shall be a most quiet man: for I will make him rest from all his enemies round about: and therefore he shall be called Peaceable: and I will give peace and quietness to Israel all his days.
22:10. He shall build a house to my name, and he shall be a son to me, and I will be a father to him: and I will establish the throne of his kingdom over Israel for ever.
22:11. Now then, my son, the Lord be with thee, and do thou prosper, and build the house to the Lord thy God, as he hath spoken of thee.
22:12. The Lord also give thee wisdom and understanding, that thou mayest be able to rule Israel, and to keep the law of the Lord thy God.
22:13. For then thou shalt be able to prosper, if thou keep the commandments, and judgments, which the Lord commanded Moses to teach Israel: take courage and act manfully, fear not, nor be dismayed.
22:14. Behold I in my poverty have prepared the charges of the house of the Lord, of gold a hundred thousand talents, and of silver a million of talents: but of brass, and of iron there is no weight, for the abundance surpasseth all account: timber also and stones I have prepared for all the charges.
22:15. Thou hast also workmen in abundance, hewers of stones, and masons, and carpenters, and of all trades the most skilful in their work,
22:16. In gold, and in silver, and in brass, and in iron, whereof there is no number. Arise then, and be doing, and the Lord will be with thee.
22:17. David also charged all the princes of Israel, to help Solomon his son,
22:18. Saying: You see, that the Lord your God is with you, and hath given you rest round about, and hath delivered all your enemies into your hands, and the land is subdued before the Lord, and before his people.
22:19. Give therefore your hearts and your souls, to seek the Lord your God and arise, and build a sanctuary to the Lord God, that the ark of the covenant of the Lord, and the vessels consecrated to the Lord, may be brought into the house, which is built to the name of the Lord.
1 Paralipomenon Chapter 23
David appointeth Solomon king. The distribution of the Levites and their offices.
23:1. David being old and full of days, made Solomon his son king over Israel.
23:2. And he gathered together all the princes of Israel, and the priests and Levites.
23:3. And the Levites were numbered from the age of thirty years, and upwards: and there were found of them thirty-eight thousand men.
23:4. Of these twenty-four thousand were chosen, and distributed unto the ministry of the house of the Lord: and six thousand were the overseers and judges.
23:5. Moreover four thousand were porters: and as many singers singing to the Lord with the instruments, which he had made to sing with.
23:6. And David distributed them into courses by the families of the sons of Levi, to wit, of Gerson, and of Caath, and of Merari.
23:7. The sons of Gerson were Leedan and Semei.
23:8. The sons of Leedan: the chief Jahiel, and Zethan, and Joel, three.
23:9. The sons of Semei: Salomith, and Hosiel, and Aran, three: these were the heads of the families of Leedan.
23:10. And the sons of Semei were Leheth, and Ziza, and Jaus, and Baria: these were the sons of Semei, four.
23:11. And Leheth was the first, Ziza the second: but Jaus and Baria had not many children, and therefore they were counted in one family, and in one house.
23:12. The sons of Caath were Amram, and Isaar, Hebron, and Oziel, four.
23:13. The sons of Amram, Aaron, and Moses. And Aaron was separated to minister in the holy of holies, he and his sons for ever, and to burn incense before the Lord, according to his ceremonies, and to bless his name for ever.
23:14. The sons also of Moses, the man of God, were numbered in the tribe of Levi.
23:15. The sons of Moses were Gersom and Eliezer:
23:16. The sons of Gersom: Subuel the first.
23:17. And the sons of Eliezer were: Rohobia the first: and Eliezer had no more sons. But the sons of Rohobia were multiplied exceedingly.
23:18. The sons of Isaar: Salomith the first.
23:19. The sons of Hebron: Jeriau the first, Amarias the second, Jahaziel the third, Jecmaam the fourth.
23:20. The sons of Oziel: Micha the first, Jesia the second.
23:21. The sons of Merari: Moholi, and Musi. The sons of Moholi: Eleazar and Cis.
23:22. And Eleazar died, and had no sons but daughters: and the sons of Cis their brethren took them.
23:23. The sons of Musi: Moholi, and Eder, and Jerimoth, three.
23:24. These are the sons of Levi in their kindreds and families, princes by their courses, and the number of every head that did the works of the ministry of the house of the Lord from twenty years old and upward.
23:25. For David said: The Lord the God of Israel hath given rest to his people, and a habitation in Jerusalem for ever.
23:26. And it shall not be the office of the Levites to carry any more the tabernacle, and all the vessels for the service thereof.
23:27. So according to the last precepts of David, the sons of Levi are to be numbered from twenty years old and upward.
23:28. And they are to be under the hand of the sons of Aaron for the service of the house of the Lord, in the porches, and in the chambers, and in the place of purification, and in the sanctuary, and in all the works of the ministry of the temple of the Lord.
23:29. And the priests have the charge of the loaves of proposition, and of the sacrifice of fine flour, and of the unleavened cakes, and of the fryingpan, and of the roasting, and of every weight and measure.
23:30. And the Levites are to stand in the morning to give thanks, and to sing praises to the Lord: and in like manner in the evening,
23:31. As well in the oblation of the holocausts of the Lord, as in the sabbaths and in the new moons, and the rest of the solemnities, according to the number and ceremonies prescribed for every thing, continually before the Lord.
23:32. And let them keep the observances of the tabernacle of the covenant, and the ceremonies of the sanctuary, and the charge of the sons of Aaron their brethren, that they may minister in the house of the Lord.
1 Paralipomenon Chapter 24
The divisions of the priests into four and twenty courses, to serve in the temple: the chiefs of the Levites.
24:1. Now these were the divisions of the sons of Aaron: The sons of Aaron: Nadab, and Abiu, and Eleazar, and Ithamar.
24:2. But Nadab and Abiu died before their father, and had no children: so Eleazar, and Ithamar did the office of the priesthood.
24:3. And David distributed them, that is, Sadoc of the sons of Eleazar, and Ahimelech of the sons of Ithamar, according to their courses and ministry.
24:4. And there were found many more of the sons of Eleazar among the principal men, than of the sons of Ithamar. And he divided them so, that there were of the sons of Eleazar, sixteen chief men by their families: and of the sons of Ithamar eight by their families and houses.
24:5. And he divided both the families one with the other by lot: for there were princes of the sanctuary, and princes of God, both of the sons of Eleazar, and of the sons of Ithamar.
24:6. And Semeias the son of Nathanael the scribe a Levite, wrote them down before the king and the princes, and Sadoc the priest, and Ahimelech the son of Abiathar, and the princes also of the priestly and Levitical families: one house, which was over the rest, of Eleazar: and another house, which had the rest under it, of Ithamar.
24:7. Now the first lot came forth to Joiarib, the second to Jedei,
24:8. The third to Harim, the fourth to Seorim,
24:9. The fifth to Melchia, the sixth to Maiman,
24:10. The seventh to Accos, the eighth to Abia,
24:11. The ninth to Jesua, the tenth to Sechenia,
24:12. The eleventh to Eliasib, the twelfth to Jacim,
24:13. The thirteenth to Hoppha, the fourteenth to Isbaab,
24:14. The fifteenth to Belga, the sixteenth to Emmer,
24:15. The seventeenth to Hezir, the eighteenth to Aphses,
24:16. The nineteenth to Pheteia, the twentieth to Hezechiel,
24:17. The one and twentieth to Jachin, the two and twentieth to Gamul,
24:18. The three and twentieth to Dalaiau, the four and twentieth to Maaziau.
24:19. These are their courses according to their ministries, to come into the house of the Lord, and according to their manner under the hand of Aaron their father: as the Lord the God of Israel had commanded.
24:20. Now of the rest of the sons of Levi, there was of the sons of Amram, Subael: and of the sons of Subael, Jehedeia.
24:21. Also of the sons of Rohobia the chief Jesias.
24:22. And the son of Isaar Salemoth, and the son of Salemoth Jahath:
24:23. And his son Jeriau the first, Amarias the second, Jahaziel the third, Jecmaan the fourth.
24:24. The son of Oziel, Micha: the son of Micha, Samir.
24:25. The brother of Micha, Jesia: and the son of Jesia, Zacharias.
24:26. The sons of Merari: Moholi and Musi: the son of Oziau: Benno.
24:27. The son also of Merari Oziau, and Soam, and Zacchur, and Hebri.
24:28. And the son of Moholi: Eleazar, who had no sons.
24:29. And the son of Cis, Jeramael.
24:30. The sons of Musi: Moholi, Eder, and Jerimoth. These are the sons of Levi according to the houses of their families.
24:31. And they also cast lots over against their brethren the sons of Aaron before David the king, and Sadoc, and Ahimelech, and the princes of the priestly and Levitical families, both the elder and the younger. The lot divided all equally.
1 Paralipomenon Chapter 25
The number and divisions of the musicians.
25:1. Moreover David and the chief officers of the army separated for the ministry the sons of Asaph, and of Heman, and of Idithun: to prophesy with harps, and with psalteries, and with cymbals according to their number serving in their appointed office.
25:2. Of the sons of Asaph: Zacchur, and Joseph, and Nathania, and Asarela, sons of Asaph: under the hand of Asaph prophesying near the king.
25:3. And of Idithun: the sons of Idithun, Godolias, Sori, Jeseias, and Hasabias, and Mathathias, six, under the hand of their father Idithun, who prophesied with a harp to give thanks and to praise the Lord.
25:4. Of Heman also: the sons of Heman, Bocciau, Mathaniau, Oziel, Subuel, and Jerimoth, Hananias, Hanani, Eliatha, Geddelthi, and Romemthiezer, and Jesbacassa, Mellothi, Othir, Mahazioth:
25:5. All these were the sons of Heman the seer of the king in the words of God, to lift up the horn: and God gave to Heman fourteen sons and three daughters.
25:6. All these under their father’s hand were distributed to sing in the temple of the Lord, with cymbals, and psalteries and harps, for the service of the house of the Lord near the king: to wit, Asaph, and Idithun, and Heman.
25:7. And the number of them with their brethren, that taught the song of the Lord, all the teachers, were two hundred and eighty-eight.
25:8. And they cast lots by their courses, the elder equally with the younger, the learned and the unlearned together.
25:9. And the first lot came forth to Joseph, who was of Asaph. The second to Godolias, to him and his sons, and his brethren twelve.
25:10. The third to Zachur, to his sons and his brethren twelve.
25:11. The fourth to Isari, to his sons and his brethren twelve.
25:12. The fifth to Nathania, to his sons and his brethren twelve.
25:13. The sixth to Bocciau, to his sons and his brethren twelve.
25:14. The seventh to Isreela, to his sons and his brethren twelve.
25:15. The eighth to Jesaia, to his sons and his brethren twelve.
25:16. The ninth to Mathanaias, to his sons and his brethren twelve.
25:17. The tenth to Semeias, to his sons and his brethren twelve.
25:18. The eleventh to Azareel, to his sons and his brethren twelve.
25:19. The twelfth to Hasabia, to his sons and his brethren twelve.
25:20. The thirteenth to Subael, to his sons and his brethren twelve.
25:21. The fourteenth to Mathathias, to his sons and his brethren twelve.
25:22. The fifteenth to Jerimoth, to his sons and his brethren twelve.
25:23. The sixteenth to Hananias, to his sons and his brethren twelve.
25:24. The seventeenth to Jesbacassa, to his sons and his brethren twelve.
25:25. The eighteenth to Hanani, to his sons and his brethren twelve.
25:26. The nineteenth to Mellothi, to his sons and his brethren twelve.
25:27. The twentieth to Eliatha, to his sons and his brethren twelve.
25:28. The one and twentieth to Othir, to his sons and his brethren twelve.
25:29. The two and twentieth to Geddelthi, to his sons and his brethren twelve.
25:30. The three and twentieth to Mahazioth, to his sons and his brethren twelve.
25:31. The four and twentieth to Romemthiezer, to his sons and his brethren twelve.
1 Paralipomenon Chapter 26
The divisions of the porters. Offices of other Levites.
26:1. And the divisions of the porters: of the Corites Meselemia, the son of Core, of the sons of Asaph.
26:2. The sons of Meselemia: Zacharias the firstborn, Jadihel the second, Zabadias the third, Jathanael the fourth,
26:3. Elam the fifth, Johanan the sixth, Elioenai the seventh.
26:4. And the sons of Obededom, Semeias the firstborn, Jozabad the second, Joaha the third, Sachar the fourth, Nathanael the fifth,
26:5. Ammiel the sixth, Issachar the seventh, Phollathi the eighth: for the Lord had blessed him.
26:6. And to Semei his son were born sons, heads of their families: for they were men of great valour.
26:7. The sons then of Semeias were Othni, and Raphael, and Obed, Elizabad, and his brethren most valiant men: and Eliu, and Samachias.
26:8. All these of the sons of Obededom: they, and their sons, and their brethren most able men for service, sixty-two of Obededom.
26:9. And the sons of Meselemia, and their brethren strong men, were eighteen.
26:10. And of Hosa, that is, of the sons of Merari: Semri the chief, (for he had not a firstborn, and therefore his father made him chief.)
He had not a firstborn.... That is, his firstborn was either dead or not fit to be chief; and therefore he made Semri the chief.
26:11. Helcias the second, Tabelias the third, Zacharias the fourth: all these the sons, and the brethren of Hosa, were thirteen.
26:12. Among these were the divisions of the porters, so that the chiefs of the wards, as well as their brethren, always ministered in the house of the Lord.
26:13. And they cast lots equally, both little and great, by their families for every one of the gates.
26:14. And the lot of the east fell to Selemias. But to his son Zacharias, a very wise and learned man, the north gate fell by lot.
26:15. And to Obededom and his sons that towards the south: in which part of the house was the council of the ancients.
26:16. To Sephim, and Hosa towards the west, by the gate which leadeth to the way of the ascent: ward against ward.
26:17. Now towards the east were six Levites: and towards the north four a day: and towards the south likewise four a day: and where the council was, two and two.
26:18. In the cells also of the porters toward the west four in the way: and two at every cell.
26:19. These are the divisions of the porters of the sons of Core, and of Merari.
26:20. Now Achias was over the treasures of the house of God, and the holy vessels.
Holy vessels.... Or vessels of the holy places, or of things holy. Vasa sanctorum.
26:21. The sons of Ledan, the sons of Gersonni: of Ledan were heads of the families, of Ledan, and Gersonni, Jehieli.
26:22. The sons of Jehieli: Zathan and Joel, his brethren over the treasures of the house of the Lord,
26:23. With the Amramites, and Isaarites, and Hebronites, and Ozielites.
26:24. And Subael the son of Gersom, the son of Moses, was chief over the treasures.
26:25. His brethren also, Eliezer, whose son Rohobia, and his son Isaias, and his son Joram, and his son Zechri, and his son Selemith.
26:26. Which Selemith and his brethren were over the treasures of the holy things, which king David, and the heads of families, and the captains over thousands and over hundreds, and the captains of the host had dedicated,
26:27. Out of the wars, and the spoils won in battles, which they had consecrated to the building and furniture of the temple of the Lord.
26:28. And all these things that Samuel the seer and Saul the son of Cis, and Abner the son of Ner, and Joab the son of Sarvia had sanctified: and whosoever had sanctified those things, they were under the hand of Selemith and his brethren.
26:29. But Chonenias and his sons were over the Isaarites, for the business abroad over Israel to teach them and judge them.
26:30. And of the Hebronites Hasabias, and his brethren most able men, a thousand seven hundred had the charge over Israel beyond the Jordan westward, in all the works of the Lord, and for the service of the king.
26:31. And the chief of the Hebronites was Jeria according to their families and kindreds. In the fortieth year of the reign of David they were numbered, and there were found most valiant men in Jazer Galaad,
26:32. And his brethren of stronger age, two thousand seven hundred chiefs of families. And king David made them rulers over the Rubenites and the Gadites, and the half tribe of Manasses, for all the service of God, and the king.
1 Paralipomenon Chapter 27
The twelve captains for every month; the twelve princes of the tribes. David’s several officers.
27:1. Now the children of Israel according to their number, the heads of families, captains of thousands and of hundreds, and officers, that served the king according to their companies, who came in and went out every month in the year, under every chief were four and twenty thousand.
27:2. Over the first company the first month Jesboam, the son of Zabdiel was chief, and under him were four and twenty thousand.
27:3. Of the sons of Phares, the chief of all the captains in the host in the first month.
27:4. The company of the second month was under Dudia, an Ahohite, and after him was another named Macelloth, who commanded a part of the army of four and twenty thousand.
27:5. And the captain of the third company for the third month, was Banaias the son of Joiada the priest: and in his division were four and twenty thousand.
27:6. This is that Banaias the most valiant among the thirty, and above the thirty. And Amizabad his son commanded his company.
27:7. The fourth, for the fourth month, was Asahel the brother of Joab, and Zabadias his son after him: and in his company were four and twenty thousand.
27:8. The fifth captain for the fifth month, was Samaoth a Jezerite: and his company were four and twenty thousand.
27:9. The sixth, for the sixth month, was Hira the son of Acces a Thecuite: and in his company were four and twenty thousand.
27:10. The seventh, for the seventh month, was Helles a Phallonite of the sons of Ephraim: and in his company were four and twenty thousand.
27:11. The eighth, for the eighth month, was Sobochai a Husathite of the race of Zarahi: and in his company were four and twenty thousand.
27:12. The ninth, for the ninth month, was Abiezer an Anathothite of the sons of Jemini, and in his company were four and twenty thousand.
27:13. The tenth, for the tenth month, was Marai, who was a Netophathite of the race of Zarai: and in his company were four and twenty thousand.
27:14. The eleventh, for the eleventh month, was Banaias, a Pharathonite of the sons of Ephraim: and in his company were four and twenty thousand.
27:15. The twelfth, for the twelfth month, was Holdai a Netophathite, of the race of Gothoniel: and in his company were four and twenty thousand.
27:16. Now the chiefs over the tribes of Israel were these: over the Rubenites, Eliezer the son of Zechri was ruler: over the Simeonites, Saphatias the son of Maacha:
27:17. Over the Levites, Hasabias the son of Camuel: over the Aaronites, Sadoc:
27:18. Over Juda, Eliu the brother of David over Issachar, Amri the son of Michael:
27:19. Over the Zabulonites, Jesmaias the son of Adias: over the Nephtalites, Jerimoth the son of Ozriel:
27:20. Over the sons of Ephraim, Osee the son of Ozaziu: over the half tribe of Manasses, Joel the son of Phadaia:
27:21. And over the half tribe of Manasses in Galaad, Jaddo the son of Zacharias: and over Benjamin, Jasiel the son of Abner.
27:22. And over Dan, Ezrihel the son of Jeroham: these were the princes of the children of Israel.
27:23. But David would not number them from twenty years old and under: because the Lord had said that he would multiply Israel like the stars of heaven.
27:24. Joab the son of Sarvia began to number, but he finished not: because upon this there fell wrath upon Israel: and therefore the number of them that were numbered, was not registered in the chronicles of king David.
27:25. And over the king’s treasures was Azmoth the son of Adiel: and over those stores which were in the cities, and in the villages, and, in the castles, was Jonathan the son of Ozias.
27:26. And over the tillage, and the husbandmen, who tilled the ground, was Ezri the son of Chelub:
27:27. And over the dressers of the vine yards, was Semeias a Romathite: and over the wine cellars, Zabdias an Aphonite.
27:28. And over the oliveyards and the fig groves, which were in the plains, was Balanam a Gederite: and over the oil cellars, Joas.
27:29. And over the herds that fed in Saron, was Setrai a Saronite: and over the oxen in the valleys, Saphat the son of Adli:
27:30. And over the camels, Ubil an Ishmahelite and over the asses, Jadias a Meronathite:
27:31. And over the sheep Jaziz an Agarene. All these were the rulers of the substance of king David.
27:32. And Jonathan David’s uncle, a counsellor, a wise and learned man: he and Jahiel the son of Hachamoni were with the king’s sons.
27:33. And Achitophel was the king’s counsellor, and Chusai the Arachite, the king’s friend.
27:34. And after Achitophel was Joiada the son of Banaias, and Abiathar. And the general of the king’s army was Joab.
1 Paralipomenon Chapter 28
David’s speech, in a solemn assembly: his exhortation to Solomon. He giveth him a pattern of the temple.
28:1. And David assembled all the chief men of Israel, the princes of the tribes, and the captains of the companies, who waited on the king: and the captains over thousands, and over hundreds, and them who had the charge over the substance and possessions of the king, and his sons with the officers of the court, and the men of power, and all the bravest of the army at Jerusalem.
28:2. And the king rising up, and standing said: Hear me, my brethren and my people: I had a thought to have built a house, in which the ark of the Lord, and the footstool of our God might rest: and prepared all things for the building.
28:3. And God said to me: Thou shalt not build a house to my name: because thou art a man of war, and hast shed blood.
28:4. But the Lord God of Israel chose me of all the house of my father, to be king over Israel for ever: for of Juda he chose the princes: and of the house of Juda, my father’s house: and among the sons of my father, it pleased him to choose me king over all Israel.
28:5. And among my sons (for the Lord hath given me many sons) he hath chosen Solomon my son, to sit upon the throne of the kingdom of the Lord over Israel.
28:6. And he said to me: Solomon thy son shall build my house, and my courts: for I have chosen him to be my son, and I will be a father to him.
28:7. And I will establish his kingdom for ever, if he continue to keep my commandments, and my judgments, as at this day.
28:8. Now then before all the assembly of Israel, in the hearing of our God, keep ye, and seek all the commandments of the Lord our God: that you may possess the good land, and may leave it to your children after you for ever.
28:9. And thou my son Solomon, know the God of thy father, and serve him with a perfect heart, and a willing mind: for the Lord searcheth all hearts, and understandeth all the thoughts of minds. If thou seek him, thou shalt find him: but if thou forsake him, he will cast thee off for ever.
28:10. Now therefore seeing the Lord hath chosen thee to build the house of the sanctuary, take courage, and do it.
28:11. And David gave to Solomon his son a description of the porch, and of the temple, and of the treasures, and of the upper floor, and of the inner chambers, and of the house for the mercy seat,
28:12. As also of all the courts, which he had in his thought, and of the chambers round about, for the treasures of the house of the Lord, and for the treasures of the consecrated things,
28:13. And of the divisions of the priests and of the Levites, for all the works of the house of the Lord, and for all the vessels of the service of the temple of the Lord.
28:14. Gold by weight for every vessel for the ministry. And silver by weight according to the diversity of the vessels and uses.
28:15. He gave also gold for the golden candlesticks, and their lamps, according to the dimensions of every candlestick, and the lamps thereof. In like manner also he gave silver by weight for the silver candlesticks, and for their lamps according to the diversity of the dimensions of them.
28:16. He gave also gold for the tables of proposition, according to the diversity of the tables: in like manner also silver for other tables of silver.
28:17. For fleshhooks also, and bowls, and censers of fine gold, and for little lions of gold, according to the measure he gave by weight, for every lion. In like manner also for lions of silver he set aside a different weight of silver.
28:18. And for the altar of incense, he gave the purest gold: and to make the likeness of the chariot of the cherubims spreading their wings, and covering the ark of the covenant of the Lord.
28:19. All these things, said he, came to me written by the hand of the Lord that I might understand all the works of the pattern.
28:20. And David said to Solomon his son: Act like a man, and take courage, and do: fear not, and be not dismayed: for the Lord my God will be with thee, and will not leave thee, nor forsake thee, till thou hast finished all the work for the service of the house of the Lord.
28:21. Behold the courses of the priests and the Levites, for every ministry of the house of the Lord, stand by thee, and are ready, and both the princes, and the people know how to execute all thy commandments.
1 Paralipomenon Chapter 29
David by word and example encourageth the princes to contribute liberally to the building of the temple. His thanksgiving, prayer, and sacrifices: his death.
29:1. And king David said to all the assembly: Solomon my son, whom alone God hath chosen, is as yet young and tender: and the work is great, for a house is prepared not for man, but for God.
29:2. And I with all my ability have prepared the expenses for the house of my God. Gold for vessels of gold, and silver for vessels of silver, brass for things of brass, iron for things of iron, wood for things of wood: and onyx stones, and stones like alabaster, and of divers colours, and all manner of precious stones, and marble of Paros in great abundance.
29:3. Now over and above the things which I have offered into the house of my God I give of my own proper goods, gold and silver for the temple of my God, beside what things I have prepared for the holy house.
29:4. Three thousand talents of gold of the gold of Ophir: and seven thousand talents of refined silver, to overlay the walls of the temple.
29:5. And gold for wheresoever there is need of gold: and silver for wheresoever there is need of silver, for the works to be made by the hands of the artificers: now if any man is willing to offer, let him fill his hand to day, and offer what he pleaseth to the Lord.
29:6. Then the heads of the families, and the princes of the tribes of Israel and the captains of thousands, and of hundreds, and the overseers of the king’s possessions promised,
29:7. And they gave for the works of the house of the Lord, of gold, five thousand talents, and ten thousand solids: of silver ten thousand talents: and of brass eighteen thousand talents: and of iron a hundred thousand talents.
29:8. And all they that had stones, gave them to the treasures of the house of the Lord, by the hand of Jahiel the Gersonite.
29:9. And the people rejoiced, when they promised their offerings willingly: because they offered them to the Lord with all their heart: and David the king rejoiced also with a great joy.
29:10. And he blessed the Lord before all the multitude, and he said: Blessed art thou, O Lord the God of Israel, our father from eternity to eternity.
29:11. Thine, O Lord, is magnificence, and power, and glory, and victory: and to thee is praise: for all that is in heaven, and in earth, is thine: thine is the kingdom, O Lord, and thou art above all princes.
29:12. Thine are riches, and thine is glory, thou hast dominion over all, in thy hand is power and might: in thy hand greatness, and the empire of all things.
29:13. Now therefore our God we give thanks to thee, and we praise thy glorious name.
29:14. Who am I, and what is my people, that we should be able to promise thee all these things? all things are thine: and we have given thee what we received of thy hand.
29:15. For we are sojourners before thee, and strangers, as were all our fathers. Our days upon earth are as a shadow, and there is no stay.
29:16. O Lord our God, all this store that we have prepared to build thee a house for thy holy name, is from thy hand, and all things are thine.
29:17. I know my God that thou provest hearts, and lovest simplicity, wherefore I also in the simplicity of my heart, have joyfully offered all these things: and I have seen with great joy thy people, which are here present, offer thee their offerings.
29:18. O Lord God of Abraham, and of Isaac, and of Israel our fathers, keep for ever this will of their heart, and let this mind remain always for the worship of thee.
29:19. And give to Solomon my son a perfect heart, that he may keep thy commandments, thy testimonies, and thy ceremonies, and do all things: and build the house, for which I have provided the charges.
29:20. And David commanded all the assembly: Bless ye the Lord our God. And all the assembly blessed the Lord the God of their fathers: and they bowed themselves and worshipped God, and then the king.
29:21. And they sacrificed victims to the Lord: and they offered holocausts the next day, a thousand bullocks, a thousand rams, a thousand lambs, with their libations, and with every thing prescribed most abundantly for all Israel.
29:22. And they ate, and drank before the Lord that day with great joy. And they anointed the second time Solomon the son of David. And they anointed him to the Lord to be prince, and Sadoc to be high priest.
29:23. And Solomon sat on the throne of the Lord as king instead of David his father, and he pleased all: and all Israel obeyed him.
29:24. And all the princes, and men of power, and all the sons of king David gave their hand, and were subject to Solomon the king.
29:25. And the Lord magnified Solomon over all Israel: and gave him the glory of a reign, such as no king of Israel had before him.
29:26. So David the son of Isai reigned over all Israel.
29:27. And the days that he reigned over Israel, were forty years: in Hebron he reigned seven years, and in Jerusalem three and thirty years.
29:28. And he died in a good age, full of days, and riches, and glory. And Solomon his son reigned in his stead.
29:29. Now the acts of king David first and last are written in the book of Samuel the seer, and in the book of Nathan the prophet, and in the book of Gad the seer:
29:30. And of all his reign, and his valour, and of the times that passed under him, either in Israel, or in all the kingdoms of the countries.
THE SECOND BOOK OF PARALIPOMENON
2 Paralipomenon Chapter 1
Solomon offereth sacrifices at Gabaon. His choice of wisdom which God giveth him.
1:1. And Solomon the son of David was strengthened in his kingdom, and the Lord his God was with him, and magnified him to a high degree.
1:2. And Solomon gave orders to all Israel, to the captains of thousands, and of hundreds, and to the rulers, and to the judges of all Israel, and the heads of the families:
1:3. And he went with all the multitude to the high place of Gabaon, where was the tabernacle of the covenant of the Lord, which Moses the servant of God made, in the wilderness.
1:4. For David had brought the ark of God from Cariathiarim to the place, which he had prepared for it, and where he had pitched a tabernacle for it, that is, in Jerusalem.
1:5. And the altar of brass, which Beseleel the son of Uri the son of Hur had made, was there before the tabernacle of the Lord: and Solomon and all the assembly sought it:
1:6. And Solomon went up thither to the brazen altar, before the tabernacle of the covenant of the Lord, and offered up on it a thousand victims.
1:7. And behold that night God appeared to him, saying: Ask what thou wilt that I should give thee.
1:8. And Solomon said to God: Thou hast shewn great kindness to my father David: and hast made me king in his stead.
1:9. Now therefore, O Lord God, let thy word be fulfilled, which thou hast promised to David my father: for thou hast made me king over thy great people, which is as innumerable as the dust of the earth.
1:10. Give me wisdom and knowledge that I may come in and go out before thy people: for who can worthily judge this thy people, which is so great?
1:11. And God said to Solomon: Because this choice hath pleased thy heart, and thou hast not asked riches, and wealth, and glory, nor the lives of them that hate thee, nor many days of life: but hast asked wisdom and knowledge, to be able to judge my people, over which I have made thee king,
1:12. Wisdom and knowledge are granted to thee: and I will give thee riches, and wealth, and glory, so that none of the kings before thee, nor after thee, shall be like thee.
1:13. Then Solomon came from the high place of Gabaon to Jerusalem before the tabernacle of the covenant, and reigned over Israel.
1:14. And he gathered to himself chariots and horsemen, and he had a thousand four hundred chariots, and twelve thousand horsemen: and he placed them in the cities of the chariots, and with the king in Jerusalem.
1:15. And the king made silver and gold to be in Jerusalem as stones, and cedar trees as sycamores, which grow in the plains in great multitude.
1:16. And there were horses brought him from Egypt, and from Coa by the king’s merchants, who went, and bought at a price,
1:17. A chariot of four horses for six hundred pieces of silver, and a horse for a hundred and fifty: in like manner market was made in all the kingdoms of the Hethites, and of the kings of Syria.
2 Paralipomenon Chapter 2
Solomon’s embassy to Hiram, who sends him a skilful workman and timber.
2:1. And Solomon determined to build a house to the name of the Lord, and a palace for himself.
2:2. And he numbered out seventy thousand men to bear burdens, and eighty thousand to hew stones in the mountains, and three thousand six hundred to oversee them.
2:3. He sent also to Hiram king of Tyre, saying: As thou didst with David my father, and didst send him cedars, to build him a house, in which he dwelt:
2:4. So do with me that I may build a house to the name of the Lord my God, to dedicate it to burn incense before him, and to perfume with aromatical spices, and for the continual setting forth of bread, and for the holocausts, morning and evening, and on the sabbaths, and on the new moons, and the solemnities of the Lord our God for ever, which are commanded for Israel.
2:5. For the house which I desire to build, is great: for our God is great above all gods.
2:6. Who then can be able to build him a worthy house? if heaven, and the heavens of heavens cannot contain him: who am I that I should be able to build him a house? but to this end only, that incense may be burnt before him.
2:7. Send me therefore a skilful man, that knoweth how to work in gold, and in silver, in brass, and in iron, in purple, in scarlet and in blue, and that hath skill in engraving, with the artificers, which I have with me in Judea and Jerusalem, whom David my father provided.
2:8. Send me also cedars, and fir trees, and pine trees from Libanus: for I know that thy servants are skilful in cutting timber in Libanus, and my servants shall be with thy servants,
2:9. To provide me timber in abundance. For the house which I desire to build, is to be exceeding great, and glorious.
2:10. And I will give thy servants the workmen that are to cut down the trees, for their food twenty thousand cores of wheat, and as many cores of barley, and twenty thousand measures of wine, and twenty thousand measures of oil.
2:11. And Hiram king of Tyre sent a letter to Solomon, saying: Because the Lord hath loved his people, therefore he hath made thee king over them.
2:12. And he added, saying: Blessed be the Lord the God of Israel, who made heaven and earth, who hath given to king David a wise and knowing son, endued with understanding and prudence, to build a house to the Lord, and a palace for himself.
2:13. I therefore have sent thee my father Hiram, a wise and most skilful man,
2:14. The son of a woman of the daughters of Dan, whose father was a Tyrian, who knoweth how to work in gold, and in silver, in brass, and in iron, and in marble, and in timber, in purple also, and violet, and silk and scarlet: and who knoweth to grave all sort of graving, and to devise ingeniously all that there may be need of in the work with thy artificers, and with the artificers of my lord David thy father.
2:15. The wheat therefore, and the barley and the oil, and the wine, which thou, my lord, hast promised, send to thy servants.
2:16. And we will cut down as many trees out of Libanus, as thou shalt want, and will convey them in floats by sea to Joppe: and it will be thy part to bring them thence to Jerusalem.
2:17. And Solomon numbered all the proselytes in the land of Israel, after the numbering which David his father had made, and they were found a hundred and fifty-three thousand and six hundred.
2:18. And he set seventy thousand of them to carry burdens on their shoulders, and eighty thousand to hew stones in the mountains: and three thousand and six hundred to be overseers of the work of the people.
2 Paralipomenon Chapter 3
The plan and ornaments of the temple: the cherubims, the veil, and the pillars.
3:1. And Solomon began to build the house of the Lord in Jerusalem, in mount Moria, which had been shewn to David his father, in the place which David had prepared in the thrashingfloor of Ornan the Jebusite.
3:2. And he began to build in the second month, in the fourth year of his reign.
3:3. Now these are the foundations, which Solomon laid, to build the house of God, the length by the first measure sixty cubits, the breadth twenty cubits.
3:4. And the porch in the front, which was extended in length according to the measure of the breadth of the house, twenty cubits: and the height was a hundred and twenty cubits: and he overlaid it within with pure gold.
3:5. And the greater house he ceiled with deal boards, and overlaid them with plates of fine gold throughout: and he graved in them palm trees, and like little chains interlaced with one another.
3:6. He paved also the floor of the temple with most precious marble, of great beauty.
3:7. And the gold of the plates with which he overlaid the house, and the beams thereof, and the posts, and the walls, and the doors was of the finest: and he graved cherubims on the walls.
3:8. He made also the house of the holy of holies: the length of it according to the breadth of the temple, twenty cubits, and the breadth of it in like manner twenty cubits: and he overlaid it with plates of gold, amounting to about six hundred talents.
3:9. He made also nails of gold, and the weight of every nail was fifty sicles: the upper chambers also he overlaid with gold.
3:10. He made also in the house of the holy of holies two cherubims of image work: and he overlaid them with gold.
3:11. The wings of the cherubims were extended twenty cubits, so that one wing was five cubits long, and reached to the wall of the house: and the other was also five cubits long, and reached to the wing of the other cherub.
3:12. In like manner the wing of the other cherub, was five cubits long, and reached to the wall: and his other wing was five cubits long, and touched the wing of the other cherub.
3:13. So the wings of the two cherubims were spread forth, and were extended twenty cubits: and they stood upright on their feet, and their faces were turned toward the house without.
3:14. He made also a veil of violet, purple, scarlet, and silk: and wrought in it cherubims.
3:15. He made also before the doors of the temple two pillars, which were five and thirty cubits high: and their chapiters were five cubits.
3:16. He made also as it were little chains in the oracle, and he put them on the heads of the pillars: and a hundred pomegranates, which he put between the little chains.
3:17. These pillars he put at the entrance of the temple, one on the right hand, and the other on the left: that which was on the right hand, he called Jachin: and that on the left hand, Booz.
2 Paralipomenon Chapter 4
The altar of brass, the molten sea upon twelve oxen, the ten loaves, the candlesticks and other vessels and ornaments of the temple.
4:1. He made also an altar of brass twenty cubits long, and twenty cubits broad, and ten cubits high.
4:2. Also a molten sea of ten cubits from brim to brim, round in compass: it was five cubits high, and a line of thirty cubits compassed it round about.
4:3. And under it there was the likeness of oxen, and certain engravings on the outside of ten cubits compassed the belly of the sea, as it were with two rows.
4:4. And the oxen were cast: and the sea itself was set upon the twelve oxen, three of which looked toward the north, and other three toward the west: and other three toward the south, and the other three that remained toward the east, and the sea stood upon them: and the hinder parts of the oxen were inward under the sea.
4:5. Now the thickness of it was a handbreadth, and the brim of it was like the brim of a cup, or of a crisped lily: and it held three thousand measures.
4:6. He made also ten lavers: and he set five on the right hand, and five on the left, to wash in them all such things as they were to offer for holocausts: but the sea was for the priests to wash in.
4:7. And he made ten golden candlesticks, according to the form which they were commanded to be made by: and he set them in the temple, five on the right hand, and five on the left.
4:8. Moreover also ten tables: and he set them in the temple, five on the right side, and five on the left. Also a hundred bowls of gold.
4:9. He made also the court of the priests, and a great hall, and doors in the hall, which he covered with brass.
4:10. And he set the sea on the right side over against the east toward the south.
4:11. And Hiram made caldrons, and fleshhooks, and bowls: and finished all the king’s work in the house of God:
4:12. That is to say, the two pillars, and the pommels, and the chapiters, and the network, to cover the chapiters over the pommels.
4:13. And four hundred pomegranates, and two wreaths of network, so that two rows of pomegranates were joined to each wreath, to cover the pommels, and the chapiters of the pillars.
4:14. He made also bases, and lavers, which he set upon the bases:
4:15. One sea, and twelve oxen under the sea;
4:16. And the caldrons, and fleshhooks, and bowls. All the vessels did Hiram his father make for Solomon in the house of the Lord of the finest brass.
4:17. In the country near the Jordan did the king cast them, in a clay ground between Sochot and Saredatha.
4:18. And the multitude of vessels was innumerable, so that the weight of the brass was not known.
4:19. And Solomon made all the vessels for the house of God, and the golden altar, and the tables, upon which were the loaves of proposition,
4:20. The candlesticks also of most pure gold with their lamps to give light before the oracle, according to the manner.
4:21. And certain flowers, and lamps, and golden tongs: all were made of the finest gold.
4:22. The vessels also for the perfumes, and the censers, and the bowls, and the mortars, of pure gold. And he graved the doors of the inner temple, that is, for the holy of holies: and the doors of the temple without were of gold. And thus all the work was finished which Solomon made in the house of the Lord.
2 Paralipomenon Chapter 5
The ark is brought with great solemnity into the temple: the temple is filled with the glory of God.
5:1. Then Solomon brought in all those things that David his father had vowed, the silver, and the gold, and all the vessels he put among the treasures of the house of God.
5:2. And after this he gathered together the ancients of Israel and all the princes of the tribes, and the heads of the families, of the children of Israel to Jerusalem, to bring the ark of the covenant of the Lord out of the city of David, which is Sion.
5:3. And all the men of Israel came to the king in the solemn day of the seventh month.
5:4. And when all the ancients of Israel were come, the Levites took up the ark,
5:5. And brought it in, together with all the furniture of the tabernacle. And the priests with the Levites carried the vessels of the sanctuary, which were in the tabernacle.
5:6. And king Solomon and all the assembly of Israel and all that were gathered together before the ark, sacrificed rams, and oxen without number: so great was the multitude of the victims.
5:7. And the priests brought in the ark of the covenant of the Lord into its place, that is, to the oracle of the temple, into the holy of holies under the wings of the cherubims:
5:8. So that the cherubims spread their wings over the place, in which the ark was set, and covered the ark itself and its staves.
5:9. Now the ends of the staves wherewith the ark was carried, because they were some thing longer, were seen before the oracle: but if a man were a little outward, he could not see them. So the ark has been there unto this day.
5:10. And there was nothing else in the ark but the two tables which Moses put there at Horeb when the Lord gave the law to the children of Israel, at their coming out of Egypt.
5:11. Now when the priests were come out of the sanctuary, for all the priests that could be found there, were sanctified: and as yet at that time the courses and orders of the ministries were not divided among them,
5:12. Both the Levites and the singing men, that is, both they that were under Asaph, and they that were under Heman, and they that were under Idithun, with their sons, and their brethren, clothed with fine linen, sounded with cymbals, and psalteries, and harps, standing on the east side of the altar, and with them a hundred and twenty priests, sounding with trumpets.
5:13. So when they all sounded together, both with trumpets, and voice, and cymbals, and organs, and with divers kind of musical instruments, and lifted up their voice on high: the sound was heard afar off, so that when they began to praise the Lord, and to say: Give glory to the Lord for he is good, for his mercy endureth for ever: the house of God was filled with a cloud.
5:14. Nor could the priests stand and minister by reason of the cloud. For the glory of the Lord had filled the house of God.
2 Paralipomenon Chapter 6
Solomon’s blessings and prayer.
6:1. Then Solomon said: The Lord promised that he would dwell in a cloud.
6:2. But I have built a house to his name, that he might dwell there for ever.
6:3. And the king turned his face, and blessed all the multitude of Israel for all the multitude stood attentive and he said:
6:4. Blessed be the Lord the God of Israel, who hath accomplished in deed that which he spoke to David my father, saying:
6:5. From the day that I brought my people out of the land of Egypt, I chose no city among all the tribes of Israel, for a house to be built in it to my name: neither chose I any other man, to be the ruler of my people Israel.
6:6. But I chose Jerusalem, that my name might be there: and I chose David to set him over my people Israel.
6:7. And whereas David my father had a mind to build a house to the name of the Lord the God of Israel,
6:8. The Lord said to him: Forasmuch as it was thy will to build a house to my name, thou hast done well indeed in having such a will:
6:9. But thou shalt not build the house, but thy son, who shall come out of thy loins, he shall build a house to my name.
6:10. The Lord therefore hath accomplished his word which he spoke: and I am risen up in the place of David my father, and sit upon the throne of Israel, as the Lord promised: and have built a house to the name of the Lord God of Israel.
6:11. And I have put in it the ark, wherein is the covenant of the Lord, which he made with the children of Israel.
6:12. And he stood before the altar of the Lord, in presence of all the multitude of Israel, and stretched forth his hands.
6:13. For Solomon had made a brazen scaffold, and had set it in the midst of the temple, which was five cubits long, and five cubits broad, and three cubits high: and he stood upon it: then kneeling down in the presence of all the multitude of Israel, and lifting up his hands towards heaven,
6:14. He said: O Lord God of Israel, there is no God like thee in heaven nor in earth: who keepest covenant and mercy with thy servants, that walk before thee with all their hearts:
6:15. Who hast performed to thy servant David my father all that thou hast promised him: and hast accomplished in fact, what thou hast spoken with thy mouth, as also the present time proveth.
6:16. Now then, O Lord God of Israel, fulfil to thy servant David my father, whatsoever thou hast promised him, saying: There shall not fail thee a man in my sight, to sit upon the throne of Israel: yet so that thy children take heed to their ways, and walk in my law, as thou hast walked before me.
6:17. And now, Lord God of Israel, let thy word be established which thou hast spoken to thy servant David.
6:18. Is it credible then that God should dwell with men on the earth? If heaven and the heavens of heavens do not contain thee, how much less this house, which I have built?
6:19. But to this end only it is made, that thou mayest regard the prayer of thy servant and his supplication, O Lord my God: and mayest hear the prayers which thy servant poureth out before thee.
6:20. That thou mayest open thy eyes upon this house day and night, upon the place wherein thou hast promised that thy name should be called upon,
6:21. And that thou wouldst hear the prayer which thy servant prayeth in it: hearken then to the prayers of thy servant, and of thy people Israel. Whosoever shall pray in this place, hear thou from thy dwelling place, that is, from heaven, and shew mercy.
6:22. If any man sin against his neighbour, and come to swear against him, and bind himself with a curse before the altar in this house:
6:23. Then hear thou from heaven, and do justice to thy servants, so to requite the wicked by making his wickedness fall upon his own head, and to revenge the just, rewarding him according to his justice.
6:24. If thy people Israel be overcome by their enemies, (for they will sin against thee,) and being converted shall do penance, and call upon thy name, and pray to thee in this place,
6:25. Then hear thou from heaven, and forgive the sin of thy people Israel and bring them back into the land which thou gavest to them, and their fathers.
6:26. If the heavens be shut up, and there fall no rain by reason of the sin of the people, and they shall pray to thee in this place, and confess to thy name, and be converted from their sins, where thou dost afflict them,
6:27. Then hear thou from heaven, O Lord, and forgive the sins of thy servants and of thy people Israel and teach them the good way in which they may walk: and give rain to thy land which thou hast given to thy people to possess.
6:28. If a famine arise in the land, or a pestilence or blasting, or mildew, or locusts, or caterpillars: or if their enemies waste the country, and besiege the cities, whatsoever scourge or infirmity shall be upon them:
6:29. Then if any of thy people Israel, knowing his own scourge and infirmity shall pray, and shall spread forth his hands in this house,
6:30. Hear thou from heaven, from thy high dwelling place, and forgive, and render to every one according to his ways, which thou knowest him to have in his heart: for thou only knowest the hearts of the children of men:
6:31. That they may fear thee, and walk in thy ways all the days that they live upon the face of the land, which thou hast given to our fathers.
6:32. If the stranger also, who is not of thy people Israel, come from a far country, for the sake of thy great name, and thy strong hand, and thy stretched out arm, and adore in this place:
6:33. Hear thou from heaven thy firm dwelling place, and do all that which that stranger shall call upon thee for: that all the people of the earth may know thy name, and may fear thee, as thy people Israel, and may know, that thy name is invoked upon this house, which I have built.
6:34. If thy people go out to war against their enemies, by the way that thou shalt send them, and adore thee towards the way of this city, which thou hast chosen, and the house which I have built to thy name:
6:35. Then hear thou from heaven their prayers, and their supplications, and revenge them.
6:36. And if they sin against thee (for there is no man that sinneth not) and thou be angry with them, and deliver them up to their enemies, and they lead them away captive to a land either afar off, or near at hand,
6:37. And if they be converted in their heart in the land to which they were led captive, and do penance, and pray to thee in the land of their captivity saying: We have sinned, we have done wickedly, we have dealt unjustly:
6:38. And return to thee with all their heart, and with all their soul, in the land of their captivity, to which they were led away, and adore thee towards the way of their own land which thou gavest their fathers, and of the city, which thou hast chosen, and the house which I have built to thy name:
6:39. Then hear thou from heaven, that is, from thy firm dwelling place, their prayers, and do judgment, and forgive thy people, although they have sinned:
6:40. For thou art my God: let thy eyes, I beseech thee, be open, and let thy ears be attentive to the prayer, that is made in this place.
6:41. Now therefore arise, O Lord God, into thy resting place, thou and the ark of thy strength: let thy priests, O Lord God, put on salvation, and thy saints rejoice in good things.
6:42. O Lord God, turn not away the face of thy anointed: remember the mercies of David thy servant.
2 Paralipomenon Chapter 7
Fire from heaven consumeth the sacrifices. The solemnity of the dedication of the temple. God signifieth his having heard Solomon’s prayer: yet so if he continue to serve him.
7:1. And when Solomon had made an end of his prayer, fire came down from heaven, and consumed the holocausts and the victims: and the majesty of the Lord filled the house.
7:2. Neither could the priests enter into the temple of the Lord, because the majesty of the Lord had filled the temple of the Lord.
7:3. Moreover all the children of Israel saw the fire coming down, and the glory of the Lord upon the house: and falling down with their faces to the ground, upon the stone pavement, they adored and praised the Lord: because he is good, because his mercy endureth for ever.
7:4. And the king and all the people sacrificed victims before the Lord.
7:5. And king Solomon offered a sacrifice of twenty-two thousand oxen, and one hundred and twenty thousand rams: and the king and all the people dedicated the house of God.
7:6. And the priests stood in their offices: and the Levites with the instruments of music of the Lord, which king David made to praise the Lord: because his mercy endureth for ever, singing the hymns of David by their ministry: and the priests sounded with trumpets before them, and all Israel stood.
7:7. Solomon also sanctified the middle of the court before the temple of the Lord: for he offered there the holocausts, and the fat of the peace offerings: because the brazen altar, which he had made, could not hold the holocausts and the sacrifices and the fat:
7:8. And Solomon kept the solemnity at that time seven days, and all Israel with him, a very great congregation, from the entrance of Emath to the torrent of Egypt.
7:9. And he made on the eighth day a solemn assembly, because he had kept the dedication of the altar seven days, and had celebrated the solemnity seven days.
7:10. So on the three and twentieth day of the seventh month he sent away the people to their dwellings, joyful and glad for the good that the Lord had done to David, and to Solomon, and to all Israel his people.
7:11. And Solomon finished the house of the Lord, and the king’s house, and all that he had designed in his heart to do, in the house of the Lord, and in his own house, and he prospered.
7:12. And the Lord appeared to him by night, and said: I have heard thy prayer, and I have chosen this place to myself for a house of sacrifice.
7:13. If I shut up heaven, and there fall no rain, or if I give orders, and command the locust to devour the land, or if I send pestilence among my people:
7:14. And my people, upon whom my name is called, being converted, shall make supplication to me, and seek out my face, and do penance for their most wicked ways: then will I hear from heaven, and will forgive their sins and will heal their land.
7:15. My eyes also shall be open, and my ears attentive to the prayer of him that shall pray in this place.
7:16. For I have chosen, and have sanctified this place, that my name may be there for ever, and my eyes and my heart may remain there perpetually.
7:17. And as for thee, if thou walk before me, as David thy father walked, and do according to all that I have commanded thee, and keep my justices and my judgments:
7:18. I will raise up the throne of thy kingdom, as I promised to David thy father, saying: There shall not fail thee a man of thy stock to be ruler in Israel.
7:19. But if you turn away, and forsake my justices, and my commandments which I have set before you, and shall go and serve strange gods, and adore them,
7:20. I will pluck you up by the root out of my land which I have given you: and this house which I have sanctified to my name, I will cast away from before my face, and will make it a byword, and an example among all nations.
7:21. And this house shall be for a proverb to all that pass by, and they shall be astonished and say: Why hath the Lord done thus to this land, and to this house?
7:22. And they shall answer: Because they forsook the Lord the God of their fathers, who brought them out of the land of Egypt, and laid hold on strange gods, and adored them, and worshipped them: therefore all these evils are come upon them.
2 Paralipomenon Chapter 8
Solomon’s buildings and other acts.
8:1. And at the end of twenty years after Solomon had built the house of the Lord and his own house:
8:2. He built the cities which Hiram had given to Solomon, and caused the children of Israel to dwell there.
8:3. He went also into Emath Suba, and possessed it.
8:4. And he built Palmira in the desert, and he built other strong cities in Emath.
8:5. And he built Beth-horon the upper, and Beth-horon the nether, walled cities with gates and bars and locks.
8:6. Balaath also and all the strong cities that were Solomon’s, and all the cities of the chariots, and the cities of the horsemen. All that Solomon had a mind, and designed, he built in Jerusalem and in Libanus, and in all the land of his dominion.
8:7. All the people that were left of the Hethites, and the Amorrhites, and the Pherezites, and the Hevites, and the Jebusites, that were not of the stock of Israel:
8:8. Of their children, and of the posterity, whom the children of Israel had not slain, Solomon made to be the tributaries, unto this day.
8:9. But of the children of Israel he set none to serve in the king’s works: for they were men of war, and chief captains, and rulers of his chariots and horsemen.
8:10. And all the chief captains of king Solomon’s army were two hundred and fifty, who taught the people.
8:11. And he removed the daughter of Pharao from the city of David, to the house which he had built for her. For the king said: My wife shall not dwell in the house of David king of Israel, for it is sanctified: because the ark of the Lord came into it.
8:12. Then Solomon offered holocausts to the Lord upon the altar of the Lord which he had built before the porch,
8:13. That every day an offering might be made on it according to the ordinance of Moses, in the sabbaths, and on the new moons, and on the festival days three times a year, that is to say, in the feast of unleavened bread, and in the feast of weeks, and in the feast of tabernacles.
8:14. And he appointed according to the order of David his father the offices of the priests in their ministries: and the Levites in their order to give praise, and minister before the priests according to the duty of every day: and the porters in their divisions by gate and gate: for so David the man of God had commanded.
8:15. And the priests and Levites departed not from the king’s commandments, as to any thing that he had commanded, and as to the keeping of the treasures.
8:16. Solomon had all charges prepared, from the day that he founded the house of the Lord, until the day wherein he finished it.
8:17. Then Solomon went to Asiongaber, and to Ailath, on the coast of the Red Sea, which is in the land of Edom.
8:18. And Hiram sent him ships by the hands of his servants, and skilful mariners, and they went with Solomon’s servants to Ophir, and they took thence four hundred and fifty talents of gold, and brought it to king Solomon.
2 Paralipomenon Chapter 9
The queen of Saba admireth the wisdom of Solomon. His riches and glory. His death.
9:1. And when the queen of Saba heard of the fame of Solomon, she came to try him with hard questions at Jerusalem, with great riches, and camels, which carried spices, and abundance of gold, and precious stones. And when she was come to Solomon, she proposed to him all that was in her heart.
9:2. And Solomon explained to her all that she proposed: and there was not any thing that he did not make clear unto her.
9:3. And when she had seen these things, to wit, the wisdom of Solomon, and the house which he had built,
9:4. And the meats of his table, and the dwelling places of his servants, and the attendance of his officers, and their apparel, his cupbearers also, and their garments, and the victims which he offered in the house of the Lord: there was no more spirit in her, she was so astonished.
9:5. And she said to the king: The word is true which I heard in my country of thy virtues and wisdom.
9:6. I did not believe them that told it, until I came, and my eyes had seen, and I had proved that scarce one half of thy wisdom had been told me: thou hast exceeded the same with thy virtues.
9:7. Happy are thy men, and happy are thy servants, who stand always before thee, and hear thy wisdom.
9:8. Blessed be the Lord thy God, who hath been pleased to set thee on his throne, king of the Lord thy God. Because God loveth Israel, and will preserve them forever: therefore hath he made thee king over them, to do judgment and justice.
9:9. And she gave to the king a hundred and twenty talents of gold, and spices in great abundance, and most precious stones: there were no such spices as these which the queen of Saba gave to king Solomon.
9:10. And the servants also of Hiram, with the servants of Solomon, brought gold from Ophir, and thyine trees, and most precious stones:
9:11. And the king made of the thyine trees stairs in the house of the Lord, and in the king’s house, and harps and psalteries for the singing men: never were there seen such trees in the land of Juda.
9:12. And king Solomon gave to the queen of Saba all that she desired, and that she asked, and many more things than she brought to him: so she returned, and went to her own country with her servants.
9:13. And the weight of the gold, that was brought to Solomon every year, was six hundred and sixty-six talents of gold:
9:14. Beside the sum which the deputies of divers nations, and the merchants were accustomed to bring, and all the kings of Arabia, and the lords of the lands, who brought gold and silver to Solomon.
9:15. And king Solomon made two hundred golden spears, of the sum of six hundred pieces of gold, which went to every spear:
9:16. And three hundred golden shields of three hundred pieces of gold, which went to the covering of every shield: and the king put them in the armoury, which was compassed with a wood.
9:17. The king also made a great throne of ivory, and overlaid it with pure gold.
9:18. And six steps to go up to the throne, and a footstool of gold, and two arms one on either side, and two lions standing by the arms:
9:19. Moreover twelve other little lions standing upon the steps on both sides: there was not such a throne in any kingdom.
9:20. And all the vessels of the king’s table were of gold, and the vessels of the house of the forest of Libanus were of the purest gold. For no account was made of silver in those days.
9:21. For the king’s ships went to Tharsis with the servants of Hiram, once in three years: and they brought thence gold and silver, and ivory, and apes, and peacocks.
9:22. And Solomon was magnified above all the kings of the earth for riches and glory.
9:23. And all the kings of the earth desired to see the face of Solomon, that they might hear the wisdom which God had given in his heart.
9:24. And every year they brought him presents, vessels of silver and of gold, and garments, and armour, and spices, and horses, and mules.
9:25. And Solomon had forty thousand horses in the stables, and twelve thousand chariots, and horsemen, and he placed them in the cities of the chariots and where the king was in Jerusalem.
9:26. And he exercised authority over all the kings from the river Euphrates to the land of the Philistines, and to the borders of Egypt.
9:27. And he made silver as plentiful in Jerusalem as stones: and cedars as common as the sycamores, which grow in the plains.
9:28. And horses were brought to him out of Egypt, and out of all countries.
9:29. Now the rest of the acts of Solomon first and last are written in the words of Nathan the prophet, and in the books of Ahias the Silonite, and in the vision of Addo the seer, against Jeroboam the son of Nabat.
9:30. And Solomon reigned in Jerusalem over all Israel forty years.
9:31. And he slept with his fathers: and they buried him in the city of David: and Roboam his son reigned in his stead.
2 Paralipomenon Chapter 10
Roboam answereth the people roughly: upon which ten tribes revolt.
10:1. And Roboam went to Sichem: for thither all Israel were assembled, to make him king.
10:2. And when Jeroboam the son of Nabat, who was in Egypt, (for he was fled thither from Solomon,) heard it, forthwith he returned.
10:3. And they sent for him, and he came with all Israel, and they spoke to Roboam, saying:
10:4. Thy father oppressed us with a most grievous yoke, do thou govern us with a lighter hand than thy father, who laid upon us a heavy servitude, and ease some thing of the burden, that we may serve thee.
10:5. And he said to them: Come to me again after three days. And when the people were gone,
10:6. He took counsel with the ancients, who had stood before his father Solomon, while he yet lived, saying: What counsel give you to me, that I may answer the people?
10:7. And they said to him: If thou please this people, and soothe them with kind words, they will be thy servants for ever.
10:8. But he forsook the counsel of the ancients, and began to treat with the young men, that had been brought up with him, and were in his train.
10:9. And he said to them: What seemeth good to you? or what shall I answer this people, who have said to me: Ease the yoke which thy father laid upon us?
10:10. But they answered as young men, and brought up with him in pleasures, and said: Thus shalt thou speak to the people, that said to thee: Thy father made our yoke heavy, do thou ease it: thus shalt thou answer them: My little finger is thicker than the loins of my father.
10:11. My father laid upon you a heavy yoke, and I will add more weight to it: my father beat you with scourges, but I will beat you with scorpions.
10:12. So Jeroboam, and all the people came to Roboam the third day, as he commanded them.
10:13. And the king answered roughly, leaving the counsel of the ancients.
10:14. And he spoke according to the advice of the young men: My father laid upon you a heavy yoke, which I will make heavier: my father beat you with scourges, but I will beat you with scorpions.
10:15. And he condescended not to the people’s requests: for it was the will of God, that his word might be fulfilled which he had spoken by the hand of Ahias the Silonite to Jeroboam the son of Nabat.
10:16. And all the people upon the king’s speaking roughly, said thus unto him: We have no part in David, nor inheritance in the son of Isai. Return to thy dwellings, O Israel, and do thou, O David feed thy own house. And Israel went away to their dwellings.
10:17. But Roboam reigned over the children of Israel that dwelt in the cities of Juda.
10:18. And king Roboam sent Aduram, who was over the tributes, and the children of Israel stoned him, and he died: and king Roboam made haste to get up into his chariot, and fled into Jerusalem.
10:19. And Israel revolted from the house of David unto this day.
2 Paralipomenon Chapter 11
Roboam’s reign. His kingdom is strengthened.
11:1. And Roboam came to Jerusalem, and called together all the house of Juda and of Benjamin, a hundred and fourscore thousand chosen men and warriors, to fight against Israel, and to bring back his kingdom to him.
11:2. And the word of the Lord came to Semeias the man of God, saying:
11:3. Speak to Roboam the son of Solomon the king of Juda, and to all Israel, in Juda and Benjamin:
11:4. Thus saith the Lord: You shall not go up, nor fight against your brethren: let every man return to his own house, for by my will this thing has been done. And when they heard the word of the Lord, they returned, and did not go against Jeroboam,
11:5. And Roboam dwelt in Jerusalem, and built walled cities in Juda.
11:6. And he built Bethlehem, and Etam, and Thecue,
11:7. And Bethsur, and Socho, and Odollam,
11:8. And Geth, and Maresa, and Ziph,
11:9. And Aduram, and Lachis, and Azecha,
11:10. Saraa also, and Aialon, and Hebron, which are in Juda and Benjamin, well fenced cities.
11:11. And when he had enclosed them with walls, he put in them governors and storehouses of provisions, that is, of oil and of wine.
11:12. Moreover in every city he made an armoury of shields and spears, and he fortified them with great diligence, and he reigned over Juda, and Benjamin,
11:13. And the priests and Levites, that were in all Israel, came to him out of all their seats,
11:14. Leaving their suburbs, and their possessions, and passing over to Juda, and Jerusalem, because Jeroboam and his sons had cast them off, from executing the priestly office to the Lord.
11:15. And he made to himself priests for the high places, and for the devils, and for the calves which he had made.
11:16. Moreover out of all the tribes of Israel, whosoever gave their heart to seek the Lord the God of Israel, came into Jerusalem to sacrifice their victims before the Lord the God of their fathers.
11:17. And they strengthened the kingdom of Juda, and established Roboam the son of Solomon for three years: for they walked in the ways of David and of Solomon, only three years.
11:18. And Roboam took to wife Mahalath, the daughter of Jerimoth the son of David: and Abihail the daughter of Eliab the son of Isai.
11:19. And they bore him sons Jehus, and Somorias, and Zoom.
11:20. And after her he married Maacha the daughter of Absalom, who bore him Abia, and Ethai, and Ziza, and Salomith.
11:21. And Roboam loved Maacha the daughter of Absalom above all his wives and concubines: for he had married eighteen wives, and threescore concubines: and he begot eight and twenty sons, and threescore daughters.
11:22. But he put at the head of them Abia the son of Maacha to be the chief ruler over all his brethren: for he meant to make him king,
11:23. Because he was wiser and mightier than all his sons, and in all the countries of Juda, and of Benjamin, and in all the walled cities: and he gave them provisions in abundance, and he sought many wives.
2 Paralipomenon Chapter 12
Roboam for his sins is delivered up into the hands of the king of Egypt: who carrieth away all the treasures of the temple.
12:1. And when the kingdom of Roboam was strengthened and fortified, he forsook the law of the Lord, and all Israel with him.
12:2. And in the fifth year of the reign of Roboam, Sesac king of Egypt came up against Jerusalem (because they had sinned against the Lord)
12:3. With twelve hundred chariots and threescore thousand horsemen: and the people were without number that came with him out of Egypt, to wit, Libyans, and Troglodites, and Ethiopians.
12:4. And he took the strongest cities in Juda, and came to Jerusalem.
12:5. And Semeias the prophet came to Roboam, and to the princes of Juda, that were gathered together in Jerusalem, fleeing from Sesac, and he said to them: Thus saith the Lord: You have left me, and I have left you in the hand of Sesac.
12:6. And the princes of Israel, and the king, being in a consternation, said: The Lord is just.
12:7. And when the Lord saw that they were humbled, the word of the Lord came to Semeias, saying: Because they are humbled, I will not destroy them, and I will give them a little help, and my wrath shall not fall upon Jerusalem by the hand of Sesac.
12:8. But yet they shall serve him, that they may know the difference between my service, and the service of a kingdom of the earth.
12:9. So Sesac king of Egypt departed from Jerusalem, taking away the treasures of the house of the Lord, and of the king’s house, and he took all with him, and the golden shields that Solomon had made,
12:10. Instead of which the king made brazen ones, and delivered them to the captains of the shieldbearers, who guarded the entrance of the palace.
12:11. And when the king entered into the house of the Lord, the shieldbearers came and took them, and brought them back again to their armoury.
12:12. But yet because they were humbled, the wrath of the Lord turned away from them, and they were not utterly destroyed: for even in Juda there were found good works.
12:13. King Roboam therefore was strengthened in Jerusalem, and reigned: he was one and forty years old when he began to reign, and he reigned seventeen years in Jerusalem, the city which the Lord chose out of all the tribes of Israel, to establish his name there: and the name of his mother was Naama an Ammonitess.
12:14. But he did evil, and did not prepare his heart to seek the Lord.
12:15. Now the acts of Roboam first and last are written in the books of Semeias the prophet, and of Addo the seer, and diligently recorded: and there was war between Roboam and Jeroboam all their days.
12:16. And Roboam slept with his fathers, and was buried in the city of David. And Abia his son reigned in his stead.
2 Paralipomenon Chapter 13
Abia’s reign: his victory over Jeroboam.
13:1. In the eighteenth year of king Jeroboam, Abia reigned over Juda.
13:2. Three years he reigned in Jerusalem, and his mother’s name was Michaia, the daughter of Uriel of Gabaa: and there was war between Abia and Jeroboam.
Michaia.... Alias Maacha. Her father had also two names, viz., Absalom, or Abessalom, and Uriel.
13:3. And when Abia had begun battle, and had with him four hundred thousand most valiant and chosen men, Jeroboam put his army in array against him, eight hundred thousand men, who were also chosen and most valiant for war.
13:4. And Abia stood upon mount Semeron, which was in Ephraim, and said: Hear me, O Jeroboam, and all Israel:
13:5. Do you not know that the Lord God of Israel gave to David the kingdom over Israel for ever, to him and to his sons by a covenant of salt?
A covenant of salt.... That is, a firm and perpetual covenant. See Num. 18.19.
13:6. And Jeroboam the son of Nabat, the servant of Solomon the son of David, rose up: and rebelled against his lord.
13:7. And there were gathered to him vain men, and children of Belial: and they prevailed against Roboam the son of Solomon: for Roboam was unexperienced, and of a fearful heart, and could not resist them.
13:8. And now you say that you are able to withstand the kingdom of the Lord, which he possesseth by the sons of David, and you have a great multitude of people, and golden calves, which Jeroboam hath made you for gods.
13:9. And you have cast out the priests of the Lord, the sons of Aaron, and the Levites: and you have made you priests, like all the nations of the earth: whosoever cometh and consecrateth his hand with a bullock of the herd, and with seven rams, is made a priest of those who are no gods.
13:10. But the Lord is our God, whom we forsake not, and the priests who minister to the Lord are the sons of Aaron, and the Levites are in their order.
13:11. And they offer holocausts to the Lord, every day, morning and evening, and incense made according to the ordinance of the law, and the loaves are set forth on a most clean table, and there is with us the golden candlestick, and the lamps thereof, to be lighted always in the evening: for we keep the precepts of the Lord our God, whom you have forsaken.
13:12. Therefore God is the leader in our army, and his priests who sound with trumpets, and resound against you: O children of Israel, fight not against the Lord the God of your fathers, for it is not good for you.
13:13. While he spoke these things, Jeroboam caused an ambushment to come about behind him. And while he stood facing the enemies, he encompassed Juda, who perceived it not, with his army.
13:14. And when Juda looked back, they saw the battle coming upon them both before and behind, and they cried to the Lord: and the priests began to sound with the trumpets.
13:15. And all the men of Juda shouted: and behold when they shouted, God terrified Jeroboam, and all Israel that stood against Abia and Juda.
13:16. And the children of Israel fled before Juda, and the Lord delivered them into their hand.
13:17. And Abia and his people slew them with a great slaughter, and there fell wounded of Israel five hundred thousand valiant men.
13:18. And the children of Israel were brought down, at that time, and the children of Juda were exceedingly strengthened, because they had trusted in the Lord the God of their fathers.
13:19. And Abia pursued after Jeroboam, and took cities from him, Bethel and her daughters, and Jesana with her daughters, Ephron also and her daughters.
13:20. And Jeroboam was not able to resist any more, in the days of Abia: and the Lord struck him, and he died.
13:21. But Abia, being strengthened in his kingdom, took fourteen wives: and begot two and twenty sons, and sixteen daughters.
13:22. And the rest of the acts of Abia, and of his ways and works, are written diligently in the book of Addo the prophet.
2 Paralipomenon Chapter 14
The reign of Asa: his victory over the Ethiopians.
14:1. And Abia slept with his fathers, and they buried him in the city of David: and Asa his son reigned in his stead: in his days the land was quiet ten years.
14:2. And Asa did that which was good and pleasing in the sight of his God, and he destroyed the altars of foreign worship, and the high places.
14:3. And broke the statues, and cut down the groves.
14:4. And he commanded Juda to seek the Lord the God of their fathers, and to do the law, and all the commandments.
14:5. And he took away out of all the cities of Juda the altars, and temples, and reigned in peace.
14:6. He built also strong cities in Juda, for he was quiet, and there had no wars risen in his time, the Lord giving peace.
14:7. And he said to Juda: Let us build these cities, and compass them with walls, and fortify them with towers, and gates, and bars, while all is quiet from wars, because we have sought the Lord the God of our fathers, and he hath given us peace round about. So they built, and there was no hinderance in building.
14:8. And Asa had in his army of men that bore shields and spears of Juda three hundred thousand, and of Benjamin that bore shields and drew bows, two hundred and eighty thousand, all these were most valiant men.
14:9. And Zara the Ethiopian came out against them with his army of ten hundred thousand men, and with three hundred chariots: and he came as far as Maresa.
14:10. And Asa went out to meet him, and set his army in array for battle in the vale of Sephata, which is near Maresa:
14:11. And he called upon the Lord God, and said: Lord, there is no difference with thee, whether thou help with few, or with many: help us, O Lord our God: for with confidence in thee, and in thy name we are come against this multitude. O Lord thou art our God, let not man prevail against thee.
14:12. And the Lord terrified the Ethiopians before Asa and Juda: and the Ethiopians fled.
14:13. And Asa and the people that were with him pursued them to Gerara: and the Ethiopians fell even to utter destruction, for the Lord slew them, and his army fought against them, and they were destroyed. And they took abundance of spoils,
14:14. And they took all the cities round about Gerara: for a great fear was come upon all men: and they pillaged the cities, and carried off much booty.
14:15. And they destroyed the sheepcotes, and took an infinite number of cattle, and of camels: and returned to Jerusalem.
2 Paralipomenon Chapter 15
The prophecy of Azarias. Asa’s covenant with God. He deposeth his mother.
15:1. And the spirit of God came upon Azarias the son of Oded,
15:2. And he went out to meet Asa, and said to him: Hear ye me, Asa, and all Juda and Benjamin: The Lord is with you, because you have been with him. If you seek him, you shall find: but if you forsake him, he will forsake you.
15:3. And many days shall pass in Israel, without the true God, and without a priest a teacher, and without the law.
15:4. And when in their distress they shall return to the Lord the God of Israel, and shall seek him, they shall find him.
15:5. At that time there shall be no peace to him that goeth out and cometh in, but terrors on every side among all the inhabitants of the earth.
15:6. For nation shall fight against nation, and city against city, for the Lord will trouble them with all distress.
15:7. Do you therefore take courage, and let not your hands be weakened: for there shall be a reward for your work.
15:8. And when Asa had heard the words, and the prophecy of Azarias the son of Oded the prophet, he took courage, and took away the idols out of all the land of Juda, and out of Benjamin, and out of the cities of mount Ephraim, which he had taken, and he dedicated the altar of the Lord, which was before the porch of the Lord.
15:9. And he gathered together all Juda and Benjamin, and the strangers with them of Ephraim, and Manasses, and Simeon: for many were come over to him out of Israel, seeing that the Lord his God was with him.
15:10. And when they were come to Jerusalem in the third month, in the fifteenth year of the reign of Asa,
15:11. They sacrificed to the Lord in that day of the spoils, and of the prey, that they had brought, seven hundred oxen, and seven thousand rams.
15:12. And he went in to confirm as usual the covenant, that they should seek the Lord the God of their fathers with all their heart, and with all their soul.
15:13. And if any one, said he, seek not the Lord the God of Israel, let him die, whether little or great, man or woman.
15:14. And they swore to the Lord with a loud voice with joyful shouting, and with sound of trumpet, and sound of cornets,
15:15. All that were in Juda with a curse: for with all their heart they swore, and with all their will they sought him, and they found him, and the Lord gave them rest round about.
15:16. Moreover Maacha the mother of king Asa he deposed from the royal authority, because she had made in a grove an idol of Priapus: and he entirely destroyed it, and breaking it into pieces, burnt it at the torrent Cedron.
15:17. But high places were left in Israel: nevertheless the heart of Asa was perfect all his days.
15:18. And the things which his father had vowed, and he himself had vowed, he brought into the house of the Lord, gold and silver, and vessels of divers uses.
15:19. And there was no war unto the five and thirtieth year of the kingdom of Asa.
2 Paralipomenon Chapter 16
Asa is reproved for seeking help from the Syrians: his last acts and death.
16:1. And in the six and thirtieth year of his kingdom, Baasa the king of Israel came up against Juda, and built a wall about Rama, that no one might safely go out or come in of the kingdom of Asa.
Six and thirtieth year of his kingdom.... That is, of the kingdom of Juda, taking the date of it from the beginning of the reign of Reboam.
16:2. Then Asa brought out silver and gold out of the treasures of the house of the Lord, and of the king’s treasures, and sent to Benadad king of Syria, who dwelt in Damascus, saying:
16:3. There is a league between me and thee, as there was between my father and thy father, wherefore I have sent thee silver and gold, that thou mayst break thy league with Baasa king of Israel, and make him depart from me.
16:4. And when Benadad heard this, he sent the captains of his armies against the cities of Israel: and they took Ahion, and Dan, and Abelmaim, and all the walled cities of Nephtali.
16:5. And when Baasa heard of it, he left off the building of Rama, and interrupted his work.
16:6. Then king Asa took all Juda, and they carried away from Rama the stones, and the timber that Baasa had prepared for the building: and he built with them Gabaa, and Maspha.
16:7. At that time Hanani the prophet came to Asa king of Juda, and said to him: Because thou hast had confidence in the king of Syria, and not in the Lord thy God, therefore hath the army of the king of Syria escaped out of thy hand.
16:8. Were not the Ethiopians, and the Libyans much more numerous in chariots, and horsemen, and an exceeding great multitude: yet because thou trustedst in the Lord, he delivered them into thy hand?
16:9. For the eyes of the Lord behold all the earth, and give strength to those who with a perfect heart trust in him. Wherefore thou hast done foolishly, and for this cause from this time wars shall arise against thee.
16:10. And Asa was angry with the seer, and commanded him to be put in prison: for he was greatly enraged because of this thing: and he put to death many of the people at that time.
16:11. But the works of Asa the first and last are written in the book of the kings of Juda and Israel.
16:12. And Asa fell sick in the nine and thirtieth year of his reign, of a most violent pain in his feet, and yet in his illness he did not seek the Lord, but rather trusted in the skill of physicians.
16:13. And he slept with his fathers: and he died in the one and fortieth year of his reign.
16:14. And they buried him in his own sepulchre, which he had made for himself in the city of David: and they laid him on his bed full of spices and odoriferous ointments, which were made by the art of the perfumers, and they burnt them over him with very great pomp.
2 Paralipomenon Chapter 17
Josaphat’s reign: his care for the instruction of his people: his numerous forces.
17:1. And Josaphat his son reigned in his stead, and grew strong against Israel.
17:2. And he placed numbers of soldiers in all the fortified cities of Juda. And he put garrisons in the land of Juda, and in the cities of Ephraim, which Asa his father had taken.
17:3. And the Lord was with Josaphat, because he walked in the first ways of David his father: and trusted not in Baalim,
17:4. But in the God of his father, and walked in his commandments, and not according to the sins of Israel.
17:5. And the Lord established the kingdom in his hand, and all Juda brought presents to Josaphat: and he acquired immense riches, and much glory.
17:6. And when his heart had taken courage for the ways of the Lord, he took away also the high places and the groves out of Juda.
17:7. And in the third year of his reign, he sent of his princes Benhail, and Abdias, and Zacharias, and Nathanael, and Micheas, to teach in the cities of Juda:
17:8. And with them the Levites, Semeias, and Nathanias, and Zabadias, and Asael, and Semiramoth, and Jonathan, and Adonias, and Tobias, and Thobadonias Levites, and with them Elisama, and Joram priests.
17:9. And they taught the people in Juda, having with them the book of the law of the Lord: and they went about all the cities of Juda, and instructed the people.
17:10. And the fear of the Lord came upon all the kingdoms of the lands that were round about Juda, and they durst not make war against Josaphat.
17:11. The Philistines also brought presents to Josaphat, and tribute in silver, and the Arabians brought him cattle, seven thousand seven hundred rams, and as many he goats.
17:12. And Josaphat grew, and became exceeding great: and he built in Juda houses like towers, and walled cities.
17:13. And he prepared many works in the cities of Juda: and he had warriors, and valiant men in Jerusalem.
17:14. Of whom this is the number of the houses and families of every one: in Juda captains of the army, Ednas the chief, and with him three hundred thousand most valiant men.
17:15. After him Johanan the captain, and with him two hundred and eighty thousand.
17:16. And after him was Amasias the son of Zechri, consecrated to the Lord, and with him were two hundred thousand valiant men.
17:17. After him was Eliada valiant in battle, and with him two hundred thousand armed with bow and shield.
17:18. After him also was Jozabad, and with him a hundred and eighty thousand ready for war.
17:19. All these were at the hand of the king, beside others, whom he had put in the walled cities, in all Juda.
2 Paralipomenon Chapter 18
Josaphat accompanies Achab in his expedition against Ramoth; where Achab is slain, as Micheas had foretold.
18:1. Now Josaphat was rich and very glorious, and was joined by affinity to Achab.
18:2. And he went down to him after some years to Samaria: and Achab at his coming killed sheep and oxen in abundance for him and the people that came with him: and he persuaded him to go up to Ramoth Galaad.
18:3. And Achab king of Israel said to Josaphat king of Juda: Come with me to Ramoth Galaad. And he answered him: Thou art as I am, and my people as thy people, and we will be with thee in the war.
18:4. And Josaphat said to the king of Israel: Inquire, I beseech thee, at present the word of the Lord.
18:5. So the king of Israel gathered together of the prophets four hundred men, and he said to them: Shall we go to Ramoth Galaad to fight, or shall we forbear? But they said: Go up, and God will deliver into the king’s hand.
18:6. And Josaphat said: Is there not here a prophet of the Lord, that we may inquire also of him?
18:7. And the king of Israel said to Josaphat: There is one man, of whom we may ask the will of the Lord: but I hate him, for he never prophesieth good to me, but always evil: and it is Micheas the son of Jemla. And Josaphat said: Speak not thus, O king.
18:8. And the king of Israel called one of the eunuchs, and said to him: Call quickly Micheas the son of Jemla.
18:9. Now the king of Israel, and Josaphat king of Juda, both sat on their thrones, clothed in royal robes, and they sat in the open court by the gate of Samaria, and all the prophets prophesied before them.
18:10. And Sedecias the son of Chanaana made him horns of iron, and said: Thus saith the Lord: With these shalt thou push Syria, till thou destroy it.
18:11. And all the prophets prophesied in like manner, and said: Go up to Ramoth Galaad, and thou shalt prosper, and the Lord will deliver them into the king’s hand.
18:12. And the messenger that went to call Micheas, said to him: Behold the words of all the prophets with one mouth declare good to the king: I beseech thee therefore let not thy word disagree with them, and speak thou also good success.
18:13. And Micheas answered him: As the Lord liveth, whatsoever my God shall say to me, that will I speak.
18:14. So he came to the king: and the king said to him: Micheas, shall we go to Ramoth Galaad to fight, or forbear? And he answered him: Go up, for all shall succeed prosperously, and the enemies shall be delivered into your hands.
18:15. And the king said: I adjure thee again and again to say nothing but the truth to me, in the name of the Lord.
18:16. Then he said: I saw all Israel scattered in the mountains, like sheep without a shepherd: and the Lord said: These have no masters: let every man return to his own house in peace.
18:17. And the king of Israel said to Josaphat: Did I not tell thee that this man would not prophesy me any good, but evil?
18:18. Then he said: Hear ye therefore the word of the Lord: I saw the Lord sitting on his throne, and all the army of heaven standing by him on the right hand and on the left,
18:19. And the Lord said: Who shall deceive Achab king of Israel, that he may go up and fall in Ramoth Galaad? And when one spoke in this manner, and another otherwise:
Who shall deceive, etc.... See the annotations, 3 Kings 22.
18:20. There came forth a spirit, and stood before the Lord, and said: I will deceive him. And the Lord said to him: By what means wilt thou deceive him?
18:21. And he answered: I will go out, and be a lying spirit in the mouth of all his prophets. And the Lord said: Thou shalt deceive, and shalt prevail: go out, and do so.
18:22. Now therefore behold the Lord hath put a spirit of lying in the mouth of all thy prophets, and the Lord hath spoken evil against thee.
18:23. And Sedecias the son of Chanaana came, and struck Micheas on the cheek and said: Which way went the spirit of the Lord from me, to speak to thee?
18:24. And Micheas said: Thou thyself shalt see in that day, when thou shalt go in from chamber to chamber, to hide thyself.
18:25. And the king of Israel commanded, saying: Take Micheas, and carry him to Amon the governor of the city, and to Joas the son of Amelech,
18:26. And say: Thus saith the king: Put this fellow in prison, and give him bread and water in a small quantity till I return in peace.
18:27. And Micheas said: If thou return in peace, the Lord hath not spoken by me. And he said: Hear, all ye people.
18:28. So the king of Israel and Josaphat king of Juda went up to Ramoth Galaad.
18:29. And the king of Israel said to Josaphat: I will change my dress, and so I will go to the battle, but put thou on thy own garments. And the king of Israel having changed his dress, went to the battle.
18:30. Now the king of Syria had commanded the captains of his cavalry, saying: Fight ye not with small, or great, but with the king of Israel only.
18:31. So when the captains of the cavalry saw Josaphat, they said: This is the king of Israel. And they surrounded him to attack him: but he cried to the Lord, and he helped him, and turned them away from him.
18:32. For when the captains of the cavalry saw, that he was not the king of Israel, they left him.
18:33. And it happened that one of the people shot an arrow at a venture, and struck the king of Israel between the neck and the shoulders, and he said to his chariot man: Turn thy hand, and carry me out of the battle, for I am wounded.
18:34. And the fight was ended that day: but the king of Israel stood in his chariot against the Syrians until the evening, and died at the sunset.
2 Paralipomenon Chapter 19
Josaphat’s charge to the judges and to the Levites.
19:1. And Josaphat king of Juda returned to his house in peace to Jerusalem.
19:2. And Jehu the son of Hanani the seer met him, and said to him: Thou helpest the ungodly, and thou art joined in friendship with them that hate the Lord, and therefore thou didst deserve indeed the wrath of the Lord:
19:3. But good works are found in thee, because thou hast taken away the groves out of the land of Juda, and hast prepared thy heart to seek the Lord the God of thy fathers.
19:4. And Josaphat dwelt at Jerusalem: and he went out again to the people from Bersabee to mount Ephraim, and brought them back to the Lord the God of their fathers.
19:5. And he set judges of the land in all the fenced cities of Juda, in every place.
19:6. And charging the judges, he said: Take heed what you do: for you exercise not the judgment of man, but of the Lord: and whatsoever you judge, it shall redound to you.
19:7. Let the fear of the Lord be with you, and do all things with diligence: for there is no iniquity with the Lord our God, nor respect of persons, nor desire of gifts.
19:8. In Jerusalem also Josaphat appointed Levites, and priests and chiefs of the families of Israel, to judge the judgment and the cause of the Lord for the inhabitants thereof.
19:9. And he charged them, saying, Thus shall you do in the fear of the Lord faithfully, and with a perfect heart.
19:10. Every cause that shall come to you of your brethren, that dwell in their cities, between kindred and kindred, wheresoever there is question concerning the law, the commandment, the ceremonies, the justifications: shew it them, that they may not sin against the Lord, and that wrath may not come upon you and your brethren: and so doing you shall not sin.
19:11. And Amarias the priest your high priest shall be chief in the things which regard God: and Zabadias the son of Ismahel, who is ruler in the house of Juda, shall be over those matters which belong to the king’s office: and you have before you the Levites for masters, take courage and do diligently, and the Lord will be with you in good things.
2 Paralipomenon Chapter 20
The Ammonites, Moabites, and Syrians combine against Josaphat: he seeketh God’s help by public prayer and fasting. A prophet foretelleth that God will fight for his people: the enemies destroy one another. Josaphat with his men gathereth the spoils. He reigneth in peace, but his navy perisheth, for his society with wicked Ochozias.
20:1. After this the children of Moab, and the children of Ammon, and with them of the Ammonites, were gathered together to fight against Josaphat.
20:2. And there came messengers, and told Josaphat, saying: There cometh a great multitude against thee from beyond the sea, and out of Syria, and behold they are in Asasonthamar, which is Engaddi.
20:3. And Josaphat being seized with fear betook himself wholly to pray to the Lord, and he proclaimed a fast for all Juda.
20:4. And Juda gathered themselves together to pray to the Lord: and all came out of their cities to make supplication to him.
20:5. And Josaphat stood in the midst of the assembly of Juda, and Jerusalem, in the house of the Lord before the new court,
20:6. And said: O Lord God of our fathers, thou art God in heaven, and rulest over all the kingdoms and nations, in thy hand is strength and power, and no one can resist thee.
20:7. Didst not thou our God kill all the inhabitants of this land before thy people Israel, and gavest it to the seed of Abraham thy friend for ever?
20:8. And they dwelt in it, and built in it a sanctuary to thy name, saying:
20:9. If evils fall upon us, the sword of judgment, or pestilence, or famine, we will stand in thy presence before this house, in which thy name is called upon: and we will cry to thee in our afflictions, and thou wilt hear, and save us.
20:10. Now therefore behold the children of Ammon, and of Moab, and mount Seir, through whose lands thou didst not allow Israel to pass, when they came out of Egypt, but they turned aside from them, and slew them not,
20:11. Do the contrary, and endeavour to cast us out of the possession which thou hast delivered to us.
20:12. O our God, wilt thou not then judge them? as for us we have not strength enough, to be able to resist this multitude, which cometh violently upon us. But as we know not what to do, we can only turn our eyes to thee.
20:13. And all Juda stood before the Lord with their little ones, and their wives, and their children.
20:14. And Jahaziel the son of Zacharias, the son of Banaias, the son of Jehiel, the son of Mathanias, a Levite of the sons of Asaph, was there, upon whom the spirit of the Lord came in the midst of the multitude,
20:15. And he said: Attend ye, all Juda, and you that dwell in Jerusalem, and thou king Josaphat: Thus saith the Lord to you: Fear ye not, and be not dismayed at this multitude: for the battle is not yours, but God’s.
20:16. To morrow you shall go down against them: for they will come up by the ascent named Sis, and you shall find them at the head of the torrent, which is over against the wilderness of Jeruel.
20:17. It shall not be you that shall fight, but only stand with confidence, and you shall see the help of the Lord over you, O Juda, and Jerusalem: fear ye not, nor be you dismayed: to morrow you shall go out against them, and the Lord will be with you.
20:18. Then Josaphat, and Juda, and all the inhabitants of Jerusalem fell flat on the ground before the Lord, and adored him.
20:19. And the Levites of the sons of Caath, and of the sons of Core praised the Lord the God of Israel with a loud voice, on high.
20:20. And they rose early in the morning, and went out through the desert of Thecua: and as they were marching, Josaphat standing in the midst of them, said: Hear me, ye men of Juda, and all the inhabitants of Jerusalem: believe in the Lord your God, and you shall be secure: believe his prophets, and all things shall succeed well.
20:21. And he gave counsel to the people, and appointed the singing men of the Lord, to praise him by their companies, and to go before the army, and with one voice to say: Give glory to the Lord, for his mercy endureth for ever.
20:22. And when they began to sing praises, the Lord turned their ambushments upon themselves, that is to say, of the children of Ammon, and of Moab, and of mount Seir, who were come out to fight against Juda, and they were slain.
20:23. For the children of Ammon, and of Moab, rose up against the inhabitants of mount Seir, to kill and destroy them: and when they had made an end of them, they turned also against one another, and destroyed one another.
20:24. And when Juda came to the watch tower, that looketh toward the desert, they saw afar off all the country, for a great space, full of dead bodies, and that no one was left that could escape death.
20:25. Then Josaphat came, and all the people with him to take away the spoils of the dead, and they found among the dead bodies, stuff of various kinds, and garments, and most precious vessels: and they took them for themselves, insomuch that they could not carry all, nor in three days take away the spoils, the booty was so great.
20:26. And on the fourth day they were assembled in the valley of Blessing: for there they blessed the Lord, and therefore they called that place the valley of Blessing until this day.
20:27. And every man of Juda, and the inhabitants of Jerusalem returned, and Josaphat at their head, into Jerusalem with great joy, because the Lord had made them rejoice over their enemies.
20:28. And they came into Jerusalem with psalteries, and harps, and trumpets into the house of the Lord.
20:29. And the fear of the Lord fell upon all the kingdoms of the lands when they heard that the Lord had fought against the enemies of Israel.
20:30. And the kingdom of Josaphat was quiet, and God gave him peace round about.
20:31. And Josaphat reigned over Juda, and he was five and thirty years old, when he began to reign: and he reigned five and twenty years in Jerusalem: and the name of his mother was Azuba the daughter of Selahi.
20:32. And he walked in the way of his father Asa and departed not from it, doing the things that were pleasing before the Lord.
20:33. But yet he took not away the high places, and the people had not yet turned their heart to the Lord the God of their fathers.
20:34. But the rest of the acts of Josaphat, first and last, are written in the words of Jehu the son of Hanani, which he digested into the books of the kings of Israel.
20:35. After these things Josaphat king of Juda made friendship with Ochozias king of Israel, whose works were very wicked.
20:36. And he was partner with him in making ships, to go to Tharsis: and they made the ships in Asiongaber.
20:37. And Eliezer the son of Dodau of Maresa prophesied to Josaphat, saying: Because thou hast made a league with Ochozias, the Lord hath destroyed thy works, and the ships are broken, and they could not go to Tharsis.
2 Paralipomenon Chapter 21
Joram’s wicked reign: his punishment and death.
21:1. And Josaphat slept with his fathers, and was buried with them in the city of David: and Joram his son reigned in his stead.
21:2. And he had brethren the sons of Josaphat, Azarias, and Jahiel, and Zacharias, and Azaria, and Michael, and Saphatias, all these were the sons of Josaphat king of Juda.
21:3. And their father gave them great gifts of silver, and of gold, and pensions, with strong cities in Juda: but the kingdom he gave to Joram, because he was the eldest.
21:4. So Joram rose up over the kingdom of his father: and when he had established himself, he slew all his brethren with the sword, and some of the princes of Israel.
21:5. Joram was two and thirty years old when he began to reign: and he reigned eight years in Jerusalem.
21:6. And he walked in the ways of the kings of Israel, as the house of Achab had done: for his wife was a daughter of Achab, and he did evil in the sight of the Lord.
21:7. But the Lord would not destroy the house of David: because of the covenant which he had made with him: and because he had promised to give a lamp to him, and to his sons for ever.
21:8. In those days Edom revolted, from being subject to Juda, and made themselves a king.
21:9. And Joram went over with his princes, and all his cavalry with him, and rose in the night, and defeated the Edomites who had surrounded him, and all the captains of his cavalry.
21:10. However Edom revolted, from being under the dominion of Juda unto this day: at that time Lobna also revolted, from being under his hand. For he had forsaken the Lord the God of his fathers.
21:11. Moreover he built also high places in the cities of Juda, and he made the inhabitants of Jerusalem to commit fornication, and Juda to transgress.
21:12. And there was a letter brought him from Eliseus the prophet, in which it was written: Thus saith the Lord the God of David thy father: Because thou hast not walked in the ways of Josaphat thy father nor in the ways of Asa king of Juda,
21:13. But hast walked in the ways of the kings of Israel, and hast made Juda and the inhabitants of Jerusalem to commit fornication, imitating the fornication of the house of Achab, moreover also thou hast killed thy brethren, the house of thy father, better men than thyself,
21:14. Behold the Lord will strike thee with a great plague, with all thy people, and thy children, and thy wives, and all thy substance.
21:15. And thou shalt be sick of a very grievous disease of thy bowels, till thy vital parts come out by little and little every day.
21:16. And the Lord stirred up against Joram the spirit of the Philistines, and of the Arabians, who border on the Ethiopians.
21:17. And they came up into the land of Juda, and wasted it, and they carried away all the substance that was found in the king’s house, his sons also, and his wives: so that there was no son left him but Joachaz, who was the youngest.
Joachaz.... Alias Ochozias.
21:18. And besides all this the Lord struck him with an incurable disease in his bowels.
21:19. And as day came after day, and time rolled on, two whole years passed: then after being wasted with a long consumption, so as to void his very bowels, his disease ended with his life. And he died of a most wretched illness, and the people did not make a funeral for him according to the manner of burning, as they had done for his ancestors.
21:20. He was two and thirty years old when he began his reign, and he reigned eight years in Jerusalem. And he walked not rightly, and they buried him in the city of David: but not in the sepulchres of the kings.
2 Paralipomenon Chapter 22
The reign and death of Ochozias. The tyranny of Athalia.
22:1. And the inhabitants of Jerusalem made Ochozias his youngest son king in his place: for the rovers of the Arabians, who had broke in upon the camp, had killed all that were his elder brothers. So Ochozias the son of Joram king of Juda reigned.
22:2. Ochozias was forty-two years old when he began to reign, and he reigned one year in Jerusalem, and the name of his mother was Athalia the daughter of Amri.
Forty-two, etc.... Divers Greek Bibles read thirty-two, agreeably to 4 Kings 8.17.
22:3. He also walked in the ways of the house of Achab: for his mother pushed him on to do wickedly.
22:4. So he did evil in the sight of the Lord, as the house of Achab did: for they were his counsellors after the death of his father, to his destruction.
22:5. And he walked after their counsels. And he went with Joram the son of Achab king of Israel, to fight against Hazael king of Syria, at Ramoth Galaad: and the Syrians wounded Joram.
22:6. And he returned to be healed in Jezrahel: for he received many wounds in the foresaid battle. And Ochozias the son of Joram king of Juda, went down to visit Joram the son of Achab in Jezrahel where he lay sick.
22:7. For it was the will of God against Ochozias that he should come to Joram: and when he was come should go out also against Jehu the son of Namsi, whom the Lord had anointed to destroy the house of Achab.
22:8. So when Jehu was rooting out the house of Achab, he found the princes of Juda, and the sons of the brethren of Ochozias, who served him, and he slew them.
22:9. And he sought for Ochozias himself, and took him lying hid in Samaria: and when he was brought to him, he killed him, and they buried him: because he was the son of Josaphat, who had sought the Lord with all his heart. And there was no more hope that any one should reign of the race of Ochozias.
22:10. For Athalia his mother, seeing that her son was dead, rose up, and killed all the royal family of the house of Joram.
22:11. But Josabeth the king’s daughter took Joas the son of Ochozias, and stole him from among the king’s sons that were slain. And she hid him with his nurse in a bedchamber: now Josabeth that hid him, was daughter of king Joram, wife of Joiada the high priest, and sister of Ochozias, and therefore Athalia did not kill him.
22:12. And he was with them hid in the house of God six years, during which Athalia reigned over the land.
2 Paralipomenon Chapter 23
Joiada the high priest causeth Joas to be made king: Athalia to be slain, and idolatry to be destroyed.
23:1. And in the seventh year Joiada being encouraged, took the captains of hundreds, to wit, Azarias the son of Jeroham, and Ismahel the son of Johanan, and Azarias the son of Obed, and Maasias the son of Adaias, and Elisaphat the son of Zechri: and made a covenant with them.
23:2. And they went about Juda, and gathered together the Levites out of all the cities of Juda, and the chiefs of the families of Israel, and they came to Jerusalem.
23:3. And all the multitude made a covenant with the king in the house of God: and Joiada said to them: Behold the king’s son shall reign, as the Lord hath said of the sons of David.
23:4. And this is the thing that you shall do:
23:5. A third part of you that come to the sabbath, of the priests, and of the Levites, and of the porters shall be at the gates: and a third part at the king’s house: and a third at the gate that is called the Foundation: but let all the rest of the people be in the courts of the house of the Lord.
To the sabbath.... That is, to perform in your weeks the functions of your office, or the weekly watches.
23:6. And let no one come into the house of the Lord, but the priests, and they that minister of the Levites: let them only come in, because they are sanctified: and let all the rest of the people keep the watches of the Lord.
23:7. And let the Levites be round about the king, every man with his arms; and if any other come into the temple, let him be slain; and let them be with the king, both coming in, and going out.
23:8. So the Levites, and all Juda did according to all that Joiada the high priest had commanded: and they took every one his men that were under him, and that came in by the course of the sabbath, with those who had fulfilled the sabbath, and were to go out. For Joiada the high priest permitted not the companies to depart, which were accustomed to succeed one another every week.
23:9. And Joiada the priest gave to the captains the spears, and the shields, and targets of king David, which he had dedicated in the house of the Lord.
23:10. And he set all the people with swords in their hands from the right side of the temple, to the left side of the temple, before the altar, and the temple, round about the king.
23:11. And they brought out the king’s son, and put the crown upon him, and the testimony, and gave him the law to hold in his hand, and they made him king: and Joiada the high priest and his sons anointed him: and they prayed for him, and said: God save the king.
23:12. Now when Athalia heard the noise of the people running and praising the king, she came in to the people, into the temple of the Lord.
23:13. And when she saw the king standing upon the step in the entrance, and the princes, and the companies about him, and all the people of the land rejoicing, and sounding with trumpets, and playing on instruments of divers kinds, and the voice of those that praised, she rent her garments, and said: Treason, treason.
23:14. And Joiada the high priest going out to the captains, and the chiefs of the army, said to them: Take her forth without the precinct of the temple, and when she is without let her be killed with the sword. For the priest commanded that she should not be killed in the house of the Lord.
23:15. And they laid hold on her by the neck: and when she was come within the horse gate of the palace, they killed her there.
23:16. And Joiada made a covenant between himself and all the people, and the king, that they should be the people of the Lord.
23:17. And all the people went into the house of Baal, and destroyed it: and they broke down his altars and his idols: and they slew Mathan the priest of Baal before the altars.
23:18. And Joiada appointed overseers in the house of the Lord, under the hands of the priests, and the Levites, whom David had distributed in the house of the Lord: to offer holocausts to the Lord, as it is written in the law of Moses, with joy and singing, according to the disposition of David.
23:19. He appointed also porters in the gates of the house of the Lord, that none who was unclean in any thing should enter in.
23:20. And he took the captains of hundreds, and the most valiant men, and the chiefs of the people, and all the people of the land, and they brought down the king from the house of the Lord, and brought him through the upper gate into the king’s house, and set him on the royal throne.
23:21. And all the people of the land rejoiced, and the city was quiet: but Athalia was slain with the sword.
2 Paralipomenon Chapter 24
Joas reigneth well all the days of Joiada: afterwards falleth into idolatry and causeth Zacharias to be slain. He is slain himself by his servants.
24:1. Joas was seven years old when he began to reign: and he reigned forty years in Jerusalem: the name of his mother was Sebia of Bersabee.
24:2. And he did that which is good before the Lord all the days of Joiada the priest.
24:3. And Joiada took for him two wives, by whom he had sons and daughters.
24:4. After this Joas had a mind to repair the house of the Lord.
24:5. And he assembled the priests, and the Levites, and said to them: Go out to the cities of Juda, and gather of all Israel money to repair the temple of your God, from year to year: and do this with speed: but the Levites were negligent.
24:6. And the king called Joiada the chief, and said to him: Why hast thou not taken care to oblige the Levites to bring in out of Juda and Jerusalem the money that was appointed by Moses the servant of the Lord for all the multitude of Israel to bring into the tabernacle of the testimony?
24:7. For that wicked woman Athalia, and her children have destroyed the house of God, and adorned the temple of Baal with all the things that had been dedicated in the temple of the Lord.
24:8. And the king commanded, and they made a chest: and set it by the gate of the house of the Lord on the outside.
24:9. And they made a proclamation in Juda and Jerusalem, that every man should bring to the Lord the money which Moses the servant of God appointed for all Israel, in the desert.
24:10. And all the princes, and all the people rejoiced: and going in they contributed and cast so much into the chest of the Lord, that it was filled.
24:11. And when it was time to bring the chest before the king by the hands of the Levites, (for they saw there was much money,) the king’s scribe, and he whom the high priest had appointed went in: and they poured out the money that was in the chest: and they carried back the chest to its place: and thus they did from day to day, and there was gathered an immense sum of money.
24:12. And the king and Joiada gave it to those who were over the works of the house of the Lord: but they hired with it stonecutters, and artificers of every kind of work to repair the house of the Lord: and such as wrought in iron and brass, to uphold what began to be falling.
24:13. And the workmen were diligent, and the breach of the walls was closed up by their hands, and they set up the house of the Lord in its former state, and made it stand firm.
24:14. And when they had finished all the works, they brought the rest of the money before the king and Joiada: and with it were made vessels for the temple for the ministry, and for holocausts and bowls, and other vessels of gold and silver: and holocausts were offered in the house of the Lord continually all the days of Joiada.
24:15. But Joiada grew old and was full of days, and died when he was a hundred and thirty years old.
24:16. And they buried him in the city of David among the kings, because he had done good to Israel, and to his house.
24:17. And after the death of Joiada, the princes of Juda went in, and worshipped the king: and he was soothed by their services and hearkened to them.
24:18. And they forsook the temple of the Lord the God of their fathers, and served groves and idols, and wrath came upon Juda and Jerusalem for this sin.
24:19. And he sent prophets to them to bring them back to the Lord, and they would not give ear when they testified against them.
24:20. The spirit of God then came upon Zacharias the son of Joiada the priest, and he stood in the sight of the people, and said to them: Thus saith the Lord God: Why transgress you the commandment of the Lord which will not be for your good, and have forsaken the Lord, to make him forsake you?
24:21. And they gathered themselves together against him, and stoned him at the king’s commandment in the court of the house of the Lord.
24:22. And king Joas did not remember the kindness that Joiada his father had done to him, but killed his son. And when he died, he said: The Lord see, and require it.
24:23. And when a year was come about, the army of Syria came up against him: and they came to Juda and Jerusalem, and killed all the princes of the people, and they sent all the spoils to the king of Damascus.
24:24. And whereas there came a very small number of the Syrians, the Lord delivered into their hands an infinite multitude, because they had forsaken the Lord the God of their fathers: and on Joas they executed shameful judgments.
24:25. And departing they left him in great diseases: and his servants rose up against him, for revenge of the blood of the son of Joiada the priest, and they slew him in his bed, and he died: and they buried him in the city of David, but not in the sepulchres of the kings.
24:26. Now the men that conspired against him were Zabad the son of Semmaath an Ammonitess, and Jozabad the son of Semarith a Moabitess.
24:27. And concerning his sons, and the sum of money which was gathered under him, and the repairing the house of God, they are written more diligently in the book of kings: and Amasias his son reigned in his stead.
2 Paralipomenon Chapter 25
Amasias’ reign: he beginneth well, but endeth ill: he is overthrown by Joas, and slain by his people.
25:1. Amasias was five and twenty years old when he began to reign, and he reigned nine and twenty years in Jerusalem, the name of his mother was Joadan of Jerusalem.
25:2. And he did what was good in the sight of the Lord: but yet not with a perfect heart.
25:3. And when he saw himself strengthened in his kingdom, he put to death the servants that had slain the king his father.
25:4. But he slew not their children, as it is written in the book of the law of Moses, where the Lord commanded, saying: The fathers shall not be slain for the children, nor the children for their fathers, but every man shall die for his own sin.
25:5. Amasias therefore gathered Juda together, and appointed them by families, and captains of thousands and of hundreds in all Juda, and Benjamin: and he numbered them from twenty years old and upwards, and found three hundred thousand young men that could go out to battle, and could hold the spear and shield.
25:6. He hired also of Israel a hundred thousand valiant men, for a hundred talents of silver.
25:7. But a man of God came to him, and said: O king, let not the army of Israel go out with thee, for the Lord is not with Israel, and all the children of Ephraim:
25:8. And if thou think that battles consist in the strength of the army, God will make thee to be overcome by the enemies: for it belongeth to God both to help, and to put to flight.
25:9. And Amasias said to the man of God: What will then become of the hundred talents which I have given to the soldiers of Israel? and the man of God answered him: The Lord is rich enough to be able to give thee much more than this.
25:10. Then Amasias separated the army, that came to him out of Ephraim, to go home again: but they being much enraged against Juda, returned to their own country.
25:11. And Amasias taking courage led forth his people, and went to the vale of saltpits, and slew of the children of Seir ten thousand.
25:12. And other ten thousand men the sons of Juda took, and brought to the steep of a certain rock, and cast them down headlong from the top, and they all were broken to pieces.
25:13. But that army which Amasias had sent back, that they should not go with him to battle, spread themselves among the cities of Juda, from Samaria to Beth-horon, and having killed three thousand took away much spoil.
25:14. But Amasias after he had slain the Edomites, set up the gods of the children of Seir, which he had brought thence, to be his gods, and adored them, and burnt incense to them.
25:15. Wherefore the Lord being angry against Amasias, sent a prophet to him, to say to him: Why hast thou adored gods that have not delivered their own people out of thy hand?
25:16. And when he spoke these things, he answered him: Art thou the king’s counsellor? be quiet, lest I kill thee. And the prophet departing, said: I know that God is minded to kill thee, because thou hast done this evil, and moreover hast not hearkened to my counsel.
25:17. Then Amasias king of Juda taking very bad counsel, sent to Joas the son of Joachaz the son of Jehu, king of Israel, saying: Come, let us see one another.
25:18. But he sent back the messengers, saying: The thistle that is in Libanus, sent to the cedar in Libanus, saying: Give thy daughter to my son to wife: and behold the beasts that were in the wood of Libanus passed by and trod down the thistle.
25:19. Thou hast said: I have overthrown Edom, and therefore thy heart is lifted up with pride: stay at home, why dost thou provoke evil against thee, that both thou shouldst fall and Juda with thee.
25:20. Amasias would not hearken to him, because it was the Lord’s will that he should be delivered into the hands of enemies, because of the gods of Edom.
25:21. So Joas king of Israel went up, and they presented themselves to be seen by one another: and Amasias king of Juda was in Bethsames of Juda:
25:22. And Juda fell before Israel, and they fled to their dwellings.
25:23. And Joas king of Israel took Amasias king of Juda, the son of Joas, the son of Joachaz, in Bethsames, and brought him to Jerusalem: and broke down the walls thereof from the gate of Ephraim, to the gate of the corner, four hundred cubits.
25:24. And he took all the gold, and silver, and all the vessels, that he found in the house of God, and with Obededom, and in the treasures of the king’s house, moreover also the sons of the hostages, he brought back to Samaria.
25:25. And Amasias the son of Joas king of Juda lived, after the death of Joas the son of Joachaz king of Israel, fifteen years.
25:26. Now the rest of the acts of Amasias, the first and last, are written in the book of the kings of Juda and Israel.
25:27. And after he revolted from the Lord, they made a conspiracy against him in Jerusalem. And he fled into Lachis, and they sent, and killed him there.
25:28. And they brought him back upon horses, and buried him with his fathers in the city of David.
2 Paralipomenon Chapter 26
Ozias reigneth prosperously, till he invadeth the priests’ office, upon which he is struck with a leprosy.
26:1. And all the people of Juda took his son Ozias, who was sixteen years old, and made him king in the room of Amasias his father.
26:2. He built Ailath, and restored it to the dominion of Juda, after that the king slept with his fathers.
26:3. Ozias was sixteen years old when he began to reign, and he reigned two and fifty years in Jerusalem: the name of his mother was Jechelia of Jerusalem.
26:4. And he did that which was right in the eyes of the Lord, according to all that Amasias his father had done.
26:5. And he sought the Lord in the days of Zacharias that understood and saw God: and as long as he sought the Lord, he directed him in all things.
26:6. Moreover he went forth and fought against the Philistines, and broke down the wall of Geth, and the wall of Jabnia, and the wall of Azotus: and he built towns in Azotus, and among the Philistines.
26:7. And God helped him against the Philistines, and against the Arabians, that dwelt in Gurbaal, and against the Ammonites.
26:8. And the Ammonites gave gifts to Ozias: and his name was spread abroad even to the entrance of Egypt for his frequent victories.
26:9. And Ozias built towers in Jerusalem over the gate of the corner, and over the gate of the valley, and the rest, in the same side of the wall, and fortified them.
26:10. And he built towers in the wilderness, and dug many cisterns, for he had much cattle both in the plains, and in the waste of the desert: he had also vineyards and dressers of vines in the mountains, and in Carmel: for he was a man that loved husbandry.
26:11. And the army of his fighting men, that went out to war, was under the hand of Jehiel the scribe, and Maasias the doctor, and under the hand of Henanias, who was one of the king’s captains.
26:12. And the whole number of the chiefs by the families of valiant men were two thousand six hundred.
26:13. And the whole army under them three hundred and seven thousand five hundred: who were fit for war, and fought for the king against the enemy.
26:14. And Ozias prepared for them, that is, for the whole army, shields, and spears, and helmets, and coats of mail, and bows, and slings to cast stones.
26:15. And he made in Jerusalem engines of diverse kinds, which he placed in the towers, and in the corners of the walls, to shoot arrows, and great stones: and his name went forth far abroad, for the Lord helped him, and had strengthened him.
26:16. But when he was made strong, his heart was lifted up to his destruction, and he neglected the Lord his God: and going into the temple of the Lord, he had a mind to burn incense upon the altar of incense.
26:17. And immediately Azarias the priest going in after him, and with him fourscore priests of the Lord, most valiant men,
26:18. Withstood the king and said: It doth not belong to thee, Ozias, to burn incense to the Lord, but to the priests, that is, to the sons of Aaron, who are consecrated for this ministry: go out of the sanctuary, do not despise: for this thing shall not be accounted to thy glory by the Lord God.
26:19. And Ozias was angry, and holding in his hand the censer to burn incense, threatened the priests. And presently there rose a leprosy in his forehead before the priests, in the house of the Lord at the altar of incense.
26:20. And Azarias the high priest, and all the rest of the priests looked upon him, and saw the leprosy in his forehead, and they made haste to thrust him out. Yea himself also being frightened, hasted to go out, because he had quickly felt the stroke of the Lord.
26:21. And Ozias the king was a leper unto the day of his death, and he dwelt in a house apart being full of the leprosy, for which he had been cast out of the house of the Lord. And Joatham his son governed the king’s house, and judged the people of the land.
26:22. But the rest of the acts of Ozias first and last were written by Isaias the son of Amos, the prophet.
26:23. And Ozias slept with his fathers, and they buried him in the field of the royal sepulchres, because he was a leper: and Joatham his son reigned in his stead.
2 Paralipomenon Chapter 27
Joatham’s good reign.
27:1. Joatham was five and twenty years old when he began to reign, and he reigned sixteen years in Jerusalem: the name of his mother was Jerusa the daughter of Sadoc.
27:2. And he did that which was right before the Lord, according to all that Ozias his father had done, only that he entered not into the temple of the Lord, and the people still transgressed.
27:3. He built the high gate of the house of the Lord, and on the wall of Ophel he built much.
27:4. Moreover he built cities in the mountains of Juda, and castles and towers in the forests.
27:5. He fought against the king of the children of Ammon, and overcame them, and the children of Ammon gave him at that time a hundred talents of silver, and ten thousand measures of wheat, and as many measures of barley: so much did the children of Ammon give him in the second and third year.
27:6. And Joatham was strengthened, because he had his way directed before the Lord his God.
27:7. Now the rest of the acts of Joatham, and all his wars, and his works, are written in the book of the kings of Israel and Juda.
27:8. He was five and twenty years old when he began to reign, and he reigned sixteen years in Jerusalem.
27:9. And Joatham slept with his fathers, and they buried him in the city of David: and Achaz his son reigned in his stead.
2 Paralipomenon Chapter 28
The wicked and unhappy reign of Achaz.
28:1. Achaz was twenty years old when he began to reign, and he reigned sixteen years in Jerusalem: he did not that which was right in the sight of the Lord as David his father had done,
28:2. But walked in the ways of the kings of Israel; moreover also he cast statues for Baalim.
28:3. It was he that burnt incense in the valley of Benennom, and consecrated his sons in the fire according to the manner of the nations, which the Lord slew at the coming of the children of Israel.
28:4. He sacrificed also, and burnt incense in the high places, and on the hills, and under every green tree.
28:5. And the Lord his God delivered him into the hands of the king of Syria, who defeated him, and took a great booty out of his kingdom, and carried it to Damascus: he was also delivered into the hands of the king of Israel, who overthrew him with a great slaughter.
28:6. For Phacee the son of Romelia slew of Juda a hundred and twenty thousand in one day, all valiant men, because they had forsaken the Lord the God of their fathers.
28:7. At the same time Zechri a powerful man of Ephraim, slew Maasias the king’s son, and Ezricam the governor of his house, and Elcana who was next to the king.
28:8. And the children of Israel carried away of their brethren two hundred thousand women, boys, and girls, and an immense booty: and they brought it to Samaria.
28:9. At that time there was a prophet of the Lord there, whose name was Oded: and he went out to meet the army that came to Samaria, and said to them: Behold the Lord the God of your fathers being angry with Juda, hath delivered them into your hands, and you have butchered them cruelly, so that your cruelty hath reached up to heaven.
28:10. Moreover you have a mind to keep under the children of Juda and Jerusalem for your bondmen and bondwomen, which ought not to be done: for you have sinned in this against the Lord your God.
28:11. But hear ye my counsel, and release the captives that you have brought of your brethren, because a great indignation of the Lord hangeth over you.
28:12. Then some of the chief men of the sons of Ephraim, Azarias the son of Johanan, Barachias the son of Mosollamoth, Ezechias the son of Sellum, and Amasa the son of Adali, stood up against them that came from the war.
28:13. And they said to them: You shall not bring in the captives hither, lest we sin against the Lord. Why will you add to our sins, and heap up upon our former offences? for the sin is great, and the fierce anger of the Lord hangeth over Israel.
28:14. So the soldiers left the spoils, and all that they had taken, before the princes and all the multitude.
28:15. And the men, whom we mentioned above, rose up and took the captives, and with the spoils clothed all them that were naked: and when they had clothed and shod them, and refreshed them with meat and drink, and anointed them because of their labour, and had taken care of them, they set such of them as could not walk, and were feeble, upon beasts, and brought them to Jericho the city of palm trees to their brethren, and they returned to Samaria.
28:16. At that time king Achaz sent to the king of the Assyrians asking help.
28:17. And the Edomites came and slew many of Juda, and took a great booty.
28:18. The Philistines also spread themselves among the cities of the plains, and to the south of Juda: and they took Bethsames, and Aialon, and Gaderoth, and Socho, and Thamnan, and Gamzo, with their villages, and they dwelt in them.
28:19. For the Lord had humbled Juda because of Achaz the king of Juda, for he had stripped it of help, and had contemned the Lord.
For he had stripped it of help.... That is, Achaz stripped the kingdom of Juda of the divine assistance by his wickedness, and by his introducing idolatry.
28:20. And he brought against him Thelgathphalnasar king of the Assyrians, who also afflicted him, and plundered him without any resistance.
28:21. And Achaz stripped the house of the Lord, and the house of the kings, and of the princes, and gave gifts to the king of the Assyrians, and yet it availed him nothing.
28:22. Moreover also in the time of his distress he increased contempt against the Lord: king Achaz himself by himself,
28:23. Sacrificed victims to the gods of Damascus that struck him, and he said: The gods of the kings of Syria help them, and I will appease them with victims, and they will help me; whereas on the contrary they were the ruin of him, and of all Israel.
28:24. Then Achaz having taken away all the vessels of the house of God, and broken them, shut up the doors of the temple of God, and made himself altars in all the corners of Jerusalem.
28:25. And in all the cities of Juda he built altars to burn frankincense, and he provoked the Lord the God of his fathers to wrath.
28:26. But the rest of his acts, and all his works first and last are written in the book of the kings of Juda and Israel.
28:27. And Achaz slept with his fathers, and they buried him in the city of Jerusalem: for they received him not into the sepulchres of the kings of Israel. And Ezechias his son reigned in his stead.
2 Paralipomenon Chapter 29
Ezechias purifieth the temple, and restoreth religion.
29:1. Now Ezechias began to reign, when he was five and twenty years old, and he reigned nine and twenty years in Jerusalem: the name of his mother was Abia, the daughter of Zacharias.
29:2. And he did that which was pleasing in the sight of the Lord, according to all that David his father had done.
29:3. In the first year and month of his reign he opened the doors of the house of the Lord, and repaired them.
29:4. And he brought the priests and the Levites, and assembled them in the east street.
29:5. And he said to them: Hear me, ye Levites, and be sanctified, purify the house of the Lord the God of your fathers, and take away all filth out of the sanctuary.
29:6. Our fathers have sinned and done evil in the sight of the Lord God, forsaking him: they have turned away their faces from the tabernacle of the Lord, and turned their backs.
29:7. They have shut up the doors that were in the porch, and put out the lamps, and have not burnt incense, nor offered holocausts in the sanctuary of the God of Israel.
29:8. Therefore the wrath of the Lord hath been stirred up against Juda and Jerusalem, and he hath delivered them to trouble, and to destruction, and to be hissed at, as you see with your eyes.
29:9. Behold, our fathers are fallen by the sword, our sons, and our daughters, and wives are led away captives for this wickedness.
29:10. Now therefore I have a mind that we make a covenant with the Lord the God of Israel, and he will turn away the wrath of his indignation from us.
29:11. My sons, be not negligent: the Lord hath chosen you to stand before him, and to minister to him, and to worship him, and to burn incense to him.
29:12. Then the Levites arose, Mahath the son of Amasai, and Joel the son of Azarias, of the sons of Caath: and of the sons of Merari, Cis the son of Abdi, and Azarias the son of Jalaleel. And of the sons of Gerson, Joah the son of Zemma, and Eden the son of Joah.
29:13. And of the sons of Elisaphan, Samri, and Jahiel. Also of the sons of Asaph, Zacharias, and Mathanias.
29:14. And of the sons of Heman, Jahiel, and Semei: and of the sons of Idithun, Semeias, and Oziel.
29:15. And they gathered together their brethren, and sanctified themselves, and went in according to the commandment of the king, and the precept of the Lord, to purify the house of God.
29:16. And the priests went into the temple of the Lord to sanctify it, and brought out all the uncleanness that they found within to the entrance of the house of the Lord, and the Levites took it away, and carried it out abroad to the torrent Cedron.
29:17. And they began to cleanse on the first day of the first month, and on the eighth day of the same month they came into the porch of the temple of the Lord, and they purified the temple in eight days, and on the sixteenth day of the same month they finished what they had begun.
29:18. And they went in to king Ezechias, and said to him: We have sanctified all the house of the Lord, and the altar of holocaust, and the vessels thereof, and the table of proposition with all its vessels,
29:19. And all the furniture of the temple, which king Achaz in his reign had defiled, after his transgression; and behold they are all set forth before the altar of the Lord.
29:20. And king Ezechias rising early, assembled all the rulers of the city, and went up into the house of the Lord:
29:21. And they offered together seven bullocks, and seven rams, and seven lambs, and seven he goats for sin, for the kingdom, for the sanctuary, for Juda: and he spoke to the priests the sons of Aaron, to offer them upon the altar of the Lord.
29:22. Therefore they killed the bullocks, and the priests took the blood, and poured it upon the altar; they killed also the rams, and their blood they poured also upon the altar, and they killed the lambs, and poured the blood upon the altar.
29:23. And they brought the he goats for sin before the king, and the whole multitude, and they laid their hand upon them:
29:24. And the priests immolated them, and sprinkled their blood before the altar for an expiation of all Israel: for the king had commanded that the holocaust and the sin offering should be made for all Israel.
29:25. And he set the Levites in the house of the Lord with cymbals, and psalteries, and harps according to the regulation of David the king, and of Gad the seer, and of Nathan the prophet: for it was the commandment of the Lord by the hand of his prophets.
29:26. And the Levites stood, with the instruments of David, and the priests with trumpets.
29:27. And Ezechias commanded that they should offer holocausts upon the altar: and when the holocausts were offered, they began to sing praises to the Lord, and to sound with trumpets, and divers instruments which David the king of Israel had prepared.
29:28. And all the multitude adored, and the singers, and the trumpeters, were in their office till the holocaust was finished.
29:29. And when the oblation was ended, the king, and all that were with him bowed down and adored.
29:30. And Ezechias and the princes commanded the Levites to praise the Lord with the words of David, and Asaph the seer: and they praised him with great joy, and bowing the knee adored.
29:31. And Ezechias added, and said: You have filled your hands to the Lord, come and offer victims, and praises in the house of the Lord. And all the multitude offered victims, and praises, and holocausts with a devout mind.
29:32. And the number of the holocausts which the multitude offered, was seventy bullocks, a hundred rams, and two hundred lambs.
29:33. And they consecrated to the Lord six hundred oxen, and three thousand sheep.
29:34. But the priests were few, and were not enough to flay the holocausts: wherefore the Levites their brethren helped them, till the work was ended, and priests were sanctified, for the Levites are sanctified with an easier rite than the priests.
29:35. So there were many holocausts, and the fat of peace offerings, and the libations of holocausts: and the service of the house of the Lord was completed.
29:36. And Ezechias, and all the people rejoiced because the ministry of the Lord was accomplished. For the resolution of doing this thing was taken suddenly.
2 Paralipomenon Chapter 30
Ezechias inviteth all Israel to celebrate the pasch; the solemnity is kept fourteen days.
30:1. And Ezechias sent to all Israel and Juda: and he wrote letters to Ephraim and Manasses, that they should come to the house of the Lord in Jerusalem, and keep the phase to the Lord the God of Israel,
30:2. For the king, taking counsel, and the princes, and all the assembly of Jerusalem, decreed to keep the phase the second month.
30:3. For they could not keep it in its time; because there were not priests enough sanctified, and the people was not as yet gathered together to Jerusalem.
The host of heaven.... The sun, moon, and stars.
30:4. And the thing pleased the king, and all the people.
30:5. And they decreed to send messengers to all Israel from Bersabee even to Dan, that they should come, and keep the phase to the Lord the God of Israel in Jerusalem: for many had not kept it as it is prescribed by the law.
30:6. And the posts went with letters by commandment of the king, and his princes, to all Israel and Juda, proclaiming according to the king’s orders: Ye children of Israel, turn again to the Lord the God of Abraham, and of Isaac, and of Israel: and he will return to the remnant of you that have escaped the hand of the king of the Assyrians.
30:7. Be not like your fathers, and brethren, who departed from the Lord the God of their fathers, and he hath given them up to destruction, as you see.
30:8. Harden not your necks, as your fathers did: yield yourselves to the Lord, and come to his sanctuary, which he hath sanctified forever: serve the Lord the God of your fathers, and the wrath of his indignation shall be turned away from you.
30:9. For if you turn again to the Lord, your brethren, and children shall find mercy before their masters, that have led them away captive, and they shall return into this land: for the Lord your God is merciful, and will not turn away his face from you, if you return to him.
30:10. So the posts went speedily from city to city, through the land of Ephraim, and of Manasses, even to Zabulon, whilst they laughed at them and mocked them.
30:11. Nevertheless some men of Aser, and of Manasses, and of Zabulon, yielding to the counsel, came to Jerusalem.
30:12. But the hand of God was in Juda, to give them one heart to do the word of the Lord, according to the commandment of the king, and of the princes.
30:13. And much people were assembled to Jerusalem to celebrate the solemnity of the unleavened bread in the second month:
30:14. And they arose and destroyed the altars that were in Jerusalem, and took away all things in which incense was burnt to idols and cast them into the torrent Cedron.
30:15. And they immolated the phase on the fourteenth day of the second month. And the priests and the Levites being at length sanctified offered holocausts in the house of the Lord.
30:16. And they stood in their order according to the disposition and law of Moses the man of God: but the priests received the blood which was to be poured out, from the hands of the Levites,
30:17. Because a great number was not sanctified: and therefore the Levites immolated the phase for them that came not in time to be sanctified to the Lord.
30:18. For a great part of the people from Ephraim, and Manasses, and Issachar, and Zabulon, that had not been sanctified, ate the phase otherwise than it is written: and Ezechias prayed for them, saying: The Lord who is good will shew mercy,
30:19. To all them, who with their whole heart, seek the Lord the God of their fathers: and will not impute it to them that they are not sanctified.
30:20. And the Lord heard him, and was merciful to the people.
30:21. And the children of Israel, that were found at Jerusalem, kept the feast of unleavened bread seven days with great joy, praising the Lord every day, the Levites also, and the priests, with instruments that agreed to their office.
30:22. And Ezechias spoke to the heart of all the Levites, that had good understanding concerning the Lord: and they ate during the seven days of the solemnity, immolating victims of peace offerings, and praising the Lord the God of their fathers.
30:23. And it pleased the whole multitude to keep other seven days: which they did with great joy.
30:24. For Ezechias the king of Juda had given to the multitude a thousand bullocks, and seven thousand sheep: and the princes had given the people a thousand bullocks, and ten thousand sheep: and a great number of priests was sanctified.
30:25. And all the multitude of Juda with the priests and Levites, and all the assembly, that came out of Israel; and the proselytes of the land of Israel, and that dwelt in Juda were full of joy.
30:26. And there was a great solemnity in Jerusalem, such as had not been in that city since the time of Solomon the son of David king of Israel.
30:27. And the priests and the Levites rose up and blessed the people: and their voice was heard: and their prayer came to the holy dwelling place of heaven.
2 Paralipomenon Chapter 31
Idolatry is abolished; and provisions made for the ministers.
31:1. And when these things had been duly celebrated, all Israel that were found in the cities of Juda, went out, and they broke the idols, and cut down the groves, demolished the high places, and destroyed the altars, not only out of all Juda and Benjamin, but out of Ephraim also and Manasses, till they had utterly destroyed them: then all the children of Israel returned to their possessions and cities.
31:2. And Ezechias appointed companies of the priests, and the Levites, by their courses, every man in his own office, to wit, both of the priests, and of the Levites, for holocausts, and for peace offerings, to minister, and to praise, and to sing in the gates of the camp of the Lord.
31:3. And the king’s part was, that of his proper substance the holocaust should be offered always morning and evening, and on the sabbaths, and the new moons and the other solemnities, as it is written in the law of Moses.
31:4. He commanded also the people that dwelt in Jerusalem, to give to the priests, and the Levites their portion, that they might attend to the law of the Lord.
31:5. Which when it was noised abroad in the ears of the people, the children of Israel offered in abundance the firstfruits of corn, wine, and oil, and honey: and brought the tithe of all things which the ground bringeth forth.
31:6. Moreover the children of Israel and Juda, that dwelt in the cities of Juda, brought in the tithes of oxen, and sheep, and the tithes of holy things, which they had vowed to the Lord their God: and carrying them all, made many heaps.
31:7. In the third month they began to lay the foundations of the heaps, and in the seventh month, they finished them.
31:8. And when Ezechias and his princes came in, they saw the heaps, and they blessed the Lord and the people of Israel.
31:9. And Ezechias asked the priests and the Levites, why the heaps lay so.
31:10. Azarias the chief priest of the race of Sadoc answered him, saying: Since the firstfruits began to be offered in the house of the Lord, we have eaten, and have been filled, and abundance is left, because the Lord hath blessed his people: and of that which is left is this great store which thou seest.
31:11. Then Ezechias commanded to prepare storehouses in the house of the Lord. And when they had done so,
31:12. They brought in faithfully both the firstfruits, and the tithes, and all they had vowed. And the overseer of them was Chonenias the Levite, and Semei his brother was the second,
31:13. And after him Jehiel, and Azarias, and Nahath, and Asael, and Jerimoth, and Jozabad, and Eliel, and Jesmachias, and Mahath, and Banaias, overseers under the hand of Chonenias, and Semei his brother, by the commandment of Ezechias the king, and Azarias the high priest of the house of God, to whom all things appertained.
31:14. But Core the son of Jemna the Levite, the porter of the east gate, was overseer of the things which were freely offered to the Lord, and of the firstfruits and the things dedicated for the holy of holies.
31:15. And under his charge were Eden, and Benjamin, Jesue, and Semeias, and Amarias, and Sechenias, in the cities of the priests, to distribute faithfully portions to their brethren, both little and great:
31:16. Besides the males from three years old and upward, to all that went into the temple of the Lord, and whatsoever there was need of in the ministry, and their offices according to their courses, day by day.
31:17. To the priests by their families, and to the Levites from the twentieth year and upward, by their classes and companies.
31:18. And to all the multitude, both to their wives, and to their children of both sexes, victuals were given faithfully out of the things that had been sanctified.
31:19. Also of the sons of Aaron who were in the fields and in the suburbs of each city, there were men appointed, to distribute portions to all the males, among the priests and the Levites.
31:20. So Ezechias did all things which we have said in all Juda, and wrought that which was good, and right, and truth, before the Lord his God,
31:21. In all the service of the ministry of the house of the Lord according to the law and the ceremonies, desiring to seek his God with all his heart, and he did it and prospered.
2 Paralipomenon Chapter 32
Sennacherib invadeth Juda: his army is destroyed by an angel. Ezechias recovereth from his sickness: his other acts.
32:1. After these things, and this truth, Sennacherib king of the Assyrians came and entered into Juda, and besieged the fenced cities, desiring to take them.
32:2. And when Ezechias saw that Sennacherib was come, and that the whole force of the war was turning against Jerusalem,
32:3. He took counsel with the princes, and the most valiant men, to stop up the heads of the springs, that were without the city: and as they were all of this mind,
32:4. He gathered together a very great multitude, and they stopped up all the springs, and the brook, that ran through the midst of the land, saying: Lest the kings of the Assyrians should come, and find abundance of water.
32:5. He built up also with great diligence all the wall that had been broken down, and built towers upon it, and another wall without: and he repaired Mello in the city of David, and made all sorts of arms and shields:
32:6. And he appointed captains of the soldiers of the army: and he called them all together in the street of the gate of the city, and spoke to their heart, saying:
32:7. Behave like men, and take courage: be not afraid nor dismayed for the king of the Assyrians, nor for all the multitude that is with him: for there are many more with us than with him.
32:8. For with him is an arm of flesh: with us the Lord our God, who is our helper, and fighteth for us. And the people were encouraged with these words of Ezechias king of Juda.
32:9. After this, Sennacherib king of the Assyrians sent his servants to Jerusalem, (for he with all his army was besieging Lachis,) to Ezechias king of Juda, and to all the people that were in the city, saying:
32:10. Thus saith Sennacherib king of the Assyrians: In whom do you trust, that you sit still besieged in Jerusalem?
32:11. Doth not Ezechias deceive you, to give you up to die by hunger and thirst, affirming that the Lord your God shall deliver you from the hand of the king of the Assyrians?
32:12. Is it not this same Ezechias, that hath destroyed his high places, and his altars, and commanded Juda and Jerusalem, saying: You shall worship before one altar, and upon it you shall burn incense?
32:13. Know you not what I and my fathers have done to all the people of the lands? have the gods of any nations and lands been able to deliver their country out of my hand?
32:14. Who is there among all the gods of the nations, which my fathers have destroyed, that could deliver his people out of my hand, that your God should be able to deliver you out of this hand?
32:15. Therefore let not Ezechias deceive you, nor delude you with a vain persuasion, and do not believe him. For if no god of all the nations and kingdoms, could deliver his people out of my hand, and out of the hand of my fathers, consequently neither shall your God be able to deliver you out of my hand.
32:16. And many other things did his servants speak against the Lord God, and against Ezechias his servant.
32:17. He wrote also letters full of blasphemy against the Lord the God of Israel, and he spoke against him: As the gods of other nations could not deliver their people out of my hand, so neither can the God of Ezechias deliver his people out of this hand.
32:18. Moreover he cried out with a loud voice, in the Jews’ tongue, to the people that sat on the walls of Jerusalem, that he might frighten them, and take the city.
32:19. And he spoke against the God of Jerusalem, as against the gods of the people of the earth, the works of the hands of men.
32:20. And Ezechias the king, and Isaias the prophet the son of Amos, prayed against this blasphemy, and cried out to heaven.
32:21. And the Lord sent an angel, who cut off all the stout men and the warriors, and the captains of the army of the king of the Assyrians: and he returned with disgrace into his own country. And when he was come into the house of his god, his sons that came out of his bowels, slew him with the sword.
32:22. And the Lord saved Ezechias and the inhabitants of Jerusalem, out of the hand of Sennacherib king of the Assyrians, and out of the hand of all, and gave them treasures on every side.
32:23. Many also brought victims, and sacrifices to the Lord to Jerusalem, and presents to Ezechias king of Juda: and he was magnified thenceforth in the sight of all nations.
32:24. In those days Ezechias was sick even to death, and he prayed to the Lord: and he heard him, and gave him a sign.
32:25. But he did not render again according to the benefits which he had received, for his heart was lifted up: and wrath was enkindled against him, and against Juda and Jerusalem.
32:26. And he humbled himself afterwards, because his heart had been lifted up, both he and the inhabitants of Jerusalem: and therefore the wrath of the Lord came not upon them in the days of Ezechias.
32:27. And Ezechias was rich, and very glorious, and he gathered himself great treasures of silver and of gold, and of precious stones, of spices, and of arms, of all kinds, and of vessels of great price.
32:28. Storehouses also of corn, of wine, and of oil, and stalls for all beasts, and folds for cattle.
32:29. And he built himself cities: for he had flocks of sheep, and herds without number, for the Lord had given him very much substance.
32:30. This same Ezechias was, he that stopped the upper source of the waters of Gihon, and turned them away underneath toward the west of the city of David: in all his works he did prosperously what he would.
32:31. But yet in the embassy of the princes of Babylon, that were sent to him, to inquire of the wonder that had happened upon the earth, God left him that he might be tempted, and all things might be made known that were in his heart.
32:32. Now the rest of the acts of Ezechias, and of his mercies are written in the book of the kings of Juda and Israel.
32:33. And Ezechias slept with his fathers, and they buried him above the sepulchres of the sons of David: and all Juda, and all the inhabitants of Jerusalem celebrated his funeral: and Manasses his son reigned in his stead.
2 Paralipomenon Chapter 33
Manasses for his manifold wickedness is led captive to Babylon: he repenteth, and is restored to his kingdom, and destroyeth idolatry: his successor Amon is slain by his servants.
33:1. Manasses was twelve years old when he began to reign, and he reigned fifty-five years in Jerusalem.
33:2. And he did evil before the Lord, according to all the abominations of the nations, which the Lord cast out before the children of Israel:
33:3. And he turned, and built again the high places which Ezechias his father had destroyed: and he built altars to Baalim, and made groves, and he adored all the host of heaven, and worshipped them.
The host of heaven.... The sun, moon, and stars.
33:4. He built also altars in the house of the Lord, whereof the Lord had said: In Jerusalem shall my name be for ever.
33:5. And he built them for all the host of heaven in the two courts of the house of the Lord.
33:6. And he made his sons to pass through the fire in the valley of Benennom: he observed dreams, followed divinations, gave himself up to magic arts, had with him magicians, and enchanters: and he wrought many evils before the Lord, to provoke him to anger.
33:7. He set also a graven, and a molten statue in the house of God, of which God had said to David, and to Solomon his son: In this house, and in Jerusalem, which I have chosen out of all the tribes of Israel, will I put my name for ever.
33:8. And I will not make the foot of Israel to be removed out of the land which I have delivered to their fathers: yet so if they will take heed to do what I have commanded them, and all the law, and the ceremonies, and judgments by the hand of Moses.
33:9. So Manasses seduced Juda, and the inhabitants of Jerusalem, to do evil beyond all the nations, which the Lord had destroyed before the face of the children of Israel.
33:10. And the Lord spoke to him, and to his people, and they would not hearken.
33:11. Therefore he brought upon them the captains of the army of the king of the Assyrians: and they took Manasses, and carried him bound with chains and fetters to Babylon.
33:12. And after that he was in distress he prayed to the Lord his God: and did penance exceedingly before the God of his fathers.
33:13. And he entreated him, and besought him earnestly: and he heard his prayer, and brought him again to Jerusalem into his kingdom, and Manasses knew that the Lord was God.
33:14. After this he built a wall without the city of David, on the west side of Gihon in the valley, from the entering in of the fish gate round about to Ophel, and raised it up to a great height: and he appointed captains of the army in all the fenced cities of Juda:
33:15. And he took away the strange gods, and the idol out of the house of the Lord: the altars also which he had made in the mount of the house of the Lord, and in Jerusalem, and he cast them all out of the city.
33:16. And he repaired the altar of the Lord, and sacrificed upon it victims, and peace offerings, and praise: and he commanded Juda to serve the Lord the God of Israel.
33:17. Nevertheless the people still sacrificed in the high places to the Lord their God.
33:18. But the rest of the acts of Manasses, and his prayer to his God, and the words of the seers that spoke to him in the name of the Lord the God of Israel, are contained in the words of the kings of Israel.
33:19. His prayer also, and his being heard and all his sins, and contempt, and places wherein he built high places, and set up groves, and statues before he did penance, are written in the words of Hozai.
33:20. And Manasses slept with his fathers, and they buried him in his house: and his son Amon reigned in his stead.
33:21. Amon was two and twenty years old when he began to reign, and he reigned two years in Jerusalem.
33:22. And he did evil in the sight of the Lord, as Manasses his father had done: he sacrificed to all the idols which Manasses his father had made, and served them.
33:23. And he did not humble himself before the Lord, as Manasses his father had humbled himself, but committed far greater sin.
33:24. And his servants conspired against him, and slew him in his own house.
33:25. But the rest of the multitude of the people slew them that had killed Amon, and made Josias his son king in his stead.
2 Paralipomenon Chapter 34
Josias destroyeth idolatry, repaireth the temple, and reneweth the covenant between God and the people.
34:1. Josias was eight years old when he began to reign, and he reigned one and thirty years in Jerusalem.
34:2. And he did that which was right in the sight of the Lord, and walked in the ways of David his father: he declined not, neither to the right hand, nor to the left.
34:3. And in the eighth year of his reign, when he was yet a boy, he began to seek the God of his father David: and in the twelfth year after he began to reign, he cleansed Juda and Jerusalem from the high places, and the groves, and the idols, and the graven things.
34:4. And they broke down before him the altars of Baalim, and demolished the idols that had been set upon them: and he cut down the groves and the graven things, and broke them in pieces: and strewed the fragments upon the graves of them that had sacrificed to them.
34:5. And he burnt the bones of the priests on the altars of the idols, and he cleansed Juda and Jerusalem.
34:6. And in the cities of Manasses, and of Ephraim, and of Simeon, even to Nephtali he demolished all.
34:7. And when he had destroyed the altars, and the groves, and had broken the idols in pieces, and had demolished all profane temples throughout all the land of Israel, he returned to Jerusalem.
34:8. Now in the eighteenth year of his reign, when he had cleansed the land, and the temple of the Lord, he sent Saphan the son of Eselias, and Maasias the governor of the city, Joha the son of Joachaz the recorder, to repair the house of the Lord his God.
34:9. And they came to Helcias the high priest: and received of him the money which had been brought into the house of the Lord, and which the Levites and porters had gathered together from Manasses, and Ephraim, and all the remnant of Israel, and from all Juda, and Benjamin, and the inhabitants of Jerusalem,
34:10. Which they delivered into the hands of them that were over the workmen in the house of the Lord, to repair the temple, and mend all that was weak.
34:11. But they gave it to the artificers, and to the masons, to buy stones out of the quarries, and timber for the couplings of the building, and to rafter the houses, which the kings of Juda had destroyed.
34:12. And they did all faithfully. Now the overseers of the workmen were Jahath and Abdias of the sons of Merari, Zacharias and Mosollam of the sons of Caath, who hastened the work: all Levites skilful to play on instruments.
34:13. But over them that carried burdens for divers uses, were scribes, and masters of the number of the Levites, and porters.
34:14. Now when they carried out the money that had been brought into the temple of the Lord, Helcias the priest found the book of the law of the Lord, by the hand of Moses.
34:15. And he said to Saphan the scribe: I have found the book of the law in the house of the Lord: and he delivered it to him.
34:16. But he carried the book to the king, and told him, saying: Lo, all that thou hast committed to thy servants, is accomplished.
34:17. They have gathered together the silver that was found in the house of the Lord: and it is given to the overseers of the artificers, and of the workmen, for divers works.
34:18. Moreover Helcias the priest gave me this book. And he read it before the king.
34:19. And when he had heard the words of the law, he rent his garments:
34:20. And he commanded Helcias, and Ahicam the son of Saphan, and Abdon the son of Micha, and Saphan the scribe, and Asaa the king’s servant, saying:
34:21. Go, and pray to the Lord for me, and for the remnant of Israel, and Juda, concerning all the words of this book, which is found: for the great wrath of the Lord hath fallen upon us, because our fathers have not kept the words of the Lord, to do all things that are written in this book.
34:22. And Helcias and they that were sent with him by the king, went to Olda the prophetess, the wife of Sellum the son of Thecuath, the son of Hasra keeper of the wardrobe: who dwelt in Jerusalem in the Second part: and they spoke to her the words above mentioned.
34:23. And she answered them: Thus saith the Lord the God of Israel: Tell the man that sent you to me:
34:24. Thus saith the Lord: Behold I will bring evils upon this place, and upon the inhabitants thereof, and all the curses that are written in this book which they read before the king of Juda.
34:25. Because they have forsaken me, and have sacrificed to strange gods, to provoke me to wrath with all the works of their hands, therefore my wrath shall fall upon this place, and shall not be quenched.
34:26. But as to the king of Juda that sent you to beseech the Lord, thus shall you say to him: Thus saith the Lord the God of Israel: Because thou hast heard the words of this book,
34:27. And thy heart was softened, and thou hast humbled thyself in the sight of God for the things that are spoken against this place, and the inhabitants of Jerusalem, and reverencing my face, hast rent thy garments, and wept before me: I also have heard thee, saith the Lord.
34:28. For now I will gather thee to thy fathers, and thou shalt be brought to thy tomb in peace: and thy eyes shall not see all the evil that I will bring upon this place, and the inhabitants thereof. They therefore reported to the king all that she had said.
34:29. And he called together all the ancients of Juda and Jerusalem.
34:30. And went up to the house of the Lord, and all the men of Juda, and the inhabitants of Jerusalem, the priests and the Levites, and all the people from the least to the greatest. And the king read in their hearing, in the house of the Lord, all the words of the book.
34:31. And standing up in his tribunal, he made a covenant before the Lord to walk after him, and keep his commandments, and testimonies, and justifications with all his heart, and with all his soul, and to do the things that were written in that book which he had read.
34:32. And he adjured all that were found in Jerusalem and Benjamin to do the same: and the inhabitants of Jerusalem did according to the covenant of the Lord the God of their fathers.
34:33. And Josias took away all the abominations out of all the countries of the children of Israel and made all that were left in Israel, to serve the Lord their God. As long as he lived they departed not from the Lord the God of their fathers.
2 Paralipomenon Chapter 35
Josias celebrateth a most solemn pasch. He is slain by the king of Egypt.
35:1. And Josias kept a phase to the Lord in Jerusalem, and it was sacrificed on the fourteenth day of the first month.
35:2. And he set the priests in their offices, and exhorted them to minister in the house of the Lord.
35:3. And he spoke to the Levites, by whose instruction all Israel was sanctified to the Lord, saying: Put the ark in the sanctuary of the temple, which Solomon the son of David king of Israel built: for you shall carry it no more: but minister now to the Lord your God, and to his people Israel.
35:4. And prepare yourselves by your houses, and families according to your courses, as David king of Israel commanded, and Solomon his son hath written.
35:5. And serve ye in the sanctuary by the families and companies of Levi.
35:6. And being sanctified kill the phase, and prepare your brethren, that they may do according to the words which the Lord spoke by the hand of Moses.
35:7. And Josias gave to all the people that were found there in the solemnity of the phase, of lambs and of kids of the flocks, and of other small cattle thirty thousand, and of oxen three thousand, all these were of the king’s substance.
35:8. And his princes willingly offered what they had vowed, both to the people and to the priests and the Levites. Moreover Helcias, and Zacharias, and Jahiel rulers of the house of the Lord, gave to the priests to keep the phase two thousand six hundred small cattle, and three hundred oxen.
35:9. And Chonenias, and Semeias and Nathanael, his brethren, and Hasabias, and Jehiel, and Jozabad princes of the Levites, gave to the rest of the Levites to celebrate the phase five thousand small cattle, and five hundred oxen.
35:10. And the ministry was prepared, and the priests stood in their office: the Levites also in their companies, according to the king’s commandment.
35:11. And the phase was immolated: and the priests sprinkled the blood with their hand, and the Levites flayed the holocausts:
35:12. And they separated them, to give them by the houses and families of every one, and to be offered to the Lord, as it is written in the book of Moses, and with the oxen they did in like manner.
35:13. And they roasted the phase with fire, according to that which is written in the law: but the victims of peace offerings they boiled in caldrons, and kettles, and pots, and they distributed them speedily among all the people.
35:14. And afterwards they made ready for themselves, and for the priests: for the priests were busied in offering of holocausts and the fat until night, wherefore the Levites prepared for themselves, and for the priests the sons of Aaron last.
35:15. And the singers the sons of Asaph stood in their order, according to the commandment of David, and Asaph, and Heman, and Idithun, the prophets of the king: and the porters kept guard at every gate, so as not to depart one moment from their service, and therefore their brethren the Levites prepared meats for them.
35:16. So all the service of the Lord was duly accomplished that day, both in keeping the phase and offering holocausts upon the altar of the Lord, according to the commandment of king Josias.
35:17. And the children of Israel that were found there, kept the phase at that time, and the feast of unleavened seven days.
35:18. There was no phase like to this in Israel, from the days of Samuel the prophet: neither did any of all the kings of Israel keep such a phase as Josias kept, with the priests, and the Levites, and all Juda, and Israel that were found, and the inhabitants of Jerusalem.
35:19. In the eighteenth year of the reign of Josias was this phase celebrated.
35:20. After that Josias had repaired the temple, Nechao king of Egypt came up to fight in Charcamis by the Euphrates: and Josias went out to meet him.
35:21. But he sent messengers to him, saying: What have I to do with thee, O king of Juda? I come not against thee this day, but I fight against another house, to which God hath commanded me to go in haste: forbear to do against God, who is with me, lest he kill thee.
35:22. Josias would not return, but prepared to fight against him, and hearkened not to the words of Nechao from the mouth of God, but went to fight in the field of Mageddo.
35:23. And there he was wounded by the archers, and he said to his servants: Carry me out of the battle, for I am grievously wounded.
35:24. And they removed him from the chariot into another, that followed him after the manner of kings, and they carried him away to Jerusalem, and he died, and was buried in the monument of his fathers, and all Juda and Jerusalem mourned for him,
35:25. Particularly Jeremias: whose lamentations for Josias all the singing men and singing women repeat unto this day, and it became like a law in Israel: Behold it is found written in the Lamentations.
35:26. Now the rest of the acts of Josias and of his mercies, according to what was commanded by the law of the Lord:
35:27. And his works first and last, are written in the book of the kings of Juda and Israel.
2 Paralipomenon Chapter 36
The reigns of Joachaz, Joakim, Joachin, and Sedecias: the captivity of Babylon released at length by Cyrus.
36:1. Then the people of the land took Joachaz the son of Josias, and made him king instead of his father in Jerusalem.
36:2. Joachaz was three and twenty years old when he began to reign, and he reigned three months in Jerusalem.
36:3. And the king of Egypt came to Jerusalem, and deposed him, and condemned the land in a hundred talents of silver, and a talent of gold.
36:4. And he made Eliakim his brother king in his stead, over Juda and Jerusalem: and he turned his name to Joakim: but he took Joachaz with him and carried him away into Egypt.
36:5. Joakim was five and twenty years old when he began to reign, and he reigned eleven years in Jerusalem: and he did evil before the Lord his God.
36:6. Against him came up Nabuchodonosor king of the Chaldeans, and led him bound in chains into Babylon.
36:7. And he carried also thither the vessels of the Lord, and put them in his temple.
36:8. But the rest of the acts of Joakim, and his abominations, which he wrought, and the things that were found in him, are contained in the book of the kings of Juda and Israel. And Joachin his son reigned in his stead.
36:9. Joachin was eight years old when he began to reign, and he reigned three months and ten days in Jerusalem, and he did evil in the sight of the Lord.
Eight years old.... He was associated by his father to the kingdom, when he was but eight years old; but after his father’s death, when he reigned alone, he was eighteen years old. 4 Kings 24.8.
36:10. And at the return of the year, king Nabuchodonosor sent, and brought him to Babylon, carrying away at the same time the most precious vessels of the house of the Lord: and he made Sedecias his uncle king over Juda and Jerusalem.
36:11. Sedecias was one and twenty years old when he began to reign: and he reigned eleven years in Jerusalem.
36:12. And he did evil in the eyes of the Lord his God, and did not reverence the face of Jeremias the prophet speaking to him from the mouth of the Lord.
36:13. He also revolted from king Nabuchodonosor, who had made him swear by God: and he hardened his neck and his heart, from returning to the Lord the God of Israel.
36:14. Moreover all the chief of the priests, and the people wickedly transgressed according to all the abominations of the Gentiles: and they defiled the house of the Lord, which he had sanctified to himself in Jerusalem.
36:15. And the Lord the God of their fathers sent to them, by the hand of his messengers, rising early, and daily admonishing them: because he spared his people and his dwelling place.
36:16. But they mocked the messengers of God, and despised his words, and misused the prophets, until the wrath of the Lord arose against his people, and there was no remedy.
36:17. For he brought upon them the king of the Chaldeans, and he slew their young men with the sword in the house of his sanctuary, he had no compassion on young man, or maiden, old man or even him that stooped for age, but he delivered them all into his hands.
36:18. And all the vessels of the house of Lord, great and small, and the treasures of the temple and of the king, and of the princes he carried away to Babylon.
36:19. And the enemies set fire to the house of God, and broke down the wall of Jerusalem, burnt all the towers, and what soever was precious they destroyed.
36:20. Whosoever escaped the sword, was led into Babylon, and there served the king and his sons, till the reign of the king of Persia,
36:21. That the word of the Lord by the mouth of Jeremias might be fulfilled, and the land might keep her sabbaths: for all the days of the desolation she kept a sabbath, till the seventy years were expired.
36:22. But in the first year of Cyrus king of the Persians, to fulfil the word of the Lord, which he had spoken by the mouth of Jeremias, the Lord stirred up the heart of Cyrus, king of the Persians: who commanded it to be proclaimed through all his kingdom, and by writing also, saying:
36:23. Thus saith Cyrus king of the Persians: All the kingdoms of the earth hath the Lord the God of heaven given to me, and he hath charged me to build him a house in Jerusalem, which is in Judea: who is there among you of all his people? The Lord his God be with him, and let him go up.
THE FIRST BOOK OF ESDRAS
This Book taketh its name from the writer: who was a holy priest, and doctor of the law. He is called by the Hebrews, Ezra.
1 Esdras Chapter 1
Cyrus king of Persia releaseth God’s people from their captivity, with license to return and build the temple in Jerusalem: and restoreth the holy vessels which Nabuchodonosor had taken from thence.
1:1. In the first year of Cyrus king of the Persians, that the word of the Lord by the mouth of Jeremias might be fulfilled, the Lord stirred up the spirit of Cyrus king of the Persians: and he made a proclamation throughout all his kingdom, and in writing also, saying:
1:2. Thus saith Cyrus king of the Persians: The Lord the God of heaven hath given to me all the kingdoms of the earth, and he hath charged me to build him a house in Jerusalem, which is in Judea.
1:3. Who is there among you of all his people? His God be with him. Let him go up to Jerusalem, which is in Judea, and build the house of the Lord the God of Israel: he is the God that is in Jerusalem.
1:4. And let all the rest in all places wheresoever they dwell, help him every man from his place, with silver and gold, and goods, and cattle, besides that which they offer freely to the temple of God, which is in Jerusalem.
1:5. Then rose up the chief of the fathers of Juda and Benjamin, and the priests, and Levites, and every one whose spirit God had raised up, to go up to build the temple of the Lord, which was in Jerusalem.
1:6. And all they that were round about, helped their hands with vessels of silver, and gold, with goods, and with beasts, and with furniture, besides what they had offered on their own accord.
1:7. And king Cyrus brought forth the vessels of the temple of the Lord, which Nabuchodonosor had taken from Jerusalem, and had put them in the temple of his god.
1:8. Now Cyrus king of Persia brought them forth by the hand of Mithridates the son of Gazabar, and numbered them to Sassabasar the prince of Juda.
1:9. And this is the number of them: thirty bowls of gold, a thousand bowls of silver, nine and twenty knives, thirty cups of gold,
1:10. Silver cups of a second sort, four hundred and ten: other vessels a thousand.
1:11. All the vessels of gold and silver, five thousand four hundred: all these Sassabasar brought with them that came up from the captivity of Babylon to Jerusalem.
1 Esdras Chapter 2
The number of them that returned to Judea: their oblations.
2:1. Now these are the children of the province, that went out of the captivity, which Nabuchodonosor king of Babylon had carried away to Babylon, and who returned to Jerusalem and Juda, every man to his city.
2:2. Who came with Zorobabel, Josue, Nehemia, Saraia, Rahelaia, Mardochai, Belsan, Mesphar, Beguai, Rehum, Baana. The number of the men of the people of Israel:
2:3. The children of Pharos two thousand one hundred seventy-two.
2:4. The children of Sephatia, three hundred seventy-two.
2:5. The children of Area, seven hundred seventy-five.
2:6. The children of Phahath Moab, of the children of Josue: Joab, Two thousand eight hundred twelve.
2:7. The children of Elam, a thousand two hundred fifty-four.
2:8. The children of Zethua, nine hundred forty-five.
2:9. The children of Zachai, seven hundred sixty.
2:10. The children of Bani, six hundred forty-two.
2:11. The children of Bebai, six hundred twenty-three.
2:12. The children of Azgad, a thousand two hundred twenty-two.
2:13. The children of Adonicam, six hundred sixty-six.
2:14. The children of Beguai, two thousand fifty-six.
2:15. The children of Adin, four hundred fifty-four.
2:16. The children of Ather, who were of Ezechias, ninety-eight.
2:17. The children of Besai, three hundred and twenty-three.
2:18. The children of Jora, a hundred and twelve.
2:19. The children of Hasum, two hundred twenty-three.
2:20. The children of Gebbar, ninety-five.
2:21. The children of Bethlehem, a hundred twenty-three.
2:22. The men of Netupha, fifty-six.
2:23. The men of Anathoth, a hundred twenty-eight.
2:24. The children of Azmaveth, forty-two.
2:25. The children of Cariathiarim, Cephira, and Beroth, seven hundred forty-three.
2:26. The children of Rama and Gabaa, six hundred twenty-one.
2:27. The men of Machmas, a hundred twenty-two.
2:28. The men of Bethel and Hai, two hundred twenty-three.
2:29. The children of Nebo, fifty-two.
2:30. The children of Megbis, a hundred fifty-six.
2:31. The children of the other Elam, a thousand two hundred fifty-four.
2:32. The children of Harim, three hundred and twenty.
2:33. The children of Lod, Hadid and Ono, seven hundred twenty-five.
2:34. The children of Jericho, three hundred forty-five.
2:35. The children of Senaa, three thousand six hundred thirty.
2:36. The priests: the children of Jadaia of the house of Josue, nine hundred seventy-three.
2:37. The children of Emmer, a thousand fifty-two.
2:38. The children of Pheshur, a thousand two hundred forty-seven.
2:39. The children of Harim, a thousand and seventeen.
2:40. The Levites: the children of Josue and of Cedmihel, the children of Odovia, seventy-four.
2:41. The singing men: the children of Asaph, a hundred twenty-eight.
2:42. The children of the porters: the children of Sellum, the children of Ater, the children of Telmon, the children of Accub, the children of Hatita, the children of Sobai: in all a hundred thirty-nine.
2:43. The Nathinites: the children of Siha, the children of Hasupha, the children of Tabbaoth,
2:44. The children of Ceros, the children of Sia, the children of Phadon,
2:45. The children of Lebana, the children of Hegaba, the children of Accub,
2:46. The children of Hagab, the children of Semlai, the children of Hanan,
2:47. The children of Gaddel, the children of Gaher, the children of Raaia,
2:48. The children of Rasin, the children of Necoda, the children of Gazam,
2:49. The children of Asa, the children of Phasea, the children of Besee,
2:50. The children of Asena, the children of Munim, the children of Nephusim,
2:51. The children of Bacbuc, the children of Hacupha, the children of Harhur,
2:52. The children of Besluth, the children of Mahida, the children of Harsa,
2:53. The children of Bercos, the children of Sisara, the children of Thema,
2:54. The children of Nasia, the children of Hatipha,
2:55. The children of the servants of Solomon, the children of Sotai, the children of Sopheret, the children of Pharuda,
2:56. The children of Jala, the children of Dercon, the children of Geddel,
2:57. The children of Saphatia, the children of Hatil, the children of Phochereth, which were of Asebaim, the children of Ami,
2:58. All the Nathinites, and the children of the servants of Solomon, three hundred ninety-two.
2:59. And these are they that came up from Thelmela, Thelharsa, Cherub, and Adon, and Emer. And they could not shew the house of their fathers and their seed, whether they were of Israel.
2:60. The children of Dalaia, the children of Tobia, the children of Necoda, six hundred fifty-two.
2:61. And of the children of the priests: the children of Hobia, the children of Accos, the children of Berzellai, who took a wife of the daughters of Berzellai, the Galaadite, and was called by their name:
2:62. These sought the writing of their genealogy, and found it not, and they were cast out of the priesthood.
2:63. And Athersatha said to them, that they should not eat of the holy of holies, till there arose a priest learned and perfect.
2:64. All the multitudes as one man, were forty-two thousand three hundred and sixty:
Forty-two thousand, etc.... Those who are reckoned up above of the tribes of Juda, Benjamin, and Levi, fall short of this number. The rest, who must be taken in to make up the whole sum, were of the other tribes.
2:65. Besides their menservants, and womenservants, of whom there were seven thousand three hundred and thirty-seven: and among them singing men, and singing women two hundred.
2:66. Their horses seven hundred thirty-six, their mules two hundred forty-five,
2:67. Their camels four hundred thirty-five, their asses six thousand seven hundred and twenty.
2:68. And some of the chief of the fathers, when they came to the temple of the Lord, which is in Jerusalem, offered freely to the house of the Lord to build it in its place.
2:69. According to their ability, they gave towards the expenses of the work, sixty-one thousand solids of gold, five thousand pounds of silver, and a hundred garments for the priests.
2:70. So the priests and the Levites, and some of the people, and the singing men, and the porters, and the Nathinites dwelt in their cities, and all Israel in their cities.
1 Esdras Chapter 3
An altar is built for sacrifice, the feast of tabernacles is solemnly celebrated, and the foundations of the temple are laid.
3:1. And now the seventh month was come, and the children of Israel were in their cities: and the people gathered themselves together as one man to Jerusalem.
3:2. And Josue the son of Josedec rose up, and his brethren the priests, and Zorobabel the son of Salathiel, and his brethren, and they built the altar of the God of Israel that they might offer holocausts upon it, as it is written in the law of Moses the man of God.
Josue.... or Jesus (Jeshua) the son of Josedec; he was the high priest, at that time.
3:3. And they set the altar of God upon its bases, while the people of the lands round about put them in fear, and they offered upon it a holocaust to the Lord morning and evening.
3:4. And they kept the feast of tabernacles, as it is written, and offered the holocaust every day orderly according to the commandment, the duty of the day in its day.
3:5. And afterwards the continual holocaust, both on the new moons, and on all the solemnities of the Lord, that were consecrated, and on all in which a freewill offering was made to the Lord.
3:6. From the first day of the seventh month they began to offer holocausts to the Lord: but the temple of God was not yet founded.
3:7. And they gave money to hewers of stones and to masons: and meat and drink, and oil to the Sidonians and Tyrians, to bring cedar trees from Libanus to the sea of Joppe, according to the orders which Cyrus king of the Persians had given them.
3:8. And in the second year of their coming to the temple of God in Jerusalem, the second month, Zorobabel the son of Salathiel, and Josue the son of Josedec, and the rest of their brethren the priests, and the Levites, and all that were come from the captivity to Jerusalem began, and they appointed Levites from twenty years old and upward, to hasten forward the work of the Lord.
3:9. Then Josue and his sons and his brethren, Cedmihel, and his sons, and the children of Juda, as one man, stood to hasten them that did the work in the temple of God: the sons of Henadad, and their sons, and their brethren the Levites.
3:10. And when the masons laid the foundations of the temple of the Lord, the priests stood in their ornaments with trumpets: and the Levites the sons of Asaph with cymbals, to praise God by the hands of David king of Israel.
3:11. And they sung together hymns, and praise to the Lord: because he is good, for his mercy endureth for ever towards Israel. And all the people shouted with a great shout, praising the Lord, because the foundations of the temple of the Lord were laid.
3:12. But many of the priests and the Levites, and the chief of the fathers and the ancients that had seen the former temple; when they had the foundation of this temple before their eyes, wept with a loud voice: and many shouting for joy, lifted up their voice.
3:13. So that one could not distinguish the voice of the shout of joy, from the noise of the weeping of the people: for one with another the people shouted with a loud shout, and the voice was heard afar off.
1 Esdras Chapter 4
The Samaritans by their letter to the king hinder the building.
4:1. Now the enemies of Juda and Benjamin heard that the children of the captivity were building a temple to the Lord the God of Israel.
4:2. And they came to Zorobabel, and the chief of the fathers, and said to them: Let us build with you, for we seek your God as ye do: behold we have sacrificed to him, since the days of Asor Haddan king of Assyria, who brought us hither.
4:3. But Zorobabel, and Josue, and the rest of the chief of the fathers of Israel said to them: You have nothing to do with us to build a house to our God, but we ourselves alone will build to the Lord our God, as Cyrus king of the Persians hath commanded us.
4:4. Then the people of the land hindered the hands of the people of Juda, and troubled them in building.
4:5. And they hired counsellors against them, to frustrate their design all the days of Cyrus king of Persia, even until the reign of Darius king of the Persians.
4:6. And in the reign of Assuerus, in the beginning of his reign, they wrote an accusation against the inhabitants of Juda and Jerusalem.
Assuerus.... Otherwise called Cambyses the son and successor of Cyrus. He is also in the following verse named Artaxerxes, a name common to almost all the kings of Persia.
4:7. And in the days of Artaxerxes, Beselam, Mithridates, and Thabeel, and the rest that were in the council wrote to Artaxerxes king of the Persians: and the letter of accusation was written in Syrian, and was read in the Syrian tongue.
4:8. Reum Beelteem, and Samsai the scribe wrote a letter from Jerusalem to king Artaxerxes, in this manner:
4:9. Reum Beelteem, and Samsai the scribe and the rest of their counsellors, the Dinites, and the Apharsathacites, the Therphalites, the Apharsites, the Erchuites, the Babylonians, the Susanechites, the Dievites, and the Elamites,
4:10. And the rest of the nations, whom the great and glorious Asenaphar brought over: and made to dwell in the cities of Samaria and in the rest of the countries of this side of the river in peace.
4:11. (This is the copy of the letter, which they sent to him:) To Artaxerxes the king, thy servants, the men that are on this side of the river, send greeting.
4:12. Be it known to the king, that the Jews, who came up from thee to us, are come to Jerusalem a rebellious and wicked city, which they are building, setting up the ramparts thereof and repairing the walls.
4:13. And now be it known to the king, that if this city be built up, and the walls thereof repaired, they will not pay tribute nor toll, nor yearly revenues, and this loss will fall upon the kings.
4:14. But we remembering the salt that we have eaten in the palace, and because we count it a crime to see the king wronged, have therefore sent and certified the king,
4:15. That search may be made in the books of the histories of thy fathers, and thou shalt find written in the records: and shalt know that this city is a rebellious city, and hurtful to the kings and provinces, and that wars were raised therein of old time: for which cause also the city was destroyed.
4:16. We certify the king, that if this city be built, and the walls thereof repaired, thou shalt have no possession on this side of the river.
4:17. The king sent word to Reum Beelteem and Samsai the scribe, and to the rest that were in their council, inhabitants of Samaria, and to the rest beyond the river, sending greeting and peace.
4:18. The accusation, which you have sent to us, hath been plainly read before me,
4:19. And I commanded: and search hath been made, and it is found, that this city of old time hath rebelled against kings, and seditions and wars have been raised therein.
4:20. For there have been powerful kings in Jerusalem, who have had dominion over all the country that is beyond the river: and have received tribute, and toll and revenues.
4:21. Now therefore hear the sentence: Hinder those men, that this city be not built, till further orders be given by me.
4:22. See that you be not negligent in executing this, lest by little and little the evil grow to the hurt of the kings.
4:23. Now the copy of the edict of king Artaxerxes was read before Reum Beelteem, and Samsai the scribe, and their counsellors: and they went up in haste to Jerusalem to the Jews, and hindered them with arm and power.
4:24. Then the work of the house of the Lord in Jerusalem was interrupted, and ceased till the second year of the reign of Darius king of the Persians.
1 Esdras Chapter 5
By the exhortation of Aggeus, and Zacharias, the people proceed in building the temple. Which their enemies strive in vain to hinder.
5:1. Now Aggeus the prophet, and Zacharias the son of Addo, prophesied to the Jews that were in Judea and Jerusalem, in the name of the God of Israel.
5:2. Then rose up Zorobabel the son of Salathiel, and Josue the son of Josedec, and began to build the temple of God in Jerusalem, and with them were the prophets of God helping them.
5:3. And at the same time came to them Thathanai, who was governor beyond the river, and Stharbuzanai, and their counsellors: and said thus to them: Who hath given you counsel to build this house, and to repair the walls thereof?
5:4. In answer to which we gave them the names of the men who were the promoters of that building.
5:5. But the eye of their God was upon the ancients of the Jews, and they could not hinder them. And it was agreed that the matter should be referred to Darius, and then they should give satisfaction concerning that accusation.
5:6. The copy of the letter that Thathanai governor of the country beyond the river, and Stharbuzanai, and his counsellors the Arphasachites, who dwelt beyond the river, sent to Darius the king.
5:7. The letter which they sent him, was written thus: To Darius the king all peace.
5:8. Be it known to the king, that we went to the province of Judea, to the house of the great God, which they are building with unpolished stones, and timber is laid in the walls: and this work is carried on diligently and advanceth in their hands.
5:9. And we asked those ancients, and said to them thus: Who hath given you authority to build this house, and to repair these walls?
5:10. We asked also of them their names, that we might give thee notice: and we have written the names of the men that are the chief among them.
5:11. And they answered us in these words, saying: We are the servants of the God of heaven and earth, and we are building a temple that was built these many years ago, and which a great king of Israel built and set up.
5:12. But after that our fathers had provoked the God of heaven to wrath, he delivered them into the hands of Nabuchodonosor the king of Babylon the Chaldean: and he destroyed this house, and carried away the people to Babylon.
5:13. But in the first year of Cyrus the king of Babylon, king Cyrus set forth a decree, that this house of God should be built.
5:14. And the vessels also of gold and silver of the temple of God, which Nabuchodonosor had taken out of the temple, that was in Jerusalem, and had brought them to the temple of Babylon, king Cyrus brought out of the temple of Babylon, and they were delivered to one Sassabasar, whom also he appointed governor,
5:15. And said to him: Take these vessels, and go, and put them in the temple that is in Jerusalem, and let the house of God be built in its place.
5:16. Then came this same Sassabasar, and laid the foundations of the temple of God in Jerusalem, and from that time until now it is in building, and is not yet finished.
5:17. Now therefore if it seem good to the king, let him search in the king’s library, which is in Babylon, whether it hath been decreed by Cyrus the king, that the house of God in Jerusalem should be built, and let the king send his pleasure to us concerning this matter.
1 Esdras Chapter 6
King Darius favoureth the building and contributeth to it.
6:1. Then king Darius gave orders, and they searched in the library of the books that were laid up in Babylon,
6:2. And there was found in Ecbatana, which is a castle in the province of Media, a book in which this record was written.
6:3. In the first year of Cyrus the king: Cyrus the king decreed, that the house of God should be built, which is in Jerusalem, in the place where they may offer sacrifices, and that they lay the foundations that may support the height of threescore cubits, and the breadth of threescore cubits,
6:4. Three rows of unpolished stones, and so rows of new timber: and the charges shall be given out of the king’s house.
6:5. And also let the golden and silver vessels of the temple of God, which Nabuchodonosor took out of the temple of Jerusalem, and brought to Babylon, be restored, and carried back to the temple of Jerusalem to their place, which also were placed in the temple of God.
6:6. Now therefore Thathanai, governor of the country beyond the river, Stharbuzanai, and your counsellors the Apharsachites, who are beyond the river, depart far from them,
6:7. And let that temple of God be built by the governor of the Jews, and by their ancients, that they may build that house of God in its place.
6:8. I also have commanded what must be done by those ancients of the Jews, that the house of God may be built, to wit, that of the king’s chest, that is, of the tribute that is paid out of the country beyond the river, the charges be diligently given to those men, lest the work be hindered.
6:9. And if it shall be necessary, let calves also, and lambs, and kids, for holocausts to the God of heaven, wheat, salt, wine, and oil, according to the custom of the priests that are in Jerusalem, be given them day by day, that there be no complaint in any thing.
6:10. And let them offer oblations to the God of heaven, and pray for the life of the king, and of his children.
6:11. And I have made a decree: That if any whosoever, shall alter this commandment, a beam be taken from his house, and set up, and he be nailed upon it, and his house be confiscated.
6:12. And may the God, that hath caused his name to dwell there, destroy all kingdoms, and the people that shall put out their hand to resist, and to destroy the house of God, that is in Jerusalem. I Darius have made the decree, which I will have diligently complied with.
6:13. So then Thathanai, governor of the country beyond the river, and Stharbuzanai, and his counsellors diligently executed what Darius the king had commanded.
6:14. And the ancients of the Jews built, and prospered according to the prophecy of Aggeus the prophet, and of Zacharias the son of Addo: and they built and finished, by the commandment of the God of Israel, and by the commandment of Cyrus, and Darius, and Artaxerxes kings of the Persians.
6:15. And they were finishing this house of God, until the third day of the month of Adar, which was in the sixth year of the reign of king Darius.
6:16. And the children of Israel, the priests and the Levites, and the rest of the children of the captivity kept the dedication of the house of God with joy.
6:17. And they offered at the dedication of the house of God, a hundred calves, two hundred rams, four hundred lambs, and for a sin offering for all Israel twelve he goats, according to the number of the tribes of Israel.
6:18. And they set the priests in their divisions, and the Levites in their courses over the works of God in Jerusalem, as it is written in the book of Moses.
6:19. And the children of Israel of the captivity kept the phase, on the fourteenth day of the first month.
6:20. For all the priests and the Levites were purified as one man: all were clean to kill the phase for all the children of the captivity, and for their brethren the priests, and themselves.
6:21. And the children of Israel that were returned from captivity, and all that had separated themselves from the filthiness of the nations of the earth to them, to seek the Lord the God of Israel, did eat.
6:22. And they kept the feast of unleavened bread seven days with joy, for the Lord had made them joyful, and had turned the heart of the king of Assyria to them, that he should help their hands in the work of the house of the Lord the God of Israel.
1 Esdras Chapter 7
Esdras goeth up to Jerusalem to teach, and assist the people, with a gracious decree of Artaxerxes.
7:1. Now after these things in the reign of Artaxerxes king of the Persians, Esdras the son of Saraias, the son of Azarias, the son of Helcias,
7:2. The son of Sellum, the son of Sadoc, the son of Achitob,
7:3. The son of Amarias, the son of Azarias, the son of Maraioth,
7:4. The son of Zarahias, the son of Ozi, the son of Bocci,
7:5. The son of Abisue, the son of Phinees, the son of Eleazar, the son of Aaron, the priest from the beginning.
7:6. This Esdras went up from Babylon, and he was a ready scribe in the law of Moses, which the Lord God had given to Israel: and the king granted him all his request, according to the hand of the Lord his God upon him.
7:7. And there went up some of the children of Israel, and of the children of the priests, and of the children of the Levites, and of the singing men, and of the porters, and of the Nathinites to Jerusalem in the seventh year of Artaxerxes the king.
7:8. And they came to Jerusalem in the fifth month, in the seventh year of the king.
7:9. For upon the first day of the first month he began to go up from Babylon, and on the first day of the fifth month he came to Jerusalem according to the good hand of his God upon him.
7:10. For Esdras had prepared his heart to seek the law of the Lord, and to do and to teach in Israel the commandments and judgment.
7:11. And this is the copy of the letter of the edict, which king Artaxerxes gave to Esdras the priest, the scribe instructed in the words and commandments of the Lord, and his ceremonies in Israel.
7:12. Artaxerxes king of kings to Esdras the priest, the most learned scribe of the law of the God of heaven, greeting.
7:13. It is decreed by me, that all they of the people of Israel, and of the priests and of the Levites in my realm, that are minded to go into Jerusalem, should go with thee.
7:14. For thou art sent from before the king, and his seven counsellors, to visit Judea and Jerusalem according to the law of thy God, which is in thy hand.
7:15. And to carry the silver and gold, which the king and his counsellors have freely offered to the God of Israel, whose tabernacle is in Jerusalem.
7:16. And all the silver and gold that thou shalt find in all the province of Babylon, and that the people is willing to offer, and that the priests shall offer of their own accord to the house of their God, which is in Jerusalem,
7:17. Take freely, and buy diligently with this money, calves, rams, lambs, with the sacrifices and libations of them, and offer them upon the altar of the temple of your God, that is in Jerusalem.
7:18. And if it seem good to thee, and to thy brethren to do any thing with the rest of the silver and gold, do it according to the will of your God.
7:19. The vessels also, that are given thee for the sacrifice of the house of thy God, deliver thou in the sight of God in Jerusalem.
7:20. And whatsoever more there shall be need of for the house of thy God, how much soever thou shalt have occasion to spend, it shall be given out of the treasury, and the king’s exchequer, and by me.
7:21. I Artaxerxes the king have ordered and decreed to all the keepers of the public chest, that are beyond the river, that whatsoever Esdras the priest, the scribe of the law of the God of heaven, shall require of you, you give it without delay,
7:22. Unto a hundred talents of silver, and unto a hundred cores of wheat, and unto a hundred bates of wine, and unto a hundred bates of oil, and salt without measure.
7:23. All that belongeth to the rites of the God of heaven, let it be given diligently in the house of the God of heaven: lest his wrath should be enkindled against the realm of the king, and of his sons.
7:24. We give you also to understand concerning all the priests, and the Levites, and the singers, and the porters, and the Nathinites, and ministers of the house of this God, that you have no authority to impose toll or tribute, or custom upon them.
7:25. And thou Esdras according to the wisdom of thy God, which is in thy hand, appoint judges and magistrates, that may judge all the people, that is beyond the river, that is, for them who know the law of thy God, yea and the ignorant teach ye freely.
7:26. And whosoever will not do the law of thy God, and the law of the king diligently, judgment shall be executed upon him, either unto death, or unto banishment, or to the confiscation of goods, or at least to prison.
7:27. Blessed be the Lord the God of our fathers, who hath put this in the king’s heart, to glorify the house of the Lord, which is in Jerusalem,
7:28. And hath inclined his mercy toward me before the king and his counsellors, and all the mighty princes of the king: and I being strengthened by the hand of the Lord my God, which was upon me, gathered together out of Israel chief men to go up with me.
1 Esdras Chapter 8
The companions of Esdras. The fast which he appointed. They bring the holy vessels into the temple.
8:1. Now these are the chiefs of families, and the genealogy of them, who came up with me from Babylon in the reign of Artaxerxes the king.
8:2. Of the sons of Phinees, Gersom. Of the sons of Ithamar, Daniel. Of the sons of David, Hattus.
8:3. Of the sons of Sechenias, the son of Pharos, Zacharias, and with him were numbered a hundred and fifty men.
8:4. Of the sons of Phahath Moab, Eleoenai the son of Zareha, and with him two hundred men.
8:5. Of the sons of Sechenias, the son of Ezechiel, and with him three hundred men.
8:6. Of the sons of Adan, Abed the son of Jonathan, and with him fifty men.
8:7. Of the sons of Alam, Isaias the son of Athalias, and with him seventy men.
8:8. Of the sons of Saphatia: Zebodia the son of Michael, and with him eighty men.
8:9. Of the sons of Joab, Obedia the son of Jahiel, and with him two hundred and eighteen men.
8:10. Of the sons of Selomith, the son of Josphia, and with him a hundred and sixty men.
8:11. Of the sons of Bebai, Zacharias the son of Bebai: and with him eight and twenty men.
8:12. Of the sons of Azgad, Joanan the son of Eccetan, and with him a hundred and ten men.
8:13. Of the sons of Adonicam, who were the last: and these are their names: Eliphelet, and Jehiel, and Samaias, and with them sixty men.
8:14. Of the sons of Begui, Uthai and Zachur, and with them seventy men.
8:15. And I gathered them together to the river, which runneth down to Ahava, and we stayed there three days: and I sought among the people and among the priests for the sons of Levi, and found none there.
8:16. So I sent Eliezer, and Ariel, and Semeias, and Elnathan, and Jarib, and another Elnathan, and Nathan, and Zacharias, and Mosollam, chief men: and Joiarib, and Elnathan, wise men.
8:17. And I sent them to Eddo, who is chief in the place of Chasphia, and I put in their mouth the words that they should speak to Eddo, and his brethren the Nathinites in the place of Chasphia, that they should bring us ministers of the house of our God.
8:18. And by the good hand of our God upon us, they brought us a most learned man of the sons of Moholi the son of Levi the son of Israel, and Sarabias and his sons, and his brethren eighteen,
8:19. And Hasabias, and with him Isaias of the sons of Merari, and his brethren, and his sons twenty.
8:20. And of the Nathinites, whom David, and the princes gave for the service of the Levites, Nathinites two hundred and twenty: all these were called by their names.
8:21. And I proclaimed there a fast by the river Ahava, that we might afflict ourselves before the Lord our God, and might ask of him a right way for us and for our children, and for all our substance.
And I proclaimed a fast.... It is not enough to part from Babylon, that is, figuratively from sin, but we must also do works of penance; and therefore Esdras here proclaimed an extraordinary fast to those that were come from captivity. This shews that fasting was commanded and practised from the earliest times.
8:22. For I was ashamed to ask the king for aid and for horsemen, to defend us from the enemy in the way: because we had said to the king: The hand of our God is upon all them that seek him in goodness: and his power and strength, and wrath upon all them that forsake him.
8:23. And we fasted, and besought our God for this: and it fell out prosperously unto us.
8:24. And I separated twelve of the chief of the priests, Sarabias, and Hasabias, and with them ten of their brethren,
8:25. And I weighed unto them the silver and gold, and the vessels consecrated for the house of our God, which the king and his counsellors, and his princes, and all Israel, that were found had offered.
8:26. And I weighed to their hands six hundred and fifty talents of silver, and a hundred vessels of silver, and a hundred talents of gold,
8:27. And twenty cups of gold, of a thousand solids, and two vessels of the best shining brass, beautiful as gold.
8:28. And I said to them: You are the holy ones of the Lord, and the vessels are holy, and the silver and gold, that is freely offered to the Lord the God of our fathers.
8:29. Watch ye and keep them, till you deliver them by weight before the chief of the priests, and of the Levites, and the heads of the families of Israel in Jerusalem, into the treasure of the house of the Lord.
8:30. And the priests and the Levites received the weight of the silver and gold, and the vessels, to carry them to Jerusalem to the house of our God.
8:31. Then we set forward from the river Ahava on the twelfth day of the first month to go to Jerusalem: and the hand of our God was upon us, and delivered us from the hand of the enemy, and of such as lay in wait by the way.
8:32. And we came to Jerusalem, and we stayed there three days.
8:33. And on the fourth day the silver and the gold, and the vessels were weighed in the house of our God by the hand of Meremoth the son of Urias the priest, and with him was Eleazar the son of Phinees, and with them Jozabad the son of Josue, and Noadaia the son of Benoi, Levites.
8:34. According to the number and weight of everything: and all the weight was written at that time.
8:35. Moreover the children of them that had been carried away that were come out of the captivity, offered holocausts to the God of Israel, twelve calves for all the people of Israel, ninety-six rams, seventy-seven lambs, and twelve he goats for sin: all for a holocaust to the Lord.
8:36. And they gave the king’s edicts to the lords that were from the king’s court, and the governors beyond the river, and they furthered the people and the house of God.
1 Esdras Chapter 9
Esdras mourneth for the transgression of the people: his confession and prayer.
9:1. And after these things were accomplished, the princes came to me, saying: The people of Israel, and the priests and Levites have not separated themselves from the people of the lands, and from their abominations, namely, of the Chanaanites, and the Hethites, and the Pherezites, and the Jebusites, and the Ammonites, and the Moabites, and the Egyptians, and the Amorrhites.
This shows how sinful it is to intermarry with those that the Church forbids us, on account of the danger of perversion and falling off from the true faith.
9:2. For they have taken of their daughters for themselves and for their sons, and they have mingled the holy seed with the people of the lands. And the hand of the princes and magistrates hath been first in this transgression.
9:3. And when I had heard this word, I rent my mantle and my coat, and plucked off the hairs of my head and my beard, and I sat down mourning.
9:4. And there were assembled to me all that feared the God of Israel, because of the transgression of those that were come from the captivity, and I sat sorrowful, until the evening sacrifice.
9:5. And at the evening sacrifice I rose up from my affliction, and having rent my mantle and my garment, I fell upon my knees, and spread out my hands to the Lord my God,
9:6. And said: My God I am confounded and ashamed to lift up my face to thee: for our iniquities are multiplied over our heads, and our sins are grown up even unto heaven,
9:7. From the days of our fathers: and we ourselves also have sinned grievously unto this day, and for our iniquities we and our kings, and our priests have been delivered into the hands of the kings of the lands, and to the sword, and to captivity, and to spoil, and to confusion of face, as it is at this day.
9:8. And now as a little, and for a moment has our prayer been made before the Lord our God, to leave us a remnant, and give us a pin in his holy place, and that our God would enlighten our eyes, and would give us a little life in our bondage.
A pin.... or nail, here signifies a small settlement or holding; which Esdras begs for, to preserve even a part of the people, who, by their great iniquity had incurred the anger of God.
9:9. For we are bondmen, and in our bondage our God hath not forsaken us, but hath extended mercy upon us before the king of the Persians, to give us life, and to set up the house of our God, and to rebuild the desolations thereof, and to give us a fence in Juda and Jerusalem.
9:10. And now, O our God, what shall we say after this? for we have forsaken thy commandments,
9:11. Which thou hast commanded by the hand of thy servants the prophets, saying: The land which you go to possess, is an unclean land, according to the uncleanness of the people, and of other lands, with their abominations, who have filled it from mouth to mouth with their filth.
9:12. Now therefore give not your daughters to their sons, and take not their daughters for your sons, and seek not their peace, nor their prosperity for ever: that you may be strengthened, and may eat the good things of the land, and may have your children your heirs for ever.
9:13. And after all that is come upon us, for our most wicked deeds, and our great sin, seeing that thou our God hast saved us from our iniquity, and hast given us a deliverance as at this day,
9:14. That we should not turn away, nor break thy commandments, nor join in marriage with the people of these abominations. Art thou angry with us unto utter destruction, not to leave us a remnant to be saved?
9:15. O Lord God of Israel, thou art just: for we remain yet to be saved as at this day. Behold we are before thee in our sin, for there can be no standing before thee in this matter.
1 Esdras Chapter 10
Order is given for discharging strange women: the names of the guilty.
10:1. Now when Esdras was thus praying, and beseeching, and weeping, and lying before the temple of God, there was gathered to him of Israel an exceeding great assembly of men and women and children, and the people wept with much lamentation.
10:2. And Sechenias the son of Jehiel of the sons of Elam answered, and said to Esdras: We have sinned against our God, and have taken strange wives of the people of the land: and now if there be repentance in Israel concerning this,
10:3. Let us make a covenant with the Lord our God, to put away all the wives, and such as are born of them, according to the will of the Lord, and of them that fear the commandment of the Lord our God: let it be done according to the law.
10:4. Arise, it is thy part to give orders, and we will be with thee: take courage, and do it.
10:5. So Esdras arose, and made the chiefs of the priests and of the Levites, and all Israel, to swear that they would do according to this word, and they swore.
10:6. And Esdras rose up from before the house of God, and went to the chamber of Johanan the son of Eliasib, and entered in thither: he ate no bread, and drank no water: for he mourned for the transgression of them that were come out of the captivity.
10:7. And proclamation was made in Juda and Jerusalem to all the children of the captivity, that they should assemble together into Jerusalem.
10:8. And that whosoever would not come within three days, according to the counsel of the princes and the ancients, all his substance should be taken away, and he should be cast out of the company of them that were returned from captivity.
10:9. Then all the men of Juda, and Benjamin gathered themselves together to Jerusalem within three days, in the ninth month, the twentieth day of the month: and all the people sat in the street of the house of God, trembling because of the sin, and the rain.
10:10. And Esdras the priest stood up, and said to them: You have transgressed, and taken strange wives, to add to the sins of Israel.
10:11. And now make confession to the Lord the God of your fathers, and do his pleasure, and separate yourselves from the people of the land, and from your strange wives.
10:12. And all the multitude answered and said with a loud voice: According to thy word unto us, so be it done.
10:13. But as the people are many, and it is time of rain, and we are not able to stand without, and it is not a work of one day or two, (for we have exceedingly sinned in this matter,)
10:14. Let rulers be appointed in all the multitude: and in all our cities, let them that have taken strange wives come at the times appointed, and with them the ancients and the judges of every city, until the wrath of our God be turned away from us for this sin.
10:15. Then Jonathan the son of Azahel, and Jaasia the son of Thecua were appointed over this, and Mesollam and Sebethai, Levites, helped them:
10:16. And the children of the captivity did so. And Esdras the priest, and the men heads of the families in the houses of their fathers, and all by their names, went and sat down in the first day of the tenth month to examine the matter.
10:17. And they made an end with all the men that had taken strange wives by the first day of the first month.
10:18. And there were found among the sons of the priests that had taken strange wives: Of the sons of Josue the son of Josedec, and his brethren, Maasia, and Eliezer, and Jarib, and Godolia.
10:19. And they gave their hands to put away their wives, and to offer for their offence a ram of the flock.
10:20. And of the sons of Emmer, Hanani, and Zebedia.
10:21. And of the sons of Harim, Maasia, and Elia, and Semeia, and Jehiel, and Ozias.
10:22. And of the sons of Pheshur, Elioenai, Maasia, Ismael, Nathanael, Jozabed, and Elasa.
10:23. And of the sons of the Levites, Jozabed, and Semei, and Celaia, the same is Calita, Phataia, Juda, and Eliezer.
10:24. And of the singing men, Elisiab: and of the porters, Sellum, and Telem, and Uri.
10:25. And of Israel, of the sons of Pharos, Remeia, and Jezia, and Melchia, and Miamin, and Eliezer, and Melchia, and Banea.
10:26. And of the sons of Elam, Mathania, Zacharias, and Jehiel, and Abdi, and Jerimoth, and Elia.
10:27. And of the sons of Zethua, Elioenai, Eliasib, Mathania, Jerimuth, and Zabad, and Aziaza.
10:28. And of the sons of Babai, Johanan, Hanania, Zabbai, Athalai:
10:29. And of the sons of Bani, Mosollam, and Melluch, and Adaia, Jasub, and Saal, and Ramoth.
10:30. And of the sons of Phahath, Moab, Edna, and Chalal, Banaias, and Maasias, Mathanias, Beseleel, Bennui, and Manasse.
10:31. And of the sons of Herem, Eliezer, Josue, Melchias, Semeias, Simeon,
10:32. Benjamin, Maloch, Samarias.
10:33. And of the sons of Hasom, Mathanai, Mathatha, Zabad, Eliphelet, Jermai, Manasse, Semei.
10:34. Of the sons of Bani, Maaddi, Amram, and Uel,
10:35. Baneas, and Badaias, Cheliau,
10:36. Vania, Marimuth, and Eliasib,
10:37. Mathanias, Mathania, and Jasi,
10:38. And Bani, and Bennui, Semei,
10:39. And Salmias, and Nathan, and Adaias,
10:40. And Mechnedebai, Sisai, Sarai,
10:41. Ezrel, and Selemiau, Semeria,
10:42. Sellum, Amaria, Joseph.
10:43. Of the sons of Nebo, Jehiel, Mathathias, Zabad, Zabina, Jeddu, and Joel, and Banaia.
10:44. All these had taken strange wives, and there were among them women that had borne children.
THE BOOK OF NEHEMIAS, WHICH IS CALLED THE SECOND OF ESDRAS
This Book takes its name from the writer, who was cupbearer to Artaxerxes (surnamed Longimanus) king of Persia, and was sent by him with a commission to rebuild the walls of Jerusalem. It is also called the second book of Esdras; because it is a continuation of the history, begun by Esdras, of the state of the people of God after their return from captivity.
2 Esdras Chapter 1
Nehemias hearing the miserable state of his countrymen in Judea, lamenteth, fasteth, and prayeth to God for their relief.
1:1. The words of Nehemias the son of Helchias. And it came to pass in the month of Casleu, in the twentieth year, as I was in the castle of Susa,
1:2. That Hanani one of my brethren came, he and some men of Juda; and I asked them concerning the Jews, that remained and were left of the captivity, and concerning Jerusalem.
1:3. And they said to me: They that have remained, and are left of the captivity there in the province, are in great affliction, and reproach: and the wall of Jerusalem is broken down, and the gates thereof are burnt with fire.
1:4. And when I had heard these words, I sat down, and wept, and mourned for many days: and I fasted, and prayed before the face of the God of heaven.
1:5. And I said: I beseech thee, O Lord God of heaven, strong, great, and terrible, who keepest covenant and mercy with those that love thee, and keep thy commandments:
1:6. Let thy ears be attentive, and thy eyes open, to hear the prayer of thy servant, which I pray before thee now, night and day, for the children of Israel thy servants: and I confess the sins of the children of Israel, by which they have sinned against thee: I and my father’s house have sinned.
1:7. We have been seduced by vanity, and have not kept thy commandments, and ceremonies and judgments, which thou hast commanded thy servant Moses.
1:8. Remember the word that thou commandedst to Moses thy servant, saying: If you shall transgress, I will scatter you abroad among the nations:
1:9. But if you return to me, and keep my commandments, and do them, though you should be led away to the uttermost parts of the world, I will gather you from thence, and bring you back to the place which I have chosen for my name to dwell there.
1:10. And these are thy servants, and thy people: whom thou hast redeemed by thy great strength, and by thy mighty hand.
1:11. I beseech thee, O Lord, let thy ear be attentive to the prayer of thy servant, and to the prayer of thy servants who desire to fear thy name: and direct thy servant this day, and give him mercy before this man. For I was the king’s cupbearer.
2 Esdras Chapter 2
Nehemias with commission from king Artaxerxes cometh to Jerusalem: and exhorteth the Jews to rebuild the walls.
2:1. And it came to pass in the month of Nisan, in the twentieth year of Artaxerxes the king: that wine was before him, and I took up the wine, and gave it to the king: and I was as one languishing away before his face.
2:2. And the king said to me: Why is thy countenance sad, seeing thou dost not appear to be sick? this is not without cause, but some evil, I know not what, is in thy heart. And I was seized with an exceeding great fear:
2:3. And I said to the king: O king, live for ever: why should not my countenance be sorrowful, seeing the city of the place of the sepulchres of my fathers is desolate, and the gates thereof are burnt with fire?
2:4. Then the king said to me: For what dost thou make request? And I prayed to the God of heaven,
2:5. And I said to the king: If it seem good to the king, and if thy servant hath found favour in thy sight, that thou wouldst send me into Judea to the city of the sepulchre of my father, and I will build it.
2:6. And the king said to me, and the queen that sat by him: For how long shall thy journey be, and when wilt thou return? And it pleased the king, and he sent me: and I fixed him a time.
2:7. And I said to the king: If it seem good to the king, let him give me letters to the governors of the country beyond the river, that they convey me over, till I come into Judea:
2:8. And a letter to Asaph the keeper of the king’s forest, to give me timber that I may cover the gates of the tower of the house, and the walls of the city, and the house that I shall enter into. And the king gave me according to the good hand of my God with me.
2:9. And I came to the governors of the country beyond the river, and gave them the king’s letters. And the king had sent with me captains of soldiers, and horsemen.
2:10. And Sanaballat the Horonite, and Tobias the servant, the Ammonite, heard it, and it grieved them exceedingly, that a man was come, who sought the prosperity of the children of Israel.
2:11. And I came to Jerusalem, and was there three days.
2:12. And I arose in the night, I and some few men with me, and I told not any man what God had put in my heart to do in Jerusalem, and there was no beast with me, but the beast that I rode upon.
2:13. And I went out by night by the gate of the valley, and before the dragon fountain, and to the dung gate, and I viewed the wall of Jerusalem which was broken down, and the gates thereof which were consumed with fire.
2:14. And I passed to the gate of the fountain, and to the king’s aqueduct, and there was no place for the beast on which I rode to pass.
2:15. And I went up in the night by the torrent, and viewed the wall, and going back I came to the gate of the valley, and returned.
2:16. But the magistrates knew not whither I went, or what I did: neither had I as yet told any thing to the Jews, or to the priests, or to the nobles, or to the magistrates, or to the rest that did the work.
2:17. Then I said to them: You know the affliction wherein we are, because Jerusalem is desolate, and the gates thereof are consumed with fire: come, and let us build up the walls of Jerusalem, and let us be no longer a reproach.
2:18. And I shewed them how the hand of my God was good with me, and the king’s words, which he had spoken to me, and I said: Let us rise up, and build. And their hands were strengthened in good.
2:19. But Sanaballat the Horonite, and Tobias the servant, the Ammonite, and Gossem the Arabian heard of it, and they scoffed at us, and despised us, and said: What is this thing that you do? are you going to rebel against the king?
2:20. And I answered them, and said to them: The God of heaven he helpeth us, and we are his servants: let us rise up and build: but you have no part, nor justice, nor remembrance in Jerusalem.
2 Esdras Chapter 3
They begin to build the walls: the names and order of the builders.
3:1. Then Eliasib the high priest arose, and his brethren the priests, and they built the flock gate: they sanctified it, and set up the doors thereof, even unto the tower of a hundred cubits they sanctified it unto the tower of Hananeel.
3:2. And next to him the men of Jericho built: and next to them built Zachur the son of Amri.
3:3. But the fish gate the sons of Asnaa built: they covered it, and set up the doors thereof, and the locks, and the bars. And next to them built Marimuth the son of Urias the son of Accus.
3:4. And next to him built Mosollam the son of Barachias, the son of Merezebel, and next to them built Sadoc the son of Baana.
3:5. And next to them the Thecuites built: but their great men did not put their necks to the work of their Lord.
3:6. And Joiada the son of Phasea, and Mosollam the son of Besodia built the old gate: they covered it and set up the doors thereof, and the locks, and the bars.
3:7. And next to them built Meltias the Gabaonite, and Jadon the Meronathite, the men of Gabaon and Maspha, for the governor that was in the country beyond the river.
3:8. And next to him built Eziel the son of Araia the goldsmith: and next to him built Ananias the son of the perfumer: and they left Jerusalem unto the wall of the broad street.
3:9. And next to him built Raphaia the son of Hur, lord of the street of Jerusalem.
3:10. And next to him Jedaia the son of Haromaph over against his own house: and next to him built Hattus the son of Hasebonia.
3:11. Melchias the son of Herem, and Hasub the son of Phahath Moab, built half the street, and the tower of the furnaces.
3:12. And next to him built Sellum the son of Alohes, lord of half the street of Jerusalem, he and his daughters.
3:13. And the gate of the valley Hanun built, and the inhabitants of Zanoe: they built it, and set up the doors thereof, and the locks, and the bars, and a thousand cubits in the wall unto the gate of the dunghill.
3:14. And the gate of the dunghill Melchias the son of Rechab built, lord of the street of Bethacharam: he built it, and set up the doors thereof, and the locks, and the bars.
3:15. And the gate of the fountain, Sellum, the son of Cholhoza, built, lord of the street of Maspha: he built it, and covered it, and set up the doors thereof, and the locks, and the bars, and the walls of the pool of Siloe unto the king’s guard, and unto the steps that go down from the city of David.
3:16. After him built Nehemias the son of Azboc, lord of half the street of Bethsur, as far as over against the sepulchre of David, and to the pool, that was built with great labour, and to the house of the mighty.
3:17. After him built the Levites, Rehum the son of Benni. After him built Hasebias, lord of half the street of Ceila in his own street.
3:18. After him built their brethren Bavai the son of Enadad, lord of half Ceila.
3:19. And next to him Aser the son of Josue, lord of Maspha, built another measure, over against the going up of the strong corner.
3:20. After him in the mount Baruch the son of Zachai built another measure, from the corner to the door of the house of Eliasib the high priest.
3:21. After him Merimuth the son of Urias the son of Haccus, built another measure, from the door of the house of Eliasib, to the end of the house of Eliasib.
3:22. And after him built the priests, the men of the plains of the Jordan.
3:23. After him built Benjamin and Hasub, over against their own house: and after him built Azarias the son of Maasias the son of Ananias over against his house.
3:24. After him built Bennui the son of Hanadad another measure, from the house of Azarias unto the bending, and unto the corner.
3:25. Phalel, the son of Ozi, over against the bending and the tower, which lieth out from the king’s high house, that is, in the court of the prison: after him Phadaia the son of Pharos.
3:26. And the Nathinites dwelt in Ophel, as far as over against the water gate toward the east, and the tower that stood out.
3:27. After him the Thecuites built another measure over against, from the great tower that standeth out unto the wall of the temple.
3:28. And upward from the horse gate the priests built, every man over against his house.
3:29. After them built Sadoc the son of Emmer over against his house. And after him built Semaia the son of Sechenias, keeper of the east gate.
3:30. After him built Hanania the son of Selemia, and Hanun the sixth son of Seleph, another measure: after him built Mosollam the son of Barachias over against his treasury. After him Melcias the goldsmith’s son built unto the house of the Nathinites, and of the sellers of small wares, over against the judgment gate, and unto the chamber of the corner.
3:31. And within the chamber of the corner of the flock gate, the goldsmiths and the merchants built.
2 Esdras Chapter 4
The building is carried on notwithstanding the opposition of their enemies.
4:1. And it came to pass, that when Sanaballat heard that we were building the wall he was angry: and being moved exceedingly he scoffed at the Jews.
4:2. And said before his brethren, and the multitude of the Samaritans: What are the silly Jews doing? Will the Gentiles let them alone? will they sacrifice and make an end in a day? are they able to raise stones out of the heaps of the rubbish, which are burnt?
4:3. Tobias also the Ammonite who was by him said: Let them build: if a fox go up, he will leap over their stone wall.
4:4. Hear thou our God, for we are despised: turn their reproach upon their own head, and give them to be despised in a land of captivity.
4:5. Cover not their iniquity, and let not their sin be blotted out from before thy face, because they have mocked thy builders.
4:6. So we built the wall, and joined it all together unto the half thereof: and the heart of the people was excited to work.
4:7. And it came to pass, when Sanaballat, and Tobias, and the Arabians, and the Ammonites, and the Azotians heard that the walls of Jerusalem were made up, and the breaches began to be closed, that they were exceedingly angry.
4:8. And they all assembled themselves together, to come, and to fight against Jerusalem, and to prepare ambushes.
4:9. And we prayed to our God, and set watchmen upon the wall day and night against them.
4:10. And Juda said: The strength of the bearer of burdens is decayed, and the rubbish is very much, and we shall not be able to build the wall.
4:11. And our enemies said: Let them not know, nor understand, till we come in the midst of them, and kill them, and cause the work to cease.
4:12. And it came to pass, that when the Jews that dwelt by them came and told us ten times, out of all the places from whence they came to us,
4:13. I set the people in the place behind the wall round about in order, with their swords, and spears, and bows.
4:14. And I looked and rose up: and I said to the chief men and the magistrates, and to the rest of the common people: be not afraid of them. Remember the Lord who is great and terrible, and fight for your brethren, your sons, and your daughters, and your wives, and your houses.
4:15. And it came to pass, when our enemies heard that the thing had been told us, that God defeated their counsel. And we returned all of us to the walls, every man to his work.
4:16. And it came to pass from that day forward, that half of their young men did the work, and half were ready for to fight, with spears, and shields, and bows, and coats of mail, and the rulers were behind them in all the house of Juda.
4:17. Of them that built on the wall and that carried burdens, and that laded: with one of his hands he did the work, and with the other he held a sword.
4:18. For every one of the builders was girded with a sword about his reins. And they built, and sounded with a trumpet by me.
4:19. And I said to the nobles, and to the magistrates, and to the rest of the common people: The work is great and wide, and we are separated on the wall one far from another:
4:20. In what place soever you shall hear the sound of the trumpet, run all thither unto us: our God will fight for us.
4:21. And let us do the work: and let one half of us hold our spears from the rising of the morning, till the stars appear.
4:22. At that time also I said to the people: Let every one with his servant stay in the midst of Jerusalem, and let us take our turns in the night, and by day, to work.
4:23. Now I and my brethren, and my servants, and the watchmen that followed me, did not put off our clothes: only every man stripped himself when he was to be washed.
2 Esdras Chapter 5
Nehemias blameth the rich, for their oppressing the poor. His exhortation, and bounty to his countrymen.
5:1. Now there was a great cry of the people, and of their wives against their brethren the Jews.
5:2. And there were some that said: Our sons and our daughters are very many: let us take up corn for the price of them, and let us eat and live.
5:3. And there were some that said: Let us mortgage our lands, and our vineyards, and our houses, and let us take corn because of the famine.
5:4. And others said: Let us borrow money for the king’s tribute, and let us give up our fields and vineyards:
5:5. And now our flesh is as the flesh of our brethren: and our children as their children. Behold we bring into bondage our sons and our daughters, and some of our daughters are bondwomen already, neither have we wherewith to redeem them, and our fields and our vineyards other men possess.
5:6. And I was exceedingly angry when I heard their cry according to these words.
5:7. And my heart thought with myself: and I rebuked the nobles and magistrates, and said to them: Do you every one exact usury of your brethren? And I gathered together a great assembly against them,
5:8. And I said to them: We, as you know, have redeemed according to our ability our brethren the Jews, that were sold to the Gentiles: and will you then sell your brethren, for us to redeem them? And they held their peace, and found not what to answer.
5:9. And I said to them: The thing you do is not good: why walk you not in the fear of our God, that we be not exposed to the reproaches of the Gentiles our enemies?
5:10. Both I and my brethren, and my servants, have lent money and corn to many: let us all agree not to call for it again; let us forgive the debt that is owing to us.
5:11. Restore ye to them this day their fields, and their vineyards, and their oliveyards, and their houses: and the hundredth part of the money, and of the corn, the wine, and the oil, which you were wont to exact of them, give it rather for them.
5:12. And they said: We will restore, and we will require nothing of them: and we will do as thou sayest. And I called the priests and took an oath of them, to do according to what I had said.
5:13. Moreover I shook my lap, and said: So may God shake every man that shall not accomplish this word, out of his house, and out of his labours, thus may he be shaken out, and become empty. And all the multitude said: Amen. And they praised God. And the people did according to what was said.
5:14. And from the day, in which the king commanded me to be governor in the land of Juda, from the twentieth year even to the two and thirtieth year of Artaxerxes the king, for twelve years, I and my brethren did not eat the yearly allowance that was due to the governors.
5:15. But the former governors that had been before me, were chargeable to the people, and took of them in bread, and wine, and in money every day forty sicles: and their officers also oppressed the people. But I did not so for the fear of God.
5:16. Moreover I built in the work of the wall, and I bought no land, and all my servants were gathered together to the work.
5:17. The Jews also and the magistrates to the number of one hundred and fifty men, were at my table, besides them that came to us from among the nations that were round about us.
5:18. And there was prepared for me day by day one ox, and six choice rams, besides fowls, and once in ten days I gave store of divers wines, and many other things: yet I did not require my yearly allowance as governor: for the people were very much impoverished.
5:19. Remember me, O my God, for good according to all that I have done for this people.
2 Esdras Chapter 6
The enemies seek to terrify Nehemias. He proceedeth and finisheth the wall.
6:1. And it came to pass, when Sanaballat, and Tobias, and Gossem the Arabian, and the rest of our enemies, heard that I had built the wall, and that there was no breach left in it, (though at that time I had not set up the doors in the gates,)
6:2. Sanaballat and Gossem sent to me, saying: Come, and let us make a league together in the villages, in the plain of Ono. But they thought to do me mischief.
6:3. And I sent messengers to them, saying: I am doing a great work, and I cannot come down, lest it be neglected whilst I come, and go down to you.
6:4. And they sent to me according to this word, four times: and I answered them after the same manner.
6:5. And Sanaballat sent his servant to me the fifth time according to the former word, and he had a letter in his hand written in this manner:
6:6. It is reported amongst the Gentiles, and Gossem hath said it, that thou and the Jews think to rebel, and therefore thou buildest the wall, and hast a mind to set thyself king over them: for which end
6:7. Thou hast also set up prophets, to preach of thee at Jerusalem, saying: There is a king in Judea. The king will hear of these things: therefore come now, that we may take counsel together.
6:8. And I sent to them, saying: There is no such thing done as thou sayest: but thou feignest these things out of thy own heart.
6:9. For all these men thought to frighten us, thinking that our hands would cease from the work, and that we would leave off. Wherefore I strengthened my hands the more:
6:10. And I went into the house of Samaia the son of Delaia, the son of Metabeel privately. And he said: Let us consult together in the house of God in the midst of the temple: and let us shut the doors of the temple, for they will come to kill thee, and in the night they will come to slay thee.
6:11. And I said: Should such a man as I flee? and who is there that being as I am, would go into the temple, to save his life? I will not go in.
6:12. And I understood that God had not sent him, but that he had spoken to me as if he had been prophesying, and Tobias, and Sanaballat had hired him.
6:13. For he had taken money, that I being afraid should do this thing, and sin, and they might have some evil to upbraid me withal.
6:14. Remember me, O Lord, for Tobias and Sanaballat, according to their works of this kind: and Noadias the prophet, and the rest of the prophets that would have put me in fear.
6:15. But the wall was finished the five and twentieth day of the month of Elul, in two and fifty days.
6:16. And it came to pass when all our enemies heard of it, that all nations which were round about us, were afraid, and were cast down within themselves, for they perceived that this work was the work of God.
6:17. Moreover in those days many letters were sent by the principal men of the Jews to Tobias, and from Tobias there came letters to them.
6:18. For there were many in Judea sworn to him, because he was the son in law of Sechenias the son of Area, and Johanan his son had taken to wife the daughter of Mosollam the son of Barachias.
6:19. And they praised him also before me, and they related my words to him: And Tobias sent letters to put me in fear.
2 Esdras Chapter 7
Nehemias appointeth watchmen in Jerusalem. The list of those who came first from Babylon.
7:1. Now after the wall was built, and I had set up the doors, and numbered the porters and singing men, and Levites:
7:2. I commanded Hanani my brother, and Hananias ruler of the house of Jerusalem, (for he seemed as a sincere man, and one that feared God above the rest,)
7:3. And I said to them: Let not the gates of Jerusalem be opened till the sun be hot. And while they were yet standing by the gates were shut, and barred: and I set watchmen of the inhabitants of Jerusalem, every one by their courses, and every man over against his house.
7:4. And the city was very wide and great, and the people few in the midst thereof, and the houses were not built.
7:5. But God had put in my heart, and I assembled the princes and magistrates, and common people, to number them: and I found a book of the number of them who came up at first and therein it was found written:
7:6. These are the children of the province, who came up from the captivity of them that had been carried away, whom Nabuchodonosor the king of Babylon had carried away, and who returned into Judea, every one into his own city.
7:7. Who came with Zorobabel, Josue, Nehemias, Azarias, Raamias, Nahamani, Mardochai, Belsam, Mespharath, Begoia, Nahum, Baana. The number of the men of the people of Israel:
7:8. The children of Pharos, two thousand one hundred seventy-two.
7:9. The children of Sephatia, three hundred seventy-two.
7:10. The children of Area, six hundred fifty-two.
7:11. The children of Phahath Moab of the children of Josue and Joab, two thousand eight hundred eighteen.
7:12. The children of Elam, one thousand two hundred fifty-four.
7:13. The children of Zethua, eight hundred forty-five.
7:14. The children of Zachai, seven hundred sixty.
7:15. The children of Bannui, six hundred forty-eight.
7:16. The children of Bebai, six hundred twenty-eight.
7:17. The children of Azgad, two thousand three hundred twenty-two.
7:18. The children of Adonicam, six hundred sixty-seven.
7:19. The children of Beguai, two thousand sixty-seven.
7:20. The children of Adin, six hundred fifty-five.
7:21. The children of Ater, children of Hezechias, ninety-eight.
7:22. The children of Hasem, three hundred twenty-eight.
7:23. The children of Besai, three hundred twenty-four.
7:24. The children of Hareph, a hundred and twelve.
7:25. The children of Gabaon, ninety-five.
7:26. The children of Bethlehem, and Netupha, a hundred eighty-eight.
7:27. The men of Anathoth, a hundred twenty-eight.
7:28. The men of Bethazmoth, forty-two.
7:29. The men of Cariathiarim, Cephira, and Beroth, seven hundred forty-three.
7:30. The men of Rama and Geba, six hundred twenty-one.
7:31. The men of Machmas, a hundred twenty-two.
7:32. The men of Bethel and Hai, a hundred twenty-three.
7:33. The men of the other Nebo, fifty-two.
7:34. The men of the other Elam, one thousand two hundred fifty-four.
7:35. The children of Harem, three hundred and twenty.
7:36. The children of Jericho, three hundred forty-five.
7:37. The children of Lod, of Hadid and Ono, seven hundred twenty-one.
7:38. The children of Senaa, three thousand nine hundred thirty.
7:39. The priests: the children of Idaia in the house of Josue, nine hundred and seventy-three.
7:40. The children of Emmer, one thousand fifty-two.
7:41. The children of Phashur, one thousand two hundred forty-seven.
7:42. The children of Arem, one thousand and seventeen. The Levites:
7:43. The children of Josue and Cedmihel, the sons
7:44. Of Oduia, seventy-four. The singing men:
7:45. The children of Asaph, a hundred forty-eight.
7:46. The porters: the children of Sellum, the children of Ater, the children of Telmon, the children of Accub, the children of Hatita, the children of Sobai: a hundred thirty-eight.
7:47. The Nathinites: the children of Soha, the children of Hasupha, the children of Tebbaoth,
7:48. The children of Ceros, the children of Siaa, the children of Phadon, the children of Lebana, the children of Hagaba, the children of Selmai,
7:49. The children of Hanan, the children of Geddel, the children of Gaher,
7:50. The children of Raaia, the children of Rasin, the children of Necoda,
7:51. The children of Gezem, the children of Asa, the children of Phasea,
7:52. The children of Besai, the children of Munim, the children of Nephussim,
7:53. The children of Bacbuc, the children of Hacupha, the children of Harhur,
7:54. The children of Besloth, the children of Mahida, the children of Harsa,
7:55. The children of Bercos, the children of Sisara, the children of Thema,
7:56. The children of Nasia, the children of Hatipha,
7:57. The children of the servants of Solomon, the children of Sothai, the children of Sophereth, the children of Pharida,
7:58. The children of Jahala, the children of Darcon, the children of Jeddel,
7:59. The children of Saphatia, the children of Hatil, the children of Phochereth, who was born of Sabaim, the son of Amon.
7:60. All the Nathinites, and the children of the servants of Solomon, three hundred ninety-two.
7:61. And these are they that came up from Telmela, Thelharsa, Cherub, Addon, and Emmer: and could not shew the house of their fathers, nor their seed, whether they were of Israel.
7:62. The children of Dalaia, the children of Tobia, the children of Necoda, six hundred forty-two.
7:63. And of the priests, the children of Habia, the children of Accos, the children of Berzellai, who took a wife of the daughters of Berzellai the Galaadite, and he was called by their name.
7:64. These sought their writing in the record, and found it not: and they were cast out of the priesthood.
7:65. And Athersatha said to them, that they should not eat of the holies of holies, until there stood up a priest learned and skilful.
7:66. All the multitude as it were one man, forty-two thousand three hundred sixty,
7:67. Beside their menservants and womenservants, who were seven thousand three hundred thirty-seven: and among them singing men, and singing women, two hundred forty-five.
7:68. Their horses, seven hundred thirty-six: their mules two hundred forty-five.
7:69. Their camels, four hundred thirty-five, their asses, six thousand seven hundred and twenty.
(Hitherto is related what was written in the record. From this place forward goeth on the history of Nehemias.)
7:70. And some of the heads of the families gave unto the work. Athersatha gave into the treasure a thousand drams of gold, fifty bowls, and five hundred and thirty garments for priests.
Athersatha.... That is, Nehemias; as appears from chap. 12. Either that he was so called at the court of the king of Persia, where he was cupbearer: or that, as some think, this name signifies governor; and he was at that time governor of Judea.
7:71. And some of the heads of families gave to the treasure of the work, twenty thousand drams of gold, and two thousand two hundred pounds of silver.
7:72. And that which the rest of the people gave, was twenty thousand drams of gold, and two thousand pounds of silver, and sixty-seven garments for priests.
7:73. And the priests, and the Levites, and the porters, and the singing men, and the rest of the common people, and the Nathinites, and all Israel dwelt in their cities.
2 Esdras Chapter 8
Esdras readeth the law before the people. Nehemias comforteth them. They celebrate the feast of tabernacles.
8:1. And the seventh month came: and the children of Israel were in their cities. And all the people were gathered together as one man to the street which is before the water gate, and they spoke to Esdras the scribe, to bring the book of the law of Moses, which the Lord had commanded to Israel.
8:2. Then Esdras the priest brought the law before the multitude of men and women, and all those that could understand, in the first day of the seventh month.
8:3. And he read it plainly in the street that was before the water gate, from the morning until midday, before the men, and the women, and all those that could understand: and the ears of all the people were attentive to the book.
8:4. And Esdras the scribe stood upon a step of wood, which he had made to speak upon, and there stood by him Mathathias, and Semeia, and Ania, and Uria, and Helcia, and Maasia, on his right hand: and on the left, Phadaia, Misael, and Melchia, and Hasum, and Hasbadana, Zacharia and Mosollam.
8:5. And Esdras opened the book before all the people: for he was above all the people: and when he had opened it, all the people stood.
8:6. And Esdras blessed the Lord the great God: and all the people answered, Amen, amen: lifting up their hands: and they bowed down, and adored God with their faces to the ground.
8:7. Now Josue, and Bani, and Serebia, Jamin, Accub, Sephtai, Odia, Maasia, Celtia, Azarias, Jozabed, Hanan, Phalaia, the Levites, made silence among the people to hear the law: and the people stood in their place.
8:8. And they read in the book of the law of God distinctly and plainly to be understood: and they understood when it was read.
8:9. And Nehemias (he is Athersatha) and Esdras the priest and scribe, and the Levites who interpreted to all the people, said: This is a holy day to the Lord our God: do not mourn, nor weep: for all the people wept, when they heard the words of the law.
8:10. And he said to them: Go, eat fat meats, and drink sweet wine, and send portions to them that have not prepared for themselves: because it is the holy day of the Lord, and be not sad: for the joy of the Lord is our strength.
8:11. And the Levites stilled all the people, saying: Hold your peace, for the day is holy, and be not sorrowful.
8:12. So all the people went to eat and drink, and to send portions, and to make great mirth: because they understood the words that he had taught them.
8:13. And on the second day the chiefs of the families of all the people, the priests, and the Levites were gathered together to Esdras the scribe, that he should interpret to them the words of the law.
8:14. And they found written in the law, that the Lord had commanded by the hand of Moses, that the children of Israel should dwell in tabernacles, on the feast, in the seventh month:
8:15. And that they should proclaim and publish the word in all their cities, and in Jerusalem, saying: Go forth to the mount, and fetch branches of olive, and branches of beautiful wood, branches of myrtle, and branches of palm, and branches of thick trees, to make tabernacles, as it is written.
8:16. And the people went forth, and brought. And they made themselves tabernacles every man on the top of his house, and in their courts, and in the courts of the house of God, and in the street of the water gate, and in the street of the gate of Ephraim.
8:17. And all the assembly of them that were returned from the captivity, made tabernacles, and dwelt in tabernacles: for since the days of Josue the son of Nun the children of Israel had not done so, until that day: and there was exceeding great joy.
8:18. And he read in the book of the law of God day by day, from the first day till the last, and they kept the solemnity seven days, and in the eighth day a solemn assembly according to the manner.
2 Esdras Chapter 9
The people repent with fasting and sackcloth. The Levites confess God’s benefits, and the people’s ingratitude: they pray for them, and make a covenant with God.
9:1. And in the four and twentieth day of the month the children of Israel came together with fasting and with sackcloth, and earth upon them.
9:2. And the seed of the children of Israel separated themselves from every stranger: and they stood, and confessed their sins, and the iniquities of their fathers.
9:3. And they rose up to stand: and they read in the book of the law of the Lord their God, four times in the day, and four times they confessed, and adored the Lord their God.
9:4. And there stood up upon the step of the Levites, Josue, and Bani, and Cedmihel, Sabania, Bonni, Sarebias, Bani, and Chanani: and they cried with a loud voice to the Lord their God.
9:5. And the Levites Josue and Cedmihel, Bonni, Hasebnia, Serebia, Oduia, Sebnia, and Phathahia, said: Arise, bless the Lord your God from eternity to eternity: and blessed be the high name of thy glory with all blessing and praise.
9:6. Thou thyself, O Lord alone, thou hast made heaven, and the heaven of heavens, and all the host thereof: the earth and all things that are in it: the seas and all that are therein: and thou givest life to all these things, and the host of heaven adoreth thee.
9:7. Thou O Lord God, art he who chosest Abram, and broughtest him forth out of the fire of the Chaldeans, and gavest him the name of Abraham.
The fire of the Chaldeans.... The city of Ur in Chaldea, the name of which signifies fire. Or out of the fire of the tribulations and temptations, to which he was there exposed.—The ancient Rabbins understood this literally, affirming that Abram was cast into the fire by the idolaters, and brought out by a miracle without any hurt.
9:8. And thou didst find his heart faithful before thee: and thou madest a covenant with him, to give him the land of the Chanaanite, of the Hethite, and of the Amorrhite, and of the Pherezite, and of the Jebusite, and of the Gergezite, to give it to his seed: and thou hast fulfilled thy words, because thou art just.
9:9. And thou sawest the affliction of our fathers in Egypt: and thou didst hear their cry by the Red Sea.
9:10. And thou shewedst signs and wonders upon Pharao, and upon all his servants, and upon the people of his land: for thou knewest that they dealt proudly against them: and thou madest thyself a name, as it is at this day.
9:11. And thou didst divide the sea before them, and they passed through the midst of the sea on dry land: but their persecutors thou threwest into the depth, as a stone into mighty waters.
9:12. And in a pillar of a cloud thou wast their leader by day, and in a pillar of fire by night, that they might see the way by which they went.
9:13. Thou camest down also to mount Sinai, and didst speak with them from heaven, and thou gavest them right judgments, and the law of truth, ceremonies, and good precepts.
9:14. Thou madest known to them thy holy sabbath, and didst prescribe to them commandments, and ceremonies, and the law by the hand of Moses thy servant.
9:15. And thou gavest them bread from heaven in their hunger, and broughtest forth water for them out of the rock in their thirst, and thou saidst to them that they should go in, and possess the land, upon which thou hadst lifted up thy hand to give it them.
9:16. But they and our fathers dealt proudly, and hardened their necks and hearkened not to thy commandments.
9:17. And they would not hear, and they remembered not thy wonders which thou hadst done for them. And they hardened their necks, and gave the head to return to their bondage, as it were by contention. But thou, a forgiving God, gracious, and merciful, longsuffering, and full of compassion, didst not forsake them.
And gave the head.... That is, they set their head, or were bent to return to Egypt.
9:18. Yea when they had made also to themselves a molten calf, and had said: This is thy God, that brought thee out of Egypt: and had committed great blasphemies:
9:19. Yet thou, in thy many mercies, didst not leave them in the desert: the pillar of the cloud departed not from them by day to lead them in the way, and the pillar of fire by night to shew them the way by which they should go.
9:20. And thou gavest them thy good Spirit to teach them, and thy manna thou didst not withhold from their mouth, and thou gavest them water for their thirst.
9:21. Forty years didst thou feed them in the desert, and nothing was wanting to them: their garments did not grow old, and their feet were not worn.
9:22. And thou gavest them kingdoms, and nations, and didst divide lots for them: and they possessed the land of Sehon, and the land of the king of Hesebon, and the land of Og king of Basan.
9:23. And thou didst multiply their children as the stars of heaven, and broughtest them to the land concerning which thou hadst said to their fathers, that they should go in and possess it.
9:24. And the children came and possessed the land, and thou didst humble before them the inhabitants of the land, the Chanaanites, and gavest them into their hands, with their kings, and the people of the land, that they might do with them as it pleased them.
9:25. And they took strong cities and a fat land, and possessed houses full of all goods: cisterns made by others, vineyards, and oliveyards, and fruit trees in abundance: and they ate, and were filled, and became fat, and abounded with delight in thy great goodness.
9:26. But they provoked thee to wrath, and departed from thee, and threw thy law behind their backs: and they killed thy prophets, who admonished them earnestly to return to thee: and they were guilty of great blasphemies.
9:27. And thou gavest them into the hands of their enemies, and they afflicted them. And in the time of their tribulation they cried to thee, and thou heardest from heaven, and according to the multitude of thy tender mercies thou gavest them saviours, to save them from the hands of their enemies.
9:28. But after they had rest, they returned to do evil in thy sight: and thou leftest them in the hand of their enemies, and they had dominion over them. Then they returned, and cried to thee: and thou heardest from heaven, and deliveredst them many times in thy mercies.
9:29. And thou didst admonish them to return to thy law. But they dealt proudly, and hearkened not to thy commandments, but sinned against thy judgments, which if a man do, he shall live in them: and they withdrew the shoulder, and hardened their neck, and would not hear.
9:30. And thou didst forbear with them for many years, and didst testify against them by thy spirit by the hand of thy prophets: and they heard not, and thou didst deliver them into the hand of the people of the lands.
9:31. Yet in thy very many mercies thou didst not utterly consume them, nor forsake them: because thou art a merciful and gracious God.
9:32. Now therefore our God, great, strong, and terrible, who keepest covenant and mercy, turn not away from thy face all the labour which hath come upon us, upon our kings, and our princes, and our priests, and our prophets, and our fathers, and all the people from the days of the king of Assur, until this day.
9:33. And thou art just in all things that have come upon us: because thou hast done truth, but we have done wickedly.
9:34. Our kings, our princes, our priests, and our fathers have not kept thy law, and have not minded thy commandments, and thy testimonies which thou hast testified among them.
9:35. And they have not served thee in their kingdoms, and in thy manifold goodness, which thou gavest them, and in the large and fat land, which thou deliveredst before them, nor did they return from their most wicked devices.
9:36. Behold we ourselves this day are bondmen: and the land, which thou gavest our fathers, to eat the bread thereof, and the good things thereof, and we ourselves are servants in it.
9:37. And the fruits thereof grow up for the kings, whom thou hast set over us for our sins, and they have dominion over our bodies, and over our beasts, according to their will, and we are in great tribulation.
9:38. And because of all this we ourselves make a covenant, and write it, and our princes, our Levites, and our priests sign it.
2 Esdras Chapter 10
The names of the subscribers to the covenant, and the contents of it.
10:1. And the subscribers were Nehemias, Athersatha the son of Hachelai, and Sedecias,
10:2. Saraias, Azarias, Jeremias,
10:3. Pheshur, Amarias, Melchias,
10:4. Hattus, Sebenia, Melluch,
10:5. Harem, Merimuth, Obdias,
10:6. Daniel, Genthon, Baruch,
10:7. Mosollam, Abia, Miamin,
10:8. Maazia, Belgia, Semeia: these were priests.
10:9. And the Levites, Josue the son of Azanias, Bennui of the sons of Henadad, Cedmihel,
10:10. And their brethren, Sebenia, Oduia, Celita, Phalaia, Hanan,
10:11. Micha, Rohob, Hasebia,
10:12. Zachur, Serebia, Sabania,
10:13. Odaia, Bani, Baninu.
10:14. The heads of the people, Pharos, Phahath Moab, Elam, Zethu, Bani,
10:15. Bonni, Azgad, Bebai,
10:16. Adonia, Begoai, Adin,
10:17. Ater, Hezecia, Azur,
10:18. Odaia, Hasum, Besai,
10:19. Hareph, Anathoth, Nebai,
10:20. Megphias, Mosollam, Hazir,
10:21. Mesizabel, Sadoc, Jeddua,
10:22. Pheltia, Hanan, Anaia,
10:23. Osee, Hanania, Hasub,
10:24. Alohes, Phalea, Sobec,
10:25. Rehum, Hasebna, Maasia,
10:26. Echaia, Hanan, Anan,
10:27. Melluch, Haran, Baana:
10:28. And the rest of the people, priests, Levites, porters, and singing men, Nathinites, and all that had separated themselves from the people of the lands to the law of God, their wives, their sons, and their daughters.
10:29. All that could understand, promising for their brethren, with their chief men, and they came to promise, and swear that they would walk in the law of God, which he gave in the hand of Moses the servant of God, that they would do and keep all the commandments of the Lord our God, and his judgments and his ceremonies.
10:30. And that we would not give our daughters to the people of the land, nor take their daughters for our sons.
10:31. And if the people of the land bring in things to sell, or any things for use, to sell them on the sabbath day, that we would not buy them on the sabbath, or on the holy day. And that we would leave the seventh year, and the exaction of every hand.
10:32. And we made ordinances for ourselves, to give the third part of a sicle every year for the work of the house of our God,
10:33. For the loaves of proposition, and for the continual sacrifice, and for a continual holocaust on the sabbaths, on the new moons, on the set feasts, and for the holy things, and for the sin offering: that atonement might be made for Israel, and for every use of the house of our God.
10:34. And we cast lots among the priests, and the Levites, and the people for the offering of wood, that it might be brought into the house of our God by the houses of our fathers at set times, from year to year: to burn upon the altar of the Lord our God, as it is written in the law of Moses:
10:35. And that we would bring the firstfruits of our land, and the firstfruits of all fruit of every tree, from year to year, in the house of our Lord.
10:36. And the firstborn of our sons, and of our cattle, as it is written in the law, and the firstlings of our oxen, and of our sheep, to be offered in the house of our God, to the priests who minister in the house of our God.
10:37. And that we would bring the firstfruits of our meats, and of our libations, and the fruit of every tree, of the vintage also and of oil to the priests, to the storehouse of our God, and the tithes of our ground to the Levites. The Levites also shall receive the tithes of our works out of all the cities.
10:38. And the priest the son of Aaron shall be with the Levites in the tithes of the Levites, and the Levites shall offer the tithe of their tithes in the house of our God, to the storeroom into the treasure house.
10:39. For the children of Israel and the children of Levi shall carry to the treasury the firstfruits of corn, of wine, and of oil: and the sanctified vessels shall be there, and the priests, and the singing men, and the porters, and ministers, and we will not forsake the house of our God.
2 Esdras Chapter 11
Who were the inhabitants of Jerusalem, and the other cities.
11:1. And the princes of the people dwelt at Jerusalem: but the rest of the people cast lots, to take one part in ten to dwell in Jerusalem the holy city, and nine parts in the other cities.
11:2. And the people blessed all the men that willingly offered themselves to dwell in Jerusalem.
11:3. These therefore are the chief men of the province, who dwelt in Jerusalem, and in the cities of Juda. And every one dwelt in his possession, in their cities: Israel, the priests, the Levites, the Nathinites, and the children of the servants of Solomon.
11:4. And in Jerusalem there dwelt some of the children of Juda, and some of the children of Benjamin: of the children of Juda, Athaias the son of Aziam, the son of Zacharias, the son of Amarias, the son of Saphatias, the son of Malaleel: of the sons of Phares,
11:5. Maasia the son of Baruch, the son of Cholhoza, the son of Hazia, the son of Adaia, the son of Joiarib, the son of Zacharias, the son of the Silonite:
11:6. All these the sons of Phares, who dwelt in Jerusalem, were four hundred sixty-eight valiant men.
11:7. And these are the children of Benjamin: Sellum the son of Mosollam, the son of Joed, the son of Phadaia, the son of Colaia, the son of Masia, the son of Etheel, the son of Isaia.
11:8. And after him Gebbai, Sellai, nine hundred twenty-eight.
11:9. And Joel the son of Zechri their ruler, and Judas the son of Senua was second over the city.
11:10. And of the priests Idaia the son of Joarib, Jachin,
11:11. Saraia the son of Helcias, the son of Mosollam, the son of Sadoc, the son of Meraioth, the son of Achitob the prince of the house of God,
11:12. And their brethren that do the works of the temple: eight hundred twenty-two. And Adaia the son of Jeroham, the son of Phelelia, the son of Amsi, the son of Zacharias, the son of Pheshur, the son of Melchias,
11:13. And his brethren the chiefs of the fathers: two hundred forty-two. And Amassai the son of Azreel, the son of Ahazi, the son of Mosollamoth, the son of Emmer,
11:14. And their brethren who were very mighty, a hundred twenty-eight: and their ruler Zabdiel son of the mighty.
11:15. And of the Levites Semeia the son of Hasub, the son of Azaricam, the son of Hasabia, the son of Boni,
11:16. And Sabathai and Jozabed, who were over all the outward business of the house of God, of the princes of the Levites,
11:17. And Mathania the son of Micha, the son of Zebedei, the son of Asaph, was the principal man to praise, and to give glory in prayer, and Becbecia, the second, one of his brethren, and Abda the son of Samua, the son of Galal, the son of Idithun.
11:18. All the Levites in the holy city were two hundred eighty-four.
11:19. And the porters, Accub, Telmon, and their brethren, who kept the doors: a hundred seventy-two.
11:20. And the rest of Israel, the priests and the Levites were in all the cities of Juda, every man in his possession.
11:21. And the Nathinites, that dwelt in Ophel, and Siaha, and Gaspha of the Nathinites.
11:22. And the overseer of the Levites in Jerusalem, was Azzi the son of Bani, the son of Hasabia, the son of Mathania, the son of Micha. Of the sons of Asaph, were the singing men in the ministry of the house of God.
11:23. For the king’s commandment was concerning them, and an order among the singing men day by day.
11:24. And Phathahia the son of Mesezebel of the children of Zara the son of Juda was at the hand of the king, in all matters concerning the people,
11:25. And in the houses through all their countries. Of the children of Juda some dwelt at Cariath-Arbe, and in the villages thereof: and at Dibon, and in the villages thereof: and at Cabseel, and in the villages thereof.
11:26. And at Jesue, and at Molada, and at Bethphaleth,
11:27. And at Hasersual, and at Bersabee, and in the villages thereof,
11:28. And at Siceleg, and at Mochona, and in the villages thereof,
11:29. And at Remmon, and at Saraa, and at Jerimuth,
11:30. Zanoa, Odollam, and in their villages, at Lachis and its dependencies, and at Azeca and the villages thereof. And they dwelt from Bersabee unto the valley of Ennom.
11:31. And the children of Benjamin, from Geba, at Mechmas, and at Hai, and at Bethel, and in the villages thereof,
11:32. At Anathoth, Nob, Anania,
11:33. Asor, Rama, Gethaim,
11:34. Hadid, Seboim, and Neballat, Lod,
11:35. And Ono the valley of craftsmen.
11:36. And of the Levites were portions of Juda and Benjamin.
2 Esdras Chapter 12
The priests, and Levites that came up with Zorobabel. The succession of high priests: the solemnity of the dedication of the wall.
12:1. Now these are the priests and the Levites, that went up with Zorobabel the son of Salathiel, and Josue: Saraia, Jeremias, Esdras,
12:2. Amaria, Melluch, Hattus,
12:3. Sebenias, Rheum, Merimuth,
12:4. Addo, Genthon, Abia,
12:5. Miamin, Madia, Belga,
12:6. Semeia, and Joiarib, Idaia, Sellum Amoc, Helcias,
12:7. Idaia. These were the chief of the priests, and of their brethren in the days of Josue.
12:8. And the Levites, Jesua, Bennui, Cedmihel, Sarebia, Juda, Mathanias, they and their brethren were over the hymns:
12:9. And Becbecia, and Hanni, and their brethren every one in his office.
12:10. And Josue begot Joacim, and Joacim begot Eliasib, and Eliasib begot Joiada,
12:11. And Joiada begot Jonathan and Jonathan begot Jeddoa.
12:12. And in the days of Joacim the priests and heads of the families were: Of Saraia, Maraia: of Jeremias, Hanania:
12:13. Of Esdras, Mosollam: and of Amaria, Johanan:
12:14. Of Milicho, Jonathan: of Sebenia, Joseph:
12:15. Of Haram, Edna: of Maraioth, Helci:
12:16. Of Adaia, Zacharia: of Genthon, Mosollam:
12:17. Of Abia, Zechri: of Miamin and Moadia, Phelti:
12:18. Of Belga, Sammua of Semaia, Jonathan:
12:19. Of Joiarib, Mathanai: of Jodaia, Azzi:
12:20. Of Sellai, Celai: of Amoc, Heber:
12:21. Of Helcias, Hasebia: of Idaia, Nathanael.
12:22. The Levites the chiefs of the families in the days of Eliasib, and Joiada, and Johanan, and Jeddoa, were recorded, and the priests in the reign of Darius the Persian.
12:23. The sons of Levi, heads of the families were written in the book of Chronicles, even unto the days of Jonathan the son of Eliasib.
12:24. Now the chief of the Levites were Hasebia, Serebia, and Josue the son of Cedmihel: and their brethren by their courses, to praise and to give thanks according to the commandment of David the man of God, and to wait equally in order.
12:25. Mathania, and Becbecia, Obedia, and Mosollam, Telmon, Accub, were keepers of the gates and of the entrances before the gates.
12:26. These were in the days of Joacim the son of Josue, the son of Josedec, and in the days of Nehemias the governor, and of Esdras the priest and scribe.
12:27. And at the dedication of the wall of Jerusalem they sought the Levites out of all their places, to bring them to Jerusalem, and to keep the dedication, and to rejoice with thanksgiving, and with singing, and with cymbals, and psalteries and harps.
12:28. And the sons of the singing men were gathered together out of the plain country about Jerusalem, and out of the villages of Nethuphati,
12:29. And from the house of Galgal, and from the countries of Geba and Azmaveth: for the singing men had built themselves villages round about Jerusalem.
12:30. And the priests and the Levites were purified, and they purified the people, and the gates, and the wall.
12:31. And I made the princes of Juda go up upon the wall, and I appointed two great choirs to give praise. And they went on the right hand upon the wall toward the dung gate.
12:32. And after them went Osaias, and half of the princes of Juda,
12:33. And Azarias, Esdras, and Mosollam, Judas, and Benjamin, and Semeia, and Jeremias.
12:34. And of the sons of the priests with trumpets, Zacharias the son of Jonathan, the son of Semeia, the son of Mathania, the son of Michaia, the son of Zechur, the son of Asaph,
12:35. And his brethren Semeia, and Azareel, Malalai, Galalai, Maai, Nathanael, and Judas, and Hanani, with the musical instruments of David the man of God: and Esdras the scribe before them at the fountain gate.
12:36. And they went up over against them by the stairs of the city of David, at the going up of the wall of the house of David, and to the water gate eastward:
12:37. And the second choir of them that gave thanks went on the opposite side, and I after them, and the half of the people upon the wall, and upon the tower of the furnaces, even to the broad wall,
12:38. And above the gate of Ephraim, and above the old gate, and above the fish gate and the tower of Hananeel, and the tower of Emath, and even to the flock gate: and they stood still in the watch gate.
12:39. And the two choirs of them that gave praise stood still at the house of God, and I and the half of the magistrates with me.
12:40. And the priests, Eliachim, Maasia, Miamin, Michea, Elioenai, Zacharia, Hanania with trumpets,
12:41. And Maasia, and Semeia, and Eleazar, and Azzi, and Johanan, and Melchia, and Elam, and Ezer. And the singers sung loud, and Jezraia was their overseer:
12:42. And they sacrificed on that day great sacrifices, and they rejoiced: for God had made them joyful with great joy: their wives also and their children rejoiced, and the joy of Jerusalem was heard afar off.
12:43. They appointed also in that day men over the storehouses of the treasure, for the libations, and for the firstfruits, and for the tithes, that the rulers of the city might bring them in by them in honour of thanksgiving, for the priests and Levites: for Juda was joyful in the priests and Levites that assisted.
12:44. And they kept the watch of their God, and the observance of expiation, and the singing men, and the porters, according to the commandment of David, and of Solomon his son.
12:45. For in the days of David and Asaph from the beginning there were chief singers appointed, to praise with canticles, and give thanks to God.
12:46. And all Israel, in the days of Zorobabel, and in the days of Nehemias gave portions to the singing men, and to the porters, day by day, and they sanctified the Levites, and the Levites sanctified the sons of Aaron.
Sanctified.... That is, they gave them that which by the law was set aside, and sanctified for their use.
2 Esdras Chapter 13
Divers abuses are reformed.
13:1. And on that day they read in the book of Moses in the hearing of the people: and therein was found written, that the Ammonites and the Moabites should not come in to the church of God for ever:
13:2. Because they met not the children of Israel with bread and water: and they hired against them Balaam, to curse them, and our God turned the curse into blessing.
13:3. And it came to pass, when they had heard the law, that they separated every stranger from Israel.
13:4. And over this thing was Eliasib the priest, who was set over the treasury of the house of our God, and was near akin to Tobias.
Over this thing, etc.... Or, he was faulty in this thing, or in this kind.
13:5. And he made him a great storeroom, where before him they laid up gifts, and frankincense, and vessels, and the tithes of the corn, of the wine, and of the oil, the portions of the Levites, and of the singing men, and of the porters, and the firstfruits of the priests.
13:6. But in all this time I was not in Jerusalem, because in the two and thirtieth year of Artaxerxes king of Babylon, I went to the king, and after certain days I asked the king:
13:7. And I came to Jerusalem, and I understood the evil that Eliasib had done for Tobias, to make him a storehouse in the courts of the house of God.
13:8. And it seemed to me exceeding evil. And I cast forth the vessels of the house of Tobias out of the storehouse.
13:9. And I commanded and they cleansed the storehouses: and I brought thither again the vessels of the house of God, the sacrifice, and the frankincense.
13:10. And I perceived that the portions of the Levites had not been given them: and that the Levites, and the singing men, and they that ministered were fled away every man to his own country:
13:11. And I pleaded the matter against the magistrates, and said: Why have we forsaken the house of God? And I gathered them together, and I made them to stand in their places.
13:12. And all Juda brought the tithe of the corn, and the wine, and the oil into the storehouses.
13:13. And we set over the storehouses Selemias the priest, and Sadoc the scribe, and of the Levites Phadaia, and next to them Hanan the son of Zachur, the son of Mathania: for they were approved as faithful, and to them were committed the portions of their brethren.
13:14. Remember me, O my God, for this thing, and wipe not out my kindnesses, which I have done relating to the house of my God and his ceremonies.
13:15. In those days I saw in Juda some treading the presses on the sabbath, and carrying sheaves, and lading asses with wine, and grapes, and figs, and all manner of burthens, and bringing them into Jerusalem on the sabbath day. And I charged them that they should sell on a day on which it was lawful to sell.
13:16. Some Tyrians also dwelt there, who brought fish, and all manner of wares: and they sold them on the sabbaths to the children of Juda in Jerusalem.
13:17. And I rebuked the chief men of Juda, and said to them: What is this evil thing that you are doing, profaning the sabbath day:
13:18. Did not our fathers do these things, and our God brought all this evil upon us, and upon this city? And you bring more wrath upon Israel by violating the sabbath.
13:19. And it came to pass, that when the gates of Jerusalem were at rest on the sabbath day, I spoke: and they shut the gates, and I commanded that they should not open them till after the sabbath: and I set some of my servants at the gates, that none should bring in burthens on the sabbath day.
13:20. So the merchants, and they that sold all kinds of wares, stayed without Jerusalem, once or twice.
13:21. And I charged them, and I said to them: Why stay you before the wall? if you do so another time, I will lay hands on you. And from that time they came no more on the sabbath.
13:22. I spoke also to the Levites that they should be purified, and should come to keep the gates, and to sanctify the sabbath day: for this also remember me, O my God, and spare me according to the multitude of thy tender mercies.
13:23. In those days also I saw Jews that married wives, women of Azotus, and of Ammon, and of Moab.
13:24. And their children spoke half in the speech of Azotus, and could not speak the Jews’ language, but they spoke according to the language of this and that people.
13:25. And I chid them, and laid my curse upon them. And I beat some of them, and shaved off their hair, and made them swear by God that they would not give their daughters to their sons, nor take their daughters for their sons, nor for themselves, saying:
13:26. Did not Solomon king of Israel sin in this kind of thing: and surely among many nations, there was not a king like him, and he was beloved of his God, and God made him king over all Israel: and yet women of other countries brought even him to sin.
13:27. And shall we also be disobedient and do all this great evil to transgress against our God, and marry strange women:
13:28. And one of the sons of Joiada the son of Eliasib the high priest, was son in law to Sanaballat the Horonite, and I drove him from me.
13:29. Remember them, O Lord my God, that defile the priesthood, and the law of priests and Levites.
13:30. So I separated from them all strangers, and I appointed the courses of the priests and the Levites, every man in his ministry:
13:31. And for the offering of wood at times appointed, and for the firstfruits: remember me, O my God, unto good. Amen.