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# Book 12 4 Kings

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 monntain, 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:l9. 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 honse 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 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 takiug 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 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 vear 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 daughtor 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 llve.

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 Sapham, 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 eat 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 great 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.

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