introduction to that which follows.

2:7. And they served the Lord all his days, and the days of the ancients, that lived a long time after him, and who knew all the works of the Lord, which he had done for Israel. 2:8. And Josue, the son of Nun, the servant of the Lord, died, being a hundred and ten years old; 2:9. And they buried him in the borders of his possession in Thamnathsare, in Mount Ephraim, on the north side of Mount Gaas. 2:10. And all that generation was gathered to their fathers: and there arose others that knew not the Lord and the works which he had done for Israel. 2:11. And the children of Israel did evil in the sight of the Lord, and they served Baalim, 2:12. And they left the Lord, the God of their fathers, who had brought them out of the land of Egypt: and they followed strange gods, and the gods of the people that dwelt round about them, and they adored them: and they provoked the Lord to anger, They followed strange gods... What is here said of the children of Israel, as to their falling so often into idolatry, is to be understood of a great part of them; but not so universally, as if the true worship of God was ever quite abolished among them: for the succession of the true church and religion was kept up all this time by the priests and Levites, at least in the house of God in Silo. 2:13. Forsaking him, and serving Baal and Astaroth 2:14. And the Lord being angry against Israel, delivered them into the hands of plunderers: who took them and sold them to their enemies, that dwelt round about: neither could they stand against their enemies: 2:15. But whithersoever they meant to go, the hand of the Lord was upon them, as he had said, and as he had sworn to them: and they were greatly distressed. 2:16. And the Lord raised up judges, to deliver them from the hands of those that oppressed them: but they would not hearken to them, 2:17. Committing fornication with strange gods, and adoring them. They quickly forsook the way, in which their fathers had walked: and hearing the commandments of the Lord, they did all things contrary. 2:18. And when the Lord raised them up judges, in their days, he was moved to mercy, and heard the groanings of the afflicted, and delivered them from the slaughter of the oppressors. 2:19. But after the judge was dead, they returned, and did much worse things than their fathers had done, following strange gods, serving them, and adoring them. They left not their own inventions, and the stubborn way, by which they were accustomed to walk. 2:20. And the wrath of the Lord was kindled against Israel, and he said: Behold this nation hath made void my covenant, which I had made with their fathers, and hath despised to hearken to my voice: 2:21. I also will not destroy the nations which Josue left when he died: 2:22. That through them I may try Israel, whether they will keep the way of the Lord, and walk in it, as their fathers kept it, or not. 2:23. The Lord therefore left all these nations, and would not quickly destroy them, neither did he deliver them into the hands of Josue. Judges Chapter 3 The people falling into idolatry are oppressed by their enemies; but repenting are delivered by Othoniel, Aod, and Samgar. 3:1. These are the nations which the Lord left, that by them he might instruct Israel, and all that had not known the wars of the Chanaanites: 3:2. That afterwards their children might learn to fight with their enemies, and to be trained up to war: 3:3. The five princes of the Philistines, and all the Chanaanites, and the Sidonians, and the Hevites that dwelt in Mount Libanus, from Mount Baal Hermon to the entering into Emath. 3:4. And he left them, that he might try Israel by them, whether they would hear the commandments of the Lord, which he had commanded their fathers, by the hand of Moses, or not. 3:5. So the children of Israel dwelt in the midst of the Chanaanite, and the Hethite, and the Amorrhite, and the Pherezite, and the Hevite, and the Jebusite: 3:6. And they took their daughters to wives, and they gave their own daughters to their sons, and they served their gods. 3:7. And they did evil in the sight of the Lord, and they forgot their God, and served Baalim and Astaroth. 3:8. And the Lord being angry with Israel, delivered them into the hands of Chusan Rasathaim, king of Mesopotamia, and they served him eight years. Mesopotamia... In Hebrew Aramnaharim. Syria of the two rivers: so called because it lies between the Euphrates and the Tigris. It is absolutely called Syria, ver. 10. 3:9. And they cried to the Lord, who raised them up a saviour, and delivered them; to wit, Othoniel, the son of Cenez, the younger brother of Caleb: 3:10. And the spirit of the Lord was in him, and he judged Israel. And he went out to fight, and the Lord delivered Chusan Rasathaim, king of Syria, and he overthrew him: 3:11. And the land rested forty years, and Othoniel, the son of Cenez, died. 3:12. And the children of Israel did evil again in the sight of the Lord: who strengthened against them Eglon, king of Moab: because they did evil in his sight. 3:13. And he joined to him the children of Ammon, and Amalec: and he went and overthrew Israel, and possessed the city of palm trees. 3:14. And the children of Israel served Eglon, king of Moab, eighteen years. 3:15. And afterwards they cried to the Lord, who raised them up a saviour, called Aod, the son of Cera, the son of Jemini, who used the left hand as well as the right. And the children of Israel sent presents to Eglon, king of Moab, by him. 3:16. And he made himself a two-edged sword, with a haft in the midst of the length of the palm of the hand, and was girded therewith, under his garment, on the right thigh. 3:17. And he presented the gifts to Eglon, king of Moab Now Eglon was exceeding fat. 3:18. And when he had presented the gifts unto him he followed his companions that came along with him. 3:19. Then returning from Galgal, where the idols were, he said to the king: I have a secret message to thee, O king. And he commanded silence: and all being gone out that were about him, 3:20. Aod went in to him: now he was sitting in a summer parlour alone, and he said: I have a word from God to thee. And he forthwith rose up from his throne. A word from God, etc... What Aod, who was judge and chief magistrate of Israel, did on this occasion, was by a special inspiration of God: but such things are not to be imitated by private men. 3:21. And Aod put forth his left hand, and took the dagger from his right thigh, and thrust it into his belly, 3:22. With such force that the haft went in after the blade into the wound, and was closed up with the abundance of fat. So that he did not draw out the dagger, but left it in the body as he had struck it in: and forthwith, by the secret parts of nature, the excrements of the belly came out. 3:23. And Aod carefully shutting the doors of the parlour, and locking them, 3:24. Went out by a postern door. And the king's servants going in, saw the doors of the parlour shut, and they said: Perhaps he is easing nature in his summer parlour. 3:25. And waiting a long time, till they were ashamed, and seeing that no man opened the door, they took a key: and opening, they found their lord lying dead on the ground. 3:26. But Aod, while they were in confusion, escaped, and passed by the place of the idols from whence he had returned. And he came to Seirath: 3:27. And forthwith he sounded the trumpet in Mount Ephraim: and the children of Israel went down with him, he himself going in the front. 3:28. And he said to them: Follow me: for the Lord hath delivered our enemies, the Moabites, into our hands. And they went down after him, and seized upon the fords of the Jordan, which are in the way to Moab: and they suffered no man to pass over: 3:29. But they slew of the Moabites at that time, about ten thousand, all strong and valiant men: none of them could escape. 3:30. And Moab was humbled that day under the hand of Israel: and the land rested eighty years. 3:31. After him was Samgar, the son of Anath, who slew of the Philistines six hundred men with a ploughshare: and he also defended Israel. Judges Chapter 4 Debbora and Barac deliver Israel from Jabin and Sisara, Jahal killeth Sisara. 4:1. And the children of Israel again did evil in the sight of the Lord after the death of Aod: 4:2. And the Lord delivered them up into the hands of Jabin, king of Chanaan, who reigned in Asor: and he had a general of his army named Sisara, and he dwelt in Haroseth of the Gentiles. 4:3. And the children of Israel cried to the Lord: for he had nine hundred chariots set with scythes and for twenty years had grievously oppressed them. 4:4. And there was at that time Debbora, a prophetess, the wife of Lapidoth, who judged the people. 4:5. And she sat under a palm tree, which was called by her name, between Rama and Bethel, in Mount Ephraim: and the children of Israel came up to her for all judgment. 4:6. And she sent and called Barac, the Son of Abinoem, out of Cedes, in Nephthali: and she said to him: The Lord God of Israel hath commanded thee: Go, and lead an army to Mount Thabor, and thou shalt take with thee ten thousand fighting men of the children of Nephthali, and of the children of Zabulon: 4:7. And I will bring unto thee in the place of the torrent Cison, Sisara, the general of Jabin's army, and his chariots, and all his multitude, and will deliver them into thy hand. 4:8. And Barac said to her: If thou wilt come with me, I will go: if thou wilt not come with me, I will not go. 4:9. She said to him: I will go, indeed, with thee, but at this time the victory shall not be attributed to thee, because Sisara shall be delivered into the hand of a woman. Debbora therefore arose, and went with Barac to Cedes. 4:10. And he called unto him Zabulon and Nephthali, and went up with ten thousand fighting men, having Debbora in his company. 4:11. Now Haber, the Cinite, had some time before departed from the rest of the Cinites, his brethren, the sons of Hobab, the kinsman of Moses: and had pitched his tents unto the valley, which is called Sennim, and was near Cedes. 4:12. And it was told Sisara, that Barac, the son of Abinoem, was gone up to Mount Thabor: 4:13. And he gathered together his nine hundred chariots armed with scythes, and all his army, from Haroseth of the Gentiles, to the torrent Cison. 4:14. And Debbora said to Barac: Arise, for this is the day wherein the Lord hath delivered Sisara into thy hands: behold, he is thy leader. And Barac went down from Mount Thabor, and ten thousand fighting men with him. 4:15. And the Lord struck a terror into Sisara, and all his chariots, and all his multitude, with the edge of the sword, at the sight of Barac; insomuch, that Sisara leaping down from off his chariot, fled away on foot, 4:16. And Barac pursued after the fleeing chariots, and the army, unto Haroseth of the Gentiles; and all the multitude of the enemies was utterly destroyed. 4:17. But Sisara fleeing, came to the tent of Jahel, the wife of Haber, the Cinite, for there was peace between Jabin, the king of Asor, and the house of Haber, the Cinite. 4:18. And Jahel went forth to meet Sisara, and said to him: Come in to me, my lord; come in, fear not. He went into her tent, and being covered by her with a cloak, 4:19. Said to her: Give me, I beseech thee, a little water, for I am very thirsty. She opened a bottle of milk, and gave him to drink, and covered him. 4:20. And Sisara said to her: Stand before the door of the tent, and when any shall come and inquire of thee, saying: Is there any man here? thou shalt say: There is none. 4:21. So Jahel, Haber's wife, took a nail of the tent, and taking also a hammer: and going in softly, and with silence, she put the nail upon the temples of his head, and striking it with the hammer, drove it through his brain fast into the ground: and so passing from deep sleep to death, he fainted away and died. 4:22. And behold, Barac came pursuing after Sisara: and Jahel went out to meet him, and said to him: Come, and I will shew thee the man whom thou seekest. And when he came into her tent, he saw Sisara lying dead, and the nail fastened in his temples. 4:23. So God that day humbled Jabin, the king of Chanaan, before the children of Israel: 4:24. Who grew daily stronger, and with a mighty hand overpowered Jabin, king of Chanaan, till they quite destroyed him. Judges Chapter 5 The canticle of Debbora and Barac after their victory. 5:1. In that day Debbora and Barac, son of Abinoem, sung, and said: 5:2. O you of Israel, that have willingly offered your lives to danger, bless the Lord. 5:3. Hear, O ye kings, give ear, O ye princes: It is I, it is I, that will sing to the Lord, I will sing to the Lord, the God of Israel. 5:4. O Lord, when thou wentest out of Seir, and passedst by the regions of Edom, the earth trembled, and the heavens and clouds dropped water. 5:5. The mountains melted before the face of the Lord, and Sinai before the face of the Lord the God of Israel. 5:6. In the days of Samgar, the son of Anath, in the days of Jahel, the paths rested: and they that went by them, walked through bye-ways. The paths rested... The ways to the sanctuary of God were unfrequented: and men walked in the by-ways of error and sin. 5:7. The valiant men ceased, and rested in Israel: until Debbora arose, a mother arose in Israel. 5:8. The Lord chose new wars, and he himself overthrew the gates of the enemies: a shield and spear was not seen among forty thousand of Israel. 5:9. My heart loveth the princes of Israel: O you, that of your own good will offered yourselves to danger, bless the Lord. 5:10. Speak, you that ride upon fair asses, and you that sit in judgment, and walk in the way. 5:11. Where the chariots were dashed together, and the army of the enemies was choked, there let the justices of the Lord be rehearsed, and his clemency towards the brave men of Israel: then the people of the Lord went down to the gates, and obtained the sovereignty. 5:12. Arise, arise, O Debbora, arise, arise, and utter a canticle. Arise, Barac, and take hold of thy captives, O son of Abinoem. 5:13. The remnants of the people are saved, the Lord hath fought among the valiant ones. 5:14. Out of Ephraim he destroyed them into Amalec, and after him out of Benjamin into thy people, O Amalec: Out of Machir there came down princes, and out of Zabulon they that led the army to fight. Out of Ephraim, etc... The enemies straggling in their flight were destroyed, as they were running through the land of Ephraim, and of Benjamin, which lies after, that is beyond Ephraim: and so on to the very confines of Amalec. Or, it alludes to former victories of the people of God, particularly that which was freshest in memory, when the men of Ephraim and Benjamin, with Aod at their head, overthrew their enemies the Moabites with the Amalecites their allies. See chap. 3. Ibid. Machir... The tribe of Manasses, whose eldest son was Machir. 5:15. The captains of Issachar were with Debbora, and followed the steps of Barac, who exposed himself to danger, as one going headlong, and into a pit. Ruben being divided against himself, there was found a strife of courageous men. Divided against himself, etc... By this it seems that the valient men of the tribe of Ruben were divided in their sentiments, with relation to this war; which division kept them at home within their own borders, to hear the bleating of their flocks. 5:16. Why dwellest thou between two borders, that thou mayst hear the bleatings of the flocks? Ruben being divided against himself, there was found a strife of courageous men. 5:17. Galaad rested beyond the Jordan, and Dan applied himself to ships: Aser dwelt on the sea shore, and abode in the havens. 5:18. But Zabulon and Nephthali offered their lives to death in the region of Merome. 5:19. The kings came and fought, the kings of Chanaan fought in Thanac, by the waters of Mageddo and yet they took no spoils. 5:20. There was war made against them from heaven: the stars, remaining in their order and courses, fought against Sisara. 5:21. The torrent of Cison dragged their carcasses, the torrent of Cadumim, the torrent of Cison: tread thou, my soul, upon the strong ones. 5:22. The hoofs of the horses were broken whilst the stoutest of the enemies fled amain, and fell headlong down. 5:23. Curse ye the land of Meroz, said the angel of the Lord: curse the inhabitants thereof, because they came not to the help of the Lord, to help his most valiant men. Meroz... Where this land of Meroz was, which is here laid under a curse, we cannot find: nor is there mention of it anywhere else in holy writ. In the spiritual sense, they are cursed who refuse to assist the people of God in their warfare against their spiritual enemies. 5:24. Blessed among women be Jahel, the wife of Haber the Cinite, and blessed be she in her tent. 5:25. He asked her water, and she gave him milk, and offered him butter in a dish fit for princes. 5:26. She put her left hand to the nail, and her right hand to the workman's hammer, and she struck Sisara, seeking in his head a place for the wound, and strongly piercing through his temples. 5:27. Between her feet he fell: he fainted, and he died: he rolled before her feet, and there he lay lifeless and wretched. 5:28. His mother looked out at a window, and howled: and she spoke from the dining room: Why is his chariot so long in coming back? Why are the feet of his horses so slow? 5:29. One that was wiser than the rest of his wives, returned this answer to her mother-in-law: 5:30. Perhaps he is now dividing the spoils, and the fairest of the women is chosen out for him: garments of divers colours are given to Sisara for his prey, and furniture of different kinds is heaped together to adorn necks. 5:31. So let all thy enemies perish, O Lord: but let them that love thee shine, as the sun shineth in his rising. 5:32. And the land rested for forty years. Judges Chapter 6 The people for their sins, are oppressed by the Madianites. Gedeon is called to deliver them. 6:1. And the children of Israel again did evil in the sight of the Lord: and he delivered them into the hand of Madian seven years, 6:2. And they were grievously oppressed by them. And they made themselves dens and caves in the mountains, and strong holds to resist. 6:3. And when Israel had sown, Madian and Amalec, and the rest of the eastern nations, came up: 6:4. And pitching their tents among them, wasted all things as they were in the blade, even to the entrance of Gaza: and they left nothing at all in Israel for sustenance of life, nor sheep, nor oxen, nor asses. 6:5. For they and all their flocks came with their tents, and like locusts filled all places, an innumerable multitude of men, and of camels, wasting whatsoever they touched. 6:6. And Israel was humbled exceedingly in the sight of Madian. 6:7. And he cried to the Lord, desiring help against the Madianites. 6:8. And he sent unto them a prophet, and he spoke: Thus saith the Lord, the God of Israel: I made you to come up out of Egypt, and brought you out of the house of bondage, 6:9. And delivered you out of the hands of the Egyptians, and of all the enemies that afflicted you: and I cast them out at your coming in, and gave you their land. 6:10. And I said: I am the Lord your God, fear not the gods of the Amorrhites, in whose land you dwell. And you would not hear my voice. 6:11. And an angel of the Lord came, and sat under an oak that was in Ephra, and belonged to Joas, the father of the family of Ezri. And when Gedeon, his son, was threshing and cleansing wheat by the winepress, to flee from Madian, 6:12. The angel of the Lord appeared to him, and said: The Lord is with thee, O most valiant of men. 6:13. And Gedeon said to him: I beseech thee, my lord, if the Lord be with us, why have these evils fallen upon us? Where are his miracles, which our fathers have told us of, saying: The Lord brought us out of Egypt but now the Lord hath forsaken us, and delivered us into the hand of Madian. 6:14. And the Lord looked upon him, and said: Go, in this thy strength, and thou shalt deliver Israel out of the hand of Madian: know that I have sent thee. 6:15. He answered, and said: I beseech thee, my lord wherewith shall I deliver Israel? Behold, my family is the meanest in Manasses, and I am the least in my father's house. The meanest in Manasses, etc... Mark how the Lord chooseth the humble (who are mean and little in their own eyes) for the greatest enterprises. 6:16. And the Lord said to him: I will be with thee: and thou shalt cut off Madian as one man. 6:17. And he said: If I have found grace before thee, give me a sign that it is thou that speakest to me: 6:18. And depart not hence, till I return to thee, and bring a sacrifice, and offer it to thee. And he answered: I will wait thy coming. 6:19. So Gedeon went in, and boiled a kid, and made unleavened loaves of a measure of flour: and putting the flesh in a basket, and the broth of the flesh into a pot, he carried all under the oak, and presented to him. 6:20. And the angel of the Lord said to him: Take the flesh and the unleavened loaves, and lay them upon that rock, and pour out the broth thereon. And when he had done so, 6:21. The angel of the Lord put forth the tip of the rod, which he held in his hand, and touched the flesh and the unleavened loaves: and there arose a fire from the rock, and consumed the flesh and the unleavened loaves: and the angel of the Lord vanished out of his sight. 6:22. And Gedeon seeing that it was the angel of the Lord, said: Alas, my Lord God: for I have seen the angel of the Lord face to face. 6:23. And the Lord said to him: Peace be with thee: fear not, thou shalt not die. 6:24. And Gedeon built there an altar to the Lord, and called it the Lord's peace, until this present day. And when he was yet in Ephra, which is of the family of Ezri, 6:25. That night the Lord said to him: Take a bullock of thy father's, and another bullock of seven years, and thou shalt destroy the altar of Baal, which is thy father's: and cut down the grove that is about the altar: 6:26. And thou shalt build un altar to the Lord thy God, in the top of this rock, whereupon thou didst lay the sacrifice before: and thou shalt take the second bullock, and shalt offer a holocaust upon a pile of the wood, which thou shalt cut down out of the grove. 6:27. Then Gedeon, taking ten men of his servants, did as the Lord had commanded him. But fearing his father's house, and the men of that city, he would not do it by day, but did all by night. 6:28. And when the men of that town were risen in the morning, they saw the altar of Baal destroyed, and the grove cut down, and the second bullock laid upon the altar, which then was built. 6:29. And they said one to another: Who hath done this? And when they inquired for the author of the fact, it was said: Gedeon, the son of Joas, did all this. 6:30. And they said to Joas: Bring out thy son hither, that he may die: because he hath destroyed the altar of Baal, and hath cut down his grove. 6:31. He answered them: Are you the avengers of Baal, that you fight for him? he that is his adversary, let him die before to morrow light appear: if he be a god, let him revenge himself on him that hath cast down his altar. 6:32. From that day Gedeon was called Jerobaal, because Joas had said: Let Baal revenge himself on him that hath cast down his altar. 6:33. Now all Madian, and Amalec, and the eastern people, were gathered together, and passing over the Jordan, camped in the valley of Jezrael. 6:34. But the spirit of the Lord came upon Gedeon, and he sounded the trumpet, and called together the house of Abiezer, to follow him. 6:35. And he sent messengers into all Manasses, and they also followed him: and other messengers into Aser and Zabulon, and Nephthali, and they came to meet him. 6:36. And Gedeon said to God: If thou wilt save Israel by my hand, as thou hast said, 6:37. I will put this fleece of wool on the floor: if there be dew in the fleece only, and it be dry on all the ground beside, I shall know that by my hand, as thou hast said, thou wilt deliver Israel. 6:38. And it was so. And rising before day, wringing the fleece, he filled a vessel with the dew. 6:39. And he said again to God: Let not thy wrath be kindled against me, if I try once more, seeking a sign in the fleece. I pray that the fleece only may be dry, and all the ground wet with dew. 6:40. And God did that night as he had requested: and it was dry on the fleece only, and there was dew on all the ground. Judges Chapter 7 Gedeon, with three hundred men, by stratagem defeateth the Madianites. 7:1. Then Jerobaal, who is the same as Gedeon, rising up early, and all the people with him, came to the fountain that is called Harad. Now the camp of Madian was in the valley, on the north side of the high hill. 7:2. And the Lord said to Gedeon: The people that are with thee are many, and Madian shall not be delivered into their hands: lest Israel should glory against me, and say: I was delivered by my own strength. Lest Israel, etc... By this we see that God will not choose for his instruments in great achievements, which depend purely on his grace, such as, through pride and self conceit, will take the glory to themselves. 7:3. Speak to the people, and proclaim in the hearing of all: Whosoever is fearful and timorous, let him return. So two and twenty thousand men went away from Mount Galaad and returned home, and only ten thousand remained. 7:4. And the Lord said to Gedeon: The people are still too many, bring them to the waters, and there I will try them: and of whom I shall say to thee, This shall go with thee, let him go: whom I shall forbid to go, let him return. 7:5. And when the people were come down to the waters, the Lord said to Gedeon: They that shall lap the water with their tongues, as dogs are wont to lap, thou shalt set apart by themselves: but they that shall drink bowing down their knees, shall be on the other side. 7:6. And the number of them that had lapped water; casting it with the hand to their mouth, was three hundred men: and all the rest of the multitude had drunk kneeling. 7:7. And the Lord said to Gedeon: By the three hundred men, that lapped water, I will save you, and deliver Madian into thy hand: but let all the rest of the people return to their place. That lapped water... These were preferred that took the water up in their hands, and so lapped it, before them who laid themselves quite down to the waters to drink: which argued a more eager and sensual disposition. 7:8. So taking victuals and trumpets according to their number, he ordered all the rest of the multitude to depart to their tents: and he with the three hundred gave himself to the battle. Now the camp of Madia was beneath him in the valley. 7:9. The same night the Lord said to him: Arise, and go down into the camp: because I have delivered them into thy hand. 7:10. But if thou be afraid to go alone, let Phara, thy servant, go down with thee. 7:11. And when thou shalt hear what they are saying, then shall thy hands be strengthened, and thou shalt go down more secure to the enemies' camp. And he went down with Phara his servant, into part of the camp, where was the watch of men in arms. 7:12. But Madian and Amalec, and all the eastern people, lay scattered in the valley, as a multitude of locusts: their camels also were innumerable, as the sand that lieth on the sea shore. 7:13. And when Gedeon was come, one told his neighbour a dream: and in this manner related what he had seen: I dreamt a dream, and it seemed to me as if a hearth cake of barley bread rolled and came down into the camp of Madian: and when it was come to a tent, it struck it, and beat it down flat to the ground. A dream... Observation of dreams is commonly superstitious, and as such is condemned in the word of God: but in some extraordinary cases, as we here see, God is pleased by dreams to foretell what he is about to do. 7:14. He to whom he spoke, answered: This is nothing else but the sword of Gedeon, the son of Joas, a man of Israel. For the Lord hath delivered Madian, and all their camp into his hand. 7:15. And when Gedeon had heard the dream, and the interpretation thereof, he adored: and returned to the camp of Israel, and said: Arise, for the Lord hath delivered the camp of Madian into our hands. 7:16. And he divided the three hundred men into three parts, and gave them trumpets in their hands, and empty pitchers, and lamps within the pitchers. 7:17. And he said to them: What you shall see me do, do you the same: I will go into one part of the camp, and do you as I shall do. 7:18. When the trumpet shall sound in my hand, do you also blow the trumpets on every side of the camp, and shout together to the Lord and to Gedeon. 7:19. And Gedeon, and the three hundred men that were with him, went into part of the camp, at the beginning of the midnight watch, and the watchmen being alarmed, they began to sound their trumpets, and to clap the pitchers one against another. Their trumpets, etc... In a mystical sense, the preachers of the gospel, in order to spiritual conquests, must not only sound with the trumpet of the word of God, but must also break their earthen pitchers, by the mortification of the flesh and its passions, and carry lamps in their hands by the light of their virtues. 7:20. And when they sounded their trumpets in three places round about the camp, and had broken their pitchers, they held their lamps in their left hands, and with their right hands the trumpets which they blew, and they cried out: The sword of the Lord and of Gedeon: 7:21. Standing every man in his place round about the enemies' camp. So all the camp was troubled, and crying out and howling, they fled away: 7:22. And the three hundred men nevertheless persisted sounding the trumpets. And the Lord sent the sword into all the camp, and they killed one another, 7:23. Fleeing as far as Bethsetta, and the border of Abelmahula, in Tebbath. But the men of Israel, shouting from Nephthali, and Aser, and from all Manasses, pursued after Madian. 7:24. And Gedeon sent messengers into all Mount Ephraim, saying: Come down to meet Madian, and take the waters before them to Bethbera and the Jordan. And all Ephraim shouted, and took the waters before them and the Jordan as far as Bethbera. 7:25. And having taken two men of Madian, Oreb and Zeb: Oreb they slew in the rock of Oreb, and Zeb in the winepress of Zeb. And they pursued Madian, carrying the heads of Oreb and Zeb to Gedeon, beyond the waters of the Jordan. Two men... That is, two of their chiefs. Judges Chapter 8 Gedeon appeaseth the Ephraimites. Taketh Zebee and Salmana. Destroyeth Soccoth and Phanuel. Refuseth to be king. Maketh an ephod of the gold of the prey, and dieth in a good old age. The people return to idolatry. 8:1. And the men of Ephraim said to him: What is this that thou meanest to do, that thou wouldst not call us, when thou wentest to fight against Madian? And they chid him sharply, and almost offered violence. 8:2. And he answered them: What could I have done like to that which you have done? Is not one bunch of grapes of Ephraim better than the vintages of Abiezer? What could I, etc... A meek and humble answer appeased them; who otherwise might have come to extremities. So great is the power of humility both with God and man. 8:3. The Lord hath delivered into your hands the princes of Madian, Oreb and Zeb: what could I have done like to what you have done? And when he had said this, their spirit was appeased, with which they swelled against him. 8:4. And when Gedeon was come to the Jordan, he passed over it with the three hundred men that were with him: who were so weary that they could not pursue after them that fled. 8:5. And he said to the men of Soccoth: Give, I beseech you, bread to the people that is with me, for they are faint: that we may pursue Zebee, and Salmana, the kings of Madian. 8:6. The princes of Soccoth answered: Peradventure the palms of the hands of Zebee and Salmana are in thy hand, and therefore thou demandest that we should give bread to thy army. 8:7. And he said to them: When the Lord therefore shall have delivered Zebee and Salmana into my hands, I will thresh your flesh with the thorns and briers of the desert. 8:8. And going up from thence, he came to Phanuel: and he spoke the like things to the men of that place. And they also answered him, as the men of Soccoth had answered. 8:9. He said, therefore, to them also: When I shall return a conqueror in peace, I will destroy this tower. 8:10. But Zebee and Salmana were resting with all their army. For fifteen thousand men were left of all the troops of the eastern people, and one hundred and twenty thousand warriors that drew the sword were slain. 8:11. And Gedeon went up by the way of them that dwelt in tents, on the east of Nobe and Jegbaa, and smote the camp of the enemies, who were secure, and suspected no hurt. 8:12. And Zebee and Salmana fled, and Gedeon pursued and took them, all their host being put in confusion. 8:13. And returning from the battle before the sun rising, 8:14. He took a boy of the men of Soccoth: and he asked him the names of the princes and ancients of Soccoth, and he described unto him seventy- seven men. 8:15. And he came to Soccoth, and said to them: Behold Zebee, and Salmana, concerning whom you upbraided me, saying: Peradventure the hands of Zebee and Salmana are in thy hands, and therefore thou demandest that we should give bread to the men that are weary and faint. 8:16. So he took the ancients of the city, and thorns and briers of the desert, and tore them with the same, and cut in pieces the men of Soccoth. 8:17. And he demolished the tower of Phanuel, and slew the men of the city. 8:18. And he said to Zebee and Salmana: What manner of men were they, whom you slew in Thabor? They answered: They were like thee, and one of them as the son of a king. 8:19. He answered them: They were my brethren, the sons of my mother. As the Lord liveth, if you had saved them, I would not kill you. 8:20. And he said to Jether, his eldest son: Arise, and slay them. But he drew not his sword: for he was afraid, being but yet a boy. 8:21. And Zebee and Salmana said: Do thou rise and run upon us: because the strength of a man is according to his age: Gedeon rose up, and slew Zebee and Salmana: and he took the ornaments and bosses, with which the necks of the camels of kings are wont to be adorned. 8:22. And all the men of Israel said to Gedeon: Rule thou over us, and thy son, and thy son's son: because thou hast delivered us from the hand of Madian. 8:23. And he said to them: I will not rule over you, neither shall my son rule over you, but the Lord shall rule over you. 8:24. And he said to them: I desire one request of you: Give me the earlets of your spoils. For the Ismaelites were accustomed to wear golden earlets. 8:25. They answered: We will give them most willingly. And spreading a mantle on the ground, they cast upon it the earlets of the spoils. 8:26. And the weight of the earlets that he requested, was a thousand seven hundred sicles of gold, besides the ornaments, and jewels, and purple raiment, which the kings of Madian were wont to use, and besides the golden chains that were about the camels necks. 8:27. And Gedeon made an ephod thereof, and put it in his city Ephra. And all Israel committed fornication with it, and it became a ruin to Gedeon, and to all his house. An ephod... A priestly garment which Gedeon made with a good design; but the Israelites, after his death, abused it by making it an instrument of their idolatrous worship. 8:28. But Madian was humbled before the children of Israel, neither could they any more lift up their heads: but the land rested for forty years, while Gedeon presided. 8:29. So Jerobaal, the son of Joas, went and dwelt in his own house: 8:30. And he had seventy sons, who came out of his thigh, for he had many wives. 8:31. And his concubine, that he had in Sichem, bore him a son, whose name was Abimelech. His concubine... She was his servant, but not his harlot: and is called his concubine, as wives of an inferior degree are commonly called in the Old Testament, though otherwise lawfully married. 8:32. And Gedeon, the son of Joas died in a good old age, and was buried in the sepulchre of his father, in Ephra, of the family of Ezri. 8:33. But after Gedeon was dead, the children of Israel turned again, and committed fornication with Baalim. And they made a covenant with Baal, that he should be their god: 8:34. And they remembered not the Lord their God, who delivered them out of the hands of all their enemies round about: 8:35. Neither did they shew mercy to the house of Jerobaal Gedeon, according to all the good things he had done to Israel. Judges Chapter 9 Abimelech killeth his brethren. Joatham's parable. Gaal conspireth with the Sichemites against Abimelech, but is overcome. Abimelech destroyeth Sichem: but is killed at Thebes. 9:1. And Abimelech, the son of Jerobaal, went to Sichem, to his mother's brethren, and spoke to them, and to all the kindred of his mother's father, saying: 9:2. Speak to all the men of Sichem: whether is better for you that seventy men, all the sons of Jerobaal, should rule over you, or that one man should rule over you? And withal, consider that I am your bone, and your flesh. 9:3. And his mother's brethren spoke of him to all the men of Sichem, all these words, and they inclined their hearts after Abimelech, saying: He is our brother: 9:4. And they gave him seventy weight of silver out of the temple of Baalberith: wherewith he hired to himself men that were needy, and vagabonds, and they followed him. Baalberith... That is, Baal of the covenant, so called from the covenant they had made with Baal, chap. 8.33. 9:5. And he came to his father's house in Ephra, and slew his brethren, the sons of Jerobaal, seventy men, upon one stone: and there remained only Joatham, the youngest son of Jerobaal, who was hidden. 9:6. And all the men of Sichem were gathered together, and all the families of the city of Mello: and they went and made Abimelech king, by the oak that stood in Sichem. 9:7. This being told to Joatham, he went, and stood on the top of Mount Garizim: and lifting up his voice, he cried, and said: Hear me, ye men of Sichem, so may God hear you. 9:8. The trees went to anoint a king over them: and they said to the olive tree: Reign thou over us. 9:9. And it answered: Can I leave my fatness, which both gods and men make use of, to come to be promoted among the trees? Both gods and men make use of... The olive tree is introduced, speaking in this manner, because oil was used both in the worship of the true God, and in that of the false gods, whom the Sichemites served. 9:10. And the trees said to the fig tree: Come thou and reign over us. 9:11. And it answered them: Can I leave my sweetness, and my delicious fruits, and go to be promoted among the other trees? 9:12. And the trees said to the vine: Come thou and reign over us. 9:13. And it answered them: Can I forsake my wine, that cheereth God and men, and be promoted among the other trees? Cheereth God and men... Wine is here represented as agreeable to God, because he had appointed it to be offered up with his sacrifices. But we are not obliged to take these words, spoken by the trees, in Joatham's parable, according to the strict literal sense: but only in a sense accomodated to the design of the parable expressed in the conclusion of it. 9:14. And all the trees said to the bramble: Come thou and reign over us. 9:15. And it answered them: If, indeed, you mean to make me king, come ye, and rest under my shadow: but if you mean it not, let fire come out from the bramble, and devour the cedars of Libanus. 9:16. Now, therefore, if you have done well, and without sin, in appointing Abimelech king over you, and have dealt well with Jerobaal, and with his house, and have made a suitable return for the benefits of him who fought for you, 9:17. And exposed his life to dangers, to deliver you from the hand of Madian, 9:18. And you are now risen up against my father's house, and have killed his sons, seventy men, upon one stone, and have made Abimelech, the son of his handmaid, king over the inhabitants of Sichem, because he is your brother: 9:19. If therefore you have dealt well, and without fault, with Jerobaal and his house, rejoice ye, this day, in Abimelech, and may he rejoice in you. 9:20. But if unjustly: let fire come out from him, and consume the inhabitants of Sichem, and the town of Mello: and let fire come out from the men of Sichem and from the town of Mello, and devour Abimelech. 9:21. And when he had said thus, he fled, and went into Bera: and dwelt there for fear of Abimelech, his brother. 9:22. So Abimelech reigned over Israel three years. 9:23. And the Lord sent a very evil spirit between Abimelech and the inhabitants of Sichem; who began to detest him, 9:24. And to lay the crime of the murder of the seventy sons of Jerobaal, and the shedding of their blood, upon Abimelech, their brother, and upon the rest of the princes of the Sichemites, who aided him. 9:25. And they set an ambush against him on the top of the mountains: and while they waited for his coming, they committed robberies, taking spoils of all that passed by: and it was told Abimelech. 9:26. And Gaal, the son of Obed, came with his brethren, and went over to Sichem. And the inhabitants of Sichem, taking courage at his coming, 9:27. Went out into the fields, wasting the vineyards, and treading down the grapes: and singing and dancing, they went into the temple of their god, and in their banquets and cups they cursed Abimelech. 9:28. And Gaal, the son of Obed, cried: Who is Abimelech, and what is Sichem, that we should serve him? Is he not the son of Jerobaal, and hath made Zebul, his servant, ruler over the men of Emor, the father of Sichem? Why then shall we serve him? 9:29. Would to God that some man would put this people under my hand, that I might remove Abimelech out of the way. And it was said to Abimelech: Gather together the multitude of an army, and come. 9:30. For Zebul, the ruler of the city, hearing the words of Gaal, the son of Obed, was very angry, 9:31. And sent messengers privately to Abimelech, saying: Behold, Gaal, the son of Obed, is come into Sichem with his brethren, and endeavoureth to set the city against thee. 9:32. Arise, therefore, in the night, with the people that is with thee, and lie hid in the field: 9:33. And betimes in the morning, at sun rising, set upon the city, and when he shall come out against thee, with his people, do to him what thou shalt be able. 9:34. Abimelech, therefore, arose with all his army, by night, and laid ambushes near Sichem in four places. 9:35. And Gaal, the son of Obed, went out, and stood in the entrance of the gate of the city. And Abimelech rose up, and all his army with him, from the places of the ambushes. 9:36. And when Gaal saw the people, he said to Zebul: Behold, a multitude cometh down from the mountains. And he answered him: Thou seest the shadows of the mountains as if they were the heads of men, and this is thy mistake. 9:37. Again Gaal said: Behold, there cometh people down from the midst of the land, and one troop cometh by the way that looketh towards the oak. 9:38. And Zebul said to him: Where is now thy mouth, wherewith thou saidst: Who is Abimelech, that we should serve him? Is not this the people which thou didst despise? Go out, and fight against him. 9:39. So Gaal went out, in the sight of the people of Sichem, and fought against Abimelech, 9:40. Who chased and put him to flight, and drove him to the city: and many were slain of his people, even to the gate of the city: 9:41. And Abimelech sat down in Ruma: but Zebul drove Gaal, and his companions, out of the city, and would not suffer them to abide in it. 9:42. So the day following the people went out into the field. And it was told to Abimelech, 9:43. And he took his army, and divided it into three companies, and laid ambushes in the fields. And seeing that the people came out of the city, he arose, and set upon them, 9:44. With his own company, assaulting and besieging the city: whilst the two other companies chased the enemies that were scattered about the field. 9:45. And Abimelech assaulted the city all that day: and took it, and killed the inhabitants thereof, and demolished it, so that he sowed salt in it. Sowed salt... To make the ground barren, and fit for nothing. 9:46. And when they who dwelt in the tower of Sichem, had heard this, they went into the temple of their god Berith, where they had made a covenant with him, and from thence the place had taken its name, and it was exceeding strong. 9:47. Abimelech also hearing that the men of the tower of Sichem were gathered together, 9:48. Went up into mount Selmon, he and all his people with him: and taking an axe, he cut down the bough of a tree, and laying it on his shoulder, and carrying it, he said to his companions: What you see me do, do ye out of hand. 9:49. So they cut down boughs from the trees, every man as fast as he could, and followed their leader. And surrounding the fort, they set it on fire: and so it came to pass, that with the smoke and with the fire a thousand persons were killed, men and women together, of the inhabitants of the town of Sichem. 9:50. Then Abimelech, departing from thence, came to the town of Thebes, which he surrounded and besieged with his army. 9:51. And there was in the midst of the city a high tower, to which both the men and the women were fled together, and all the princes of the city, and having shut and strongly barred the gate, they stood upon the battlements of the tower to defend themselves. 9:52. And Abimelech, coming near the tower, fought stoutly: and, approaching to the gate, endeavoured to set fire to it: 9:53. And behold, a certain woman casting a piece of a millstone from above, dashed it against the head of Abimelech, and broke his skull. 9:54. And he called hastily to his armourbearer, and said to him: Draw thy sword, and kill me: lest it should be said that I was slain by a woman. He did as he was commanded, and slew him. 9:55. And when he was dead all the men of Israel that were with him, returned to their homes. 9:56. And God repaid the evil that Abimelech had done against his father, killing his seventy brethren. 9:57. The Sichemites also were rewarded for what they had done, and the curse of Joatham, the son of Jerobaal, came upon them. Judges Chapter 10 Thola ruleth Israel twenty-three years; and Jair twenty-two. The people fall again into idolatry, and are afflicted again by the Philistines and Ammonites. They cry to God for help, who upon their repentance hath compassion on them. 10:1. After Abimelech, there arose a ruler in Israel, Thola, son of Phua, the uncle of Abimelech, a man of Issachar, who dwelt in Samir of mount Ephraim: Uncle of Abimelech... i. e., half brother to Gedeon, as being born of the same mother, but by a different father, and of a different tribe. 10:2. And he judged Israel three and twenty years, and he died, and was buried in Samir. 10:3. To him succeeded Jair, the Galaadite, who judged Israel for two and twenty years, 10:4. Having thirty sons, that rode on thirty ass colts, and were princes of thirty cities, which from his name were called Havoth Jair, that is, the towns of Jair, until this present day, in the land of Galaad. Havoth Jair... This name was now confirmed to these towns, which they had formerly received from another Jair. Num. 32.41. 10:5. And Jair died, and was buried in the place which is called Camon. 10:6. But the children of Israel, adding new sins to their old ones, did evil in the sight of the Lord, and served idols, Baalim and Astaroth, and the gods of Syria, and of Sidon, and of Moab, and of the children of Ammon, and of the Philistines: and they left the Lord, and did not serve him. 10:7. And the Lord being angry with them, delivered them into the hands of the Philistines, and of the children of Ammon. 10:8. And they were afflicted, and grievously oppressed for eighteen years, all they that dwelt beyond the Jordan in the land of the Amorrhite, who is in Galaad: 10:9. Insomuch that the children of Ammon, passing over the Jordan, wasted Juda, and Benjamin, and Ephraim: and Israel was distressed exceedingly. 10:10. And they cried to the Lord, and said, We have sinned against thee, because we have forsaken the Lord our God, and have served Baalim. 10:11. And the Lord said to them: Did not the Egyptians, and the Amorrhites, and the children of Ammon, and the Philistines, 10:12. The Sidonians also, and Amalec, and Chanaan, oppress you, and you cried to me, and I delivered you out of their hand? 10:13. And yet you have forsaken me, and have worshipped strange gods: therefore I will deliver you no more: 10:14. Go, and call upon the gods which you have chosen: let them deliver you in the time of distress. 10:15. And the children of Israel said to the Lord: We have sinned, do thou unto us whatsoever pleaseth thee: only deliver us this time. 10:16. And saying these things, they cast away out of their coasts all the idols of strange gods, and served the Lord their God: and he was touched with their miseries. 10:17. And the children of Ammon shouting together, pitched their tents in Galaad: against whom the children of Israel assembled themselves together, and camped in Maspha. 10:18. And the princes of Galaad said one to another: Whosoever of us shall first begin to fight against the children of Ammon, he shall be the leader of the people of Galaad. Judges Chapter 11 Jephte is made ruler of the people of Galaad: he first pleads their cause against the Ammonites; then making a vow obtains a signal victory; he performs his vow. 11:1. There was at that time Jephte, the Galaadite, a most valiant man, and a warrior, the son of a woman that was a harlot, and his father was Galaad. 11:2. Now Galaad had a wife of whom he had sons: who, after they were grown up, thrust out Jephte, saying: Thou canst not inherit in the house of our father, because thou art born of another mother. 11:3. Then he fled and avoided them, and dwelt in the land of Tob: and there were gathered to him needy men and robbers, and they followed him as their prince. 11:4. In those days the children of Ammon made war against Israel. 11:5. And as they pressed hard upon them, the ancients of Galaad went to fetch Jephte out of the land of Tob to help them: 11:6. And they said to him: Come thou, and be our prince, and fight against the children of Ammon. 11:7. And he answered them: Are not you the men that hated me, and cast me out of my father's house, and now you are come to me, constrained by necessity? 11:8. And the princes of Galaad said to Jephte: For this cause we are now come to thee, that thou mayst go with us, and fight against the children of Ammon, and be head over all the inhabitants of Galaad. 11:9. Jephte also said to them: If you be come to me sincerely, that I should fight for you against the children of Ammon, and the Lord shall deliver them into my hand, shall I be your prince? 11:10. They answered him: The Lord, who heareth these things, he himself is mediator and witness that we will do as we have promised. 11:11. Jephte therefore went with the princes of Galaad, and all the people made him their prince. And Jephte spoke all his words before the Lord in Maspha. 11:12. And he sent messengers to the king of the children of Ammon, to say in his name: What hast thou to do with me, that thou art come against me, to waste my land? 11:13. And he answered them: Because Israel took away my land, when he came up out of Egypt, from the confines of the Arnon unto the Jaboc and the Jordan: now, therefore, restore the same peaceably to me. 11:14. And Jephte again sent word by them, and commanded them to say to the king of Ammon: 11:15. Thus saith Jephte: Israel did not take away the land of Moab, nor the land of the children of Ammon: 11:16. But when they came up out of Egypt, he walked through the desert to the Red Sea, and came into Cades. 11:17. And he sent messengers to the king of Edom, saying: Suffer me to pass through thy land. But he would not condescend to his request. He sent also to the king of Moab, who, likewise, refused to give him passage. He abode, therefore, in Cades, 11:18. And went round the land of Edom at the side, and the land of Moab: and came over against the east coast of the land of Moab, and camped on the other side of the Arnon: and he would not enter the bounds of Moab. 11:19. So Israel sent messengers to Sehon, king of the Amorrhites, who dwelt in Hesebon, and they said to him: Suffer me to pass through thy land to the river. 11:20. But he, also despising the words of Israel, suffered him not to pass through his borders: but gathering an infinite multitude, went out against him to Jasa, and made strong opposition. 11:21. And the Lord delivered him, with all his army, into the hands of Israel, and he slew him, and possessed all the land of the Amorrhite, the inhabitant of that country, 11:22. And all the coasts thereof from the Arnon to the Jaboc, and from the wilderness to the Jordan. 11:23. So the Lord, the God of Israel, destroyed the Amorrhite, his people of Israel fighting against him, and wilt thou now possess his land? 11:24. Are not those things which thy god Chamos possesseth, due to thee by right? But what the Lord our God hath obtained by conquest, shall be our possession: Chamos... The idol of the Moabites and Ammonites. He argues from their opinion, who thought they had a just title to the countries which they imagined they had conquered by the help of their gods: how much more then had Israel in indisputable title to the countries which God, by visible miracles, had conquered for them. 11:25. Unless, perhaps, thou art better than Balac, the son of Sephor, king of Moab: or canst shew that he strove against Israel, and fought against him, 11:26. Whereas he hath dwelt in Hesebon, and the villages thereof, and in Aroer, and its villages, and in all the cities near the Jordan, for three hundred years. Why have you for so long a time attempted nothing about this claim? 11:27. Therefore I do not trespass against thee, but thou wrongest me by declaring an unjust war against me. The Lord be judge, and decide this day, between Israel and the children of Ammon. 11:28. And the king of the children of Ammon would not hearken to the words of Jephte, which he sent him by the messengers. 11:29. Therefore the spirit of the Lord came upon Jephte, and going round Galaad, and Manasses, and Maspha of Galaad, and passing over from thence to the children of Ammon, 11:30. He made a vow to the Lord, saying: If thou wilt deliver the children of Ammon into my hands, 11:31. Whosoever shall first come forth out of the doors of my house, and shall meet me, when I return in peace from the children of Ammon, the same will I offer a holocaust to the Lord. Whosoever, etc... Some are of opinion, that the meaning of this vow of Jephte, was to consecrate to God whatsoever should first meet him, according to the condition of the thing; so as to offer it up as a holocaust, if it were such a thing as might be offered by the law; or to devote it otherwise to God, if it were not such as the law allowed to be offered in sacrifice. And therefore they think the daughter of Jephte was not slain by her father, but only consecrated to perpetual virginity. But the common opinion followed by the generality of the holy fathers and divines is, that she was offered as a holocaust, in consequence of her father's vow: and that Jephte did not sin, at least not mortally, neither in making, nor in keeping, his vow: since he is no ways blamed for it in scripture; and was even inspired by God himself to make the vow (as appears from ver. 29, 30) in consequence of which he obtained the victory; and therefore he reasonably concluded that God, who is the master of life and death, was pleased on this occasion to dispense with his own law; and that it was the divine will he should fulfil his vow. 11:32. And Jephte passed over to the children of Ammon to fight against them: and the Lord delivered them into his hands. 11:33. And he smote them from Aroer till you come to Mennith, twenty cities, and as far as Abel, which is set with vineyards, with a very great slaughter: and the children of Ammon were humbled by the children of Israel. 11:34. And when Jephte returned into Maspha, to his house, his only daughter met him with timbrels and with dances: for he had no other children. 11:35. And when he saw her, he rent his garments, and said: Alas! my daughter, thou hast deceived me, and thou thyself art deceived: for I have opened my mouth to the Lord, and I can do no other thing. 11:36. And she answered him: My father, if thou hast opened thy mouth to the Lord, do unto me whatsoever thou hast promised, since the victory hath been granted to thee, and revenge of thy enemies. 11:37. And she said to her father: Grant me only this, which I desire: Let me go, that I may go about the mountains for two months, and may bewail my virginity with my companions. Bewail my virginity... The bearing of children was much coveted under the Old Testament, when women might hope that from some child of theirs, the Saviour of the world might one day spring. But under the New Testament virginity is preferred. 1 Cor. 7.35. 11:38. And he answered her: Go. And he sent her away for two months. And when she was gone with her comrades and companions, she mourned her virginity in the mountains. 11:39. And the two months being expired, she returned to her father, and he did to her as he had vowed, and she knew no man. From thence came a fashion in Israel, and a custom has been kept: 11:40. That, from year to year, the daughters of Israel assemble together, and lament the daughter of Jephte the Galaadite, for four days. Judges Chapter 12 The Ephraimites quarrel with Jephte: forty-two thousand of them are slain: Abeson, Ahialon, and Abdon, are judges. 12:1. But behold there arose a sedition in Ephraim. And passing towards the north, they said to Jephte: When thou wentest to fight against the children of Ammon, why wouldst thou not call us, that we might go with thee? Therefore we will burn thy house. 12:2. And he answered them: I and my people were at great strife with the children of Ammon: and I called you to assist me, and you would not do it. 12:3. And when I saw this, I put my life in my own hands, and passed over against the children of Ammon and the Lord delivered them into my hands. What have I deserved, that you should rise up to fight against me? 12:4. Then calling to him all the men of Galaad, he fought against Ephraim: and the men of Galaad defeated Ephraim, because he had said: Galaad is a fugitive of Ephraim, and dwelleth in the midst of Ephraim and Manasses. 12:5. And the Galaadites secured the fords of the Jordan, by which Ephraim was to return. And when any one of the number of Ephraim came thither in the flight, and said: I beseech you let me pass: the Galaadites said to him: Art thou not an Ephraimite? If he said: I am not: 12:6. They asked him: Say then, Scibboleth, which is interpreted, An ear of corn. But he answered, Sibboleth, not being able to express an ear of corn by the same letter. Then presently they took him and killed him in the very passage of the Jordan. And there fell at that time of Ephraim, two and forty thousand. 12:7. And Jephte, the Galaadite, judged Israel six years: and he died, and was buried in his city of Galaad. 12:8. After him Abesan of Bethlehem judged Israel: 12:9. He had thirty sons, and as many daughters, whom he sent abroad, and gave to husbands, and took wives for his sons, of the same number, bringing them into his house. And he judged Israel seven years: 12:10. And he died, and was buried in Bethlehem. 12:11. To him succeeded Ahialon, a Zabulonite: and he judged Israel ten years: 12:12. And he died, and was buried in Zabulon. 12:13. After him, Abdon, the son of Illel, a Pharathonite, judged Israel: 12:14. And he had forty sons, and of them thirty grandsons, mounted upon seventy ass colts, and he judged Israel eight years: 12:15. And he died, and was buried in Pharathon, in the land of Ephraim, in the mount of Amalech. Judges Chapter 13 The people fall again into idolatry and are afflicted by the Philistines. An angel foretelleth the birth of Samson. 13:1. And the children of Israel did evil again in the sight of the Lord: and he delivered them into the hands of the Philistines forty years. 13:2. Now there was a certain man of Saraa, and of the race of Dan, whose name was Manue, and his wife was barren. 13:3. And an angel of the Lord appeared to her, and said: Thou art barren and without children: but thou shalt conceive and bear a son. 13:4. Now therefore beware, and drink no wine nor strong drink, and eat not any unclean thing. 13:5. Because thou shalt conceive, and bear a son, and no razor shall touch his head: for he shall be a Nazarite of God, from his infancy, and from his mother's womb, and he shall begin to deliver Israel from the hands of the Philistines. 13:6. And when she was come to her husband, she said to him: A man of God came to me, having the countenance of an angel, very awful. And when I asked him whence he came, and by what name he was called, he would not tell me: 13:7. But he answered thus: Behold thou shalt conceive and bear a son: beware thou drink no wine, nor strong drink, nor eat any unclean thing: for the child shall be a Nazarite of God from his infancy, from his mother's womb until the day of his death. 13:8. Then Manue prayed to the Lord, and said: I beseech thee, O Lord, that the man of God, whom thou didst send, may come again, and teach us what we ought to do concerning the child, that shall be born. 13:9. And the Lord heard the prayer of Manue, and the angel of the Lord appeared again to his wife, as she was sitting in the field. But Manue her husband was not with her. And when she saw the angel, 13:10. She made haste, and ran to her husband: and told him, saying: Behold the man hath appeared to me, whom I saw before. 13:11. He rose up, and followed his wife: and coming to the man, said to him: Art thou he that spoke to the woman? And he answered: I am. 13:12. And Manue said to him: When thy word shall come to pass, what wilt thou that the child should do? or from what shall he keep himself? 13:13. And the angel of the Lord said to Manue: From all the things I have spoken of to thy wife, let her refrain herself: Let her refrain, etc... By the Latin text it is not clear whether this abstinence was prescribed to the mother, or to the child; but the Hebrew (in which the verbs relating thereto are of the feminine gender) determineth it to the mother. But then the child also was to refrain from the like things, because he was to be from his infancy a Nazarite of God, ver. 5, that is, one set aside, in a particular manner, and consecrated to God: now the Nazarites by the law were to abstain from all these things. 13:14. And let her eat nothing that cometh of the vine, neither let her drink wine or strong drink, nor eat any unclean thing: and whatsoever I have commanded her, let her fulfil and observe. 13:15. And Manue said to the angel of the Lord: I beseech thee to consent to my request, and let us dress a kid for thee. 13:16. And the angel answered him: If thou press me I will not eat of thy bread: but if thou wilt offer a holocaust, offer it to the Lord. And Manue knew not it was the angel of the Lord. 13:17. And he said to him: What is thy name, that, if thy word shall come to pass, we may honour thee? 13:18. And he answered him: Why askest thou my name, which is wonderful? 13:19. Then Manue took a kid of the flocks, and the libations, and put them upon a rock, offering to the Lord, who doth wonderful things: and he and his wife looked on. 13:20. And when the flame from the altar went up towards heaven, the angel of the Lord ascended also in the same. And when Manue and his wife saw this, they fell flat on the ground; 13:21. And the angel of the Lord appeared to them no more. And forthwith Manue understood that it was an angel of the Lord, 13:22. And he said to his wife: We shall certainly die, because we have seen God. Seen God... Not in his own person, but in the person of his messenger. The Israelites, in those days, imagined they should die if they saw an angel, taking occasion perhaps from those words spoken by the Lord to Moses, Ex. 33.20, No man shall see me and live. But the event demonstrated that it was but a groundless imagination. 13:23. And his wife answered him: If the Lord had a mind to kill us, he would not have received a holocaust and libations at our hands; neither would he have shewed us all these things, nor have told us the things that are to come. 13:24. And she bore a son, and called his name Samson. And the child grew, and the Lord blessed him. 13:25. And the Spirit of the Lord began to be with him in the camp of Dan, between Saraa and Esthaol. Judges Chapter 14 Samson desireth a wife of the Philistines. He killeth a lion: in whose mouth he afterwards findeth honey. His marriage feast, and riddle, which is discovered by his wife. He killeth, and strippeth thirty Philistines. His wife taketh another man. 14:1. Then Samson went down to Thamnatha, and seeing there a woman of the daughters of the Philistines, 14:2. He came up, and told his father and his mother, saying: I saw a woman in Thamnatha of the daughters of the Philistines: I beseech you, take her for me to wife. 14:3. And his father and mother said to him: Is there no woman among the daughters of thy brethren, or among all my people, that thou wilt take a wife of the Philistines, who are uncircumcised? And Samson said to his father: Take this woman for me; for she hath pleased my eyes. Is there no woman among the daughters of thy brethren... This shews his parents were at first against his marriage with a Gentile, it being prohibited, Deut. 7.3; but afterwards they consented, knowing it to be by the dispensation of God; which otherwise would have been sinful in acting contrary to the law. 14:4. Now his parents knew not that the thing was done by the Lord, and that he sought an occasion against the Philistines: for at that time the Philistines had dominion over Israel. 14:5. Then Samson went down with his father and mother to Thamnatha. And when they were come to the vineyards of the town, behold a young lion met him, raging and roaring. 14:6. And the Spirit of the Lord came upon Samson, and he tore the lion as he would have torn a kid in pieces, having nothing at all in his hand: and he would not tell this to his father and mother. 14:7. And he went down, and spoke to the woman that had pleased his eyes. 14:8. And after some days, returning to take her, he went aside to see the carcass of the lion, and behold there was a swarm of bees in the mouth of the lion, and a honey-comb. 14:9. And when he had taken it in his hands, he went on eating: and coming to his father and mother, he gave them of it, and they ate: but he would not tell them that he had taken the honey from the body of the lion. 14:10. So his father went down to the woman, and made a feast for his son Samson: for so the young men used to do. 14:11. And when the citizens of that place saw him, they brought him thirty companions to be with him. 14:12. And Samson said to them: I will propose to you a riddle, which if you declare unto me within the seven days of the feast, I will give you thirty shirts, and as many coats: 14:13. But if you shall not be able to declare it, you shall give me thirty shirts and the same number of coats. They answered him: Put forth the riddle, that we may hear it. 14:14. And he said to them: Out of the eater came forth meat, and out of the strong came forth sweetness. And they could not for three days expound the riddle. 14:15. And when the seventh day came, they said to the wife of Samson: Sooth thy husband, and persuade him to tell thee what the riddle meaneth. But if thou wilt not do it, we will burn thee, and thy father's house. Have you called us to the wedding on purpose to strip us? 14:16. So she wept before Samson and complained, saying: Thou hatest me, and dost not love me: therefore thou wilt not expound to me the riddle, which thou hast proposed to the sons of my people. But he answered: I would not tell it to my father and mother: and how can I tell it to thee? 14:17. So she wept before him the seven days of the feast: and, at length, on the seventh day, as she was troublesome to him, he expounded it. And she immediately told her countrymen. 14:18. And they, on the seventh day before the sun went down, said to him: What is sweeter than honey? and what is stronger than a lion? And he said to them: If you had not ploughed with my heifer, you had not found out my riddle. 14:19. And the Spirit of the Lord came upon him, and he went down to Ascalon, and slew there thirty men whose garments he took away, and gave to them that had declared the riddle. And being exceeding angry, he went up to his father's house: 14:20. But his wife took one of his friends and bridal companions for her husband. Judges Chapter 15 Samson is denied his wife. He burns the corn of the Philistines, and kills many of them. 15:1. And a while after, when the days of the wheat harvest were at hand, Samson came, meaning to visit his wife, and he brought her a kid of the flock. And when he would have gone into her chamber, as usual, her father would not suffer him, saying: 15:2. I thought thou hadst hated her, and therefore I gave her to thy friend: but she hath a sister, who is younger and fairer than she, take her to wife instead of her. 15:3. And Samson answered him: From this day I shall be blameless in what I do against the Philistines: for I will do you evils. 15:4. And he went and caught three hundred foxes, and coupled them tail to tail, and fastened torches between the tails: Foxes... Being judge of the people he might have many to assist him to catch with nets or otherwise a number of these animals; of which there were great numbers in that country. 15:5. And setting them on fire he let the foxes go, that they might run about hither and thither. And they presently went into the standing corn of the Philistines. Which being set on fire, both the corn that was already carried together, and that which was yet standing, was all burnt, insomuch that the flame consumed also the vineyards and the oliveyards. 15:6. Then the Philistines said: Who hath done this thing? And it was answered: Samson, the son-in-law of the Thamnathite, because he took away his wife, and gave her to another, hath done these things. And the Philistines went up and burnt both the woman and her father. 15:7. But Samson said to them: Although you have done this, yet will I be revenged of you, and then I will be quiet. 15:8. And he made a great slaughter of them, so that in astonishment they laid the calf of the leg upon the thigh. And going down he dwelt in a cavern of the rock Etam. 15:9. Then the Philistines going up into the land of Juda, camped in the place which afterwards was called Lechi, that is, the Jawbone, where their army was spread abroad. 15:10. And the men of the tribe of Juda said to them: Why are you come up against us? They answered: We are come to bind Samson, and to pay him for what he hath done against us. 15:11. Wherefore three thousand men of Juda went down to the cave of the rock Etam, and said to Samson: Knowest thou not that the Philistines rule over us? Why wouldst thou do thus? And he said to them: As they did to me, so have I done to them. 15:12. And they said to him: We are come to bind thee, and to deliver thee into the hands of the Philistines. And Samson said to them: Swear to me, and promise me that you will not kill me. 15:13. They said: We will not kill thee: but we will deliver thee up bound. And they bound him with two new cords, and brought him from the rock Etam. 15:14. Now when he was come to the place of the Jawbone, and the Philistines shouting went to meet him, the Spirit of the Lord came strongly upon him: and as flax is wont to be consumed at the approach of fire, so the bands with which he was bound were broken and loosed. 15:15. And finding a jawbone, even the jawbone of an ass, which lay there, catching it up, he slew therewith a thousand men. 15:16. And he said: With the jawbone of an ass, with the jaw of the colt of asses, I have destroyed them, and have slain a thousand men. 15:17. And when he had ended these words, singing, he threw the jawbone out of his hand, and called the name of that place Ramathlechi, which is interpreted the lifting up of the jawbone. 15:18. And being very thirsty, he cried to the Lord, and said: Thou hast given this very great deliverance and victory into the hand of thy servant: and behold I die for thirst, and shall fall into the hands of the uncircumcised. 15:19. Then the Lord opened a great tooth in the jaw of the ass and waters issued out of it. And when he had drunk them, he refreshed his spirit, and recovered his strength. Therefore the name of that place was called The Spring of him that invoked from the jawbone, until this present day. 15:20. And he judged Israel, in the days of the Philistines, twenty years. Judges Chapter 16 Samson is deluded by Dalila: and falls into the hands of the Philistines. His death. 16:1. He went also into Gaza, and saw there a woman, a harlot, and went in unto her. 16:2. And when the Philistines had heard this, and it was noised about among them, that Samson was come into the city, they surrounded him, setting guards at the gate of the city, and watching there all the night in silence, that in the morning they might kill him as he went out. 16:3. But Samson slept till midnight, and then rising, he took both the doors of the gate, with the posts thereof and the bolt, and laying them on his shoulders, carried them up to the top of the hill, which looketh towards Hebron. 16:4. After this he loved a woman, who dwelt in the valley of Sorec, and she was called Dalila. Dalila... Some are of opinion she was married to Samson; others that she was his harlot. If the latter opinion be true, we cannot wonder that, in punishment of his lust, the Lord delivered him up, by her means, into the hands of his enemies. However if he was guilty, it is not to be doubted but that under his afflictions he heartily repented and returned to God, and so obtained forgiveness of his sins. 16:5. And the princes of the Philistines came to her, and said: Deceive him, and learn of him wherein his great strength lieth, and how we may be able to overcome him, to bind and afflict him: which if thou shalt do, we will give thee every one of us eleven hundred pieces of silver. 16:6. And Dalila said to Samson: Tell me, I beseech thee, wherein thy greatest strength lieth, and what it is, wherewith if thou wert bound, thou couldst not break loose. 16:7. And Samson answered her: If I shall be bound with seven cords, made of sinews not yet dry, but still moist, I shall be weak like other men. 16:8. And the princes of the Philistines brought unto her seven cords, such as he spoke of, with which she bound him; 16:9. Men lying privately in wait with her, and in the chamber, expecting the event of the thing, and she cried out to him: The Philistines are upon thee, Samson. And he broke the bands, as a man would break a thread of tow twined with spittle, when it smelleth the fire: so it was not known wherein his strength lay. 16:10. And Dalila said to him: Behold thou hast mocked me, and hast told me a false thing: but now at least tell me wherewith thou mayest be bound. 16:11. And he answered her: If I shall be bound with new ropes, that were never in work, I shall be weak and like other men. 16:12. Dalila bound him again with these, and cried out: The Philistines are upon thee, Samson, there being an ambush prepared for him in the chamber. But he broke the bands like threads of webs. 16:13. And Dalila said to him again: How long dost thou deceive me, and tell me lies? Shew me wherewith thou mayest be bound. And Samson answered her: If thou plattest the seven locks of my head with a lace, and tying them round about a nail, fastenest it in the ground, I shall be weak. 16:14. And when Dalila had done this, she said to him: The Philistines are upon thee, Samson. And awaking out of his sleep, he drew out the nail with the hairs and the lace. 16:15. And Dalila said to him: How dost thou say thou lovest me, when thy mind is not with me? Thou hast told me lies these three times, and wouldst not tell me wherein thy greatest strength lieth. 16:16. And when she pressed him much, and continually hung upon him for many days, giving him no time to rest, his soul fainted away, and was wearied even unto death. 16:17. Then opening the truth of the thing, he said to her: The razor hath never come upon my head, for I am a Nazarite, that is to say, consecrated to God from my mother's womb: If my head be shaven, my strength shall depart from me, and I shall become weak, and shall be like other men. 16:18. Then seeing that he had discovered to her all his mind, she sent to the princes of the Philistines, saying: Come up this once more, for now he hath opened his heart to me. And they went up, taking with them the money which they had promised. 16:19. But she made him sleep upon her knees, and lay his head in her bosom. And she called a barber and shaved his seven locks, and began to drive him away, and thrust him from her: for immediately his strength departed from him. 16:20. And she said: The Philistines are upon thee, Samson. And awaking from sleep, he said in his mind: I will go out as I did before, and shake myself, not knowing that the Lord was departed from him. 16:21. Then the Philistines seized upon him, and forthwith pulled out his eyes, and led him bound in chains to Gaza, and shutting him up in prison made him grind. 16:22. And now his hair began to grow again, 16:23. And the princes of the Philistines assembled together, to offer great sacrifices to Dagon their god, and to make merry, saying: Our god hath delivered our enemy Samson into our hands. 16:24. And the people also seeing this, praised their god, and said the same: Our god hath delivered our adversary into our hands, him that destroyed our country, and killed very many. 16:25. And rejoicing in their feasts, when they had now taken their good cheer, they commanded that Samson should be called, and should play before them. And being brought out of prison, he played before them; and they made him stand between two pillars. 16:26. And he said to the lad that guided his steps: Suffer me to touch the pillars which support the whole house, and let me lean upon them, and rest a little. 16:27. Now the house was full of men and women, and all the princes of the Philistines were there. Moreover about three thousand persons of both sexes, from the roof and the higher part of the house, were beholding Samson's play. 16:28. But he called upon the Lord, saying: O Lord God remember me, and restore to me now my former strength, O my God, that I may revenge myself on my enemies, and for the loss of my two eyes I may take one revenge. Revenge myself... This desire of revenge was out of zeal for justice against the enemies of God and his people; and not out of private rancour and malice of heart. 16:29. And laying hold on both the pillars on which the house rested, and holding the one with his right hand, and the other with his left, 16:30. He said: Let me die with the Philistines. And when he had strongly shook the pillars, the house fell upon all the princes, and the rest of the multitude, that was there: and he killed many more at his death, than he had killed before in his life. Let me die... Literally, let my soul die. Samson did not sin on this occasion, though he was indirectly the cause of his own death. Because he was moved to what he did, by a particular inspiration of God, who also concurred with him by a miracle, in restoring his strength upon the spot, in consequence of his prayer. Samson, by dying in this manner, was a figure of Christ, who by his death overcame all his enemies. 16:31. And his brethren and all his kindred, going down took his body, and buried it between Saraa and Esthaol, in the buryingplace of his father Manue: and he judged Israel twenty years. Judges Chapter 17 The history of the idol of Michas, and the young Levite. 17:1. There was at that time a man of mount Ephraim, whose name was Michas. 17:2. Who said to his mother: The eleven hundred pieces of silver, which thou hadst put aside for thyself, and concerning which thou didst swear in my hearing, behold I have, and they are with me. And she said to him. Blessed be my son by the Lord. 17:3. So he restored them to his mother, who said to him: I have consecrated and vowed this silver to the Lord, that my son may receive it at my hand, and make a graven and a molten god; so now I deliver it to thee. 17:4. And he restored them to his mother: and she took two hundred pieces of silver and gave them to the silversmith, to make of them a graven and a molten God, which was in the house of Michas. 17:5. And he separated also therein a little temple for the god, and made an ephod, and theraphim, that is to say, a priestly garment, and idols: and he filled the hand of one of his sons, and he became his priest. Filled the hand... That is, appointed and consecrated him to the priestly office. 17:6. In those days there was no king in Israel, but every one did that which seemed right to himself. 17:7. There was also another young man of Bethlehem Juda, of the kindred thereof: and he was a Levite, and dwelt there. 17:8. Now he went out from the city of Bethlehem, and desired to sojourn wheresoever he should find it convenient for him. And when he was come to mount Ephraim, as he was on his journey, and had turned aside a little into the house of Michas, 17:9. He was asked by him whence he came. And he answered: I am a Levite of Bethlehem Juda, and I am going to dwell where I can, and where I shall find a place to my advantage. 17:10. And Michas said: Stay with me, and be unto me a father and a priest, and I will give thee every year ten pieces of silver, and a double suit of apparel, and thy victuals. 17:11. He was content, and abode with the man, and was unto him as one of his sons. 17:12. And Michas filled his hand, and had the young man with him for his priest, saying: 17:13. Now I know God will do me good, since I have a priest of the race of the Levites. Judges Chapter 18 The expedition of the men of Dan against Lais: in their way they rob Michas of his priest and his gods. 18:1. In those days there was no king in Israel, and the tribe of Dan sought them an inheritance to dwell in: for unto that day they had not received their lot among the other tribes. Not received, etc... They had their portions assigned them, Jos. 19.40. But, through their own sloth, possessed as yet but a small part of it. See Judges 1.34. 18:2. So the children of Dan sent five most valiant men, of their stock and family, from Saraa and Esthaol, to spy out the land, and to view it diligently: and they said to them: Go, and view the land. They went on their way, and when they came to mount Ephraim, they went into the house of Michas, and rested there: 18:3. And knowing the voice of the young man the Levite, and lodging with him, they said to him: Who brought thee hither? what dost thou here? why wouldst thou come hither? 18:4. He answered them: Michas hath done such and such things for me, and hath hired me to be his priest. 18:5. Then they desired him to consult the Lord, that they might know whether their journey should be prosperous, and the thing should have effect. 18:6. He answered them: Go in peace: the Lord looketh on your way, and the journey that you go. 18:7. So the five men going on came to Lais: and they saw how the people dwelt therein without any fear, according to the custom of the Sidonians, secure and easy, having no man at all to oppose them, being very rich, and living separated, at a distance from Sidon and from all men. 18:8. And they returned to their brethren in Saraa and Esthaol, who asked them what they had done: to whom they answered: 18:9. Arise, and let us go up to them: for we have seen the land which is exceeding rich and fruitful: neglect not, lose no time: let us go and possess it, there will be no difficulty. 18:10. We shall come to a people that is secure, into a spacious country, and the Lord will deliver the place to us, in which there is no want of any thing that groweth on the earth. 18:11. There went therefore of the kindred of Dan, to wit, from Saraa and Esthaol, six hundred men, furnished with arms for war. 18:12. And going up they lodged in Cariathiarim of Juda: which place from that time is called the camp of Dan, and is behind Cariathiarim. 18:13. From thence they passed into mount Ephraim. And when they were come to the house of Michas, 18:14. The five men, that before had been sent to view the land of Lais, said to the rest of their brethren: You know that in these houses there is an ephod and theraphim, and a graven and a molten god: see what you are pleased to do. 18:15. And when they had turned a little aside, they went into the house of the young man the Levite, who was in the house of Michas: and they saluted him with words of peace. 18:16. And the six hundred men stood before the door, appointed with their arms. 18:17. But they that were gone into the house of the young man, went about to take away the graven god, and the ephod, and the theraphim, and the molten god, and the priest stood before the door, the six hundred valiant men waiting not far off. 18:18. So they that were gone in took away the graven thing, the ephod, and the idols, and the molten god, And the priest said to them: What are you doing? 18:19. And they said to him: Hold thy peace, and put thy finger on thy mouth, and come with us, that we may have thee for a father, and a priest. Whether is better for thee, to be a priest in the house of one man, or in a tribe and family in Israel? 18:20. When he heard this, he agreed to their words, and took the ephod, and the idols, and the graven god, and departed with them. 18:21. And when they were going forward, and had put before them the children and the cattle, and all that was valuable, 18:22. And were now at a distance from the house of Michas, the men that dwelt in the houses of Michas gathering together followed them, 18:23. And began to shout out after them. They looked back, and said to Michas: What aileth thee? Why dost thou cry? 18:24. And he answered: You have taken away my gods which I have made me, and the priest, and all that I have, and do you say: What aileth thee? 18:25. And the children of Dan said to him: See thou say no more to us, lest men enraged come upon thee, and thou perish with all thy house. 18:26. And so they went on the journey they had begun. But Michas seeing that they were stronger than he, returned to his house. 18:27. And the six hundred men took the priest, and the things we spoke of before, and came to Lais, to a people that was quiet and secure, and smote them with the edge of the sword: and the city they burnt with fire, 18:28. There being no man at all who brought them any succour, because they dwelt far from Sidon, and had no society or business with any man. And the city was in the land of Rohob: and they rebuilt it, and dwelt therein, 18:29. Calling the name of the city Dan, after the name of their father, who was the son of Israel, which before was called Lais. 18:30. And they set up to themselves the graven idol, and Jonathan the son of Gersam, the son of Moses, he and his sons were priests in the tribe of Dan, until the day of their captivity. 18:31. And the idol of Michas remained with them all the time that the house of God was in Silo. In those days there was no king in Israel. Judges Chapter 19 A Levite bringing home his wife, is lodged by an old man at Gabaa in the tribe of Benjamin. His wife is there abused by wicked men, and in the morning found dead. Her husband cutteth her body in pieces, and sendeth to every tribe of Israel, requiring them to revenge the wicked fact. 19:1. There was a certain Levite, who dwelt on the side of mount Ephraim, who took a wife of Bethlehem Juda: 19:2. And she left him, and returned to her father's house in Bethlehem, and abode with him four months. 19:3. And her husband followed her, willing to be reconciled with her, and to speak kindly to her, and to bring her back with him, having with him a servant and two asses: and she received him, and brought him into her father's house. And when his father-in-law had heard this, and had seen him, he met him with joy, 19:4. And embraced the man. And the son-in-law tarried in the house of his father-in-law three days, eating with him and drinking familiarly. 19:5. But on the fourth day, arising early in the morning, he desired to depart. But his father-in-law kept him, and said to him: Taste first a little bread, and strengthen thy stomach, and so thou shalt depart. 19:6. And they sat down together, and ate and drank. And the father of the young woman said to his son-in-law: I beseech thee to stay here to day, and let us make merry together. 19:7. But he rising up, began to be for departing. And nevertheless his father-in-law earnestly pressed him, and made him stay with him. 19:8. But when morning was come, the Levite prepared to go on his journey. And his father-in-law said to him again: I beseech thee to take a little meat, and strengthening thyself, till the day be farther advanced, afterwards thou mayest depart. And they ate together. 19:9. And the young man arose to set forward with his wife and servant. And his father-in-law spoke to him again: Consider that the day is declining, and draweth toward evening: tarry with me to day also, and spend the day in mirth, and to morrow thou shalt depart, that thou mayest go into thy house. 19:10. His son-in-law would not consent to his words: but forthwith went forward, and came over against Jebus, which by another name is called Jerusalem, leading with him two asses loaden, and his concubine. Concubine.. She was his lawful wife, but even lawful wives are frequently in scripture called concubines. See above, chap. 8. ver. 31.--Ver. 16. Jemini... That is, Benjamin. 19:11. And now they were come near Jebus, and the day was far spent: and the servant said to his master: Come, I beseech thee, let us turn into the city of the Jebusites, and lodge there. 19:12. His master answered him: I will not go into the town of another nation, who are not of the children of Israel, but I will pass over to Gabaa: 19:13. And when I shall come thither, we will lodge there, or at least in the city of Rama. 19:14. So they passed by Jebus, and went on their journey, and the sun went down upon them when they were by Gabaa, which is in the tribe of Benjamin: 19:15. And they turned into it to lodge there. And when they were come in, they sat in the street of the city, for no man would receive them to lodge. 19:16. And behold they saw an old man, returning out of the field and from his work in the evening, and he also was of mount Ephraim, and dwelt as a stranger in Gabaa; but the men of that country were the children of Jemini. 19:17. And the old man lifting up his eyes, saw the man sitting with his bundles in the street of the city, and said to him: Whence comest thou? and whither goest thou? 19:18. He answered him: We came out from Bethlehem Juda, and we are going to our home, which is on the side of mount Ephraim, from whence we went to Bethlehem: and now we go to the house of God, and none will receive us under his roof: 19:19. We have straw and hay for provender of the asses, and bread and wine for the use of myself and of thy handmaid, and of the servant that is with me: we want nothing but lodging. 19:20. And the old man answered him: Peace be with thee: I will furnish all things that are necessary: only I beseech thee, stay not in the street. 19:21. And he brought him into his house, and gave provender to his asses: and after they had washed their feet, he entertained them with a feast. 19:22. While they were making merry, and refreshing their bodies with meat and drink, after the labour of the journey, the men of that city, sons of Belial (that is, without yoke), came and beset the old man's house, and began to knock at the door, calling to the master of the house, and saying: Bring forth the man that came into thy house, that we may abuse him: 19:23. And the old man went out to them, and said: Do not so, my brethren, do not so wickedly: because this man is come into my lodging, and cease I pray you from this folly. 19:24. I have a maiden daughter, and this man hath a concubine, I will bring them out to you, and you may humble them, and satisfy your lust: only, I beseech you, commit not this crime against nature on the man. 19:25. They would not be satisfied with his words; which the man seeing, brought out his concubine to them, and abandoned her to their wickedness: and when they had abused her all the night, they let her go in the morning. 19:26. But the woman, at the dawning of the day, came to the door of the house, where her lord lodged, and there fell down. 19:27. And in the morning the man arose, and opened the door, that he might end the journey he had begun: and behold his concubine lay before the door with her hands spread on the threshold. 19:28. He thinking she was taking her rest, said to her: Arise, and let us be going. But as she made no answer, perceiving she was dead, he took her up, and laid her upon his ass, and returned to his house. 19:29. And when he was come home, he took a sword, and divided the dead body of his wife with her bones into twelve parts, and sent the pieces into all the borders of Israel. 19:30. And when every one had seen this, they all cried out: There was never such a thing done in Israel, from the day that our fathers came up out of Egypt, until this day: give sentence, and decree in common what ought to be done. Judges Chapter 20 The Israelites warring against Benjamin are twice defeated; but in the third battle the Benjamites are all slain, saving six hundred men. 20:1. Then all the children of Israel went out, and gathered together as one man, from Dan to Bersabee, with the land of Galaad, to the Lord in Maspha: 20:2. And all the chiefs of the people, and all the tribes of Israel, met together in the assembly of the people of God, four hundred thousand footmen fit for war. 20:3. (Nor were the children of Benjamin ignorant that the children of Israel were come up to Maspha.) And the Levite, the husband of the woman that was killed being asked, how so great a wickedness had been committed, 20:4. Answered: I came into Gabaa, of Benjamin, with my wife, and there I lodged: 20:5. And behold the men of that city, in the night beset the house wherein I was, intending to kill me, and abused my wife with an incredible fury of lust, so that at last she died. 20:6. And I took her and cut her in pieces, and sent the parts into all the borders of your possession: because there never was so heinous a crime, and so great an abomination committed in Israel. 20:7. You are all here, O children of Israel, determine what you ought to do. 20:8. And all the people standing, answered as by the voice of one man: We will not return to our tents, neither shall any one of us go into his own house: 20:9. But this we will do in common against Gabaa: 20:10. We will take ten men of a hundred out of all the tribes of Israel, and a hundred out of a thousand, and a thousand out of ten thousand, to bring victuals for the army, that we may fight against Gabaa of Benjamin, and render to it for its wickedness, what it deserveth. 20:11. And all Israel were gathered together against the city, as one man, with one mind, and one counsel: 20:12. And they sent messengers to all the tribe of Benjamin, to say to them: Why hath so great an abomination been found among you? 20:13. Deliver up the men of Gabaa, that have committed this heinous crime, that they may die, and the evil may be taken away out of Israel. But they would not hearken to the proposition of their brethren the children of Israel: 20:14. But out of all the cities which were of their lot, they gathered themselves together into Gabaa, to aid them, and to fight against the whole people of Israel. 20:15. And there were found of Benjamin five and twenty thousand men that drew the sword, besides the inhabitants of Gabaa, 20:16. Who were seven hundred most valiant men, fighting with the left hand as well as with the right: and slinging stones so sure that they could hit even a hair, and not miss by the stone's going on either side. 20:17. Of the men of Israel also, beside the children of Benjamin, were found four hundred thousand that drew swords and were prepared to fight. 20:18. And they arose and came to the house of God, that is, to Silo: and they consulted God, and said: Who shall be in our army the first to go to the battle against the children of Benjamin? And the Lord answered them: Let Juda be your leader. 20:19. And forthwith the children of Israel rising in the morning, camped by Gabaa: 20:20. And going out from thence to fight against Benjamin, began to assault the city. 20:21. And the children of Benjamin coming out of Gabaa slew of the children of Israel that day two and twenty thousand men. 20:22. Again Israel, trusting in their strength and their number, set their army in array in the same place, where they had fought before: Trusting in their strength... The Lord suffered them to be overthrown and many of them to be slain, though their cause was just; partly in punishment of the idolatry which they exercised or tolerated in the tribe of Dan, and elsewhere; and partly because they trusted in their own strength; and therefore, though he bid them fight, he would not give them the victory, till they were thoroughly humbled and had learned to trust in him alone. 20:23. Yet so that they first went up and wept before the Lord until night: and consulted him and said: Shall I go out any more to fight against the children of Benjamin my brethren or not? And he answered them: Go up against them, and join battle. 20:24. And when the children of Israel went out the next day to fight against the children of Benjamin, 20:25. The children of Benjamin sallied forth out of the gates of Gabaa: and meeting them, made so great a slaughter of them, as to kill eighteen thousand men that drew the sword. 20:26. Wherefore all the children of Israel came to the house of God, and sat and wept before the Lord: and they fasted that day till the evening, and offered to him holocausts, and victims of peace offerings, 20:27. And inquired of him concerning their state. At that time the ark of the covenant of the Lord was there, 20:28. And Phinees, the son of Eleazar, the son of Aaron, was over the house. So they consulted the Lord, and said: Shall we go out any more to fight against the children of Benjamin, our brethren, or shall we cease? And the Lord said to them: Go up, for to morrow I will deliver them into your hands. 20:29. And the children of Israel set ambushes round about the city of Gabaa: 20:30. And they drew up their army against Benjamin the third time, as they had done the first and second. 20:31. And the children of Benjamin boldly issued out of the city, and seeing their enemies flee, pursued them a long way, so as to wound and kill some of them, as they had done the first and second day, whilst they fled by two highways, whereof one goeth up to Bethel and the other to Gabaa, and they slew about thirty men: 20:32. For they thought to cut them off as they did before. But they artfully feigning a flight, designed to draw them away from the city, and by their seeming to flee, to bring them to the highways aforesaid. 20:33. Then all the children of Israel rising up out of the places where they were, set their army in battle array, in the place which is called Baalthamar. The ambushes also, which were about the city, began by little and little to come forth, 20:34. And to march from the west side of the city. And other ten thousand men chosen out of all Israel, attacked the inhabitants of the city. And the battle grew hot against the children of Benjamin: and they understood not that present death threatened them on every side. 20:35. And the Lord defeated them before the children of Israel, and they slew of them in that day five and twenty thousand, and one hundred, all fighting men, and that drew the sword. 20:36. But the children of Benjamin, when they saw themselves to be too weak, began to flee. Which the children of Israel seeing, gave them place to flee, that they might come to the ambushes that were prepared, which they had set near the city. 20:37. And they that were in ambush arose on a sudden out of their coverts, and whilst Benjamin turned their backs to the slayers, went into the city, and smote it with the edge of the sword. 20:38. Now the children of Israel had given a sign to them, whom they had laid in ambushes, that after they had taken the city, they should make a fire: that by the smoke rising on high, they might shew that the city was taken. 20:39. And when the children of Israel saw this in the battle, (for the children of Benjamin thought they fled, and pursued them vigorously, killing thirty men of their army) 20:40. And perceived, as it were, a pillar of smoke rise up from the city; and Benjamin looking back, saw that the city was taken, and that the flames ascended on high: 20:41. They that before had made as if they fled, turning their faces, stood bravely against them. Which the children of Benjamin seeing, turned their backs, 20:42. And began to go towards the way of the desert, the enemy pursuing them thither also. And they that fired the city came also out to meet them. 20:43. And so it was, that they were slain on both sides by the enemies, and there was no rest of their men dying. They fell and were beaten down on the east side of the city of Gabaa. 20:44. And they that were slain in the same place, were eighteen thousand men, all most valiant soldiers. 20:45. And when they that remained of Benjamin saw this, they fled into the wilderness, and made towards the rock that is called Remmon. In that flight also, as they were straggling, and going different ways; they slew of them five thousand men. And as they went farther, they still pursued them, and slew also other two thousand. 20:46. And so it came to pass, that all that were slain of Benjamin, in divers places, were five and twenty thousand fighting men, most valiant for war. 20:47. And there remained of all the number of Benjamin only six hundred men that were able to escape, and flee to the wilderness: and they abode in the rock Remmon four months. 20:48. But the children of Israel returning, put all the remains of the city to the sword, both men and beasts, and all the cities and villages of Benjamin were consumed with devouring flames. Judges Chapter 21 The tribe of Benjamin is saved from being utterly extinct, by providing wives for the six hundred that remained. 21:1. Now the children of Israel had also sworn in Maspha, saying: None of us shall give of his daughters to the children of Benjamin to wife. 21:2. And they all came to the house of God in Silo, and sitting before him till the evening, lifted up their voices, and began to lament and weep, saying: 21:3. O Lord God of Israel, why is so great an evil come to pass in thy people, that this day one tribe should be taken away from among us? 21:4. And rising early the next day, they built an altar: and offered there holocausts, and victims of peace, and they said: 21:5. Who is there among all the tribes of Israel that came not up with the army of the Lord? for they had bound themselves with a great oath, when they were in Maspha, that whosoever were wanting should be slain. 21:6. And the children of Israel being moved with repentance for their brother Benjamin, began to say: One tribe is taken away from Israel. 21:7. Whence shall they take wives? For we have all in general sworn, not to give our daughters to them. 21:8. Therefore they said: Who is there of all the tribes of Israel, that came not up to the Lord to Maspha? And, behold, the inhabitants of Jabes Galaad were found not to have been in that army. 21:9. (At that time also when they were in Silo, no one of them was found there,) 21:10. So they sent ten thousand of the most valiant men, and commanded them, saying: Go and put the inhabitants of Jabes Galaad to the sword, with their wives and their children. 21:11. And this is what you shall observe: Every male, and all women that have known men, you shall kill, but the virgins you shall save. 21:12. And there were found of Jabes Galaad four hundred virgins, that had not known the bed of a man, and they brought them to the camp in Silo, into the land of Chanaan. 21:13. And they sent messengers to the children of Benjamin, that were in the rock Remmon, and commanded them to receive them in peace. 21:14. And the children of Benjamin came at that time, and wives were given them of Jabes Galaad: but they found no others, whom they might give in like manner. 21:15. And all Israel was very sorry, and repented for the destroying of one tribe out of Israel. 21:16. And the ancients said: What shall we do with the rest, that have not received wives? for all the women in Benjamin are dead. 21:17. And we must use all care, and provide with great diligence, that one tribe be not destroyed out of Israel. 21:18. For as to our own daughters we cannot give them, being bound with an oath and a curse, whereby we said: Cursed be he that shall give Benjamin any of his daughters to wife. 21:19. So they took counsel, and said: Behold, there is a yearly solemnity of the Lord in Silo, which is situate on the north of the city of Bethel, and on the east side of the way, that goeth from Bethel to Sichem, and on the south of the town of Lebona. 21:20. And they commanded the children of Benjamin and said: Go, and lie hid in the vineyards, 21:21. And when you shall see the daughters of Silo come out, as the custom is, to dance, come ye on a sudden out of the vineyards, and catch you every man his wife among them, and go into the land of Benjamin. 21:22. And when their fathers and their brethren shall come, and shall begin to complain against you, and to chide, we will say to them: Have pity on them: for they took them not away as by the right of war or conquest, but when they asked to have them, you gave them not, and the fault was committed on your part. 21:23. And the children of Benjamin did as they had been commanded: and, according to their number, they carried off for themselves every man his wife of them that were dancing: and they went into their possession, and built up their cities, and dwelt in them. 21:24. The children of Israel also returned by their tribes, and families, to their dwellings. In those days there was no king in Israel: but every one did that which seemed right to himself. THE BOOK OF RUTH This Book is called RUTH, from the name of the person whose history is here recorded: who, being a Gentile, became a convert to the true faith, and marrying Booz, the great-grandfather of David, was one of those from whom Christ sprung according to the flesh, and an illustrious figure of the Gentile church. It is thought this book was written by the prophet Samuel. Ruth Chapter 1 Elimelech of Bethlehem going with his wife Noemi, and two sons, into the land of Moab, dieth there. His sons marry wives of that country and die without issue. Noemi returneth home with her daughter-in-law Ruth, who refuseth to part with her. 1:1. In the days of the judges, when the judges ruled, there came a famine in the land. And a certain man of Bethlehem Juda, went to sojourn in the land of Moab with his wife and his two sons. 1:2. He was named Elimelech, and his wife Noemi: and his two sons, the one Mahalon, and the other Chelion, Ephrathites of Bethlehem Juda. And entering into the country of Moab, they abode there. 1:3. And Elimelech the husband of Noemi died: and she remained with her sons. 1:4. And they took wives of the women of Moab, of which one was called Orpha, and the other Ruth. And they dwelt their ten years, 1:5. And they both died, to wit, Mahalon and Chelion: and the woman was left alone, having lost both her sons and her husband. 1:6. And she arose to go from the land of Moab to her own country, with both her daughters-in-law: for she had heard that the Lord had looked upon his people, and had given them food. 1:7. Wherefore she went forth out of the place of her sojournment, with both her daughters-in-law: and being now in the way to return into the land of Juda, 1:8. She said to them: Go ye home to your mothers, the Lord deal mercifully with you, as you have dealt with the dead and with me. 1:9. May he grant you to find rest in the houses of the husbands whom you shall take. And she kissed them. And they lifted up their voice, and began to weep, 1:10. And to say: We will go on with thee to thy people. 1:11. But she answered them: Return, my daughters: why come ye with me? have I any more sons in my womb, that you may hope for husbands of me? 1:12. Return again, my daughters, and go your ways: for I am now spent with age, and not fit for wedlock. Although I might conceive this night, and bear children, 1:13. If you would wait till they were grown up, and come to man's estate, you would be old women before you marry. Do not so, my daughters, I beseech you: for I am grieved the more for your distress, and the hand of the Lord is gone out against me. 1:14. And they lifted up their voice, and began to weep again: Orpha kissed her mother-in-law, and returned: Ruth stuck close to her mother- in-law. 1:15. And Noemi said to her: Behold thy kinswoman is returned to her people, and to her gods, go thou with her. To her gods, etc... Noemi did not mean to persuade Ruth to return to the false gods she had formerly worshipped: but by this manner of speech, insinuated to her, that if she would go with her, she must renounce her false gods and return to the Lord the God of Israel. 1:16. She answered: Be not against me, to desire that I should leave thee and depart: for whithersoever thou shalt go, I will go: and where thou shalt dwell, I also will dwell. Thy people shall be my people, and thy God my God. 1:17. The land that shall receive thee dying, in the same will I die: and there will I be buried. The Lord do so and so to me, and add more also, if aught but death part me and thee. The Lord do so and so, etc... A form of swearing usual in the history of the Old Testament, by which the person wished such and such evils to fall upon them, if they did not do what they said. 1:18. Then Noemi seeing that Ruth was steadfastly determined to go with her, would not be against it, nor persuade her any more to return to her friends: 1:19. So they went together, and came to Bethlehem. And when they were come into the city, the report was quickly spread among all: and the women said: This is that Noemi. 1:20. But she said to them: Call me not Noemi (that is, beautiful,) but call me Mara (that is, bitter), for the Almighty hath quite filled me with bitterness. 1:21. I went out full and the Lord hath brought me back empty. Why then do you call me Noemi, whom the Lord hath humbled, and the Almighty hath afflicted? 1:22. So Noemi came with Ruth, the Moabitess, her daughter-in-law, from the land of her sojournment: and returned into Bethlehem, in the beginning of the barley harvest. Ruth Chapter 2 Ruth gleaneth in the field of Booz, who sheweth her favour. 2:1. Now her husband Elimelech had a kinsman, a powerful man, and very rich, whose name was Booz. 2:2. And Ruth, the Moabitess, said to her mother-in-law: If thou wilt, I will go into the field, and glean the ears of corn that escape the hands of the reapers, wheresoever I shall find grace with a householder, that will be favourable to me. And she answered her: Go, my daughter. 2:3. She went, therefore, and gleaned the ears of corn after the reapers. And it happened that the owner of that field was Booz, who was of the kindred of Elimelech. 2:4. And behold, he came out of Bethlehem, and said to the reapers: The Lord be with you. And they answered him: The Lord bless thee. 2:5. And Booz said to the young man that was set over the reapers: Whose maid is this? 2:6. And he answered him: This is the Moabitess, who came with Noemi, from the land of Moab, 2:7. And she desired leave to glean the ears of corn that remain, following the steps of the reapers: and she hath been in the field from morning till now, and hath not gone home for one moment. 2:8. And Booz said to Ruth: Hear me, daughter, do not go to glean in any other field, and do not depart from this place: but keep with my maids, 2:9. And follow where they reap. For I have charged my young men, not to molest thee: and if thou art thirsty, go to the vessels, and drink of the waters whereof the servants drink. 2:10. She fell on her face, and worshipping upon the ground, said to him: Whence cometh this to me, that I should find grace before thy eyes, and that thou shouldst vouchsafe to take notice of me, a woman of another country? 2:11. And he answered her: All hath been told me, that thou hast done to thy mother-in-law after the death of thy husband: and how thou hast left thy parents, and the land wherein thou wast born, and art come to a people which thou knewest not heretofore. 2:12. The Lord render unto thee for thy work, and mayst thou receive a full reward of the Lord the God of Israel, to whom thou art come, and under whose wings thou art fled. 2:13. And she said: I have found grace in thy eyes, my lord, who hast comforted me, and hast spoken to the heart of thy handmaid, who am not like to one of thy maids. 2:14. And Booz said to her: At mealtime come thou hither, and eat of the bread, and dip thy morsel in the vinegar. So she sat at the side of the reapers, and she heaped to herself frumenty, and ate and was filled, and took the leavings. 2:15. And she arose from thence, to glean the ears of corn as before. And Booz commanded his servants, saying: If she would even reap with you, hinder her not: 2:16. And let fall some of your handfuls of purpose, and leave them, that she may gather them without shame, and let no man rebuke her when she gathereth them. 2:17. She gleaned therefore in the field till evening: and beating out with a rod, and threshing what she had gleaned, she found about the measure of an ephi of barley, that is, three bushels: 2:18. Which she took up, and returned into the city, and shewed it to her mother-in-law: moreover, she brought out, and gave her of the remains of her meat, wherewith she had been filled. 2:19. And her mother-in-law said to her: Where hast thou gleaned today, and where hast thou wrought? blessed be he that hath had pity on thee. And she told her with whom she had wrought: and she told the man's name, that he was called Booz. 2:20. And Noemi answered her: Blessed be he of the Lord: because the same kindness which he shewed to the living, he hath kept also to the dead. And again she said: The man is our kinsman. 2:21. And Ruth said: He also charged me, that I should keep close to his reapers, till all the corn should be reaped. 2:22. And her mother-in-law said to her: It is better for thee, my daughter, to go out to reap with his maids, lest in another man's field some one may resist thee. 2:23. So she kept close to the maids of Booz: and continued to glean with them, till all the barley and the wheat were laid up in the barns. Ruth Chapter 3 Ruth instructed by her mother-in-law lieth at Booz's feet, claiming him for her husband by the law of affinity: she receiveth a good answer, and six measures of barley. 3:1. After she was returned to her mother-in-law, Noemi said to her: My daughter, I will seek rest for thee, and will provide that it may be well with thee. 3:2. This Booz, with whose maids thou wast joined in the field, is our near kinsman, and behold this night he winnoweth barley in the threshingfloor. 3:3. Wash thyself therefore and anoint thee, and put on thy best garments, and go down to the barnfloor: but let not the man see thee, till he shall have done eating and drinking. 3:4. And when he shall go to sleep, mark the place wherein he sleepeth: and thou shalt go in, and lift up the clothes wherewith he is covered towards his feet, and shalt lay thyself down there: and he will tell thee what thou must do. 3:5. She answered: Whatsoever thou shalt command, I will do. 3:6. And she went down to the barnfloor, and did all that her mother-in- law had bid her. 3:7. And when Booz had eaten, and drunk, and was merry, he went to sleep by the heap of sheaves, and she came softly, and uncovering his feet, laid herself down. 3:8. And behold, when it was now midnight the man was afraid, and troubled: and he saw a woman lying at his feet, 3:9. And he said to her: Who art thou? And she answered: I am Ruth, thy handmaid: spread thy coverlet over thy servant, for thou art a near kinsman. 3:10. And he said: Blessed art thou of the Lord, my daughter, and thy latter kindness has surpassed the former: because thou hast not followed young men either poor or rich. Thy latter kindness, viz... to thy husband deceased in seeking to keep up his name and family by marrying his relation according to the law, and not following after young men. For Booz, it seems, was then in years. 3:11. Fear not therefore, but whatsoever thou shalt say to me I will do to thee. For all the people that dwell within the gates of my city, know that thou art a virtuous woman. 3:12. Neither do I deny myself to be near of kin, but there is another nearer than I. 3:13. Rest thou this night: and when morning is come, if he will take thee by the right of kindred, all is well: but if he will not, I will undoubtedly take thee, so the Lord liveth: sleep till the morning. 3:14. So she slept at his feet till the night was going off. And she arose before men could know one another, and Booz said: Beware lest any man know that thou camest hither. 3:15. And again he said: Spread thy mantle, wherewith thou art covered, and hold it with both hands. And when she spread it and held it, he measured six measures of barley, and laid it upon her. And she carried it, and went into the city, 3:16. And came to her mother-in-law; who said to her: What hast thou done, daughter? And she told her all that the man had done to her. 3:17. And she said: Behold he hath given me six measures of barley: for he said: I will not have thee return empty to thy mother-in-law. 3:18. And Noemi said: Wait, my daughter, till we see what end the thing will have. For the man will not rest until he have accomplished what he hath said. Ruth Chapter 4 Upon the refusal of the nearer kinsman, Booz marrieth Ruth, who bringeth forth Obed, the grandfather of David. 4:1 Then Booz went up to the gate, and sat there. And when he had seen the kinsman going by, of whom he had spoken before, he said to him, calling him by his name: Turn aside for a little while, and sit down here. He turned aside, and sat down. 4:2. And Booz, taking ten men of the ancients of the city, said to them: Sit ye down here. 4:3. They sat down, and he spoke to the kinsman: Noemi, who is returned from the country of Moab will sell a parcel of land that belonged to our brother Elimelech. 4:4. I would have thee to understand this, and would tell thee before all that sit here, and before the ancients of my people. If thou wilt take possession of it by the right of kindred: buy it, and possess it: but if it please thee not, tell me so, that I may know what I have to do. For there is no near kinsman besides thee, who art first, and me, who am second. But he answered: I will buy the field. 4:5. And Booz said to him: When thou shalt buy the field at the woman's hand, thou must take also Ruth, the Moabitess, who was the wife of the deceased: to raise up the name of thy kinsman in his inheritance. 4:6. He answered: I yield up my right of next akin: for I must not cut off the posterity of my own family. Do thou make use of my privilege, which I profess I do willingly forego. 4:7. Now this in former times was the manner in Israel between kinsmen, that if at any time one yielded his right to another: that the grant might be sure, the man put off his shoe and gave it to his neighbour; this was a testimony of cession of right in Israel. 4:8. So Booz said to his kinsman: Put off thy shoe. And immediately he took it off from his foot. 4:9. And he said to the ancients, and to all the people: You are witnesses this day, that I have bought all that was Elimelech's, and Chelion's, and Mahalon's, of the hand of Noemi: 4:10. And have taken to wife Ruth, the Moabitess, the wife of Mahalon, to raise up the name of the deceased in his inheritance lest his name be cut off, from among his family and his brethren and his people. You, I say, are witnesses of this thing. 4:11. Then all the people that were in the gate, and the ancients, answered: We are witnesses: The Lord make this woman who cometh into thy house, like Rachel, and Lia, who built up the house of Israel: that she may be an example of virtue in Ephrata, and may have a famous name in Bethlehem: Ephrata... Another name of Bethlehem. 4:12. And that the house may be, as the house of Phares, whom Thamar bore unto Juda, of the seed which the Lord shall give thee of this young woman. 4:13. Booz therefore took Ruth, and married her: and went in unto her, and the Lord gave her to conceive, and to bear a son. 4:14. And the women said to Noemi: Blessed be the Lord, who hath not suffered thy family to want a successor: that his name should be preserved in Israel. 4:15. And thou shouldst have one to comfort thy soul, and cherish thy old age. For he is born of thy daughter-in-law: who loveth thee: and is much better to thee, than if thou hadst seven sons. 4:16. And Noemi taking the child, laid it in her bosom, and she carried it, and was a nurse unto it. 4:17. And the women, her neighbours, congratulating with her, and saying, There is a son born to Noemi, called his name Obed: he is the father of Isai, the father of David. 4:18. These are the generations of Phares: Phares begot Esron, 4:19. Esron begot Aram, Aram begot Aminadab, 4:20. Aminadab begot Nahasson, Nahasson begot Salmon, 4:21. Salmon begot Booz, Booz begot Obed, 4:22. Obed begot Isai, Isai begot David. THE FIRST BOOK OF SAMUEL, OTHERWISE CALLED THE FIRST BOOK OF KINGS This and the following Book are called by the Hebrews the books of Samuel, because they contain the history of Samuel, and of the two kings, Saul and David, whom he anointed. They are more commonly named by the Fathers, the first and second book of kings. As to the writer of them, it is the common opinion that Samuel composed the first book, as far as the twenty-fifth chapter; and that the prophets Nathan and Gad finished the first, and wrote the second book. See 1 Paralipomenon, alias 1 Chronicles, 29.29. 1 Kings Chapter 1 Anna the wife of Elcana being barren, by vow and prayer obtaineth a son: whom she calleth Samuel: and presenteth him to the service of God in Silo, according to her vow: 1:1. There was a man of Ramathaimsophim, of Mount Ephraim, and his name was Elcana, the son of Jeroham, the son of Eliu, the son of Thohu, the son of Suph, an Ephraimite: An Ephraimite... He was of the tribe of Levi, 1. Par. 6.34, but is called an Ephraimite from dwelling in mount Ephraim. 1:2. And he had two wives, the name of one was Anna, and the name of the other Phenenna. Phenenna had children: but Anna had no children. 1:3. And this man went up out of his city upon the appointed days, to adore and to offer sacrifice to the Lord of hosts in Silo. And the two sons of Heli, Ophni and Phinees, were there priests of the Lord. 1:4. Now the day came, and Elcana offered sacrifice, and gave to Phenenna, his wife, and to all her sons and daughters, portions: 1:5. But to Anna he gave one portion with sorrow, because he loved Anna. And the Lord had shut up her womb. 1:6. Her rival also afflicted her, and troubled her exceedingly, insomuch that she upbraided her, that the Lord had shut up her womb: 1:7. And thus she did every year, when the time returned, that they went up to the temple of the Lord: and thus she provoked her: but Anna wept, and did not eat. 1:8. Then Elcana, her husband, said to her: Anna, why weepest thou? and why dost thou not eat? and why dost thou afflict thy heart? Am not I better to thee than ten children? 1:9. So Anna arose after she had eaten and drunk in Silo: And Heli, the priest, sitting upon a stool before the door of the temple of the Lord; 1:10. As Anna had her heart full of grief, she prayed to the Lord, shedding many tears, 1:11. And she made a vow, saying: O Lord of hosts, if thou wilt look down, and wilt be mindful of me, and not forget thy handmaid, and wilt give to thy servant a manchild: I will give him to the Lord all the days of his life, and no razor shall come upon his head. 1:12. And it came to pass, as she multiplied prayers before the Lord, that Heli observed her mouth. 1:13. Now Anna spoke in her heart, and only her lips moved, but her voice was not heard at all. Heli therefore thought her to be drunk, 1:14. And said to her: How long wilt thou be drunk? digest a little the wine, of which thou hast taken too much. 1:15. Anna answering, said: Not so, my lord: for I am an exceeding unhappy woman, and have drunk neither wine nor any strong drink, but I have poured out my soul before the Lord. 1:16. Count not thy handmaid for one of the daughters of Belial: for out of the abundance of my sorrow and grief have I spoken till now. 1:17. Then Heli said to her: Go in peace: and the God of Israel grant thee thy petition, which thou hast asked of him. 1:18. And she said: Would to God thy handmaid may find grace in thy eyes. So the woman went on her way, and ate, and her countenance was no more changed. 1:19. And they rose in the morning, and worshipped before the Lord: and they returned, and came into their house at Ramatha. And Elcana knew Anna his wife: And the Lord remembered her. 1:20. And it came to pass when the time was come about, Anna conceived and bore a son, and called his name Samuel: because she had asked him of the Lord. Samuel... This name imports, asked of God. 1:21. And Elcana, her husband, went up, and all his house, to offer to the Lord the solemn sacrifice, and his vow. 1:22. But Anna went not up: for she said to her husband: I will not go till the child be weaned, and till I may carry him, that he may appear before the Lord, and may abide always there. 1:23. And Elcana, her husband, said to her: Do what seemeth good to thee, and stay till thou wean him: and I pray that the Lord may fulfil his word. So the woman staid at home, and gave her son suck, till she weaned him. 1:24. And after she had weaned him, she carried him with her, with three calves, and three bushels of flour, and a bottle of wine, and she brought him to the house of the Lord in Silo. Now the child was as yet very young: 1:25. And they immolated a calf, and offered the child to Heli. 1:26. And Anna said: I beseech thee, my lord, as thy soul liveth, my lord: I am that woman, who stood before thee here praying to the Lord. 1:27. For this child did I pray, and the Lord hath granted me my petition, which I asked of him. 1:28. Therefore I also have lent him to the Lord all the days of his life, he shall be lent to the Lord. And they adored the Lord there. And Anna prayed, and said: 1 Kings Chapter 2 The canticle of Anna. The wickedness of the sons of Heli: for which they are not duly corrected by their father. A prophecy against the house of Heli. 2:1. My heart hath rejoiced in the Lord, and my horn is exalted in my God: my mouth is enlarged over my enemies: because I have joyed in thy salvation. My horn... The horn in the scriptures signifies strength, power, the horn is said to be exalted, when a person receives an increase of strength or glory. 2:2. There is none holy as the Lord is: for there is no other beside thee, and there is none strong like our God. 2:3. Do not multiply to speak lofty things, boasting: let old matters depart from your mouth: for the Lord is a God of all knowledge, and to him are thoughts prepared. 2:4. The bow of the mighty is overcome, and the weak are girt with strength. 2:5. They that were full before, have hired out themselves for bread: and the hungry are filled, so that the barren hath borne many: and she that had many children is weakened. 2:6. The Lord killeth and maketh alive, he bringeth down to hell, and bringeth back again. 2:7. The Lord maketh poor and maketh rich, he humbleth and he exalteth: 2:8. He raiseth up the needy from the dust, and lifteth up the poor from the dunghill: that he may sit with princes, and hold the throne of glory. For the poles of the earth are the Lord's, and upon them he hath set the world. 2:9. He will keep the feet of his saints, and the wicked shall be silent in darkness; because no man shall prevail by his own strength. 2:10. The adversaries of the Lord shall fear him: and upon them shall he thunder in the heavens: The Lord shall judge the ends of the earth, and he shall give empire to his king, and shall exalt the horn of his Christ. 2:11. And Elcana went to Ramatha, to his house: but the child ministered in the sight of the Lord before the face of Heli the priest. 2:12. Now the sons of Heli were children of Belial, not knowing the Lord, 2:13. Nor the office of the priests to the people: but whosoever had offered a sacrifice, the servant of the priest came, while the flesh was in boiling, with a fleshhook of three teeth in his hand, 2:14. And thrust it into the kettle, or into the cauldron, or into the pot, or into the pan: and all that the fleshhook brought up, the priest took to himself. Thus did they to all Israel that came to Silo. 2:15. Also before they burnt the fat, the servant of the priest came, and said to the man that sacrificed: Give me flesh to boil for the priest: for I will not take of thee sodden flesh, but raw. 2:16. And he that sacrificed said to him: Let the fat first be burnt to day, according to the custom, and then take to thee as much as thy soul desireth. But he answered, and said to him: Not so: but thou shalt give it me now, or else I will take it by force. 2:17. Wherefore the sin of the young men was exceeding great before the Lord: because they withdrew men from the sacrifice of the Lord. 2:18. But Samuel ministered before the face of the Lord: being a child girded with a linen ephod. 2:19. And his mother made him a little coat, which she brought to him on the appointed days, when she went up with her husband, to offer the solemn sacrifice. 2:20. And Heli blessed Elcana and his wife: and he said to him: The Lord give thee seed of this woman, for the loan thou hast lent to the Lord. And they went to their own home. 2:21. And the Lord visited Anna, and she conceived, and bore three sons, and two daughters: and the child Samuel became great before the Lord. 2:22. Now Heli was very old, and he heard all that his sons did to all Israel: and how they lay with the women that waited at the door of the tabernacle: 2:23. And he said to them: Why do ye these kinds of things, which I hear, very wicked things, from all the people? 2:24. Do not so, my sons: for it is no good report that I hear, that you make the people of the Lord to transgress. 2:25. If one man shall sin against another, God may be appeased in his behalf: but if a man shall sin against the Lord, who shall pray for him? And they hearkened not to the voice of their father, because the Lord would slay them. Who shall pray for him... By this word Heli would have his sons understand, that by their wicked abuse of sacred things, and of the very sacrifices which were appointed to appease the Lord, they deprived themselves of the ordinary means of reconciliation with God; which was by sacrifices. The more, because they were the chief priests whose business it was to intercede for all others, they had no other to offer sacrifices and to make atonement for them. Ibid. Because the Lord would slay them... In consequence of their manifold sacrileges, he would not soften their hearts with his efficacious grace, but was determined to destroy them. 2:26. But the child Samuel advanced, and grew on, and pleased both the Lord and men. 2:27. And there came a man of God to Heli, and said to him: Thus saith the Lord: Did I not plainly appear to thy father's house, when they were in Egypt in the house of Pharao? 2:28. And I chose him out of all the tribes of Israel to be my priest, to go up to my altar, and burn incense to me, and to wear the ephod before me: and I gave to thy father's house of all the sacrifices of the children of Israel. 2:29. Why have you kicked away my victims, and my gifts which I commanded to be offered in the temple: and thou hast rather honoured thy sons than me, to eat the firstfruits of every sacrifice of my people Israel? 2:30. Wherefore thus saith the Lord the God of Israel: I said indeed that thy house, and the house of thy father, should minister in my sight, for ever. But now saith the Lord: Far be this from me: but whosoever shall glorify me, him will I glorify: but they that despise me, shall be despised. 2:31. Behold the days come: and I will cut off thy arm, and the arm of thy father's house, that there shall not be an old man in thy house. 2:32. And thou shalt see thy rival in the temple, in all the prosperity of Israel, and there shall not be an old man in thy house for ever. Thy rival... A priest of another race. This was partly fulfilled, when Abiathar, of the race of Heli, was removed from the priesthood, and Sadoc, who was of another line, was substituted in his place. But it was more fully accomplished in the New Testament, when the priesthood of Aaron gave place to that of Christ. 2:33. However, I will not altogether take away a man of thee from my altar: but that thy eyes may faint, and thy soul be spent: and a great part of thy house shall die, when they come to man's estate. 2:34. And this shall be a sign to thee, that shall come upon thy two sons, Ophni and Phinees: in one day they shall both of them die. 2:35. And I will raise me up a faithful priest, who shall do according to my heart, and my soul and I will build him a faithful house, and he shall walk all days before my anointed. 2:36. And it shall come to pass, that whosoever shall remain in thy house shall come that he may be prayed for, and shall offer a piece of silver, and a roll of bread, and shall say: Put me, I beseech thee, to somewhat of the priestly office, that I may eat a morsel of bread. 1 Kings Chapter 3 Samuel is four times called by the Lord: who revealeth to him the evil that shall fall on Heli, and his house. 3:1. Now the child Samuel ministered to the Lord before Heli, and the word of the Lord was precious in those days, there was no manifest vision. Precious... That is, rare. 3:2. And it came to pass one day when Heli lay in his place, and his eyes were grown dim, that he could not see: 3:3. Before the lamp of God went out, Samuel slept in the temple of the Lord, where the ark of God was. 3:4. And the Lord called Samuel. And he answered: Here am I. 3:5. And he ran to Heli, and said: Here am I: for thou didst call me. He said: I did not call: go back and sleep. And he went and slept. 3:6. And the Lord called Samuel again. And Samuel arose and went to Heli, and said: Here am I: for thou calledst me. He answered: I did not call thee, my son: return and sleep. 3:7. Now Samuel did not yet know the Lord, neither had the word of the Lord been revealed to him. 3:8. And the Lord called Samuel again the third time. And he arose up and went to Heli, 3:9. And said: Here am I: for thou didst call me. Then Heli understood that the Lord called the child, and he said to Samuel: Go, and sleep: and if he shall call thee any more, thou shalt say: Speak, Lord, for thy servant heareth. So Samuel went, and slept in his place. 3:10. And the Lord came, and stood, and he called, as he had called the other times, Samuel, Samuel. And Samuel said: Speak, Lord, for thy servant heareth. 3:11. And the Lord said to Samuel: Behold I do a thing in Israel: and whosoever shall hear it, both his ears shall tingle. 3:12. In that day I will raise up against Heli all the things I have spoken concerning his house: I will begin, and I will make an end. 3:13. For I have foretold unto him, that I will judge his house for ever, for iniquity, because he knew that his sons did wickedly, and did not chastise them. 3:14. Therefore have I sworn to the house of Heli, that the iniquity of his house shall not be expiated with victims nor offerings for ever. 3:15. And Samuel slept till morning, and opened the doors of the house of the Lord. And Samuel feared to tell the vision to Heli. 3:16. Then Heli called Samuel, and said: Samuel, my son. And he answered: Here am I. 3:17. And he asked him: What is the word that the Lord hath spoken to thee? I beseech thee hide it not from me. May God do so and so to thee, and add so and so, if thou hide from me one word of all that were said to thee. 3:18. So Samuel told him all the words, and did not hide them from him. And he answered: It is the Lord: let him do what is good in his sight. 3:19. And Samuel grew, and the Lord was with him, and not one of his words fell to the ground. 3:20. And all Israel, from Dan to Bersabee, knew that Samuel was a faithful prophet of the Lord. 3:21. And the Lord again appeared in Silo, for the Lord revealed himself to Samuel in Silo, according to the word of the Lord. And the word of Samuel came to pass to all Israel. 1 Kings Chapter 4 The Israelites being overcome by the Philistines, send for the ark of God: but they are beaten again, the sons of Heli are killed, and the ark taken: upon the hearing of the news Heli falleth backward and dieth. 4:1. And it came to pass in those days, that the Philistines gathered themselves together to fight: and Israel went out to war against the Philistines, and camped by the Stone of help. And the Philistines came to Aphec, The Stone of help... In Hebrew Eben-ezer; so called from the help which the Lord was pleased afterwards to give to his people Israel in that place, by the prayers of Samuel, chap. 7.12. 4:2. And put their army in array against Israel. And when they had joined battle, Israel turned their backs to the Philistines: and there were slain in that fight, here and there in the fields, about four thousand men. 4:3. And the people returned to the camp: and the ancients of Israel said: Why hath the Lord defeated us to day before the Philistines? Let us fetch unto us the ark of the covenant of the Lord from Silo, and let it come in the midst of us, that it may save us from the hand of our enemies. 4:4. So the people sent to Silo, and they brought from thence the ark of the covenant of the Lord of hosts, sitting upon the cherubims: and the two sons of Heli, Ophni and Phinees, were with the ark of the covenant of God. 4:5. And when the ark of the covenant of the Lord was come into the camp, all Israel shouted with a great shout, and the earth rang again. 4:6. And the Philistines heard the noise of the shout, and they said: What is this noise of a great shout in the camp of the Hebrews? And they understood that the ark of the Lord was come into the camp. 4:7. And the Philistines were afraid, saying: God is come into the camp. And sighing, they said: 4:8. Woe to us: for there was no such great joy yesterday, and the day before: Woe to us. Who shall deliver us from the hand of these high Gods? these are the Gods that struck Egypt with all the plagues in the desert. 4:9. Take courage, and behave like men, ye Philistines: lest you come to be servants to the Hebrews, as they have served you: take courage and fight. 4:10. So the Philistines fought, and Israel was overthrown, and every man fled to his own dwelling: and there was an exceeding great slaughter; for there fell of Israel thirty thousand footmen. 4:11. And the ark of God was taken: and the two sons of Heli, Ophni and Phinees, were slain. 4:12. And there ran a man of Benjamin out of the army, and came to Silo the same day, with his clothes rent, and his head strewed with dust. 4:13. And when he was come, Heli sat upon a stool over against the way, watching. For his heart was fearful for the ark of God. And when the man was come into the city, he told it: and all the city cried out. 4:14. And Heli heard the noise of the cry, and he said: What meaneth the noise of this uproar? But he made haste, and came, and told Heli. 4:15. Now Heli was ninety and eight years old, and his eyes were dim, and he could not see. 4:16. And he said to Heli: I am he that came from the battle, and have fled out of the field this day. And he said to him: What is there done, my son? 4:17. And he that brought the news answered, and said: Israel is fled before the Philistines, and there has been a great slaughter of the people: moreover thy two sons, Ophni and Phinees, are dead: and the ark of God is taken. 4:18. And when he had named the ark of God, he fell from his stool backwards by the door, and broke his neck and died. For he was an old man, and far advanced in years: And he judged Israel forty years. Named the ark, etc... There is great reason, by all these circumstances, to hope that Heli died in a state of grace; and by his temporal punishments escaped the eternal. 4:19. And his daughter-in-law, the wife of Phinees, was big with child, and near her time: and hearing the news that the ark of God was taken, and her father-in-law, and her husband, were dead, she bowed herself and fell in labour: for her pains came upon her on a sudden. 4:20. And when she was upon the point of death, they that stood about her said to her: Fear not, for thou hast borne a son. She answered them not, nor gave heed to them. 4:21. And she called the child Ichabod, saying: The glory is gone from Israel, because the ark of God was taken, and for her father-in-law, and for her husband: Ichabod... That is, Where is the glory? or, there is no glory. We see how much the Israelites lamented the loss of the ark, which was but the symbol of God's presence among them. How much more ought Christians to lament the loss of God himself, when by sin they have driven him out of their souls. 4:22. And she said: The glory is departed from Israel, because the ark of God was taken. 1 Kings Chapter 5 Dagon twice falleth down before the ark. The Philistines are grievously afflicted, wherever the ark cometh. 5:1. And the Philistines took the ark of God, and carried it from the Stone of help into Azotus. 5:2. And the Philistines took the ark of God, and brought it into the temple of Dagon, and set it by Dagon. 5:3. And when the Azotians arose early the next day, behold Dagon lay upon his face on the ground before the ark of the Lord: and they took Dagon, and set him again in his place. 5:4. And the next day again, when they rose in the morning, they found Dagon lying upon his face on the earth before the ark of the Lord: and the head of Dagon, and both the palms of his hands, were cut off upon the threshold: 5:5. And only the stump of Dagon remained in its place. For this cause neither the priests of Dagon, nor any that go into the temple, tread on the threshold of Dagon in Azotus unto this day. 5:6. And the hand of the Lord was heavy upon the Azotians, and he destroyed them, and afflicted Azotus and the coasts thereof with emerods. And in the villages and fields in the midst of that country, there came forth a multitude of mice, and there was the confusion of a great mortality in the city. 5:7. And the men of Azotus seeing this kind of plague, said: The ark of the God of Israel shall not stay with us: for his hand is heavy upon us, and upon Dagon, our god. 5:8. And sending, they gathered together all the lords of the Philistines to them, and said: What shall we do with the ark of the God of Israel? And the Gethites answered: Let the ark of the God of Israel be carried about. And they carried the ark of the God of Israel about. 5:9. And while they were carrying it about, the hand of the Lord came upon every city with an exceeding great slaughter: and he smote the men of every city, both small and great, and they had emerods in their secret parts. And the Gethites consulted together, and made themselves seats of skins. 5:10. Therefore they sent the ark of God into Accaron. And when the ark of God was come into Accaron, the Accaronites cried out, saying: They have brought the ark of the God of Israel to us, to kill us and our people. 5:11. They sent therefore, and gathered together all the lords of the Philistines: and they said: Send away the ark of the God of Israel, and let it return into its own place, and not kill us and our people. 5:12. For there was the fear of death in every city, and the hand of God was exceeding heavy. The men also that did not die, were afflicted with the emerods: and the cry of every city went up to heaven. 1 Kings Chapter 6 The ark is sent back to Bethsames: where many are slain for looking through curiosity into it. 6:1. Now the ark of God was in the land of the Philistines seven months. 6:2. And the Philistines called for the priests and the diviners, saying: What shall we do with the ark of the Lord? tell us how we are to send it back to its place. And they said: 6:3. If you send back the ark of the God of Israel, send it not away empty, but render unto him what you owe for sin, and then you shall be healed: and you shall know why his hand departeth not from you. 6:4. They answered: What is it we ought to render unto him for sin? and they answered: 6:5. According to the number of the provinces of the Philistines you shall make five golden emerods, and five golden mice: for the same plague hath been upon you all, and upon your lords. And you shall make the likeness of your emerods, and the likeness of the mice, that have destroyed the land, and you shall give glory to the God of Israel: to see if he will take off his hand from you, and from your gods, and from your land. 6:6. Why do you harden your hearts, as Egypt and Pharao hardened their hearts? did not he, after he was struck, then let them go, and they departed? 6:7. Now, therefore, take and make a new cart: and two kine that have calved, on which there hath come no yoke, tie to the cart, and shut up their calves at home. 6:8. And you shall take the ark of the Lord, and lay it on the cart, and the vessels of gold, which you have paid him for sin, you shall put into a little box at the side thereof: and send it away, that it may go. 6:9. And you shall look: and if it go up by the way of his own coasts, towards Bethsames, then he hath done us this great evil: but if not, we shall know that it is not his hand hath touched us, but it hath happened by chance. 6:10. They did therefore in this manner: and taking two kine, that had sucking calves, they yoked them to the cart, and shut up their calves at home. 6:11. And they laid the ark of God upon the cart, and the little box that had in it the golden mice, and the likeness of the emerods. 6:12. And the kine took the straight way, that leadeth to Bethsames, and they went along the way, lowing as they went: and turned not aside neither to the right hand nor to the left: and the lords of the Philistines followed them as far as the borders of Bethsames. 6:13. Now the Bethsamites were reaping wheat in the valley: and lifting up their eyes, they saw the ark, and rejoiced to see it. 6:14. And the cart came into the field of Josue, a Bethsamite, and stood there. And there was a great stone, and they cut in pieces the wood of the cart, and laid the kine upon it a holocaust to the Lord. 6:15. And the Levites took down the ark of God, and the little box that was at the side of it, wherein were the vessels of gold, and they put them upon the great stone. The men also of Bethsames offered holocausts, and sacrificed victims that day to the Lord. 6:16. And the five princes of the Philistines saw, and they returned to Accaron the same day. 6:17. And these are the golden emerods, which the Philistines returned for sin to the Lord: For Azotus one, for Gaza one, for Ascalon one, for Geth one, for Accaron one: 6:18. And the golden mice, according to the number of the cities of the Philistines, of the five provinces, from the fenced city to the village that was without wall, and to the great Abel (the stone) whereon they set down the ark of the Lord, which was till that day in the field of Josue the Bethsamite. 6:19. But he slew of the men of Bethsames, because they had seen the ark of the Lord, and he slew of the people seventy men, and fifty thousand of the common people. And the people lamented, because the Lord had smitten the people with a great slaughter. Seen... And curiously looked into. It is likely this plague reached to all the neighbouring country, as well as the city of Bethsames. 6:20. And the men of Bethsames said: Who shall be able to stand before the Lord this holy God? and to whom shall he go up from us? 6:21. And they sent messengers to the inhabitants of Cariathiarim, saying: The Philistines have brought back the ark of the Lord, come ye down and fetch it up to you. 1 Kings Chapter 7 The ark is brought to Cariathiarim. By Samuel's exhortation the people cast away their idols and serve God alone. The Lord defeateth the Philistines, while Samuel offereth sacrifice. 7:1. And the men of Cariathiarim came, and fetched up the ark of the Lord, and carried it into the house of Abinadab, in Gabaa: and they sanctified Eleazar, his son, to keep the ark of the Lord. In Gabaa... That is, on the hill, for Gabaa signifieth a hill. 7:2. And it came to pass, that from the day the ark of the Lord abode in Cariathiarim, days were multiplied (for it was now the twentieth year) and all the house of Israel rested, following the Lord. 7:3. And Samuel spoke to all the house of Israel, saying: If you turn to the Lord with all your heart, put away the strange gods from among you, Baalim and Astaroth: and prepare your hearts unto the Lord, and serve him only, and he will deliver you out of the hand of the Philistines. 7:4. Then the children of Israel put away Baalim and Astaroth, and served the Lord only. 7:5. And Samuel said: Gather all Israel to Masphath, that I may pray to the Lord for you. 7:6. And they gathered together to Masphath, and they drew water, and poured it out before the Lord, and they fasted on that day, and they said there: We have sinned against the Lord. And Samuel judged the children of Israel in Masphath. 7:7. And the Philistines heard that the children of Israel were gathered together to Masphath, and the lords of the Philistines went up against Israel. And when the children of Israel heard this, they were afraid of the Philistines. 7:8. And they said to Samuel: Cease not to cry to the Lord our God for us, that he may save us out of the hand of the Philistines. 7:9. And Samuel took a sucking lamb, and offered it whole for a holocaust to the Lord: and Samuel cried to the Lord for Israel, and the Lord heard him. 7:10. And it came to pass, when Samuel was offering the holocaust, the Philistines began the battle against Israel: but the Lord thundered with a great thunder on that day upon the Philistines, and terrified them, and they were overthrown before the face of Israel. 7:11. And the men of Israel going out of Masphath, pursued after the Philistines, and made slaughter of them till they came under Bethchar. 7:12. And Samuel took a stone, and laid it between Masphath and Sen: and he called the place The stone of help. And he said: Thus far the Lord hath helped us. 7:13. And the Philistines were humbled, and they did not come any more into the borders of Israel. And the hand of the Lord was against the Philistines, all the days of Samuel. 7:14. And the cities which the Philistines had taken from Israel, were restored to Israel, from Accaron to Geth, and their borders: and he delivered Israel from the hand of the Philistines, and there was peace between Israel and the Amorrhites. 7:15. And Samuel judged Israel all the days of his life: 7:16. And he went every year about to Bethel and to Galgal and to Masphath, and he judged Israel in the foresaid places. 7:17. And he returned to Ramatha: for there was his house, and there he judged Israel: he built also there an altar to the Lord. 1 Kings Chapter 8 Samuel growing old, and his sons not walking in his ways, the people desire a king. 8:1. And it came to pass, when Samuel was old, that he appointed his sons to be judges over Israel. 8:2. Now the name of his firstborn son was Joel: and the name of the second was Abia, judges in Bersabee. 8:3. And his sons walked not in his ways: but they turned aside after lucre, and took bribes, and perverted judgment. 8:4. Then all the ancients of Israel being assembled came to Samuel to Ramatha. 8:5. And they said to him: Behold thou art old, and thy sons walk not in thy ways: make us a king, to judge us, as all nations have. 8:6. And the word was displeasing in the eyes of Samuel, that they should say: Give us a king to judge us. And Samuel prayed to the Lord. 8:7. And the Lord said to Samuel: Hearken to the voice of the people in all that they say to thee. For they have not rejected thee, but me, that I should not reign over them. Rejected, etc... The government of Israel hitherto had been a theocracy, in which God himself immediately ruled, by laws which he had enacted, and by judges extraordinarily raised up by himself; and therefore he complains that his people rejected him, in desiring a change of government. 8:8. According to all their works, they have done from the day that I brought them out of Egypt until this day: as they have forsaken me, and served strange gods, so do they also unto thee. 8:9. Now, therefore, hearken to their voice: but yet testify to them, and foretell them the right of the king, that shall reign over them. The right... That is, the manner (misphat) after which he shall proceed, having no one to control him, when he has the power in his hand. 8:10. Then Samuel told all the words of the Lord to the people that had desired a king of him, 8:11. And said: This will be the right of the king that shall reign over you: He will take your sons, and put them in his chariots, and will make them his horsemen, and his running footmen, to run before his chariots, 8:12. And he will appoint of them to be his tribunes, and his centurions, and to plough his fields, and to reap his corn, and to make him arms and chariots. 8:13. Your daughters also he will take to make him ointments, and to be his cooks, and bakers. 8:14. And he will take your fields, and your vineyards, and your best oliveyards, and give them to his servants. 8:15. Moreover he will take the tenth of your corn, and of the revenues of your vineyards, to give to his eunuchs and servants. 8:16. Your servants also, and handmaids, and your goodliest young men, and your asses, he will take away, and put them to his work. 8:17. Your flocks also he will tithe, and you shall be his servants. 8:18. And you shall cry out in that day from the face of the king, whom you have chosen to yourselves: and the Lord will not hear you in that day, because you desired unto yourselves a king. 8:19. But the people would not hear the voice of Samuel, and they said, Nay: but there shall be a king over us, 8:20. And we also will be like all nations: and our king shall judge us, and go out before us, and fight our battles for us. 8:21. And Samuel heard all the words of the people, and rehearsed them in the ears of the Lord. 8:22. And the Lord said to Samuel: Hearken to their voice, and make them a king. And Samuel said to the men of Israel: Let every man go to his city. 1 Kings Chapter 9 Saul seeking his father's asses, cometh to Samuel, by whom he is entertained. 9:1. Now there was a man of Benjamin, whose name was Cis, the son of Abiel, the son of Seror, the son of Bechorath, the son of Aphia, the son of a man of Jemini, valiant and strong. 9:2. And he had a son whose name was Saul, a choice and goodly man, and there was not among the children of Israel a goodlier person than he: from his shoulders and upward he appeared above all the people. 9:3. And the asses of Cis, Saul's father, were lost: and Cis said to his son Saul: Take one of the servants with thee, and arise, go, and seek the asses. And when they had passed through Mount Ephraim, 9:4. And through the land of Salisa, and had not found them, they passed also through the land of Salim, and they were not there: and through the land of Jemini, and found them not. 9:5. And when they were come to the land of Suph, Saul said to the servant that was with him: Come, let us return, lest perhaps my father forget the asses, and be concerned for us. 9:6. And he said to him: Behold there is a man of God in this city, a famous man: all that he saith, cometh certainly to pass. Now, therefore, let us go thither, perhaps he may tell us of our way, for which we are come. 9:7. And Saul said to his servant: Behold we will go: but what shall we carry to the man of God? the bread is spent in our bags: and we have no present to make to the man of God, nor any thing at all. 9:8. The servant answered Saul again, and said: Behold there is found in my hand the fourth part of a sicle of silver, let us give it to the man of God, that he may tell us our way. 9:9. Now in time past in Israel, when a man went to consult God, he spoke thus: Come, let us go to the seer. For he that is now called a prophet, in time past was called a seer. Seer... Because of his seeing by divine light hidden things and things to come. 9:10. And Saul said to his servant: Thy word is very good, come let us go. And they went into the city, where the man of God was. 9:11. And when they went up the ascent to the city, they found maids coming out to draw water, and they said to them: Is the seer here? 9:12. They answered and said to them: He is: behold he is before you, make haste now: for he came to day into the city, for there is a sacrifice of the people to day in the high place. A sacrifice... The law did not allow of sacrifices in any other place, but at the tabernacle, or temple, in which the ark of the covenant was kept; but Samuel, by divine dispensation, offered sacrifices in other places. For which dispensation this reason may be alleged, that the house of God in Silo, having lost the ark, was now cast off; as a figure of the reprobation of the Jews, Ps. 77.60, 67. And in Cariathiarim where the ark was, there was neither tabernacle, nor altar.-Ibid. The high place... Excelsum. The excelsa, or high places, so often mentioned in scripture, were places of worship, in which were altars for sacrifice. These were sometimes employed in the service of the true God, as in the present case: but more frequently in the service of idols; and were called excelsa, which is commonly (though perhaps not so accurately) rendered high places; not because they were always upon hills, for the very worst of all, which was that of Topheth, or Geennom, (Jer. 19.) was in a valley; but because of the high altars, and pillars, or monuments, erected there, on which were set up the idols, or images of their deities. 9:13. As soon as you come into the city, you shall immediately find him, before he go up to the high place to eat: for the people will not eat till he come; because he blesseth the victim, and afterwards they eat that are invited. Now, therefore, go up, for to day you shall find him. 9:14. And they went up into the city. And when they were walking in the midst of the city, behold Samuel was coming out over against them, to go up to the high place. 9:15. Now the Lord had revealed to the ear of Samuel the day before Saul came, saying: 9:16. To morrow about this same hour I will send thee a man of the land of Benjamin, and thou shalt anoint him to be ruler over my people Israel: and he shall save my people out of the hand of the Philistines: for I have looked down upon my people, because their cry is come to me. 9:17. And when Samuel saw Saul, the Lord said to him: Behold the man, of whom I spoke to thee, this man shall reign over my people. 9:18. And Saul came to Samuel in the midst of the gate, and said: Tell me, I pray thee, where is the house of the seer? 9:19. And Samuel answered Saul, saying: I am the seer; go up before me to the high place, that you may eat with me to day, and I will let thee go in the morning: and tell thee all that is in thy heart. 9:20. And as for the asses, which were lost three days ago, be not solicitous, because they are found. And for whom shall be all the best things of Israel? Shall they not be for thee and for all thy father's house? 9:21. And Saul answering, said: Am not I a son of Jemini of the least tribe of Israel, and my kindred the last among all the families of the tribe of Benjamin? Why then hast thou spoken this word to me? 9:22. Then Samuel taking Saul, and his servant, brought them into the parlour, and gave them a place at the head of them that were invited. For there were about thirty men. 9:23. And Samuel said to the cook: Bring the portion which I gave thee, and commanded thee to set it apart by thee. 9:24. And the cook took up the shoulder, and set it before Saul. And Samuel said: Behold what is left, set it before thee, and eat; because it was kept of purpose for thee, when I invited the people. And Saul ate with Samuel that day. 9:25. And they went down from the high place into the town, and he spoke with Saul upon the top of the house: and he prepared a bed for Saul on the top of the house and he slept. 9:26. And when they were risen in the morning, and it began now to be light, Samuel called Saul on the top of the house, saying: Arise, that I may let thee go. And Saul arose: and they went out both of them: to wit, he and Samuel. 9:27. And as they were going down in the end of the city, Samuel said to Saul: Speak to the servant to go before us, and pass on: but stand thou still a while, that I may tell thee the word of the Lord. 1 Kings Chapter 10 Saul is anointed. He prophesieth, and is changed into another man. Samuel calleth the people together, to make a king: the lot falleth on Saul. 10:1. And Samuel took a little vial of oil, and poured it upon his head, and kissed him, and said: Behold, the Lord hath anointed thee to be prince over his inheritance, and thou shalt deliver his people out of the hands of their enemies, that are round about them. And this shall be a sign unto thee, that God hath anointed thee to be prince. 10:2. When thou shalt depart from me this day, thou shalt find two men by the sepulchre of Rachel in the borders of Benjamin to the south, and they shall say to thee: The asses are found which thou wentest to seek: and thy father, thinking no more of the asses, is concerned for you, and saith: What shall I do for my son? 10:3. And when thou shalt depart from thence, and go farther on, and shalt come to the oak of Thabor, there shall meet thee three men going up to God to Bethel, one carrying three kids, and another three loaves of bread, and another carrying a bottle of wine. Bethel... Where there was at that time an altar of God; it being one of the places where Samuel judged Israel. 10:4. And they will salute thee, and will give thee two loaves, and thou shalt take them at their hand. 10:5. After that thou shalt come to the hill of God, where the garrison of the Philistines is: and when thou shalt be come there into the city, thou shalt meet a company of prophets coming down from the high place, with a psaltery, and a timbrel, and a pipe, and a harp before them, and they shall be prophesying. The hill of God... Gabaa, in which there was also at that time, a high place or altar.-Prophets... These were men whose office it was to sing hymns and praises to God; for such in holy writ are called prophets, and their singing praises to God is called prophesying. See 1 Par. alias 1 Chr. 15.22, and 25.1. Now there were in those days colleges, or shcools for training up these prophets; and it seems there was one of these schools at this hill of God; and another at Najoth in Ramatha. See 1 Kings 19.20, 21, etc. 10:6. And the Spirit of the Lord shall come upon thee, and thou shalt prophesy with them, and shalt be changed into another man. 10:7. When therefore these signs shall happen to thee, do whatsoever thy hand shall find, for the Lord is with thee. 10:8. And thou shalt go down before me to Galgal, (for I will come down to thee), that thou mayst offer an oblation, and sacrifice victims of peace: seven days shalt thou wait, till I come to thee, and I will shew thee what thou art to do. Galgal... Here also by dispensation was an altar of God. 10:9. So when he had turned his back to go from Samuel, God gave unto him another heart, and all these things came to pass that day. 10:10 And they came to the foresaid hill, and behold a company of prophets met him: and the Spirit of the Lord came upon him, and he prophesied in the midst of them. 10:11. And all that had known him yesterday and the day before, seeing that he was with the prophets, and prophesied, said to each other: What is this that hath happened to the son of Cis? is Saul also among the prophets? 10:12. And one answered another, saying: And who is their father? therefore it became a proverb: Is Saul also among the prophets? Their father... That is, their teacher, or superior. As much as to say, Who could bring about such a wonderful change as to make Saul a prophet? 10:13. And when he had made an end of prophesying, he came to the high place. 10:14. And Saul's uncle said to him, and to his servant: Whither went you? They answered: To seek the asses: and not finding them, we went to Samuel. 10:15. And his uncle said to him: Tell me what Samuel said to thee. 10:16. And Saul said to his uncle: He told us that the asses were found. But of the matter of the kingdom of which Samuel had spoken to him, he told him not. 10:17. And Samuel called together the people to the Lord in Maspha: 10:18. And he said to the children of Israel: Thus saith the Lord the God of Israel: I brought up Israel out of Egypt, and delivered you from the hand of the Egyptians, and from the hand of all the kings who afflicted you. 10:19. But you this day have rejected your God, who only hath saved you out of all your evils and your tribulations: and you have said: Nay: but set a king over us. Now therefore stand before the Lord by your tribes, and by your families. 10:20. And Samuel brought to him all the tribes of Israel, and the lot fell on the tribe of Benjamin. 10:21. And he brought the tribe of Benjamin and the kindreds thereof, and the lot fell upon the kindred of Metri, and it came to Saul, the son of Cis. They sought him therefore, and he was not found. 10:22. And after this they consulted the Lord whether he would come thither. And the Lord answered: Behold he is hidden at home. 10:23. And they ran and fetched him thence: and he stood in the midst of the people, and he was higher than any of the people from the shoulders and upward. 10:24. And Samuel said to all the people: Surely you see him whom the Lord hath chosen, that there is none like him among all the people. And all the people cried and said: God save the king. 10:25. And Samuel told the people the law of the kingdom, and wrote it in a book, and laid it up before the Lord: and Samuel sent away all the people, every one to his own house. 10:26. Saul also departed to his own house in Gabaa: and there went with him a part of the army, whose hearts God had touched. 10:27. But the children of Belial said: Shall this fellow be able to save us? And they despised him, and brought him no presents; but he dissembled as though he heard not. 1 Kings Chapter 11 Saul defeateth the Ammonites, and delivereth Jabes Galaad. 11:1. And it came to pass about a month after this, that Naas, the Ammonite, came up, and began to fight against Jabes Galaad. And all the men of Jabes said to Naas: Make a covenant with us, and we will serve thee. 11:2. And Naas, the Ammonite, answered them: On this condition will I make a covenant with you, that I may pluck out all your right eyes, and make you a reproach in all Israel. 11:3. And the ancients of Jabes said to him: Allow us seven days, that we may send messengers to all the coasts of Israel: and if there be no one to defend us, we will come out to thee. 11:4. The messengers therefore came to Gabaa of Saul: and they spoke these words in the hearing of the people: and all the people lifted up their voices, and wept. 11:5. And behold Saul came, following oxen out of the field, and he said: What aileth the people that they weep? And they told him the words of the men of Jabes. 11:6. And the Spirit of the Lord came upon Saul, when he had heard these words, and his anger was exceedingly kindled. 11:7. And taking both the oxen, he cut them in pieces, and sent them into all the coasts of Israel, by messengers, saying: Whosoever shall not come forth, and follow Saul and Samuel, so shall it be done to his oxen. And the fear of the Lord fell upon the people, and they went out as one man. 11:8. And he numbered them in Bezec: and there were of the children of Israel three hundred thousand: and of the men of Juda thirty thousand. 11:9. And they said to the messengers that came: Thus shall you say to the men of Jabes Galaad: To morrow, when the sun shall be hot, you shall have relief. The messengers therefore came, and told the men of Jabes, and they were glad. 11:10. And they said: In the morning we will come out to you: and you shall do what you please with us. 11:11. And it came to pass, when the morrow was come, that Saul put the people in three companies: and he came into the midst of the camp in the morning watch, and he slew the Ammonites until the day grew hot, and the rest were scattered, so that two of them were not left together. 11:12. And the people said to Samuel: Who is he that said: Shall Saul reign over us? Bring the men, and we will kill them. 11:13. And Saul said: No man shall be killed this day: because the Lord this day hath wrought salvation in Israel: 11:14. And Samuel said to the people: Come, and let us go to Galgal, and let us renew the kingdom there. 11:15. And all the people went to Galgal, and there they made Saul king, before the Lord in Galgal, and they sacrificed there victims of peace before the Lord. And there Saul and all the men of Israel rejoiced exceedingly. 1 Kings Chapter 12 Samuel's integrity is acknowledged. God sheweth by a sign from heaven that they had done ill in asking for a king. 12:1. And Samuel said to all Israel: Behold I have hearkened to your voice in all that you said to me, and have made a king over you. 12:2. And now the king goeth before you: but I am old and greyheaded: and my sons are with you: having then conversed with you from my youth until this day, behold here I am. 12:3. Speak of me before the Lord, and before his anointed, whether I have taken any man's ox, or ass: if I have wronged any man, if I have oppressed any man, if I have taken a bribe at any man's hand: and I will despise it this day, and will restore it to you. 12:4. And they said: Thou hast not wronged us, nor oppressed us, nor taken ought at any man's hand. 12:5. And he said to them: The Lord is witness against you, and his anointed is witness this day, that you have not found any thing in my hand. And they said: He is witness. 12:6. And Samuel said to the people: It is the Lord who made Moses and Aaron, and brought our fathers out of the land of Egypt. 12:7. Now, therefore, stand up, that I may plead in judgment against you before the Lord, concerning all the kindness of the Lord, which he hath shewn to you, and to your fathers: 12:8. How Jacob went into Egypt, and your fathers cried to the Lord: and the Lord sent Moses and Aaron, and brought your fathers out of Egypt, and made them dwell in this place. 12:9. And they forgot the Lord their God, and he delivered them into the hands of Sisara, captain of the army of Hasor, and into the hands of the Philistines, and into the hand of the king of Moab, and they fought against them. 12:10 But afterwards they cried to the Lord, and said: We have sinned, because we have forsaken the Lord, and have served Baalim and Astaroth: but now deliver us from the hand of our enemies, and we will serve thee. 12:11. And the Lord sent Jerobaal, and Badan, and Jephte, and Samuel, and delivered you from the hand of your enemies round about, and you dwelt securely. Jerobaal and Badan... That is, Gedeon and Samson called here Badan or Bedan, because he was of Dan. 12:12. But seeing that Naas, king of the children of Ammon, was come against you, you said to me: Nay, but a king shall reign over us: whereas the Lord your God was your king. 12:13. Now, therefore, your king is here, whom you have chosen and desired: Behold the Lord hath given you a king. 12:14. If you will fear the Lord, and serve him, and hearken to his voice, and not provoke the mouth of the Lord: then shall both you, and the king who reigneth over you, be followers of the Lord your God. 12:15. But if you will not hearken to the voice of the Lord, but will rebel against his words, the hand of the Lord shall be upon you, and upon your fathers. 12:16. Now then stand, and see this great thing which the Lord will do in your sight. 12:17. Is it not wheat harvest to day? I will call upon the Lord, and he shall send thunder and rain: and you shall know, and see that you yourselves have done a great evil in the sight of the Lord, in desiring a king over you. Wheat harvest... At which time of the year, it never thunders or rains in those countries. 12:18. And Samuel cried unto the Lord, and the Lord sent thunder and rain that day. 12:19. And all the people greatly feared the Lord and Samuel. And all the people said to Samuel: Pray for thy servants to the Lord thy God, that we may not die, for we have added to all our sins this evil, to ask for a king. 12:20. And Samuel said to the people: Fear not, you have done all this evil: but yet depart not from following the Lord, but serve the Lord with all your heart. 12:21. And turn not aside after vain things, which shall never profit you, nor deliver you, because they are vain. 12:22. And the Lord will not forsake his people for his great name's sake: because the Lord hath sworn to make you his people. 12:23. And far from me be this sin against the Lord, that I should cease to pray for you: and I will teach you the good and right way. 12:24. Therefore fear the Lord, and serve him in truth, and with your whole heart, for you have seen the great works which he hath done among you. 12:25. But if you will still do wickedly: both you and your king shall perish together. 1 Kings Chapter 13 The war between Saul and the Philistines. The distress of the Israelites. Saul offereth sacrifice before the coming of Samuel: for which he is reproved. 13:1. Saul was a child of one year when he began to reign, and he reigned two years over Israel. Of one year... That is, he was good and like an innocent child, and for two years continued in that innocency. 13:2. And Saul chose him three thousand men of Israel: and two thousand were with Saul in Machmas, and in mount Bethel: and a thousand with Jonathan in Gabaa of Benjamin: and the rest of the people he sent back every man to their dwellings. 13:3. And Jonathan smote the garrison of the Philistines which was in Gabaa. And when the Philistines had heard of it, Saul sounded the trumpet over all the land, saying: Let the Hebrews hear. 13:4. And all Israel heard this report: Saul hath smitten the garrison of the Philistines: and Israel took courage against the Philistines. And the people were called together after Saul to Galgal. 13:5. The Philistines also were assembled to fight against Israel, thirty thousand chariots, and six thousand horsemen, and a multitude of people besides, like the sand on the seashore for number. And going up they camped in Machmas, at the east of Bethaven. 13:6. And when the men of Israel saw that they were straitened (for the people were distressed), they hid themselves in caves, and in thickets, and in rocks, and in dens, and in pits. 13:7. And some of the Hebrews passed over the Jordan into the land of Gad and Galaad. And when Saul was yet in Galgal, all the people that followed him were greatly afraid. 13:8. And he waited seven days, according to the appointment of Samuel, and Samuel came not to Galgal, and the people slipt away from him. 13:9. Then Saul said: Bring me the holocaust, and the peace offerings. And he offered the holocaust. 13:10. And when he had made an end of offering the holocaust, behold Samuel came: and Saul went forth to meet him and salute him. 13:11. And Samuel said to him: What hast thou done? Saul answered: Because I saw that the people slipt from me, and thou wast not come according to the days appointed, and the Philistines were gathered together in Machmas, 13:12. I said: Now will the Philistines come down upon me to Galgal, and I have not appeased the face of the Lord. Forced by necessity, I offered the holocaust. 13:13. And Samuel said to Saul: Thou hast done foolishly, and hast not kept the commandments of the Lord thy God, which he commanded thee. And if thou hadst not done thus, the Lord would now have established thy kingdom over Israel for ever: 13:14. But thy kingdom shall not continue. The Lord hath sought him a man according to his own heart: and him hath the Lord commanded to be prince over his people, because thou hast not observed that which the Lord commanded. 13:15. And Samuel arose and went up from Galgal to Gabaa of Benjamin. And the rest of the people went up after Saul, to meet the people who fought against them, going from Galgal to Gabaa, in the hill of Benjamin. And Saul numbered the people, that were found with him, about six hundred men. 13:16. And Saul, and Jonathan his son, and the people that were present with them, were in Gabaa of Benjamin: But the Philistines encamped in Machmas. 13:17. And there went out of the camp of the Philistines three companies to plunder. One company went towards the way of Ephra to the land of Sual; 13:18. And another went by the way of Bethoron, and the third turned to the way of the border, above the valley of Seboim towards the desert. 13:19. Now there was no smith to be found in all the land of Israel, for the Philistines had taken this precaution, lest the Hebrews should make them swords or spears. 13:20. So all Israel went down to the Philistines, to sharpen every man his ploughshare, and his spade, and his axe, and his rake. 13:21. So that their shares, and their spades, and their forks, and their axes, were blunt, even to the goad, which was to be mended. 13:22. And when the day of battle was come, there was neither sword nor spear found in the hand of any of the people that were with Saul and Jonathan, except Saul and Jonathan his son. 13:23. And the army of the Philistines went out in order to advance further in Machmas. 1 Kings Chapter 14 Jonathan attacketh the Philistines. A miraculous victory. Saul's unadvised oath, by which Jonathan is put in danger of his life, but is delivered by the people. 14:1. Now it came to pass one day that Jonathan, the son of Saul, said to the young man that bore his armour: Come, and let us go over to the garrison of the Philistines, which is on the other side of yonder place. But he told not this to his father. 14:2. And Saul abode in the uttermost part of Gabaa, under the pomegranate tree, which was in Magron: and the people with him were about six hundred men. 14:3. And Achias, the son of Achitob, brother of Ichabod the son of Phinees, the son of Heli, the priest of the Lord in Silo, wore the ephod. And the people knew not whither Jonathan was gone. 14:4. Now there were between the ascents, by which Jonathan sought to go over to the garrison of the Philistines, rocks standing up on both sides, and steep cliffs like teeth on the one side, and on the other, the name of the one was Boses, and the name of the other was Sene: 14:5. One rock stood out toward the north, over against Machmas, and the other to the south, over against Gabaa. 14:6. And Jonathan said to the young man that bore his armour: Come, let us go over to the garrison of these uncircumcised, it may be the Lord will do for us: because it is easy for the Lord to save either by many, or by few. 14:7. And his armourbearer said to him: Do all that pleaseth thy mind: go whither thou wilt, and I will be with thee wheresoever thou hast a mind. 14:8. And Jonathan said: Behold we will go over to these men. And when we shall be seen by them, 14:9. If they shall speak thus to us: Stay till we come to you: let us stand still in our place, and not go up to them. 14:10. But if they shall say: Come up to us: let us go up, because the Lord hath delivered them into our hands, this shall be a sign unto us. This shall be a sign... It is likely Jonathan was instructed by divine inspiration to make a choice of this sign: otherwise the observation of omens is superstitious and sinful. 14:11. So both of them discovered themselves to the garrison of the Philistines: and the Philistines said: Behold the Hebrews come forth out of the holes wherein they were hid. 14:12. And the men of the garrison spoke to Jonathan, and to his armourbearer, and said: Come up to us, and we will shew you a thing. And Jonathan said to his armourbearer: Let us go up, follow me: for the Lord hath delivered them into the hands of Israel. 14:13. And Jonathan went up creeping on his hands and feet, and his armourbearer after him. And some fell before Jonathan, others his armourbearer slew as he followed him. 14:14. And the first slaughter which Jonathan and his armourbearer made, was of about twenty men, within half an acre of land, which a yoke of oxen is wont to plough in a day. 14:15. And there was a miracle in the camp, in the fields: and all the people of their garrison, who had gone out to plunder, were amazed, and the earth trembled: and it happened as a miracle from God. 14:16. And the watchmen of Saul, who were in Gabaa of Benjamin looked, and behold a multitude overthrown, and fleeing this way and that. 14:17. And Saul said to the people that were with him: Look, and see who is gone from us. And when they had sought, it was found that Jonathan and his armourbearer were not there. 14:18. And Saul said to Achias: Bring the ark of the Lord. (For the ark of God was there that day with the children of Israel.) 14:19. And while Saul spoke to the priest, there arose a great uproar in the camp of the Philistines: and it increased by degrees, and was heard more clearly. And Saul said to the priest: Draw in thy hand. 14:20. Then Saul, and all the people that were with him, shouted together, and they came to the place of the fight: and behold every man's sword was turned upon his neighbour, and there was a very great slaughter. 14:21. Moreover, the Hebrews that had been with the Philistines yesterday and the day before, and went up with them into the camp, returned to be with the Israelites, who were with Saul and Jonathan. 14:22. And all the Israelites that had hid themselves in mount Ephraim, hearing that the Philistines fled, joined themselves with their countrymen in the fight. And there were with Saul about ten thousand men. 14:23. And the Lord saved Israel that day. And the fight went on as far as Bethaven. 14:24. And the men of Israel were joined together that day: and Saul adjured the people, saying: Cursed be the man that shall eat food till evening, till I be revenged of my enemies. So none of the people tasted any food. 14:25. And all the common people came into a forest, in which there was honey upon the ground. 14:26. And when the people came into the forest, behold the honey dropped, but no man put his hand to his mouth. For the people feared the oath. 14:27. But Jonathan had not heard when his father adjured the people: and he put forth the end of the rod, which he had in his hand, and dipt it in a honeycomb: and he carried his hand to his mouth, and his eyes were enlightened. 14:28. And one of the people answering, said: Thy father hath bound the people with an oath, saying: Cursed be the man that shall eat any food this day. (And the people were faint.) 14:29. And Jonathan said: My father hath troubled the land: you have seen yourselves that my eyes are enlightened, because I tasted a little of this honey: 14:30. How much more if the people had eaten of the prey of their enemies, which they found? had there not been made a greater slaughter among the Philistines? 14:31. So they smote that day the Philistines, from Machmas to Aialon. And the people were wearied exceedingly. 14:32. And falling upon the spoils, they took sheep, and oxen, and calves, and slew them on the ground: and the people ate them with the blood. 14:33. And they told Saul that the people had sinned against the Lord, eating with the blood. And he said: You have transgressed: roll here to me now a great stone. 14:34. And Saul said: Disperse yourselves among the people, and tell them to bring me every man his ox and his ram and slay them upon this stone, and eat, and you shall not sin against the Lord, in eating with the blood. So all the people brought every man his ox with him till the night: and slew them there. 14:35. And Saul built an altar to the Lord: and he then first began to build an altar to the Lord. 14:36. And Saul said: Let us fall upon the Philistines by night, and destroy them till the morning light, and let us not leave a man of them. And the people said: Do all that seemeth good in thy eyes. And the priest said: Let us draw near hither unto God. 14:37. And Saul consulted the Lord: Shall I pursue after the Philistines? wilt thou deliver them into the hands of Israel? And he answered him not that day. 14:38. And Saul said: Bring hither all the corners of the people: and know, and see by whom this sin hath happened to day. 14:39. As the Lord liveth, who is the Saviour of Israel, if it was done by Jonathan, my son, he shall surely die. In this none of the people gainsayed him. 14:40. And he said to all Israel: Be you on one side and I, with Jonathan, my son, will be on the other side. And the people answered Saul: Do what seemeth good in thy eyes. 14:41. And Saul said to the Lord: O Lord God of Israel, give a sign, by which we may know, what the meaning is, that thou answerest not thy servant to day: If this iniquity be in me, or in my son Jonathan, give a proof: or if this iniquity be in thy people, give holiness. And Jonathan and Saul were taken, and the people escaped. 14:42. And Saul said: Cast lots between me, and Jonathan, my son. And Jonathan was taken. Jonathan was taken... Though Jonathan was excused from sin, through ignorance of the prohibition, yet God was pleased on this occasion to let the lot fall upon him, to shew unto all the great obligation of obedience to princes and parents. 14:43. And Saul said to Jonathan: Tell me what thou hast done. And Jonathan told him, and said: I did but taste a little honey with the end of the rod, which was in my hand, and behold I must die. 14:44. And Saul said: May God do so and so to me, and add still more: for dying thou shalt die, O Jonathan. 14:45. And the people said to Saul: Shall Jonathan then die, who hath wrought this great salvation in Israel? this must not be: As the Lord liveth, there shall not one hair of his head fall to the ground, for he hath wrought with God this day. So the people delivered Jonathan, that he should not die. 14:46. And Saul went back, and did not pursue after the Philistines: and the Philistines went to their own places. 14:47. And Saul having his kingdom established over Israel, fought against all his enemies round about, against Moab, and against the children of Ammon, and Edom, and the kings of Soba, and the Philistines: and whithersoever he turned himself, he overcame. 14:48. And gathering together an army, he defeated Amalec, and delivered Israel from the hand of them that spoiled them. 14:49. And the sons of Saul, were Jonathan, and Jessui, and Melchisua: and the names of his two daughters, the name of the firstborn was Merob, and the name of the younger Michol. 14:50. And the name of Saul's wife was Achinoam, the daughter of Achimaas; and the name of the captain of his army was Abner, the son of Ner, the cousin german of Saul. 14:51. For Cis was the father of Saul, and Ner, the father of Abner, was son of Abiel. 14:52. And there was a great war against the Philistines all the days of Saul. For whomsoever Saul saw to be a valiant man, and fit for war, he took him to himself. 1 Kings Chapter 15 Saul is sent to destroy Amalec: he spareth their king and the best of their cattle: for which disobedience he is cast off by the Lord. 15:1. And Samuel said to Saul: The Lord sent me to anoint thee king over his people Israel: now therefore hearken thou unto the voice of the Lord: 15:2. Thus saith the Lord of hosts: I have reckoned up all that Amalec hath done to Israel: how he opposed them in the way when they came up out of Egypt. 15:3. Now therefore go, and smite Amalec, and utterly destroy all that he hath: spare him not, nor covet anything that is his: but slay both man and woman, child and suckling, ox and sheep, camel and ass. Child... The great Master of life and death (who cuts off one half of all mankind whilst they are children) has been pleased sometimes to ordain that children should be put to the sword, in detestation of the crimes of their parents, and that they might not live to follow the same wicked ways. But without such ordinance of God it is not allowable, in any wars, how just soever, to kill children. 15:4. So Saul commanded the people, and numbered them as lambs: two hundred thousand footmen, and ten thousand of the men of Juda. 15:5. And when Saul was come to the city of Amalec, he laid ambushes in the torrent. 15:6. And Saul said to the Cinite: Go, depart, and get ye down from Amalec: lest I destroy thee with him. For thou hast shewn kindness to all the children of Israel, when they came up out of Egypt. And the Cinite departed from the midst of Amalec. 15:7. And Saul smote Amalec from Hevila, until thou comest to Sur, which is over against Egypt. 15:8. And he took Agag, the king of Amalec, alive: but all the common people he slew with the edge of the sword. 15:9. And Saul and the people spared Agag, and the best of the flocks of sheep, and of the herds, and the garments and the rams, and all that was beautiful, and would not destroy them: but every thing that was vile, and good for nothing, that they destroyed. 15:10. And the word of the Lord came to Samuel, 15:11. It repenteth me that I have made Saul king: for he hath forsaken me, and hath not executed my commandments. And Samuel was grieved, and he cried unto the Lord all night. 15:12. And when Samuel rose early, to go to Saul in the morning, it was told Samuel that Saul was come to Carmel, and had erected for himself a triumphant arch, and returning had passed on, and gone down to Galgal. And Samuel came to Saul, and Saul was offering a holocaust to the Lord, out of the choicest of the spoils, which he had brought from Amalec. 15:13. And when Samuel was come to Saul, Saul said to him: Blessed be thou of the Lord, I have fulfilled the word of the Lord. 15:14. And Samuel said: What meaneth then this bleating of the flocks, which soundeth in my ears, and the lowing of the herds, which I hear? 15:15. And Saul said: They have brought them from Amalec: for the people spared the best of the sheep and of the herds, that they might be sacrificed to the Lord thy God, but the rest we have slain. 15:16. And Samuel said to Saul: Suffer me, and I will tell thee what the Lord hath said to me this night. And he said to him: Speak. 15:17. And Samuel said: When thou wast a little one in thy own eyes, wast thou not made the head of the tribes of Israel? And the Lord anointed thee to be king over Israel. 15:18. And the Lord sent thee on the way, and said: Go, and kill the sinners of Amalec, and thou shalt fight against them until thou hast utterly destroyed them. 15:19. Why then didst thou not hearken to the voice of the Lord: but hast turned to the prey, and hast done evil in the eyes of the Lord? 15:20. And Saul said to Samuel: Yea, I have hearkened to the voice of the Lord, and have walked in the way by which the Lord sent me, and have brought Agag, the king of Amalec, and Amalec I have slain. 15:21. But the people took of the spoils, sheep and oxen, as the firstfruits of those things that were slain, to offer sacrifice to the Lord their God in Galgal. 15:22. And Samuel said: Doth the Lord desire holocausts and victims, and not rather that the voice of the Lord should be obeyed? For obedience is better than sacrifices: and to hearken rather than to offer the fat or rams. 15:23. Because it is like the sin of witchcraft, to rebel: and like the crime of idolatry, to refuse to obey. Forasmuch, therefore, as thou hast rejected the word of the Lord, the Lord hath also rejected thee from being king. 15:24. And Saul said to Samuel: I have sinned, because I have transgressed the commandment of the Lord, and thy words, fearing the people, and obeying their voice. 15:25. But now bear, I beseech thee, my sin, and return with me, that I may adore the Lord. 15:26. And Samuel said to Saul: I will not return with thee, because thou hath rejected the word of the Lord, and the Lord hath rejected thee from being king over Israel. 15:27. And Samuel turned about to go away: but he laid hold upon the skirt of his mantle, and it rent. 15:28. And Samuel said to him: The Lord hath rent the kingdom of Israel from thee this day, and hath given it to thy neighbour who is better than thee. 15:29. But the triumpher in Israel will not spare, and will not be moved to repentance: for he is not a man that he should repent. 15:30. Then he said: I have sinned: yet honour me now before the ancients of my people, and before Israel, and return with me, that I may adore the Lord thy God. 15:31. So Samuel turned again after Saul: and Saul adored the Lord. 15:32. And Samuel said: Bring hither to me Agag, the king of Amalec. And Agag was presented to him very fat, and trembling. And Agag said: Doth bitter death separate in this manner? 15:33. And Samuel said: As thy sword hath made women childless, so shall thy mother be childless among women. And Samuel hewed him in pieces before the Lord in Galgal. 15:34. And Samuel departed to Ramatha: but Saul went up to his house in Gabaa. 15:35. And Samuel saw Saul no more till the day of his death: nevertheless, Samuel mourned for Saul, because the Lord repented that he had made him king over Israel. Saw Saul no more till the day of his death... That is, he went no more to see him: he visited him no more. 1 Kings Chapter 16 Samuel is sent to Bethlehem, where he anointeth David: who is taken into Saul's family. 16:1. And the Lord said to Samuel: How long wilt thou mourn for Saul, whom I have rejected from reigning over Israel? fill thy horn with oil, and come, that I may send thee to Isai, the Bethlehemite: for I have provided me a king among his sons. 16:2. And Samuel said: How shall I go? for Saul will hear of it, and he will kill me. And the Lord said: Thou shalt take with thee a calf of the herd, and thou shalt say: I am come to sacrifice to the Lord. 16:3. And thou shalt call Isai to the sacrifice, and I will shew thee what thou art to do, and thou shalt anoint him whom I shall shew to thee. 16:4. Then Samuel did as the Lord had said to him. And he came to Bethlehem, and the ancients of the city wondered, and meeting him, they said: Is thy coming hither peaceable? 16:5. And he said: It is peaceable: I am come to offer sacrifice to the Lord, be ye sanctified, and come with me to the sacrifice. And he sanctified Isai and his sons, and called them to the sacrifice. 16:6. And when they were come in, he saw Eliab, and said: Is the Lord's anointed before him? 16:7. And the Lord said to Samuel: Look not on his countenance, nor on the height of his stature: because I have rejected him, nor do I judge according to the look of man: for man seeth those things that appear, but the Lord beholdeth the heart. 16:8. And Isai called Abinadab, and brought him before Samuel. And he said: Neither hath the Lord chosen this, 16:9. And Isai brought Samma, and he said of him: Neither hath the Lord chosen this. 16:10. Isai therefore brought his seven sons before Samuel: and Samuel said to Isai: The Lord hath not chosen any one of these. 16:11. And Samuel said to Isai: Are here all thy sons? He answered: There remaineth yet a young one, who keepeth the sheep. And Samuel said to Isai: Send, and fetch him: for we will not sit down till he come hither. 16:12. He sent therefore and brought him. Now he was ruddy and beautiful to behold, and of a comely face. And the Lord said: Arise, and anoint him, for this is he. 16:13. Then Samuel took the horn of oil, and anointed him in the midst of his brethren: and the Spirit of the Lord came upon David from that day forward: and Samuel rose up, and went to Ramatha. 16:14. But the Spirit of the Lord departed from Saul, and an evil spirit from the Lord troubled him. From the Lord... An evil spirit, by divine permission, and for his punishment, either possessed or obsessed him. 16:15. And the servants of Saul said to him: Behold now an evil spirit from God troubleth thee. 16:16. Let our lord give orders, and thy servants who are before thee, will seek out a man skilful in playing on the harp, that when the evil spirit from the Lord is upon thee, he may play with his hand, and thou mayst bear it more easily. 16:17. And Saul said to his servants: Provide me then some man that can play well, and bring him to me. 16:18. And one of the servants answering, said: Behold I have seen a son of Isai, the Bethlehemite, a skilful player, and one of great strength, and a man fit for war, and prudent in his words, and a comely person: and the Lord is with him. 16:19. Then Saul sent messengers to Isai, saying: Send me David, thy son, who is in the pastures. 16:20. And Isai took an ass laden with bread, and a bottle of wine, and a kid of the flock, and sent them by the hand of David, his son, to Saul. 16:21. And David came to Saul, and stood before him: and he loved him exceedingly, and made him his armourbearer. 16:22. And Saul sent to Isai, saying: Let David stand before me: for he hath found favour in my sight. 16:23. So whensoever the evil spirit from the Lord was upon Saul, David took his harp, and played with his hand, and Saul was refreshed, and was better, for the evil spirit departed from him. Departed from him... Chased away by David's devotion. 1 Kings Chapter 17 War with the Philistines. Goliath challengeth Israel. He is slain by David. 17:1. Now the Philistines gathering together their troops to battle, assembled at Socho of Juda: and camped between Socho and Azeca, in the borders of Dommim. 17:2. And Saul and the children of Israel being gathered together, came to the valley of Terebinth, and they set the army in array to fight against the Philistines. 17:3. And the Philistines stood on a mountain on the one side, and Israel stood on a mountain on the other side: and there was a valley between them. 17:4. And there went out a man baseborn from the camp of the Philistines, named Goliath, of Geth, whose height was six cubits and a span: 17:5. And he had a helmet of brass upon his head, and he was clothed with a coat of mail with scales, and the weight of his coat of mail was five thousand sicles of brass: 17:6. And he had greaves of brass on his legs, and a buckler of brass covered his shoulders. 17:7. And the staff of his spear was like a weaver's beam, and the head of his spear weighed six hundred sicles of iron: and his armourbearer went before him. 17:8. And standing, he cried out to the bands of Israel, and said to them: Why are you come out prepared to fight? am not I a Philistine, and you the servants of Saul? Choose out a man of you, and let him come down and fight hand to hand. 17:9. If he be able to fight with me, and kill me, we will be servants to you: but if I prevail against him, and kill him, you shall be servants, and shall serve us. 17:10. And the Philistine said: I have defied the bands of Israel this day: give me a man, and let him fight with me hand to hand. 17:11. And Saul and all the Israelites hearing these words of the Philistine, were dismayed, and greatly afraid. 17:12. Now David was the son of that Ephrathite, of Bethlehem Juda, before mentioned, whose name was Isai, who had eight sons, and was an old man in the days of Saul, and of great age among men. 17:13. And his three eldest sons followed Saul to the battle: and the names of his three sons that went to the battle, were Eliab, the firstborn, and the second, Abinadab, and the third Samma: 17:14. But David was the youngest. So the three eldest having followed Saul, 17:15. David went, and returned from Saul, to feed his father's flock at Bethlehem. 17:16. Now the Philistine came out morning and evening, and presented himself forty days. 17:17. And Isai said to David, his son: Take for thy brethren an ephi of frumenty, and these ten loaves, and run to the camp to thy brethren, 17:18. And carry these ten little cheeses to the tribune: and go see thy brethren, if they are well: and learn with whom they are placed. 17:19. But Saul, and they, and all the children of Israel, were in the valley of Terebinth, fighting against the Philistines. 17:20. David, therefore, arose in the morning, and gave the charge of the flock to the keeper: and went away loaded, as Isai had commanded him. And he came to the place of Magala, and to the army, which was going out to fight, and shouted for the battle. 17:21. For Israel had put themselves in array, and the Philistines who stood against them were prepared. 17:22. And David leaving the vessels which he had brought, under the care of the keeper of the baggage, ran to the place of the battle, and asked if all things went well with his brethren. 17:23. And as he talked with them, that baseborn man, whose name was Goliath, the Philistine, of Geth, shewed himself coming up from the camp of the Philistines: and he spoke according to the same words, and David heard them, 17:24. And all the Israelites, when they saw the man, fled from his face, fearing him exceedingly. 17:25. And some one of Israel said: Have you seen this man that is come up, for he is come up to defy Israel. And the man that shall slay him, the king will enrich with great riches, and will give him his daughter, and will make his father's house free from tribute in Israel. 17:26. And David spoke to the men that stood by him, saying: What shall be given to the man that shall kill this Philistine, and shall take away the reproach from Israel? for who is this uncircumcised Philistine, that he should defy the armies of the living God? 17:27. And the people answered him the same words, saying: These things shall be given to the man that shall slay him. 17:28. Now when Eliab his eldest brother heard this, when he was speaking with others, he was angry with David, and said: Why camest thou hither? and why didst thou leave those few sheep in the desert? I know thy pride, and the wickedness of thy heart: that thou art come down to see the battle. 17:29. And David said: What have I done? is there not cause to speak? 17:30. And he turned a little aside from him to another: and said the same word. And the people answered him as before. 17:31. And the words which David spoke were heard, and were rehearsed before Saul. 17:32. And when he was brought to Saul, he said to him. Let not any man's heart be dismayed in him: I thy servant will go, and will fight against the Philistine. 17:33. And Saul said to David: Thou art not able to withstand this Philistine, nor to fight against him: for thou art but a boy, but he is a warrior from his youth. 17:34. And David said to Saul: Thy servant kept his father's sheep, and there came a lion, or a bear, and took a ram out of the midst of the flock: 17:35. And I pursued after them, and struck them, and delivered it out of their mouth: and they rose up against me, and I caught them by the throat, and I strangled, and killed them. 17:36. For I thy servant have killed both a lion and a bear: and this uncircumcised Philistine shall be also as one of them. I will go now, and take away the reproach of the people: for who is this uncircumcised Philistine, who hath dared to curse the army of the living God? 17:37. And David said: The Lord who delivered me out of the paw of the lion, and out of the paw of the bear, he will deliver me out of the hand of this Philistine. And Saul said to David: Go, and the Lord be with thee. 17:38. And Saul clothed David with his garments, and put a helmet of brass upon his head, and armed him with a coat of mail. 17:39. And David having girded his sword upon his armour, began to try if he could walk in armour: for he was not accustomed to it. And David said to Saul: I cannot go thus, for I am not used to it. And he laid them off, 17:40. And he took his staff, which he had always in his hands: and chose him five smooth stones out of the brook, and put them into the shepherd's scrip, which he had with him, and he took a sling in his hand, and went forth against the Philistine. 17:41. And the Philistine came on, and drew nigh against David, and his armourbearer went before him. 17:42. And when the Philistine looked, and beheld David, he despised him. For he was a young man, ruddy, and of a comely countenance. 17:43. And the Philistine said to David: Am I a dog, that thou comest to me with a staff? And the Philistine cursed David by his gods. 17:44. And he said to David: Come to me, and I will give thy flesh to the birds of the air, and to the beasts of the earth. 17:45. And David said to the Philistine: Thou comest to me with a sword, and with a spear, and with a shield: but I come to thee in the name of the Lord of hosts, the God of the armies of Israel, which thou hast defied. 17:46. This day, and the Lord will deliver thee into my hand, and I will slay thee, and take away thy head from thee: and I will give the carcasses of the army of the Philistines this day to the birds of the air, and to the beasts of the earth: that all the earth may know that there is a God in Israel. 17:47. And all this assembly shall know that the Lord saveth not with sword and spear: for it is his battle, and he will deliver you into our hands. 17:48. And when the Philistine arose, and was coming, and drew nigh to meet David, David made haste, and ran to the fight to meet the Philistine. 17:49. And he put his hand into his scrip, and took a stone, and cast it with the sling, and fetching it about, struck the Philistine in the forehead, and he fell on his face upon the earth. 17:50. And David prevailed over the Philistine, with a sling and a stone, and he struck, and slew the Philistine. And as David had no sword in his hand, 17:51. He ran, and stood over the Philistine, and took his sword, and drew it out of the sheath, and slew him, and cut off his head. And the Philistines seeing that their champion was dead, fled away. 17:52. And the men of Israel and Juda rising up shouted, and pursued after the Philistines till they came to the valley and to the gates of Accaron, and there fell many wounded of the Philistines in the way of Saraim, and as far as Geth, and as far as Accaron. 17:53. And the children of Israel returning, after they had pursued the Philistines, fell upon their camp. 17:54. And David taking the head of the Philistine, brought it to Jerusalem: but his armour he put in his tent. 17:55. Now at the time that Saul saw David going out against the Philistines, he said to Abner, the captain of the army: Of what family is this young man descended, Abner? And Abner said: As thy soul liveth, O king, I know not. 17:56. And the king said: Inquire thou, whose son this young man is. 17:57. And when David was returned, after the Philistine was slain, Abner took him, and brought him in before Saul, with the head of the Philistine in his hand. 17:58. And Saul said to him: Young man, of what family art thou? And David said: I am the son of thy servant Isai the Bethlehemite. 1 Kings Chapter 18 The friendship of Jonathan and David. The envy of Saul, and his design upon David's life. He marrieth him to his daughter Michol. 18:1. And it came to pass, when he had made an end of speaking to Saul, the son of Jonathan was knit with the soul of David, and Jonathan loved him as his own soul. 18:2. And Saul took him that day, and would not let him return to his father's house. 18:3. And David and Jonathan made a covenant, for he loved him as his own soul. 18:4. And Jonathan stripped himself of the coat with which he was clothed, and gave it to David, and the rest of his garments, even to his sword, and to his bow, and to his girdle. 18:5. And David went out to whatsoever business Saul sent him, and he behaved himself prudently: and Saul set him over the soldiers, and he was acceptable in the eyes of all the people, and especially in the eyes of Saul's servants. 18:6. Now when David returned, after he slew the Philistine, the women came out of all the cities of Israel, singing and dancing, to meet king Saul, with timbrels of joy, and cornets. 18:7. And the women sung as they played, and they said: Saul slew his thousands, and David his ten thousands. 18:8. And Saul was exceeding angry, and this word was displeasing in his eyes, and he said: They have given David ten thousands, and to me they have given but a thousand, what can he have more but the kingdom? 18:9. And Saul did not look on David with a good eye from that day and forward. 18:10. And the day after, the evil spirit from God came upon Saul, and he prophesied in the midst of his house. And David played with his hand as at other times. And Saul held a spear in his hand, Prophesied... Acted the prophet in a mad manner. 18:11. And threw it, thinking to nail David to the wall: and David stept aside out of his presence twice. 18:12. And Saul feared David, because the Lord was with him, and was departed from Saul himself. 18:13. Therefore Saul removed him from him, and made him a captain over a thousand men, and he went out and came in before the people. 18:14. And David behaved wisely in all his ways, and the Lord was with him. 18:15. And Saul saw that he was exceeding prudent, and began to beware of him. 18:16. But all Israel and Juda loved David, for he came in and went out before them. 18:17. And Saul said to David: Behold my elder daughter Merob, her will I give thee to wife: only be a valiant man, and fight the battles of the Lord. Now Saul said within himself: Let not my hand be upon him, but let the hands of the Philistines be upon him. 18:18. And David said to Saul: Who am I, or what is my life, or my father's family in Israel, that I should be son-in-law of the king? 18:19. And it came to pass at the time when Merob, the daughter of Saul, should have been given to David, that she was given to Hadriel, the Molathite, to wife. 18:20. But Michol, the other daughter of Saul, loved David. And it was told Saul, and it pleased him. 18:21. And Saul said: I will give her to him, that she may be a stumblingblock to him, and that the hand of the Philistines may be upon him. And Saul said to David: In two things thou shalt be my son-in-law this day. 18:22. And Saul commanded his servants to speak to David privately, saying: Behold, thou pleasest the king, and all his servants love thee. Now, therefore be the king's son-in-law. 18:23. And the servants of Saul spoke all these words in the ear of David. And David said: Doth it seem to you a small matter to be the king's son-in-law? But I am a poor man, and of small ability. 18:24. And the servants of Saul told him, saying: Such words as these hath David spoken. 18:25. And Saul said: Speak thus to David: The king desireth not any dowry, but only a hundred foreskins of the Philistines, to be avenged of the king's enemies. Now Saul thought to deliver David into the hands of the Philistines. 18:26. And when his servants had told David the words that Saul had said, the word was pleasing in the eyes of David to be the king's son-in- law. 18:27. And after a few days David rose up, and went with the men that were under him, and he slew of the Philistines two hundred men, and brought their foreskins and numbered them out to the king, that he might be his son-in-law. Saul therefore gave him Michol, his daughter, to wife. 18:28. And Saul saw, and understood that the Lord was with David. And Michol, the daughter of Saul, loved him. 18:29. And Saul began to fear David more: and Saul became David's enemy continually. 18:30. And the princes of the Philistines went forth: and from the beginning of their going forth, David behaved himself more wisely than all the servants of Saul, and his name became very famous. 1 Kings Chapter 19 Other attempts of Saul upon David's life. He cometh to Samuel. Saul's messengers, and Saul himself prophesy. 19:1. And Saul spoke to Jonathan, his son, and to all his servants, that they should kill David. But Jonathan, the son of Saul, loved David exceedingly. 19:2. And Jonathan told David, saying: Saul, my father, seeketh to kill thee: wherefore look to thyself, I beseech thee, in the morning and thou shalt abide in a secret place, and shalt be hid. 19:3. And I will go out and stand beside my father in the field where thou art: and I will speak of thee to my father, and whatsoever I shall see, I will tell thee. 19:4. And Jonathan spoke good things of David to Saul, his father: and said to him: Sin not, O king, against thy servant, David, because he hath not sinned against thee, and his works are very good towards thee. 19:5. And he put his life in his hand, and slew the Philistine, and the Lord wrought great salvation for all Israel. Thou sawest it and didst rejoice. Why therefore wilt thou sin against innocent blood, by killing David, who is without fault? 19:6. And when Saul heard this, he was appeased with the words of Jonathan, and swore: As the Lord liveth, he shall not be slain. 19:7. Then Jonathan called David, and told him all these words: and Jonathan brought in David to Saul, and he was before him, as he had been yesterday and the day before. 19:8. And the war began again, and David went out, and fought against the Philistines, and defeated them with a great slaughter, and they fled from his face. 19:9. And the evil spirit from the Lord came upon Saul; and he sat in his house, and held a spear in his hand: and David played with his hand. 19:10. And Saul endeavoured to nail David to the wall with his spear. And David slipt away out of the presence of Saul: and the spear missed him, and was fastened in the wall, and David fled, and escaped that night. 19:11. Saul therefore sent his guards to David's house to watch him, that he might be killed in the morning. And when Michol, David's wife, had told him this, saying: Unless thou save thyself this night, to morrow thou wilt die: 19:12. She let him down through a window. And he went and fled away, and escaped. 19:13. And Michol took an image, and laid it on the bed, and put a goat's skin, with the hair at the head of it, and covered it with clothes. 19:14. And Saul sent officers to seize David; and it was answered that he was sick. 19:15. And again Saul sent to see David, saying: Bring him to me in the bed, that he may be slain. 19:16. And when the messengers were come in, they found an image upon the bed, and a goat skin at his head. 19:17. And Saul said to Michol: Why hast thou deceived me so, and let my enemy go and flee away? And Michol answered Saul: Because he said to me: Let me go, or else I will kill thee. 19:18. But David fled and escaped, and came to Samuel in Ramatha, and told him all that Saul had done to him: and he and Samuel went and dwelt in Najoth. Najoth... It was probably a school or college of prophets, in or near Ramath under the direction of Samuel. 19:19. And it was told Saul by some, saying: Behold David is in Najoth, in Ramatha. 19:20. So Saul sent officers to take David: and when they saw a company of prophets prophesying, and Samuel presiding over them, the Spirit of the Lord came also upon them, and they likewise began to prophesy. Prophesying... That is, singing praises to God by a divine impulse. God was pleased on this occasion that both Samuel's messengers and himself should experience the like impulse, that he might understand, by this instance of the divine power, how vain are the designs of man against him whom God protects. 19:21. And when this was told Saul, he sent other messengers: but they also prophesied. And again Saul sent messengers the third time: and they prophesied also. And Saul being exceeding angry, 19:22. Went also himself to Ramatha, and came as far as the great cistern, which is in Socho, and he asked, and said: In what place are Samuel and David? And it was told him: Behold they are in Najoth, in Ramatha. 19:23. And he went to Najoth, in Ramatha, and the Spirit of the Lord came upon him also, and he went on, and prophesied till he came to Najoth, in Ramatha. 19:24. And he stripped himself also of his garments, and prophesied with the rest before Samuel, and lay down naked all that day and night. This gave occasion to a proverb: What! is Saul too among the prophets? 1 Kings Chapter 20 Saul being obstinately bent upon killing David, he is sent away by Jonathan. 20:1. But David fled from Najoth, which is in Ramatha, and came and said to Jonathan: What have I done? what is my iniquity, and what is my sin against thy father, that he seeketh my life? 20:2. And he said to him: God forbid, thou shalt not die: for my father will do nothing, great or little, without first telling me: hath then my father hid this word only from me? no, this shall not be. 20:3. And he swore again to David. And David said: Thy father certainly knoweth that I have found grace in thy sight, and he will say: Let not Jonathan know this, lest he be grieved. But truly as the Lord liveth, and thy soul liveth, there is but one step (as I may say) between me and death. 20:4. And Jonathan said to David: Whatsoever thy soul shall say to me, I will do for thee. 20:5. And David said to Jonathan: Behold to morrow is the new moon, and I, according to custom, am wont to sit beside the king to eat: let me go then that I may be hid in the field till the evening of the third day. To morrow is the new moon... The neomenia, or first day of the moon, kept according to the law, as a festival; and therefore Saul feasted on that day: and expected the attendance of his family. 20:6. If thy father look and inquire for me, thou shalt answer him: David asked me that he might run to Bethlehem, his own city: because there are solemn sacrifices there for all of his tribe. 20:7. If he shall say: It is well: thy servant shall have peace: but if he be angry, know that his malice is come to its height. 20:8. Deal mercifully then with thy servant: for thou hast brought me, thy servant, into a covenant of the Lord with thee. But if there be any iniquity in me, do thou kill me, and bring me not in to thy father. 20:9. And Jonathan said: Far be this from thee: for if I should certainly know that evil is determined by my father against thee, I could do no otherwise than tell thee. 20:10. And David answered Jonathan: Who shall bring me word, if thy father should answer thee harshly concerning me? 20:11. And Jonathan said to David: Come, and let us go out into the field. And when they were both of them gone out into the field, 20:12. Jonathan said to David: O Lord God of Israel, if I shall discover my father's mind, to morrow, or the day after, and there be any thing good for David, and I send not immediately to thee, and make it known to thee, 20:13. May the Lord do so and so to Jonathan, and add still more. But if my father shall continue in malice against thee, I will discover it to thy ear, and will send thee away, that thou mayst go in peace, and the Lord be with thee, as he hath been with my father. 20:14. And if I live, thou shalt shew me the kindness of the Lord: but if I die, 20:15. Thou shalt not take away thy kindness from my house for ever, when the Lord shall have rooted out the enemies of David, every one of them from the earth, may he take away Jonathan from his house, and may the Lord require it at the hands of David's enemies. May he take away Jonathan, etc... It is a curse upon himself, if he should not be faithful to his promise.-Ibid. Require it, etc... That is, revenge it upon David's enemies, and upon me, if I should fail of my word given to him. 20:16. Jonathan therefore made a covenant with the house of David: and the Lord required it at the hands of David's enemies. 20:17. And Jonathan swore again to David, because he loved him: for he loved him as his own soul. 20:18. And Jonathan said to him: To morrow is the new moon, and thou wilt be missed: 20:19. For thy seat will be empty till after to morrow. So thou shalt go down quickly, and come to the place where thou must he hid, on the day when it is lawful to work, and thou shalt remain beside the stone, which is called Ezel. 20:20. And I will shoot three arrows near it, and will shoot as if I were exercising myself at a mark. 20:21. And I will send a boy, saying to him: Go and fetch me the arrows. 20:22. If I shall say to the boy: Behold the arrows are on this side of thee, take them up: come thou to me, because there is peace to thee, and there is no evil, as the Lord liveth. But if I shall speak thus to the boy: Behold the arrows are beyond thee: go in peace, for the Lord hath sent thee away. 20:23. And concerning the word which I and thou have spoken, the Lord be between thee and me forever. 20:24. So David was hid in the field, and the new moon came, and the king sat down to eat bread. 20:25. And when the king sat down upon his chair, (according to custom) which was beside the wall, Jonathan arose, and Abner sat by Saul's side, and David's place appeared empty. 20:26. And Saul said nothing that day, for he thought it might have happened to him, that he was not clean, nor purified. 20:27. And when the second day after the new moon was come, David's place appeared empty again. And Saul said to Jonathan, his son: Why cometh not the son of Isai to meat neither yesterday, nor to day? 20:28. And Jonathan answered Saul: He asked leave of me earnestly to go to Bethlehem. 20:29. And he said: Let me go, for there is a solemn sacrifice in the city, one of my brethren hath sent for me: and now if I have found favour in thy eyes, I will go quickly, and see my brethren. For this cause he came not to the king's table. 20:30. Then Saul being angry against Jonathan, said to him: Thou son of a woman that is the ravisher of a man, do I not know that thou lovest the son of Isai to thy own confusion, and to the confusion of thy shameless mother? 20:31. For as long as the son of Isai liveth upon earth, thou shalt not be established, nor thy kingdom. Therefore now presently send, and fetch him to me: for he is the son of death. The son of death... That is, one that deserveth death, and shall surely be put to death. 20:32. And Jonathan answering Saul, his father, said: Why shall he die? What hath he done? 20:33. And Saul caught up a spear to strike him. And Jonathan understood that it was determined by his father to kill David. 20:34. So Jonathan rose from the table in great anger, and did not eat bread on the second day after the new moon. For he was grieved for David, because his father had put him to confusion. 20:35. And when the morning came, Jonathan went into the field according to the appointment with David, and a little boy with him. 20:36. And he said to his boy: Go, and fetch me the arrows which I shoot. And when the boy ran, he shot another arrow beyond the boy. 20:37. The boy therefore came to the place of the arrow which Jonathan had shot: and Jonathan cried after the boy, and said: Behold the arrow is there further beyond thee. 20:38. And Jonathan cried again after the boy, saying: Make haste speedily, stand not. And Jonathan's boy gathered up the arrows, and brought them to his master: 20:39. And he knew not at all what was doing: for only Jonathan and David knew the matter. 20:40. Jonathan therefore gave his arms to the boy, and said to him: Go, and carry them into the city. 20:41. And when the boy was gone, David rose out of his place, which was toward the south, and falling on his face to the ground, adored thrice: and kissing one another, they wept together; but David more. 20:42. And Jonathan said to David: Go in peace: and let all stand that we have sworn both of us in the name of the Lord, saying: The Lord be between me and thee, and between my seed and thy seed for ever. 20:43. And David arose, and departed: and Jonathan went into the city. 1 Kings Chapter 21 David receiveth holy bread of Achimelech, the priest: and feigneth himself mad before Achis, king of Geth. 21:1. And David came to Nobe, to Achimelech, the priest and Achimelech was astonished at David's coming. And he said to him: Why art thou alone, and no man with thee? Nobe... A city in the tribe of Benjamin, to which the tabernacle of the Lord had been translated from Silo. 21:2. And David said to Achimelech, the priest: The king hath commanded me a business, and said: Let no man know the thing for which thou art sent by me, and what manner of commands I have given thee: and I have appointed my servants to such and such a place. 21:3. Now therefore if thou have any thing at hand, though it were but five loaves, give me, or whatsoever thou canst find. 21:4. And the priest answered David, saying: I have no common bread at hand, but only holy bread, if the young men be clean, especially from women? If the young men be clean, etc... If this cleanness was required of them that were to eat that bread, which was a figure of the bread of life which we receive in the blessed sacrament; how clean ought Christians to be when they approach to our tremendous mysteries. And what reason hath the church of God to admit none to be her ministers to consecrate and daily receive this most pure sacrament, but such as devote themselves to a life of perpetual purity. 21:5. And David answered the priest, and said to him: Truly, as to what concerneth women, we have refrained ourselves from yesterday and the day before, when we came out, and the vessels of the young men were holy. Now this way is defiled, but it shall also be sanctified this day in the vessels. The vessels... i. e., the bodies, have been holy, that is, have been kept from impurity.-Ibid. Is defiled... Is liable to expose us to dangers of uncleanness.-Ibid. Be sanctified, etc... That is, we shall take care, notwithstanding these dangerous circumstances, to keep our vessels holy, that is, to keep our bodies from every thing that may defile us. 21:6. The priest therefore gave him hallowed bread: for there was no bread there, but only the loaves of proposition, which had been taken away from before the face of the Lord, that hot loaves might be set up. 21:7. Now a certain man of the servants of Saul was there that day, within the tabernacle of the Lord: and his name was Doeg, an Edomite, the chiefest of Saul's herdsmen. 21:8. And David said to Achimelech: Hast thou here at hand a spear, or a sword? for I brought not my own sword, nor my own weapons with me, for the king's business required haste. 21:9. And the priest said: Lo, here is the sword of Goliath, the Philistine, whom thou slewest in the valley of Terebinth, wrapped up in a cloth behind the ephod: if thou wilt take this, take it, for here there is no other but this. And David said: There is none like that, give it me. 21:10. And David arose and fled that day from the face of Saul: and came to Achis, the king of Geth: 21:11. And the servants of Achis, when they saw David, said to him: Is not this David, the king of the land? Did they not sing to him in their dances, saying: Saul hath slain his thousands, and David his ten thousands? 21:12. But David laid up these words in his heart, and was exceedingly afraid at the face of Achis, the king of Geth. 21:13. And he changed his countenance before them, and slipt down between their hands: and he stumbled against the doors of the gate, and his spittle ran down upon his beard. 21:14. And Achis said to his servants: You saw the man was mad: why have you brought him to me? 21:15. Have we need of mad men, that you have brought in this fellow, to play the madman in my presence? shall this fellow come into my house? 1 Kings Chapter 22 Many resort to David. Doeg accuseth Achimelech to Saul. He ordereth him and all the other priests of Nobe to be slain. Abiathar escapeth. 22:1. David therefore went from thence, and fled to the cave of Odollam. And when his brethren, and all his father's house, had heard of it, they went down to him thither. 22:2. And all that were in distress, and oppressed with debt, and under affliction of mind, gathered themselves unto him: and he became their prince, and there were with him about four hundred men. 22:3. And David departed from thence into Maspha of Moab: and he said to the king of Moab: Let my father and my mother tarry with you, I beseech thee, till I know what God will do for me. 22:4. And he left them under the eyes of the king of Moab, and they abode with him all the days that David was in the hold. The hold... The strong hold, or fortress of Maspha. 22:5. And Gad the prophet said to David: Abide not in the hold, depart, and go into the land of Juda. And David departed, and came into the forest of Haret. 22:6. And Saul heard that David was seen, and the men that were with him. Now whilst Saul abode in Gabaa, and was in the wood, which is by Rama, having his spear in his hand, and all his servants were standing about him, 22:7. He said to his servants that stood about him: Hear me now, ye sons of Jemini: will the son of Isai give every one of you fields, and vineyards, and make you all tribunes, and centurions: 22:8. That all of you have conspired against me, and there is no one to inform me, especially when even my son hath entered into league with the son of Isai? There is not one of you that pitieth my case, nor that giveth me any information: because my son hath raised up my servant against me, plotting against me to this day. 22:9. And Doeg, the Edomite, who stood by, and was the chief among the servants of Saul, answering, said: I saw the son of Isai, in Nobe, with Achimelech, the son of Achitob, the priest. 22:10. And he consulted the Lord for him, and gave him victuals, and gave him the sword of Goliath, the Philistine. 22:11. Then the king sent to call for Achimelech, the priest, the son of Achitob, and all his father's house, the priests that were in Nobe, and they came all of them to the king. 22:12. And Saul said to Achimelech: Hear, thou son of Achitob. He answered: Here I am, my lord. 22:13. And Saul said to him: Why have you conspired against me, thou, and the son of Isai, and thou hast given him bread and a sword, and hast consulted the Lord for him, that he should rise up against me, continuing a traitor to this day. 22:14. And Achimelech answering the king, said: And who amongst all thy servants is so faithful as David, who is the king's son-in-law, and goeth forth at thy bidding, and is honourable in thy house? 22:15. Did I begin to day to consult the Lord for him? far be this from me: let not the king suspect such a thing against his servant, or any one in all my father's house: for thy servant knew nothing of this matter, either little or great. 22:16. And the king said: Dying thou shalt die, Achimelech, thou and all thy father's house. 22:17. And the king said to the messengers that stood about him: Turn, and kill the priests of the Lord, for their hand is with David, because they knew that he was fled, and they told it not to me. And the king's servants would not put forth their hands against the priests of the Lord. 22:18. And the king said to Doeg: Turn thou, and fall upon the priests. And Doeg, the Edomite, turned, and fell upon the priests, and slew in that day eighty-five men that wore the linen ephod. 22:19. And Nobe, the city of the priests, he smote with the edge of the sword, both men and women, children and sucklings, and ox, and ass, and sheep, with the edge of the sword. 22:20. But one of the sons of Achimelech, the son of Achitob, whose name was Abiathar, escaped, and fled to David, 22:21. And told him that Saul had slain the priests of the Lord. 22:22. And David said to Abiathar: I knew that day when Doeg, the Edomite, was there, that without doubt he would tell Saul: I have been the occasion of the death of all the souls of thy father's house. 22:23. Abide thou with me, fear not: for he that seeketh my life, seeketh thy life also, and with me thou shalt be saved. 1 Kings Chapter 23 David relieveth Ceila, besieged by the Philistines. He fleeth into the desert of Ziph. Jonathan and he confirm their former covenant. The Ziphites discover him to Saul, who pursuing close after him, is called away by an invasion from the Philistines. 23:1. And they told David, saying: Behold the Philistines fight against Ceila, and they rob the barns. 23:2. Therefore David consulted the Lord, saying: Shall I go and smite these Philistines? And the Lord said to David: Go, and thou shalt smite the Philistines, and shalt save Ceila. 23:3. And the men that were with David, said to him: Behold we are in fear here in Judea, how much more if we go to Ceila against the bands of the Philistines? 23:4. Therefore David consulted the Lord again. And he answered and said to him: Arise, and go to Ceila: for I will deliver the Philistines into thy hand. 23:5. David, therefore, and his men, went to Ceila, and fought against the Philistines, and brought away their cattle, and made a great slaughter of them: and David saved the inhabitants of Ceila. 23:6. Now at that time, when Abiathar, the son of Achimelech, fled to David, to Ceila, he came down, having an ephod with him. An ephod... Or the ephod. That is, the vestment of the high priest, with the urim and thummim, by which the Lord gave his oracle. 23:7. And it was told Saul that David was come to Ceila: and Saul said: The Lord hath delivered him into my hands, and he is shut up, being come into a city that hath gates and bars. 23:8. And Saul commanded all the people to go down to fight against Ceila, and to besiege David and his men. 23:9. Now when David understood that Saul secretly prepared evil against him, he said to Abiathar, the priest: Bring hither the ephod. 23:10. And David said: O Lord God of Israel, thy servant hath heard a report, that Saul designeth to come to Ceila, to destroy the city for my sake: 23:11. Will the men of Ceila deliver me into his hands? and will Saul come down, as thy servant hath heard? O Lord God of Israel, tell thy servant. And the Lord said: He will come down. 23:12. And David said: Will the men of Ceila deliver me and my men into the hands of Saul? And the Lord said: They will deliver thee up. 23:13. Then David and his men, who were about six hundred, arose, and departing from Ceila, wandered up and down, uncertain where they should stay: and it was told Saul that David was fled from Ceila, and had escaped: wherefore he forbore to go out. 23:14. But David abode in the desert in strong holds, and he remained in a mountain of the desert of Ziph, in a woody hill. And Saul sought him always: but the Lord delivered him not into his hands. 23:15. And David saw that Saul was come out to seek his life. And David was in the desert of Ziph, in a wood. 23:16. And Jonathan, the son of Saul, arose, and went to David, into the wood, and strengthened his hands in God: and he said to him: 23:17. Fear not: for the hand of my father, Saul, shall not find thee, and thou shalt reign over Israel, and I shall be next to thee; yea and my father knoweth this. 23:18. And they two made a covenant before the Lord: and David abode in the wood: but Jonathan returned to his house. 23:19. And the Ziphites went up to Saul, in Gabaa, saying: Lo, doth not David lie hid with us in the strong holds of the wood, in mount Hachila, which is on the right hand of the desert. 23:20. Now therefore come down, as thy soul hath desired to come down: and it shall be our business to deliver him into the king's hands. 23:21. And Saul said: Blessed be ye of the Lord, for you have pitied my case. 23:22. Go, therefore, I pray you, and use all diligence, and curiously inquire, and consider the place where his foot is, and who hath seen him there: for he thinketh of me, that I lie craftily in wait for him. 23:23. Consider, and see all his lurking holes, wherein he is hid, and return to me with the certainty of the thing, that I may go with you. And if he should even go down into the earth to hide himself, I will search him out in all the thousands of Juda. 23:24. And they arose, and went to Ziph before Saul: and David and his men were in the desert of Maon, in the plain at the right hand of Jesimon. 23:25. Then Saul and his men went to seek him: and it was told David, and forthwith he went down to the rock, and abode in the wilderness of Maon: and when Saul had heard of it, he pursued after David in the wilderness of Maon. 23:26. And Saul went on this side of the mountain: and David and his men were on the other side of the mountain: and David despaired of being able to escape from the face of Saul: and Saul and his men encompassed David and his men round about, to take them. 23:27. And a messenger came to Saul, saying: Make haste to come, for the Philistines have poured in themselves upon the land. 23:28. Wherefore Saul returned, leaving the pursuit of David, and went to meet the Philistines. For this cause they called that place the rock of division. 1 Kings Chapter 24 Saul seeketh David in the wilderness of Engaddi: he goeth into a cave where David hath him in his power. 24:1. Then David went up from thence, and dwelt in strong holds of Engaddi. 24:2. And when Saul was returned from following the Philistines, they told him, saying: Behold, David is in the desert of Engaddi. 24:3. Saul, therefore, took three thousand chosen men out of all Israel, and went out to seek after David and his men, even upon the most craggy rocks, which are accessible only to wild goats. 24:4. And he came to the sheepcotes which were in his way. And there was a cave, into which Saul went, to ease nature: now David and his men lay hid in the inner part of the cave. 24:5. And the servants of David said to him: Behold the day, of which the Lord said to thee: I will deliver thy enemy unto thee, that thou mayst do to him as it shall seem good in thy eyes. Then David arose, and secretly cut off the hem of Saul's robe. 24:6. After which David's heart struck him, because he had cut off the hem of Saul's robe. Heart struck him... Viz., with remorse, as fearing he had done amiss. 24:7. And he said to his men: The Lord be merciful unto me, that I may do no such thing to my master, the Lord's anointed, as to lay my hand upon him, because he is the Lord's anointed. 24:8. And David stopped his men with his words, and suffered them not to rise against Saul: but Saul, rising up out of the cave, went on his way. 24:9. And David also rose up after him: and going out of the cave, cried after Saul, saying: My lord the king. And Saul looked behind him: and David bowing himself down to the ground, worshipped, 24:10. And said to Saul: Why dost thou hear the words of men that say: David seeketh thy hurt? 24:11 Behold this day thy eyes have seen, that the Lord hath delivered thee into my hand, in the cave, and I had a thought to kill thee, but my eye hath spared thee. For I said: I will not put out my hand against my lord, because he is the Lord's anointed. A thought to kill thee... That is, a suggestion, to which I did not consent. 24:12. Moreover, see and know, O my father, the hem of thy robe in my hand, that when I cut off the hem of thy robe, I would not put out my hand against thee. Reflect, and see, that there is no evil in my hand, nor iniquity, neither have I sinned against thee: but thou liest in wait for my life, to take it away. 24:13. The Lord judge between me and thee and the Lord revenge me of thee: but my hand shall not be upon thee. Revenge me of thee... Or, as it is in the Hebrew, will revenge me. The meaning is, that he refers his whole cause to God, to judge and punish according to his justice: yet so as to keep himself in the mean time, from all personal hatred to Saul, or desire of gratifying his own passion, by seeking revenge. So far from it, that when Saul was afterwards slain, we find, that instead of rejoicing at his death, he mourned most bitterly for him. 24:14. As also it is said in the old proverb: From the wicked shall wickedness come forth: therefore my hand shall not be upon thee. After whom dost thou come out, O king of Israel? 24:15. After whom dost thou pursue? After a dead dog, after a flea. 24:16. Be the Lord judge, and judge between me and thee, and see, and judge my cause, and deliver me out of thy hand. 24:17. And when David had made an end of speaking these words to Saul, Saul said: Is this thy voice, my son David? And Saul lifted up his voice, and wept: 24:18. And he said to David: Thou art more just than I: for thou hast done good to me, and I have rewarded thee with evil. 24:19. And thou hast shewed this day what good things thou hast done to me: how the Lord delivered me into thy hand, and thou hast not killed me. 24:20. For who when he hath found his enemy, will let him go well away? But the Lord reward thee for this good turn, for what thou hast done to me this day. 24:21. And now as I know that thou shalt surely be king, and have the kingdom of Israel in thy hand: 24:22. Swear to me by the Lord, that thou wilt not destroy my seed after me, nor take away my name from the house of my father. 24:23. And David swore to Saul. So Saul went home: and David and his men went up into safer places. 1 Kings Chapter 25 The death of Samuel. David, provoked by Nabal, threateneth to destroy him: but is appeased by Abigail. 25:1. And Samuel died, and all Israel was gathered together, and they mourned for him, and buried him in his house in Ramatha. And David rose, and went down into the wilderness of Pharan. 25:2. Now there was a certain man in the wilderness of Maon, and his possessions were in Carmel, and the man was very great: and he had three thousand sheep, and a thousand goats: and it happened that he was shearing his sheep in Carmel. 25:3. Now the name of the man was Nabal: and the name of his wife was Abigail. And she was a prudent and very comely woman: but her husband was churlish, and very bad and ill natured: and he was of the house of Caleb. 25:4. And when David heard in the wilderness, that Nabal was shearing his sheep, 25:5. He sent ten young men, and said to them: Go up to Carmel, and go to Nabal, and salute him in my name with peace. 25:6. And you shall say: Peace be to my brethren, and to thee, and peace to thy house, and peace to all that thou hast. 25:7. I have heard that thy shepherds that were with us in the desert were shearing: we never molested them, neither was there ought missing to them of the flock at any time, all the while they were with us in Carmel. 25:8. Ask thy servants, and they will tell thee. Now therefore let thy servants find favour in thy eyes: for we are come in a good day, whatsoever thy hand shall find give to thy servants, and to thy son David. 25:9. And when David's servants came, they spoke to Nabal all these words in David's name, and then held their peace. 25:10. But Nabal answering the servants of David, said: Who is David? and what is the son of Isai? servants are multiplied now days who flee from their masters. 25:11. Shall I then take my bread, and my water, and the flesh of my cattle, which I have killed for my shearers, and give to men whom I know not whence they are? 25:12. So the servants of David went back their way, and returning came and told him all the words that he said. 25:13. Then David said to his young men: Let every man gird on his sword. And they girded on every man his sword. And David also girded on his sword: and there followed David about four hundred men, and two hundred remained with the baggage. 25:14. But one of the servants told, Abigail, the wife of Nabal, saying: Behold, David sent messengers out of the wilderness, to salute our master: and he rejected them. 25:15. These men were very good to us, and gave us no trouble: Neither did we ever lose any thing all the time that we conversed with them in the desert. 25:16. They were a wall unto us, both by night and day, all the while we were with them keeping the sheep. 25:17. Wherefore consider, and think what thou hast to do: for evil is determined against thy husband, and against thy house, and he is a son of Belial, so that no man can speak to him. 25:18. Then Abigail made haste and took two hundred loaves, and two vessels of wine, and five sheep ready dressed, and five measures of parched corn, and a hundred clusters of raisins, and two hundred cakes of dry figs, and laid them upon asses: 25:19. And she said to her servants: Go before me: behold, I will follow after you: but she told not her husband, Nabal. 25:20. And when she had gotten upon an ass, and was coming down to the foot of the mountain, David and his men came down over against her, and she met them. 25:21. And David said: Truly in vain have I kept all that belonged to this fellow in the wilderness, and nothing was lost of all that pertained unto him: and he hath returned me evil for good. 25:22. May God do so and so, and add more to the foes of David, if I leave of all that belong to him till the morning, any that pisseth against the wall. If I leave, etc... David certainly sinned in his designs against Nabal and his family, as he himself was afterwards sensible, when he blessed God for hindering him from executing the revenge he had proposed. 25:23. And when Abigail saw David, she made haste and lighted off the ass, and fell before David, on her face, and adored upon the ground. 25:24. And she fell at his feet, and said: Upon me let this iniquity be, my lord: let thy handmaid speak, I beseech thee, in thy ears, and hear the words of thy servant. 25:25. Let not my lord the king, I pray thee, regard this naughty man, Nabal: for according to his name, he is a fool, and folly is with him: but I, thy handmaid, did not see thy servants, my lord, whom thou sentest. His name... Nabal, in Hebrew, signifies a fool. 25:26. Now therefore, my lord, the Lord liveth, and thy soul liveth, who hath withholden thee from coming to blood, and hath saved thy hand to thee: and now let thy enemies be as Nabal, and all they that seek evil to my lord. 25:27. Wherefore receive this blessing, which thy handmaid hath brought to thee, my lord: and give it to the young men that follow thee, my lord. 25:28. Forgive the iniquity of thy handmaid: for the Lord will surely make for my lord a faithful house, because thou, my lord, fightest the battles of the Lord: let not evil therefore be found in thee all the days of thy life. 25:29. For if a man at any time shall rise, and persecute thee, and seek thy life, the soul of my lord shall be kept, as in the bundle of the living, with the Lord thy God: but the souls of thy enemies shall be whirled, as with the violence and whirling of a sling. 25:30. And when the Lord shall have done to thee, my lord, all the good that he hath spoken concerning thee, and shall have made thee prince over Israel, 25:31 This shall not be an occasion of grief to thee, and a scruple of heart to my lord, that thou hast shed innocent blood, or hast revenged thyself: and when the Lord shall have done well by my lord, thou shalt remember thy handmaid. 25:32. And David said to Abigail: Blessed be the Lord the God of Israel, who sent thee this day to meet me, and blessed be thy speech: 25:33. And blessed be thou, who hast kept me to day from coming to blood, and revenging me with my own hand. 25:34. Otherwise, as the Lord liveth, the God of Israel, who hath withholden me from doing thee any evil, if thou hadst not quickly come to meet me, there had not been left to Nabal by the morning light, any that pisseth against the wall. 25:35. And David received at her hand all that she had brought him, and said to her: Go in peace into thy house, behold I have heard thy voice, and honoured thy face. 25:36. And Abigail came to Nabal: and behold he had a feast in his house, like the feast of a king: and Nabal's heart was merry, for he was very drunk: and she told him nothing less or more until morning. 25:37. But early in the morning, when Nabal had digested his wine, his wife told him these words, and his heart died within him, and he became as a stone. 25:38. And after ten days had passed, the Lord struck Nabal, and he died. 25:39. And when David had heard that Nabal was dead, he said: Blessed be the Lord, who hath judged the cause of my reproach, at the hand of Nabal, and hath kept his servant from evil, and the Lord hath returned the wickedness of Nabal upon his head. Then David sent and treated with Abigail, that he might take her to himself for a wife. Blessed be, etc... David praiseth God, on this occasion, not out of joy for the death of Nabal (which would have argued a rancour of heart), but because he saw that God had so visibly taken his cause in hand, in punishing the injury done to him; whilst, by a merciful providence he kept him from revenging himself. 25:40. And David's servants came to Abigail, to Carmel, and spoke to her, saying: David hath sent us to thee, to take thee to himself for a wife. 25:41. And she arose, and bowed herself down with her face to the earth, and said: Behold, let thy servant be a handmaid, to wash the feet of the servants of my lord. 25:42. And Abigail arose, and made haste, and got upon an ass, and five damsels went with her, her waiting maids, and she followed the messengers of David, and became his wife. 25:43. Moreover David took also Achinoam of Jezrahel: and they were both of them his wives. 25:44. But Saul gave Michol, his daughter, David's wife, to Phalti, the son of Lais, who was of Gallim. 1 Kings Chapter 26 Saul goeth out again after David, who cometh by night where Saul and his men are asleep, but suffereth him not to be touched. Saul again confesseth his fault, and promiseth peace. 26:1. And the men of Ziph came to Saul in Gabaa, saying: Behold David is hid in the hill of Hachila, which is over against the wilderness. 26:2. And Saul arose, and went down to the wilderness of Ziph having with him three thousand chosen men of Israel, to seek David in the wilderness of Ziph. 26:3. And Saul encamped in Gabaa Hachila, which was over against the wilderness in the way: and David abode in the wilderness. And seeing that Saul was come after him into the wilderness, 26:4. He sent spies, and learned that he was most certainly come thither. 26:5. And David arose secretly, and came to the place where Saul was: and when he had beheld the place, wherein Saul slept, and Abner, the son of Ner, the captain of his army, and Saul sleeping in a tent, and the rest of the multitude round about him, 26:6. David spoke to Achimelech, the Hethite, and Abisai, the son of Sarvia, the brother of Joab, saying: Who will go down with me to Saul into the camp? And Abisai said: I will go with thee. 26:7. So David and Abisai came to the people by night, and found Saul lying and sleeping in the tent, and his spear fixed in the ground at his head: and Abner and the people sleeping round about him. 26:8. And Abisai said to David: God hath shut up thy enemy this day into thy hands: now then I will run him through with my spear, even to the earth at once, and there shall be no need of a second time. 26:9. And David said to Abisai: Kill him not: for who shall put forth his hand against the Lord's anointed, and shall be guiltless? 26:10. And David said: As the Lord liveth, unless the Lord shall strike him, or his day shall come to die, or he shall go down to battle, and perish: 26:11. The Lord be merciful unto me, and keep me that I never put forth my hand against the Lord's anointed. But now take the spear which is at his head, and the cup of water, and let us go. 26:12. So David took the spear, and the cup of water which was at Saul's head, and they went away: and no man saw it, or knew it, or awaked, but they were all asleep, for a deep sleep from the Lord was fallen upon them. 26:13. And when David was gone over to the other side, and stood on the top of the hill afar off, and a good space was between them, 26:14. David cried to the people, and to Abner, the son of Ner, saying: Wilt thou not answer, Abner? And Abner answering, said: Who art thou, that criest, and disturbest the king? 26:15. And David said to Abner: Art not thou a man? and who is like unto thee in Israel? why then hast thou not kept thy lord the king? for there came one of the people in to kill the king thy lord. 26:16. This thing is not good, that thou hast done: as the Lord liveth, you are the sons of death, who have not kept your master, the Lord's anointed. And now where is the king's spear, and the cup of water, which was at his head? 26:17. And Saul knew David's voice, and said: Is this thy voice, my son David? And David said: It is my voice, my lord the king. 26:18. And he said: Wherefore doth my lord persecute his servant? What have I done? or what evil is there in my hand? 26:19. Now therefore hear, I pray thee, my lord the king, the words of thy servant: If the Lord stir thee up against me, let him accept of sacrifice: but if the sons of men, they are cursed in the sight of the Lord, who have cast me out this day, that I should not dwell in the inheritance of the Lord, saying: Go, serve strange gods. 26:20. And now let not my blood be shed upon the earth before the Lord: for the king of Israel is come out to seek a flea, as the partridge is hunted in the mountains. 26:21. And Saul said: I have sinned; return, my son David, for I will no more do thee harm, because my life hath been precious in thy eyes this day: for it appeareth that I have done foolishly, and have been ignorant in very many things. 26:22. And David answering, said: Behold the king's spear: let one of the king's servants come over and fetch it. 26:23. And the Lord will reward every one according to his justice, and his faithfulness: for the Lord hath delivered thee this day into my hand, and I would not put forth my hand against the Lord's anointed. 26:24. And as thy life hath been much set by this day in my eyes, so let my life be much set by in the eyes of the Lord, and let him deliver me from all distress. 26:25. Then Saul said to David: Blessed art thou, my son David: and truly doing thou shalt do, and prevailing thou shalt prevail. And David went on his way, and Saul returned to his place. 1 Kings Chapter 27 David goeth again to Achis king of Geth, and obtaineth of him the city of Siceleg. 27:1. And David said in his heart: I shall one day or other fall into the hands of Saul: is it not better for me to flee, and to be saved in the land of the Philistines, that Saul may despair of me, and cease to seek me in all the coasts of Israel? I will flee then out of his hands. 27:2. And David arose, and went away, both he and the six hundred men that were with him, to Achis, the son of Maoch, king of Geth. 27:3. And David dwelt with Achis at Geth, he and his men; every man with his household, and David with his two wives, Achinoam, the Jezrahelitess, and Abigail, the wife of Nabal of Carmel. 27:4. And it was told Saul that David was fled to Geth, and he sought no more after him. 27:5. And David said to Achis: If I have found favour in thy sight, let a place be given me in one of the cities of this country, that I may dwell there: for why should thy servant dwell in the royal city with thee? 27:6. Then Achis gave him Siceleg that day: for which reason Siceleg belongeth to the kings of Juda unto this day. 27:7. And the time that David dwelt in the country of the Philistines, was four months. 27:8. And David and his men went up, and pillaged Gessuri, and Gerzi, and the Amalecites: for these were of old the inhabitants of the countries, as men go to Sur, even to the land of Egypt. Pillaged Gessuri, etc... These probably were enemies of the people of God: and some, if not all of them, were of the number of those whom God had ordered to be destroyed: which justifies David's proceedings in their regard. Though it is to be observed here, that we are not under an obligation of justifying every thing that he did: for the scripture, in relating what was done, does not say that it was well done. And even such as are true servants of God, are not to be imitated in all they do. 27:9. And David wasted all the land, and left neither man nor woman alive: and took away the sheep, and the oxen, and the asses, and the camels, and the apparel, and returned and came to Achis. 27:10. And Achis said to him: Whom hast thou gone against to day? David answered: Against the south of Juda, and against the south of Jerameel, and against the south of Ceni. 27:11. And David saved neither man nor woman, neither brought he any of them to Geth, saying: Lest they should speak against us. So did David, and such was his proceeding all the days that he dwelt in the country of the Philistines. 27:12. And Achis believed David, saying: He hath done much harm to his people Israel: Therefore he shall be my servant for ever. 1 Kings Chapter 28 The Philistines go out to war against Israel. Saul being forsaken by God, hath recourse to a witch. Samuel appeareth to him. 28:1. And it came to pass in those days, that the Philistines gathered together their armies, to be prepared for war against Israel: And Achis said to David: Know thou now assuredly, that thou shalt go out with me to the war, thou, and thy men. 28:2. And David said to Achis: Now thou shalt know what thy servant will do. And Achis said to David: And I will appoint thee to guard my life for ever. 28:3. Now Samuel was dead, and all Israel mourned for him, and buried him in Ramatha, his city. And Saul had put away all the magicians and soothsayers out of the land. 28:4. And the Philistines were gathered together, and came and encamped in Sunam: and Saul also gathered together all Israel, and came to Gelboe. 28:5. And Saul saw the army of the Philistines, and was afraid, and his heart was very much dismayed. 28:6. And he consulted the Lord, and he answered him not, neither by dreams, nor by priests, nor by prophets. 28:7. And Saul said to his servants: Seek me a woman that hath a divining spirit, and I will go to her, and enquire by her. And his servants said to him: There is a woman that hath a divining spirit at Endor. 28:8. Then he disguised himself: and put on other clothes, and he went, and two men with him, and they came to the woman by night, and he said to her: Divine to me by thy divining spirit, and bring me up him whom I shall tell thee. 28:9. And the woman said to him: Behold thou knowest all that Saul hath done, and how he hath rooted out the magicians and soothsayers from the land: why then dost thou lay a snare for my life, to cause me to be put to death? 28:10. And Saul swore unto her by the Lord, saying: As the Lord liveth, there shall no evil happen to thee for this thing. 28:11. And the woman said to him: Whom shall I bring up to thee? And he said, Bring me up Samuel. 28:12 And when the woman saw Samuel, she cried out with a loud voice, and said to Saul: Why hast thou deceived me? for thou art Saul. 28:13. And the king said to her: Fear not: what hast thou seen? and the woman said to Saul: I saw gods ascending out of the earth. 28:14. And he said to her: What form is he of? And she said: An old man cometh up, and he is covered with a mantle. And Saul understood that it was Samuel, and he bowed himself with his face to the ground, and adored. Understood that it was Samuel... It is the more common opinion of the holy fathers, and interpreters, that the soul of Samuel appeared indeed: and not, as some have imagined, an evil spirit in his shape. Not that the power of her magic could bring him thither, but that God was pleased for the punishment of Saul, that Samuel himself should denounce unto him the evils that were falling upon him. See Eccli. 46.23. 28:15. And Samuel said to Saul: Why hast thou disturbed my rest, that I should be brought up? And Saul said: I am in great distress: for the Philistines fight against me, and God is departed from me, and would not hear me, neither by the hand of prophets, nor by dreams: therefore I have called thee, that thou mayst shew me what I shall do. 28:16. And Samuel said: Why askest thou me, seeing the Lord has departed from thee, and is gone over to thy rival? 28:17. For the Lord will do to thee as he spoke by me, and he will rend thy kingdom out of thy hand, and will give it to thy neighbour David: 28:18. Because thou didst not obey the voice of the Lord, neither didst thou execute the wrath of his indignation upon Amalec. Therefore hath the Lord done to thee what thou sufferest this day. 28:19. And the Lord also will deliver Israel with thee into the hands of the Philistines: and to morrow thou and thy sons shall be with me: and the Lord will also deliver the army of Israel into the hands of the Philistines. With me... That is, in the state of the dead, and in another world, though not in the same place. 28:20. And forthwith Saul fell all along on the ground; for he was frightened with the words of Samuel, and there was no strength in him, for he had eaten no bread all that day. 28:21. And the woman came to Saul, (for he was very much troubled) and said to him: Behold thy handmaid hath obeyed thy voice, and I have put my life in my hand: and I hearkened unto the words which thou spokest to me. 28:22. Now therefore, I pray thee, hearken thou also to the voice of thy handmaid, and let me set before thee a morsel of bread, that thou mayst eat and recover strength, and be able to go on thy journey. 28:23. But he refused, and said: I will not eat. But his servants and the woman forced him, and at length hearkening to their voice, he arose from the ground, and sat upon the bed. 28:24. Now the woman had a fatted calf in the house, and she made haste and killed it: and taking meal, kneaded it, and baked some unleavened bread, 28:25. And set it before Saul, and before his servants. And when they had eaten they rose up, and walked all that night. 1 Kings Chapter 29 David going with the Philistines is sent back by their princes. 29:1. Now all the troops of the Philistines were gathered together to Aphec: and Israel also encamped by the fountain, which is in Jezrahel. 29:2. And the lords of the Philistines marched with their hundreds and their thousands: but David and his men were in the rear with Achis. 29:3. And the princes of the Philistines said to Achis: What mean these Hebrews? And Achis said to the princes of the Philistines: Do you not know David who was the servant of Saul, the king of Israel, and hath been with me many days, or years, and I have found no fault in him, since the day that he fled over to me until this day? 29:4. But the prices of the Philistines were angry with him, and they said to him: Let this man return, and abide in his place, which thou hast appointed him, and let him not go down with us to battle, lest he be an adversary to us, when we shall begin to fight: for how can he otherwise appease his master, but with our heads? 29:5. Is not this David, to whom they sung in their dances, saying: Saul slew his thousands, and David his ten thousands? 29:6. Then Achis called David, and said to him: As the Lord liveth, thou art upright and good in my sight: and so is thy going out, and thy coming in with me in the army: and I have not found any evil in thee, since the day that thou camest to me unto this day: but thou pleasest not the lords. 29:7. Return therefore, and go in peace, and offend not the eyes of the princes of the Philistines. 29:8. And David said to Achis: But what have I done, or what hast thou found in me thy servant, from the day that I have been in thy sight until this day, that I may not go and fight against the enemies of my lord the king? 29:9. And Achis answering, said to David: I know that thou art good in my sight, as an angel of God: But the princes of the Philistines have said: He shall not go up with us to the battle. 29:10. Therefore arise in the morning, thou, and the servants of thy lord, who came with thee: and when you are up before day, and it shall begin to be light, go on your way. 29:11. So David and his men arose in the night, that they might set forward in the morning, and returned to the land of the Philistines: and the Philistines went up to Jezrahel. 1 Kings Chapter 30 The Amalecites burn Siceleg, and carry off the prey: David pursueth after them, and recovereth all out of their hands. 30:1. Now when David and his men were come to Siceleg on the third day, the Amalecites had made an invasion on the south side upon Siceleg, and had smitten Siceleg, and burnt it with fire, 30:2. And had taken the women captives that were in it, both little and great: and they had not killed any person, but had carried them with them, and went on their way. 30:3. So when David and his men came to the city, and found it burnt with fire, and that their wives, and their sons, and their daughters, were taken captives, 30:4. David and the people that were with him, lifted up their voices, and wept till they had no more tears. 30:5. For the two wives also of David were taken captives, Achinoam, the Jezrahelitess, and Abigail, the wife of Nabal of Carmel. 30:6. And David was greatly afflicted: for the people had a mind to stone him, for the soul of every man was bitterly grieved for his sons and daughters: but David took courage in the Lord his God. 30:7. And he said to Abiathar, the priest, the son of Achimelech: Bring me hither the ephod. And Abiathar brought the ephod to David. 30:8. And David consulted the Lord, saying: Shall I pursue after these robbers, and shall I overtake them, or not? And the Lord said to him: Pursue after them: for thou shalt surely overtake them and recover the prey. 30:9. So David went, he and the six hundred men that were with him, and they came to the torrent Besor: and some, being weary, stayed there. 30:10. But David pursued, he and four hundred men: for two hundred stayed, who, being weary, could not go over the torrent Besor. 30:11. And they found an Egyptian in the field, and brought him to David: and they gave him bread to eat, and water to drink, 30:12. As also a piece of a cake of figs, and two bunches of raisins. And when he had eaten them, his spirit returned, and he was refreshed: for he had not eaten bread, nor drunk water, three days and three nights. 30:13. And David said to him: To whom dost thou belong; or whence dost thou come? and whither art thou going? He said: I am a young man of Egypt, the servant of an Amalecite: and my master left me, because I began to be sick three days ago. 30:14. For we made an invasion on the south side of Cerethi, and upon Juda, and upon the south of Caleb, and we burnt Siceleg with fire. 30:15. And David said to him: Canst thou bring me to this company? and he said: Swear to me by God, that thou wilt not kill me, nor deliver me into the hands of my master, and I will bring thee to this company. And David swore to him. 30:16. And when he had brought him, behold they were lying spread abroad upon all the ground, eating and drinking, and as it were keeping a festival day, for all the prey and the spoils which they had taken out of the land of the Philistines, and out of the land of Juda. 30:17. And David slew them from the evening unto the evening of the next day, and there escaped not a man of them, but four hundred young men, who had gotten upon camels, and fled. 30:18. So David recovered all that the Amalecites had taken, and he rescued his two wives. 30:19. And there was nothing missing small or great, neither of their sons or their daughters, nor of the spoils, and whatsoever they had taken, David recovered all. 30:20. And he took all the flocks and the herds, and made them go before him: and they said: This is the prey of David. 30:21. And David came to the two hundred men, who, being weary, had stayed, and were not able to follow David, and he had ordered them to abide at the torrent Besor: and they came out to meet David, and the people that were with him. And David coming to the people, saluted them peaceably. 30:22. Then all the wicked and unjust men, that had gone with David, answering, said: Because they came not with us, we will not give them any thing of the prey which we have recovered: but let every man take his wife, and his children, and be contented with them, and go his way. 30:23. But David said: You shall not do so, my brethren, with these things, which the Lord hath given us, who hath kept us, and hath delivered the robbers that invaded us into our hands: 30:24. And no man shall hearken to you in this matter. But equal shall be the portion of him that went down to battle, and of him that abode at the baggage, and they shall divide alike. 30:25. And this hath been done from that day forward, and since was made a statute and an ordinance, and as a law in Israel. 30:26. Then David came to Siceleg, and sent presents of the prey to the ancients of Juda, his neighbours, saying: Receive a blessing of the prey of the enemies of the Lord. 30:27. To them that were in Bethel, and that were in Ramoth to the south, and to them that were in Jether. 30:28. And to them that were in Aroer, and that were in Sephamoth, and that were in Esthamo, 30:29. And that were in Rachal, and that were in the cities of Jerameel, and that were in the cities of Ceni, 30:30. And that were in Arama, and that were in the lake Asan, and that were in Athach, 30:31. And that were in Hebron, and to the rest that were in those places, in which David had abode with his men. 1 Kings Chapter 31 Israel is defeated by the Philistines: Saul and his sons are slain. 31:1. And the Philistines fought against Israel, and the men of Israel fled from before the Philistines, and fell down slain in mount Gelboe. 31:2. And the Philistines fell upon Saul, and upon his sons, and they slew Jonathan, and Abinadab, and Melchisua, the sons of Saul. 31:3. And the whole weight of the battle was turned upon Saul: and the archers overtook him, and he was grievously wounded by the archers. 31:4. Then Saul said to his armourbearer: Draw thy sword, and kill me: lest these uncircumcised come, and slay me, and mock at me. And his armourbearer would not: for he was struck with exceeding great fear. Then Saul took his sword, and fell upon it. 31:5. And when his armourbearer saw this, to wit, that Saul was dead, he also fell upon his sword and died with him. 31:6. So Saul died, and his three sons, and his armourbearer, and all his men that same day together. 31:7. And the men of Israel, that were beyond the valley, and beyond the Jordan, seeing that the Israelites were fled, and that Saul was dead, and his sons, forsook their cities, and fled: and the Philistines came and dwelt there. 31:8. And on the morrow the Philistines came to strip the slain, and they found Saul and his three sons lying in mount Gelboe. 31:9. And they cut off Saul's head, and stripped him of his armour, and sent into the land of the Philistines round about, to publish it in the temples of their idols and among their people. 31:10. And they put his armour in the temple of Astaroth, but his body they hung on the wall of Bethsan. 31:11. Now when the inhabitants of Jabes Galaad had heard all that the Philistines had done to Saul, 31:12. All the most valiant men arose, and walked all the night, and took the body of Saul, and the bodies of his sons, from the wall of Bethsan: and they came to Jabes Galaad, and burnt them there. 31:13. And they took their bones, and buried them in the wood of Jabes: and fasted seven days. THE SECOND BOOK OF KINGS This Book relates the transactions from the death of Saul until the end of David's reign, being a history for the space of about forty-six years. 2 Kings Chapter 1 David mourneth for the death of Saul and Jonathan: he ordereth the man to be slain who pretended he had killed Saul. 1:1. Now it came to pass, after Saul was dead, that David returned from the slaughter of the Amalecites, and abode two days in Siceleg. 1:2. And on the third day, there appeared a man who came out of Saul's camp, with his garments rent, and dust strewed on his head: and when he came to David, he fell upon his face, and adored. 1:3. And David said to him: From whence comest thou? And he said to him: I am fled out of the camp of Israel. 1:4. And David said unto him: What is the matter that is come to pass? tell me: He said: The people are fled from the battle, and many of the people are fallen and dead: moreover Saul and Jonathan his son are slain. 1:5. And David said to the young man that told him: How knowest thou that Saul and Jonathan his son, are dead? 1:6. And the young man that told him, said: I came by chance upon mount Gelboe, and Saul leaned upon his spear: and the chariots and horsemen drew nigh unto him, 1:7. And looking behind him, and seeing me, he called me. And I answered, Here am I. 1:8. And he said to me: Who art thou? And I said to him: I am an Amalecite. 1:9. And he said to me: Stand over me, and kill me: for anguish is come upon me, and as yet my whole life is in me. 1:10. So standing over him, I killed him: for I knew that he could not live after the fall: and I took the diadem that was on his head, and the bracelet that was on his arm, and have brought them hither to thee, my lord. I killed him... This story of the young Amalecite was not true, as may easily be proved by comparing it with the last chapter of the foregoing book. 1:11. Then David took hold of his garments and rent them, and likewise all the men that were with him. 1:12. And they mourned, and wept, and fasted until evening for Saul, and for Jonathan his son, and for the people of the Lord, and for the house of Israel, because they were fallen by the sword. 1:13. And David said to the young man that told him: Whence art thou? He answered: I am the son of a stranger of Amalec. 1:14. David said to him: Why didst thou not fear to put out thy hand to kill the Lord's anointed? 1:15. And David calling one of his servants, said: Go near and fall upon him. And he struck him so that he died. 1:16. And David said to him: Thy blood be upon thy own head: for thy own mouth hath spoken against thee, saying: I have slain the Lord's anointed. 1:17. And David made this kind of lamentation over Saul, and over Jonathan his son. 1:18. (Also he commanded that they should teach the children of Juda the use of the bow, as it is written in the book of the just.) And he said: Consider, O Israel, for them that are dead, wounded on thy high places. 1:19. The illustrious of Israel are slain upon thy mountains: how are the valiant fallen? 1:20. Tell it not in Geth, publish it not in the streets of Ascalon: lest the daughters of the Philistines rejoice, lest the daughters of the uncircumcised triumph. 1:21. Ye mountains of Gelboe, let neither dew, nor rain come upon you, neither be they fields of firstfruits: for there was cast away the shield of the valiant, the shield of Saul as though he had not been anointed with oil. 1:22. From the blood of the slain, from the fat of the valiant, the arrow of Jonathan never turned back, and the sword of Saul did not return empty. 1:23. Saul and Jonathan, lovely, and comely in their life, even in death they were not divided: they were swifter than eagles, stronger than lions. 1:24. Ye daughters of Israel, weep over Saul, who clothed you with scarlet in delights, who gave ornaments of gold for your attire. 1:25. How are the valiant fallen in battle? Jonathan slain in the high places? 1:26. I grieve for thee, my brother Jonathan: exceeding beautiful, and amiable to me above the love of women. As the mother loveth her only son, so did I love thee. 1:27. How are the valiant fallen, and the weapons of war perished? 2 Kings Chapter 2 David is received and anointed king of Juda. Isboseth the son of Saul reigneth over the rest of Israel. A battle between Abner and Joab. 2:1. And after these things David consulted the Lord, saying: Shall I go up into one of the cities of Juda? And the Lord said to him: Go up. And David said: Whither shall I go up? And he answered him: Into Hebron. 2:2. So David went up, and his two wives Achinoam the Jezrahelitess, and Abigail the wife of Nabal of Carmel: 2:3. And the men also that were with him, David brought up every man with his household: and they abode in the towns of Hebron. 2:4. And the men of Juda came, and anointed David there, to be king over the house of Juda. And it was told David that the men of Jabes Galaad had buried Saul. 2:5. David therefore sent messengers to the men of Jabes Galaad, and said to them: Blessed be you to the Lord, who have shewn this mercy to your master Saul, and have buried him. 2:6. And now the Lord surely will render you mercy and truth, and I also will requite you for this good turn, because you have done this thing. 2:7. Let your hands be strengthened, and be ye men of valour: for although your master Saul be dead, yet the house of Juda hath anointed me to be their king. 2:8. But Abner the son of Ner, general of Saul's army, took Isboseth the son of Saul, and led him about through the camp, 2:9. And made him king over Galaad, and over Gessuri, and over Jezrahel, and over Ephraim, and over Benjamin, and over all Israel. 2:10. Isboseth the son of Saul was forty years old when he began to reign over Israel, and he reigned two years; and only the house of Juda followed David. He reigned two years... Viz., before he began visibly to decline: but in all he reigned seven years and six months; for so long David reigned in Hebron. 2:11. And the number of the days that David abode, reigning in Hebron over the house of Juda, was seven years and six months. 2:12. And Abner the son of Ner, and the servants of Isboseth the son of Saul, went out from the camp to Gabaon. 2:13. And Joab the son of Sarvia, and the servants of David went out, and met them by the pool of Gabaon. And when they were come together, they sat down over against one another: the one on the one side of the pool, and the other on the other side. 2:14. And Abner said to Joab: Let the young men rise, and play before us. And Joab answered: Let them rise. 2:15. Then there arose and went over twelve in number of Benjamin, of the part of Isboseth the son of Saul, and twelve of the servants of David. 2:16. And every one catching his fellow by the head, thrust his sword into the side of his adversary, and they fell down together: and the name of the place was called: The field of the valiant, in Gabaon. 2:17. And there was a very fierce battle that day: and Abner was put to flight, with the men of Israel, by the servants of David. 2:18. And there were the three sons of Sarvia there, Joab, and Abisai, and Asael: now Asael was a most swift runner, like one of the roes that abide in the woods. 2:19. And Asael pursued after Abner, and turned not to the right hand nor to the left from following Abner. 2:20. And Abner looked behind him, and said: Art thou Asael? And he answered: I am. 2:21. And Abner said to him: Go to the right hand or to the left, and lay hold on one of the young men and take thee his spoils. But Asael would not leave off following him close. 2:22. And again Abner said to Asael: Go off, and do not follow me, lest I be obliged to stab thee to the ground, and I shall not be able to hold up my face to Joab thy brother. 2:23. But he refused to hearken to him, and would not turn aside: wherefore Abner struck him with his spear with a back stroke in the groin, and thrust him through, and he died upon the spot: and all that came to the place where Asael fell down and died stood still. 2:24. Now while Joab and Abisai pursued after Abner, the sun went down: and they came as far as the hill of the aqueduct, that lieth over against the valley by the way of the wilderness in Gabaon. 2:25. And the children of Benjamin gathered themselves together to Abner: and being joined in one body, they stood on the top of a hill. 2:26. And Abner cried out to Joab, and said: Shall thy sword rage unto utter destruction? knowest thou not that it is dangerous to drive people to despair? how long dost thou defer to bid the people cease from pursuing after their brethren? 2:27. And Joab said: As the Lord liveth, if thou hadst spoke sooner, even in the morning the people should have retired from pursuing after their brethren. 2:28. Then Joab sounded the trumpet, and all the army stood still, and did not pursue after Israel any farther, nor fight any more. 2:29. And Abner and his men walked all that night through the plains: and they passed the Jordan, and having gone through all Beth-horon, came to the camp. 2:30. And Joab returning, after he had left Abner, assembled all the people: and there were wanting of David's servants nineteen men, beside Asael. 2:31. But the servants of David had killed of Benjamin, and of the men that were with Abner, three hundred and sixty, who all died. 2:32. And they took Asael, and buried him in the sepulchre of his father in Bethlehem and Joab, and the men that were with him, marched all the night, and they came to Hebron at break of day. 2 Kings Chapter 3 David groweth daily stronger. Abner cometh over to him: he is treacherously slain by Joab. 3:1. Now there was a long war between the house of Saul and the house of David: David prospering and growing always stronger and stronger, but the house of Saul decaying daily. There was a long war between the house of Saul, etc... Rather a strife or emulation than a war with arms; it lasted five years and a half. 3:2. And sons were born to David in Hebron: and his firstborn was Ammon of Achinoam the Jezrahelitess: 3:3. And his second Cheleab of Abigail the wife of Nabal of Carmel: and the third Absalom the son of Maacha the daughter of Tholmai king of Gessur: 3:4. And the fourth Adonias, the son of Haggith: and the fifth Saphathia the son of Abital: 3:5. And the sixth Jethraam of Egla the wife of David: these were born to David In Hebron. 3:6. Now while there was war between the house of Saul and the house of David, Abner the son of Ner ruled the house of Saul. 3:7. And Saul had a concubine named Respha, the daughter of Aia. And Isboseth said to Abner: 3:8. Why didst thou go in to my father's concubine? And he was exceedingly angry for the words of Isboseth, and said: Am I a dog's head against Juda this day, who have shewn mercy to the house of Saul thy father, and to his brethren and friends, and have not delivered thee into the hands of David, and hast thou sought this day against me to charge me with a matter concerning a woman? 3:9. So do God to Abner, and more also, unless as the Lord hath sworn to David, so I do to him, 3:10. That the kingdom be translated from the house of Saul, and the throne of David be set up over Israel, and over Juda from Dan to Bersabee. 3:11. And he could not answer him a word, because he feared him. 3:12. Abner therefore sent messengers to David for himself, saying: Whose is the land? and that they should say: Make a league with me, and my hand shall be with thee: and I will bring all Israel to thee. 3:13. And he said: Very well: I will make a league with thee: but one thing I require of thee, saying: Thou shalt not see my face before thou bring Michol the daughter of Saul: and so thou shalt come, and see me. 3:14. And David sent messengers to Isboseth the son of Saul, saying: Restore my wife Michol, whom I espoused to me for a hundred foreskins of the Philistines. 3:15. And Isboseth sent, and took her from her husband Phaltiel, the son of Lais. 3:16. And her husband followed her, weeping as far as Bahurim: and Abner said to him: Go and return. And he returned. 3:17. Abner also spoke to the ancients of Israel, saying: Both yesterday and the day before you sought for David that he might reign over you. 3:18. Now then do it: because the Lord hath spoken to David, saying: By the hand of my servant David I will save my people Israel from the hands of the Philistines, and of all their enemies. 3:19. And Abner spoke also to Benjamin. And he went to speak to David in Hebron all that seemed good to Israel, and to all Benjamin. 3:20. And he came to David in Hebron with twenty men: and David made a feast for Abner, and his men that came with him. 3:21. And Abner said to David: I will rise, that I may gather all Israel unto thee my lord the king, and may enter into a league with thee, and that thou mayst reign over all as thy soul desireth. Now when David had brought Abner on his way, and he was gone in peace, 3:22. Immediately, David's servants and Joab came, after having slain the robbers, with an exceeding great booty. And Abner was not with David in Hebron, for he had now sent him away, and he was gone in peace. 3:23. And Joab and all the army that was with him, came afterwards: and it was told Joab, that Abner the son of Ner came to the king, and he hath sent him away, and he is gone in peace. 3:24. And Joab went in to the king, and said: What hast thou done? Behold Abner came to thee: Why didst thou send him away, and he is gone and departed? 3:25. Knowest thou not Abner the son of Ner, that to this end he came to thee, that he might deceive thee, and to know thy going out, and thy coming in, and to know all thou dost? 3:26. Then Joab going out from David, sent messengers after Abner, and brought him back from the cistern of Sira, David knowing nothing of it. 3:27. And when Abner was returned to Hebron, Joab took him aside to the middle of the gate, to speak to him treacherously: and he stabbed him there in the groin, and he died, in revenge of the blood of Asael his brother. 3:28. And when David heard of it, after the thing was now done, he said: I, and my kingdom are innocent before the Lord for ever of the blood of Abner the son of Ner: 3:29. And may it come upon the head of Joab, and upon all his father's house: and let there not fail from the house of Joab one that hath an issue of seed, or that is a leper, or that holdeth the distaff, or that falleth by the sword, or that wanteth bread. 3:30. So Joab and Abisai his brother slew Abner, because he had killed their brother Asael at Gabaon in the battle. 3:31. And David said to Joab, and to all the people that were with him: Rend your garments, and gird yourselves with sackcloths, and mourn before the funeral of Abner. And king David himself followed the bier. 3:32. And when they had buried Abner in Hebron, king David lifted up his voice, and wept at the grave of Abner: and all the people also wept. 3:33. And the king mourning and lamenting over Abner, said: Not as cowards are wont to die, hath Abner died. 3:34. Thy hands were not bound, nor thy feet laden with fetters: but as men fall before the children of iniquity, so didst thou fall. And all the people repeating it wept over him. 3:35. And when all the people came to take meat with David, while it was yet broad day, David swore, saying: So do God to me, and more also, if I taste bread or any thing else before sunset. 3:36. And all the people heard, and they were pleased, and all that the king did seemed good in the sight of all the people. 3:37. And all the people, and all Israel understood that day that it was not the king's doing, that Abner the son of Ner was slain. 3:38. The king also said to his servants: Do you not know that a prince and a great man is slain this day in Israel? 3:39. But I as yet am tender, though anointed king. And these men the sons of Sarvia are too hard for me: the Lord reward him that doth evil according to his wickedness. 2 Kings Chapter 4 Isboseth is murdered by two of his servants. David punisheth the murderers. 4:1. And Isboseth the son of Saul heard that Abner was slain in Hebron: and his hands were weakened, and all Israel was troubled. 4:2. Now the son of Saul had two men captains of his bands, the name of the one was Baana, and the name of the other Rechab, the sons of Remmon a Berothite of the children of Benjamin: for Beroth also was reckoned in Benjamin. 4:3. And the Berothites fled into Gethaim, and were sojourners there until that time. 4:4. And Jonathan the son of Saul had a son that was lame of his feet: for he was five years old when the tidings came of Saul and Jonathan from Jezrahel. And his nurse took him up and fled: and as she made haste to flee, he fell and became lame: and his name was Miphiboseth. 4:5. And the sons of Remmon the Berothite, Rechab and Baana coming, went into the house of Isboseth in the heat of the day: and he was sleeping upon his bed at noon. And the doorkeeper of the house, who was cleansing wheat, was fallen asleep. 4:6. And they entered into the house secretly taking ears of corn, and Rechab and Baana his brother stabbed him in the groin, and fled away. 4:7. For when they came into the house, he was sleeping upon his bed in a parlour, and they struck him and killed him and taking away his head they went off by the way of the wilderness, walking all night. 4:8. And they brought the head of Isboseth to David to Hebron: and they said to the king: Behold the head of Isboseth the son of Saul thy enemy who sought thy life: and the Lord hath revenged my lord the king this day of Saul, and of his seed. 4:9. But David answered Rechab, and Baana his brother, the sons of Remmon the Berothite, and said to them: As the Lord liveth, who hath delivered my soul out of all distress, 4:10. The man that told me, and said: Saul is dead, who thought he brought good tidings, I apprehended, and slew him in Siceleg, who should have been rewarded for his news. 4:11. How much more now when wicked men have slain an innocent man in his own house, upon his bed, shall I not require his blood at your hand, and take you away from the earth? 4:12. And David commanded his servants and they slew them: and cutting off their hands and feet, hanged them up over the pool in Hebron: but the head of Isboseth they took and buried in the sepulchre of Abner in Hebron. 2 Kings Chapter 5 David is anointed king of all Israel. He taketh Jerusalem, and dwelleth there. He defeateth the Philistines. 5:1. Then all the tribes of Israel came to David in Hebron, saying: Behold we are thy bone and thy flesh. 5:2. Moreover yesterday also and the day before, when Saul was king over us, thou wast he that did lead out and bring in Israel: and the Lord said to thee: Thou shalt feed my people Israel, and thou shalt be prince over Israel. 5:3. The ancients also of Israel came to the king of Hebron, and king David made a league with them in Hebron before the Lord: and they anointed David to be king over Israel. 5:4. David was thirty years old when he began to reign, and he reigned forty years. 5:5. In Hebron he reigned over Juda seven years and six months: and in Jerusalem he reigned three and thirty years over all Israel and Juda. 5:6. And the king and all the men that were with him went to Jerusalem to the Jebusites the inhabitants of the land: and they said to David: Thou shalt not come in hither unless thou take away the blind and the lame that say: David shall not come in hither. 5:7. But David took the castle of Sion, the same is the city of David. 5:8. For David had offered that day a reward to whosoever should strike the Jebusites and get up to the gutters of the tops of the houses, and take away the blind and the lame that hated the soul of David: therefore it is said in the proverb: The blind and the lame shall not come into the temple. 5:9. And David dwelt in the castle, and called it, The city of David: and built round about from Mello and inwards. 5:10. And he went on prospering and growing up, and the Lord God of hosts was with him. 5:11. And Hiram the king of Tyre sent messengers to David, and cedar trees, and carpenters, and masons for walls: and they built a house for David. 5:12. And David knew that the Lord had confirmed him king over Israel, and that he had exalted his kingdom over his people Israel. 5:13. And David took more concubines and wives of Jerusalem, after he was come from Hebron: and there were born to David other sons also and daughters: David took more concubines and wives of Jerusalem... Not harlots, but wives of an inferior condition; for such, in scripture, are styled concubines. 5:14. And these are the names of them, that were born to him in Jerusalem, Samua, and Sobab, and Nathan, and Solomon, 5:15. And Jebahar, and Elisua, and Nepheg, 5:16. And Japhia, and Elisama, and Elioda, and Eliphaleth. 5:17. And the Philistines heard that they had anointed David to be king over Israel: and they all came to seek David: and when David heard of it, he went down to a strong hold. 5:18. And the Philistines coming spread themselves in the valley of Raphaim. 5:19. And David consulted the Lord, Saying: Shall I go up to the Philistines? and wilt thou deliver them into my hand? And the Lord said to David: Go up, for I will surely deliver the Philistines into thy hand. 5:20. And David came to Baal Pharisim: and defeated them there, and he said, The Lord hath divided my enemies before me, as waters are divided. Therefore the name of the place was called Baal Pharisim. 5:21. And they left there their idols: which David and his men took away. 5:22. And the Philistines came up again and spread themselves into the valley of Raphaim. 5:23. And David consulted the Lord: Shall I go up against the Philistines, and wilt thou deliver them into my hands? He answered: Go not up against them but fetch a compass behind them, and thou shalt come upon them over against the pear trees. 5:24. And when thou shalt hear the sound of one going in the tops of the pear trees, then shalt thou join battle: for then will the Lord go out before thy face to strike the army of the Philistines. 5:25. And David did as the Lord had commanded him, and he smote the Philistines from Gabaa until thou come to Gezer. 2 Kings Chapter 6 David fetcheth the ark from Cariathiarim. Oza is struck dead for touching it. It is deposited in the house of Obededom: and from thence carried to David's house. 6:1. And David again gathered together all the chosen men of Israel, thirty thousand. 6:2. And David arose and went, with all the people that were with him of the men of Juda to fetch the ark of God, upon which the name of the Lord of Hosts is invoked, who sitteth over it upon the cherubims. 6:3. And they laid the ark of God upon a new cart: and took it out of the house of Abinadab, who was in Gabaa, and Oza and Ahio, the sons of Abinadab, drove the new cart. Gabaa... The hill of Cariathiarim, where the ark had been in the house of Abinadab, from the time of its being restored back by the Philistines. 6:4. And when they had taken it out of the house of Abinadab, who was in Gabaa, Ahio having care of the ark of God went before the ark. 6:5. But David and all Israel played before the Lord on all manner of instruments made of wood, on harps and lutes and timbrels and cornets and cymbals. 6:6. And when they came to the floor of Nachon, Oza put forth his hand to the ark of God, and took hold of it: because the oxen kicked and made it lean aside. 6:7. And the indignation of the Lord was enkindled against Oza, and he struck him for his rashness: and he died there before the ark of God. 6:8. And David was grieved because the Lord had struck Oza, and the name of that place was called: The striking of Oza, to this day. 6:9. And David was afraid of the Lord that day, saying: How shall the ark of the Lord come to me? 6:10. And he would not have the ark of the Lord brought in to himself into the city of David: but he caused it to be carried into the house of Obededom the Gethite. 6:11. And the ark of the Lord abode in the house of Obededom the Gethite three months: and the Lord blessed Obededom, and all his household. 6:12. And it was told king David, that the Lord had blessed Obededom, and all that he had, because of the ark of God. So David went, and brought away the ark of God out of the house of Obededom into the city of David with joy. And there were with David seven choirs, and calves for victims. Choirs... Or companies of musicians. 6:13. And when they that carried the ark of the Lord had gone six paces, he sacrificed and ox and a ram: 6:14. And David danced with all his might before the Lord: and David was girded with a linen ephod. 6:15. And David and all the louse of Israel brought the ark of the covenant of the Lord with joyful shouting, and with sound of trumpet. 6:16. And when the ark of the Lord was come into the city of David, Michol the daughter of Saul, looking out through a window, saw king David leaping and dancing before the Lord: and she despised him in her heart. 6:17. And they brought the ark of the Lord, and set it in its place in the midst of the tabernacle, which David had pitched for it: and David offered holocausts, and peace offerings before the Lord. 6:18. And when he had made an end of offering holocausts and peace offerings, he blessed the people in the name of the Lord of hosts. 6:19. And he distributed to all the multitude of Israel, both men and women, to every one, a cake of bread, and a piece of roasted beef, and fine flour fried with oil: and all the people departed every one to his own house. 6:20. And David returned to bless his own house: and Michol the daughter of Saul coming out to meet David, said: How glorious was the king of Israel to day, uncovering himself before the handmaids of his servants, and was naked, as if one of the buffoons should be naked. 6:21. And David said to Michol: Before the Lord, who chose me rather than thy father, and than all his house, and commanded me to be ruler over the people of the Lord in Israel, 6:22. I will both play and make myself meaner than I have done: and I will be little in my own eyes: and with the handmaids of whom thou speakest, I shall appear more glorious. 6:23. Therefore Michol the daughter of Saul had no child to the day of her death. 2 Kings Chapter 7 David's purpose to build a temple is rewarded with the promise of great blessings in his seed: his prayer and thanksgiving. 7:1. And it came to pass when the king sat in his house, and the Lord had given him rest on every side from all his enemies, 7:2. He said to Nathan the prophet: Dost thou see that I dwell in a house of cedar, and the ark of God is lodged within skins? 7:3. And Nathan said to the king: Go, do all that is in they heart: because the Lord is with thee. 7:4. But it came to pass that night, that the word of the Lord came to Nathan, saying: 7:5. Go, and say to my servant David: Thus saith the Lord: Shalt thou build me a house to dwell in? 7:6. Whereas I have not dwelt in a house from the day that I brought the children of Israel out of the land of Egypt even to this day: but have walked in a tabernacle, and in a tent. 7:7. In all the places that I have gone through with all the children of Israel, did ever I speak a word to any one of the tribes of Israel, whom I commanded to feed my people Israel, saying: Why have you not built me a house of cedar? 7:8. And now thus shalt thou speak to my servant David: Thus saith the Lord of hosts: I took thee out of the pastures from following the sheep to be ruler over my people Israel: 7:9. And I have been with thee wheresoever thou hast walked, and have slain all thy enemies from before thy face: and I have made thee a great man, like unto the name of the great ones that are on the earth. 7:10. And I will appoint a place for my people Israel, and I will plant them, and they shall dwell therein, and shall be disturbed no more: neither shall the children of iniquity afflict them any more as they did before, 7:11. From the day that I appointed judges over my people Israel: and I will give thee rest from all thy enemies. And the Lord foretelleth to thee, that the Lord will make thee a house. 7:12. And when thy days shall be fulfilled, and thou shalt sleep with thy fathers, I will raise up thy seed after thee, which shall proceed out of the bowels, and I will establish his kingdom. I will establish his kingdom... This prophecy partly relateth to Solomon: but much more to Christ, who is called the son of David in scripture, and who is the builder of the true temple, which is the church, his everlasting kingdom, which shall never fail. 7:13. He shall build a house to my name, and I will establish the throne of his kingdom fore ever. 7:14. I will be to him a father, and he shall be to me a son: and if he commit any iniquity, I will correct him with the rod of men, and with the stripes of the children of men. 7:15. But my mercy I will not take away from him, as I took it from Saul, whom I removed from before my face. 7:16. And thy house shall be faithful, and thy kingdom for ever before thy face, and thy throne shall be firm for ever. 7:17. According to all these words and according to all this vision so did Nathan speak to David. 7:18. And David went in, and sat before the Lord, and said: Who am I, O Lord God, and what is my house, that thou hast brought me thus far? 7:19. Bur yet this hath seemed little in thy sight, O Lord God, unless thou didst also speak of the house of thy servant for a long time to come: for this is the law of Adam, O Lord God: 7:20. And what can David say more unto thee? for thou knowest thy servant, O Lord God: 7:21. For thy word's sake, and according to thy own heart thou has done all these great things, so that thou wouldst make it known to thy servant. 7:22. Therefore thou art magnified, O Lord God, because there is none like to thee, neither is there any God besides thee, in all the things that we have heard with our ears. 7:23. And what nation is there upon earth, as thy people Israel, whom God went to redeem for a people to himself, and to make him a name, and to do for them great and terrible things, upon the earth, before the face of thy people, whom thou redeemedst to thyself out of Egypt, from the nations and their gods. 7:24. For thou hast confirmed to thyself thy people Israel to be an everlasting people: and thou, O Lord God, art become their God. 7:25. And now, O Lord God, raise up for ever the word that thou hast spoken, concerning thy servant and concerning his house: and do as thou hast spoken, 7:26. That thy name may be magnified for ever, and it may be said: The Lord of hosts is God over Israel. And the house of thy servant David shall be established before the Lord. 7:27. Because thou, O Lord of hosts, God of Israel, hast revealed to the ear of thy servant, saying: I will build thee a house: therefore hath thy servant found in his heart to pray this prayer to thee. 7:28. And now, O Lord God, thou art God, and thy words shall be true: for thou hast spoken to thy servant these good things. 7:29. And now begin, and bless the house of thy servant, that it may endure for ever before thee: because thou, O Lord God, hast spoken it, and with thy blessing let the house of thy servant be blessed for ever. 2 Kings Chapter 8 David's victories, and his chief officers. 8:1. And it came to pass after this that David defeated the Philistines, and brought them down, and David took the bridle of tribute out of the hand of the Philistines, 8:2. And he defeated Moab, and measured them with a line, casting them down to the earth: and he measured with two lines, one to put to death, and one to save alive: and Moab was made to serve David under tribute. 8:3. David defeated also Adarezer the son of Rohob king of Soba, when he went to extend his dominion over the river Euphrates. 8:4. And David took from him a thousand and seven hundred horsemen, and twenty thousand footmen, and houghed all the chariot horses: and only reserved of them for one hundred chariots. 8:5. And the Syrians of Damascus came to succour Adarezer the king of Soba: and David slew of the Syrians two and twenty thousand men. 8:6. And David put garrisons in Syria of Damascus: and Syria served David under tribute, and the Lord preserved David in all his enterprises, whithersoever he went. 8:7. And David took the arms of gold, which the servants of Adarezer wore and brought them to Jerusalem. 8:8. And out of Bete, and out of Beroth, cities of Adarezer, king David took and exceeding great quantity of brass. 8:9. And Thou the king of Emath heard that David had defeated all the forces of Adarezer. 8:10. And Thou sent Joram his son to king David, to salute him, and to congratulate with him, and to return him thanks: because he had fought against Adarezer, and had defeated him. For Thou was an enemy to Adarezer, and in his hand were vessels of gold, and vessels of silver, and vessels of brass: 8:11. And king David dedicated them to the Lord, together with the silver and gold that he had dedicated of all the nations, which he had subdued: 8:12. Of Syria, and of Moab, and of the children Ammon, and of the Philistines, and of Amalec, and of the spoils of Adarezer the son of Rohob king of Soba. 8:13. David also made himself a name, when he returned after taking Syria in the valley of the saltpits, killing eighteen thousand: 8:14. And he put guards in Edom, and placed there a garrison: and all Edom was made to serve David: and the Lord preserved David in all enterprises he went about. 8:15. And David reigned over all Israel: and David did judgment and justice to all his people. 8:16. And Joab the son Sarvia was over the army: and Josaphat the son of Ahilud was recorder: Recorder... Or chancellor. 8:17. And Sadoc the son of Achitob, and Achimelech the son of Abiathar, were the priests: and Saraias was the scribe: Scribe... Or secretary. 8:18. And Banaias the son of Joiada was over the Cerethi and Phelethi: and the sons of David were the princes. The Cerethi and Phelethi... The king's guards.-Ibid. Princes... Literally priests. (Cohen) So called, by a title of honour, and not from exercising the priestly functions. 2 Kings Chapter 9 David's kindness to Miphiboseth for the sake of his father Jonathan. 9:1. And David said: Is there any one, think you, left of the house of Saul, that I may shew kindness to him for Jonathan's sake? 9:2. Now there was of the house of Saul, a servant named Siba: and when the king had called him to him, he said to him: Art thou Siba? And he answered: I am Siba thy servant. 9:3. And the king said: Is there any one left of the house of Saul, that I may shew the mercy of God unto Him? And Siba said to the king: There is a son of Jonathan left, who is lame of his feet. 9:4. Where is he? said he. And Siba said to the king: Behold he is in the house of Machir the son of Ammiel in Lodabar. 9:5. Then King David sent, and brought him out of the house of Machir the son of Ammiel of Lodabar. 9:6. And when Miphiboseth the son of Jonathan the son of Saul was come to David, he fell on his face and worshipped. And David said: Miphiboseth? And he answered: Behold thy servant. 9:7. And David said to him: Fear not, for I will surely shew thee mercy for Jonathan thy father's sake, and I will restore the lands of Saul the father, and thou shalt eat bread at my table always. 9:8. He bowed down to him, and said: Who am I thy servant, that thou shouldst look upon such a dead dog as I am? 9:9. Then the King called Siba the servant of Saul, and said to him: All that belonged to Saul, and all his house, I have given to thy master's son. 9:10. Thou therefore and the sons and thy servants shall till the land for him: and thou shalt bring in food for thy master's son, that he may be maintained: and Miphiboseth the son of thy master shall always eat bread at my table. And Siba had fifteen sons and twenty servants. 9:11. And Siba said to the king: As thou my lord the hast commanded thy servant, so will thy servant do: and Miphiboseth shall eat at my table, as one of the sons of the King. 9:12. And Miphiboseth had a young son whose name was Micha: and all that kindred of the house of Siba served Miphiboseth. 9:13. But Miphiboseth dwelt in Jerusalem: because he ate always of the king's table: and he was lame of both feet. 2 Kings Chapter 10 The Ammonites shamefully abuse the ambassadors of David: they hire the Syrians to the their assistance: but are overthrown with their allies. 10:1. And it came to pass after this, that the king of the children of Ammon died, and Hanon his son reigned in his stead. 10:2. And David said: I will shew kindness to Hanon the son of Daas, as his father shewed kindness to me. So David sent his servants to comfort him for the death of his father. But when the servants of David were come into the land of the children of Ammon, 10:3. The princes of the children of Ammon said to Hanon their lord: Thinkest thou that for the honour of thy father, David hath sent comforters to thee, and hath not David rather sent his servants to thee to search, and spy into the city, and overthrow it? 10:4. Wherefore Hanon took the servants of David, and shaved off the one half of their beards, and cut away half of their garments even to the buttocks, and sent them away. 10:5. When this was told David, he sent to meet them: for the men were sadly put to confusion, and David commanded them, saying: Stay at Jericho, till your beards be grown, and then return. 10:6. And the children of Ammon seeing that they had done an injury to David, sent and hired the Syrians of Rohob, and the Syrians of Soba, twenty thousand footmen, and of the king of Maacha a thousand men, and of Istob twelve thousand men. 10:7. And when David heard this, he sent Joab and the whole army of warriors. 10:8. And the children of Ammon came out, and set their men in array at the entering in of the gate: but the Syrians of Soba, and of Rohob, and of Istob, and of Maacha were by themselves in the field. 10:9. Then Joab seeing that the battle was prepared against him, both before and behind, chose of all the choice men of Israel, and put them in array against the Syrians: 10:10. And the rest of the people he delivered to Abisai his brother, who set them in array against the children of Ammon. 10:11. And Joab said: If the Syrians are too strong for me, then thou shalt help me, but if the children of Ammon are too strong for thee, then I will help thee. 10:12. Be of good courage, and let us fight for our people, and for the city of our God: and the Lord will do what is good in his sight. 10:13. And Joab and the people that were with him, began to fight against the Syrians: and they immediately fled before him. 10:14. And the children of Ammon seeing that the Syrians were fled, they fled also before Abisai, and entered into the city: and Joab returned from the children of Ammon, and came to Jerusalem. 10:15. Then the Syrians seeing that they had fallen before Israel, gathered themselves together. 10:16. And Adarezer sent and fetched the Syrians, that were beyond the river, and brought over their army: and Sobach, the captain of the host of Adarezer, was their general. 10:17. And when this was told David, he gathered all Israel together, and passed over the Jordan, and came to Helam: and the Syrians set themselves in array against David, and fought against him. 10:18. And the Syrians fled before Israel, and David slew of the Syrians the men of seven hundred chariots, and forty thousand horsemen: and smote Sobach the captain of the army, who presently died. 10:19. And all the kings that were auxiliaries of Adarezer, seeing themselves overcome by Israel, were afraid and fled away, eight and fifty thousand men before Israel. And they made peace with Israel: and served them, and all the Syrians were afraid to help the children of Ammon any more. 2 Kings Chapter 11 David falleth into the crime of adultery with Bethsabee: and not finding other means to conceal it, causeth her husband Urias to be slain. Then marrieth her, who beareth him a son. 11:1. And it came to pass at the return of the year, at the time when kings go forth to war, that David sent Joab and his servants with him, and all Israel, and they spoiled the children of Ammon, and besieged Rabba: but David remained in Jerusalem. 11:2. In the mean time it happened that David arose from his bed after noon, and walked upon the roof of the king's house: And he saw from the roof of his house a woman washing herself, over against him: and the woman was very beautiful. 11:3. And the king sent, and inquired who the woman was. And it was told him, that she was Bethsabee the daughter of Eliam, the wife of Urias the Hethite. 11:4. And David sent messengers, and took her, and she came in to him, and he slept with her: and presently she was purified from her uncleanness: 11:5. And she returned to her house having conceived. And she sent and told David, and said: I have conceived. 11:6. And David sent to Joab, saying: Send me Urias the Hethite. And Joab sent Urias to David. 11:7. And Urias came to David. And David asked how Joab did, and the people, and how the war was carried on. 11:8. And David said to Urias: Go into thy house, and wash thy feet. And Urias went out from the king's house, and there went out after him a mess of meat from the king. 11:9. But Urias slept before the gate of the king's house, with the other servants of his lord, and went not down to his own house. 11:10. And it was told David by some that said: Urias went not to his house. And David said to Urias: Didst thou not come from thy journey? why didst thou not go down to thy house? 11:11. And Urias said to David: The ark of God and Israel and Juda dwell in tents, and my lord Joab and the servants of my lord abide upon the face of the earth: and shall I go into my house, to eat and to drink, and to sleep with my wife? By thy welfare and by the welfare of thy soul I will not do this thing. 11:12. Then David said to Urias: Tarry here to day, and to morrow I will send thee away. Urias tarried in Jerusalem that day and the next. 11:13. And David called him to eat and to drink before him, and he made him drunk: and he went out in the evening, and slept on his couch with the servants of his lord, and went not down into his house. 11:14. And when the morning was come, David wrote a letter to Joab: and sent it by the hand of Urias, 11:15. Writing in the letter: Set ye Urias in the front of the battle, where the fight is strongest: and leave ye him, that he may be wounded and die. 11:16. Wherefore as Joab was besieging the city, he put Urias in the place where he knew the bravest men were. 11:17. And the men coming out of the city, fought against Joab, and there fell some of the people of the servants of David, and Urias the Hethite was killed also. 11:18. Then Joab sent, and told David all things concerning the battle. 11:19. And he charged the messenger, saying: When thou hast told all the words of the battle to the king, 11:20. If thou see him to be angry, and he shall say: Why did you approach so near to the wall to fight? knew you not that many darts are thrown from above off the wall? 11:21. Who killed Abimelech the son of Jerobaal? did not a woman cast a piece of a millstone upon him from the wall and slew him in Thebes? Why did you go near the wall? Thou shalt say: Thy servant Urias the Hethite is also slain. 11:22. So the messenger departed, and came and told David all that Joab had commanded him. 11:23. And the messenger said to David: The men prevailed against us, and they came out to us into the field: and we vigorously charged and pursued them even to the gate of the city. 11:24. And the archers shot their arrows at thy servants from off the wall above: and some of the king's servants are slain, and thy servant Urias the Hethite is also dead. 11:25. And David said to the messenger: Thus shalt thou say to Joab: Let not this thing discourage thee: for various is the event of war: and sometimes one, sometimes another is consumed by the sword: encourage thy warriors against the city, and exhort them that thou mayest overthrow it. 11:26. And the wife of Urias heard that Urias her husband was dead, and she mourned for him. 11:27. And the mourning being over, David sent and brought her into his house, and she became his wife, and she bore him a son: and this thing which David had done, was displeasing to the Lord. 2 Kings Chapter 12 Nathan's parable. David confesseth his sin, and is forgiven: yet so as to be sentenced to most severe temporal punishments. The death of the child. The birth of Solomon. The taking of Rabbath. 12:1. And the Lord sent Nathan to David: and when he was come to him, he said to him: There were two men in one city, the one rich, and the other poor. 12:2. The rich man had exceeding many sheep and oxen. 12:3. But the poor man had nothing at all but one little ewe lamb, which he had bought and nourished up, and which had grown up in his house together with his children, eating of his bread, and drinking of his cup, and sleeping in his bosom: and it was unto him as a daughter. 12:4. And when a certain stranger was come to the rich man, he spared to take of his own sheep and oxen, to make a feast for that stranger, who was come to him, but took the poor man's ewe, and dressed it for the man that was come to him. 12:5. And David's anger being exceedingly kindled against that man, he said to Nathan: As the Lord liveth, the man that hath done this is a child of death. 12:6. He shall restore the ewe fourfold, because he did this thing, and had no pity. 12:7. And Nathan said to David: Thou art the man. Thus saith the Lord the God of Israel: I anointed thee king over Israel, and I delivered thee from the hand of Saul, 12:8. And gave thee thy master's house and thy master's wives into thy bosom, and gave thee the house of Israel and Juda: and if these things be little, I shall add far greater things unto thee. 12:9. Why therefore hast thou despised the word of the Lord, to do evil in my sight? Thou hast killed Urias the Hethite with the sword, and hast taken his wife to be thy wife, and hast slain him with the sword of the children of Ammon. 12:10. Therefore the sword shall never depart from thy house, because thou hast despised me, and hast taken the wife of Urias the Hethite to be thy wife. 12:11. Thus saith the Lord: Behold, I will raise up evil against thee out of thy own house, and I will take thy wives before thy eyes and give them to thy neighbour, and he shall lie with thy wives in the sight of this sun. I will raise, etc... All these evils, inasmuch as they were punishments, came upon David by a just judgment of God, for his sin, and therefore God says, I will raise, etc.; but inasmuch as they were sins, on the part of Absalom and his associates, God was not the author of them, but only permitted them. 12:12. For thou didst it secretly: but I will do this thing in the sight of all Israel, and in the sight of the sun. 12:13. And David said to Nathan: I have sinned against the Lord. And Nathan said to David: The Lord also hath taken away thy sin: thou shalt not die. 12:14. Nevertheless, because thou hast given occasion to the enemies of the Lord to blaspheme, for this thing, the child that is born to thee, shall surely die. 12:15. And Nathan returned to his house. The Lord also struck the child which the wife of Urias had borne to David, and his life was despaired of. 12:16. And David besought the Lord for the child: and David kept a fast, and going in by himself lay upon the ground. 12:17. And the ancients of his house came, to make him rise from the ground: but he would not, neither did he eat meat with them. 12:18. And it came to pass on the seventh day that the child died: and the servants of David feared to tell him, that the child was dead. For they said: Behold when the child was yet alive, we spoke to him, and he would not hearken to our voice: how much more will he afflict himself if we tell him that the child is dead? 12:19. But when David saw his servants whispering, he understood that the child was dead: and he said to his servants: Is the child dead? They answered him He is dead. 12:20. Then David arose from the ground, and washed and anointed himself: and when he had changed his apparel, he went into the house of the Lord: and worshipped, and then he came into his own house, and he called for bread, and ate. 12:21. And his servants said to him: What thing is this that thou hast done? thou didst fast and weep for the child, while it was alive, but when the child was dead, thou didst rise up, and eat bread. 12:22. And he said: While the child was yet alive, I fasted and wept for him: for I said: Who knoweth whether the Lord may not give him to me, and the child may live? 12:23. But now that he is dead, why should I fast? Shall I be able to bring him back any more? I shall go to him rather: but he shall not return to me. 12:24. And David comforted Bethsabee his wife, and went in unto her, and slept with her: and she bore a son, and he called his name Solomon, and the Lord loved him. 12:25. And he sent by the hand of Nathan the prophet, and called his name, Amiable to the Lord, because the Lord loved him. Amiable to the Lord... Or, beloved of the Lord. In Hebrew, Jedidiah. 12:26. And Joab fought against Rabbath of the children of Ammon, and laid close siege to the royal city. 12:27. And Joab sent messengers to David, saying: I have fought against Rabbath, and the city of waters is about to be taken. The city of waters... Rabbath the royal city of the Ammonites, was called the city of waters, from being encompassed with waters. 12:28. Now therefore gather thou the rest of the people together, and besiege the city and take it: lest when the city shall be wasted by me, the victory be ascribed to my name. 12:29. Then David gathered all the people together, and went out against Rabbath: and after fighting, he took it. 12:30. And he took the crown of their king from his head, the weight of which was a talent of gold, set with most precious stones, and it was put upon David's head, and the spoils of the city which were very great he carried away. 12:31. And bringing forth the people thereof he sawed them, and drove over them chariots armed with iron: and divided them with knives, and made them pass through brickkilns: so did he to all the cities of the children of Ammon: and David returned, with all the army to Jerusalem. 2 Kings Chapter 13 Ammon ravisheth Thamar. For which Absalom killeth him, and flieth to Gessur. 13:1. And it came to pass after this that Ammon the son of David loved the sister of Absalom the son of David, who was very beautiful, and her name was Thamar. 13:2. And he was exceedingly fond of her, so that he fell sick for the love of her: for as she was a virgin, he thought it hard to do any thing dishonestly with her. 13:3. Now Ammon had a friend, named Jonadab the son of Semmaa the brother of David, a very wise man: A very wise man... That is, a crafty and subtle man: for the counsel he gave on this occasion shews that his wisdom was but carnal and worldly. 13:4. And he said to him: Why dost thou grow so lean from day to day, O son of the king? why dost thou not tell me the reason of it? And Ammon said to him: I am in love with Thamar the sister of my brother Absalom. 13:5. And Jonadab said to him: Lie down upon thy bed, and feign thyself sick: and when thy father shall come to visit thee, say to him: Let my sister Thamar, I pray thee, come to me, to give me to eat, and to make me a mess, that I may eat it at her hand. 13:6. So Ammon lay down, and made as if he were sick: and when the king came to visit him, Ammon said to the king: I pray thee let my sister Thamar come, and make in my sight two little messes, that I may eat at her hand. 13:7. Then David sent home to Thamar, saying: Come to the house of thy brother Ammon, and make him a mess. 13:8. And Thamar came to the house of Ammon her brother: but he was laid down: and she took meal and tempered it: and dissolving it in his sight she made little messes. 13:9. And taking what she had boiled, she poured it out, and set it before him, but he would not eat: and Ammon said: Put out all persons from me. And when they had put all persons out, 13:10. Ammon said to Thamar: Bring the mess into the chamber, that I may eat at thy hand. And Thamar took the little messes which she had made, and brought them in to her brother Ammon in the chamber. 13:11. And when she had presented him the meat, he took hold of her, and said: Come lie with me, my sister. 13:12. She answered him: Do not so, my brother, do not force me: for no such thing must be done in Israel. Do not thou this folly. 13:13. For I shall not be able to bear my shame, and thou shalt be as one of the fools in Israel: but rather speak to the king, and he will not deny me to thee. 13:14. But he would not hearken to her prayers, but being stronger overpowered her and lay with her. 13:15. Then Ammon hated her with an exceeding great hatred: so that the hatred wherewith he hated her was greater than the love with which he had loved her before. And Ammon said to her: Arise, and get thee gone. 13:16. She answered him: The evil which now thou dost against me, in driving me away, is greater than that which thou didst before. And he would not hearken to her: 13:17. But calling the servants that ministered to him, he said: Thrust this woman out from me: and shut the door after her. 13:18. And she was clothed with a long robe: for the king's daughters that were virgins, used such kind of garments. Then his servant thrust her out: and shut the door after her. 13:19. And she put ashes on her head, and rent her long robe and laid her hands upon her head, and went on crying. 13:20. And Absalom her brother said to her: Hath thy brother Ammon lain with thee? but now, sister, hold thy peace, he is thy brother: and afflict not thy heart for this thing. So Thamar remained pining away in the house of Absalom her brother. 13:21. And when king David heard of these things he was exceedingly grieved: and he would not afflict the spirit of his son Ammon, for he loved him, because he was his firstborn. 13:22. But Absalom spoke not to Ammon neither good nor evil: for Absalom hated Ammon because he had ravished his sister Thamar. 13:23. And it came to pass after two years, that the sheep of Absalom were shorn in Baalhasor, which is near Ephraim: and Absalom invited all the king's sons: 13:24. And he came to the king, and said to him: Behold thy servant's sheep are shorn. Let the king, I pray, with his servants come to his servant. 13:25. And the king said to Absalom: Nay, my son, do not ask that we should all come, and be chargeable to thee. And when he pressed him, and he would not go, he blessed him. 13:26. And Absalom said: If thou wilt not come, at least let my brother Ammon, I beseech thee, come with us. And the king said to him: It is not necessary that he should go with thee. 13:27. But Absalom pressed him, so that he let Ammon and all the king's sons go with him. And Absalom made a feast as it were the feast of a king. 13:28. And Absalom had commanded his servants, saying: Take notice when Ammon shall be drunk with wine, and when I shall say to you: Strike him, and kill him, fear not: for it is I that command you: take courage, and be valiant men. 13:29. And the servants of Absalom did to Ammon as Absalom had commanded them. And all the king's sons arose and got up every man upon his mule, and fled. 13:30. And while they were yet in the way, a rumour came to David, saying: Absalom hath slain all the king's sons, and there is not one them left. 13:31. Then the king rose up, and rent his garments: and fell upon the ground, and all his servants, that stood about him, rent their garments. 13:32. But Jonadab the son of Semmaa David's brother answering, said: Let not my lord the king think that all the king's sons are slain: Ammon only is dead, for he was appointed by the mouth of Absalom from the day that he ravished his sister Thamar. 13:33. Now therefore let not my lord the king take this thing into his heart, saying: All the king's sons are slain: for Ammon only is dead. 13:34. But Absalom fled away: and the young man that kept the watch, lifted up his eyes and looked, and behold there came much people by a by-way on the side of the mountain. 13:35. And Jonadab said to the king: Behold the king's sons are come: as thy servant said, so it is. 13:36. And when he made an end of speaking, the king's sons also appeared: and coming in they lifted up their voice, and wept: and the king also and all his servants wept very much. 13:37. But Absalom fled, and went to Tholomai the son of Ammiud the king of Gessur. And David mourned for his son every day. 13:38. And Absalom after he was fled, and come into Gessur, was there three years. And king David ceased to pursue after Absalom, because he was comforted concerning the death of Ammon. 2 Kings Chapter 14 Joab procureth Absalom's return, and his admittance to the king's presence. 14:1. And Joab the son of Sarvia, understanding that the king's heart was turned to Absalom, 14:2. Sent to Thecua, and fetched from thence a wise woman: and said to her: Feign thyself to be a mourner, and put on mourning apparel, and be not anointed with oil, that thou mayest be as a woman that had a long time been mourning for one dead. 14:3. And thou shalt go in to the king, and shalt speak to him in this manner. And Joab put the words in her mouth. 14:4. And when the woman of Thecua was come in to the king, she fell before him upon the ground, and worshipped, and said: Save me, O king. 14:5. And the king said to her: What is the matter with thee? She answered: Alas, I am a widow woman: for my husband is dead. 14:6. And thy handmaid had two sons: and they quarrelled with each other in the field, and there was none to part them: and the one struck the other, and slew him. 14:7. And behold the whole kindred rising against thy handmaid, saith: Deliver him that hath slain his brother, that we may kill him for the life of his brother, whom he slew, and that we may destroy the heir: and they seek to quench my spark which is left, and will leave my husband no name, nor remainder upon the earth. 14:8. And the king said to the woman: Go to thy house, and I will give charge concerning thee. 14:9. And the woman of Thecua said to the king: Upon me, my lord be the iniquity, and upon the house of my father: but may the king and his throne be guiltless. 14:10. And the king said: If any one shall say ought against thee, bring him to me, and he shall not touch thee any more. 14:11. And she said: Let the king remember the Lord his God, that the next of kin be not multiplied to take revenge, and that they may not kill my son. And he said: As the Lord liveth, there shall not one hair of thy son fall to the earth. 14:12. The woman said: Let thy hand maid speak one word to my lord the king. And he said: Speak. 14:13. And the woman said: Why hast thou thought such a thing against the people of God, and why hath the king spoken this word, to sin, and not bring home again his own exile? 14:14. We all die, and like waters that return no more, we fall down into the earth: neither will God have a soul to perish, but recalleth, meaning that he that is cast off should not altogether perish. 14:15. Now therefore I am come, to speak this word to my lord the king before the people. And thy handmaid said: I will speak to the king, it maybe the king will perform the request of his handmaid. 14:16. And the king hath hearkened to me to deliver his handmaid out of the hand of all that would destroy me and my son together out of the inheritance of God. 14:17. Then let thy handmaid say, that the word of the Lord the king be made as a sacrifice. For even as an angel of God, so is my lord the king, that he is neither moved with blessing nor cursing: wherefore the Lord thy God is also with thee. 14:18. And the king answering, said to the woman: Hide not from me the thing that I ask thee. And the woman said to him: Speak, my lord the king. 14:19. And the king said: Is not the hand of Joab with thee in all this? The woman answered, and said: By the health of thy soul, my lord, O king, it is neither on the left hand, nor on the right, in all these things which my lord the king hath spoken: for thy servant Joab, he commanded me, and he put all these words into the mouth of thy handmaid. 14:20. That I should come about with this form of speech, thy servant Joab commanded this: but thou, my lord, O king, art wise, according to the wisdom of an angel of God, to understand all things upon earth. 14:21. And the king said to Joab: Behold I am appeased and have granted thy request: Go therefore and fetch back the boy Absalom. 14:22. And Joab falling down to the ground upon his face, adored, and blessed the king: and Joab said: This day thy servant hath understood, that I have found grace in thy sight, my lord, O king: for thou hast fulfilled the request of thy servant. Blessed... That is, and gave thanks to the king. 14:23. Then Joab arose and went to Gessur, and brought Absalom to Jerusalem. 14:24. But the king said: Let him return into his house, and let him not see my face. So Absalom returned into his house, and saw not the king's face. 14:25. But in all Israel there was not a man so comely, and so exceedingly beautiful as Absalom: from the sole of the foot to the crown of his head there was no blemish in him. 14:26. And when he polled his hair (now he was polled once a year, because his hair was burdensome to him) he weighed the hair of his head at two hundred sicles, according to the common weight. 14:27. And there were born to Absalom three sons: and one daughter, whose name was Thamar, and she was very beautiful. 14:28. And Absalom dwelt two years in Jerusalem, and saw not the king's face. 14:29. He sent therefore to Joab, to send him to the king: but he would not come to him. And when he had sent the second time, and he would not come to him, 14:30. He said to his servants: You know the field of Joab near my field, that hath a crop of barley: go now and set it on fire. So the servants of Absalom set the corn on fire. And Joab's servants coming with their garments rent, said: The servants of Absalom have set part of the field on fire. 14:31. Then Joab arose, and came to Absalom to his house, and said: Why have thy servants set my corn on fire? 14:32. And Absalom answered Joab: I sent to thee beseeching thee to come to me, that I might send thee to the king, to say to him: Wherefore am I come from Gessur? it had been better for me to be there: I beseech thee therefore that I may see the face of the king: and if he be mindful of my iniquity, let him kill me. 14:33. So Joab going in to the king, told him all: and Absalom was called for, and, he went in to the king: and prostrated himself on the ground before him: and the king kissed Absalom. 2 Kings Chapter 15 Absalom's policy and conspiracy. David is obliged to flee. 15:1. Now after these things Absalom made himself chariots, and horsemen, and fifty men to run before him. 15:2. And Absalom rising up early stood by the entrance of the gate, and when any man had business to come to the king's judgment, Absalom called him to him, and said: Of what city art thou? He answered, and said: Thy servant is of such tribe of Israel. 15:3. And Absalom answered him: Thy words seem to me good and just. But there is no man appointed by the king to hear thee. And Absalom said: 15:4. O that they would make me judge over the land, that all that have business might come to me, that I might do them justice. 15:5. Moreover when any man came to him to salute him, he put forth his hand, and took him, and kissed him. 15:6. And this he did to all Israel that came for judgment, to be heard by the king, and he enticed the hearts of the men of Israel. 15:7. And after forty years, Absalom said to king David: Let me go, and pay my vows which I have vowed to the Lord in Hebron. 15:8. For thy servant made a vow, when he was in Gessur of Syria, saying: If the Lord shall bring me again into Jerusalem, I will offer sacrifice to the Lord. 15:9. And king David said to him: Go in peace. And he arose, and went to Hebron. 15:10. And Absalom sent spies into all the tribes of Israel, saying: As soon as you shall hear the sound of the trumpet, say ye: Absalom reigneth in Hebron. 15:11. Now there went with Absalom two hundred men out of Jerusalem that were called, going with simplicity of heart, and knowing nothing of the design. 15:12. Absalom also sent for Achitophel the Gilonite, David's counsellor, from his city Gilo. And while he was offering sacrifices, there was a strong conspiracy, and the people running together increased with Absalom. 15:13. And there came a messenger to David, saying: All Israel with their whole heart followeth Absalom. 15:14. And David said to his servants, that were with him in Jerusalem: Arise and let us flee: for we shall not escape else from the face of Absalom: make haste to go out, lest he come and overtake us, and bring ruin upon us, and smite the city with the edge of the sword. 15:15. And the king's servants said to him: Whatsoever our lord the king shall command, we thy servants will willingly execute. 15:16. And the king went forth, and all his household on foot: and the king left ten women his concubines to keep the house: Concubines... That is, wives of an inferior degree. 15:17. And the king going forth and all Israel on foot, stood afar off from the house: 15:18. And all his servants walked by him, and the bands of the Cerethi, and the Phelethi, and all the Gethites, valiant warriors, six hundred men who had followed him from Geth on foot, went before the king. 15:19. And the king said to Ethai the Gethite: Why comest thou with us: return and dwell with the king, for thou art a stranger, and art come out of thy own place. 15:20. Yesterday thou camest, and to day shalt thou be forced to go forth with us? but I shall go whither I am going: return thou, and take back thy brethren with thee, and the Lord will shew thee mercy, and truth, because thou hast shewn grace and fidelity. 15:21. And Ethai answered the king, saying: As the Lord liveth, and as my lord the king liveth: in what place soever thou shalt be, my lord, O king, either in death, or in life, there will thy servant be. 15:22. And David said to Ethai: Come, and pass over. And Ethai the Gethite passed, and all the men that were with him, and the rest of the people. 15:23. And they all wept with a loud voice, and all the people passed over: the king also himself went over the brook Cedron, and all the people marched towards the way that looketh to the desert. 15:24. And Sadoc the priest also came, and all the Levites with him carrying the ark of the covenant of God, and they set down the ark of God: and Abiathar went up, till all the people that was come out of the city had done passing. 15:25. And the king said to Sadoc: Carry back the ark of God into the city: if I shall find grace in the sight of the Lord, he will bring me again, and he will shew me it, and his tabernacle. 15:26. But if he shall say to me: Thou pleasest me not: I am ready, let him do that which is good before him. 15:27. And the king said to Sadoc the priest: O seer, return into the city in peace: and let Achimaas thy son, and Jonathan the son of Abiathar, your two sons, be with you. 15:28. Behold I will lie hid in the plains of the wilderness, till there come word from you to certify me. 15:29. So Sadoc and Abiathar carried back the ark of God into Jerusalem: and they tarried there. 15:30. But David went up by the ascent of mount Olivet, going up and weeping, walking barefoot, and with his head covered, and all the people that were with them, went up with their heads covered weeping. Weeping, etc... David on this occasion wept for his sins, which he knew were the cause of all his sufferings. 15:31. And it was told David that Achitophel also was in the conspiracy with Absalom, and David said: Infatuate, O Lord, I beseech thee, the counsel of Achitophel. 15:32. And when David was come to the top of the mountain, where he was about to adore the Lord, behold Chusai the Arachite, came to meet him with his garment rent and his head covered with earth. 15:33. And David said to him: If thou come with me, thou wilt be a burden to me: 15:34. But if thou return into the city, and wilt say to Absalom: I am thy servant, O king: as I have been thy father's servant, so I will be thy servant: thou shalt defeat the counsel of Achitophel. 15:35. And thou hast with thee Sadoc, and soever thou shalt hear out of the king's house, thou shalt tell it to Sadoc and Abiathar the priests. 15:36. And there are with them their two sons Achimaas; the son of Sadoc, and Jonathan the son of Abiathar: and you shall send by them to me every thing that you shall hear. 15:37. Then Chusai the friend of David went into the city, and Absalom came into Jerusalem. 2 Kings Chapter 16 Siba bringeth provisions to David. Semei curseth him. Absalom defileth his father's wives. 16:1. And when David was a little past the top of the hill, behold Siba the servant of Miphiboseth came to meet him with two asses, laden with two hundred loaves of bread, and a hundred bunches of raisins, a hundred cakes of figs, and a vessel of wine. 16:2. And the king said to Siba: What mean these things? And Siba answered: The asses are for the king's household to sit on: and the loaves and the figs for thy servants to eat, and the wine to drink if any man be faint in the desert. 16:3. And the king said: Where is thy master's son? And Siba answered the king: He remained in Jerusalem, saying: To day, will the house of Israel restore me the kingdom of my father. 16:4. And the king said to Siba: I give thee all that belonged to Miphiboseth. And Siba said: I beseech thee let me find grace before thee, my lord, O king. 16:5. And king David came as far as Bahurim: and behold there came out from thence a man of the kindred of the house of Saul named Semei, the son of Gera, and coming out he cursed as he went on, 16:6. And he threw stones at David, and at all the servants of king David: and all the people, and all the warriors walked on the right, and on the left side of the king. 16:7. And thus said Semei when he cursed the king: Come out, come out, thou man of blood, and thou man of Belial. 16:8. The Lord hath repaid thee for all the blood of the house of Saul: because thou hast usurped the kingdom in his stead, and the Lord hath given the kingdom into the hand of Absalom thy son: and behold thy evils press upon thee, because thou art a man of blood. 16:9. And Abisai the son of Sarvia said to the king: Why should this dead dog curse my lord the king? I will go, and cut off his head. 16:10. And the king said: What have I to do with you, ye sons of Sarvia? Let him alone and let him curse: for the Lord hath bid him curse David: and who is he that shall dare say, why hath he done so? Hath bid him curse... Not that the Lord was the author of Semei's sin, which proceeded purely from his own malice, and the abuse of his free will. But that knowing, and suffering his malicious disposition to break out on this occasion, he made use of him as his instrument to punish David for his sins. 16:11. And the king said to Abisai, and to all his servants: Behold my son, who came forth from my bowels, seeketh my life: how much more now a son of Jemini? let him alone that he may curse as the Lord hath bidden him. 16:12. Perhaps the Lord may look upon my affliction, and the Lord may render me good for the cursing of this day. 16:13. And David and his men with him went by the way. And Semei by the hill's side went over against him, cursing, and casting stones at him, and scattering earth. 16:14. And the king and all the people with him came weary, and refreshed themselves there. 16:15. But Absalom and all his people came into Jerusalem, and Achitophel was with him. 16:16. And when Chusai the Arachite, David's friend, was come to Absalom, he said to him: God save thee, O king, God save thee, O king. 16:17. And Absalom said to him, Is this thy kindness to thy friend? Why wentest thou not with thy friend? 16:18. And Chusai answered Absalom: Nay: for I will be his, whom the Lord hath chosen, and all this people, and all Israel, and with him will I abide. 16:19. Besides this, whom shall I serve? is it not the king's son? as I have served thy father, so will I serve thee also. 16:20. And Absalom said to Achitophel: Consult what we are to do. 16:21. And Achitophel said to Absalom: Go in to the concubines of thy father, whom he hath left to keep the house: that when all Israel shall hear that thou hast disgraced thy father, their hands may be strengthened with thee. Their hands may be strengthened, etc... The people might apprehend lest Absalom should be reconciled to his father, and therefore they folllowed him with some fear of being left in the lurch, till they saw such a crime committed as seemed to make a reconciliation impossible. 16:22. So they spread a tent for Absalom on the top of the house, and he went in to his father's concubines before all Israel. 16:23. Now the counsel of Achitophel, which he gave in those days, was as if a man should consult God: so was all the counsel of Achitophel, both when he was with David, and when he was with Absalom. 2 Kings Chapter 17 Achitophel's counsel is defeated by Chusai: who sendeth intelligence to David. Achitophel hangeth himself. 17:1. And Achitophel said to Absalom: I will choose me twelve thousand men, and I will arise and pursue after David this night. 17:2. And coming upon him (for he is now weary, and weak handed) I will defeat him: and when all the people is put to flight that is with him, I will kill the king who will be left alone. 17:3. And I will bring back all the people, as if they were but one man: for thou seekest but one man: and all the people shall be in peace. 17:4. And his saying pleased Absalom, and all the ancients of Israel. 17:5. But Absalom said: Call Chusai the Arachite, and let us hear what he also saith. 17:6. And when Chusai was come to Absalom, Absalom said to him: Achitophel hath spoken after this manner: shall we do it or not? what counsel dost thou give? 17:7. And Chusai said to Absalom: The counsel that Achitophel hath given this time is not good. 17:8. And again Chusai said: Thou knowest thy father, and the men that are with him, that they are very valiant, and bitter in their mind, as a bear raging in the wood when her whelps are taken away: and thy father is a warrior, and will not lodge with the people. 17:9. Perhaps he now lieth hid in pits, or in some other place where he liest: and when any one shall fall at the first, every one that heareth it shall say: There is a slaughter among the people that followed Absalom. 17:10. And the most valiant man whose heart is as the heart of a lion, shall melt for fear: for all the people of Israel know thy father to be a valiant man, and that all who are with him are valiant. 17:11. But this seemeth to me to be good counsel: Let all Israel be gathered to thee, from Dan to Bersabee, as the sand of the sea which cannot be numbered: and thou shalt be in the midst of them. 17:12. And we shall come upon him in what place soever he shall be found: and we shall cover him, as the dew falleth upon the ground, and we shall not leave of the men that are with him, not so much as one. 17:13. And if he shall enter into any city, all Israel shall cast ropes round about that city, and we will draw it into the river, so that there shall not be found so much as one small stone thereof. 17:14. And Absalom, and all the men of Israel said: The counsel of Chusai the Arachite is better than the counsel of Achitophel: and by the will of the Lord the profitable counsel of Achitophel was defeated, that the Lord might bring evil upon Absalom. 17:15. And Chusai said to Sadoc and Abiathar the priests: Thus and thus did Achitophel counsel Absalom, and the ancients of Israel: and thus and thus did I counsel them. 17:16. Now therefore send quickly, and tell David, saying: Tarry not this night in the plains of the wilderness, but without delay pass over: lest the king be swallowed up, and all the people that is with him. 17:17. And Jonathan and Achimaas stayed by the fountain Rogel: and there went a maid and told them: and they went forward, to carry the message to king David, for they might not be seen, nor enter into the city. 17:18. But a certain boy saw them, and told Absalom: but they making haste went into the house of a certain man in Bahurim, who had a well in his court, and they went down into it. 17:19. And a woman took, and spread a covering over the mouth of the well, as it were to dry sodden barley and so the thing was not known. 17:20. And when Absalom's servants were come into the house, they said to the woman: Where is Achimaas and Jonathan? and the woman answered them: They passed on in haste, after they had tasted a little water. But they that sought them, when they found them not, returned into Jerusalem. 17:21. And when they were gone, they came up out of the well, and going on told king David, and said: Arise, and pass quickly over the river: for this manner of counsel has Achitophel given against you. 17:22. So David arose, and all the people that were with him, and they passed over the Jordan, until it grew light, and not one of them was left that was not gone ever the river. 17:23. But Achitophel seeing that his counsel was not followed, saddled his ass, and arose and went home to his house and to his city, and putting his house in order, hanged himself, and was buried in the sepulchre of his father. 17:24. But David came to the camp, and Absalom passed over the Jordan, he and all the men of Israel with him. To the camp... The city of Mahanaim, the name of which, in Hebrew, signifies The camp. It was a city of note at that time, as appears from its having been chosen by Isboseth for the place of his residence. 17:25. Now Absalom appointed Amasa in Joab's stead over the army: and Amasa was the son of a man who was called Jethra, of Jezrael, who went in to Abigail the daughter of Naas, the sister of Sarvia who was the mother of Joab. 17:26. And Israel camped with Absalom in the land of Galaad. 17:27. And when David was come to the camp, Sobi the son of Naas of Rabbath of the children of Ammon, and Machir the son of Ammihel of Lodabar and Berzellai the Galaadite of Rogelim, 17:28. Brought him beds, and tapestry, and earthen vessels, and wheat, and barley, and meal, and parched corn, and beans, and lentils, and fried pulse, 17:29. And honey, and butter, and sheep, and fat calves, and they gave to David and the people that were with him, to eat: for they suspected that the people were faint with hunger and thirst in the wilderness. 2 Kings Chapter 18 Absalom is defeated, and slain by Joab. David mourneth for him. 18:1. And David, having reviewed his people, appointed over them captains of thousands and of hundreds, 18:2. And sent forth a third part of the people under the hand of Joab, and a third part under the hand of Abisai the son of Sarvia Joab's brother, and a third part under the hand of Ethai, who was of Geth: and the king said to the people: I also will go forth with you. 18:3. And the people answered: Thou shalt not go forth: for if we flee away, they will not much mind us: or if half of us should fall, they will not greatly care: for thou alone art accounted for ten thousand: it is better therefore that thou shouldst be in the city to succour us. 18:4. And the king said to them: What seemeth good to you, that will I do. And the king stood by the gate: and all the people went forth by their troops, by hundreds and by thousands. 18:5. And the king commanded Joab, and Abisai, and Ethai, saying: Save me the boy Absalom. And all the people heard the king giving charge to all the princes concerning Absalom. 18:6. So the people went out into the field against Israel, and the battle was fought in the forest of Ephraim. 18:7. And the people of Israel were defeated there by David's army, and a great slaughter was made that day of twenty thousand men. 18:8. And the battle there was scattered over the face of all the country, and there were many more of the people whom the forest consumed, than whom the sword devoured that day. Consumed... Viz., by pits and precipices. 18:9. And it happened that Absalom met the servants of David, riding on a mule: and as the mule went under a thick and large oak, his head stuck in the oak: and while he hung between the heaven and the earth, the mule on which he rode passed on. 18:10. And one saw this and told Joab, saying: I saw Absalom hanging upon an oak. 18:11. And Joab said to the man that told him: If thou sawest him, why didst thou not stab him to the ground, and I would have given thee ten sicles of silver, and a belt? 18:12. And he said to Joab: If thou wouldst have paid down in my hands a thousand pieces of silver, I would not lay my hands upon the king's son for in our hearing the king charged thee, and Abisai, and Ethai, saying: Save me the boy Absalom. 18:13. Yea and if I should have acted boldly against my own life, this could not have been hid from the king, and wouldst thou have stood by me? 18:14. And Joab said: Not as thou wilt, but I will set upon him in thy sight. So he took three lances in his hand, and thrust them into the heart of Absalom: and whilst he yet panted for life, sticking on the oak, 18:15. Ten young men, armourbearers of Joab, ran up, and striking him slew him. 18:16. And Joab sounded the trumpet, and kept back the people from pursuing after Israel in their flight, being willing to spare the multitude. 18:17. And they took Absalom, and cast him into a great pit in the forest, and they laid an exceeding great heap of stones upon him: but all Israel fled to their own dwellings. 18:18. Now Absalom had reared up for himself, in his lifetime, a pillar, which is in the king's valley: for he said: I have no son, and this shall be the monument of my name. And he called the pillar by his own name, and it is called the hand of Absalom, to this day. No son... The sons mentioned above, chap. 14.27, were dead when this pillar was erected: unless we suppose he raised this pillar before they were born. 18:19. And Achimaas the son of Sadoc said: I will run and tell the king, that the Lord hath done judgment for him from the hand of his enemies. 18:20. And Joab said to him: Thou shalt not be the messenger this day, but shalt bear tidings another day: this day I will not have thee bear tidings, because the king's son is dead. 18:21. And Joab said to Chusai: Go, and tell the king what thou hast seen. Chusai bowed down to Joab, and ran. 18:22. Then Achimaas the son of Sadoc said to Joab again: Why might not I also run after Chusai? And Joab said to him: Why wilt thou run, my son? thou wilt not be the bearer of good tidings. 18:23. He answered: But what if I run? And he said to him: Run. Then Achimaas running by a nearer way passed Chusai. 18:24. And David sat between the two gates: and the watchman that was on the top of the gate upon the wall, lifting up his eyes, saw a man running alone. 18:25. And crying out he told the king: and the king said: If he be alone, there are good tidings in his mouth. And as he was coming apace, and drawing nearer, 18:26. The watchman saw another man running, and crying aloud from above, he said: I see another man running alone. And the king said: He also is a good messenger. 18:27. And the watchman said: The running of the foremost seemeth to me like the running of Achimaas the son of Sadoc. And the king said: He is a good man: and cometh with good news. 18:28. And Achimaas crying out, said to the king: God save thee, O king. And falling down before the king with his face to the ground, he said: Blessed be the Lord thy God, who hath shut up the men that have lifted up their hands against the lord my king. 18:29. And the king said: Is the young man Absalom safe? And Achimaas said: I saw a great tumult, O king, when thy servant Joab sent me thy servant: I know nothing else. 18:30. And the king said to him: Pass, and stand here. 18:31. And when he had passed, and stood still, Chusai appeared and coming up he said: I bring good tidings, my lord, the king, for the Lord hath judged for thee this day from the hand of all that have risen up against thee. 18:32. And the king said to Chusai: Is the young man Absalom safe? And Chusai answering him, said: Let the enemies of my lord, the king, and all that rise against him unto evil, be as the young man is. 18:33. The king therefore being much moved, went up to the high chamber over the gate, and wept. And as he went he spoke in this manner: My son Absalom, Absalom my son: would to God that I might die for thee, Absalom my son, my son Absalom. Would to God... David lamented the death of Absalom, because of the wretched state in which he died: and therefore would have been glad to have saved his life, even by dying for him. In which he was a figure of Christ weeping, praying and dying for his rebellious children, and even for them that crucified him. 2 Kings Chapter 19 David, at the remonstrances of Joab, ceaseth his mourning. He is invited back and met by Semei and Miphiboseth: a strife between the men of Juda and the men of Israel. 19:1. And it was told Joab, that the king wept and mourned for his son: 19:2. And the victory that day was turned into mourning unto all the people: for the people heard say that day: The king grieveth for his son. 19:3. And the people shunned the going into the city that day as a people would do that hath turned their backs, and fled away from the battle. 19:4. And the king covered his head, and cried with a loud voice: O my son Absalom, O Absalom my son, O my son. 19:5. Then Joab going into the house to the king, said: Thou hast shamed this day the faces of all thy servants, that have saved thy life, and the lives of thy sons, and of thy daughters, and the lives of thy wives, and the lives of thy concubines. 19:6. Thou lovest them that hate thee, and thou hatest them that love thee: and thou hast shewn this day that thou carest not for thy nobles, nor for thy servants: and I now plainly perceive that if Absalom had lived, and all we had been slain, then it would have pleased thee. 19:7. Now therefore arise, and go out, and speak to the satisfaction of thy servants: for I swear to thee by the Lord, that if thou wilt not go forth, there will not tarry with thee so much as one this night: and that will be worse to thee, than all the evils that have befallen thee from thy youth until now. 19:8. Then the king arose and sat in the gate: and it was told to all the people that the king sat in the gate: and all the people came before the king, but Israel fled to their own dwellings. 19:9. And all the people were at strife in all the tribes of Israel, saying: The king delivered us out of the hand of our enemies, and he saved us out of the hand of the Philistines: and now he is fled out of the land for Absalom. 19:10. But Absalom, whom we anointed over us, is dead in the battle: how long are you silent, and bring not back the king? 19:11. And king David sent to Sadoc, and Abiathar the priests, saying: Speak to the ancients of Juda, saying: Why are you the last to bring the king back to his house? (For the talk of all Israel was come to the king in his house.) 19:12. You are my brethren, you are my bone, and my flesh, why are you the last to bring back the king? 19:13. And say ye to Amasa: Art not thou my bone, and my flesh? So do God to me and add more, if thou be not the chief captain of the army before me always in the place of Joab. 19:14. And he inclined the heart of all the men of Juda, as it were of one man: and they sent to the king, saying: Return thou, and all thy servants. 19:15. And the king returned and came as far as the Jordan, and all Juda came as far as Galgal to meet the king, and to bring him over the Jordan. 19:16. And Semei the son of Gera the son of Jemini of Bahurim, made haste and went down with the men of Juda to meet king David, 19:17. With a thousand men of Benjamin, and Siba the servant of the house of Saul: and his fifteen sons, and twenty servants were with him: and going over the Jordan, 19:18. They passed the fords before the king, that they might help over the king's household, and do according to his commandment. And Semei the son of Gera falling down before the king, when he was come over the Jordan, 19:19. Said to him: Impute not to me, my lord, the iniquity, nor remember the injuries of thy servant on the day that thou, my lord, the king, wentest out of Jerusalem, nor lay it up in thy heart, O king. 19:20. For I thy servant acknowledge my sin: and therefore I am come this day the first of all the house of Joseph, and am come down to meet my lord the king. 19:21. But Abisai the son of Sarvia answering, said: Shall Semei for these words not be put to death, because he cursed the Lord's anointed? 19:22. And David said: What have I to do with you, ye sons of Sarvia? why are you a satan this day to me? shall there any man be killed this day in Israel? do not I know that this day I am made king over Israel? 19:23. And the king said to Semei: Thou shalt not die. And he swore unto him. 19:24. And Miphiboseth the son of Saul came down to meet the king, and he had neither washed his feet, nor trimmed his beard: nor washed his garments from the day that the king went out, until the day of his return in peace. 19:25. And when he met the king at Jerusalem, the king said to him: Why camest thou not with me, Miphiboseth? 19:26. And he answering, said: My lord, O king, my servant despised me: for I thy servant spoke to him to saddle me an ass, that I might get on and go with the king: for I thy servant am lame. 19:27. Moreover he hath also accused me thy servant to thee, my lord the king: but thou my lord the king art as an angel of God, do what pleaseth thee. 19:28. For all of my father's house were no better than worthy of death before my lord the king; and thou hast set me thy servant among the guests of thy table: what just complaint therefore have I? or what right to cry any more to the king? 19:29. Then the king said to him: Why speakest thou any more? what I have said is determined: thou and Siba divide the possessions. 19:30. And Miphiboseth answered the king: Yea, let him take all, forasmuch as my lord the king is returned peaceably into his house. 19:31. Berzellai also the Galaadite coming down from Rogelim, brought the king over the Jordan, being ready also to wait on him beyond the river. 19:32. Now Berzellai the Galaadite was of a great age, that is to say, fourscore years old, and he provided the king with sustenance when he abode in the camp: for he was a man exceeding rich. 19:33. And the king said to Berzellai: Come with me that thou mayest rest secure with me in Jerusalem. 19:34. And Berzellai said to the king: How many are the days of the years of my life, that I should go up with the king to Jerusalem? 19:35. I am this day fourscore years old, are my senses quick to discern sweet and bitter? or can meat or drink delight thy servant? or can I hear any more the voice of singing men and singing women? why should thy servant be a burden to my lord, the king? 19:36. I thy servant will go on a little way from the Jordan with thee: I need not this recompense. 19:37. But I beseech thee let thy servant return, and die in my own city, and be buried by the sepulchre of my father, and of my mother. But there is thy servant Chamaam, let him go with thee, my lord, the king, and do to him whatsoever seemeth good to thee. 19:38. Then the king said to him: Let Chamaam go over with me, and I will do for him whatsoever shall please thee, and all that thou shalt ask of me, thou shalt obtain. 19:39. And when all the people and the king had passed over the Jordan, the king kissed Berzellai, and blessed him: and he returned to his own place. 19:40. So the king went on to Galgal, and Chamaam with him. Now all the people of Juda had brought the king over, and only half of the people of Israel were there. 19:41. Therefore all the men of Israel running together to the king, said to him: Why have our brethren the men of Juda stolen thee away, and have brought the king and his household over the Jordan, and all the men of David with him? 19:42. And all the men of Juda answered the men of Israel: Because the king is nearer to me: why art thou angry for this matter? have we eaten any thing of the king's, or have any gifts been given us? 19:43. And the men of Israel answered the men of Juda, and said: I have ten parts in the king more than thou, and David belongeth to me more than to thee: why hast thou done me a wrong, and why was it not told me first, that I might bring back my king? And the men of Juda answered more harshly than the men of Israel. 2 Kings Chapter 20 Seba's rebellion. Amasa is slain by Joab. Abela is besieged, but upon the citizens casting over the wall the head of Seba, Joab departeth with all his army. 20:1. And there happened to be there a man of Belial, whose name was Seba, the son of Bochri, a man of Jemini: and he sounded the trumpet, and said: We have no part in David, nor inheritance in the son of Isai: return to thy dwellings, O Israel. 20:2. And all Israel departed from David, and followed Seba the son of Bochri: but the men of Juda stuck to their king from the Jordan unto Jerusalem. 20:3. And when the king was come into his house at Jerusalem, he took the ten women his concubines, whom he had left to keep the house, and put them inward, allowing them provisions: and he went not in unto them, but they were shut up unto the day of their death living in widowhood. 20:4. And the king said to Amasa: Assemble to me all the men of Juda against the third day, and be thou here present. 20:5. So Amasa went to assemble the men of Juda, but he tarried beyond the set time which the king had appointed him. 20:6. And David said to Abisai: Now will Seba the son of Bochri do us more harm than did Absalom: take thou therefore the servants of thy lord, and pursue after him, lest he find fenced cities, and escape us. 20:7. So Joab's men went out with him, and the Cerethi and the Phelethi: and all the valiant men went out of Jerusalem to pursue after Seba the son of Bochri. 20:8. And when they were at the great stone which is in Gabaon, Amasa coming met them. And Joab had on a close coat of equal length with his habit, and over it was girded with a sword hanging down to his flank, in a scabbard, made in such manner as to come out with the least motion and strike. 20:9. And Joab said to Amasa: God save thee, my brother. And he took Amasa by the chin with his right hand to kiss him. 20:10. But Amasa did not take notice of the sword, which Joab had, and he struck him in the side, and shed out his bowels to the ground, and gave him not a second wound, and he died. And Joab, and Abisai his brother pursued after Seba the son of Bochri. 20:11. In the mean time some men of Joab's company stopping at the dead body of Amasa, said: Behold he that would have been in Joab's stead the companion of David. 20:12. And Amasa imbrued with blood, lay in the midst of the way. A certain man saw this that all the people stood still to look upon him, so he removed Amasa out of the highway into the field, and covered him with a garment, that they who passed might, not stop on his account. 20:13. And when he was removed out of the way, all the people went on following Joab to pursue after Seba the son of Bochri. 20:14. Now he had passed through all the tribes of Israel unto Abela and Bethmaacha: and all the chosen men were gathered together unto him. Abela and Bethmaacha... Cities of the tribe of Nephtali. 20:15. And they came, and besieged him in Abela, and in Bethmaacha, and they cast up works round the city, and the city was besieged: and all the people that were with Joab, laboured to throw down the walls. 20:16. And a wise woman cried out from the city: Hear, hear, and say to Joab: Come near hither, and I will speak with thee. 20:17. And when he was come near to her, she said to him: Art thou Joab? And he answered: I am. And she spoke thus to him: Hear the words of thy handmaid. He answered: I do hear. 20:18. And she again said: A saying was used in the old proverb: They that inquire, let them inquire in Abela: and so they made an end. 20:19. Am not I she that answer truth in Israel, and thou seekest to destroy the city, and to overthrow a mother in Israel? Why wilt thou throw down the inheritance of the Lord? 20:20. And Joab answering said: God forbid, God forbid that I should, I do not throw down, nor destroy. 20:21. The matter is not so, but a man of mount Ephraim, Seba the son of Bochri by name, hath lifted up his hand against king David: deliver him only, and we will depart from the city. And the woman said to Joab: Behold his head shall be thrown to thee from the wall. 20:22. So she went to all the people, and spoke to them wisely: and they cut off the head of Seba the son of Bochri, and cast it out to Joab. And he sounded the trumpet, and they departed from the city, every one to their home: and Joab returned to Jerusalem to the king. 20:23. So Joab was over all the army of Israel: and Banaias the son of Joiada was over the Cerethites and Phelethites, 20:24. But Aduram over the tributes: and Josaphat the son of Ahilud was recorder. 20:25. And Siva was scribe: and Sadoc and Abiathar, priests. 20:26. And Ira the Jairite was the priest of David. 2 Kings Chapter 21 A famine of three years, for the sin of Saul against the Gabaonites, at whose desire seven of Saul's race are crucified. War again with the Philistines. 21:1. And there was a famine in the days of David for three years successively: and David consulted the oracle of the Lord. And the Lord said: It is for Saul, and his bloody house, because he slow the Gabaonites. 21:2. Then the king, calling for the Gabaonites, said to them: (Now the Gabaonites were not of the children of Israel, but the remains of the Amorrhites: and the children of Israel had sworn to them, and Saul sought to slay them out of zeal, as it were for the children of Israel and Juda:) 21:3. David therefore said to the Gabaonites: What shall I do for you? and what shall be the atonement or you, that you may bless the inheritance of the Lord? 21:4. And the Gabaonites said to him: We have no contest about silver and gold, but against Saul and against his house: neither do we desire that any man be slain of Israel. And the king said to them: What will you then that I should do for you? 21:5. And they said to the king: The man that crushed us and oppressed us unjustly, we must destroy in such manner that there be not so much as one left of his stock in all the coasts of Israel. 21:6. Let seven men of his children be delivered unto us, that we may crucify them to the Lord in Gabaa of Saul, once the chosen of the Lord. And the king said: I will give them. 21:7. And the king spared Miphiboseth the son of Jonathan the son of Saul, because of the oath of the Lord, that had been between David and Jonathan the son of Saul. 21:8. So the king took the two sons of Respha the daughter of Aia, whom she bore to Saul, Armoni, and Miphiboseth: and the five sons of Michol the daughter of Saul, whom she bore to Hadriel the son of Berzellai, that was of Molathi: Of Michol... They were the sons of Merob, who was married to Hadriel: but they are here called the sons of Michol, because she adopted them, and brought them up as her own. 21:9. And gave them into the hands of the Gabaonites: and they crucified them on a hill before the Lord: and these seven died together in the first days of the harvest, when the barley began to be reaped. 21:10. And Respha the daughter of Aia took haircloth, and spread it under her upon the rock from the beginning of the harvest, till water dropped upon them out of heaven: and suffered neither the birds to tear them by day, nor the beasts by night. 21:11. And it was told David, what Respha the daughter of Aia, the concubine of Saul, had done. 21:12. And David went, and took the bones of Saul, and the bones of Jonathan his son from the men of Jabes Galaad, who had stolen them from the street of Bethsan, where the Philistines had hanged them when they had slain Saul in Gelboe. 21:13. And he brought from thence the bones of Saul, and the bones of Jonathan his son, and they gathered up the bones of them that were crucified, 21:14. And they buried them with the bones of Saul, and of Jonathan his son in the land of Benjamin, in the side, in the sepulchre of Cis his father: and they did all that the king had commanded, and God shewed mercy again to the land after these things. 21:15. And the Philistines made war again against Israel, and David went down, and his servants with him, and fought against the Philistines. And David growing faint, 21:16. Jesbibenob, who was of the race of Arapha, the iron of whose spear weighed three hundred ounces, being girded with a new sword, attempted to kill David. 21:17. And Abisai the son of Sarvia rescued him, and striking the Philistine killed him. Then David's men swore unto him saying: Thou shalt go no more out with us to battle, lest thou put out the lamp of Israel. 21:18. There was also a second battle in Gob against the Philistines: then Sobochai of Husathi slew Saph of the race of Arapha of the family of the giants. 21:19. And there was a third battle in Gob against the Philistines, in which Adeodatus the son of the Forrest an embroiderer of Bethlehem slew Goliath the Gethite, the shaft of whose spear was like a weaver's beam. Adeodatus the son of the Forrest... So it is rendered in the Latin Vulgate, by giving the interpretation of the Hebrew names, which are Elhanan the son of Jaare. 21:20. A fourth battle was in Geth: where there was a man of great stature, that had six fingers on each hand, and six toes on each foot, four and twenty in all, and he was of the race of Arapha. 21:21. And he reproached Israel: and Jonathan the son of Samae the brother of David slew him. 21:22. These four were born of Arapha in Geth, and they fell by the hand of David, and of his servants. 2 Kings Chapter 22 King David's psalm of thanksgiving for his deliverance from all his enemies. 22:1. And David spoke to the Lord the words of this canticle, in the day that the Lord delivered him out of the hand of all his enemies, and out of the hand of Saul, 22:2. And he said: The Lord is my rock, and my strength, and my saviour. 22:3. God is my strong one, in him will I trust: my shield, and the horn of my salvation: he lifteth me up, and is my refuge: my saviour, thou wilt deliver me from iniquity. 22:4. I will call on the Lord who is worthy to be praised: and I shall be saved from my enemies. 22:5. For the pangs of death have surrounded me: the floods of Belial have made me afraid. 22:6. The cords of hell compassed me: the snares of death prevented me. 22:7. In my distress I will call upon the Lord, and I will cry to my God: and he will hear my voice out of his temple, and my cry shall come to his ears. 22:8. The earth shook and trembled, the foundations of the mountains were moved, and shaken, because he was angry with them. 22:9. A smoke went up from his nostrils, and a devouring fire out of his mouth: coals were kindled by it. 22:10. He bowed the heavens, and came down: and darkness was under his feet. 22:11. And he rode upon the cherubims, and flew: and slid upon the wings of the wind. 22:12. He made darkness a covering round about him: dropping waters out of the clouds of the heavens. 22:13. By the brightness before him, the coals of fire were kindled. 22:14. The Lord shall thunder from heaven: and the most high shall give forth his voice. 22:15. He shot arrows and scattered them: lightning, and consumed them. 22:16. And the overflowings of the sea appeared, and the foundations of the world were laid open at the rebuke of the Lord, at the blast of the spirit of his wrath. 22:17. He sent from on high, and took me, and drew me out of many waters. 22:18. He delivered me from my most mighty enemy, and from them that hated me: for they were too strong for me. 22:19. He prevented me in the day of my affliction, and the Lord became my stay. 22:20. And he brought me forth into a large place, he delivered me, because I pleased him. 22:21. The Lord will reward me according to my justice: and according to the cleanness of my hands he will render to me. 22:22. Because I have kept the ways of the Lord, and have not wickedly departed from my God. 22:23. For all his judgments are in my sight: and his precepts I have not removed from me. 22:24. And I shall be perfect with him: and shall keep myself from my iniquity. 22:25. And the Lord will recompense me according to my justice: and according to the cleanness of my hands in the sight of his eyes. 22:26. With the holy one thou wilt be holy: and with the valiant perfect. 22:27. With the elect thou wilt be elect: and with the perverse thou wilt be perverted. 22:28. And the poor people thou wilt save: and with thy eyes thou shalt humble the haughty. 22:29. For thou art my lamp O Lord: and thou, O Lord, wilt enlighten my darkness. 22:30. For in thee I will run girded: in my God I will leap over the wall. 22:31. God, his way is immaculate, the word of the Lord is tried by fire: he is the shield of all that trust in him. 22:32. Who is God but the Lord: and who is strong but our God? 22:33. God who hath girded me with strength, and made my way perfect. 22:34. Making my feet like the feet of harts, and setting me upon my high places. 22:35. He teacheth my hands to war: and maketh my arms like a bow of brass. 22:36. Thou hast given me the shield of my salvation: and thy mildness hath multiplied me. 22:37. Thou shalt enlarge my steps under me: and my ankles shall not fail. 22:38. I will pursue after my enemies, and crush them: and will not return again till I consume them. 22:39. I will consume them and break them in pieces, so that they shall not rise: they shall fall under my feet. 22:40. Thou hast girded me with strength to battle: thou hast made them that resisted me to bow under me. 22:41. My enemies thou hast made to turn their back to me: them that hated me, and I shall destroy them. 22:42. They shall cry, and there shall be none to save: to the Lord, and he shall not hear them. 22:43. I shall beat them as small as the dust of the earth: I shall crush them and spread them abroad like the mire of the streets. 22:44. Thou wilt save me from the contradictions of my people: thou wilt keep me to be the head of the Gentiles: the people which I know not, shall serve me, 22:45. The sons of the stranger will resist me, at the hearing of the ear they will obey me. 22:46. The strangers are melted away, and shall be straitened in their distresses. 22:47. The Lord liveth, and my God is blessed: and the strong God of my salvation shall be exalted: 22:48. God who giveth me revenge, and bringest down people under me, 22:49. Who bringest me forth from my enemies, and liftest me up from them that resist me: from the wicked man thou shalt deliver me. 22:50. Therefore will I give thanks to thee, O Lord, among the Gentiles, and will sing to thy name. 22:51. Giving great salvation to his king, and shewing mercy to David his anointed, and to his seed for ever. 2 Kings Chapter 23 The last words of David. A catalogue of his valiant men. 23:1. Now these are David's last words. David the son of Isai said: The man to whom it was appointed concerning the Christ of the God of Jacob, the excellent psalmist of Israel said: 23:2. The spirit of the Lord hath spoken by me and his word by my tongue. 23:3. The God of Israel said to me, the strong one of Israel spoke, the ruler of men, the just ruler in the fear of God. 23:4. As the light of the morning, when the sun riseth, shineth in the morning without clouds, and as the grass springeth out of the earth by rain. As the light, etc... So shall be the kingdom of Christ. 23:5. Neither is my house so great with God, that he should make with me an eternal covenant, firm in all things and assured. For he is all my salvation, and all my will: neither is there ought thereof that springeth not up. Neither is my house, etc... As if he should say: This everlasting covenant was not due to my house: but purely owing to his bounty; who is all my salvation, and my will: that is, who hath always saved me, and granted me what I beseeched of him; so that I and my house, through his blessing, have sprung up, and succeeded in all things. 23:6. But transgressors shall all of them be plucked up as thorns: which are not taken away with hands. 23:7. And if a man will touch them, he must be armed with iron and with the staff of a lance: but they shall be set on fire and burnt to nothing. 23:8. These are the names of the valiant men of David: Jesbaham sitting in the chair was the wisest chief among the three, he was like the most tender little worm of the wood, who killed eight hundred men at one onset. Jesbaham... The son of Hachamoni. For this was the name of this hero, as appears from 1 Chron. or Paralip. 11.-Ibid. Most tender, etc... He appeared like one tender and weak, but was indeed most valiant and strong. It seems the Latin has here given the interpretation of the Hebrew name of the hero, to whom Jesbaham was like, instead of the name itself, which was Adino the Eznite, one much renowned of old for his valour. 23:9. After him was Eleazar the son of Dodo the Ahohite, one of the three valiant men that were with David when they defied the Philistines, and they were there gathered together to battle. Dodo... In Latin, Patrui ejus, which is the interpretation of the Hebrew name Dodo. The same occurs in ver. 24. 23:10. And when the men of Israel were gone away, he stood and smote the Philistines till his hand was weary, and grew stiff with the sword: and the Lord wrought a great victory that day: and the people that were fled away, returned to take spoils of them that were slain. 23:11. And after him was Semma the son of Age of Arari. And the Philistines were gathered together in a troop: for there was a field full of lentils. And when the people were fled from the face of the Philistines, 23:12. He stood in the midst of the field, and defended it, and defeated the Philistines: and the Lord gave a great victory. 23:13. Moreover also before this the three who were princes among the thirty, went down and came to David in the harvest time into the cave of Odollam: and the camp of the Philistines was in the valley of the giants. 23:14. And David was then in a hold: and there was a garrison of the Philistines then in Bethlehem. 23:15. And David longed, and said: O that some man would get me a drink of the water out of the cistern, that is in Bethlehem, by the gate. 23:16. And the three valiant men broke through the camp of the Philistines, and drew water out of the cistern of Bethlehem, that was by the gate, and brought it to David: but he would not drink, but offered it to the Lord, 23:17. Saying: The Lord be merciful to me, that I may not do this: shall I drink the blood of these men that went, and the peril of their lives? therefore he would not drink. These things did these three mighty men. 23:18. Abisai also the brother of Joab, the son of Sarvia, was chief among three: and he lifted up his spear against three hundred whom he slew, and he was renowned among the three, 23:19. And the noblest of three, and was their chief, but to the three first he attained not. 23:20. And Banaias the son of Joiada a most valiant man, of great deeds, of Cabseel: he slew the two lions of Moab, and he went down, and slew a lion in the midst of a pit, in the time of snow. 23:21. He also slew an Egyptian, a man worthy to be a sight, having a spear in his hand: but he went down to him with a rod, and forced the spear out of the hand of the Egyptian, and slew him with his own spear. 23:22. These things did Banaias the son of Joiada. 23:23. And he was renowned among the three valiant men, who were the most honourable among the thirty: but he attained not to the first three: and David made him of his privy council. 23:24. Asael the brother of Joab was one of the thirty, Elehanan the son of Dodo of Bethlehem. 23:25. Semma of Harodi, Elica of Harodi, 23:26. Heles of Phalti, Hira the son of Acces of Thecua, 23:27. Abiezer of Anathoth, Mobonnai of Husati, 23:28. Selmon the Ahohite, Maharai the Netophathite, 23:29. Heled the son of Baana, also a Netophathite, Ithai the son of Ribai of Gabaath of the children of Benjamin, 23:30. Banaia the Pharathonite, Heddai of the torrent Gaas, 23:31. Abialbon the Arbathite, Azmaveth of Beromi, 23:32. Eliaba of Salaboni. The sons of Jassen, Jonathan, 23:33. Semma of Orori, Aliam the son of Sarar the Arorite, 23:34. Eliphelet the son of Aasbai the son of Machati, Eliam the son of Achitophel the Gelonite, 23:35. Hesrai of Carmel, Pharai of Arbi, 23:36. Igaal the son of Nathan of Soba, Bonni of Gadi, 23:37. Selec of Ammoni, Naharai the Berothite, armourbearer of Joab the son of Sarvia, 23:38. Ira the Jethrite, Gareb also a Jethrite; 23:39. Urias the Hethite, thirty and seven in all. 2 Kings Chapter 24 David numbereth the people: God sendeth a pestilence, which is stopt by David's prayer and sacrifice. 24:1. And the anger of the Lord was again kindled against Israel, and stirred up David among them, saying: Go, number Israel and Juda. Stirred up, etc... This stirring up was not the doing of God, but of Satan; as it is expressly declared, 1 Chron. or Paralip. 21.1. 24:2. And the king said to Joab the general of his army: Go through all the tribes of Israel from Dan to Bersabee, and number ye the people that I may know the number of them. 24:3. And Joab said to the king: The Lord thy God increase thy people, and make them as many more as they are now, and again multiply them a hundredfold in the sight of my lord the king: but what meaneth my lord the king by this kind of thing? 24:4. But the king's words prevailed over the words of Joab, and of the captains of the army: and Joab, and the captains of the soldiers went out from the presence of the king, to number the people of Israel. 24:5. And when they had passed the Jordan, they came to Aroer to the right side of the city, which is in the vale of Gad. 24:6. And by Jazer they passed into Galaad, and to the lower land of Hodsi, and they came into the woodlands of Dan. And going about by Sidon, 24:7. They passed near the walls of Tyre, and all the land of the Hevite, and the Chanaanite, and they came to the south of Juda into Bersabee: 24:8. And having gone through the whole land, after nine months and twenty days, they came to Jerusalem. 24:9. And Joab gave up the sum of the number of the people to the king, and there were found of Israel eight hundred thousand valiant men that drew the sword: and of Juda five hundred thousand fighting men. 24:10. But David's heart struck him, after the people were numbered: and David said to the Lord: I have sinned very much in what I have done: but I pray thee, O Lord, to take away the iniquity of thy servant, because I have done exceeding foolishly. David's heart struck him, after the people were numbered... That is he was touched with a great remorse for the vanity and pride which had put him upon numbering the people. 24:11. And David arose in the morning, and the word of the Lord came to Gad the prophet and the seer of David, saying: 24:12. Go, and say to David: Thus saith the Lord: I give thee thy choice of three things, choose one of them which thou wilt, that I may do it to thee. 24:13. And when Gad was come to David, he told him, saying: Either seven years of famine shall come to thee in thy land: or thou shalt flee three months before thy adversaries, and they shall pursue thee: or for three days there shall be a pestilence in thy land. Now therefore deliberate, and see what answer I shall return to him that sent me. 24:14. And David said to Gad: I am in a great strait: but it is better that I should fall into the hands of the Lord (for his mercies are many) than into the hands of men. 24:15. And the Lord sent a pestilence upon Israel, from the morning unto the time appointed, and there died of the people from Dan to Bersabee seventy thousand men. 24:16. And when the angel of the Lord had stretched out his hand over Jerusalem to destroy it, the Lord had pity on the affliction, and said to the angel that slew the people: It is enough: now hold thy hand. And the angel of the Lord was by the thrashingfloor of Areuna the Jebusite. 24:17. And David said to the Lord, when he saw the angel striking the people: It is I; I am he that have sinned, I have done wickedly: these that are the sheep, what have they done? let thy hand, I beseech thee, be turned against me, and against my father's house. 24:18. And Gad came to David that day, and said: Go up, and build an altar to the Lord in the thrashingfloor of Areuna the Jebusite. 24:19. And David went up according to the word of Gad which the Lord had commanded him. 24:20. And Areuna looked, and saw the king and his servants coming towards him: 24:21. And going out he worshipped the king, bowing with his face to the earth, and said: Wherefore is my lord the king come to his servant? And David said to him: To buy the thrashingfloor of thee, and build an altar to the Lord, that the plague, which rageth among the people, may cease. 24:22. And Areuna said to David: Let my lord the king take, and offer, as it seemeth good to him: thou hast here oxen for a holocaust, and the wain, and the yokes of the oxen for wood. 24:23. All these things Areuna as a king gave to the king: and Areuna said to the king: The Lord thy God receive thy vow. 24:24. And the king answered him, and said: Nay, but I will buy it of thee, at a price, and I will not offer to the Lord my God holocausts free cost. So David bought the floor, and the oxen, for fifty sicles of silver: 24:25. And David built there an altar to the Lord, and offered holocausts and peace offerings: and the Lord became merciful to the land, and the plague was stayed from Israel. THE THIRD BOOK OF KINGS This and the following Book are called by the holy fathers the third and fourth book of Kings; but by the Hebrews, the first and second. They contain the history of the kingdoms of Israel and Juda, from the beginning of the reign of Solomon, to the captivity. As to the writer of these books, it seems most probable they were not written by one man; nor at one time; but as there was all along a succession of prophets in Israel, who recorded, by divine inspiration, the most remarkable things that happened in their days, these books seem to have been written by these prophets. See 2 Paralip. alias 2 Chron. 9.29; 12.15; 13.22; 20.34; 26.22; 32.32. 3 Kings Chapter 1 King David growing old, Abisag a Sunamitess is brought to him. Adonias pretending to reign, Nathan and Bethsabee obtain that Solomon should be declared and anointed king. 1:1. Now king David was old, and advanced in years: and when he was covered with clothes he was not warm. 1:2. His servants therefore, said to him: Let us seek for our Lord the king, a young virgin, and let her stand before the king, and cherish him, and sleep in his bosom and warm our lord the king. 1:3. So they sought a beautiful young woman, in all the coasts of Israel and they found Abisag, a Sunamitess, and brought her to the king. 1:4. And the damsel was exceedingly beautiful, and she slept with the king, and served him, but the king did not know her. 1:5. And Adonias, the son of Haggith, exalted himself, saying: I will be king. And he made himself chariots and horsemen, and fifty men to run before him. 1:6. Neither did his father rebuke him at any time, saying: Why hast thou done this? And he also was very beautiful, the next in birth after Absalom. 1:7. And he conferred with Joab, the son of Sarvia, and with Abiathar, the priest, who furthered Adonias's side. 1:8. But Sadoc, the priest, and Banaias, the son of Joiada, and Nathan, the prophet, and Semei, and Rei, and the strength of David's army, was not with Adonias. 1:9. And Adonias having slain rams and calves, and all fat cattle, by the stone of Zoheleth, which was near the fountain Rogel, invited all his brethren, the king's sons, and all the men of Juda, the king's servants: 1:10. But Nathan, the prophet, and Banaias, and all the valiant men, and Solomon, his brother, he invited not. 1:11. And Nathan said to Bethsabee, the mother of Solomon: Hast thou not heard that Adonias, the son of Haggith, reigneth, and our lord David knoweth it not? 1:12. Now then, come, take my counsel, and save thy life, and the life of thy son Solomon. 1:13. Go, and get thee in to king David, and say to him: Didst not thou, my lord, O king, swear to me, thy handmaid, saying: Solomon, thy son, shall reign after me, and he shall sit on my throne? why then doth Adonias reign? 1:14. And while thou art yet speaking there with the king, I will come in after thee, and will fill up thy words. 1:15. So Bethsabee went in to the king into the chamber. Now the king was very old, and Abisag, the Sunamitess, ministered to him. 1:16. Bethsabee bowed herself, and worshipped the king. And the king said to her: What is thy will? 1:17. She answered, and said: My lord, thou didst swear to thy handmaid, by the Lord thy God, saying: Solomon, thy son, shall reign after me, and he shall sit on my throne. 1:18. And behold, now Adonias reigneth, and thou, my lord the king, knowest nothing of it. 1:19. He hath killed oxen, and all fat cattle, and many rams, and invited all the king's sons, and Abiathar, the priest, and Joab, the general of the army: but Solomon, thy servant, he invited not. 1:20. And now, my lord, O king, the eyes of all Israel are upon thee, that thou shouldst tell them, who shall sit on thy throne, my lord the king, after thee. 1:21. Otherwise it shall come to pass, when my lord the king sleepeth with his fathers, that I, and my son, Solomon, shall be accounted offenders. 1:22. As she was yet speaking with the king, Nathan, the prophet, came. 1:23. And they told the king, saying: Nathan, the prophet, is here. And when he was come in before the king, and had worshipped, bowing down to the ground, 1:24. Nathan said: My lord, O king, hast thou said: Let Adonias reign after me, and let him sit upon my throne? 1:25. Because he is gone down to day, and hath killed oxen, and fatlings, and many rams, and invited all the king's sons, and the captains of the army, and Abiathar the priest: and they are eating and drinking before him, and saying: God save king Adonias: 1:26. But me, thy servant, and Sadoc, the priest, and Banaias, the son of Joiada, and Solomon, thy servant, he hath not invited. 1:27. Is this word come out from my lord the king, and hast thou not told me, thy servant, who should sit on the throne of my lord the king after him? 1:28. And king David answered, and said: Call to me Bethsabee. And when she was come in to the king, and stood before him, 1:29. The king swore, and said: As the Lord liveth, who hath delivered my soul out of all distress, 1:30. Even as I swore to thee, by the Lord, the God of Israel, saying: Solomon thy son, shall reign after me, and he shall sit upon my throne in my stead, so will I do this day. 1:31. And Bethsabee, bowing with her face to the earth, worshipped the king, saying: May my lord David live for ever. 1:32. King David also said: Call me Sadoc, the priest, and Nathan, the prophet, and Banaias, the son of Joiada. And when they were come in before the king, 1:33. He said to them: Take with you the servants of your lord, and set my son Solomon upon my mule: and bring him to Gihon: 1:34. And let Sadoc, the priest, and Nathan, the prophet, anoint him there king over Israel: and you shall sound the trumpet, and shall say: God save king Solomon. 1:35. And you shall come up after him, and he shall come, and shall sit upon my throne, and he shall reign in my stead: and I will appoint him to be ruler over Israel, and over Juda. 1:36. And Banaias, the son of Joiada, answered the king, saying: Amen: so say the Lord, the God of my lord the king. 1:37. As the Lord hath been with my lord the king, so be he with Solomon, and make his throne higher than the throne of my lord king David. 1:38. So Sadoc, the priest, and Nathan, the prophet, went down, and Banaias, the son of Joiada, and the Cerethi, and Phelethi: and they set Solomon upon the mule of king David, and brought him to Gihon. 1:39. And Sadoc, the priest, took a horn of oil out of the tabernacle, and anointed Solomon: and they sounded the trumpet, and all the people said: God save king Solomon. 1:40. And all the multitude went up after him, and the people played with pipes, and rejoiced with a great joy, and the earth rang with the noise of their cry. 1:41. And Adonias, and all that were invited by him, heard it, and now the feast was at an end. Joab also, hearing the sound of the trumpet, said: What meaneth this noise of the city in an uproar? 1:42. While he yet spoke, Jonathan, the son of Abiathar, the priest, came: and Adonias said to him: Come in, because thou art a valiant man, and bringest good news. 1:43. And Jonathan answered Adonias: Not so: for our lord, king David, hath appointed Solomon king; 1:44. And hath sent with him Sadoc, the priest, and Nathan, the prophet, and Banaias, the son of Joiada, and the Cerethi, and the Phelethi, and they have set him upon the king's mule: 1:45. And Sadoc, the priest, and Nathan, the prophet, have anointed him king, in Gihon: and they are gone up from thence rejoicing, so that the city rang again: this is the noise that you have heard. 1:46. Moreover, Solomon sitteth upon the throne of the kingdom. 1:47. And the king's servants going in, have blessed our lord king David, saying: May God make the name of Solomon greater than thy name, and make his throne greater than thy throne. And the king adored in his bed: 1:48. And he said: Blessed be the Lord, the God of Israel, who hath given this day one to sit on my throne, my eyes seeing it. 1:49. Then all the guests of Adonias were afraid, and they all arose, and every man went his way. 1:50. And Adonias fearing Solomon, arose and went, and took hold of the horn of the altar. 1:51. And they told Solomon, saying: Behold Adonias fearing king Solomon, hath taken hold of the horn of the altar, saying: Let king Solomon swear to me this day, that he will not kill his servant with the sword. 1:52. And Solomon said: If he be a good man, there shall not so much as one hair of his head fall to the ground: but if evil be found in him, he shall die. 1:53. Then king Solomon sent, and brought him out from the altar: and going in, he worshipped king Solomon: and Solomon said to him: Go to thy house. 3 Kings Chapter 2 David, after giving his last charge to Solomon, dieth. Adonias is put to death: Abiathar is banished: Joab and Semei are slain. 2:1. And the days of David drew nigh that he should die, and he charged his son Solomon, saying: 2:2. I am going the way of all flesh: take thou courage and shew thyself a man. 2:3. And keep the charge of the Lord thy God, to walk in his ways, and observe his ceremonies, and his precepts, and judgments, and testimonies, as it is written in the law of Moses: that thou mayst understand all thou dost, and whithersoever thou shalt turn thyself: 2:4. That the Lord may confirm his words, which he hath spoken of me, saying: If thy children shall take heed to their ways, and shall walk before me in truth, with all their heart, and with all their soul, there shall not be taken away from thee a man on the throne of Israel. 2:5. Thou knowest also what Joab, the son of Sarvia, hath done to me, what he did to the two captains of the army of Israel, to Abner, the son of Ner, and to Amasa, the son of Jether: whom he slew, and shed the blood of war in peace, and put the blood of war on his girdle that was about his loins, and in his shoes that were on his feet. Joab... These instructions given by David to his son, with relation to Joab and Semei, proceeded not from any rancour of heart, or private pique; but from a zeal for justice, that crimes so public and heinous might not pass unpunished. 2:6. Do, therefore, according to thy wisdom, and let not his hoary head go down to hell in peace. To hell... This word hell doth not here signify the place or state of damnation; but the place and state of the dead. 2:7. But shew kindness to the sons of Berzellai, the Galaadite, and let them eat at thy table: for they met me when I fled from the face of Absalom, thy brother. 2:8. Thou hast also with thee Semei, the son of Gera, the son of Jemini, of Bahurim, who cursed me with a grievous curse, when I went to the camp: but because he came down to meet me when I passed over the Jordan, and I swore to him by the Lord, saying: I will not kill thee with the sword: 2:9. Do not thou hold him guiltless. But thou art a wise man, and knowest what to do with him, and thou shalt bring down his grey hairs with blood to the grave. 2:10. So David slept with his fathers, and was buried in the city of David. 2:11. And the days that David reigned in Israel, were forty years: in Hebron he reigned seven years, in Jerusalem thirty-three. 2:12. And Solomon sat upon the throne of his father David, and his kingdom was strengthened exceedingly. 2:13. And Adonias, the son of Haggith, came to Bethsabee the mother of Solomon. And she said to him: Is thy coming peaceable? He answered: It is peaceable. 2:14. And he added: I have a word to speak with thee. She said to him: Speak. And he said: 2:15. Thou knowest that the kingdom was mine, and all Israel had preferred me to be their king: but the kingdom is transferred, and is become my brother's: for it was appointed him by the Lord. 2:16. Now therefore, I ask one petition of thee; turn not away my face. And she said to him: Say on. 2:17. And he said I pray thee speak to king Solomon (for he cannot deny thee any thing) to give me Abisag, the Sunamitess, to wife. 2:18. And Bethsabee said: Well, I will speak for thee to the king. 2:19. Then Bethsabee came to king Solomon, to speak to him for Adonias: and the king arose to meet her, and bowed to her, and sat down upon his throne: and a throne was set for the king's mother, and she sat on his right hand. 2:20. And she said to him: I desire one small petition of thee; do not put me to confusion. And the king said to her: My mother ask, for I must not turn away thy face. 2:21. And she said: Let Abisag, the Sunamitess, be given to Adonias, thy brother, to wife. 2:22. And king Solomon answered, and said to his mother: Why dost thou ask Abisag, the Sunamitess, for Adonias? ask for him also the kingdom; for he is my elder brother, and hath Abiathar, the priest, and Joab, the son of Sarvia. 2:23. Then king Solomon swore by the Lord, saying: So and so may God do to me, and add more, if Adonias hath not spoken this word against his own life. 2:24. And now, as the Lord liveth, who hath established me, and placed me upon the throne of David, my father, and who hath made me a house, as he promised, Adonias shall be put to death this day. 2:25. And king Solomon sent by the hand of Banaias, the son of Joiada, who slew him, and he died. 2:26. And the king said also to Abiathar, the priest: Go to Anathoth, to thy lands, for indeed thou art worthy of death: but I will not at this time put thee to death, because thou didst carry the ark of the Lord God before David, my father, and hast endured trouble in all the troubles my father endured. 2:27. So Solomon cast out Abiathar from being the priest of the Lord, that the word of the Lord might be fulfilled, which he spoke concerning the house of Heli in Silo. 2:28. And the news came to Joab, because Joab had turned after Adonias, and had not turned after Solomon: and Joab fled into the tabernacle of the Lord, and took hold on the horn of the altar. 2:29. And it was told king Solomon, that Joab was fled into the tabernacle of the Lord, and was by the altar: and Solomon sent Banaias, the son of Joiada, saying. Go, kill him. 2:30. And Banaias came to the tabernacle of the Lord, and said to him: Thus saith the king: Come forth. And he said: I will not come forth, but here I will die. Banaias brought word back to the king, saying: Thus saith Joab, and thus he answered me. 2:31. And the king said to him: Do as he hath said; and kill him, and bury him, and thou shalt remove the innocent blood which hath been shed by Joab, from me, and from the house of my father: 2:32. And the Lord shall return his blood upon his own head; because he murdered two men, just and better than himself: and slew them with the sword, my father, David, not knowing it; Abner, the son of Ner, general of the army of Israel, and Amasa, the son of Jether general of the army of Juda; 2:33. And their blood shall return upon the head of Joab, and upon the head of his seed for ever. But to David and his seed, and his house, and to his throne, be peace for ever from the Lord. 2:34. So Banaias, the son of Joiada, went up, and setting upon him slew him, and he was buried in his house in the desert. 2:35. And the king appointed Banaias, the son of Joiada in his room over the army; and Sadoc, the priest, he put in the place of Abiathar. 2:36. The king also sent, and called for Semei, and said to him: Build thee a house in Jerusalem, and dwell there: and go not out from thence any where. 2:37. For on what day soever thou shalt go out, and shalt pass over the brook Cedron, know that thou shalt be put to death: thy blood shall be upon thy own head. 2:38. And Semei said to the king: The saying is good: as my lord the king hath said, so will thy servant do. And Semei dwelt in Jerusalem many days. 2:39. And it came to pass after three years, that the servants of Semei ran away to Achis, the son of Maacha, the king of Geth: and it was told Semei that his servants were gone to Geth. 2:40. And Semei arose, and saddled his ass, and went to Achis, to Geth, to seek his servants, and he brought them out of Geth. 2:41. And it was told Solomon, that Semei had gone from Jerusalem to Geth, and was come back. 2:42. And sending he called for him, and said to him: Did I not protest to thee by the Lord, and tell thee before: On what day soever thou shalt go out and walk abroad any where, know that thou shalt die? And thou answeredst me: The word that I have heard is good. 2:43. Why then hast thou not kept the oath of the Lord, and the commandment that I laid upon thee? 2:44. And the king said to Semei: Thou knowest all the evil, of which thy heart is conscious, which thou didst to David, my father: the Lord hath returned thy wickedness upon thy own head. 2:45. And king Solomon shall be blessed, and the throne of David shall be established before the Lord for ever. 2:46. So the king commanded Banaias, the son of Joiada: and he went out and struck him; and he died. 3 Kings Chapter 3 Solomon marrieth Pharao's daughter. He sacrificeth in Gabaon: in the choice which God gave him he preferreth wisdom. His wise judgment between the two harlots. 3:1. And the kingdom was established in the hand of Solomon, and he made affinity with Pharao, the king of Egypt: for he took his daughter, and brought her into the city of David: until he had made an end of building his own house, and the house of the Lord, and the wall of Jerusalem round about. 3:2. But yet the people sacrificed in the high places: for there was no temple built to the name of the Lord until that day. High places... That is, altars where they worshipped the Lord, but not according to the ordinance of the law; which allowed of no other places for sacrifice but the temple of God. Among these high places that of Gabaon was the chiefest, because there was the tabernacle of the testimony, which had been removed from Silo to Nobe and from Nobe to Gabaon. 3:3. And Solomon loved the Lord, walking in the precepts of David, his father; only he sacrificed in the high places, and burnt incense. 3:4. He went therefore to Gabaon, to sacrifice there: for that was the great high place: a thousand victims for holocausts, did Solomon offer upon that altar, in Gabaon. 3:5. And the Lord appeared to Solomon in a dream by night, saying: Ask what thou wilt that I should give thee. 3:6. And Solomon said: Thou hast shewed great mercy to thy servant David, my father, even as he walked before thee in truth, and justice, and an upright heart with thee: and thou hast kept thy great mercy for him, and hast given him a son to sit on his throne, as it is this day. 3:7. And now, O Lord God, thou hast made thy servant king instead of David, my father: and I am but a child, and know not how to go out and come in; 3:8. And thy servant is in the midst of the people which thou hast chosen, an immense people, which cannot be numbered nor counted for multitude. 3:9. Give therefore to thy servant an understanding heart, to judge thy people, and discern between good and evil. For who shall be able to judge this people, thy people, which is so numerous? 3:10. And the word was pleasing to the Lord, that Solomon had asked such a thing. 3:11. And the Lord said to Solomon: Because thou hast asked this thing, and hast not asked for thyself long life nor riches, nor the lives of thy enemies, but hast asked for thyself wisdom to discern judgment; 3:12. Behold I have done for thee according to thy words, and have given thee a wise and understanding heart, in so much that there hath been no one like thee before thee, nor shall arise after thee. 3:13. Yea, and the things also which thou didst not ask, I have given thee; to wit, riches and glory: so that no one hath been like thee among the kings in all days heretofore. 3:14. And if thou wilt walk in my ways, and keep my precepts and my commandments, as thy father walked, I will lengthen thy days. 3:15. And Solomon awaked, and perceived that it was a dream: and when he was come to Jerusalem, he stood before the ark of the covenant of the Lord, and offered holocausts, and sacrificed victims of peace offerings, and made a great feast for all his servants. 3:16. Then there came two women that were harlots, to the king, and stood before him. 3:17. And one of them said: I beseech thee, my lord, I and this woman dwelt in one house, and I was delivered of a child with her in the chamber. 3:18. And the third day after I was delivered, she also was delivered; and we were together, and no other person with us in the house; only we two. 3:19. And this woman's child died in the night: for in her sleep she overlaid him. 3:20. And rising in the dead time of the night, she took my child from my side, while I, thy handmaid, was asleep, and laid it in her bosom: and laid her dead child in my bosom. 3:21. And when I arose in the morning, to give my child suck, behold it was dead: but considering him more diligently, when it was clear day, I found that it was not mine which I bore. 3:22. And the other woman answered: It is not so as thou sayest, but thy child is dead, and mine is alive. On the contrary, she said; Thou liest: for my child liveth, and thy child is dead. And in this manner they strove before the king. 3:23. Then said the king: The one saith, My child is alive, and thy child is dead. And the other answereth: Nay; but thy child is dead, and mine liveth. 3:24. The king therefore said: Bring me a sword. And when they had brought a sword before the king, 3:25. Divide, said he, the living child in two, and give half to the one and half to the other. 3:26. But the woman, whose child was alive, said to the king; (for her bowels were moved upon her child) I beseech thee, my lord, give her the child alive, and do not kill it. But the other said: Let it be neither mine nor thine; but divide it. 3:27. The king answered, and said: Give the living child to this woman, and let it not be killed; for she is the mother thereof. 3:28. And all Israel heard the judgment which the king had judged, and they feared the king, seeing that the wisdom of God was in him to do judgment. 3 Kings Chapter 4 Solomon's chief officers. His riches and wisdom. 4:1. And king Solomon reigned over all Israel: 4:2. And these were the princes which he had: Azarias, the son of Sadoc, the priest: 4:3. Elihoreph, and Ahia, the sons of Sisa, scribes: Josaphat, the son of Ahilud, recorder: 4:4. Banaias, the son of Joiada, over the army: and Sadoc, and Abiathar, priests. Abiathar... By this it appears that Abiathar was not altogether deposed from the high priesthood; but only banished to his country house, and by that means excluded from the exercise of his functions. 4:5. Azarias, the son of Nathan, over them that were about the king: Zabud, the son of Nathan, the priest, the king's friend: 4:6. And Ahisar, governor of the house: and Adoniram, the son of Abda, over the tribute. 4:7. And Solomon had twelve governors over all Israel, who provided victuals for the king and for his house hold: for every one provided necessaries, each man his month in the year. 4:8. And these are their names: Benhur, in mount Ephraim. 4:9. Bendecar, in Macces, and in Salebim, and in Bethsames, and in Elon, and in Bethanan. 4:10. Benhesed, in Aruboth: his was Socho, and all the land of Epher. 4:11. Benabinadab, to whom belonged all Nephath-Dor: he had Tapheth, the daughter of Solomon, to wife. 4:12. Bana, the son of Ahilud, who governed Thanac, and Mageddo, and all Bethsan, which is by Sarthana, beneath Jezrael, from Bethsan unto Abelmehula, over against Jecmaan. 4:13. Bengaber, in Ramoth Galaad: he had the town of Jair, the son of Manasses, in Galaad: he was chief in all the country of Argob, which is in Basan, threescore great cities with walls, and brazen bolts. 4:14. Ahinadab, the son of Addo, was chief in Manaim. 4:15. Achimaas, in Nephthali: he also had Basemath, the daughter of Solomon, to wife. 4:16. Baana, the son of Husi, in Aser, and in Baloth. 4:17. Josaphat, the son of Pharue, in Issachar. 4:18. Semei, the son of Ela, in Benjamin. 4:19. Gaber, the son of Uri, in the land of Galaad, in the land of Sehon, the king of the Amorrhites, and of Og, the king of Basan, over all that were in that land. 4:20. Juda and Israel were innumerable, as the sand of the sea in multitude; eating and drinking, and rejoicing. 4:21. And Solomon had under him all the kingdoms, from the river to the land of the Philistines, even to the border of Egypt: and they brought him presents, and served him all the days of his life. The river... Euphrates. 4:22. And the provision of Solomon, for each day, was thirty measures of fine flour, and threescore measures of meal; 4:23. Ten fat oxen, and twenty out of the pastures, and a hundred rams; besides venison of harts, roes, and buffles, and fatted fowls. 4:24. For he had all the country which was beyond the river, from Thaphsa to Gazan, and all the kings of those countries: and he had peace on every side round about. 4:25. And Juda, and Israel, dwelt without any fear, every one under his vine, and under his fig tree, from Dan to Bersabee, all the days of Solomon. 4:26. And Solomon had forty thousand stalls of chariot horses, and twelve thousand for the saddle. 4:27. And the foresaid governors of the king fed them; and they furnished the necessaries also for king Solomon's table, with great care, in their time. 4:28. They brought barley also, and straw for the horses and beasts, to the place where the king was, according as it was appointed them. 4:29. And God gave to Solomon wisdom, and understanding exceeding much, and largeness of heart, as the sand that is on the sea shore. 4:30. And the wisdom of Solomon surpassed the wisdom of all the Orientals, and of the Egyptians; 4:31. And he was wiser than all men: wiser than Ethan, the Ezrahite, and Heman, and Chalcol, and Dorda, the sons of Mahol, and he was renowned in all nations round about. 4:32. Solomon also spoke three thousand parables: and his poems were a thousand and five. Three thousand parables, etc... These works are all lost, excepting some part of the parables extant in the book of Proverbs; and his chief poem called the Canticle of Canticles. 4:33. And he treated about trees, from the cedar that is in Libanus, unto the hyssop that cometh out of the wall: and he discoursed of beasts, and of fowls, and of creeping things, and of fishes. 4:34. And they came from all nations to hear the wisdom of Solomon, and from all the kings of the earth, who heard of his wisdom. 3 Kings Chapter 5 Hiram king of Tyre agreeth to furnish timber and workmen for building the temple: the number of workmen and overseers. 5:1. And Hiram, king of Tyre, sent his servants to Solomon: for he heard that they had anointed him king in the room of his father: for Hiram had always been David's friend. 5:2. Solomon sent to Hiram, saying: 5:3. Thou knowest the will of David, my father, and that he could not build a house to the name of the Lord his God, because of the wars that were round about him, until the Lord put them under the soles of his feet. 5:4. But now the Lord my God hath given me rest round about; and there is no adversary nor evil occurrence. 5:5. Wherefore I purpose to build a temple to the name of the Lord my God, as the Lord spoke to David my father, saying: Thy son, whom I will set upon the throne, in thy place, he shall build a house to my name. 5:6. Give orders, therefore, that thy servants cut me down cedar trees, out of Libanus, and let my servants be with thy servants: and I will give thee the hire of thy servants whatsoever thou wilt ask: for thou knowest how there is not among my people a man that has skill to hew wood like to the Sidonians. 5:7. Now when Hiram had heard the words of Solomon, he rejoiced exceedingly, and said: Blessed be the Lord God this day, who hath given to David a very wise son over this numerous people. 5:8. And Hiram sent to Solomon, saying: I have heard all thou hast desired of me; and I will do all thy desire concerning cedar trees, and fir trees. 5:9. My servants shall bring them down from Libanus to the sea: and I will put them together in floats, on the sea, and convey them to the place, which thou shalt signify to me, and will land them there, and thou shalt receive them: and thou shalt allow me necessaries to furnish food for my household. 5:10. So Hiram gave Solomon cedar trees, and fir trees, according to all his desire. 5:11. And Solomon allowed Hiram twenty thousand measures of wheat, for provision for his house, and twenty measures of the purest oil: thus gave Solomon to Hiram every year. 5:12. And the Lord gave wisdom to Solomon, as he promised him: and there was peace between Hiram and Solomon, and they two made a league together. 5:13. And king Solomon chose workmen out of all Israel, and the levy was of thirty thousand men. 5:14. And he sent them to Libanus, ten thousand every month, by turns, so that two months they were at home: and Adoniram was over this levy. 5:15. And Solomon had seventy thousand to carry burdens, and eighty thousand to hew stones in the mountain: 5:16. Besides the overseers who were over every work, in number three thousand and three hundred, that ruled over the people, and them that did the work. 5:17. And the king commanded that they should bring great stones, costly stones, for the foundation of the temple, and should square them: 5:18. And the masons of Solomon, and the masons of Hiram, hewed them: and the Giblians prepared timber and stones to build the house. 3 Kings Chapter 6 The building of Solomon's temple. 6:1. And it came to pass in the four hundred and eightieth year after the children of Israel came out of the land of Egypt, in the fourth year of the reign of Solomon over Israel, in the month Zio, (the same is the second month) he began to build a house to the Lord. 6:2. And the house, which king Solomon built to the Lord, was threescore cubits in length, and twenty cubits in breadth, and thirty cubits in height. 6:3. And there was a porch before the temple, of twenty cubits in length, according to the measure of the breadth of the temple: and it was ten cubits in breadth, before the face of the temple. 6:4. And he made in the temple oblique windows. 6:5. And upon the wall of the temple, he built floors round about, in the walls of the house, round about the temple and the oracle, and he made chambers in the sides round about. Upon the wall, i. e., joining to the wall.-Ibid. He built floors round about... Chambers or cells adjoining to the temple, for the use of the temple and of the priests, so contrived as to be between the inward and outward wall of the temple, in three stories, one above another.-Ibid. The oracle... The inner temple or holy of holies, where God gave his oracles. 6:6. The floor that was underneath was five cubits in breadth, and the middle floor was six cubits in breadth, and the third floor was seven cubits in breadth. And he put beams in the house round about on the outside, that they might not be fastened in the walls of the temple. 6:7. And the house, when it was in building, was built of stones, hewed and made ready: so that there was neither hammer nor axe, nor any tool of iron heard in the house when it was in building. Made ready, etc... So the stones for the building of God's eternal temple in the heavenly Jerusalem, (who are the faithful,) must first be hewn and polished here by many trials and sufferings, before they can be admitted to have a place in that celestial structure. 6:8. The door, for the middle side, was on the right hand of the house: and by winding stairs they went up to the middle room, and from the middle to the third. 6:9. So he built the house, and finished it: and he covered the house with roofs of cedar. 6:10. And he built a floor over all the house, five cubits in height, and he covered the house with timber of cedar. 6:11. And the word of the Lord came to Solomon, 6:12. As for this house, which thou art building, if thou wilt walk in my statutes, and execute my judgments, and keep all my commandments, walking in them, I will fulfil my word to thee, which I spoke to David thy father. 6:13. And I will dwell in the midst of the children of Israel, and I will not forsake my people Israel. 6:14. So Solomon built the house, and finished it. 6:15. And he built the walls of the house on the inside, with boards of cedar, from the floor of the house to the top of the walls, and to the roofs, he covered it with boards of cedar on the inside: and he covered the floor of the house with planks of fir. 6:16. And he built up twenty cubits with boards of cedar at the hinder part of the temple, from the floor to the top: and made the inner house of the oracle to be the holy of holies. 6:17. And the temple itself, before the doors of the oracle, was forty cubits long. 6:18. And all the house was covered within with cedar, having the turnings, and the joints thereof artfully wrought, and carvings projecting out: all was covered with boards of cedar: and no stone could be seen in the wall at all. 6:19. And he made the oracle in the midst of the house, in the inner part, to set there the ark of the covenant of the Lord. 6:20. Now the oracle was twenty cubits in length, and twenty cubits in breadth, and twenty cubits in height. And he covered it, and overlaid it with most pure gold. And the altar also he covered with cedar. 6:21. And the house before the oracle he overlaid with most pure gold, and fastened on the plates with nails of gold. 6:22. And there was nothing in the temple that was not covered with gold: the whole altar of the oracle he covered also with gold. 6:23. And he made in the oracle two cherubims of olive tree, of ten cubits in height. 6:24. One wing of the cherub was five cubits, and the other wing of the cherub was five cubits: that is, in all ten cubits, from the extremity of one wing to the extremity of the other wing. 6:25. The second cherub also was ten cubits: and the measure, and the work was the same in both the cherubims: 6:26. That is to say, one cherub was ten cubits high, and in like manner the other cherub. 6:27. And he set the cherubims in the midst of the inner temple: and the cherubims stretched forth their wings, and the wing of the one touched one wall, and the wing of the other cherub touched the other wall: and the other wings in the midst of the temple touched one another. 6:28. And he overlaid the cherubims with gold. 6:29. And all the walls of the temple round about he carved with divers figures and carvings: and he made in them cherubims and palm trees, and divers representations, as it were standing out, and coming forth from the wall. 6:30. And the floor of the house he also overlaid with gold within and without. 6:31. And in the entrance of the oracle, he made little doors of olive tree, and posts of five corners, 6:32. And two doors of olive tree: and he carved upon them figures of cherubims, and figures of palm trees, and carvings very much projecting; and he overlaid them with gold: and he covered both the cherubims and the palm trees, and the other things, with gold. 6:33. And he made in the entrance of the temple posts of olive tree foursquare: 6:34. And two doors of fir tree, one of each side: and each door was double, and so opened with folding leaves. 6:35. And he carved cherubims, and palm trees, and carved work standing very much out: and he overlaid all with golden plates in square work by rule. 6:36. And he built the inner court with three rows of polished stones, and one row of beams of cedar. 6:37. In the fourth year was the house of the Lord founded, in the month Zio: 6:38. And in the eleventh year, in the month Bul. (which is the eighth month) the house was finished in all the works thereof, and in all the appurtenances thereof: and he was seven years in building it. 3 Kings Chapter 7 Solomons palace, his house in the forest, and the queen's house: the work of the two pillars: the sea (or laver) and other vessels. 7:1. And Solomon built his own house in thirteen years, and brought it to perfection. 7:2. He built also the house of the forest of Libanus; the length of it was a hundred cubits, and the breadth fifty cubits, and the height thirty cubits: and four galleries between pillars of cedar: for he had cut cedar trees into pillars. 7:3. And he covered the whole vault with boards of cedar, and it was held up with five and forty pillars. And one row had fifteen pillars, 7:4. Set one against another, 7:5. And looking one upon another, with equal space between the pillars, and over the pillars were square beams in all things equal. 7:6. And he made a porch of pillars of fifty cubits in length, and thirty cubits in breadth: and another porch before the greater porch, and pillars, and chapiters upon the pillars. 7:7. He made also the porch of the throne wherein is the seat of judgment; and covered it with cedar wood from the floor to the top. 7:8. And in the midst of the porch, was a small house, where he sat in judgment of the like work. He made also a house for the daughter of Pharao (whom Solomon had taken to wife) of the same work, as this porch; 7:9. All of costly stones, which were sawed by a certain rule and measure, both within and without: from the foundation to the top of the walls, and without, unto the great court. 7:10. And the foundations were of costly stones, great stones of ten cubits or eight cubits. 7:11. And above there were costly stones of equal measure hewed, and in like manner planks of cedar. 7:12. And the great court was made round with three rows of hewed stones, and one row of planks of cedar, which also was observed in the inner court of the house of the Lord, and in the porch of the house. 7:13. And king Solomon sent, and brought Hiram from Tyre, 7:14. The son of a widow woman, of the tribe of Nephthali, whose father was a Tyrian, an artificer in brass, and full of wisdom, and understanding, and skill to work all work in brass. And when he was come to king Solomon, he wrought all his work. 7:15. And he cast two pillars in brass, each pillar was eighteen cubits high: and a line of twelve cubits compassed both the pillars. 7:16. He made also two chapiters of molten brass, to be set upon the tops of the pillars: the height of one chapiter was five cubits, and the height of the other chapiter was five cubits: 7:17. And a kind of network, and chain work wreathed together with wonderful art. Both the chapiters of the pillars were cast: seven rows of nets were on one chapiter, and seven nets on the other chapiter. 7:18. And he made the pillars, and two rows round about each network to cover the chapiters, that were upon the top, with pomegranates: and in like manner did he to the other chapiter. 7:19. And the chapiters that were upon the top of the pillars, were of lily work, in the porch of four cubits. 7:20. And again there were other chapiters on the top of the pillars above, according to the measure of the pillar over against the network: and of pomegranates there were two hundred, in rows round about the other chapiter. 7:21. And he set up the two pillars in the porch of the temple: and when he had set up the pillar on the right hand, he called the name thereof Jachin: in like manner he set up the second pillar, and called the name thereof Booz. Jachin... That is, firmly established.-Ibid. Booz... That is, in its strength. By recording these names in holy writ, the spirit of God would have us understand the invincible firmness and strength of the pillars on which the true temple of God, which is the church, is established. 7:22. And upon the tops of the pillars he made lily work: so the work of the pillars was finished. 7:23. He made also a molten sea, of ten cubits, from brim to brim, round all about; the height of it was five cubits, and a line of thirty cubits compassed it round about. 7:24. And a graven work, under the brim of it, compassed it for ten cubits going about the sea: there were two rows cast of chamfered sculptures. 7:25. And it stood upon twelve oxen, of which three looked towards the north, and three towards the west, and three towards the south, and three towards the east: and the sea was above upon them, and their hinder parts were all hid within. 7:26. And the laver was a hand breadth thick: and the brim thereof was like the brim of a cup, or the leaf of a crisped lily: it contained two thousand bates. Two thousand bates... That is, about ten thousand gallons. This was the quantity of water which was usually put into it: but it was capable, if brimful, of holding three thousand. See 2 Par. 4.5. 7:27. And he made ten bases of brass, every base was four cubits in length, and four cubits in breadth, and three cubits high. 7:28. And the work itself of the bases, was intergraven: and there were gravings between the joinings. 7:29. And between the little crowns and the ledges, were lions, and oxen, and cherubims; and in the joinings likewise above: and under the lions and oxen, as it were bands of brass hanging down. 7:30. And every base had four wheels, and axletrees of brass: and at the four sides were undersetters, under the laver molten, looking one against another. 7:31. The mouth also of the laver within, was in the top of the chapiter: and that which appeared without, was of one cubit all round, and together it was one cubit and a half: and in the corners of the pillars were divers engravings: and the spaces between the pillars were square, not round. 7:32. And the four wheels, which were at the four corners of the base, were joined one to another under the base: the height of a wheel was a cubit and a half. 7:33. And they were such wheels as are used to be made in a chariot: and their axletrees, and spokes, and strakes, and naves, were all cast. 7:34. And the four undersetters, that were at every corner of each base, were of the base itself, cast and joined together. 7:35. And on the top of the base, there was a round compass of half a cubit, so wrought that the laver might be set thereon, having its gravings, and divers sculptures of itself. 7:36. He engraved also in those plates, which were of brass, and in the corners, cherubims, and lions, and palm trees, in likeness of a man standing, so that they seemed not to be engraven, but added round about. 7:37. After this manner, he made ten bases, of one casting and measure, and the like graving. 7:38. He made also ten lavers of brass: one laver contained four bates, and was of four cubits: and upon every base, in all ten, he put as many lavers. 7:39. And he set the ten bases, five on the right side of the temple, and five on the left: and the sea he put on the right side of the temple, over against the east southward. 7:40. And Hiram made cauldrons, and shovels, and basins, and finished all the work of king Solomon in the temple of the Lord. 7:41. The two pillars and the two cords of the chapiters, upon the chapiters of the pillars: and the two networks, to cover the two cords, that were upon the top of the pillars. 7:42. And four hundred pomegranates for the two networks: two rows of pomegranates for each network, to cover the cords of the chapiters, which were upon the tops of the pillars. 7:43. And the ten bases, and the ten lavers on the bases. 7:44. And one sea, and twelve oxen under the sea. 7:45. And the cauldrons, and the shovels, and the basins. All the vessels that Hiram made for king Solomon, for the house of the Lord, were of fine brass. 7:46. In the plains of the Jordan, did the king cast them in a clay ground, between Socoth and Sartham. 7:47. And Solomon placed all the vessels: but for its exceeding great multitude the brass could not be weighed. 7:48. And Solomon made all the vessels for the house of the Lord: the altar of gold, and the table of gold, upon which the loaves of proposition should be set: 7:49. And the golden candlesticks, five on the right hand, and five on the left, over against the oracle, of pure gold: and the flowers like lilies, and the lamps over them of gold: and golden snuffers, 7:50. And pots, and fleshhooks, and bowls, and mortars, and censers, of most pure gold: and the hinges for the doors of the inner house of the holy of holies, and for the doors of the house of the temple, were of gold. 7:51. And Solomon finished all the work that he made in the house of the Lord, and brought in the things that David, his father, had dedicated, the silver and the gold, and the vessels, and laid them up in the treasures of the house of the Lord. 3 Kings Chapter 8 The dedication of the temple: Solomon's prayer and sacrifices. 8:1. Then all the ancients of Israel, with the princes of the tribes, and the heads of the families of the children of Israel, were assembled to king Solomon, in Jerusalem: that they might carry the ark of the covenant of the Lord, out of the city of David, that is, out of Sion. 8:2. And all Israel assembled themselves to king Solomon, on the festival day, in the month of Ethanim, the same is the seventh month. 8:3. And all the ancients of Israel came, and the priests took up the ark, 8:4. And carried the ark of the Lord, and the tabernacle of the covenant, and all the vessels of the sanctuary, that were in the tabernacle: and the priests and the Levites carried them. 8:5. And king Solomon, and all the multitude of Israel, that were assembled unto him, went with him before the ark, and they sacrificed sheep and oxen, that could not be counted or numbered. 8:6. And the priests brought in the ark of the covenant of the Lord into its place, into the oracle of the temple, into the holy of holies, under the wings of the cherubims. 8:7. For the cherubims spread forth their wings over the place of the ark, and covered the ark, and the staves thereof above. 8:8. And whereas the staves stood out, the ends of them were seen without, in the sanctuary before the oracle, but were not seen farther out, and there they have been unto this day. 8:9. Now in the ark there was nothing else but the two tables of stone, which Moses put there at Horeb, when the Lord made a covenant with the children of Israel, when they came out of the land of Egypt. Nothing else, etc... There was nothing else but the tables of the law within the ark: but on the outside of the ark, or near the ark were also the rod of Aaron, and a golden urn with manna, Heb. 9.4. 8:10. And it came to pass, when the priests were come out of the sanctuary, that a cloud filled the house of the Lord, 8:11. And the priests could not stand to minister because of the cloud: for the glory of the Lord had filled the house of the Lord. 8:12. Then Solomon said: The Lord said that he would dwell in a cloud. 8:13. Building, I have built a house for thy dwelling, to be thy most firm throne for ever. 8:14. And the king turned his face, and blessed all the assembly of Israel: for all the assembly of Israel stood. 8:15. And Solomon said: Blessed be the Lord the God of Israel, who spoke with his mouth to David, my father, and with his own hands hath accomplished it, saying: 8:16. Since the day that I brought my people Israel, out of Egypt, I chose no city out of all the tribes of Israel, for a house to be built, that my name might be there: but I chose David to be over my people Israel. 8:17. And David, my father, would have built a house to the name of the Lord, the God of Israel: 8:18. And the Lord said to David, my father: Whereas, thou hast thought in thy heart to build a house to my name, thou hast done well in having this same thing in thy mind. 8:19. Nevertheless, thou shalt not build me a house, but thy son, that shall come forth out of thy loins, he shall build a house to my name. 8:20. The Lord hath performed his word which he spoke. And I stand in the room of David, my father, and sit upon the throne of Israel, as the Lord promised: and have built a house to the name of the Lord, the God of Israel. 8:21. And I have set there a place for the ark, wherein is the covenant of the Lord, which he made with our fathers, when they came out of the land of Egypt. 8:22. And Solomon stood before the altar of the Lord, in the sight of the assembly of Israel, and spread forth his hands towards heaven, 8:23. And said: Lord God of Israel, there is no God like thee, in heaven above, or on the earth beneath: who keepest covenant and mercy with thy servants, that have walked before thee with all their heart: 8:24. Who hast kept with thy servant David, my father, what thou hast promised him: with thy mouth thou didst speak, and with thy hands thou hast performed, as this day proveth. 8:25. Now, therefore, O Lord God of Israel, keep with thy servant David, my father, what thou hast spoken to him, saying: There shall not be taken away of thee a man in my sight, to sit on the throne of Israel: yet so that thy children take heed to their way, that they walk before me as thou hast walked in my sight. 8:26. And now, Lord God of Israel, let thy words be established, which thou hast spoken to thy servant David, my father. 8:27. Is it then to be thought that God should indeed dwell upon earth? for if heaven, and the heavens of heavens, cannot contain thee, how much less this house which I have built? 8:28. But have regard to the prayer of thy servant, and to his supplications, O Lord, my God: hear the hymn and the prayer, which thy servant prayeth before thee this day: 8:29. That thy eyes may be open upon this house, night and day: upon the house of which thou hast said: My name shall be there: that thou mayst hearken to the prayer which thy servant prayeth, in this place to thee: 8:30. That thou mayst hearken to the supplication of thy servant, and of thy people Israel, whatsoever they shall pray for in this place, and hear them in the place of thy dwelling in heaven; and when thou hearest, shew them mercy. 8:31. If any man trespass against his neighbour, and have an oath upon him, wherewith he is bound, and come, because of the oath, before thy altar, to thy house, 8:32. Then hear thou in heaven: and do and judge thy servants, condemning the wicked, and bringing his way upon his own head, and justifying the just, and rewarding him according to his justice. 8:33. If thy people Israel shall fly before their enemies (because they will sin against thee) and doing penance, and confessing to thy name, shall come and pray, and make supplications to thee in this house: 8:34. Then hear thou in heaven, and forgive the sin of thy people Israel, and bring them back to the land which thou gavest to their fathers. 8:35. If heaven shall be shut up, and there shall be no rain, because of their sins, and they, praying in this place, shall do penance to thy name, and shall be converted from their sins, by occasion of their afflictions: 8:36. Then hear thou them in heaven, and forgive the sins of thy servants, and of thy people Israel: and shew them the good way wherein they should walk, and give rain upon thy land, which thou hast given to thy people in possession. 8:37. If a famine arise in the land, or a pestilence, or corrupt air, or blasting, or locust, or mildew; if their enemy afflict them, besieging the gates, whatsoever plague, whatsoever infirmity, 8:38. Whatsoever curse or imprecation shall happen to any man of thy people Israel: when a man shall know the wound of his own heart, and shall spread forth his hands in this house; 8:39. Then hear thou in heaven, in the place of thy dwelling, and forgive, and do so as to give to every one according to his ways, as thou shalt see his heart (for thou only knowest the heart of all the children of men) 8:40. That they may fear thee all the days that they live upon the face of the land, which thou hast given to our fathers. 8:41. Moreover also the stranger, who is not of thy people Israel, when he shall come out of a far country for thy name's sake, (for they shall hear every where of thy great name, and thy mighty hand, 8:42. And thy stretched out arm) so when he shall come, and shall pray in this place, 8:43. Then hear thou in heaven, in the firmament of thy dwelling place, and do all those things, for which that stranger shall call upon thee: that all the people of the earth may learn to fear thy name, as do thy people Israel, and may prove that thy name is called upon on this house, which I have built. 8:44. If thy people go out to war against their enemies, by what way soever thou shalt send them, they shall pray to thee towards the way of the city, which thou hast chosen, and towards the house, which I have built to thy name: 8:45. And then hear thou in heaven their prayers, and their supplications, and do judgment for them. 8:46. But if they sin against thee, (for there is no man who sinneth not) and thou being angry, deliver them up to their enemies, so that they be led away captives into the land of their enemies, far or near; 8:47. Then if they do penance in their heart, in the place of captivity, and being converted, make supplication to thee in their captivity, saying: We have sinned, we have done unjustly, we have committed wickedness: 8:48. And return to thee with all their heart, and all their soul, in the land of their enemies, to which they have been led captives: and pray to thee towards the way of their land, which thou gavest to their fathers, and of the city which thou hast chosen, and of the temple which I have built to thy name: 8:49. Then hear thou in heaven, in the firmament of thy throne, their prayers, and their supplications, and do judgment for them: 8:50. And forgive thy people, that have sinned against thee, and all their iniquities, by which they have transgressed against thee: and give them mercy before them that have made them captives, that they may have compassion on them. 8:51. For they are thy people, and thy inheritance, whom thou hast brought out of the land of Egypt, from the midst of the furnace of iron. 8:52. That thy eyes may be open to the supplication of thy servant, and of thy people Israel, to hear them in all things for which they shall call upon thee. 8:53. For thou hast separated them to thyself for an inheritance, from amongst all the people of the earth, as thou hast spoken by Moses, thy servant, when thou broughtest our fathers out of Egypt, O Lord God. 8:54. And it came to pass, when Solomon had made an end of praying all this prayer and supplication to the Lord, that he rose from before the altar of the Lord: for he had fixed both knees on the ground, and had spread his hands towards heaven. 8:55. And he stood, and blessed all the assembly of Israel with a loud voice, saying: 8:56. Blessed be the Lord, who hath given rest to his people Israel, according to all that he promised: there hath not failed so much as one word of all the good things that he promised by his servant Moses. 8:57. The Lord our God be with us, as he was with our fathers, and not leave us, nor cast us off: 8:58. But may he incline our hearts to himself, that we may walk in all his ways, and keep his commandments, and his ceremonies, and all his judgments, which he commanded our fathers. 8:59. And let these my words, wherewith I have prayed before the Lord, be nigh unto the Lord our God day and night, that he may do judgment for his servant, and for his people Israel, day by day: 8:60. That all the people of the earth may know, that the Lord he is God, and there is no other besides him. 8:61. Let our hearts also be perfect with the Lord our God, that we may walk in his statutes, and keep his commandments, as at this day. 8:62. And the king, and all Israel with him, offered victims before the Lord. 8:63. And Solomon slew victims of peace offerings, which he sacrificed to the Lord, two and twenty thousand oxen, and a hundred and twenty thousand sheep so the king, and all the children of Israel, dedicated the temple of the Lord. 8:64. In that day the king sanctified the middle of the court, that was before the house of the Lord for there he offered the holocaust, and sacrifice, and the fat of the peace offerings: because the brazen altar that was before the Lord, was too little to receive the holocaust, and sacrifice, and the fat of the peace offerings. 8:65. And Solomon made at the same time a solemn feast, and all Israel with him, a great multitude, from the entrance of Emath to the river of Egypt, before the Lord our God, seven days and seven days, that is, fourteen days. 8:66. And on the eighth day, he sent away the people: and they blessed the king, and went to their dwellings, rejoicing, and glad in heart, for all the good things that the Lord had done for David, his servant, and for Israel, his people. 3 Kings Chapter 9 The Lord appeareth again to Solomon: he buildeth cities: he sendeth a fleet to Ophir. 9:1. And it came to pass when Solomon had finished the building of the house of the Lord, and the king's house, and all that he desired and was pleased to do, 9:2. That the Lord appeared to him the second time, as he had appeared to him in Gabaon. 9:3. And the Lord said to him: I have heard thy prayer and thy supplication, which thou hast made before me: I have sanctified this house, which thou hast built, to put my name there for ever; and my eyes, and my heart, shall be there always. 9:4. And if thou wilt walk before me, as thy father walked, in simplicity of heart, and in uprightness: and wilt do all that I have commanded thee, and wilt keep my ordinances, and my judgments, As thy father walked, in simplicity of heart... That is, in the sincerity and integrity of a single heart, as opposite to all double dealing and deceit. 9:5. I will establish the throne of thy kingdom over Israel for ever, as I promised David, thy father, saying: There shall not fail a man of thy race upon the throne of Israel. 9:6. But if you and your children, revolting, shall turn away from following me, and will not keep my commandments, and my ceremonies, which I have set before you, but will go and worship strange gods, and adore them: 9:7. I will take away Israel from the face of the land which I have given them; and the temple which I have sanctified to my name, I will cast out of my sight; and Israel shall be a proverb, and a byword among all people. 9:8. And this house shall be made an example of: every one that shall pass by it, shall be astonished, and shall hiss, and say: Why hath the Lord done thus to this land, and to this house? 9:9. And they shall answer: Because they forsook the Lord their God, who brought their fathers out of the land of Egypt, and followed strange gods, and adored them, and worshipped them: therefore hath the Lord brought upon them all this evil. 9:10. And when twenty years were ended, after Solomon had built the two houses; that is, the house of the Lord, and the house of the king, 9:11. (Hiram, the king of Tyre, furnishing Solomon with cedar trees, and fir trees, and gold, according to all he had need of) then Solomon gave Hiram twenty cities in the land of Galilee. 9:12. And Hiram came out of Tyre, to see the towns which Solomon had given him, and they pleased him not; 9:13. And he said: Are these the cities which thou hast given me, brother? And he called them the land of Chabul, unto this day. Chabul... That is, dirty or displeasing. 9:14. And Hiram sent to king Solomon a hundred and twenty talents of gold. 9:15. This is the sum of the expenses, which king Solomon offered to build the house of the Lord, and his own house, and Mello, and the wall of Jerusalem, and Heser, and Mageddo, and Gazer. 9:16. Pharao, the king of Egypt, came up and took Gazer, and burnt it with fire: and slew the Chanaanite that dwelt in the city, and gave it for a dowry to his daughter, Solomon's wife. 9:17. So Solomon built Gazer, and Bethhoron the nether, 9:18. And Baalath, and Palmira, in the land of the wilderness. 9:19. And all the towns that belonged to himself, and were not walled, he fortified; the cities also of the chariots, and the cities of the horsemen, and whatsoever he had a mind to build in Jerusalem, and in Libanus, and in all the land of his dominion. 9:20. All the people that were left of the Amorrhites, and Hethites, and Pherezites, and Hevites, and Jebusites, that are not of the children of Israel: 9:21. Their children, that were left in the land; to wit, such as the children of Israel had not been able to destroy, Solomon made tributary unto this day. 9:22. But of the children of Israel, Solomon made not any to be bondmen, but they were warriors, and his servants, and his princes, and captains, and overseers of the chariots and horses. 9:23. And there were five hundred and fifty chief officers set over all the works of Solomon, and they had people under them, and had charge over the appointed works. 9:24. And the daughter of Pharao came up out of the city of David to her house, which Solomon had built for her: then did he build Mello. 9:25. Solomon also offered three times every year holocausts, and victims of peace offerings, upon the altar which he had built to the Lord, and he burnt incense before the Lord: and the temple was finished. 9:26. And king Solomon made a fleet in Asiongaber, which is by Ailath, on the shore of the Red Sea, in the land of Edom. 9:27. And Hiram sent his servants in the fleet, sailors that had knowledge of the sea, with the servants of Solomon. 9:28. And they came to Ophir; and they brought from thence to king Solomon four hundred and twenty talents of gold. 3 Kings Chapter 10 The queen of Saba cometh to king Solomon: his riches and glory. 10:1. And the queen of Saba having heard of the fame of Solomon in the name of the Lord, came to try him with hard questions. 10:2. And entering into Jerusalem with a great train, and riches, and camels that carried spices, and an immense quantity of gold, and precious stones, she came to king Solomon, and spoke to him all that she had in her heart. 10:3. And Solomon informed her of all the things she proposed to him: there was not any word the king was ignorant of, and which he could not answer her. 10:4. And when the queen of Saba saw all the wisdom of Solomon, and the house which he had built, 10:5. And the meat of his table, and the apartments of his servants, and the order of his ministers, and their apparel, and the cupbearers, and the holocausts, which he offered in the house of the Lord, she had no longer any spirit in her; 10:6. And she said to the king: The report is true, which I heard in my own country, 10:7. Concerning thy words, and concerning thy wisdom. And I did not believe them that told me, till I came myself, and saw with my own eyes, and have found that the half hath not been told me: thy wisdom and thy works exceed the fame which I heard. 10:8. Blessed are thy men, and blessed are thy servants, who stand before thee always, and hear thy wisdom. 10:9. Blessed be the Lord thy God, whom thou hast pleased, and who hath set thee upon the throne of Israel, because the Lord hath loved Israel for ever, and hath appointed thee king, to do judgment and justice. 10:10. And she gave the king a hundred and twenty talents of gold, and of spices a very great store, and precious stones: there was brought no more such abundance of spices as these which the queen of Saba gave to king Solomon. 10:11. (The navy also of Hiram, which brought gold from Ophir, brought from Ophir great plenty of thyine trees, and precious stones. 10:12. And the king made of the thyine trees the rails of the house of the Lord, and of the king's house: and citterns and harps for singers: there were no such thyine trees as these brought nor seen unto this day.) 10:13. And king Solomon gave the queen of Saba all that she desired, and asked of him: besides what he offered her of himself of his royal bounty. And she returned, and went to her own country, with her servants. 10:14. And the weight of the gold that was brought to Solomon every year, was six hundred and sixty-six talents of gold: 10:15. Besides that which the men brought him that were over the tributes, and the merchants, and they that sold by retail, and all the kings of Arabia, and the governors of the country. 10:16. And Solomon made two hundred shields of the purest gold: he allowed six hundred sicles of gold for the plates of one shield. 10:17. And three hundred targets of fine gold: three hundred pounds of gold covered one target: and the king put them in the house of the forest of Libanus. 10:18. King Solomon also made a great throne of ivory: and overlaid it with the finest gold. 10:19. It had six steps: and the top of the throne was round behind: and there were two hands on either side holding the seat: and two lions stood, one at each hand, 10:20. And twelve little lions stood upon the six steps, on the one side and on the other: there was no such work made in any kingdom. 10:21. Moreover, all the vessels out of which king Solomon drank, were of gold: and all the furniture of the house of the forest of Libanus was of most pure gold: there was no silver, nor was any account made of it in the days of Solomon: 10:22. For the king's navy, once in three years, went with the navy of Hiram by sea to Tharsis, and brought from thence gold, and silver, and elephants' teeth, and apes, and peacocks. 10:23. And king Solomon exceeded all the kings of the earth in riches and wisdom. 10:24. And all the earth desired to see Solomon's face, to hear his wisdom, which God had given in his heart. 10:25. And every one brought him presents, vessels of silver and of gold, garments, and armour, and spices, and horses, and mules, every year. 10:26. And Solomon gathered together chariots and horsemen, and he had a thousand four hundred chariots, and twelve thousand horsemen: and he bestowed them in fenced cities, and with the king in Jerusalem. 10:27. And he made silver to be as plentiful in Jerusalem as stones: and cedars to be as common as sycamores which grow in the plains. 10:28. And horses were brought for Solomon out of Egypt, and Coa: for the king's merchants bought them out of Coa, and brought them at a set price. 10:29. And a chariot of four horses came out of Egypt, for six hundred sicles of silver, and a horse for a hundred and fifty. And after this manner did all the kings of the Hethites, and of Syria, sell horses. 3 Kings Chapter 11 Solomon by means of his wives falleth into idolatry: God raiseth him adversaries, Adad, Razon, and Jeroboam: Solomon dieth. 11:1. And king Solomon loved many strange women, besides the daughter of Pharao, and women of Moab, and of Ammon, and of Edom, and of Sidon, and of the Hethites: 11:2. Of the nations concerning which the Lord said to the children of Israel: You shall not go in unto them, neither shall any of them come into yours: for they will most certainly turn away your hearts to follow their gods. And to these was Solomon joined with a most ardent love. 11:3. And he had seven hundred wives as queens, and three hundred concubines: and the women turned away his heart. 11:4. And when he was now old, his heart was turned away by women to follow strange gods: and his heart was not perfect with the Lord his God, as was the heart of David, his father. 11:5. But Solomon worshipped Astarthe, the goddess of the Sidonians, and Moloch, the idol of the Ammonites. 11:6. And Solomon did that which was not pleasing before the Lord, and did not fully follow the Lord, as David, his father. 11:7. Then Solomon built a temple for Chamos, the idol of Moab, on the hill that is over against Jerusalem, and for Moloch, the idol of the children of Ammon. 11:8. And he did in this manner for all his wives that were strangers, who burnt incense, and offered sacrifice to their gods. 11:9. And the Lord was angry with Solomon, because his mind was turned away from the Lord, the God of Israel, who had appeared to him twice; 11:10. And had commanded him concerning this thing, that he should not follow strange gods: but he kept not the things which the Lord commanded him. 11:11. The Lord therefore said to Solomon: Because thou hast done this, and hast not kept my covenant, and my precepts, which I have commanded thee, I will divide and rend thy kingdom, and will give it to thy servant. 11:12. Nevertheless, in thy days I will not do it, for David thy father's sake: but I will rend it out of the hand of thy son. 11:13. Neither will I take away the whole kingdom; but I will give one tribe to thy son, for the sake of David, my servant, and Jerusalem, which I have chosen. One tribe... Besides that of Juda, his own native tribe. 11:14. And the Lord raised up an adversary to Solomon, Adad, the Edomite, of the king's seed, in Edom. 11:15. For when David was in Edom, and Joab, the general of the army, was gone up to bury them that were slain, and had killed every male in Edom, 11:16. (For Joab remained there six months with all Israel, till he had slain every male in Edom,) 11:17. Then Adad fled, he and certain Edomites of his father's servants, with him, to go into Egypt: and Adad was then a little boy. 11:18. And they arose out of Madian, and came into Pharan, and they took men with them from Pharan, and went into Egypt, to Pharao, the king of Egypt: who gave him a house, and appointed him victuals, and assigned him land. 11:19. And Adad found great favour before Pharao, insomuch that he gave him to wife the own sister of his wife, Taphnes, the queen. 11:20. And the sister of Taphnes bore him his son, Genubath; and Taphnes brought him up in the house of Pharao: and Genubath dwelt with Pharao among his children. 11:21. And when Adad heard in Egypt that David slept with his fathers, and that Joab, the general of the army, was dead, he said to Pharao: Let me depart, that I may go to my own country. 11:22. And Pharao said to him: Why, what is wanting to thee with me, that thou seekest to go to thy own country? But he answered: Nothing; yet I beseech thee to let me go. 11:23. God also raised up against him an adversary, Razon, the son of Eliada, who had fled from his master, Adarezer, the king of Soba. 11:24. And he gathered men against him, and he became a captain of robbers, when David slew them of Soba: and they went to Damascus, and dwelt there, and they made him king in Damascus. 11:25. And he was an adversary to Israel all the days of Solomon: and this is the evil of Adad, and his hatred against Israel; and he reigned in Syria. 11:26. Jeroboam also, the son of Nabat, an Ephrathite, of Sareda, a servant of Solomon, whose mother was named Sarua, a widow woman, lifted up his hand against the king. 11:27. And this is the cause of his rebellion against him; for Solomon built Mello, and filled up the breach of the city of David, his father. 11:28. And Jeroboam was a valiant and mighty man: and Solomon seeing him a young man ingenious and industrious, made him chief over the tributes of all the house of Joseph. 11:29. So it came to pass at that time, that Jeroboam went out of Jerusalem, and the prophet Ahias, the Silonite, clad with a new garment, found him in the way: and they two were alone in the field. 11:30. And Ahias taking his new garment, wherewith he was clad, divided it into twelve parts: 11:31. And he said to Jeroboam: Take to thee ten pieces: for thus saith the Lord, the God of Israel: Behold, I will rend the kingdom out of the hand of Solomon, and will give thee ten tribes. 11:32. But one tribe shall remain to him for the sake of my servant, David, and Jerusalem, the city which I have chosen out of all the tribes of Israel: 11:33. Because he hath forsaken me, and hath adored Astarthe, the goddess of the Sidonians, and Chamos, the god of Moab, and Moloch, the god of the children of Ammon: and hath not walked in my ways, to do justice before me, and to keep my precepts, and judgments, as did David, his father. 11:34. Yet I will not take away all the kingdom out of his hand, but I will make him prince all the days of his life, for David my servant's sake, whom I chose, who kept my commandments, and my precepts. 11:35. But I will take away the kingdom out of his son's hand, and will give thee ten tribes: 11:36. And to his son I will give one tribe, that there may remain a lamp for my servant, David, before me always in Jerusalem, the city which I have chosen, that my name might be there. 11:37. And I will take thee, and thou shalt reign over all that thy soul desireth, and thou shalt be king over Israel. 11:38. If then thou wilt hearken to all that I shall command thee, and wilt walk in my ways, and do what is right before me, keeping my commandments and my precepts, as David, my servant, did: I will be with thee, and will build thee up a faithful house, as I built a house for David, and I will deliver Israel to thee: 11:39. And I will for this afflict the seed of David, but yet not for ever. 11:40. Solomon, therefore, sought to kill Jeroboam: but he arose, and fled into Egypt, to Sesac, the king of Egypt, and was in Egypt till the death of Solomon. 11:41. And the rest of the words of Solomon, and all that he did and his wisdom: behold they are all written in the book of the words of the days of Solomon. The book of the words, etc... This book is lost, with divers others mentioned in holy writ. 11:42. And the days that Solomon reigned in Jerusalem, over all Israel, were forty years. 11:43. And Solomon slept with his fathers, and was buried in the city of David, his father; and Roboam, his son, reigned in his stead. Solomon slept, etc... That is, died. He was then about fifty-eight years of age, having reigned forty years. 3 Kings Chapter 12 Roboam, following the counsel of young men alienateth from him the minds of the people. They make Jeroboam king over ten tribes: he setteth up idolatry. 12:1. And Roboam went to Sichem: for thither were all Israel come together to make him king. 12:2. But Jeroboam, the son of Nabat, who was yet in Egypt, a fugitive from the face of king Solomon, hearing of his death, returned out of Egypt. 12:3. And they sent and called him: and Jeroboam came, and all the multitude of Israel, and they spoke to Roboam, saying: 12:4. Thy father laid a grievous yoke upon us: now, therefore, do thou take off a little of the grievous service of thy father, and of his most heavy yoke, which he put upon us, and we will serve thee. 12:5. And he said to them: Go till the third day, and come to me again. And when the people was gone, 12:6. King Roboam took counsel with the old men, that stood before Solomon, his father, while he yet lived, and he said: What counsel do you give me, that I may answer this people? 12:7. They said to him: If thou wilt yield to this people to day, and condescend to them, and grant their petition, and wilt speak gentle words to them, they will be thy servants always. 12:8. But he left the counsel of the old men, which they had given him, and consulted with the young men that had been brought up with him, and stood before him. 12:9. And he said to them: What counsel do you give me, that I may answer this people, who have said to me: Make the yoke, which thy father put upon us, lighter? 12:10. And the young men that had been brought up with him, said: Thus shalt thou speak to this people, who have spoken to thee, saying: Thy father made our yoke heavy, do thou ease us. Thou shalt say to them: My little finger is thicker than the back of my father. 12:11. And now my father put a heavy yoke upon you, but I will add to your yoke: my father beat you with whips, but I will beat you with scorpions. 12:12. So Jeroboam, and all the people, came to Roboam the third day, as the king had appointed, saying: Come to me again the third day. 12:13. And the king answered the people roughly, leaving the counsel of the old men, which they had given him, 12:14. And he spoke to them according to the counsel of the young men, saying: My father made your yoke heavy, but I will add to your yoke: My father beat you with whips, but I will beat you with scorpions. 12:15. And the king condescended not to the people: for the Lord was turned away from him, to make good his word, which he had spoken in the hand of Ahias, the Silonite, to Jeroboam, the son of Nabat. 12:16. Then the people, seeing that the king would not hearken to them, answered him, saying: What portion have we in David? or what inheritance in the son of Isai? Go home to thy dwellings, O Israel: now, David, look to thy own house. So Israel departed to their dwellings. 12:17. But as for all the children of Israel that dwelt in the cities of Juda, Roboam reigned over them. 12:18. Then king Roboam sent Aduram, who was over the tribute: and all Israel stoned him, and he died. Wherefore king Roboam made haste to get him up into his chariot, and he fled to Jerusalem: 12:19. And Israel revolted from the house of David, unto this day. 12:20. And it came to pass when all Israel heard that Jeroboam was come again, that they gathered an assembly, and sent and called him, and made him king over all Israel, and there was none that followed the house of David but the tribe of Juda only. Juda only... Benjamin was a small tribe, and so intermixed with the tribe of Juda, (the very city of Jerusalem being partly in Juda, partly in Benjamin,) that they are here counted but as one tribe. 12:21. And Roboam came to Jerusalem, and gathered together all the house of Juda, and the tribe of Benjamin, a hundred fourscore thousand chosen men for war, to fight against the house of Israel, and to bring the kingdom again under Roboam, the son of Solomon. 12:22. But the word of the Lord came to Semeias, the man of God, saying: 12:23. Speak to Roboam, the son of Solomon, the king of Juda, and to all the house of Juda, and Benjamin, and the rest of the people, saying: 12:24. Thus saith the Lord: You shall not go up, nor fight against your brethren, the children of Israel: let every man return to his house, for this thing is from me. They hearkened to the word of the Lord, and returned from their journey, as the Lord had commanded them. 12:25. And Jeroboam built Sichem in mount Ephraim, and dwelt there, and going out from thence, he built Phanuel. 12:26. And Jeroboam said in his heart: Now shall the kingdom return to the house of David, 12:27. If this people go up to offer sacrifices in the house of the Lord at Jerusalem: and the heart of this people will turn to their lord Roboam, the king of Juda, and they will kill me, and return to him. 12:28. And finding out a device, he made two golden calves, and said to them: Go ye up no more to Jerusalem: Behold thy gods, O Israel, who brought thee out of the land of Egypt. Golden calves... It is likely, by making his gods in this form, he mimicked the Egyptians, among whom he had sojourned, who worshipped their Apis and their Osiris under the form of a bullock. 12:29. And he set the one in Bethel, and the other in Dan: Bethel and Dan... Bethel was a city of the tribe of Ephraim in the southern part of the dominions of Jeroboam, about six leagues from Jerusalem; Dan was in the extremity of his dominions to the north in the confines of Syria. 12:30. And this thing became an occasion of sin: for the people went to adore the calf as far as Dan. 12:31. And he made temples in the high places, and priests of the lowest of the people, who were not of the sons of Levi. 12:32. And he appointed a feast in the eighth month, on the fifteenth day of the month, after the manner of the feast that was celebrated in Juda. And going up to the altar, he did in like manner in Bethel, to sacrifice to the calves, which he had made: and he placed in Bethel priests of the high places, which he had made. 12:33. And he went up to the altar, which he had built in Bethel, on the fifteenth day of the eighth month, which he had devised of his own heart: and he ordained a feast to the children of Israel, and went up on the altar to burn incense. 3 Kings Chapter 13 A prophet sent from Juda to Bethel foretelleth the birth of Josias, and the destruction of Jeroboam's altar. Jeroboam's hand offering violence to the prophet withereth, but is restored by the prophet's prayer: the same prophet is deceived by another prophet, and slain by a lion. 13:1. And behold there came a man of God out of Juda, by the word of the Lord, to Bethel, when Jeroboam was standing upon the altar, and burning incense. 13:2. And he cried out against the altar in the word of the Lord, and said: O altar, altar, thus saith the Lord: Behold a child shall be born to the house of David, Josias by name, and he shall immolate upon thee the priests of the high places, who now burn incense upon thee, and he shall burn men's bones upon thee. 13:3. And he gave a sign the same day, saying: This shall be the sign, that the Lord hath spoken: Behold the altar shall be rent, and the ashes that are upon it, shall be poured out. 13:4. And when the king had heard the word of the man of God, which he had cried out against the altar in Bethel, he stretched forth his hand from the altar, saying: Lay hold on him. And his hand which he stretched forth against him, withered: and he was not able to draw it back again to him. 13:5. The altar also was rent, and the ashes were poured out from the altar, according to the sign which the man of God had given before in the word of the Lord. 13:6. And the king said to the man of God: Entreat the face of the Lord thy God, and pray for me, that my hand may be restored to me. And the man of God besought the face of the Lord, and the king's hand was restored to him, and it became as it was before. 13:7. And the king said to the man of God: Come home with me to dine, and I will make thee presents. 13:8. And the man of God answered the king: If thou wouldst give me half thy house, I will not go with thee, nor eat bread, nor drink water in this place: 13:9. For so it was enjoined me by the word of the Lord commanding me: Thou shalt not eat bread, nor drink water, nor return by the same way that thou camest. 13:10. So he departed by another way, and returned not by the way that he came into Bethel. 13:11. Now a certain old prophet dwelt in Bethel, and his sons came to him, and told him all the works that the man of God had done that day in Bethel: and they told their father the words which he had spoken to the king. 13:12. And their father said to them: What way went he? His sons shewed him the way by which the man of God went, who came out of Juda. 13:13. And he said to his sons: Saddle me the ass. And when they had saddled it, he got up, 13:14. And went after the man of God, and found him sitting under a turpentine tree: and he said to him: Art thou the man of God who camest from Juda? He answered: I am. 13:15. And he said to him: Come home with me to eat bread. 13:16. But he said: I must not return, nor go with thee, neither will I eat bread, or drink water in this place: 13:17. Because the Lord spoke to me, in the word of the Lord, saying: Thou shalt not eat bread, and thou shalt not drink water there, nor return by the way thou wentest. 13:18. He said to him: I also am a prophet like unto thee: and an angel spoke to me, in the word of the Lord, saying: Bring him back with thee into thy house, that he may eat bread, and drink water. He deceived him, An angel spoke to me, etc... This old man of Bethel was indeed a prophet, but he sinned in thus deceiving the man of God; the more because he pretended a revelation for what he did. 13:19. And brought him back with him: so he ate bread, and drank water in his house. 13:20. And as they sat at table, the word of the Lord came to the prophet that brought him back: 13:21. And he cried out to the man of God who came out of Juda, saying: Thus saith the Lord: Because thou hast not been obedient to the Lord, and hast not kept the commandment which the Lord thy God commanded thee, 13:22. And hast returned, and eaten bread, and drunk water in the place wherein he commanded thee that thou shouldst not eat bread, nor drink water, thy dead body shall not be brought into the sepulchre of thy fathers. 13:23. And when he had eaten and drunk, he saddled his ass for the prophet, whom he had brought back. 13:24. And when he was gone, a lion found him in the way, and killed him, and his body was cast in the way: and the ass stood by him, and the lion stood by the dead body. Killed him... Thus the Lord often punishes his servants here, that he may spare them hereafter. For the generality of divines are of opinion, that the sin of this prophet, considered with all its circumstances, was not mortal. 13:25. And behold, men passing by, saw the dead body cast in the way, and the lion standing by the body. And they came and told it in the city, wherein that old prophet dwelt. 13:26. And when that prophet, who had brought him back out of the way, heard of it, he said: It is the man of God, that was disobedient to the mouth of the Lord, and the Lord hath delivered him to the lion, and he hath torn him, and killed him, according to the word of the Lord, which he spoke to him. 13:27. And he said to his sons: Saddle me an ass. And when they had saddled it, 13:28. And he was gone, he found the dead body cast in the way, and the ass and the lion standing by the carcass: the lion had not eaten of the dead body, nor hurt the ass. 13:29. And the prophet took up the body of the man of God, and laid it upon the ass, and going back brought it into the city of the old prophet, to mourn for him. 13:30. And he laid his dead body in his own sepulchre: and they mourned over him, saying: Alas! alas, my brother. 13:31. And when they had mourned over him, he said to his sons: When I am dead, bury me in the sepulchre wherein the man of God is buried: lay my bones beside his bones. 13:32. For assuredly the word shall come to pass which he hath foretold in the word of the Lord, against the altar that is in Bethel: and against all the temples of the high places, that are in the cities of Samaria. 13:33. After these words, Jeroboam came not back from his wicked way: but on the contrary, he made of the meanest of the people priests of the high places: whosoever would, he filled his hand, and he was made a priest of the high places. 13:34. And for this cause did the house of Jeroboam sin, and was cut off, and destroyed from the face of the earth. 3 Kings Chapter 14 Ahias prophesieth the destruction of the family of Jeroboam. He dieth, and is succeeded by his son Nadab. The king of Egypt taketh and pillageth Jerusalem. Roboam dieth and his son Abiam succeedeth. 14:1. At that time Abia, the son of Jeroboam, fell sick. 14:2. And Jeroboam said to his wife: Arise, and change thy dress, that thou be not known to be the wife of Jeroboam, and go to Silo, where Ahias, the prophet is, who told me that I should reign over this people. 14:3. Take also with thee ten loaves, and cracknels, and a pot of honey, and go to him: for he will tell thee what will become of this child. 14:4. Jeroboam's wife did as he told her: and rising up, went to Silo, and came to the house of Ahias; but he could not see, for his eyes were dim by reason of his age. 14:5. And the Lord said to Ahias: Behold the wife of Jeroboam cometh in, to consult thee concerning her son, that is sick: thus and thus shalt thou speak to her. So when she was coming in, and made as if she were another woman, 14:6. Ahias heard the sound of her feet, coming in at the door, and said: Come in, thou wife of Jeroboam: why dost thou feign thyself to be another? But I am sent to thee with heavy tidings. 14:7. Go, and tell Jeroboam: Thus saith the Lord, the God of Israel: For as much as I exalted thee from among the people, and made thee prince over my people Israel; 14:8. And rent the kingdom away from the house of David, and gave it to thee, and thou hast not been as my servant, David, who kept my commandments, and followed me with all his heart, doing that which was well pleasing in my sight: 14:9. But hast done evil above all that were before thee, and hast made thee strange gods, and molten gods, to provoke me to anger, and hast cast me behind thy back: 14:10. Therefore, behold I will bring evils upon the house of Jeroboam, and will cut off from Jeroboam him that pisseth against the wall, and him that is shut up, and the last in Israel: and I will sweep away the remnant of the house of Jeroboam, as dung is swept away till all be clean. 14:11. Them that shall die of Jeroboam in the city, the dogs shall eat: and them that shall die in the field, the birds of the air shall devour: for the Lord hath spoken it. 14:12. Arise thou, therefore, and go to thy house: and when thy feet shall be entering into the city, the child shall die, 14:13. And all Israel shall mourn for him, and shall bury him: for he only of Jeroboam shall be laid in a sepulchre, because in his regard there is found a good word from the Lord, the God of Israel, in the house of Jeroboam. 14:14. And the Lord hath appointed himself a king over Israel, who shall cut off the house of Jeroboam in this day, and in this time: 14:15. And the Lord God shall strike Israel as a reed is shaken in the water: and he shall root up Israel out of this good land, which he gave to their fathers, and shall scatter them beyond the river: because they have made to themselves groves, to provoke the Lord. 14:16. And the Lord shall give up Israel for the sins of Jeroboam, who hath sinned, and made Israel to sin. 14:17. And the wife of Jeroboam arose, and departed, and came to Thersa: and when she was coming in to the threshold of the house, the child died, 14:18. And they buried him. And all Israel mourned for him, according to the word of the Lord, which he spoke by the hand of his servant Ahias, the prophet. 14:19. And the rest of the acts of Jeroboam, how he fought, and how he reigned, behold they are written in the book of the words of the days of the kings of Israel. The book of the words of the days of the kings of Israel... This book, which is often mentioned in the Book of Kings, is long since lost. For as to the books of Paralipomenon, or Chronicles, (which the Hebrews call the words of the days,) they were certainly written after the Book of Kings, since they frequently refer to them. 14:20. And the days that Jeroboam reigned, were two and twenty years: and he slept with his fathers: and Nadab, his son, reigned in his stead. 14:21. And Roboam, the son of Solomon, reigned in Juda: Roboam was one and forty years old when he began to reign: and he reigned seventeen years in Jerusalem, the city which the Lord chose out of all the tribes of Israel to put his name there. And his mother's name was Naama, an Ammonitess. 14:22. And Juda did evil in the sight of the Lord, and provoked him above all that their fathers had done, in their sins which they committed. 14:23. For they also built them altars, and statues, and groves, upon every high hill, and under every green tree: 14:24. There were also the effeminate in the land, and they did according to all the abominations of the people, whom the Lord had destroyed before the face of the children of Israel. The effeminate... Catamites, or men addicted to unnatural lust. 14:25. And in the fifth year of the reign of Roboam, Sesac, king of Egypt, came up against Jerusalem. 14:26. And he took away the treasures of the house of the Lord, and the king's treasures, and carried all off: as also the shields of gold which Solomon had made: 14:27. And Roboam made shields of brass instead of them, and delivered them into the hand of the captains of the shieldbearers, and of them that kept watch before the gate of the king's house. 14:28. And when the king went into the house of the Lord, they whose office it was to go before him, carried them: and afterwards they brought them back to the armoury of the shieldbearers. 14:29. Now the rest of the acts of Roboam, and all that he did, behold they are written in the book of the words of the days of the kings of Juda. 14:30. And there was war between Roboam and Jeroboam always. 14:31. And Roboam slept with his fathers, and was buried with them, in the city of David: and his mother's name was Naama, an Ammonitess: and Abiam, his son, reigned in his stead. 3 Kings Chapter 15 The acts of Abiam and of Asa kings of Juda. And of Nadab and Baasa kings of Israel. 15:1. Now in the eighteenth year of the reign of Jeroboam, the son of Nabat, Abiam reigned over Juda. 15:2. He reigned three years in Jerusalem: the name of his mother was Maacha, the daughter of Abessalom. Maacha, etc... She is called elsewhere Michaia, daughter of Uriel; but it was common in those days for the same person to have two names. 15:3. And he walked in all the sins of his father, which he had done before him: and his heart was not perfect with the Lord his God, as was the heart of David, his father. 15:4. But for David's sake the Lord his God gave him a lamp in Jerusalem, to set up his son after him, and to establish Jerusalem: 15:5. Because David had done that which was right in the eyes of the Lord, and had not turned aside from any thing that he commanded him, all the days of his life, except the matter of Urias, the Hethite. 15:6. But there was war between Roboam and Jeroboam all the time of his life. 15:7. And the rest of the words of Abiam, and all that he did, are they not written in the book of the words of the days of the kings of Juda? And there was war between Abiam and Jeroboam. 15:8. And Abiam slept with his fathers, and they buried him in the city of David: and Asa, his son, reigned in his stead. 15:9. So in the twentieth year of Jeroboam, king of Israel, reigned Asa, king of Juda, 15:10. And he reigned one and forty years in Jerusalem. His mother's name was Maacha, the daughter of Abessalom. His mother, etc... That is, his grandmother; unless we suppose, which is not improbable, that the Maacha here named is different from the Maacha mentioned, ver. 2. 15:11. And Asa did that which was right in the sight of the Lord, as did David, his father: 15:12. And he took away the effeminate out of the land, and removed all the filth of the idols, which his fathers had made. 15:13. Moreover, he also removed his mother, Maacha, from being the princess in the sacrifices of Priapus, and in the grove which she had consecrated to him: and he destroyed her den, and broke in pieces the filthy idol, and burnt it by the torrent Cedron: 15:14. But the high places he did not take away. Nevertheless, the heart of Asa was perfect with the Lord all his days: The high places... There were excelsa or high places of two different kinds. Some were set up, and dedicated to the worship of idols, or strange gods; and these Asa removed, 2 Par. 14.2; others were only altars of the true God, but were erected contrary to the law, which allowed of no sacrifices but in the temple; and these were not removed by Asa.-Ibid. Perfect with the Lord... Asa had his faults; but never forsook the worship of the Lord. 15:15. And he brought in the things which his father had dedicated, and he had vowed, into the house of the Lord, silver and gold, and vessels. 15:16. And there was war between Asa, and Baasa, king of Israel, all their days. 15:17. And Baasa, king of Israel, went up against Juda, and built Rama, that no man might go out or come in of the side of Asa, king of Juda. 15:18. Then Asa took all the silver and gold that remained in the treasures of the house of the Lord, and in the treasures of the king's house, and delivered it into the hands of his servants: and sent them to Benadad, son of Tabremon, the son of Hezion, king of Syria, who dwelt in Damascus, saying: 15:19. There is a league between me and thee, and between my father and thy father: therefore I have sent thee presents of silver and gold: and I desire thee to come, and break thy league with Baasa, king of Israel, that he may depart from me. 15:20. Benadad, hearkening to king Asa, sent the captains of his army against the cities of Israel, and they smote Ahion, and Dan, and Abeldomum Maacha, and all Cenneroth; that is all the land of Nephthali. 15:21. And when Baasa had heard this, he left off building Rama, and returned into Thersa. 15:22. But king Asa sent word into all Juda, saying: Let no man be excused: and they took away the stones from Rama, and the timber thereof, wherewith Baasa had been building, and with them king Asa built Gabaa of Benjamin, and Maspha. 15:23. But the rest of all the acts of Asa, and all his strength, and all that he did, and the cities that he built, are they not written in the book of the words of the days of the kings of Juda? But in the time of his old age he was diseased in his feet. 15:24. And he slept with his fathers, and was buried with them in the city of David, his father. And Josaphat, his son, reigned in his place. 15:25. But Nadab, the son of Jeroboam, reigned over Israel the second year of Asa, king of Juda: and he reigned over Israel two years. 15:26. And he did evil in the sight of the Lord, and walked in the ways of his father, and in his sins, wherewith he made Israel to sin. 15:27. And Baasa, the son of Ahias, of the house of Issachar, conspired against him, and slew him in Gebbethon, which is a city of the Philistines: for Nadab and all Israel besieged Gebbethon. 15:28. So Baasa slew him in the third year of Asa, king of Juda, and reigned in his place. 15:29. And when he was king, he cut off all the house of Jeroboam: he left not so much as one soul of his seed, till he had utterly destroyed him, according to the word of the Lord, which he had spoken in the hand of Ahias, the Silonite: 15:30. Because of the sin of Jeroboam, which he had sinned, and wherewith he had made Israel to sin, and for the offence wherewith he provoked the Lord, the God of Israel. 15:31. But the rest of the acts of Nadab, and all that he did, are they not written in the book of the words of the days of the kings of Israel? 15:32. And there was war between Asa and Baasa, the king of Israel, all their days. 15:33. In the third year of Asa, king of Juda, Baasa, the son of Ahias, reigned over all Israel, in Thersa, four and twenty years. 15:34. And he did evil before the Lord, and walked in the ways of Jeroboam, and in his sins, wherewith he made Israel to sin. 3 Kings Chapter 16 Jehu prophesieth against Baasa: his son Ela is slain and all his family destroyed by Zambri. Of the reign of Amri father of Achab. 16:1. Then the word of the Lord came to Jehu, the son of Hanani, against Baasa, saying: 16:2. For as much as I have exalted thee out of the dust and made thee prince over my people Israel, and thou hast walked in the way of Jeroboam, and hast made my people Israel to sin, to provoke me to anger with their sins: 16:3. Behold I will cut down the posterity of Baasa, and the posterity of his house, and I will make thy house as the house of Jeroboam, the son of Nabat. 16:4. Him that dieth of Baasa, in the city, the dogs shall eat: and him that dieth of his in the country, the fowls of the air shall devour. 16:5. But the rest of the acts of Baasa, and all that he did, and his battles, are they not written in the book of the words of the days of the kings of Israel? 16:6. So Baasa slept with his fathers, and was buried in Thersa: and Ela, his son, reigned in his stead. 16:7. And when the word of the Lord came in the hand of Jehu, the son of Hanani, the prophet, against Baasa, and against his house, and against all the evil that he had done before the Lord, to provoke him to anger by the works of his hands, to become as the house of Jeroboam: for this cause he slew him; that is to say, Jehu, the son of Hanani, the prophet. 16:8. In the six and twentieth year of Asa, king of Juda, Ela, the son of Baasa, reigned over Israel, in Thersa, two years. 16:9. And his servant Zambri, who was captain of half the horsemen, rebelled against him: now Ela was drinking in Thersa, and drunk in the house of Arsa, the governor of Thersa. 16:10. And Zambri rushing in, struck him, and slew him, in the seven and twentieth year of Asa, king of Juda and he reigned in his stead. 16:11. And when he was king, and sat upon his throne, he slew all the house of Baasa, and he left not one thereof to piss against a wall and all his kinsfolks and friends. 16:12. And Zambri destroyed all the house of Baasa, according to the word of the Lord, that he had spoken to Baasa, in the hand of Jehu, the prophet, 16:13. For all the sins of Baasa, and the sins of Ela, his son, who sinned, and made Israel to sin, provoking the Lord, the God of Israel, with their vanities. 16:14. But the rest of the acts of Ela, and all that he did, are they not written in the book of the words of the days of the kings of Israel? 16:15. In the seven and twentieth year of Asa, king of Juda, Zambri reigned seven days in Thersa: now the army was besieging Gebbethon, a city of the Philistines. 16:16. And when they heard that Zambri had rebelled, and slain the king, all Israel made Amri their king, who was general over Israel in the camp that day. 16:17. And Amri went up, and all Israel with him, from Gebbethon, and they besieged Thersa. 16:18. And Zambri, seeing that the city was about to be taken, went into the palace, and burnt himself with the king's house: and he died 16:19. In his sins, which he had sinned, doing evil before the Lord, and walking in the way of Jeroboam, and in his sin, wherewith he made Israel to sin. 16:20. But the rest of the acts of Zambri, and of his conspiracy and tyranny, are they not written in the book of the words of the days of the kings of Israel? 16:21. Then were the people of Israel divided into two parts: one half of the people followed Thebni, the son of Gineth, to make him king: and one half followed Amri. 16:22. But the people that were with Amri, prevailed over the people that followed Thebni, the son of Gineth: and Thebni died, and Amri reigned. 16:23. In the one and thirtieth year of Asa, king of Juda, Amri reigned over Israel twelve years: in Thersa he reigned six years. In the one and thirtieth year, etc... Amri began to reign in the seven and twentieth year of Asa; but had not quiet possession of the kingdom till the death of his competitor Thebni, which was in the one and thirtieth year of Asa's reign. 16:24. And he bought the hill of Samaria of Semer, for two talents of silver: and he built upon it, and he called the city which he built Samaria, after the name of Semer, the owner of the hill. 16:25. And Amri did evil in the sight of the Lord, and acted wickedly above all that were before him. 16:26. And he walked in all the way of Jeroboam, the son of Nabat, and in his sins, wherewith he made Israel to sin: to provoke the Lord, the God of Israel, to anger with their vanities. With their vanities... That is, their idols their golden calves, vain, false, deceitful things. 16:27. Now the rest of the acts of Amri, and the battles he fought, are they not written in the book of the words of the days of the kings of Israel? 16:28. And Amri slept with his fathers, and was buried in Samaria, and Achab, his son, reigned in his stead. 16:29. Now Achab, the son of Amri, reigned over Israel in the eight and thirtieth year of Asa, king of Juda. And Achab, the son of Amri, reigned over Israel in Samaria two and twenty years. 16:30. And Achab, the son of Amri, did evil in the sight of the Lord above all that were before him. 16:31. Nor was it enough for him to walk in the sins of Jeroboam, the son of Nabat: but he also took to wife Jezabel, daughter of Ethbaal, king of the Sidonians. And he went, and served Baal, and adored him. 16:32. And he set up an altar for Baal, in the temple of Baal, which he had built in Samaria; 16:33. And he planted a grove: and Achab did more to provoke the Lord, the God of Israel, than all the kings of Israel that were before him. 16:34. In his days Hiel, of Bethel, built Jericho: in Abiram, his firstborn, he laid its foundations: and in his youngest son, Segub, he set up the gates thereof: according to the word of the Lord, which he spoke in the hand of Josue, the son of Nun. 3 Kings Chapter 17 Elias shutteth up the heaven from raining. He is fed by ravens, and afterwards by a widow of Sarephta. He raiseth the window's son to life. 17:1. And Elias the Thesbite, of the inhabitants of Galaad, said to Achab: As the Lord liveth, the God of Israel, in whose sight I stand, there shall not be dew nor rain these years, but according to the words of my mouth. 17:2. And the word of the Lord came to him, saying: 17:3. Get thee hence, and go towards the east, and hide thyself by the torrent of Carith, which is over against the Jordan; 17:4. And there thou shalt drink of the torrent: and I have commanded the ravens to feed thee there. 17:5. So he went, and did according to the word of the Lord: and going, he dwelt by the torrent Carith, which is over against the Jordan. 17:6. And the ravens brought him bread and flesh in the morning, and bread and flesh in the evening; and he drank of the torrent. 17:7. But after some time the torrent was dried up: for it had not rained upon the earth. 17:8. Then the word of the Lord came to him, saying: 17:9. Arise, and go to Sarephta of the Sidonians, and dwell there: for I have commanded a widow woman there to feed thee. Sarephta of the Sidonians... That is, a city of the Sidonians. 17:10. He arose, and went to Sarephta. And when he was come to the gate of the city, he saw the widow woman gathering sticks, and he called her, and said to her: Give me a little water in a vessel, that I may drink. 17:11. And when she was going to fetch it, he called after her, saying: Bring me also, I beseech thee, a morsel of bread in thy hand. 17:12. And she answered: As the Lord thy God liveth, I have no bread, but only a handful of meal in a pot, and a little oil in a cruise: behold I am gathering two sticks, that I may go in and dress it, for me and my son, that we may eat it and die. 17:13. And Elias said to her: Fear not; but go, and do as thou hast said but first make for me of the same meal a little hearth cake, and bring it to me, and after make for thyself and thy son. 17:14. For thus saith the Lord, the God of Israel: The pot of meal shall not waste, nor the cruise of oil be diminished, until the day wherein the Lord will give rain upon the face of the earth. 17:15. She went, and did according to the word of Elias: and he ate, and she, and her house: and from that day 17:16. The pot of meal wasted not, and the cruise of oil was not diminished according to the word of the Lord, which he spoke in the hand of Elias. 17:17. And it came to pass after this, that the son of the woman, the mistress of the house, fell sick, and the sickness was very grievous, so that there was no breath left in him. 17:18. And she said to Elias: What have I to do with thee, thou man of God? art thou come to me, that my iniquities should be remembered, and that thou shouldst kill my son? 17:19. And Elias said to her: Give me thy son. And he took him out of her bosom, and carried him into the upper chamber where he abode, and laid him upon his own bed. 17:20. And he cried to the Lord, and said: O Lord, my God, hast thou afflicted also the widow, with whom I am after a sort maintained, so as to kill her son? 17:21. And he stretched, and measured himself upon the child three times, and cried to the Lord, and said: O Lord, my God, let the soul of this child, I beseech thee, return into his body. 17:22. And the Lord heard the voice of Elias: and the soul of the child returned into him, and he revived. 17:23. And Elias took the child, and brought him down from the upper chamber to the house below, and delivered him to his mother, and said to her: Behold thy son liveth. 17:24. And the woman said to Elias: Now by this I know that thou art a man of God, and the word of the Lord in thy mouth is true. 3 Kings Chapter 18 Elias cometh before Achab. He convinceth the false prophets by bringing fire from heaven: he obtaineth rain by his prayer. 18:1. After many days, the word of the Lord came to Elias, in the third year, saying: Go, and shew thyself to Achab, that I may give rain upon the face of the earth. 18:2. And Elias went to shew himself to Achab, and there was a grievous famine in Samaria. 18:3. And Achab called Abdias the governor of his house: now Abdias feared the Lord very much. 18:4. For when Jezabel killed the prophets of the Lord, he took a hundred prophets, and hid them by fifty and fifty in caves, and fed them with bread and water. 18:5. And Achab said to Abdias: Go into the land unto all fountains of waters, and into all valleys, to see if we can find grass, and save the horses and mules, that the beasts may not utterly perish. 18:6. And they divided the countries between them, that they might go round about them: Achab went one way, and Abdias another way by himself. 18:7. And as Abdias was in the way, Elias met him: and he knew him, and fell on his face, and said: Art thou my lord Elias? 18:8. And he answered: I am. Go, and tell thy master: Elias is here. 18:9. And he said: What have I sinned, that thou wouldst deliver me, thy servant, into the hand of Achab, that he should kill me? 18:10. As the Lord thy God liveth, there is no nation or kingdom, whither my lord hath not sent to seek thee: and when all answered: He is not here: he took an oath of every kingdom and nation, because thou wast not found. 18:11. And now thou sayest to me: Go and tell thy master: Elias is here. 18:12. And when I am gone from thee, the Spirit of the Lord will carry thee into a place that I know not: and I shall go in and tell Achab; and he, not finding thee, will kill me: but thy servant feareth the Lord from his infancy. 18:13. Hath it not been told thee, my lord, what I did when Jezabel killed the prophets of the Lord; how I hid a hundred men of the prophets of the Lord, by fifty and fifty in caves, and fed them with bread and water? 18:14. And now thou sayest: Go and tell thy master: Elias is here: that he may kill me. 18:15. And Elias said: As the Lord of hosts liveth, before whose face I stand, this day I will shew myself unto him. 18:16. Abdias therefore went to meet Achab, and told him: and Achab came to meet Elias. 18:17. And when he had seen him, he said: Art thou he that troublest Israel? 18:18. And he said: I have not troubled Israel, but thou and thy father's house, who have forsaken the commandments of the Lord, and have followed Baalim. 18:19. Nevertheless send now, and gather unto me all Israel, unto Mount Carmel, and the prophets of Baal four hundred and fifty, and the prophets of the groves four hundred, who eat at Jezabel's table. 18:20. Achab sent to all the children of Israel, and gathered together the prophets unto mount Carmel. 18:21. And Elias coming to all the people, said: How long do you halt between two sides? If the Lord be God, follow him: but if Baal, then follow him. And the people did not answer him a word. 18:22. And Elias said again to the people: I only remain a prophet of the Lord: but the prophets of Baal are four hundred and fifty men. 18:23. Let two bullocks be given us, and let them choose one bullock for themselves, and cut it in pieces, and lay it upon wood, but put no fire under: and I will dress the other bullock, and lay it on wood, and put no fire under it. 18:24. Call ye on the names of your gods, and I will call on the name of my Lord: and the God that shall answer by fire, let him be God. And all the people answering, said: A very good proposal. 18:25. Then Elias said to the prophets of Baal: Choose you one bullock and dress it first, because you are many: and call on the names of your gods; but put no fire under. 18:26. And they took the bullock, which he gave them, and dressed it: and they called on the name of Baal from morning even until noon, saying: O Baal, hear us. But there was no voice, nor any that answered: and they leaped over the altar that they had made. 18:27. And when it was now noon, Elias jested at them, saying: Cry with a louder voice: for he is a god; and perhaps he is talking, or is in an inn, or on a journey; or perhaps he is asleep, and must be awaked. 18:28. So they cried with a loud voice, and cut themselves after their manner with knives and lancets, till they were all covered with blood. 18:29. And after midday was past, and while they were prophesying, the time was come of offering sacrifice, and there was no voice heard, nor did any one answer, nor regard them as they prayed. 18:30. Elias said to all the people: Come ye unto me. And the people coming near unto him, he repaired the altar of the Lord, that was broken down: 18:31. And he took twelve stones, according to the number of the tribes of the sons of Jacob to whom the word of the Lord came, saying: Israel shall be thy name. 18:32. And he built with the stones an altar to the name of the Lord: and he made a trench for water, of the breadth of two furrows, round about the altar. 18:33. And he laid the wood in order, and cut the bullock in pieces, and laid it upon the wood. 18:34. And he said: Fill four buckets with water, and pour it upon the burnt offering, and upon the wood. And again he said: Do the same the second time. And when they had done it the second time, he said: Do the same also the third time. And they did so the third time. 18:35. And the water run round about the altar, and the trench was filled with water. 18:36. And when it was now time to offer the holocaust, Elias, the prophet, came near and said: O Lord God of Abraham, and Isaac, and Israel, shew this day that thou art the God of Israel, and I thy servant, and that according to thy commandment I have done all these things. 18:37. Dear me, O Lord, hear me: that this people may learn that thou art the Lord God, and that thou hast turned their heart again. 18:38. Then the fire of the Lord fell, and consumed the holocaust, and the wood, and the stones, and the dust, and licked up the water that was in the trench. 18:39. And when all the people saw this, they fell on their faces, and they said: The Lord, he is God; the Lord, he is God. 18:40. And Elias said to them: Take the prophets of Baal, and let not one of them escape. And when they had taken them, Elias brought them down to the torrent Cison, and killed them there. 18:41. And Elias said to Achab: Go up, eat and drink: for there is a sound of abundance of rain. 18:42. Achab went up to eat and drink: and Elias went up to the top of Carmel, and casting himself down upon the earth, put his face between his knees, 18:43. And he said to his servant: Go up, and look towards the sea. And he went up, and looked, and said: There is nothing. And again he said to him: Return seven times. 18:44. And at the seventh time: Behold a little cloud arose out of the sea like a man's foot. And he said: Go up, and say to Achab: Prepare thy chariot, and go down, lest the rain prevent thee. 18:45. And while he turned himself this way and that way, behold the heavens grew dark, with clouds and wind, and there fell a great rain. And Achab getting up, went away to Jezrahel: 18:46. And the hand of the Lord was upon Elias, and he girded up his loins, and ran before Achab, till he came to Jezrahel. 3 Kings Chapter 19 Elias, fleeing from Jezabel, is fed by an angel in the desert; and by the strength of that food walketh forty days, till he cometh to Horeb, where he hath a vision of God. 19:1. And Achab told Jezabel all that Elias had done, and how he had slain all the prophets with the sword. 19:2. And Jezabel sent a messenger to Elias, saying: Such and such things may the gods do to me, and add still more, if by this hour to morrow I make not thy life as the life of one of them. 19:3. Then Elias was afraid, and rising up, he went whithersoever he had a mind: and he came to Bersabee of Juda, and left his servant there, 19:4. And he went forward, one day's journey into the desert. And when he was there, and sat under a juniper tree, he requested for his soul that he might die, and said: It is enough for me, Lord; take away my soul: for I am no better than my fathers. That he might die... Elias requested to die, not out of impatience or pusillanimity, but out of zeal against sin; and that he might no longer be witness of the miseries of his people; and the war they were waging against God and his servants. See ver. 10. 19:5. And he cast himself down, and slept in the shadow of the juniper tree: and behold an angel of the Lord touched him, and said to him: Arise and eat. 19:6. He looked, and behold there was at his head a hearth cake, and a vessel of water: and he ate and drank, and he fell asleep again. 19:7. And the angel of the Lord came again the second time, and touched him, and said to him: Arise, eat: for thou hast yet a great way to go. 19:8. And he arose, and ate and drank, and walked in the strength of that food forty days and forty nights, unto the mount of God, Horeb. In the strength of that food, etc... This bread, with which Elias was fed in the wilderness, was a figure of the bread of life which we receive in the blessed sacrament; by the strength of which we are to be supported in our journey through the wilderness of this world till we come to the true mountain of God, and his vision in a happy eternity. 19:9. And when he was come thither, he abode in a cave: and behold the word of the Lord came unto him, and he said to him: What dost thou here, Elias? 19:10. And he answered: With zeal have I been zealous for the Lord God of hosts: for the children of Israel have forsaken thy covenant: they have thrown down thy altars, they have slain thy prophets with the sword, and I alone am left, and they seek my life to take it away. I alone am left... Viz., of the prophets in the kingdom of Israel, or of the ten tribes; for in the kingdom of Juda religion was at that time in a very flourishing condition under the kings Asa and Josaphat. And even in Israel there remained several prophets, though not then known to Elias. See chap. 20.13, 28, 35. 19:11. And he said to him: Go forth, and stand upon the mount before the Lord: and behold the Lord passeth, and a great and strong wind before the Lord, overthrowing the mountains, and breaking the rocks in pieces: but the Lord is not in the wind. And after the wind, an earthquake: but the Lord is not in the earthquake. 19:12. And after the earthquake, a fire: but the Lord is not in the fire. And after the fire, a whistling of a gentle air. 19:13. And when Elias heard it, he covered his face with his mantle, and coming forth, stood in the entering in of the cave, and behold a voice unto him, saying: What dost thou here, Elias? And he answered: 19:14. With zeal have I been zealous for the Lord God of hosts: because the children of Israel have forsaken thy covenant: they have destroyed thy altars, they have slain thy prophets with the sword; and I alone am left, and they seek my life to take it away. 19:15. And the Lord said to him: Go, and return on thy way, through the desert, to Damascus: and when thou art come thither, thou shalt anoint Hazael to be king over Syria; 19:16. And thou shalt anoint Jehu, the son of Namsi, to be king over Israel: and Eliseus, the son of Saphat, of Abelmeula, thou shalt anoint to be prophet in thy room. 19:17. And it shall come to pass, that whosoever shall escape the sword of Hazael, shall be slain by Jehu: and whosoever shall escape the sword of Jehu, shall be slain by Eliseus. Shall be slain by Eliseus... Eliseus did not kill any of the idolaters with the material sword: but he is here joined with Hazael and Jehu, the great instruments of God in punishing the idolatry of Israel, because he foretold to the former his exaltation to the kingdom of Syria, and the vengeance he would execute against Israel, and anointed the latter by one of his disciples to be king of Israel, with commission to extirpate the house of Achab. 19:18. And I will leave me seven thousand men in Israel, whose knees have not been bowed before Baal, and every mouth that hath not worshipped him, kissing the hands. 19:19. And Elias departing from thence, found Eliseus, the son of Saphat, ploughing with twelve yoke of oxen: and he was one of them that were ploughing with, twelve yoke of oxen: and when Elias came up to him, he cast his mantle upon him. 19:20. And he forthwith left the oxen, and run after Elias, and said: Let me, I pray thee, kiss my father and my mother, and then I will follow thee. And he said to him: Go, and return back: for that which was my part, I have done to thee. 19:21. And returning back from him, he took a yoke of oxen, and killed them, and boiled the flesh with the plough of the oxen, and gave to the people, and they ate: and rising up, he went away, and followed Elias, and ministered to him. 3 Kings Chapter 20 The Syrians besiege Samaria: they are twice defeated by Achab: who is reprehended by a prophet for letting Benadad go. 20:1. And Benadad, king of Syria, gathered together all his host, and there were two and thirty kings with him, and horses, and chariots: and going up, he fought against Samaria, and besieged it. 20:2. And sending messengers to Achab, king of Israel, into the city, 20:3. He said: Thus saith Benadad: Thy silver and thy gold is mine: and thy wives and thy goodliest children are mine. 20:4. And the king of Israel answered: According to thy word, my lord, O king, I am thine, and all that I have. 20:5. And the messengers came again, and said: Thus saith Benadad, who sent us unto thee: Thy silver and thy gold, and thy wives and thy children, thou shalt deliver up to me. 20:6. To morrow, therefore, at this same hour, I will send my servants to thee, and they shall search thy house, and the houses of thy servants: and all that pleaseth them, they shall put in their hands, and take away. 20:7. And the king of Israel called all the ancients of the land, and said: Mark, and see that he layeth snares for us. For he sent to me for my wives, and for my children, and for my silver and gold: and I said not nay. 20:8. And all the ancients, and all the people said to him: Hearken not to him, nor consent to him. 20:9. Wherefore he answered the messengers of Benadad: Tell my lord, the king: All that thou didst send for to me, thy servant at first, I will do: but this thing I cannot do. 20:10. And the messengers returning brought him word. And he sent again, and said: Such and such things may the gods do to me, and more may they add, if the dust of Samaria shall suffice for handfuls for all the people that follow me. 20:11. And the king of Israel answering, said: Tell him: Let not the girded boast himself as the ungirded. Let not the girded, etc... Let him not boast before the victory: it will then be time to glory when he putteth off his armour, having overcome his adversary. 20:12. And it came to pass, when Benadad heard this word, that he and the kings were drinking in pavilions, and he said to his servants: Beset the city. And they beset it. 20:13. And behold a prophet coming to Achab, king of Israel, said to him: Thus saith the Lord: Hast thou seen all this exceeding great multitude? behold I will deliver them into thy hand this day: that thou mayst know that I am the Lord. 20:14. And Achab said: By whom? And he said to him: Thus saith the Lord: By the servants of the princes of the provinces. And he said: Who shall begin to fight? And he said: Thou. 20:15. So he mustered the servants of the princes of the provinces, and he found the number of two hundred and thirty-two: and he mustered after them the people, all the children of Israel, seven thousand: 20:16. And they went out at noon. But Benadad was drinking himself drunk in his pavilion, and the two and thirty kings with him, who were come to help him. 20:17. And the servants of the princes of the provinces went out first. And Benadad sent. And they told him, saying: There are men come out of Samaria. 20:18. And he said: Whether they come for peace, take them alive: or whether they come to fight, take them alive. 20:19. So the servants of the princes of the provinces went out, and the rest of the army followed: 20:20. And every one slew the man that came against him: and the Syrians fled, and Israel pursued after them. And Benadad, king of Syria, fled away on horseback with his horsemen. 20:21. But the king of Israel going out overthrew the horses and chariots, and slew the Syrians with a great slaughter. 20:22. (And a prophet coming to the king of Israel, said to him: Go, and strengthen thyself, and know, and see what thou dost: for the next year the king of Syria will come up against thee.) 20:23. But the servants of the king of Syria said to him: Their gods are gods of the hills, therefore they have overcome us: but it is better that we should fight against them in the plains, and we shall overcome them. 20:24. Do thou, therefore, this thing: Remove all the kings from thy army, and put captains in their stead: 20:25. And make up the number of soldiers that have been slain of thine, and horses, according to the former horses, and chariots, according to the chariots which thou hadst before: and we will fight against them in the plains, and thou shalt see that we shall overcome them. He believed their counsel, and did so. 20:26. Wherefore, at the return of the year, Benadad mustered the Syrians, and went up to Aphec, to fight against Israel. 20:27. And the children of Israel were mustered, and taking victuals, went out on the other side, and encamped over against them, like two little flocks of goats: but the Syrians filled the land. 20:28. (And a man of God coming, said to the king of Israel: Thus saith the Lord: Because the Syrians have said: The Lord is God of the hills, but is not God of the valleys: I will deliver all this great multitude into thy hand, and you shall know that I am the Lord.) 20:29. And both sides set their armies in array one against the other seven days, and on the seventh day the battle was fought: and the children of Israel slew, of the Syrians, a hundred thousand footmen in one day. 20:30. And they that remained fled to Aphec, into the city: and the wall fell upon seven and twenty thousand men, that were left. And Benadad fleeing, went into the city, into a chamber that was within a chamber. 20:31. And his servants said to him: Behold, we have heard that the kings of the house of Israel are merciful; so let us put sackcloths on our loins, and ropes on our heads, and go out to the king of Israel: perhaps he will save our lives. 20:32. So they girded sackcloths on their loins, and put ropes on their heads, and came to the king of Israel, and said to him: Thy servant, Benadad, saith: I beseech thee let me have my life. And he said: If he be yet alive, he is my brother. 20:33. The men took this for good luck: and in haste caught the word out of his mouth, and said: Thy brother Benadad. And he said to them: Go, and bring him to me. Then Benadad came out to him, and he lifted him up into his chariot. 20:34. And he said to him: The cities which my father took from thy father, I will restore: and do thou make thee streets in Damascus, as my father made in Samaria and having made a league, I will depart from thee. So he made a league with him, and let him go. 20:35. Then a certain man of the sons of the prophets, said to his companion, in the word of the Lord: Strike me. But he would not strike. 20:36. Then he said to him: Because thou wouldst not hearken to the word of the Lord, behold thou shalt depart from me, and a lion shall slay thee. And when he was gone a little from him, a lion found him, and slew him. 20:37. Then he found another man, and said to him: Strike me. And he struck him and wounded him. 20:38. So the prophet went, and met the king in the way, and disguised himself by sprinkling dust on his face and his eyes. 20:39. And as the king passed by, he cried to the king, and said: Thy servant went out to fight hand to hand: and when a certain man was run away, one brought him to me, and said: Keep this man: and if he shall slip away, thy life shall be for his life, or thou shalt pay a talent of silver. 20:40. And whilst I, in the hurry, turned this way and that, on a sudden he was not to be seen. And the king of Israel said to him: This is thy judgment, which thyself hast decreed. 20:41. But he forthwith wiped off the dust from his face, and the king of Israel knew him, that he was one of the prophets. 20:42. And he said to him: Thus saith the Lord. Because thou hast let go out of thy hand a man worthy of death, thy life shall be for his life, and thy people for his people. 20:43. And the king of Israel returned to his house, slighting to hear, and raging came into Samaria. 3 Kings Chapter 21 Naboth, for denying his vineyard to king Achab, is by Jezabel's commandment, falsely accused and stoned to death. For which crime Elias denounceth to Achab the judgments of God: upon his humbling himself the sentence is mitigated. 21:1. And after these things, Naboth the Jezrahelite, who was in Jezrahel, had at that time a vineyard, near the palace of Achab, king of Samaria. 21:2. And Achab spoke to Naboth, saying: Give me thy vineyard, that I may make me a garden of herbs, because it is nigh, and adjoining to my house; and I will give thee for it a better vineyard: or if thou think it more convenient for thee, I will give thee the worth of it in money. 21:3. Naboth answered him: The Lord be merciful to me, and not let me give thee the inheritance of my fathers. 21:4. And Achab came into his house angry and fretting, because of the word that Naboth, the Jezrahelite, had spoken to him, saying: I will not give thee the inheritance of my fathers. And casting himself upon his bed, he turned away his face to the wall, and would eat no bread. 21:5. And Jezabel, his wife, went in to him, and said to him: What is the matter that thy soul is so grieved? and why eatest thou no bread? 21:6. And he answered her: I spoke to Naboth, the Jezrahelite, and said to him: Give me thy vineyard, and take money for it: or if it please thee, I will give thee a better vineyard for it. And he said: I will not give thee my vineyard. 21:7. Then Jezabel, his wife, said to him. Thou art of great authority indeed, and governest well the kingdom of Israel. Arise, and eat bread, and be of good cheer; I will give thee the vineyard of Naboth, the Jezrahelite. 21:8. So she wrote letters in Achab's name, and sealed them with his ring, and sent them to the ancients, and the chief men that were in his city, and that dwelt with Naboth. 21:9. And this was the tenor of the letters: Proclaim a fast, and make Naboth sit among the chief of the people; 21:10. And suborn two men, sons of Belial, against him, and let them bear false witness; that he hath blasphemed God and the king: and then carry him out, and stone him, and so let him die. 21:11. And the men of his city, the ancients and nobles, that dwelt with him in the city, did as Jezabel had commanded them, and as it was written in the letters which she had sent to them; 21:12. They proclaimed a fast, and made Naboth sit among the chief of the people. 21:13. And bringing two men, sons of the devil, they made them sit against him: and they, like men of the devil, bore witness against him before the people: saying: Naboth hath blasphemed God and the king. Wherefore they brought him forth without the city, and stoned him to death. 21:14. And they sent to Jezabel, saying: Naboth is stoned, and is dead. 21:15. And it came to pass, when Jezabel heard that Naboth was stoned, and dead, that she said to Achab: Arise, and take possession of the vineyard of Naboth, the Jezrahelite, who would not agree with thee, and give it thee for money: for Naboth is not alive, but dead. 21:16. And when Achab heard this, to wit, that Naboth was dead, he arose, and went down into the vineyard of Naboth, the Jezrahelite, to take possession of it. 21:17. And the word of the Lord came to Elias, the Thesbite, saying: 21:18. Arise, and go down to meet Achab, king of Israel, who is in Samaria: behold he is going down to the vineyard of Naboth, to take possession of it: 21:19. And thou shalt speak to him, saying: Thus saith the Lord: Thou hast slain: moreover also thou hast taken possession. And after these words thou shalt add: Thus saith the Lord: In this place, wherein the dogs have licked the blood of Naboth, they shall lick thy blood also. 21:20. And Achab said to Elias: Hast thou found me thy enemy? He said: I have found thee because thou art sold, to do evil in the sight of the Lord. Sold, to do evil in the sight, etc... That is, so addicted to evil, as if thou hadst sold thyself to the devil, to be his slave to work all kinds of evil. 21:21. Behold I will bring evil upon thee, and I will cut down thy posterity, and I will kill of Achab him that pisseth against the wall, and him that is shut up, and the last in Israel. 21:22. And I will make thy house like the house of Jeroboam the son of Nabat, and like the house of Baasa the son of Ahias: for what thou hast done to provoke me to anger, and for making Israel to sin. 21:23. And of Jezabel also, the Lord spoke, saying: The dogs shall eat Jezabel in the field of Jezrahel. 21:24. If Achab die in the city, the dogs shall eat him: but if he die in the field, the birds of the air shall eat him. 21:25. Now, there was not such another as Achab, who was sold to do evil in the sight of the Lord: for his wife, Jezabel, set him on, 21:26. And he became abominable, insomuch that he followed the idols which the Amorrhites had made, whom the Lord destroyed before the face of the children of Israel. 21:27. And when Achab had heard these words, he rent his garments, and put haircloth upon his flesh, and fasted, and slept in sackcloth, and walked with his head cast down. 21:28. And the word of the Lord came to Elias, the Thesbite, saying: 21:29. Hast thou not seen Achab humbled before me? therefore, because he hath humbled himself, for my sake, I will not bring the evil in his days, but in his son's days will I bring the evil upon his house. 3 Kings Chapter 22 Achab believing his false prophets, rather than Micheas, is slain in Ramoth Galaad. Ochozias succeedeth him. Good king Josaphat dieth, and his son Joram succeedeth him. 22:1. And there passed three years without war between Syria and Israel. 22:2. And in the third year, Josaphat, king of Juda, came down to the king of Israel. 22:3. (And the king of Israel said to his servants: Know ye not that Ramoth Galaad is ours, and we neglect to take it out of the hand of the king of Syria?) 22:4. And he said to Josaphat: Wilt thou come with me to battle to Ramoth Galaad? 22:5. And Josaphat said to the king of Israel: As I am, so art thou: my people and thy people are one: and my horsemen are thy horsemen. And Josaphat said to the king of Israel: Inquire, I beseech thee, this day the word of the Lord. 22:6. Then the king of Israel assembled the prophets, about four hundred men, and he said to them: Shall I go to Ramoth Galaad to fight, or shall I forbear? They answered: Go up, and the Lord will deliver it into the hand of the king. 22:7. And Josaphat said: Is there not here some prophet of the Lord, that we may inquire by him? 22:8. And the king of Israel said to Josaphat. There is one man left, by whom we may inquire of the Lord; Micheas, the son of Jemla: but I hate him, for he doth not prophecy good to me, but evil. And Josaphat said: Speak not so, O king. 22:9. Then the king of Israel called an eunuch, and said to him: Make haste, and bring hither Micheas, the son of Jemla. 22:10. And the king of Israel, and Josaphat, king of Juda, sat each on his throne, clothed with royal robes, in a court, by the entrance of the gate of Samaria, and all the prophets prophesied before them. 22:11. And Sedecias, the son of Chanaana, made himself horns of iron, and said: Thus saith the Lord: With these shalt thou push Syria, till thou destroy it. 22:12. And all the prophets prophesied in like manner, saying: Go up to Ramoth Galaad, and prosper, for the Lord will deliver it into the king's hands. 22:13. And the messenger that went to call Micheas, spoke to him, saying: Behold the words of the prophets with one mouth declare good things to the king: let thy word, therefore, be like to theirs, and speak that which is good. 22:14. But Micheas said to him: As the Lord liveth, whatsoever the Lord shall say to me, that will I speak. 22:15. So he came to the king, and the king said to him: Micheas, shall we go to Ramoth Galaad to battle, or shall we forbear? He answered him: Go up, and prosper, and the Lord shall deliver it into the king's hands. Go up, etc... This was spoken ironically, and by way of jesting at the flattering speeches of the false prophets: and so the king understood it, as appears by his adjuring Micheas, in the following verse, to tell him the truth in the name of the Lord. 22:16. But the king said to him: I adjure thee again and again, that thou tell me nothing but that which is true, in the name of the Lord. 22:17. And he said: I saw all Israel scattered upon the hills, like sheep that have no shepherd; and the Lord said: These have no master: let every man of them return to his house in peace. 22:18. (Then the king of Israel said to Josaphat: Did I not tell thee, that he prophesieth no good to me, but always evil?) 22:19. And he added and said: Hear thou, therefore, the word of the Lord: I saw the Lord sitting on his throne, and all the army of heaven standing by him on the right hand and on the left: 22:20. And the Lord said: Who shall deceive Achab, king of Israel, that he may go up, and fall at Ramoth Galaad? And one spoke words of this manner, and another otherwise. The Lord said, etc... God standeth not in need of any counsellor; nor are we to suppose that things pass in heaven in the manner here described: but this representation was made to the prophet, to be delivered by him in a manner adapted to the common ways and notions of men. 22:21. And there came forth a spirit, and stood before the Lord, and said: I will deceive him. And the Lord said to him: By what means? 22:22. And he said: I will go forth, and be a lying spirit, in the mouth of all his prophets. And the Lord said: Thou shalt deceive him, and shalt prevail: go forth, and do so. Go forth, and do so... This was not a command, but a permission: for God never ordaineth lies; though he often permitteth the lying spirit to deceive those who love not the truth. 2 Thess. 2.10. And in this sense it is said in the following verse, The Lord hath given a lying spirit in the mouth of all thy prophets. 22:23. Now, therefore, behold the Lord hath given a lying spirit in the mouth of all thy prophets that are here, and the Lord hath spoken evil against thee. 22:24. And Sedecias, the son of Chanaana, came, and struck Micheas on the cheek, and said: Hath then the spirit of the Lord left me, and spoken to thee? 22:25. And Micheas said: Thou shalt see in the day when thou shalt go into a chamber within a chamber to hide thyself. Go into a chamber, etc... This happened when he heard the king was slain, and justly apprehended that he should be punished for his false prophecy. 22:26. And the king of Israel said: Take Micheas and let him abide with Amon, the governor of the city, and with Joas, the son of Amalech; 22:27. And tell them: Thus saith the king: Put this man in prison, and feed him with bread of affliction, and water of distress till I return in peace. 22:28. And Micheas said: If thou return in peace, the Lord hath not spoken by me. And he said: Hear, all ye people. 22:29. So the king of Israel, and Josaphat, king of Juda, went up to Ramoth-Galaad. 22:30. And the king of Israel said to Josaphat: Take thy armour, and go into the battle, and put on thy own garments. But the king of Israel changed his dress, and went into the battle. 22:31. And the king of Syria had commanded the two and thirty captains of the chariots, saying: You shall not fight against any, small or great, but against the king of Israel only. 22:32. So when the captains of the chariots saw Josaphat, they suspected that he was the king of Israel, and making a violent assault, they fought against him: and Josaphat cried out. 22:33. And the captains of the chariots perceived that he was not the king of Israel, and they turned away from him. 22:34. And a certain man bent his bow, shooting at a venture, and chanced to strike the king of Israel, between the lungs and the stomach. But he said to the driver of his chariot: Turn thy hand, and carry me out of the army, for I am grievously wounded. 22:35. And the battle was fought that day, and the king of Israel stood in his chariot against the Syrians, and he died in the evening: and the blood ran out of the wound into the midst of the chariot. 22:36. And the herald proclaimed through all the army, before the sun set, saying: Let every man return to his own city, and to his own country. 22:37. And the king died, and was carried into Samaria: and they buried the king in Samaria. 22:38. And they washed his chariot in the pool of Samaria and the dogs licked up his blood, and they washed the reins according to the word of the Lord which he had spoken. 22:39. But the rest of the acts of Achab, and all that he did, and the house of ivory that he made, and all the cities that he built, are they not written in the book of the words of the days of the kings of Israel? 22:40. So Achab slept with his fathers; and Ochozias, his son, reigned in his stead. 22:41. But Josaphat, the son of Asa, began to reign over Juda, in the fourth year of Acbab, king of Israel. 22:42. He was five and thirty years old when he began to reign, and he reigned five and twenty years in Jerusalem: the name of his mother was Azuba, the daughter of Salai. 22:43. And he walked in all the way of Asa, his father, and he declined not from it: and he did that which was right in the sight of the Lord. 22:44. Nevertheless, he took not away the high places for as yet the people offered sacrifice, and burnt incense in the high places. He took not away, etc... He left some of the high places, viz., those in which they worshipped the true God: but took away all others, 2 Par. 17.6, and note ver. 14 of chap. 15. 3 Kings. 22:45. And Josaphat had peace with the king of Israel. 22:46. But the rest of the acts of Josaphat, and his works which he did, and his battles, are they not written in the book of the words of the days of the kings of Juda? 22:47. And the remnant also of the effeminate, who remained in the days of Asa, his father, he took out of the land. 22:48. And there was then no king appointed in Edom. 22:49. But king Josaphat made navies on the sea, to sail into Ophir for gold: but they could not go, for the ships were broken in Asiongaber. 22:50. Then Ochozias, the son of Achab, said to Josaphat: Let my servants go with thy servants in the ships. And Josaphat would not. Would not... He had been reprehended before for admitting such a partner: and therefore would have no more to do with him. 22:51. And Josaphat slept with his fathers, and was buried with them in the city of David, his father: and Joram, his son, reigned in his stead. 22:52. And Ochozias, the son of Achab, began to reign over Israel, in Samaria, in the seventeenth year of Josaphat, king of Juda, and he reigned over Israel two years. 22:53. And he did evil in the sight of the Lord, and walked in the way of his father and his mother, and in the way of Jeroboam, the son of Nabat, who made Israel to sin. 22:54. He served also Baal, and worshipped him, and provoked the Lord, the God of Israel, according to all that his father had done. THE FOURTH BOOK OF KINGS 4 Kings Chapter 1 Ochozias sendeth to consult Beelzebub: Elias foretelleth his death: and causeth fire to come down from heaven, upon two captains and their companies. 1:1. And Moab rebelled against Israel, after the death of Achab. 1:2. And Ochozias fell through the lattices of his upper chamber, which he had in Samaria, and was sick: and he sent messengers, saying to them: Go, consult Beelzebub, the god of Accaron, whether I shall recover of this my illness. 1:3. And an angel of the Lord spoke to Elias, the Thesbite, saying: Arise, and go up to meet the messengers of the king of Samaria, and say to them: Is there not a God in Israel, that ye go to consult Beelzebub, the god of Accaron? 1:4. Wherefore, thus saith the Lord: From the bed, on which thou art gone up, thou shalt not come down, but thou shalt surely die. And Elias went away. 1:5. And the messengers turned back to Ochozias. And he said to them: Why are you come back? 1:6. But they answered him: A man met us, and said to us: Go, and return to the king, that sent you, and you shall say to him: Thus saith the Lord: Is it because there was no God in Israel, that thou sendest to Beelzebub, the god of Accaron? Therefore thou shalt not come down from the bed, on which thou art gone up, but thou shalt surely die. 1:7. And he said to them: What manner of man was he who met you, and spoke these words? 1:8. But they said: A hairy man, with a girdle of leather about his loins. And he said: It is Elias, the Thesbite. 1:9. And he sent to him a captain of fifty, and the fifty men that were under him. And he went up to him, and as he was sitting on the top of a hill, he said to him: Man of God, the king hath commanded that thou come down. 1:10. And Elias answering, said to the captain of fifty: If I be a man of God, let fire come down from heaven and consume thee, and thy fifty. And there came down fire from heaven and consumed him, and the fifty that were with him. Let fire, etc... Elias was inspired to call for fire from heaven upon these captains, who came to apprehend him; not out of a desire to gratify any private passion; but to punish the insult offered to religion, to confirm his mission, and to shew how vain are the efforts of men against God, and his servants, whom he willeth to protect. 1:11. And he again sent to him another captain of fifty men, and his fifty with him. And he said to him: Man of God: Thus saith the king: Make haste and come down. 1:12. Elias answering, said: If I be a man of God, let fire come down from heaven, and consume thee, and thy fifty. And fire came down from heaven, and consumed him and his fifty. 1:13. Again he sent a third captain of fifty men, and the fifty that were with him. And when he was come, he fell upon his knees before Elias, and besought him, and said: Man of God, despise not my life, and the lives of thy servants that are with me. 1:14. Behold fire came down from heaven, and consumed the two first captains of fifty men, and the fifties that were with them: but now I beseech thee to spare my life. 1:15. And the angel of the Lord spoke to Elias, saying: Go down with him, fear not. He arose therefore, and went down with him to the king, 1:16. And said to him: Thus saith the Lord: Because thou hast sent messengers to consult Beelzebub, the god of Accaron, as though there were not a God in Israel, of whom thou mightest inquire the word; therefore, from the bed on which thou art gone up, thou shalt not come down, but thou shalt surely die. 1:17. So he died, according to the word of the Lord, which Elias spoke; and Joram, his brother, reigned in his stead, in the second year of Joram, the son of Josaphat, king of Juda, because he had no son. The second year of Joram, etc... Counted from the time that he was associated to the throne by his father Josaphat. 1:18. But the rest of the acts of Ochozias, which he did, are they not written in the book of the words of the days of the kings of Israel? 4 Kings Chapter 2 Eliseus will not part from Elias. The water of the Jordan is divided by Elias' cloak. Elias is taken up in a fiery chariot, and his double spirit is given to Eliseus. Eliseus healeth the waters by casting in salt. Boys are torn by bears for mocking Eliseus. 2:1. And it came to pass, when the Lord would take up Elias, into heaven, by a whirlwind, that Elias and Eliseus were going from Galgal. Heaven... By heaven here is meant the air, the lowest of the heavenly regions. 2:2. And Elias said to Eliseus: Stay thou here, because the Lord hath sent me as far as Bethel. And Eliseus said to him: As the Lord liveth, and as thy soul liveth, I will not leave thee. And when they were come down to Bethel, 2:3. The sons of the prophets, that were at Bethel, came forth to Eliseus, and said to him: Dost thou know that, this day, the Lord will take away thy master from thee? And he answered: I also know it: hold your peace. The sons of the prophets... That is, the disciples of the prophets; who seem to have had their schools, like colleges or communities, in Bethel, Jericho, and other places in the days of Elias and Eliseus. 2:4. And Elias said to Eliseus: Stay here, because the Lord hath sent me to Jericho. And he said: As the Lord liveth, and as thy soul liveth, I will not leave thee. And when they were come to Jericho, 2:5. The sons of the prophets, that were at Jericho, came to Eliseus, and said to him: Dost thou know that, this day, the Lord will take away thy master from thee? And he said: I also know it: hold your peace. 2:6. And Elias said to him: Stay here, because the Lord hath sent me as far as the Jordan. And he said: as the Lord liveth, and as thy soul liveth, I will not leave thee. And they two went on together. 2:7. And fifty men, of the sons of the prophets, followed them, and stood in sight, at a distance: but they two stood by the Jordan. 2:8. And Elias took his mantle, and folded it together, and struck the waters, and they were divided hither and thither, and they both passed over on dry ground. 2:9. And when they were gone over, Elias said to Eliseus: Ask what thou wilt have me to do for thee, before I be taken away from thee. And Eliseus said: I beseech thee, that in me may be thy double spirit. Double spirit... A double portion of thy spirit, as the eldest son and heir: or thy spirit which is double in comparison of that which God usually imparteth to his prophets. 2:10. And he answered: Thou hast asked a hard thing; nevertheless, if thou see me when I am taken from thee, thou shalt have what thou hast asked: but if thou see me not, thou shalt not have it. 2:11. And as they went on, walking and talking together, behold, a fiery chariot and fiery horses parted them both asunder: and Elias went up by a whirlwind into heaven. 2:12. And Eliseus saw him, and cried: My father, my father, the chariot of Israel, and the driver thereof. And he saw him no more: and he took hold of his own garments, and rent them in two pieces. 2:13. And he took up the mantle of Elias, that fell from him: and going back, he stood on the bank of the Jordan; 2:14. And he struck the waters with the mantle of Elias, that had fallen from him, and they were not divided. And he said: Where is now the God of Elias? And he struck the waters, and they were divided hither and thither, and Eliseus passed over. 2:15. And the sons of the prophets, at Jericho, who were over against him, seeing it, said: The spirit of Elias hath rested upon Eliseus. And coming to meet him, they worshipped him, falling to the ground. They worshipped him... viz., with an inferior, yet religious veneration, not for any temporal, but spiritual excellency. 2:16. And they said to him: Behold, there are with thy servants, fifty strong men, that can go, and seek thy master, lest, perhaps, the spirit of the Lord, hath taken him up and cast him upon some mountain, or into some valley. And he said: Do not send. 2:17. But they pressed him, till he consented, and said: Send. And they sent fifty men: and they sought three days, but found him not. 2:18. And they came back to him: for he abode at Jericho, and he said to them: Did I not say to you? Do not send. 2:19. And the men of the city said to Eliseus: Behold the situation of this city is very good, as thou, my lord, seest: but the waters are very bad, and the ground barren. 2:20. And he said: Bring me a new vessel, and put salt into it. And when they had brought it, 2:21. He went out to the spring of the waters, and cast the salt into it, and said: Thus saith the Lord: I have healed these waters, and there shall be no more in them death or barrenness. 2:22. And the waters were healed unto this day, according to the word of Eliseus, which he spoke. 2:23. And he went up from thence to Bethel: and as he was going up by the way, little boys came out of the city and mocked him, saying: Go up, thou bald head, go up, thou bald head. 2:24. And looking back, he saw them, and cursed them in the name of the Lord: and there came forth two bears out of the forest, and tore of them, two and forty boys. Cursed them... This curse, which was followed by so visible a judgment of God, was not the effect of passion, or of a desire of revenging himself; but of zeal for religion, which was insulted by these boys, in the person of the prophet; and of a divine inspiration: God punishing in this manner the inhabitants of Bethel, (the chief seat of the calf worship,) who had trained up their children in a prejudice against the true religion and its ministers. 2:25. And from thence he went to mount Carmel, and from thence he returned to Samaria. 4 Kings Chapter 3 The kings of Israel, Juda, and Edom, fight against the king of Moab. They want water, which Eliseus procureth without rain: and prophesieth victory. The king of Moab is overthrown, his city is besieged: he sacrificeth his firstborn son: so the Israelites raise the siege. 3:1. And Joram the son of Achab, reigned over Israel, in Samaria, in the eighteenth year of Josaphat, king of Juda. And he reigned twelve years. 3:2. And he did evil before the Lord, but not like his father and his mother: for he took away the statues of Baal, which his father had made. 3:3. Nevertheless, he stuck to the sins of Jeroboam, the son of Nabat, who made Israel to sin, nor did he depart from them. 3:4. Now Mesa, king of Moab, nourished many sheep, and he paid to the king of Israel a hundred thousand lambs, and a hundred thousand rams, with their fleeces. 3:5. And when Achab was dead, he broke the league which he had made with the king of Israel. 3:6. And king Joram went out that day from Samaria, and mustered all Israel. 3:7. And he sent to Josaphat; king of Juda, saying: The king of Moab is revolted from me: come with me against him to battle. And he answered: I will come up: he that is mine, is thine: my people are thy people: and my horses, thy horses. 3:8. And he said: Which way shall we go up? But he answered: By the desert of Edom. 3:9. So the king of Israel, and the king of Juda, and the king of Edom, went, and they fetched a compass of seven days journey, and there was no water for the army, and for the beasts, that followed them. 3:10. And the king of Israel said: Alas, alas, alas, the Lord hath gathered us three kings together, to deliver us into the hands of Moab. 3:11. And Josaphat said: Is there not here a prophet of the Lord, that we may beseech the Lord by him? And one of the servants of the king of Israel answered: Here is Eliseus, the son of Saphat, who poured water on the hands of Elias. 3:12. And Josaphat said: The word of the Lord is with him. And the king of Israel, and Josaphat, king of Juda, and the king of Edom, went down to him. 3:13. And Eliseus said to the king of Israel: What have I to do with thee? go to the prophets of thy father, and thy mother. And the king of Israel said to him: Why hath the Lord gathered together these three kings, to deliver them into the hands of Moab? 3:14. And Eliseus said to him: As the Lord of hosts liveth, in whose sight I stand, if I did not reverence the face of Josaphat, king of Juda, I would not have hearkened to thee, nor looked on thee. 3:15. But now bring me hither a minstrel. And when the minstrel played, the hand of the Lord came upon him, and he said: 3:16. Thus saith the Lord: Make the channel of this torrent full of ditches. 3:17. For thus saith the Lord: You shall not see wind, nor rain: and yet this channel shall be filled with waters, and you shall drink, you and your families, and your beasts. 3:18. And this is a small thing in the sight of the Lord: moreover, he will deliver, also, Moab into your hands. 3:19. And you shall destroy every fenced city, and every choice city, and shall cut down every fruitful tree, and shall stop up all the springs of waters, and every goodly field you shall cover with stones. 3:20. And it came to pass, in the morning, when the sacrifices used to be offered, that behold, water came by the way of Edom, and the country was filled with water. 3:21. And all the Moabites hearing that the kings were come up to fight against them, gathered together all that were girded with a belt upon them, and stood in the borders. 3:22. And they rose early in the morning, and the sun being now up, and shining upon the waters, the Moabites saw the waters over against them red, like blood, 3:23. And they said: It is the blood of the sword: the kings have fought among themselves, and they have killed one another: go now, Moab, to the spoils. 3:24. And they went into the camp of Israel: but Israel rising up, defeated Moab, who fled before them. And they being conquerors, went and smote Moab. 3:25. And they destroyed the cities: And they filled every goodly field, every man casting his stone: and they stopt up all the springs of waters: and cut down all the trees that bore fruit, so that brick walls only remained: and the city was beset by the slingers, and a great part thereof destroyed. Brick walls only remained... It was the proper name of the capital city of the Moabites. In Hebrew, Kir-Haraseth. 3:26. And when the king of Moab saw this, to wit, that the enemies had prevailed, he took with him seven hundred men that drew the sword, to break in upon the king of Edom: but they could not. 3:27. Then he took his eldest son, that should have reigned in his stead, and offered him for a burnt offering upon the wall: and there was great indignation in Israel, and presently they departed from him, and returned into their own country. 4 Kings Chapter 4 Miracles of Eliseus. He raiseth a dead child to life. 4:1. Now a certain woman of the wives of the prophets, cried to Eliseus, saying: Thy servant, my husband, is dead, and thou knowest that thy servant was one that feared God, and behold the creditor is come to take away my two sons to serve him. 4:2. And Eliseus said to her: What wilt thou have me do for thee? Tell me, what hast thou in thy house? And she answered: I, thy handmaid, have nothing in my house but a little oil, to anoint me. 4:3. And he said to her: Go, borrow of all thy neighbours empty vessels, not a few. 4:4. And go in, and shut thy door, when thou art within, and thy sons: and pour out thereof into all those vessels: and when they are full, take them away. 4:5. So the woman went, and shut the door upon her, and upon her sons: they brought her the vessels, and she poured in. 4:6. And when the vessels were full, she said to her son: Bring me yet a vessel. And he answered: I have no more. And the oil stood. 4:7. And she came, and told the man of God. And he said: Go, sell the oil, and pay thy creditor: and thou and thy sons live of the rest. 4:8. And there was a day when Eliseus passed by Sunam: now there was a great woman there, who detained him to eat bread: and as he passed often that way, he turned into her house to eat bread. 4:9. And she said to her husband: I perceive that this is a holy man of God, who often passeth by us. 4:10. Let us, therefore, make him a little chamber, and put a little bed in it for him, and a table, and a stool, and a candlestick, that when he cometh to us he may abide there. 4:11. Now, there was a certain day, when he came, and turned into the chamber, and rested there. 4:12. And he said to Giezi, his servant: Call this Sunamitess. And when he had called her, and she stood before him, 4:13. He said to his servant: Say to her: Behold, thou hast diligently served us in all things; what wilt thou have me to do for thee? Hast thou any business, and wilt thou, that I speak to the king, or to the general of the army? And she answered: I dwell in the midst of my own people. 4:14. And he said: What will she then that I do for her? And Giezi said: Do not ask, for she hath no son, and her husband is old. 4:15. Then he bid him call her. And when she was called, and stood before the door, 4:16. He said to her: At this time, and this same hour, if life be in company, thou shalt have a son in thy womb. But she answered: Do not, I beseech thee, my lord, thou man of God, do not lie to thy handmaid. 4:17. And the woman conceived, and brought forth a son in the time, and at the same hour that Eliseus had said. 4:18. And the child grew. And on a certain day, when he went out to his father to the reapers, 4:19. He said to his father: My head acheth, my head acheth. But he said to his servant. Take him, and carry him to his mother. 4:20. And when he had taken him, and brought him to his mother, she sat him on her knees, until noon, and then he died. 4:21. And she went up, and laid him upon the bed of the man of God, and shut the door: and going out, 4:22. She called her husband, and said: Send with me, I beseech thee, one of thy servants, and an ass, that I may run to the man of God, and come again. 4:23. And he said to her: Why dost thou go to him? to day is neither new moon nor sabbath. She answered: I will go. 4:24. And she saddled an ass, and commanded her servant: Drive, and make haste, make no stay in going: And do that which I bid thee. 4:25. So she went forward, and came to the man of God, to mount Carmel: and when the man of God saw her coming towards, he said to Giezi, his servant: Behold that Sunamitess. 4:26. Go, therefore, to meet her, and say to her: Is all well with thee, and with thy husband, and with thy son? And she answered: Well. 4:27. And when she came to the man of God, to the mount, she caught hold on his feet: and Giezi came to remove her. And the man of God said: Let her alone for her soul is in anguish, and the Lord hath hid it from me, and hath not told me. 4:28. And she said to him: Did I ask a son of my lord? did I not say to thee: Do not deceive me? 4:29. Then he said to Giezi: Gird up thy loins, and take my staff in thy hand, and go. If any man meet thee, salute him not: and if any man salute thee, answer him not: and lay my staff upon the face of the child. Salute him not... He that is sent to raise to life the sinner spiritually dead, must not suffer himself to be called off, or diverted from his enterprise, by the salutations or ceremonies of the world. 4:30. But the mother of the child said: As the Lord liveth, and as thy soul liveth, I will not leave thee. He arose, therefore, and followed her. 4:31. But Giezi was gone before them, and laid the staff upon the face of the child, and there was no voice nor sense: and he returned to meet him, and told him, saying: The child is not risen. St. Augustine considers a great mystery in this miracle wrought by the prophet Eliseus, thus: By the staff sent by his servant is figured the rod of Moses, or the Old Law, which was not sufficient to bring mankind to life then dead in sin. It was necessary that Christ himself should come, and by taking on human nature, become flesh of our flesh, and restore us to life. In this Eliseus was a figure of Christ, as it was necessary that he should come himself to bring the dead child to life and restore him to his mother, who is here, in a mystical sense, a figure of the Church. 4:32. Eliseus, therefore, went into the house, and behold the child lay dead on his bed: 4:33. And going in, he shut the door upon him, and upon the child, and prayed to the Lord. 4:34. And he went up, and lay upon the child: and put his mouth upon his mouth, and his eyes upon his eyes, and his hands upon his hands: and he bowed himself upon him, and the child's flesh grew warm. 4:35. Then he returned and walked in the house, once to and fro: and he went up, and lay upon him: and the child gaped seven times, and opened his eyes. 4:36. And he called Giezi, and said to him: Call this Sunamitess. And she being called, went in to him: and he said: Take up thy son. 4:37. She came and fell at his feet, and worshipped upon the ground: and took up her son, and went out. 4:38. And Eliseus returned to Galgal, and there was a famine in the land, and the sons of the prophets dwelt before him: And he said to one of his servants: Set on the great pot, and boil pottage for the sons of the prophets. 4:39. And one went out into the field to gather wild herbs: and he found something like a wild vine, and gathered of it wild gourds of the field, and filled his mantle, and coming back, he shred them into the pot of pottage; for he knew not what it was. Wild gourds of the field... Colocynthidas. They are extremely bitter, and therefore are called the gall of the earth; and are poisonous if taken in a great quantity. 4:40. And they poured it out for their companions to eat: and when they had tasted of the pottage, they cried out, saying: Death is in the pot, O man of God. And they could not eat thereof. 4:41. But he said: Bring some meal. And when they had brought it, he cast it into the pot, and said: Pour out for the people, that they may eat. And there was now no bitterness in the pot. 4:42. And a certain man came from Baalsalisa, bringing to the man of God, bread of the firstfruits, twenty loaves of barley, and new corn in his scrip. And he said: Give to the people, that they may eat. 4:43. And his servant answered him: How much is this, that I should set it before a hundred men? He said again: Give to the people, that they may eat: for thus saith the Lord: They shall eat, and there shall be left. 4:44. So he set it before them: and they ate, and there was left, according to the word of the Lord. 4 Kings Chapter 5 Naaman the Syrian is cleansed of his leprosy. He professeth his belief in one God, promising to serve him. Giezi taketh gifts of Naaman, and is struck with leprosy. 5:1. Naaman, general of the army, of the king of Syria, was a great man with his master, and honourable: for by him the Lord gave deliverance to Syria: and he was a valiant man, and rich, but a leper. 5:2. Now there had gone out robbers from Syria, and had led away captive out of the land of Israel, a little maid, and she waited upon Naaman's wife. 5:3. And she said to her mistress: I wish my master had been with the prophet that is in Samaria: he would certainly have healed him of the leprosy which he hath. 5:4. Then Naaman went in to his lord, and told him, saying: Thus and thus said the girl from the land of Israel. 5:5. And the king of Syria said to him: Go; and I will send a letter to the king of Israel. And he departed, and took with him ten talents of silver, and six thousand pieces of gold, and ten changes of raiment; 5:6. And brought the letter to the king of Israel, in these words: When thou shalt receive this letter, know that I have sent to thee Naaman, my servant, that thou mayst heal him of his leprosy. 5:7. And when the king of Israel had read the letter, he rent his garments, and said: Am I God, to be able to kill and give life, that this man hath sent to me to heal a man of his leprosy? mark, and see how he seeketh occasions against me. 5:8. And when Eliseus, the man of God, had heard this, to wit, that the king of Israel had rent his garments, he sent to him, saying: Why hast thou rent thy garments? let him come to me, and let him know that there is a prophet in Israel. 5:9. So Naaman came with his horses and chariots, and stood at the door of the house of Eliseus: 5:10. And Eliseus sent a messenger to him, saying: Go, and wash seven times in the Jordan, and thy flesh shall recover health, and thou shalt be clean. 5:11. Naaman was angry, and went away, saying: I thought he would have come out to me, and standing, would have invoked the name of the Lord his God, and touched with his hand the place of the leprosy, and healed me. 5:12. Are not the Abana, and the Pharphar, rivers of Damascus, better than all the waters of Israel, that I may wash in them, and be made clean? So as he turned, and was going away with indignation, 5:13. His servants came to him, and said to him: Father, if the prophet had bid thee do some great thing, surely thou shouldst have done it: how much rather what he now hath said to thee: Wash, and thou shalt be clean? 5:14. Then he went down, and washed in the Jordan seven times, according to the word of the man of God; and his flesh was restored, like the flesh of a little child: and he was made clean. 5:15. And returning to the man of God, with all his train, he came, and stood before him, and said: In truth, I know there is no other God, in all the earth, but only in Israel: I beseech thee, therefore, take a blessing of thy servant. A blessing... a present. 5:16. But he answered: As the Lord liveth, before whom I stand, I will receive none. And when he pressed him, he still refused. 5:17. And Naaman said: As thou wilt: but I beseech thee, grant to me, thy servant, to take from hence two mules' burden of earth: for thy servant will not henceforth offer holocaust, or victim, to other gods, but to the Lord. 5:18. But there is only this, for which thou shalt entreat the Lord for thy servant; when my master goeth into the temple of Remmon, to worship there, and he leaneth on my hand: if I bow down in the temple of Remmon, when he boweth down in the same place, that the Lord pardon me, thy servant, for this thing. 5:19. And he said to him: Go in peace. So he departed from him, in the spring time of the earth. Go in peace... What the prophet here allowed, was not an outward conformity to an idolatrous worship; but only a service which by his office he owed to his master: who on all public occasions leaned on him: so that his bowing down when his master bowed himself down was not in effect adoring the idols: nor was it so understood by the standers by, since he publicly professed himself a worshipper of the only true and living God, but it was no more than doing a civil office to the king his master, whose leaning upon him obliged him to bow at the same time that he bowed. 5:20. But Giezi, the servant of the man of God, said: My master hath spared Naaman this Syrian, in not receiving of him that which he brought: as the Lord liveth, I will run after him, and take something of him. 5:21. And Giezi followed after Naaman: and when he saw him running after him, he leapt down from his chariot to meet him, and said: Is all well? 5:22. And he said: Well: my master hath sent me to thee, saying: Just now there are come to me from mount Ephraim, two young men of the sons of the prophets: give them a talent of silver, and two changes of garments. 5:23. And Naaman said: It is better that thou take two talents. And he forced him, and bound two talents of silver in two bags, and two changes of garments, and laid them upon two of his servants, and they carried them before him. 5:24. And when he was come, and now it was the evening, he took them from their hands, and laid them up in the house, and sent the men away, and they departed. 5:25. But he went in, and stood before his master. And Eliseus said: Whence comest thou, Giezi? He answered: Thy servant went no whither. 5:26. But he said: Was not my heart present, when the man turned back, from his chariot, to meet thee? So now thou hast received money, and received garments, to buy oliveyards and vineyards, and sheep, and oxen, and men-servants, and maid-servants. 5:27. But the leprosy of Naaman, shall also stick to thee, and to thy seed for ever. And he went out from him a leper, as white as snow. 4 Kings Chapter 6 Eliseus maketh iron to swim upon the water: he leadeth the Syrians that were sent to apprehend him into Samaria, where there eyes being opened, they are courteously entertained. The Syrians besiege Samaria: the famine there causeth a woman to eat her own child. Upon this the king commandeth Eliseus to be put to death. 6:1. And the sons of the prophets said to Eliseus: Behold, the place where we dwell with thee is too strait for us. 6:2. Let us go as far as the Jordan, and take out of the wood every man a piece of timber, that we may build us there a place to dwell in. And he said: Go. 6:3. And one of them said: But come thou also with thy servants. He answered: I will come. 6:4. So he went with them. And when they were come to the Jordan, they cut down wood. 6:5. And it happened, as one was felling some timber, that the head of the ax fell into the water: and he cried out, and said: Alas, alas, alas, my lord, for this same was borrowed. 6:6. And the man of God said: Where did it fall? and he shewed him the place: Then he cut off a piece of wood, and cast it in thither: and the iron swam. 6:7. And he said: Take it up. And he put out his hand, and took it. 6:8. And the king of Syria warred against Israel, and took counsel with his servants, saying: In such and such a place, let us lay an ambush. 6:9. And the man of God sent to the king of Israel, saying: Beware that thou pass not to such a place: for the Syrians are there in ambush. 6:10. And the king of Israel, sent to the place which the man of God had told him, and prevented him, and looked well to himself there not once nor twice. 6:11. And the heart of the king of Syria, was troubled for this thing. And calling together his servants, he said: Why do you not tell me who it is that betrays me to the king of Israel? 6:12. And one of his servants said: No one, my lord, O king: but Eliseus, the prophet, that is in Israel, telleth the king of Israel all the words, that thou speakest in thy privy chamber. 6:13. And he said to them: Go, and see where he is: that I may send and take him. And they told him: saying: Behold he is in Dothan. 6:14. Therefore, he sent thither horses, and chariots, and the strength of an army: and they came by night, and beset the city. 6:15. And the servant of the man of God, rising early went out, and saw an army round about the city, and horses and chariots: and he told him, saying: Alas, alas, alas, my lord, what shall we do? 6:16. But he answered: Fear not: for there are more with us than with them. 6:17. And Eliseus prayed, and said: Lord, open his eyes, that he may see. And the Lord opened the eyes of the servant, and he saw: and behold, the mountain was full of horses, and chariots of fire round about Eliseus. 6:18. And the enemies came down to him: but Eliseus prayed to the Lord, saying: Strike, I beseech thee, this people with blindness: and the Lord struck them with blindness, according to the word of Eliseus. Blindness... The blindness here spoken of was of a particular kind, which hindered them from seeing the objects that were really before them; and represented other different objects to their imagination: so that they no longer perceived the city of Dothan, nor were able to know the person of Eliseus; but were easily led by him, whom they took to be another man, to Samaria. So that he truly told them, this is not the way, neither is this the city, etc., because he spoke with relation to the way and to the city, which was represented to them. 6:19. And Eliseus said to them: This is not the way, neither is this the city: follow me, and I will shew you the man whom you seek. So he led them into Samaria. 6:20. And when they were come into Samaria, Eliseus said: Lord, open the eyes of these men, that they may see. And the Lord opened their eyes, and they saw themselves to be in the midst of Samaria. 6:21. And the king of Israel said to Eliseus, when he saw them: My father, shall I kill them? 6:22. And he said: Thou shalt not kill them: for thou didst not take them with thy sword, or thy bow, that thou mayst kill them: but set bread and water before them, that they may eat and drink, and go to their master. 6:23. And a great provision of meats was set before them, and they ate and drank; and he let them go: and they went away to their master: and the robbers of Syria came no more into the land of Israel. 6:24. And it came to pass, after these things, that Benadad, king of Syria, gathered together all his army, and went up and besieged Samaria. 6:25. And there was a great famine in Samaria: and so long did the siege continue, till the head of an ass was sold for fourscore pieces of silver, and the fourth part of a cabe of pigeons' dung, for five pieces of silver. 6:26. And as the king of Israel was passing by the wall, a certain woman cried out to him, saying: Save me, my lord, O king. 6:27. And he said: If the Lord doth not save thee, how can I save thee? out of the barnfloor, or out of the winepress? And the king said to her: What aileth thee? And she answered: 6:28. This woman said to me: Give thy son, that we may eat him today, and we will eat my son tomorrow. 6:29. So we boiled my son, and ate him. And I said to her on the next day: Give thy son, that we may eat him. And she hath hid her son. 6:30. When the king heard this, he rent his garments, and passed by upon the wall. And all the people saw the haircloth which he wore within next to his flesh. 6:31. And the king said: May God do so and so to me, and may he add more, if the head of Eliseus, the son of Saphat, shall stand on him this day. 6:32. But Eliseus sat in his house, and the ancients sat with him. So he sent a man before: and before that messenger came, he said to the ancients: Do you know that this son of a murderer hath sent to cut off my head? Look then when the messenger shall come, shut the door, and suffer him not to come in: for behold the sound of his master's feet is behind him. 6:33. While he was yet speaking to them, the messenger appeared, who was coming to him. And he said: Behold, so great an evil is from the Lord: what shall I look for more from the Lord? 4 Kings Chapter 7 Eliseus prophesieth a great plenty, which presently ensueth upon the sudden flight of the Syrians; of which four lepers bring the news to the city. The incredulous nobleman is trod to death. 7:1. And Eliseus said: Hear ye the word of the Lord: Thus saith the Lord: Tomorrow, about this time, a bushel of fine flour shall be sold for a stater, and two bushels of barley for a stater, in the gate of Samaria. A stater... It is the same as a sicle or shekel. 7:2. Then one of the lords, upon whose hand the king leaned, answering the man of God, said: If the Lord should make flood-gates in heaven, can that possibly be which thou sayest? And he said: Thou shalt see it with thy eyes, but shalt not eat thereof. 7:3. Now there were four lepers, at the entering in of the gate: and they said one to another: What mean we to stay here till we die? 7:4. If we will enter into the city, we shall die with the famine: and if we will remain here, we must also die: come therefore, and let us run over to the camp of the Syrians. If they spare us, we shall live: but if they kill us, we shall but die. 7:5. So they arose in the evening, to go to the Syrian camp. And when they were come to the first part of the camp of the Syrians, they found no man there. 7:6. For the Lord had made them hear, in the camp of Syria, the noise of chariots, and of horses, and of a very great army: and they said one to another: Behold, the king of Israel hath hired against us the kings of the Hethites, and of the Egyptians; and they are come upon us. 7:7. Wherefore they arose, and fled away in the dark, and left their tents, and their horses and asses in the camp, and fled, desiring to save their lives. 7:8. So when these lepers were come to the beginning of the camp, they went into one tent, and ate and drank: and they took from thence silver, and gold, and raiment, and went, and hid it: and they came again, and went into another tent, and carried from thence in like manner, and hid it. 7:9. Then they said one to another: We do not well: for this is a day of good tidings. If we hold our peace, and do not tell it till the morning, we shall be charged with a crime: come, let us go, and tell it in the king's court. 7:10. So they came to the gate of the city, and told them, saying: We went to the camp of the Syrians, and we found no man there, but horses, and asses tied, and the tents standing. 7:11. Then the guards of the gate went, and told it within in the king's palace. 7:12. And he arose in the night, and said to his servants: I tell you what the Syrians have done to us: They know that we suffer great famine, and therefore they are gone out of the camp, and lie hid in the fields, saying: When they come out of the city, we shall take them alive, and then we may get into the city. 7:13. And one of his servants answered: Let us take the five horses that are remaining in the city (because there are no more in the whole multitude of Israel, for the rest are consumed), and let us send and see. 7:14. They brought therefore two horses, and the king sent into the camp of the Syrians, saying: Go, and see. 7:15. And they went after them, as far as the Jordan: and behold, all the way was full of garments, and vessels, which the Syrians had cast away, in their fright, and the messengers returned, and told the king. 7:16. And the people going out, pillaged the camp of the Syrians: and a bushel of fine flour was sold for a stater, and two bushels of barley for a stater, according to the word of the Lord. 7:17. And the king appointed that lord on whose hand he leaned, to stand at the gate: and the people trod upon him in the entrance of the gate; and he died, as the man of God had said, when the king came down to him. 7:18. And it came to pass, according to the word of the man of God, which he spoke to the king, when he said: Two bushels of barley shall be for a stater, and a bushel of fine flour for a stater, at this very time tomorrow, in the gate of Samaria. 7:19. When that lord answered the man of God, and said: Although the Lord should make flood-gates in heaven, could this come to pass which thou sayest? And he said to him: Thou shalt see it with thy eyes, and shalt not eat thereof. 7:20. And so it fell out to him, as it was foretold, and the people trod upon him in the gate, and he died. 4 Kings Chapter 8 After seven years' famine foretold by Eliseus, the Sunamitess returning home, recovereth her lands, and revenues. Eliseus foresheweth the death of Benadad, king of Syria, and the reign of Hazael. Joram's wicked reign in Juda. He dieth, and his son Ochozias succeedeth. 8:1. And Eliseus spoke to the woman, whose son he had restored to life, saying: Arise, and go thou, and thy household, and sojourn wheresoever thou canst find: for the Lord hath called a famine, and it shall come upon the land seven years. 8:2. And she arose, and did according to the word of the man of God: and going with her household, she sojourned in the land of the Philistines many days. 8:3. And when the seven years were ended, the woman returned out of the land of the Philistines, and she went forth to speak to the king for her house and for her lands. 8:4. And the king talked with Giezi, the servant of the man of God, saying: Tell me all the great things that Eliseus hath done. 8:5. And when he was telling the king how he had raised one dead to life, the woman appeared, whose son he had restored to life, crying to the king for her house, and her lands. And Giezi said: My lord, O king, this is the woman, and this is her son, whom Eliseus raised to life. 8:6. And the king asked the woman: and she told him. And the king appointed her an eunuch, saying: Restore her all that is hers, and all the revenues of the lands, from the day that she left the land to this present. 8:7. Eliseus also came to Damascus, and Benadad, king of Syria was sick; and they told him, saying: The man of God is come hither. 8:8. And the king said to Hazael: Take with thee presents, and go to meet the man of God, and consult the Lord by him, saying: Can I recover of this my illness? 8:9. And Hazael went to meet him, taking with him presents, and all the good things of Damascus, the burdens of forty camels. And when he stood before him, he said: Thy son, Benadad, the king of Syria, hath sent me to thee, saying: Can I recover of this my illness? 8:10. And Eliseus said to him: Go tell him: Thou shalt recover: but the Lord hath shewed me that he shall surely die. Tell him: thou shalt recover... By these words the prophet signified that the king's disease was not mortal: and that he would recover if no violence were used. Or he might only express himself in this manner, by way of giving Hazael to understand that he knew both what he would say and do; that he would indeed tell the king he should recover; but would be himself the instrument of his death. 8:11. And he stood with him, and was troubled so far as to blush: and the man of God wept. 8:12. And Hazael said to him: Why doth my lord weep? And he said: Because I know the evil that thou wilt do to the children of Israel. Their strong cities thou wilt burn with fire, and their young men thou wilt kill with the sword, and thou wilt dash their children, and rip up their pregnant women. 8:13. And Hazael said: But what am I, thy servant, a dog, that I should do this great thing? And Eliseus said: The Lord hath shewed me that thou shalt be king of Syria. 8:14. And when he was departed from Eliseus he came to his master, who said to him: What said Eliseus to thee? And he answered: He told me: Thou shalt recover. 8:15. And on the next day, he took a blanket, and poured water on it, and spread it upon his face: and he died, and Hazael reigned in his stead. 8:16. In the fifth year of Joram, son of Achab, king of Israel, and of Josaphat, king of Juda, reigned Joram, son of Josaphat, king of Juda. And of Josaphat, etc... That is, Josaphat being yet alive, who sometime before his death made his son Joram king, as David had done before by his own son Solomon. 8:17. He was two and thirty years old when he began to reign, and he reigned eight years in Jerusalem. 8:18. And he walked in the ways of the kings of Israel, as the house of Achab had walked: for the daughter of Achab was his wife: and he did that which was evil in the sight of the Lord. 8:19. But the Lord would not destroy Juda, for David his servant's sake, as he had promised him, to give him a light, and to his children always. 8:20. In his days Edom revolted from being under Juda, and made themselves a king. 8:21. And Joram came to Seira, and all the chariots with him: and he arose in the night, and defeated the Edomites that had surrounded him, and the captains of the chariots, but the people fled into their tents. 8:22. So Edom revolted from being under Juda, unto this day. Then Lobna also revolted at the same time. 8:23. But the rest of the acts of Joram, and all that he did, are they not written in the book of the words of the days of the kings of Juda? 8:24. And Joram slept with his fathers, and was buried with them in the city of David, and Ochozias, his son, reigned in his stead. 8:25. In the twelfth year of Joram, the son of Achab, king of Israel, reigned Ochozias, son of Joram, king of Juda. 8:26. Ochozias was two and twenty years old when he began to reign, and he reigned one year in Jerusalem: the name of his mother was Athalia the daughter of Amri king of Israel. Daughter... That is, grand-daughter; for she was daughter of Achab son of Amri, ver. 18. 8:27. And he walked in the ways of the house of Achab: and he did evil before the Lord, as did the house of Achab: for he was the son-in-law of the house of Achab. 8:28. He went also with Joram, son of Achab, to fight against Hazael, king of Syria, in Ramoth Galaad, and the Syrians wounded Joram: 8:29. And he went back to be healed, in Jezrahel: because the Syrians had wounded him in Ramoth, when he fought against Hazael, king of Syria And Ochozias, the son of Joram, king of Juda, went down to visit Joram, the son of Achab, in Jezrahel, because he was sick there. 4 Kings Chapter 9 Jehu is anointed king of Israel, to destroy the house of Achab and Jezebel. He killeth Joram king of Israel, and Ochozias king of Juda. Jezebel is eaten by dogs. 9:1. And Eliseus the prophet, called one of the sons of the prophets, and said to him: Gird up thy loins, and take this little bottle of oil in thy hand, and go to Ramoth Galaad. 9:2. And when thou art come thither, thou shalt see Jehu the son of Josaphat the son of Namsi: and going in, thou shalt make him rise up from amongst his brethren, and carry him into an inner chamber. 9:3. Then taking the little bottle of oil, thou shalt pour it on his head, and shalt say: Thus saith the Lord: I have anointed thee king over Israel. And thou shalt open the door and flee, and shalt not stay there. 9:4. So the young man, the servant of the prophet, went away to Ramoth Galaad, 9:5. And went in thither: and behold, the captains of the army were sitting, and he said: I have a word to thee, O prince. And Jehu said: Unto whom of us all? And he said: To thee, O prince. 9:6. And he arose, and went into the chamber: and he poured the oil upon his head, and said: Thus saith the Lord God of Israel: I have anointed thee king over Israel, the people of the Lord. 9:7. And thou shalt cut off the house of Achab, thy master, and I will revenge the blood of my servants, the prophets, and the blood of all the servants of the Lord, at the hand of Jezabel. 9:8. And I will destroy all the house of Achab, and I will cut off from Achab, him that pisseth against the wall, and him that is shut up, and the meanest in Israel. 9:9. And I will make the house of Achab, like the house of Jeroboam, the son of Nabat, and like the house of Baasa, the son of Ahias. 9:10. And the dogs shall eat Jezabel, in the field of Jezrahel, and there shall be no one to bury her. And he opened the door and fled. 9:11. Then Jehu went forth to the servants of his Lord: and they said to him: Are all things well? why came this madman to thee? And he said to them: You know the man, and what he said. 9:12. But they answered: It is false; but rather do thou tell us. And he said to them: Thus and thus did he speak to me: and he said: Thus saith the Lord: I have anointed thee king over Israel. 9:13. Then they made haste, and taking every man his garment, laid it under his feet, after the manner of a judgment seat, and they sounded the trumpet, and said: Jehu is king. 9:14. So Jehu, the son of Josaphat, the son of Namsi, conspired against Joram. Now Joram had besieged Ramoth Galaad, he, and all Israel, fighting with Hazael, king of Syria: 9:15. And was returned to be healed in Jezrahel of his wounds; for the Syrians had wounded him, when he fought with Hazael, king of Syria. And Jehu said: If it please you, let no man go forth or flee out of the city, lest he go, and tell in Jezrahel. 9:16. And he got up, and went into Jezrahel for Joram was sick there, and Ochozias king of Juda, was come down to visit Joram. 9:17. The watchman therefore, that stood upon the tower of Jezrahel, saw the troop of Jehu coming, and said: I see a troop. And Joram said: Take a chariot, and send to meet them, and let him that goeth say: Is all well? 9:18. So there went one in a chariot to meet him, and said: Thus saith the king: Are all things peaceable? And Jehu said: What hast thou to do with peace? go behind and follow me. And the watchman told, saying: The messenger came to them, but he returneth not. 9:19. And he sent a second chariot of horses: and he came to them, and said: Thus saith the king: Is there peace? And Jehu said: What hast thou to do with peace? pass, and follow me. 9:20. And the watchman told, saying: He came even to them, but returneth not: and the driving is like the driving of Jehu, the son of Namsi; for he drives furiously. 9:21. And Joram said: Make ready the chariot. And they made ready his chariot: and Joram, king of Israel, and Ochozias, king of Juda, went out, each in his chariot, and they went out to meet Jehu, and met him in the field of Naboth, the Jezrahelite. 9:22. And when Joram saw Jehu, he said: Is there peace, Jehu? And he answered: What peace? so long as the fornications of Jezabel, thy mother, and her many sorceries, are in their vigour. 9:23. And Joram turned his hand, and fleeing, said to Ochozias: There is treachery, Ochozias. 9:24. But Jehu bent his bow with his hand, and shot Joram between the shoulders: and the arrow went out through his heart, and immediately he fell in his chariot. 9:25. And Jehu said to Badacer, his captain: Take him, and cast him into the field of Naboth, the Jezrahelite: for I remember, when I and thou, sitting in a chariot, followed Achab, this man's father, that the Lord laid this burden upon him, saying: 9:26. If I do not requite thee in this field, saith the Lord, for the blood of Naboth, and for the blood of his children, which I saw yesterday, saith the Lord. So now take him, and cast him into the field, according to the word of the Lord. 9:27. But Ochozias, king of Juda, seeing this, fled by the way of the garden house: and Jehu pursued him, and said: Strike him also in his chariot. And they struck him in the going up to Gaver, which is by Jeblaam: and he fled into Mageddo, and died there. 9:28. And his servants laid him upon his chariot, and carried him to Jerusalem: and they buried him in his sepulchre with his fathers, in the city of David. 9:29. In the eleventh year of Joram, the son of Achab, Ochozias reigned over Juda; 9:30. And Jehu came into Jezrahel. But Jezabel, hearing of his coming in, painted her face with stibic stone, and adorned her head, and looked out of a window. 9:31. At Jehu coming in at the gate, and said: Can there be peace for Zambri, that hath killed his master? 9:32. And Jehu lifted up his face to the window, and said: Who is this? And two or three eunuchs bowed down to him. 9:33. And he said to them: Throw her down headlong; And they threw her down, and the wall was sprinkled with her blood, and the hoofs of the horses trod upon her. 9:34. And when he was come in to eat, and to drink, he said: Go, and see after that cursed woman, and bury her; because she is a king's daughter. 9:35. And when they went to bury her, they found nothing but the skull, and the feet, and the extremities of her hands. 9:36. And coming back they told him. And Jehu said: It is the word of the Lord, which he spoke by his servant Elias, the Thesbite, saying: In the field of Jezrahel the dogs shall eat the flesh of Jezabel. 9:37. And the flesh of Jezabel shall be as dung upon the face of the earth in the field of Jezrahel; so that they who pass by shall say: Is this that same Jezabel? 4 Kings Chapter 10 Jehu destroyeth the house of Achab: abolisheth the worship of Baal, and killeth the worshippers: but sticketh to the calves of Jeroboam. Israel is afflicted by the Syrians. 10:1. And Achab had seventy sons in Samaria: so Jehu wrote letters, and sent to Samaria, to the chief men of the city, and to the ancients, and to them that brought up Achab's children, saying: 10:2. As soon as you receive these letters, ye that have your master's sons, and chariots, and horses, and fenced cities, and armour, 10:3. Choose the best, and him that shall please you most of your master's sons, and set him on his father's throne, and fight for the house of your master. 10:4. But they were exceedingly afraid, and said: Behold two kings could not stand before him, and how shall we be able to resist? 10:5. Therefore they that were over the king's house, and the rulers of the city, and the ancients, and the bringers up of the children, sent to Jehu, saying: We are thy servants: whatsoever thou shalt command us we will do; we will not make us any king: do thou all that pleaseth thee. 10:6. And he wrote letters the second time to them, saying: If you be mine, and will obey me, take the heads of the sons of your master, and come to me to Jezrahel by tomorrow at this time. Now the king's sons, being seventy men, were brought up with the chief men of the city. 10:7. And when the letters came to them, they took the king's sons, and slew seventy persons, and put their heads in baskets, and sent them to him to Jezrahel. 10:8. And a messenger came, and told him, saying: They have brought the heads of the king's sons. And he said: Lay ye them in two heaps by the entering in of the gate until the morning. 10:9. And when it was light, he went out, and standing, said to all the people: You are just: if I conspired against my master, and slew him; who hath slain all these? 10:10. See therefore now that there hath not fallen to the ground any of the words of the Lord, which the Lord spoke concerning the house of Achab, and the Lord hath done that which he spoke in the hand of his servant Elias. 10:11. So Jehu slew all that were left of the house of Achab in Jezrahel, and all his chief men, and his friends, and his priests, till there were no remains left of him. 10:12. And he arose, and went to Samaria: and when he was come to the shepherds' cabin in the way, 10:13. He met with the brethren of Ochozias, king of Juda, and he said to them: Who are you? And they answered: We are the brethren of Ochozias, and are come down to salute the sons of the king, and the sons of the queen. 10:14. And he said: Take them alive. And they took them alive, and killed them at the pit by the cabin, two and forty men, and he left not any of them. 10:15. And when he was departed thence, he found Jonadab, the son of Rechab, coming to meet him, and he blessed him. And he said to him: Is thy heart right as my heart is with thy heart? And Jonadab said: It is. If it be, said he, give me thy hand. He gave him his hand. And he lifted him up to him into the chariot, 10:16. And said to him: Come with me, and see my zeal for the Lord. So he made him ride in his chariot, 10:17. And brought him into Samaria. And he slew all that were left of Achab, in Samaria, to a man, according to the word of the Lord which he spoke by Elias. 10:18. And Jehu gathered together all the people, and said to them: Achab worshipped Baal a little, but I will worship him more. I will worship him more... Jehu sinned in thus pretending to worship Baal, and causing sacrifice to be offered to him: because evil is not to be done, that good may come of it. Rom. 3.8. 10:19. Now therefore call to me all the prophets of Baal, and all his servants, and all his priests: let none be wanting, for I have a great sacrifice to offer to Baal: whosoever shall be wanting, shall not live. Now Jehu did this craftily, that he might destroy the worshippers of Baal. 10:20. And he said: Proclaim a festival for Baal. And he called, 10:21. And he sent into all the borders of Israel; and all the servants of Baal came: there was not one left that did not come. And they went into the temple of Baal: and the house of Baal was filled, from one end to the other. 10:22. And he said to them that were over the wardrobe: Bring forth garments for all the servants of Baal. And they brought them forth garments. 10:23. And Jehu, and Jonadab, the son of Rechab, went to the temple of Baal, and said to the worshippers of Baal: Search, and see that there be not any with you of the servants of the Lord, but that there be the servants of Baal only. 10:24. And they went in to offer sacrifices and burnt offerings: but Jehu had prepared him fourscore men without, and said to them: If any of the men escape, whom I have brought into your hands, he that letteth him go, shall answer life for life. 10:25. And it came to pass, when the burnt offering was ended, that Jehu commanded his soldiers and captains, saying: Go in, and kill them: let none escape. And the soldiers and captains slew them with the edge of the sword, and cast them out: and they went into the city of the temple of Baal, 10:26. And brought the statue out of Baal's temple, and burnt it, 10:27. And broke it in pieces. They destroyed also the temple of Baal, and made a jakes in its place unto this day. 10:28. So Jehu destroyed Baal out of Israel: 10:29. But yet he departed not from the sins of Jeroboam, the son of Nabat, who made Israel to sin, nor did he forsake the golden calves that were in Bethel, and Dan. 10:30. And the Lord said to Jehu: because thou hast diligently executed that which was right and pleasing in my eyes, and hast done to the house of Achab according to all that was in my heart: thy children shall sit upon the throne of Israel to the fourth generation. 10:31. But Jehu took no heed to walk in the law of the Lord, the God of Israel, with all his heart: for he departed not from the sins of Jeroboam, who had made Israel to sin. 10:32. In those days the Lord began to be weary of Israel: and Hazael ravaged them in all the coasts of Israel, 10:33. From the Jordan eastward, all the land of Galaad, and Gad, and Ruben, and Manasses, from Aroer, which is upon the torrent Arnon, and Galaad, and Basan. 10:34. But the rest of the acts of Jehu, and all that he did, and his strength, are they not written in the book of the words of the days of the kings of Israel? 10:35. And Jehu slept with his fathers, and they buried him in Samaria: and Joachaz, his son, reigned in his stead. 10:36. And the time that Jehu reigned over Israel, in Samaria, was eight and twenty years. 4 Kings Chapter 11 Athalia's usurpation and tyranny. Joas is made king. Athalia is slain. 11:1. Now Athalia, the mother of Ochozias, seeing that her son was dead, arose and slew all the royal seed. 11:2. But Josaba the daughter of king Joram, sister of Ochozias, took Joas, the son of Ochozias, and stole him from among the king's sons that were slain, out of the bedchamber with his nurse: and hid him from the face of Athalia; so that he was not slain. 11:3. And he was with her six years, hid in the house of the Lord. And Athalia reigned over the land. 11:4. And in the seventh year Joiada sent, and taking the centurions and soldiers, brought them in to him into the temple of the Lord, and made a covenant with them: and taking an oath of them in the house of the Lord, shewed them the king's son: 11:5. And he commanded them, saying: This is the thing that you must do. 11:6. Let a third part of you go in on the sabbath, and keep the watch of the king's house. And let a third part be at the gate of Sur; and let a third part be at the gate behind the dwelling of the shieldbearers; and you shall keep the watch of the house of Messa. 11:7. But let two parts of you all that go forth on the sabbath, keep the watch of the house of the Lord about the king. 11:8. And you shall compass him round about, having weapons in your hands: and if any man shall enter the precinct of the temple, let him be slain: and you shall be with the king, coming in and going out. 11:9. And the centurions did according to all things that Joiada the priest, had commanded them: and taking every one their men, that went in on the sabbath, with them that went out in the sabbath, came to Joiada, the priest. 11:10. And he gave them the spears, and the arms of king David, which were in the house of the Lord. 11:11. And they stood, having every one their weapons in their hands, from the right side of the temple, unto the left side of the altar, and of the temple, about the king. 11:12. And he brought forth the king's son, and put the diadem upon him, and the testimony: and they made him king, and anointed him: and clapping their hands, they said: God save the king. The testimony... The book of the law. 11:13. And Athalia heard the noise of the people running: and going in to the people into the temple of the Lord, 11:14. She saw the king standing upon a tribunal, as the manner was, and the singers, and the trumpets near him, and all the people of the land rejoicing, and sounding the trumpets: and she rent her garments, and cried: A conspiracy, a conspiracy. A tribunal... A tribune, or a place elevated above the rest. 11:15. But Joiada commanded the centurions that were over the army, and said to them: Have her forth without the precinct of the temple, and whosoever shall follow her, let him be slain with the sword. For the priest had said: Let her not be slain in the temple of the Lord. 11:16. And they laid hands on her: and thrust her out by the way by which the horses go in, by the palace, and she was slain there. 11:17. And Joiada made a covenant between the Lord, and the king, and the people, that they should be the people of the Lord; and between the king and the people. 11:18. And all the people of the land went into the temple of Baal, and broke down his altars, and his images they broke in pieces thoroughly: they slew also Mathan the priest of Baal before the altar. And the priest set guards in the house of the Lord. 11:19. And he took the centurions, and the bands of the Cerethi, and the Phelethi, and all the people of the land, and they brought the king from the house of the Lord: and they came by the way of the gate of the shieldbearers into the palace, and he sat on the throne of the kings. 11:20. And all the people of the land rejoiced, and the city was quiet: but Athalia was slain with the sword in the king's house. 11:21. Now Joas was seven years old when he began to reign. 4 Kings Chapter 12 The temple is repaired. Hazael is bought off from attacking Jerusalem. Joas is slain. 12:1. In the seventh year of Jehu, Joas began to reign: and he reigned forty years in Jerusalem. The name of his mother was Sebia, of Bersabee. 12:2. And Joas did that which was right before the Lord all the days that Joiada, the priest, taught him. 12:3. But yet he took not away the high places: for the people still sacrificed and burnt incense in the high places. 12:4. And Joas said to the priests: all the money of the sanctified things, which is brought into the temple of the Lord by those that pass, which is offered for the price of a soul, and which of their own accord, and of their own free heart, they bring into the temple of the Lord: Sanctified... That is, dedicated to God's service.-Ibid. The price of a soul... That is, the ordinary oblation, which every soul was to offer by the law. Ex. 30. 12:5. Let the priests take it according to their order and repair the house, wheresoever they shall see any thing that wanteth repairing. 12:6. Now till the three and twentieth year of king Joas the priests did not make the repairs of the temple. 12:7. And king Joas called Joiada, the high priest, and the priests, saying to them: Why do you not repair the temple? Take you, therefore, money no more according to your order, but restore it for the repairing of the temple. 12:8. And the priests were forbidden to take any more money of the people, and to make the repairs of the house. 12:9. And Joiada, the high priest, took a chest, and bored a hole in the top, and set it by the altar at the right hand of them that came into the house of the Lord; and the priests that kept the doors, put therein all the money that was brought to the temple of the Lord. 12:10. And when they saw that there was very much money in the chest, the king's scribe, and the high priest, came up, and poured it out, and counted the money that was found in the house of the Lord. 12:11. And they gave it out by number and measure into the hands of them that were over the builders of the house of the Lord: and they laid it out to the carpenters, and the masons, that wrought in the house of the Lord, 12:12. And made the repairs: and to them that cut stones, and to buy timber, and stones to be hewed, that the repairs of the house of the Lord might be completely finished, and wheresoever there was need of expenses to uphold the house. 12:13. But there were not made of the same money for the temple of the Lord, bowls, or fleshhooks, or censers, or trumpets, or any vessel of gold and silver, of the money that was brought into the temple of the Lord: 12:14. For it was given to them that did the work, that the temple of the Lord might be repaired. 12:15. And they reckoned not with the men that received the money to distribute it to the workmen, but they bestowed it faithfully. 12:16. But the money for trespass, and the money for sins, they brought not into the temple of the Lord, because it was for the priests. 12:17. Then Hazael, king of Syria, went up, and fought against Geth, and took it, and set his face to go up to Jerusalem. 12:18. Wherefore Joas, king of Juda, took all the sanctified things, which Josaphat, and Joram, and Ochozias, his fathers, the kings of Juda, had dedicated to holy uses, and which he himself had offered: and all the silver that could be found in the treasures of the temple of the Lord, and in the king's palace: and sent it to Hazael, king of Syria, and he went off from Jerusalem. 12:19. And the rest of the acts of Joas, and all that he did, are they not written in the book of the words of the days of the kings of Juda? 12:20. And his servants arose, and conspired among themselves, and slew Joas, in the house of Mello, in the descent of Sella. 12:21. For Josachar the son of Semaath, and Jozabad the son of Somer his servant, struck him, and he died: and they buried him with his fathers in the city of David; and Amasias, his son, reigned in his stead. The city of David... He was buried in the same city with his fathers, but not in the sepulchres of the kings. 2 Par. 14. 4 Kings Chapter 13 The reign of Joachaz and of Joas kings of Israel. The last acts and death of Eliseus the prophet: a dead man is raised to life by the touch of his bones. 13:1. In the three and twentieth year of Joas son of Ochozias, king of Juda, Joachaz, the son of Jehu, reigned over Israel, in Samaria, seventeen years. 13:2. And he did evil before the Lord, and followed the sins of Jeroboam, the son of Nabat, who made Israel to sin; and he departed not from them. 13:3. And the wrath of the Lord was kindled against Israel, and he delivered them into the hand of Hazael, the king of Syria, and into the hand of Benadad, the son of Hazael, all days. 13:4. But Joachaz besought the face of the Lord, and the Lord heard him: for he saw the distress of Israel, because the king of Syria had oppressed them: 13:5. And the Lord gave Israel a saviour, and they were delivered out of the hand of the king of Syria: and the children of Israel dwelt in their pavilions as yesterday and the day before. 13:6. But yet they departed not from the sins of the house of Jeroboam, who made Israel to sin, but walked in them: and there still remained a grove also in Samaria. A grove... Dedicated to the worship of idols. 13:7. And Joachaz had no more left of the people than fifty horsemen, and ten chariots, and ten thousand footmen: for the king of Syria had slain them, and had brought them low as dust by threshing in the barnfloor. 13:8. But the rest of the acts of Joachaz, and all that he did, and his valour, are they not written in the book of the words of the days of the kings of Israel? 13:9. And Joachaz slept with his fathers, and they buried him in Samaria: and Joas, his son, reigned in his stead. 13:10. In the seven and thirtieth year of Joas, king of Juda, Joas the son of Joachaz reigned over Israel, in Samaria, sixteen years. 13:11. And he did that which is evil in the sight of the Lord: he departed not from all the sins of Jeroboam, the son of Nabat, who made Israel to sin; but he walked in them. 13:12. But the rest of the acts of Joas, and all that he did, and his valour wherewith he fought against Amasias, king of Juda, are they not written in the book of the words of the days of the kings of Israel? 13:13. And Joas slept with his fathers; and Jeroboam sat upon his throne. But Joas was buried in Samaria, with the kings of Israel. 13:14. Now Eliseus was sick of the illness whereof he died: and Joas, king of Israel, went down to him, and wept before him, and said: O my father, my father, the chariot of Israel, and the guider thereof. 13:15. And Eliseus said to him: Bring a bow and arrows. And when he had brought him a bow and arrows, 13:16. He said to the king of Israel: Put thy hand upon the bow. And when he had put his hand, Eliseus put his hands over the king's hands, 13:17. And said: Open the window to the east. And when he had opened it, Eliseus said: Shoot an arrow. And he shot. And Eliseus said: The arrow of the Lord's deliverance, and the arrow of the deliverance from Syria: and thou shalt strike the Syrians in Aphec, till thou consume them. 13:18. And he said: Take the arrows. And when he had taken them, he said to him: Strike with an arrow upon the ground. And he struck three times, and stood still. 13:19. And the man of God was angry with him, and said: If thou hadst smitten five or six or seven times, thou hadst smitten Syria even to utter destruction: but now three times shalt thou smite it. If thou hadst smitten, etc... By this it appears that God had revealed to the prophet that the king should overcome the Syrians as many times as he should then strike on the ground; but as he had not at the same time revealed to him how often the king would strike, the prophet was concerned to see that he struck but thrice. 13:20. And Eliseus died, and they buried him. And the rovers from Moab came into the land the same year. 13:21. And some that were burying a man, saw the rovers, and cast the body into the sepulchre of Eliseus. And when it had touched the bones of Eliseus, the man came to life and stood upon his feet. 13:22. Now Hazael, king of Syria, afflicted Israel all the days of Joachaz. 13:23. And the Lord had mercy on them, and returned to them, because of his covenant, which he had made with Abraham, and Isaac, and Jacob: and he would not destroy them, nor utterly cast them away, unto this present time. 13:24. And Hazael, king of Syria, died; and Benadad, his son, reigned in his stead. 13:25. Now Joas the son of Joachaz, took the cities out of the hand of Benadad, the son of Hazael, which he had taken out of the hand of Joachaz, his father, by war; three times did Joas beat him, and he restored the cities to Israel. 4 Kings Chapter 14 Amasias reigneth in Juda: he overcometh the Edomites: but is overcome by Joas king of Israel. Jereboam the second reigneth in Israel. 14:1. In the second year of Joas son of Joachaz, king of Israel, reigned Amasias son of Joas, king of Juda. 14:2. He was five and twenty years old when he began to reign; and nine and twenty years he reigned in Jerusalem; the name of his mother was Joadan, of Jerusalem. 14:3. And he did that which was right before the Lord, but yet not like David his father. He did according to all things that Joas his father, did: 14:4. But this only, that he took not away the high places; for yet the people sacrificed, and burnt incense in the high places: 14:5. And when he had possession of the kingdom, he put his servants to death that had slain the king, his father. 14:6. But the children of the murderers he did not put to death, according to that which is written in the book of the law of Moses, wherein the Lord commanded, saying: The fathers shall not be put to death for the children, neither shall the children be put to death for the fathers: but every man shall die for his own sin. 14:7. He slew of Edom in the valley of the Saltpits, ten thousand men, and took the rock by war, and called the name thereof Jectehel, unto this day. 14:8. Then Amasias sent messengers to Joas, son of Joachaz, son of Jehu, king of Israel, saying: Come, let us see one another. Let us see one another... This was a challenge to fight. 14:9. And Joas, king of Israel, sent again to Amasias, king of Juda, saying: A thistle of Libanus sent to a cedar tree, which is in Libanus, saying: Give thy daughter to my son to wife. And the beasts of the forest, that are in Libanus, passed, and trod down the thistle. 14:10. Thou hast beaten and prevailed over Edom, and thy heart hath lifted thee up; be content with this glory, and sit at home; why provokest thou evil, that thou shouldst fall, and Juda with thee? 14:11. But Amasias did not rest satisfied. So Joas, king of Israel, went up; and he and Amasias, king of Juda, saw one another in Bethsames, a town in Juda. 14:12. And Juda was put to the worse before Israel, and they fled every man to their dwellings. 14:13. But Joas, king of Israel, took Amasias, king of Juda, the son of Joas, the son of Ochozias, in Bethsames, and brought him into Jerusalem; and he broke down the wall of Jerusalem, from the gate of Ephraim to the gate of the corner, four hundred cubits. 14:14. And he took all the gold and silver, and all the vessels that were found in the house of the Lord, and in the king's treasures, and hostages, and returned to Samaria. 14:15. But the rest of the acts of Joas, which he did, and his valour, wherewith he fought against Amasias, king of Juda, are they not written in the book of the words of the days of the kings of Israel? 14:16. And Joas slept with his fathers, and was buried in Samaria, with the kings of Israel: and Jeroboam, his son, reigned in his stead. 14:17. And Amasias, the son of Joas, king of Juda, lived after the death of Joas, son of Joachaz, king of Israel, fifteen years. 14:18. And the rest of the acts of Amasias, are they not written in the book of the words of the days of the kings of Juda? 14:19. Now they made a conspiracy against him in Jerusalem: and he fled to Lachis. And they sent after him to Lachis, and killed him there. 14:20. And they brought him away upon horses, and he was buried in Jerusalem with his fathers, in the city of David. 14:21. And all the people of Juda took Azarias, who was sixteen years old, and made him king instead of his father, Amasias. 14:22. He built Elath, and restored it to Juda, after that the king slept with his fathers. 14:23. In the fifteenth year of Amasias, son of Joas, king of Juda, reigned Jeroboam, the son of Joas, king of Israel, in Samaria, one and forty years: 14:24. And he did that which is evil before the Lord. He departed not from all the sins of Jeroboam, the son of Nabat, who made Israel to sin. 14:25. He restored the borders of Israel from the entrance of Emath, unto the sea of the wilderness, according to the word of the Lord, the God of Israel, which he spoke by his servant, Jonas, the son of Amathi, the prophet, who was of Geth, which is in Opher. Opher... The tribe of Zabulon. 14:26. For the Lord saw the affliction of Israel, that it was exceedingly bitter, and that they were consumed even to them that were shut up in prison, and the lowest persons, and that there was no one to help Israel. 14:27. And the Lord did not say that he would blot out the name of Israel from under heaven; but he saved them by the hand of Jeroboam, the son of Joas. 14:28. But the rest of the acts of Jeroboam, and all that he did, and his valour, wherewith he fought, and how he restored Damascus and Emath to Juda, in Israel, are they not written in the book of the words of the days of the kings of Israel? 14:29. And Jeroboam slept with his fathers, the kings of Israel; and Zacharias, his son, reigned in his stead. 4 Kings Chapter 15 The reign of Azarias, and Joatham in Juda: and of Zacharias, Sellum, Manahem, Phaceia, and Phacee in Israel. 15:1. In the seven and twentieth year of Jeroboam, king of Israel, reigned Azarias, son of Amasias, king of Juda. Azarias... Otherwise called Ozias. 15:2. He was sixteen years old when he began to reign, and he reigned two and fifty years in Jerusalem: the name of his mother was Jechelia, of Jerusalem. 15:3. And he did that which was pleasing before the Lord, according to all that his father, Amasias, had done. 15:4. But the high places he did not destroy, for the people sacrificed, and burnt incense in the high places. 15:5. And the Lord struck the king, so that he was a leper unto the day of his death, and he dwelt in a free house apart: but Joatham, the king's son, governed the palace, and judged the people of the land. A leper... In punishment of his usurping the priestly function. 2 Par. 26. 15:6. And the rest of the acts of Azarias, and all that he did, are they not written in the book of the words of the days of the kings of Juda? 15:7. And Azarias slept with his fathers: and they buried him with his ancestors in the city of David, and Joatham, his son, reigned in his stead. 15:8. In the eight and thirtieth year of Azarias, king of Juda, reigned Zacharias, son of Jeroboam, over Israel, in Samaria, six months: 15:9. And he did that which is evil before the Lord, as his fathers had done: he departed not from the sins of Jeroboam the son of Nabat, who made Israel to sin. 15:10. And Sellum, the son of Jabes, conspired against him: and struck him publicly, and killed him, and reigned in his place. 15:11. Now the rest of the acts of Zacharias, are they not written in the book of the words of the days of the kings of Israel? 15:12. This was the word of the Lord, which he spoke to Jehu, saying: Thy children, to the fourth generation, shall sit upon the throne of Israel. And so it came to pass. 15:13. Sellum, the son of Jabes, began to reign in the nine and thirtieth year of Azarias, king of Juda: and reigned one month in Samaria. 15:14. And Manahem, the son of Gadi, went up from Thersa, and he came into Samaria, and struck Sellum, the son of Jabes, in Samaria, and slew him, and reigned in his stead. 15:15. And the rest of the acts of Sellum, and his conspiracy which he made, are they not written in the book of the words of the days of the kings of Israel? 15:16. Then Manahem destroyed Thapsa and all that were in it, and the borders thereof from Thersa, because they would not open to him: and he slew all the women thereof that were with child, and ripped them up. 15:17. In the nine and thirtieth year of Azarias, king of Juda, reigned Manahem, son of Gadi, over Israel, ten years, in Samaria. 15:18. And he did that which was evil before the Lord: he departed not from the sins of Jeroboam, the son of Nabat, who made Israel to sin, all his days. 15:19. And Phul, king of the Assyrians, came into the land, and Manahem gave Phul a thousand talents of silver to aid him and to establish him in the kingdom. 15:20. And Manahem laid a tax upon Israel, on all that were mighty and rich, to give the king of the Assyrians, each man fifty sicles of silver: so the king of the Assyrians turned back, and did not stay in the land. 15:21. And the rest of the acts of Manahem, and all that he did, are they not written in the book of the words of the days of the kings of Israel? 15:22. And Manahem slept with his fathers: and Phaceia, his son, reigned in his stead. 15:23. In the fiftieth year of Azarias, king of Juda, reigned Phaceia, the son of Manahem, over Israel, in Samaria, two years. 15:24. And he did that which was evil before the Lord: he departed not from the sins of Jeroboam, the son of Nabat, who made Israel to sin. 15:25. And Phacee the son of Romelia, his captain, conspired against him, and smote him in Samaria, in the tower of the king's house, near Argob, and near Arie, and with him fifty men of the sons of the Galaadites, and he slew him, and reigned in his stead. 15:26. And the rest of the acts of Phaceia, and all that he did, are they not written in the book of the words of the days of the kings of Israel? 15:27. In the two and fiftieth year of Azarias, king of Juda, reigned Phacee, the son of Romelia, over Israel, in Samaria, twenty years. 15:28. And he did that which was evil before the Lord: he departed not from the sins of Jeroboam, the son of Nabat, who made Israel to sin. 15:29. In the days of Phacee, king of Israel, came Theglathphalasar, king of Assyria, and took Aion, and Abel Domum Maacha, and Janoe, and Cedes, and Asor, and Galaad, and Galilee, and all the land of Nephthali: and carried them captives into Assyria. 15:30. Now Osee, son of Ela, conspired, and formed a plot against Phacee, the son of Romelia, and struck him, and slew him: and reigned in his stead in the twentieth year of Joatham, the son of Ozias. In the twentieth year of Joatham... That is, in the twentieth year, from the beginning of Joatham's reign. The sacred writer chooses rather to follow here this date than to speak of the years of Achaz, who had not yet been mentioned. 15:31. But the rest of the acts of Phacee, and all that he did, are they not written in the book of the words of the days of the kings of Israel? 15:32. In the second year of Phacee, the son of Romelia king of Israel, reigned Joatham, son of Ozias, king of Juda. 15:33. He was five and twenty years old when he began to reign, and he reigned sixteen years in Jerusalem: the name of his mother was Jerusa, the daughter of Sadoc. 15:34. And he did that which was right before the Lord: according to all that his father Ozias had done, so did he. 15:35. But the high places he took not away: the people still sacrificed, and burnt incense in the high places: he built the highest gate of the house of the Lord. 15:36. But the rest of the acts of Joatham, and all that he did, are they not written in the book of the words of the days of the kings of Juda? 15:37. In those days the Lord began to send into Juda, Rasin king of Syria, and Phacee the son of Romelia. 15:38. And Joatham slept with his fathers, and was buried with them in the city of David, his father; and Achaz, his son, reigned in his stead. 4 Kings Chapter 16 The wicked reign of Achaz: the kings of Syria and Israel war against him: he hireth the king of the Assyrians to assist him: he causeth an altar to be made after the pattern of that of Damascus. 16:1. In the seventeenth year of Phacee, the son of Romelia reigned Achaz, the son of Joatham, king of Juda. 16:2. Achaz was twenty years old when he began to reign, and he reigned sixteen years in Jerusalem: he did not that which was pleasing in the sight of the Lord, his God, as David, his father. 16:3. But he walked in the way of the kings of Israel: moreover, he consecrated also his son, making him pass through the fire, according to the idols of the nations which the Lord destroyed before the children of Israel. 16:4. He sacrificed also, and burnt incense in the high places, and on the hills, and under every green tree. 16:5. Then Rasin, king of Syria, and Phacee, son of Romelia, king of Israel, came up to Jerusalem to fight: and they besieged Achaz, but were not able to overcome him. 16:6. At that time Rasin, king of Syria, restored Aila to Syria, and drove the men of Juda out of Aila: and the Edomites came into Aila, and dwelt there unto this day. 16:7. And Achaz sent messengers to Theglathphalasar, king of the Assyrians, saying: I am thy servant, and thy son: come up, and save me out of the hand of the king of Syria, and out of the hand of the king of Israel, who are risen up together against me. 16:8. And when he had gathered together the silver and gold that could be found in the house of the Lord, and in the king's treasures, he sent it for a present to the king of the Assyrians. 16:9. And he agreed to his desire: for the king of the Assyrians went up against Damascus, and laid it waste: and he carried away the inhabitants thereof to Cyrene; but Rasin he slew. 16:10. And king Achaz went to Damascus to meet Theglathphalasar, king of the Assyrians, and when he had seen the altar of Damascus, king Achaz sent to Urias, the priest, a pattern of it, and its likeness, according to all the work thereof. 16:11. And Urias, the priest, built an altar according to all that king Achaz had commanded from Damascus so did Urias, the priest, until king Achaz came from Damascus. 16:12. And when the king was come from Damascus, he saw the altar and worshipped it: and went up and offered holocausts, and his own sacrifice; 16:13. And he offered libations, and poured the blood of the peace offerings, which he had offered, upon the altar. 16:14. But the altar of brass that was before the Lord, he removed from the face of the temple, and from the place of the altar, and from the place of the temple of the Lord: and he set it at the side of the altar towards the north. 16:15. And king Achaz commanded Urias, the priest, saying: Upon the great altar offer the morning holocaust, and the evening sacrifice, and the king's holocaust, and his sacrifice, and the holocaust of the whole people of the land, and their sacrifices, and their libations: and all the blood of the holocaust, and all the blood of the victim, thou shalt pour out upon it: but the altar of brass shall be ready at my pleasure. 16:16. So Urias, the priest, did according to all that king Achaz had commanded him. 16:17. And king Achaz took away the graven bases, and the laver that was upon them: and he took down the sea from the brazen oxen that held it up, and put it upon a pavement of stone. 16:18. The Musach also for the sabbath, which he had built in the temple, and the king's entry from without, he turned into the temple of the Lord, because of the king of the Assyrians. Musach... The covert, or pavilion, or tribune, for the king. 16:19. Now the rest of the acts of Achaz which he did, are they not written in the book of the words of the of the days of the kings of Juda? 16:20. And Achaz slept with his fathers, and was buried with them in the city of David, and Ezechias, his son, reigned in his stead. 4 Kings Chapter 17 The reign of Osee. The Israelites for their sins are carried into captivity: other inhabitants are sent to Samaria, who make a mixture of religion. 17:1. In the twelfth year of Achaz king of Juda, Osee the son of Ela reigned in Samaria, over Israel, nine years. In the twelfth year of Achaz king of Juda... He began to reign before: but was not in quiet possession of the kingdom to the twelfth year of Achaz. 17:2. And he did evil before the Lord: but not as the kings of Israel that had been before him. 17:3. Against him came up Salmanasar, king of the Assyrians; and Osee became his servant, and paid him tribute. 17:4. And when the king of the Assyrians found that Osee, endeavouring to rebel, had sent messengers to Sua, the king of Egypt, that he might not pay tribute to the king of the Assyrians, as he had done every year, he besieged him, bound him, and cast him into prison. 17:5. And he went through all the land: and going up to Samaria, he besieged it three years. 17:6. And in the ninth year of Osee, the king of the Assyrians took Samaria, and carried Israel away to Assyria: and he placed them in Hala, and Habor, by the river of Gozan, in the cities of the Medes. 17:7. For so it was that the children of Israel had sinned against the Lord, their God, who brought them out of the land of Egypt, from under the hand of Pharao, king of Egypt; and they worshipped strange gods. 17:8. And they walked according to the way of the nations which the Lord had destroyed in the sight of the children of Israel, and of the kings of Israel: because they had done in like manner. 17:9. And the children of Israel offended the Lord, their God, with things that were not right: and built them high places in all their cities, from the tower of the watchmen to the fenced city. 17:10. And they made them statues and groves on every high hill, and under every shady tree: 17:11. And they burnt incense there upon altars, after the manner of the nations which the Lord had removed from their face: and they did wicked things, provoking the Lord. 17:12. And they worshipped abominations, concerning which the Lord had commanded them that they should not do this thing. 17:13. And the Lord testified to them in Israel, and in Juda, by the hand of all the prophets and seers, saying: Return from your wicked ways, and keep my precepts, and ceremonies, according to all the law which I commanded your fathers: and as I have sent to you in the hand of my servants the prophets. 17:14. And they hearkened not, but hardened their necks like to the neck of their fathers, who would not obey the Lord, their God. 17:15. And they rejected his ordinances, and the covenant that he made with their fathers, and the testimonies which he testified against them: and they followed vanities, and acted vainly: and they followed the nations that were round about them, concerning which the Lord had commanded them that they should not do as they did. 17:16. And they forsook all the precepts of the Lord, their God: and made to themselves two molten calves, and groves, and adored all the host of heaven: and they served Baal, 17:17. And consecrated their sons, and their daughters, through fire: and they gave themselves to divinations, and soothsayings: and they delivered themselves up to do evil before the Lord, to provoke him. 17:18. And the Lord was very angry with Israel, and removed them from his sight, and there remained only the tribe of Juda. 17:19. But neither did Juda itself keep the commandments of the Lord, their God: but they walked in the errors of Israel, which they had wrought. 17:20. And the Lord cast off all the seed of Israel, and afflicted them, and delivered them into the hand of spoilers, till he cast them away from his face: 17:21. Even from that time, when Israel was rent from the house of David, and made Jeroboam, son of Nabat, their king: for Jeroboam separated Israel from the Lord, and made them commit a great sin. 17:22. And the children of Israel walked in all the sins of Jeroboam, which he had done: and they departed not from them, 17:23. Till the Lord removed Israel from his face, as he had spoken in the hand of all his servants, the prophets: and Israel was carried away out of their land to Assyria, unto this day. 17:24. And the king of the Assyrians brought people from Babylon, and from Cutha, and from Avah, and from Emath, and from Sepharvaim: and placed them in the cities of Samaria instead of the children of Israel: and they possessed Samaria, and dwelt in the cities thereof. 17:25. And when they began to dwell there, they feared not the Lord: and the Lord sent lions among them, which killed them. 17:26. And it was told the king of the Assyrians, and it was said: The nations which thou hast removed, and made to dwell in the cities of Samaria, know not the ordinances of the God of the land: and the Lord hath sent lions among them: and behold they kill them, because they know not the manner of the God of the land. 17:27. And the king of the Assyrians commanded, saying: Carry thither one of the priests whom you brought from thence captive, and let him go, and dwell with them: and let him teach them the ordinances of the God of the land. 17:28. So one of the priests, who had been carried away captive from Samaria, came and dwelt in Bethel, and taught them how they should worship the Lord. 17:29. And every nation made gods of their own and put them in the temples of the high places, which the Samaritans had made, every nation in their cities where they dwelt. 17:30. For the men of Babylon made Sochothbenoth: and the Cuthites made Nergel: and the men of Emath made Asima. 17:31. And the Hevites made Nebahaz, and Tharthac. And they that were of Sepharvaim burnt their children in fire, to Adramelech and Anamelech, the gods of Sepharvaim. 17:32. And nevertheless they worshipped the Lord. And they made to themselves, of the lowest of the people, priests of the high places, and they placed them in the temples of the high places. 17:33. And when they worshipped the Lord, they served also their own gods, according to the custom of the nations out of which they were brought to Samaria: 17:34. Unto this day they follow the old manner: they fear not the Lord, neither do they keep his ceremonies, and judgments, and law, and the commandment, which the Lord commanded the children of Jacob, whom he surnamed Israel: 17:35. With whom he made a covenant, and charged them, saying: You shall not fear strange gods, nor shall you adore them, nor worship them, nor sacrifice to them. 17:36. But the Lord, your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, with great power, and a stretched out arm, him shall you fear, and him shall you adore, and to him shall you sacrifice. 17:37. And the ceremonies, and judgments, and law, and the commandment, which he wrote for you, you shall observe to do them always: and you shall not fear strange gods. 17:38. And the covenant that he made with you, you shall not forget: neither shall ye worship strange Gods, 17:39. But fear the Lord, your God, and he shall deliver you out of the hand of all your enemies. 17:40. But they did not hearken to them, but did according to their old custom. 17:41. So these nations feared the Lord, but nevertheless served also their idols: their children also, and grandchildren, as their fathers did, so do they unto this day. 4 Kings Chapter 18 The reign of Ezechias: he abolisheth idolatry and prospereth. Sennacherib cometh up against him: Rabsaces soliciteth the people to revolt; and blasphemeth the Lord. 18:1. In the third year of Osee, the son of Ela, king of Israel, reigned Ezechias, the son of Achaz, king of Juda. 18:2. He was five and twenty years old when he began to reign: and he reigned nine and twenty years in Jerusalem: the name of his mother was Abi, the daughter of Zacharias. 18:3. And he did that which was good before the Lord, according to all that David, his father, had done. 18:4. He destroyed the high places, and broke the statues in pieces, and cut down the groves, and broke the brazen serpent, which Moses had made: for till that time the children of Israel burnt incense to it: and he called its name Nohestan. And he called its name Noheston... That is, their brass; or a little brass. So he called it in contempt, because they had made an idol of it. 18:5. He trusted in the Lord, the God of Israel: so that after him there was none like him among all the kings of Juda, nor any of them that were before him: 18:6. And he stuck to the Lord, and departed not from his steps, but kept his commandments, which the Lord commanded Moses. 18:7. Wherefore the Lord also was with him, and in all things, to which he went forth, he behaved himself wisely. And he rebelled against the king of the Assyrians, and served him not. 18:8. He smote the Philistines as far as Gaza, and all their borders, from the tower of the watchmen to the fenced city. 18:9. In the fourth year of king Ezechias, which was the seventh year of Osee, the son of Ela, king of Israel, Salmanasar, king of the Assyrians, came up to Samaria, and besieged it, 18:10. And took it. For after three years, in the sixth year of Ezechias, that is, in the ninth year of Osee, king of Israel, Samaria was taken: 18:11. And the king of the Assyrians carried away Israel into Assyria, and placed them in Hala, and in Habor, by the rivers of Gozan, in the cities of the Medes. 18:12. Because they hearkened not to the voice of the Lord, their God, but transgressed his covenant: all that Moses, the servant of the Lord, commanded, they would not hear, nor do. 18:13. In the fourteenth year of king Ezechias, Sennacherib, king of the Assyrians, came up against the fenced cities of Juda, and took them. 18:14. Then Ezechias, king of Juda, sent messengers to the king of the Assyrians, to Lachis, saying: I have offended, depart from me: and all that thou shalt put upon me, I will bear. And the king of the Assyrians put a tax upon Ezechias, king of Juda, of three hundred talents of silver, and thirty talents of gold. 18:15. And Ezechias gave all the silver that was found in the house of the Lord, and in the king's treasures. 18:16. At that time Ezechias broke the doors of the temple of the Lord, and the plates of gold which he had fastened on them, and gave them to the king of the Assyrians. 18:17. And the king of the Assyrians sent Tharthan, and Rabsaris, and Rabsaces, from Lachis, to king Ezechias, with a strong army, to Jerusalem: and they went up and came to Jerusalem, and they stood by the conduit of the upper pool, which is in the way of the fuller's field. 18:18. And they called for the king: and there went out to them Eliacim, the son of Helcias, who was over the house, and Sobna, the scribe, and Joahe, the son of Asaph, the recorder. 18:19. And Rabsaces said to them: Speak to Ezechias: Thus saith the great king, the king of the Assyrians: What is this confidence, wherein thou trustest? 18:20. Perhaps thou hast taken counsel, to prepare thyself for battle. On whom dost thou trust, that thou darest to rebel? 18:21. Dost thou trust in Egypt a staff of a broken reed, upon which if a man lean, it will break and go into his hand, and pierce it? so is Pharao, king of Egypt, to all that trust in him. 18:22. But if you say to me: We trust in the Lord, our God: is it not he, whose high places and altars Ezechias hath taken away: and hath commanded Juda and Jerusalem: You shall worship before this altar in Jerusalem? 18:23. Now therefore come over to my master, the king of the Assyrians, and I will give you two thousand horses, and see whether you be able to have riders for them. 18:24. And how can you stand against one lord of the least of my master's servants? Dost thou trust in Egypt for chariots and for horsemen? 18:25. Is it without the will of the Lord that I am come up to this place to destroy it? The Lord said to me: Go up to this land, and destroy it. 18:26. Then Eliacim, the son of Helcias, and Sobna, and Joahe, said to Rabsaces: We pray thee, speak to us, thy servants, in Syriac: for we understand that tongue: and speak not to us in the Jews' language, in the hearing of the people that are upon the wall. 18:27. And Rabsaces answered them, saying: Hath my master sent me to thy master, and to thee, to speak these words, and not rather to the men that sit upon the wall, that they may eat their own dung, and drink their urine with you? 18:28. Then Rabsaces stood, and cried out with a loud voice in the Jews' language, and said: Hear the word of the great king, the king of the Assyrians. 18:29. Thus saith the king: Let not Ezechias deceive you: for he shall not be able to deliver you out of my hand. 18:30. Neither let him make you trust in the Lord, saying: The Lord will surely deliver us, and this city shall not be given into the hand of the king of the Assyrians. 18:31. Do not hearken to Ezechias. For thus saith the king of the Assyrians: Do with me that which is for your advantage, and come out to me: and every man of you shall eat of his own vineyard, and of his own fig tree: and you shall drink water of your own cisterns, 18:32. Till I come, and take you away, to a land, like to your own land, a fruitful land, and plentiful in wine, a land of bread and vineyards, a land of olives, and oil, and honey, and you shall live, and not die. Hearken not to Ezechias, who deceiveth you, saying: The Lord will deliver us. 18:33. Have any of the gods of the nations delivered their land from the hand of the king of Assyria? 18:34. Where is the god of Emath, and of Arphad? where is the god of Sepharvaim, of Ana, and of Ava? have they delivered Samaria out of my hand? 18:35. Who are they among all the gods of the nations that have delivered their country out of my hand, that the Lord may deliver Jerusalem out of my hand? 18:36. But the people held their peace, and answered him not a word: for they had received commandment from the king that they should not answer him. 18:37. And Eliacim, the son of Helcias, who was over the house, and Sobna, the scribe, and Joahe, the son of Asaph, the recorder, came to Ezechias, with their garments rent, and told him the words of Rabsaces. 4 Kings Chapter 19 Ezechias is assured of God's help by Isaias the prophet. The king of the Assyrians still threateneth and blasphemeth. Ezechias prayeth, and God promiseth to protect Jerusalem. An angel destroyeth the army of the Assyrians, their king returneth to Nineve, and is slain by his two sons. 19:1. And when king Ezechias heard these words, he rent his garments, and covered himself with sackcloth, and went into the house of the Lord. 19:2. And he sent Eliacim, who was over the house, and Sobna, the scribe, and the ancients of the priests, covered with sackcloths, to Isaias, the prophet, the son of Amos. 19:3. And they said to him: Thus saith Ezechias: This day is a day of tribulation, and of rebuke, and of blasphemy: the children are come to the birth, and the woman in travail hath not strength. 19:4. It may be the Lord, thy God, will hear all the words of Rabsaces, whom the king of the Assyrians, his master, hath sent to reproach the living God, and to reprove with words, which the Lord, thy God, hath heard: and do thou offer prayer for the remnants that are found. 19:5. So the servants of king Ezechias came to Isaias. 19:6. And Isaias said to them: Thus shall you say to your master: Thus saith the Lord: Be not afraid for the words which thou hast heard, with which the servants of the king of the Assyrians have blasphemed me. 19:7. Behold I will send a spirit upon him, and he shall hear a message, and shall return into his own country, and I will make him fall by the sword in his own country. 19:8. And Rabsaces returned, and found the king of the Assyrians besieging Lobna: for he had heard that he was departed from Lachis. 19:9. And when he heard of Tharaca, king of Ethiopia: Behold, he is come out to fight with thee: and was going against him, he sent messengers to Ezechias, saying: 19:10. Thus shall you say to Ezechias, king of Juda: Let not thy God deceive thee, in whom thou trustest: and do not say: Jerusalem shall not be delivered into the hands of the king of the Assyrians. 19:11. Behold, thou hast heard what the kings of the Assyrians have done to all countries, how they have laid them waste: and canst thou alone be delivered? 19:12. Have the gods of the nations delivered any of them, whom my fathers have destroyed, to wit, Gozan, and Haran, and Reseph, and the children of Eden, that were in Thelassar? 19:13. Where is the king of Emath, and the king of Arphad, and the king of the city of Sepharvaim, and of Ana, and of Ava? 19:14. And when Ezechias had received the letter of the hand of the messengers, and had read it, he went up to the house of the Lord, and spread it before the Lord, 19:15. And he prayed in his sight, saying: O Lord God of Israel, who sittest upon the cherubims, thou alone art the God of all the kings of the earth: thou madest heaven and earth: 19:16. Incline thy ear, and hear: open, O Lord, thy eyes and see: and hear all the words of Sennacherib, who hath sent to upbraid unto us the living God. 19:17. Of a truth, O Lord, the kings of the Assyrians have destroyed nations, and the lands of them all. 19:18. And they have cast their gods into the fire: for they were not gods, but the work of men's hands, of wood and stone, and they destroyed them. 19:19. Now therefore, O Lord our God, save us from his hand, that all the kingdoms of the earth may know that thou art the Lord, the only God. 19:20. And Isaias, the son of Amos, sent to Ezechias, saying: Thus saith the Lord, the God of Israel: I have heard the prayer thou hast made to me concerning Sennacherib, king of the Assyrians. 19:21. This is the word that the Lord hath spoken of him: The virgin, the daughter of Sion, hath despised thee, and laughed thee to scorn: the daughter of Jerusalem hath wagged her head behind thy back. 19:22. Whom hast thou reproached, and whom hast thou blasphemed? against whom hast thou exalted thy voice, and lifted up thy eyes on high? against the holy one of Israel. 19:23. By the hand of thy servants thou hast reproached the Lord, and hast said: With the multitude of my chariots I have gone up to the height of the mountains, to the top of Libanus, and have cut down its tall cedars, and its choice fir trees. And I have entered into the furthest parts thereof, and the forest of its Carmel. Carmel... A pleasant fruitful hill in the forest. These expressions are figurative, signifying under the names of mountains and forests, the kings and provinces whom the Assyrians had triumphed over. 19:24. I have cut down, and I have drunk strange waters, and have dried up with the soles of my feet all the shut up waters. 19:25. Hast thou not heard what I have done from the beginning? from the days of old I have formed it, and now I have brought it to effect: that fenced cities of fighting men should be turned to heaps of ruins: I have formed it, etc... All thy exploits, in which thou takest pride, are no more than what I have decreed; and are not to be ascribed to thy wisdom or strength, but to my will and ordinance: who have given to thee to take and destroy so many fenced cities, and to carry terror wherever thou comest.-Ibid. Heaps of ruin... Literally ruin of the hills. 19:26. And the inhabitants of them were weak of hand, they trembled and were confounded, they became like the grass of the field, and the green herb on the tops of houses, which withered before it came to maturity. 19:27. Thy dwelling, and thy going out, and thy coming in, and thy way I knew before, and thy rage against me. 19:28. Thou hast been mad against me, and thy pride hath come up to my ears: therefore I will put a ring in thy nose, and a bit between thy lips, and I will turn thee back by the way by which thou camest. 19:29. And to thee, O Ezechias, this shall be a sign: Eat this year what thou shalt find: and in the second year, such things as spring of themselves: but in the third year sow and reap: plant vineyards, and eat the fruit of them. 19:30. And whatsoever shall be left of the house of Juda, shall take root downward, and bear fruit upward. 19:31. For out of Jerusalem shall go forth a remnant, and that which shall be saved out of mount Sion: the zeal of the Lord of hosts shall do this. 19:32. Wherefore thus saith the Lord concerning the king of the Assyrians: He shall not come into this city, nor shoot an arrow into it, nor come before it with shield, nor cast a trench about it. 19:33. By the way that he came he shall return: and into this city he shall not come, saith the Lord. 19:34. And I will protect this city, and will save it for my own sake, and for David, my servant's sake. 19:35. And it came to pass that night, that an angel of the Lord came, and slew in the camp of the Assyrians a hundred and eighty-five thousand. And when he arose early in the morning, he saw all the bodies of the dead. 19:36. And Sennacherib, king of the Assyrians, departing, went away, and he returned and abode in Ninive. 19:37. And as he was worshipping in the temple of Nesroch, his god, Adramelech and Sarasar, his sons, slew him with the sword, and they fled into the land of the Armenians, and Asarhaddon, his son, reigned in his stead. 4 Kings Chapter 20 Ezechias being sick, is told by Isaias that he shall die; but praying to God, he obtaineth longer life, and in confirmation thereof receiveth a sign by the sun's returning back. He sheweth all his treasures to the ambassadors of the king of Babylon: Isaias reproving him for it, foretelleth the Babylonish captivity. 20:1. In those days Ezechias was sick unto death: and Isaias, the son of Amos, the prophet, came and said to him: Thus saith the Lord God: Give charge concerning thy house, for thou shalt die, and not live. 20:2. And he turned his face to the wall, and prayed to the Lord, saying: 20:3. I beseech thee, O Lord, remember how I have walked before thee in truth, and with a perfect heart, and have done that which is pleasing before thee. And Ezechias wept with much weeping. 20:4. And before Isaias was gone out of the middle of the court, the word of the Lord came to him, saying: 20:5. Go back, and tell Ezechias, the captain of my people: Thus saith the Lord, the God of David, thy father: I have heard thy prayer, and I have seen thy tears: and behold I have healed thee: on the third day thou shalt go up to the temple of the Lord. 20:6. And I will add to thy days fifteen years: and I will deliver thee and this city out of the hand of the king of the Assyrians, and I will protect this city for my own sake, and for David, my servant's sake. 20:7. And Isaias said: Bring me a lump of figs. And when they had brought it, and laid it upon his boil, he was healed. 20:8. And Ezechias had said to Isaias: What shall be the sign that the Lord will heal me, and that I will go up to the temple of the Lord the third day? 20:9. And Isaias said to him: This shall be the sign from the Lord, that the Lord will do the word which he hath spoken: Wilt thou that the shadow go forward ten lines, or that it go back so many degrees? 20:10. And Ezechias said: It is an easy matter for the shadow to go forward ten lines: and I do not desire that this be done, but let it return back ten degrees. 20:11. And Isaias, the prophet, called upon the Lord, and he brought the shadow ten degrees backwards by the lines, by which it had already gone down on the dial of Achaz. 20:12. At that time Berodach Baladan, the son of Baladan, king of the Babylonians, sent letters and presents to Ezechias: for he had heard that Ezechias had been sick. 20:13. And Ezechias rejoiced at their coming, and he shewed them the house of his aromatical spices, and the gold, and the silver, and divers precious odours, and ointments, and the house of his vessels, and all that he had in his treasures. There was nothing in his house, nor in all his dominions, that Ezechias shewed them not. 20:14. And Isaias, the prophet, came to king Ezechias, and said to him: What said these men? or from whence came they to thee? And Ezechias said to him: From a far country, they came to me out of Babylon. 20:15. And he said: What did they see in thy house? Ezechias said: They saw all the things that are in my house: There is nothing among my treasures that I have not shewed them. 20:16. And Isaias said to Ezechias: Hear the word of the Lord. 20:17. Behold the days shall come, that all that is in thy house, and that thy fathers have laid up in store unto this day, shall be carried into Babylon: nothing shall be left, saith the Lord. 20:18. And of thy sons also that shall issue from thee, whom thou shalt beget, they shall take away, and they shall be eunuchs in the palace of the king of Babylon. 20:19. Ezechias said to Isaias: The word of the Lord, which thou hast spoken, is good: let peace and truth be in my days. 20:20. And the rest of the acts of Ezechias, and all his might, and how he made a pool, and a conduit, and brought waters into the city, are they not written in the book of the words of the days of the kings of Juda? 20:21. And Ezechias slept with his fathers, and Manasses, his son reigned in his stead. 4 Kings Chapter 21 The wickedness of Manasses: God's threats by his prophets. His wicked son Amon succeedeth him, and is slain by his servants. 21:1. Manasses was twelve years old when he began to reign, and he reigned five and fifty years in Jerusalem: the name of his mother was Haphsiba. 21:2. And he did evil in the sight of the Lord, according to the idols of the nations, which the Lord destroyed from before the face of the children of Israel. 21:3. And he turned, and built up the high places, which Ezechias, his father, had destroyed: and he set up altars to Baal, and made groves, as Achab, the king of Israel, had done: and he adored all the host of heaven, and served them. 21:4. And he built altars in the house of the Lord, of which the Lord said: In Jerusalem I will put my name. 21:5. And he built altars for all the host of heaven, in the two courts of the temple of the Lord. 21:6. And he made his son pass through fire: and he used divinations, and observed omens, and appointed pythons, and multiplied soothsayers, to do evil before the Lord, and to provoke him. Pythons... That is, diviners by spirits. 21:7. He set also an idol of the grove, which he had made, in the temple of the Lord: concerning which the Lord said to David, and to Solomon his son: In this temple, and in Jerusalem, which I have chosen out of all the tribes of Israel, I will put my name for ever. 21:8. And I will no more make the feet of Israel to be moved out of the land, which I gave to their fathers: only if they will observe to do all that I have commanded them, according to the law which my servant Moses commanded them. 21:9. But they hearkened not: but were seduced by Manasses, to do evil more than the nations which the Lord destroyed before the children of Israel. 21:10. And the Lord spoke in the hand of his servants, the prophets, saying: 21:11. Because Manasses, king of Juda, hath done these most wicked abominations, beyond all that the Amorrhites did before him, and hath made Juda also to sin with his filthy doings: 21:12. Therefore thus saith the Lord, the God of Israel: Behold, I will bring on evils upon Jerusalem and Juda: that whosoever shall hear of them, both his ears shall tingle. 21:13. And I will stretch over Jerusalem the line of Samaria, and the weight of the house of Achab: and I will efface Jerusalem, as writings tables are wont to be effaced, and I will erase and turn it, and draw the pencil often over the face thereof. 21:14. And I will leave the remnants of my inheritance, and will deliver them into the hands of their enemies: and they shall become a prey, and a spoil to all their enemies. 21:15. Because they have done evil before me, and have continued to provoke me, from the day that their fathers came out of Egypt, even unto this day. 21:16. Moreover, Manasses shed also very much innocent blood, till he filled Jerusalem up to the mouth: besides his sins, wherewith he made Juda to sin, to do evil before the Lord. 21:17. Now the rest of the acts of Manasses, and all that he did, and his sin, which he sinned, are they not written in the book of the words of the days of the kings of Juda? 21:18. And Manasses slept with his fathers, and was buried in the garden of his own house, in the garden of Oza: and Amon, his son, reigned in his stead. 21:19. Two and twenty years old was Amon when he began to reign, and he reigned two years in Jerusalem: the name of his mother was Messalemeth, the daughter of Harus, of Jeteba. 21:20. And he did evil in the sight of the Lord, as Manasses, his father, had done. 21:21. And he walked in all the way in which his father had walked: and he served the abominations which his father had served, and he adored them. 21:22. And forsook the Lord, the God of his fathers, and walked not in the way of the Lord. 21:23. And his servants plotted against him, and slew the king in his own house. 21:24. But the people of the land slew all them that had conspired against king Amon: and made Josias, his son, their king in his stead. 21:25. But the rest of the acts of Amon, which he did, are they not written in the book of the words of the days of the kings of Juda? 21:26. And they buried him in his sepulchre, in the garden of Oza: and his son, Josias, reigned in his stead. 4 Kings Chapter 22 Josias repaireth the temple. The book of the law is found, upon which they consult the Lord, and are told that great evils shall fall upon them, but not in the time of Josias. 22:1. Josias was eight years old when he began to reign: he reigned one and thirty years in Jerusalem: the name of his mother was Idida, the daughter of Hadaia, of Besecath. 22:2. And he did that which was right in the sight of the Lord, and walked in all the ways of David, his father: he turned not aside to the right hand, or to the left. 22:3. And in the eighteenth year of king Josias, the king sent Saphan, the son of Assia, the son of Messulam, the scribe of the temple of the Lord, saying to him: 22:4. Go to Helcias, the high priest, that the money may be put together which is brought into the temple of the Lord, which the doorkeepers of the temple have gathered of the people. 22:5. And let it be given to the workmen by the overseers of the house of the Lord: and let them distribute it to those that work in the temple of the Lord, to repair the temple: 22:6. That is, to carpenters and masons, and to such as mend breaches: and that timber may be bought, and stones out of the quarries, to repair the temple of the Lord. 22:7. But let there be no reckoning made with them of the money which they receive, but let them have it in their power, and in their trust. 22:8. And Helcias, the high priest, said to Saphan, the scribe: I have found the book of the law in the house of the Lord: and Helcias gave the book to Saphan, and he read it. The book of the law... That is, Deuteronomy. 22:9. And Saphan, the scribe, came to the king, and brought him word again concerning that which he had commanded, and said: Thy servants have gathered together the money that was found in the house of the Lord: and they have given it to be distributed to the workmen, by the overseers of the works of the temple of the Lord. 22:10. And Saphan, the scribe, told the king, saying: Helcias, the priest, hath delivered to me a book. And when Saphan had read it before the king, 22:11. And the king had heard the words of the law of the Lord, he rent his garments. 22:12. And he commanded Helcias, the priest, and Ahicam, the son of Saphan, and Achobor, the son of Micha, and Saphan, the scribe, and Asaia, the king's servant, saying: 22:13. Go and consult the Lord for me, and for the people, and for all Juda, concerning the words of this book which is found: for the great wrath of the Lord is kindled against us, because our fathers have not hearkened to the words of this book, to do all that is written for us. 22:14. So Helcias, the priest, and Ahicam, and Achobor, and 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. THE FIRST BOOK OF PARALIPOMENON These Books are called by the Greek interpreters, Paralipomenon, that is, of things left out, or omitted; because they are a kind of a supplement of such things as were passed over in the books of the Kings. The Hebrews call them Dibre Haijamim, that is, The words of the days, or The Chronicles.--Not that they are the books which are so often quoted in the Kings, under the title of the words of the days of the kings of Israel, and of the kings of Juda: for the books of Paralipomenon were written after the books of Kings: but because in all probability they have been abridged from those ancient words of the days, by Esdras or some other sacred writer. 1 Paralipomenon Chapter 1 The genealogy of the patriarchs down to Abraham: The posterity of Abraham and of Esau. 1:1. Adam, Seth, Enos, 1:2. Cainan, Malaleel, Jared, 1:3. Henoc, Mathusale, Lamech, 1:4. Noe, Sem, Cham, and Japheth. 1:5. The sons of Japheth: Gomer, and Magog, and Madai, and Javan, Thubal, Mosoch, Thiras. 1:6. And the sons of Gomer: Ascenez, and Riphath, and Thogorma. 1:7. And the sons of Javan: Elisa and Tharsis, Cethim and Dodanim. 1:8. The sons of Cham: Chus, and Mesrai, and Phut, and Chanaan. 1:9. And the sons of Chus: Saba, and Hevila, Sabatha, and Regma, and Sabathaca. And the sons of Regma: Saba, and Dadan. 1:10. Now Chus begot Nemrod: he began to be mighty upon earth. 1:11. But Mesraim begot Ludim, and Anamim, and Laabim, and Nephtuim, 1:12. Phetrusim also, and Casluim: from whom came the Philistines, and Caphtorim. 1:13. And Chanaan begot Sidon his firstborn, and the Hethite, 1:14. And the Jebusite, and the Amorrhite, and the Gergesite, 1:15. And the Hevite, and the Aracite, and the Sinite, 1:16. And the Aradian, and the Samarite, and the Hamathite. 1:17. The sons of Sem: Elam and Asur, and Arphaxad, and Lud, and Aram, and Hus, and Hul, and Gether, and Mosoch. 1:18. And Arphaxad begot Sale, and Sale begot Heber. 1:19. And to Heber were born two sons, the name of the one was Phaleg, because in his days the earth was divided; and the name of his brother was Jectan. 1:20. And Jectan begot Elmodad, and Saleph, and Asarmoth, and Jare, 1:21. And Adoram, and Usal, and Decla, 1:22. And Hebal, and Abimael, and Saba, 1:23. And Ophir, and Hevila, and Jobab. All these are the sons of Jectan. 1:24. Sem, Arphaxad, Sale, 1:25. Heber, Phaleg, Ragau, 1:26. Serug, Nachor, Thare, 1:27. Abram, this is Abraham. 1:28. And the sons of Abraham, Isaac and Ismahel. 1:29. And these are the generations of them. The firstborn of Ismahel, Nabajoth, then Cedar, and Adbeel, and Mabsam, 1:30. And Masma, and Duma, Massa, Hadad, and Thema, 1:31. Jetur, Naphis, Cedma: these are the sons of Ismahel. 1:32. And the sons of Cetura, Abraham's concubine, whom she bore: Zamran, Jecsan, Madan, Madian, Jesboc, and Sue. And the sons of Jecsan, Saba, and Dadan. And the sons of Dadan: Assurim, and Latussim, and Laomin. Concubine... She was his lawful wife, but of an inferior degree. 1:33. And the sons of Madian: Epha, and Epher, and Henoch, and Abida, and Eldaa. All these are the sons of Cetura. 1:34. And Abraham begot Isaac: and his sons were Esau and Israel. 1:35. The sons of Esau: Eliphaz, Rahuel, Jehus, Ihelom, and Core. 1:36. The sons of Eliphaz: Theman, Omar, Sephi, Gathan, Cenez, and by Thamna, Amalec. 1:37. The sons of Rahuel: Nahath, Zara, Samma, Meza. 1:38. The sons of Seir: Lotan, Sobal, Sebeon, Ana, Dison, Eser, Disan. 1:39. The sons of Lotan: Hori, Homam. And the sister of Lotan was Thamna. 1:40. The sons of Sobal: Alian, and Manahath, and Ebal, Sephi, and Onam. The sons of Sebeon: Aia, and Ana. The son of Ana: Dison. 1:41. The sons of Dison: Hamram, and Eseban, and Jethran, and Charan. 1:42. The sons of Eser: Balaan, and Zavan, and Jacan. The sons of Disan: Hus and Aran. 1:43. Now these are the kings that reigned in the land of Edom, before there was a king over the children of Israel: Bale the son of Beor: and the name of his city was Denaba. 1:44. And Bale died, and Jobab the son of Zare of Bosra, reigned in his stead. 1:45. And when Jobab also was dead, Husam of the land of the Themanites reigned in his stead. 1:46. And Husam also died, and Adad the son of Badad reigned in his stead, and he defeated the Madianites in the land of Moab: the name of his city was Avith. 1:47. And when Adad also was dead, Semla of Masreca reigned in his stead. 1:48. Semla also died, and Saul of Rohoboth, which is near the river, reigned in his stead. 1:49. And when Saul was dead, Balanan the son of Achobor reigned in his stead. 1:50. He also died, and Adad reigned in his stead: and the name of his city was Phau, and his wife was called Meetabel the daughter of Matred, the daughter of Mezaab. 1:51. And after the death of Adad, there began to be dukes in Edom instead of kings: duke Thamna, duke Alva, duke Jetheth, 1:52. Duke Oolibama, duke Ela, duke Phinon, 1:53. Duke Cenez, duke Theman, duke Mabsar, 1:54. Duke Magdiel, duke Hiram. These are the dukes of Edom. 1 Paralipomenon Chapter 2 The twelve tribes of Israel. The genealogy of Juda down to David. Other genealogies of the tribe of Juda. 2:1. And these are the sons of Israel: Ruben, Simeon, Levi, Juda, Issachar, and Zabulon, 2:2. Dan, Joseph, Benjamin, Nephtali, Gad, and Aser. 2:3. The sons of Juda: Her, Onan and Sela. These three were born to him of the Chanaanitess the daughter of Sue. And Her the firstborn of Juda, was wicked in the sight of the Lord, and he slew him. 2:4. And Thamar his daughter-in-law bore him Phares and Zara. So all the sons of Juda were five. 2:5. And the sons of Phares, were Hesron and Hamul. 2:6. And the sons also of Zare: Zamri, and Ethan, and Eman, and Chalchal, and Dara, five in all. 2:7. And the sons of Charmi: Achar, who troubled Israel, and sinned by the theft of the anathema. Achar... Alias Achan. Jos. 7.-Ibid. The anathema... The thing devoted or accursed, viz., the spoils of Jericho. 2:8. The sons of Ethan: Azarias, 2:9. And the sons of Hesron that were born to him: Jerameel, and Ram, and Calubi. 2:10. And Ram begot Aminadab, and Aminadab begot Nahasson, prince of the children of Juda. Ram... He is commonly called Aram. But it is to be observed here, once for all, that it was a common thing among the Hebrews for the same persons to have different names: and that it is not impossible among so many proper names, as here occur in the first nine chapters of this book, that the transcribers of the ancient Hebrew copies may have made some slips in the orthography. 2:11. And Nahasson begot Salma, the father of Booz. 2:12. And Booz begot Obed, and Obed begot Isai. 2:13. And Isai begot Eliab his firstborn, the second Abinadab, the third Simmaa, 2:14. The fourth, Nathanael, the fifth Raddai, 2:15. The sixth Asom, the seventh David. 2:16. And their sisters were Sarvia, and Abigail. The sons of Sarvia: Abisai, Joab, and Asael, three. 2:17. And Abigail bore Amasa, whose father was Jether the Ismahelite. 2:18. And Caleb the son of Hesron took a wife named Azuba, of whom he had Jerioth: and her sons were Jaser, and Sobab, and Ardon. Caleb... Alias Calubi, ver. 9. 2:19. And when Azuba was dead, Caleb took to wife Ephrata: who bore him Hur. 2:20. And Hur begot Uri: and Uri begot Bezeleel. 2:21. And afterwards Hesron went in to the daughter of Machir the father of Galaad, and took her to wife when he was threescore years old: and she bore him Segub. 2:22. And Segub begot Jair, and he had three and twenty cities in the land of Galaad. 2:23. And he took Gessur, and Aram the towns of Jair, and Canath, and the villages thereof, threescore cities. All these, the sons of Machir father of Galaad. 2:24. And when Hesron was dead, Caleb went in to Ephrata. Hesron also had to wife Abia who bore him Ashur the father of Thecua. 2:25. And the sons of Jerameel the firstborn of Hesron, were Ram his firstborn, and Buna, and Aram, and Asom, and Achia. 2:26. And Jerameel married another wife, named Atara, who was the mother of Onam. 2:27. And the sons of Ram the firstborn of Jerameel, were Moos, Jamin, and Achar. 2:28. And Onam had sons Semei, and Jada. And the sons of Semei: Nadab, and Abisur. 2:29. And the name of Abisur's wife was Abihail, who bore him Ahobban, and Molid. 2:30. And the sons of Nadab were Saled and Apphaim. And Saled died without children. 2:31. But the son of Apphaim was Jesi: and Jesi begot Sesan. And Sesan begot Oholai. 2:32. And the sons of Jada the brother of Semei: Jether and Jonathan. And Jether also died without children. 2:33. But Jonathan begot Phaleth, and Ziza. These were the sons of Jerameel. 2:34. And Sesan had no sons, but daughters and a servant an Egyptian, named Jeraa. 2:35. And he gave him his daughter to wife: and she bore him Ethei. 2:36. And Ethei begot Nathan, and Nathan begot Zabad. 2:37. And Zabad begot Ophlal, and Ophlal begot Obed. 2:38. Obed begot Jehu, Jehu begot Azarias. 2:39. Azarias begot Helles, and Helles begot Elasa. 2:40. Elasa begot Sisamoi, Sisamoi begot Sellum, 2:41. Sellum begot Icamia, and Icamia begot Elisama. 2:42. Now the sons of Caleb the brother of Jerameel were Mesa his firstborn, who was the father of Siph: and the sons of Maresa father of Hebron. 2:43. And the sons of Hebron, Core, and Thaphua, and Recem, and Samma. 2:44. And Samma begot Raham, the father of Jercaam, and Recem begot Sammai. 2:45. The son of Sammai, Maon: and Maon the father of Bethsur. 2:46. And Epha the concubine of Caleb bore Haran, and Mosa, and Gezez. And Haran begot Gezez. 2:47. And the sons of Jahaddai, Rogom, and Joathan, and Gesan, and Phalet, and Epha, and Saaph. 2:48. And Maacha the concubine of Caleb bore Saber, and Tharana. 2:49. And Saaph the father of Madmena begot Sue the father of Machbena, and the father of Gabaa. And the daughter of Caleb was Achsa. 2:50. These were the sons of Caleb, the son of Hur the firstborn of Ephrata, Sobal the father of Cariathiarim. 2:51. Salma the father of Bethlehem, Hariph the father of Bethgader. 2:52. And Sobal the father of Cariathiarim had sons: he that saw half of the places of rest. He that saw, etc... The Latin interpreter seems to have given us here, instead of the proper names, the meaning of those names in the Hebrew. He has done in like manner, ver. 55. 2:53. And of the kindred of Cariathiarim, the Jethrites, and Aphuthites, and Semathites, and Maserites. Of them came the Saraites, and Esthaolites. 2:54. The sons of Salma, Bethlehem, and Netophathi, the crowns of the house of Joab, and half of the place of rest of Sarai. 2:55. And the families of the scribes that dwell in Jabes, singing and making melody, and abiding in tents. These are the Cinites, who came of Calor (Chamath) father of the house of Rechab. 1 Paralipomenon Chapter 3 The genealogy of the house of David. 3:1. Now these were the sons of David that were born to him in Hebron: the firstborn Amnon of Achinoam the Jezrahelitess, the second Daniel of Abigail the Carmelitess. 3:2. The third Absalom the son of Maacha the daughter of Tolmai king of Gessur, the fourth Adonias the son of Aggith, 3:3. The fifth Saphatias of Abital, the sixth Jethrahem of Egla his wife. 3:4. So six sons were born to him in Hebron, where he reigned seven years and six months. And in Jerusalem he reigned three and thirty years. 3:5. And these sons were born to him in Jerusalem: Simmaa, and Sobab, and Nathan, and Solomon, four of Bethsabee the daughter of Ammiel. 3:6. Jebaar also and Elisama, 3:7. And Eliphaleth, and Noge, and Nepheg, and Japhia, 3:8. And Elisama, and Eliada, and Elipheleth, nine: 3:9. All these the sons of David, beside the sons of the concubines: and they had a sister Thamar. The concubines... The inferior wives. 3:10. And Solomon's son was Roboam: whose son Abia begot Asa. And his son was Josaphat, 3:11. The father of Joram: and Joram begot Ochozias, of whom was born Joas: 3:12. And his son Amasias begot Azarias. And Joathan the son of Azarias 3:13. Begot Achaz, the father of Ezechias, of whom was born Manasses. 3:14. And Manasses begot Amon the father of Josias. 3:15. And the sons of Josias were, the firstborn Johanan, the second Joakim, the third Sedecias, the fourth Sellum. 3:16. Of Joakim was born Jechonias, and Sedecias. 3:17. The sons of Jechonias were Asir, Salathiel, 3:18. Melchiram, Phadaia, Senneser and Jecemia, Sama, and Nadabia. 3:19. Of Phadaia were born Zorobabel and Semei. Zorobabel begot Mosollam, Hananias, and Salomith their sister: 3:20. Hasaba also, and Ohol, and Barachias, and Hasadias, Josabhesed, five. 3:21. And the son of Hananias was Phaltias the father of Jeseias, whose son was Raphaia. And his son was Arnan, of whom was born Obdia, whose son was Sechenias. 3:22. The son of Sechenias was Semeia, whose sons were Hattus, and Jegaal, and Baria, and Naaria, and Saphat, six in number. Six... Counting the father in the number. 3:23. The sons of Naaria, Elioenai, and Ezechias, and Ezricam, three. 3:24. The sons of Elioenai, Oduia, and Eliasub, and Pheleia, and Accub, and Johanan, and Dalaia, and Anani, seven. 1 Paralipomenon Chapter 4 Other genealogies of Juda and Simeon, and their victories. 4:1. The sons of Juda: Phares, Hesron, and Charmi and Hur, and Sobal. 4:2. And Raia the son of Sobal begot Jahath, of whom were born Ahumai, and Laad. These are the families of Sarathi. 4:3. And this is the posterity of Etam: Jezrahel, and Jesema, And Jedebos: and the name of their sister was Asalelphuni. 4:4. And Phanuel the father of Gedor, and Ezar the father of Hosa, these are the sons of Hur the firstborn of Ephratha the father of Bethlehem. 4:5. And Assur the father of Thecua had two wives, Halaa and Naara: 4:6. And Naara bore him Ozam, and Hepher, and Themani, and Ahasthari: these are the sons of Naara. 4:7. And the sons of Halaa, Sereth, Isaar, and Ethnan. 4:8. And Cos begot Anob, and Soboba, and the kindred of Aharehel the son of Arum. 4:9. And Jabes was more honourable than any of his brethren, and his mother called his name Jabes, saying: Because I bore him with sorrow. Jabes... That is, sorrowful. 4:10. And Jabes called upon the God of Israel, saying: If blessing thou wilt bless me, and wilt enlarge my borders, and thy hand be with me, and thou save me from being oppressed by evil. And God granted him the things he prayed for. 4:11. And Caleb the brother of Sua begot Mahir, who was the father of Esthon. 4:12. And Esthon begot Bethrapha, and Phesse, and Tehinna father of the city of Naas: these are the men of Recha. 4:13. And the sons of Cenez were Othoniel, and Saraia. And the sons of Othoniel, Hathath, and Maonathi. 4:14. Maonathi begot Ophra, and Saraia begot Joab the father of the Valley of artificers: for artificers were there. 4:15. And the sons of Caleb the son of Jephone, were Hir, and Ela, and Naham. And the sons of Ela: Cenez. 4:16. The sons also of Jaleleel: Ziph, and Zipha, Thiria and Asrael. 4:17. And the sons of Esra, Jether, and Mered, and Epher, and Jalon, and he begot Mariam, and Sammai, and Jesba the father of Esthamo. 4:18. And his wife Judaia, bore Jared the father of Gedor, and Heber the father of Socho, and Icuthiel the father of Zanoe. And these are the sons of Bethia the daughter of Pharao, whom Mered took to wife. 4:19. And the sons of his wife Odaia the sister of Naham the father of Celia, Garmi, and Esthamo, who was of Machathi. 4:20. The sons also of Simon, Amnon, and Rinna the son of Hanan, and Thilon. And the sons of Jesi Zoheth, and Benzoheth. 4:21. The sons of Sela the son of Juda: Her the father of Lecha, and Laada the father of Maresa, and the families of the house of them that wrought fine linen in the House of oath. 4:22. And he that made the sun to stand, and the men of Lying, and Secure, and Burning, who were princes in Moab, and who returned into Lahem. Now these are things of old. He that made, etc... Viz., Joazim, the meaning of whose name in Hebrew is, he that made the sun to stand. In like manner the following names, Lying (Chozeba), Secure (Joas), and Burning (Saraph), are substituted in place of the Hebrew names of the same signification. 4:23. These are the potters, and they dwelt in Plantations, and Hedges, with the king for his works, and they abode there. Plantations and Hedges... These are the proper names of the places where they dwelt. In Hebrew Atharim and Gadira. 4:24. The sons of Simeon: Namuel and Jamin, Jarib, Zara, Saul: 4:25. Sellum his son, Mapsam his son, Masma his son. 4:26. The sons of Masma: Hamuel his son, Zachur his son, Semei his son. 4:27. The sons of Semei were sixteen, and six daughters: but his brethren had not many sons, and the whole kindred could not reach to the sum of the children of Juda. 4:28. And they dwelt in Bersabee, and Molada, and Hasarsuhal, 4:29. And in Bala, and in Asom, and in Tholad, 4:30. And in Bathuel, and in Horma, and in Siceleg, 4:31. And in Bethmarchaboth, and in Hasarsusim, and in Bethberai, and in Saarim. These were their cities unto the reign of David. 4:32. Their towns also were Etam, and Aen, Remmon, and Thochen, and Asan, five cities. 4:33. And all their villages round about these cities as far as Baal. This was their habitation, and the distribution of their dwellings. 4:34. And Mosabab and Jemlech, and Josaphat, the son of Amasias, 4:35. And Joel, and Jehu the son of Josabia the son of Saraia, the son of Asiel, 4:36. And Elioenai, and Jacoba, and Isuhaia, and Asaia, and Adiel, and Ismiel, and Banaia, 4:37. Ziza also the son of Sephei the son of Allon the son of Idaia the son of Semri the son of Samaia. 4:38. These were named princes in their kindreds, and in the houses of their families were multiplied exceedingly. 4:39. And they went forth to enter into Gador as far as to the east side of the valley, to seek pastures for their flocks. 4:40. And they found fat pastures, and very good, and a country spacious, and quiet, and fruitful, in which some of the race of Cham had dwelt before. 4:41. And these whose names are written above, came in the days of Ezechias king of Juda: and they beat down their tents, and slew the inhabitants that were found there, and utterly destroyed them unto this day: and they dwelt in their place, because they found there fat pastures. 4:42. Some also of the children of Simeon, five hundred men, went into mount Seir, having for their captains Phaltias and Naaria and Raphaia and Oziel the sons of Jesi: 4:43. And they slew the remnant of the Amalecites, who had been able to escape, and they dwelt there in their stead unto this day. 1 Paralipomenon Chapter 5 Genealogies of Ruben and Gad: their victories over the Agarites: their captivity. 5:1. Now the sons of Ruben the firstborn of Israel, (for he was his firstborn: but forasmuch as he defiled his father's bed, his first birthright was given to the sons of Joseph the son of Israel, and he was not accounted for the firstborn. 5:2. But of the race of Juda, who was the strongest among his brethren, came the princes: but the first birthright was accounted to Joseph.) Accounted to Joseph... Viz., as to the double portion, which belonged to the firstborn; but the princely dignity was given to Juda, and the priesthood to Levi. 5:3. The sons then of Ruben the firstborn of Israel were Enoch, and Phallu, Esron, and Charmi. 5:4. The sons of Joel: Samaia his son, Gog his son, Semei his son, 5:5. Micha his son, Reia his son, Baal his son, 5:6. Beera his son, whom Thelgathphalnasar king of the Assyrians carried away captive, and he was prince in the tribe of Ruben. 5:7. And his brethren, and all his kindred, when they were numbered by their families, had for princes Jehiel, and Zacharias. 5:8. And Bala the son of Azaz, the son of Samma, the son of Joel, dwelt in Aroer as far as Nebo, and Beelmeon. 5:9. And eastward he had his habitation as far as the entrance of the desert, and the river Euphrates. For they possessed a great number of cattle in the land of Galaad. 5:10. And in the days of Saul they fought against the Agarites, and slew them, and dwelt in their tents in their stead, in all the country, that looketh to the east of Galaad. 5:11. And the children of Gad dwelt over against them in the land of Basan, as far as Selcha: 5:12. Johel the chief, and Saphan the second: and Janai, and Saphat in Basan. 5:13. And their brethren according to the houses of their kindreds, were Michael and Mosollam, and Sebe, and Jorai, and Jacan, and Zie, and Heber, seven. 5:14. These were the sons of Abihail, the son of Huri, the son of Jara, the son of Galaad, the son of Michael, the son of Jesisi, the son of Jeddo, the son of Buz. 5:15. And their brethren the sons of Abdiel, the son of Guni, chief of the house in their families, 5:16. And they dwelt in Galaad, and in Basan and in the towns thereof, and in all the suburbs of Saron, unto the borders. 5:17. All these were numbered in the days of Joathan king of Juda, and in the days of Jeroboam king of Israel. 5:18. The Sons of Ruben, and of Gad, and of the half tribe of Manasses, fighting men, bearing shields, and swords, and bending the bow, and trained up to battles, four and forty thousand seven hundred and threescore that went out to war. 5:19. They fought against the Agarites: but the Itureans, and Naphis, and Nodab, 5:20. Gave them help. And the Agarites were delivered into their hands, and all that were with them, because they called upon God in the battle: and he heard them, because they had put their faith in him. 5:21. And they took all that they possessed, of camels fifty thousand, and of sheep two hundred and fifty thousand, and of asses two thousand, and of men a hundred thousand souls. 5:22. And many fell down slain: for it was the battle of the Lord. And they dwelt in their stead till the captivity. 5:23. And the children of the half tribe of Manasses possessed the land, from the borders of Basan unto Baal, Hermon, and Sanir, and mount Hermon, for their number was great. 5:24. And these were the heads of the house of their kindred, Epher, and Jesi, and Eliel, and Esriel, and Jeremia, and Odoia, and Jediel, most valiant and powerful men, and famous chiefs in their families. 5:25. But they forsook the God of their fathers, and went astray after the gods of the people of the land, whom God destroyed before them. 5:26. And the God of Israel stirred up the spirit of Phul king of the Assyrians, and the spirit of Thelgathphalnasar king of Assur: and he carried away Ruben, and Gad, and the half tribe of Manasses, and brought them to Lahela, and to Habor, and to Ara, and to the river of Gozan, unto this day. 1 Paralipomenon Chapter 6 The genealogies of Levi, and of Aaron: the cities of the Levites. 6:1. The sons of Levi were Gerson, Caath, and Merari. 6:2. The Sons of Caath: Amram, Isaar, Hebron, and Oziel. 6:3. The children of Amram: Aaron, Moses, and Mary. The Sons of Aaron: Nadab and Abiu, Eleazar and Ithamar. 6:4. Eleazar begot Phinees, and Phinees begot Abisue, 6:5. And Abisue begot Bocci, and Bocci begot Ozi. 6:6. Ozi begot Zaraias, and Zaraias begot Maraioth. 6:7. And Maraioth begot Amarias, and Amarias begot Achitob. 6:8. Achitob begot Sadoc, and Sadoc begot Achimaas. 6:9. Achimaas begot Azarias, Azarias begot Johanan, 6:10. Johanan begot Azarias. This is he that executed the priestly office in the house which Solomon built in Jerusalem. 6:11. And Azarias begot Amarias, and Amarias begot Achitob. 6:12. And Achitob begot Sadoc, and Sadoc begot Sellum, 6:13. Sellum begot Helcias, and Helcias begot Azarias, 6:14. Azarias begot Saraias, and Saraias begot Josedec. 6:15. Now Josedec went out, when the Lord carried away Juda, and Jerusalem, by the hands of Nabuchodonosor. 6:16. So the sons of Levi were Gerson, Caath, and Merari. 6:17. And these are the names of the sons of Gerson: Lobni and Semei. 6:18. The sons of Caath: Amram, and Isaar, and Hebron, and Oziel. 6:19. The sons of Merari: Moholi and Musi. And these are the kindreds of Levi according to their families. 6:20. Of Gerson: Lobni his son, Jahath his son, Zamma his son, 6:21. Joah his son, Addo his son, Zara his son, Jethrai his son. 6:22. The sons of Caath, Aminadab his son, Core his son, Asir his son, 6:23. Elcana his son, Abiasaph his son, Asir his son, 6:24. Thahath his son, Uriel his son, Ozias his son, Saul his son. 6:25. The sons of Elcana: Amasai, and Achimoth. 6:26. And Elcana. The sons of Elcana: Sophai his son, Nahath his son, 6:27. Eliab his son, Jeroham his son, Elcana his son. 6:28. The sons of Samuel: the firstborn Vasseni, and Abia. 6:29. And the sons of Merari, Moholi: Lobni his son, Semei his son, Oza his son, 6:30. Sammaa his son, Haggia his son, Asaia his son. 6:31. These are they, whom David set over the singing men of the house of the Lord, after that the ark was placed. 6:32. And they ministered before the tabernacle of the testimony, with singing, until Solomon built the house of the Lord in Jerusalem, and they stood according to their order in the ministry. 6:33. And these are they that stood with their sons, of the sons of Caath, Hemam a singer, the son of Joel, the son of Sammuel, 6:34. The son of Elcana, the son of Jeroham, the son of Eliel, the son of Thohu, 6:35. The son of Suph, the son of Elcana, the son of Mahath, the son of Amasai, 6:36. The son of Elcana, the son of Johel, the son of Azarias, the son of Sophonias, 6:37. The son of Thahath, the son of Asir, the son of Abiasaph, the son of Core, 6:38. The son of Isaar, the son of Caath, the son of Levi, the son of Israel. 6:39. And his brother Asaph, who stood on his right hand, Asaph the son of Barachias, the son of Samaa. 6:40. The son of Michael, the son of Basaia, the, son of Melchia. 6:41. The son of Athanai, the son of Zara, the son of Adaia. 6:42. The son of Ethan, the son of Zamma, the son of Semei. 6:43. The son of Jeth, the son of Gerson, the son of Levi. 6:44. And the sons of Merari their brethren, on the left hand, Ethan the son of Cusi, the son of Abdi, the son of Meloch, 6:45. The son of Hasabia, the son of Amasai, the son of Helcias, 6:46. The son of Amasai, the son of Boni, the son of Somer, 6:47. The son of Moholi, the son of Musi, the son of Merari, the son of Levi. 6:48. Their brethren also the Levites, who were appointed for all the ministry of the tabernacle of the house of the Lord. 6:49. But Aaron and his sons offered burnt offerings upon the altar of holocausts, and upon the altar of incense, for every work of the holy of holies: and to pray for Israel according to all that Moses the servant of God had commanded. 6:50. And these are the sons of Aaron: Eleazar his son, Phinees his son, Abisue his son, 6:51. Bocci his son, Ozi his son, Zarahia his son, 6:52. Meraioth his son, Amarias his son, Achitob his son, 6:53. Sadoc his son, Achimaas his son. 6:54. And these are their dwelling places by the towns and confines, to wit, of the sons of Aaron, of the families of the Caathites: for they fell to them by lot. 6:55. And they gave them Hebron in the land of Juda, and the suburbs thereof round about: 6:56. But the fields of the city, and the villages to Caleb son of Jephone. 6:57. And to the sons of Aaron they gave the cities for refuge Hebron, and Lobna, and the suburbs thereof, 6:58. And Jether and Esthemo, with their suburbs, and Helon, and Dabir with their suburbs: 6:59. Asan also, and Bethsames, with their suburbs. 6:60. And out of the tribe of Benjamin: Gabee and its suburbs, Almath with its suburbs, Anathoth also with its suburbs: all their cities throughout their families were thirteen. 6:61. And to the sons of Caath that remained of their kindred they gave out of the half tribe of Manasses ten cities in possession. 6:62. And to the sons of Gerson by their families out of the tribe of Issachar, and out of the tribe of Aser, and out of the tribe of Nephtali, and out of the tribe Manasses in Basan, thirteen cities. 6:63. And to the sons of Merari by their families out of the tribe of Ruben, and out of the tribe of Gad, and out of the tribe of Zabulon, they gave by lot twelve cities. 6:64. And the children of Israel gave to the Levites the cities, and their suburbs. 6:65. And they gave them by lot, out of the tribe of the sons of Juda, and out of the tribe of the sons of Simeon, and out of the tribe of the sons of Benjamin, these cities which they called by their names. 6:66. And to them that were of the kindred of the sons of Caath, and the cities in their borders were of the tribe of Ephraim. 6:67. And they gave the cities of refuge Sichem with its suburbs in mount Ephraim, and Gazer with its suburbs, 6:68. Jecmaan also with its suburbs, and Beth-horon in like manner, 6:69. Helon also with its suburbs, and Gethremmon in like manner, 6:70. And out of the half tribe of Manasses, Aner and its suburbs, Baalam and its suburbs, to wit, to them that were left of the family of the sons of Caath. 6:71. And to the sons of Gersom, out the kindred of the half tribe of Manasses, Gaulon, in Basan, and its suburbs, and Astharoth with its suburbs. 6:72. Out of the tribe of Issachar, Cedes and its suburbs, and Dabereth with its suburbs; 6:73. Ramoth also and its suburbs, and Anem with its suburbs. 6:74. And out of the tribe of Aser: Masal with its suburbs, and Abdon in like manner; 6:75. Hucac also and its suburbs, and Rohol with its suburbs. 6:76. And out of the tribe of Nephtali, Cedes in Galilee and its suburbs, Hamon with its suburbs, and Cariathaim, and its suburbs. 6:77. And to the sons of Merari that remained: out of the tribe of Zabulon, Remmono and its suburbs, and Thabor with its suburbs. 6:78. Beyond the Jordan also over against Jericho, on the east side of the Jordan and out of the tribe of Ruben, Bosor in the wilderness with its suburbs, and Jassa with its suburbs; 6:79. Cademoth also and its suburbs, and Mephaath with its suburbs; 6:80. Moreover also out of the tribe of Gad, Ramoth in Galaad and its suburbs, and Manaim with its suburbs; 6:81. Hesebon also with its suburbs, and Jazer with its suburbs. 1 Paralipomenon Chapter 7 Genealogies of Issachar, Benjamin, Nephtali, Manasses, Ephraim, and Aser. 7:1. Now the sons of Issachar were Thola, and Phua, Jasub and Simeron, four. 7:2. The sons of Thola: Ozi and Raphaia, and Jeriel, and Jemai, and Jebsem, and Samuel, chiefs of the houses of their kindreds. Of the posterity of Thola were numbered in the days of David, two and twenty thousand six hundred most valiant men. 7:3. The sons of Ozi: Izrahia, of whom were born Michael, and Obadia, and Joel, and Jesia, five all great men. 7:4. And there were with them by their families and peoples, six and thirty thousand most valiant men ready for war: for they had many wives and children. 7:5. Their brethren also throughout all the house of Issachar, were numbered fourscore and seven thousand most valiant men for war. 7:6. The sons of Benjamin were Bela, and Bechor, and Jadihel, three. 7:7. The sons of Bela: Esbon, and Ozi, and Ozial, and Jerimoth and Urai, five chiefs of their families, and most valiant warriors, and their number was twenty-two thousand and thirty-four. 7:8. And the sons of Bechor were Zamira, and Joas, and Eliezer, and Elioenai, and Amai, and Jerimoth, and Abia, and Anathoth, and Almath: all these were the sons of Bechor. 7:9. And they were numbered by the families, heads of their kindreds, most valiant men for war, twenty thousand and two hundred. 7:10. And the son of Jadihel: Balan. And the sons of Balan: Jehus and Benjamin, and Aod, and Chanana, and Zethan and Tharsis, and Ahisahar. 7:11. All these were sons of Jadihel, heads of their kindreds, most valiant men, seventeen thousand and two hundred fifty to go out to war. 7:12. Sepham also and Hapham the sons of Hir: and Hasim the sons of Aher. 7:13. And the sons of Nephtali were Jasiel, and Guni, and Jezer, and Sellum, sons of Bala. 7:14. And the son of Manasses, Ezriel: and his concubine the Syrian bore Machir the father of Galaad. 7:15. And Machir took wives for his sons Happhim, and Saphan: and he had a sister named Maacha: the name of the second was Salphaad, and Salphaad had daughters. 7:16. And Maacha the wife of Machir bore a son, and she called his name Phares: and the name of his brother was Sares: and his sons were Ulam and Recen. 7:17. And the son of Ulam, Baden. These are the sons of Galaad, the son of Machir, the son of Manasses. 7:18. And his sister named Queen bore Goodlyman, and Abiezer, and Mohola. 7:19. And the sons of Semida were Ahiu, and Sechem, and Leci and Aniam. 7:20. And the sons of Ephraim were Suthala, Bared his son, Thahath his son, Elada his son, Thahath his son, and his son Zabad, 7:21. And his son Suthala, and his son Ezer, and Elad: and the men of Geth born in the land slew them, because they came down to invade their possessions. 7:22. And Ephraim their father mourned many days, and his brethren came to comfort him. 7:23. And he went in to his wife: and she conceived and bore a son, and he called his name Beria, because he was born when it went evil with his house: Beria... This name signifies in evil, or in affliction. 7:24. And his daughter was Sara, who built Bethoron, the nether and the upper, and Ozensara. 7:25. And Rapha was his son, and Reseph, and Thale, of whom was born Thaan, 7:26. Who begot Laadan: and his son was Ammiud, who begot Elisama, 7:27. Of whom was born Nun, who had Josue for his son. 7:28. And their possessions and habitations were Bethel with her daughters, and eastward Noran, and westward Gazer and her daughters, Sichem also with her daughters, as far as Asa with her daughters. 7:29. And by the borders of the sons of Manasses Bethsan and her daughters, Thanach and her daughters, Mageddo and her daughters: Dor and her daughters: in these dwelt the children of Joseph, the son of Israel. 7:30. The children of Aser were Jemna, and Jesua, and Jessui, and Baria, and Sara their sister. 7:31. And the sons of Baria: Haber, and Melchiel: he is the father of Barsaith. 7:32. And Heber begot Jephlat, and Somer, and Hotham, and Suaa their sister. 7:33. The sons of Jephlat: Phosech, and Chamaal, and Asoth: these are the sons of Jephlat. 7:34. And the sons of Somer: Ahi, and Roaga and Haba, and Aram. 7:35. And the sons of Helem his brother: Supha, and Jemna, and Selles, and Amal. 7:36. The sons of Supha: Sue, Hernapher, and Sual, and Beri, and Jamra. 7:37. Bosor and Hod, and Samma, and Salusa, and Jethran, and Bera. 7:38. The sons of Jether: Jephone, and Phaspha, and Ara. 7:39. And the sons of Olla: Aree, and Haniel, and Resia. 7:40. All these were sons of Aser, heads of their families, choice and most valiant captains of captains: and the number of them that were of the age that was fit for war, was six and twenty thousand. 1 Paralipomenon Chapter 8 The posterity of Benjamin is further declared down to Saul. His issue. 8:1. Now Benjamin begot Bale his firstborn, Asbel the second, Ahara the third, 8:2. Nohaa the fourth, and Rapha the fifth. 8:3. And the sons of Bale were Addar, and Gera, and Abiud, 8:4. And Abisue, and Naaman, and Ahoe, 8:5. And Gera, and Sephuphan, and Huram. 8:6. These are the sons of Abed, heads of families that dwelt in Gabaa, who were removed into Manahath. 8:7. And Naaman, and Achia, and Gera he removed them, and begot Oza, and Ahiud. 8:8. And Saharim begot in the land of Moab, after he sent away Husim and Bara his wives. 8:9. And he begot of Hodes his wife Jobab, and Sebia, and Mosa, and Molchom, 8:10. And Jehus and Sechia, and Marma. These were his sons heads of their families. 8:11. And Mehusim begot Abitob, and Elphaal. 8:12. And the sons of Elphaal were Heber, and Misaam, and Samad: who built Ono, and Lod, and its daughters. 8:13. And Baria, and Sama were heads of their kindreds that dwelt in Aialon: these drove away the inhabitants of Geth. 8:14. And Ahio, and Sesac, and Jerimoth, 8:15. And Zabadia, and Arod, and Heder, 8:16. And Michael, and Jespha, and Joha, the sons of Baria. 8:17. And Zabadia, and Mosollam, Hezeci, and Heber, 8:18. And Jesamari, and Jezlia, and Jobab, sons of Elphaal, 8:19. And Jacim, and Zechri, and Zabdi, 8:20. And Elioenai, and Selethai, and Elial, 8:21. And Adaia, and Baraia, and Samareth, the sons of Semei. 8:22. And Jespham, and Heber, and Eliel, 8:23. And Abdon, and Zechri, and Hanan, 8:24. And Hanania, and Elam, and Anathothia. 8:25. And Jephdaia, and Phanuel the sons of Sesac. 8:26. And Samsari, and Sohoria and Otholia, 8:27. And Jersia, and Elia, and Zechri, the sons of Jeroham. 8:28. These were the chief fathers, and heads of their families who dwelt in Jerusalem. 8:29. And at Gabaon dwelt Abigabaon, and the name of his wife was Maacha: 8:30. And his firstborn son Abdon, and Sur, and Cis, and Baal, and Nadab, 8:31. And Gedor, and Ahio, and Zacher, and Macelloth: 8:32. And Macelloth begot Samaa: and they dwelt over against their brethren in Jerusalem with their brethren. 8:33. And Ner begot Cis and Cis begot Saul. And Saul begot Jonathan and Melchisua, and Abinadab, and Esbaal. Esbaal... Alias Isboseth. 8:34. And the son of Jonathan was Meribbaal: and Meribbaal begot Micha. Meribbaal... Alias Miphiboseth. 2 Kings 4.4. 8:35. And the sons of Micha were Phithon, and Melech, and Tharaa, and Ahaz. 8:36. And Ahaz begot Joada: and Joada begot Alamath, and Azmoth, and Zamri: and Zamri begot Mosa, 8:37. And Mosa begot Banaa, whose son was Rapha, of whom was born Elasa, who begot Asel. 8:38. And Asel had six sons whose names were Ezricam, Bochru, Ismahel, Saris, Obdia, and Hanan. All these were the sons of Asel. 8:39. And the sons of Esec, his brother, were Ulam the firstborn, and Jehus the second, and Eliphalet the third. 8:40. And the sons of Ulam were most valiant men, and archers of great strength: and they had many sons and grandsons, even to a hundred and fifty. All these were children of Benjamin. 1 Paralipomenon Chapter 9 The Israelites, priests, and Levites, who first dwelt in Jerusalem after the captivity. A repetition of the genealogy of Saul. 9:1. And all Israel was numbered: and the sum of them was written in the book of the kings of Israel, and Juda: and they were carried away to Babylon for their transgression. 9:2. Now the first that dwelt in their possessions, and in their cities, were the Israelites, and the priests, and the Levites, and the Nathineans. Nathineans... These were the posterity of the Gabaonites, whose office was to bring wood, water, etc., for the service of the temple. 9:3. And in Jerusalem dwelt of the children of Juda, and of the children of Benjamin, and of the children of Ephraim, and of Manasses. 9:4. Othei the son of Ammiud, the son of Amri, the son of Omrai, the son of Bonni of the sons of Phares the son of Juda. 9:5. And of Siloni: Asaia the firstborn, and his sons. 9:6. And of the sons of Zara: Jehuel and their brethren, six hundred and ninety. 9:7. And of the sons of Benjamin: Salo the son of Mosollam, the son of Oduia, the son of Asana: 9:8. And Jobania the son of Jeroham: and Ela the son of Ozi, the son of Mochori and Mosallam the son of Saphatias, the son of Rahuel, the son of Jebania: 9:9. And their brethren by their families, nine hundred and fifty-six. All these were heads of their families, by the houses of their fathers. 9:10. And of the priests: Jedaia, Joiarib, and Jachin: 9:11. And Azarias the son of Helcias, the son of Mosollam, the son of Sadoc, the son of Maraioth, the son of Achitob, high priest of the house of God. 9:12. And Adaias the son of Jeroham, the son of Phassur, the son of Melchias, and Maasai the son of Adiel, the son of Jezra, the son of Mosollam, the son of Mosollamith, the son of Emmer. 9:13. And their brethren heads in their families a thousand seven hundred and threescore, very strong and able men for the work of the ministry in the house of God. 9:14. And of the Levites: Semeia the son of Hassub the son of Ezricam, the son of Hasebia of the sons of Merari. 9:15. And Bacbacar the carpenter, and Galal, and Mathania the son of Micha, the son of Zechri the son of Asaph: 9:16. And Obdia the son of Semeia, the son of Galal, the son of Idithum: and Barachia the son of Asa, the son of Elcana, who dwelt in the suburbs of Netophati. 9:17. And the porters were Sellum, and Accub, and Telmon, and Ahiman: and their brother Sellum was the prince, 9:18. Until that time, in the king's gate eastward, the sons of Levi waited by their turns. 9:19. But Sellum the son of Core, the son of Abiasaph, the son of Core, with his brethren and his father's house, the Corites were over the works of the service, keepers of the gates of the tabernacle: and their families in turns were keepers of the entrance of the camp of the Lord. 9:20. And Phinees the son of Eleazar, was their prince before the Lord, 9:21. And Zacharias the son of Mosollamia, was porter of the gate of the tabernacle of the testimony: 9:22. All these that were chosen to be porters at the gates, were two hundred and twelve: the they were registered in their proper towns: whom David and Samuel the seer appointed in their trust. 9:23. As well them as their sons, to keep the gates of the house of the Lord, and the tabernacle by their turns. 9:24. In four quarters were the porters: that is to say, toward the east, and west, and north, and south. 9:25. And their brethren dwelt in village, and came upon their sabbath days from time to time. 9:26. To these four Levites were committed the whole number of the porters, and they were over the chambers, and treasures, of the house of the Lord. 9:27. And they abode in their watches round about the temple of the Lord: that when it was time, they might open the gates in the morning. 9:28. And some of their stock had the charge of the vessels for the ministry: for the vessels were both brought in and carried out by number. 9:29. Some of them also had the instruments of the sanctuary committed unto them, and the charge of the fine flour, and wine, and oil, and frankincense, and spices. 9:30. And the sons of the priests made the ointments of the spices. 9:31. And Mathathias a Levite, the firstborn of Sellum the Corite, was overseer of such things as were fried the fryingpan. 9:32. And some of the sons of Caath their brethren, were over the loaves of proposition, to prepare always new for every sabbath. 9:33. These are the chief of the singing men of the families of the Levites, who dwelt in the chambers, by the temple, that they might serve continually day and night in their ministry. 9:34. The heads of the Levites, princes in their families, abode in Jerusalem. 9:35. And in Gabaon dwelt Jehiel the father of Gabaon, and the name of his wife was Maacha: 9:36. His firstborn son Abdon, and Sur, and Cis, and Baal, and Ner, and Nadab, 9:37. Gedor also, and Ahio, and Zacharias, and Macelloth. 9:38. And Macelloth begot Samaan: these dwelt over against their brethren in Jerusalem, with their brethren. 9:39. Now Ner begot Cis: and Cis begot Saul: and Saul begot Jonathan and Melchisua, and Abinadab, and Esbaal. 9:40. And the son of Jonathan, was Meribbaal: and Meribbaal begot Micha. 9:41. And the sons of Micha, were Phithon, and Melech, and Tharaa, and Ahaz. 9:42. And Ahaz begot Jara, and Jara begot Alamath, and Azmoth, and Zamri. And Zamri begot Mosa. 9:43. And Mosa begot Banaa: whose son Raphaia begot Elasa: of whom was born Asel. 9:44. And Asel had six sons whose names are, Ezricam Bochru, Ismahel, Saria, Obdia, Hanan: these are the sons of Asel. 1 Paralipomenon Chapter 10 Saul is slain for his sins: he is buried by the men of Jabes. 10:1. Now the Philistines fought against Israel, and the men of Israel fled from before the Philistines, and fell down wounded in mount Gelboe. 10:2. And the Philistines drew near pursuing after Saul, and his sons, and they killed Jonathan, and Abinadab, and Melchisua the sons of Saul. 10:3. And the battle grew hard against Saul and the archers reached him, and wounded him with arrows. 10:4. And Saul said to his armourbearer: Draw thy sword, and kill me: lest these uncircumcised come, and mock me. But his armourbearer would not, for he was struck with fear: so Saul took his sword, and fell upon it. 10:5. And when his armourbearer saw it, to wit, that Saul was dead, he also fell upon his sword and died. 10:6. So Saul died, and his three sons, and all his house fell together. 10:7. And when the men of Israel, that dwelt in the plains, saw this, they fled: and Saul and his sons being dead, they forsook their cities, and were scattered up and down: and the Philistines came, and dwelt in them. 10:8. And the next day the Philistines taking away the spoils of them that were slain, found Saul and his sons lying on mount Gelboe. 10:9. And when they had stripped him, and cut off his head, and taken away his armour, they sent it into their land, to be carried about, and shewn in the temples of the idols and to the people. 10:10. And his armour they dedicated in the temple of their god, and his head they fastened up in the temple of Dagon. 10:11. And when the men of Jabes Galaad had heard this, to wit, all that the Philistines had done to Saul, 10:12. All the valiant men of them arose, and took the bodies of Saul and of his sons, and brought them to Jabes, and buried their bones under the oak that was in Jabes, and they fasted seven days. 10:13. So Saul died for his iniquities, because he transgressed the commandment of the Lord, which he had commanded, and kept it not: and moreover consulted also a witch, 10:14. And trusted not in the Lord: therefore he slew him, and transferred his kingdom to David the son of Isai. 1 Paralipomenon Chapter 11 David is made king. He taketh the castle of Sion. A catalogue of his valiant men. 11:1. Then all Israel gathered themselves to David in Hebron, saying: We are thy bone, and thy flesh. 11:2. Yesterday also, and the day before when Saul was king, thou wast he that leddest out and broughtest in Israel: for the Lord thy God said to thee: Thou shalt feed my people Israel, and thou shalt be ruler over them. 11:3. So all the ancients of Israel came to the king to Hebron, and David made a covenant with them before the Lord: and they anointed him king over Israel according to the word of the Lord which he spoke in the hand of Samuel. 11:4. And David and all Israel went to Jerusalem, which is Jebus, where the Jebusites were the inhabitants of the land. 11:5. And the inhabitants of Jebus said to David: Thou shalt not come in here. But David took the castle of Sion, which is the city of David. 11:6. And he said: Whosoever shall first strike the Jebusites, shall be the head and chief captain. And Joab the son of Sarvia went up first, and was made the general. 11:7. And David dwelt in the castle, and therefore it was called the city of David, 11:8. And he built the city round about from Mello all round, and Joab built the rest of the city. 11:9. And David went on growing and increasing, and the Lord of hosts was with him. 11:10. These are the chief of the valiant man of David, who helped him to be made king over all Israel, according to the word of the Lord, which he spoke to Israel. 11:11. And this is the number of the heroes of David: Jesbaam the son of Hachamoni the chief among the thirty: he lifted up his spear against three hundred wounded by him at one time. 11:12. And after him was Eleazar his uncle's son the Ahohite, who was one of the three mighties. 11:13. He was with David in Phesdomim, when the Philistines were gathered to that place to battle: and the field of that country was full of barley, and the people fled from before the Philistines. 11:14. But these men stood in the midst of the field, and defended it: and they slew the Philistines, and the Lord gave a great deliverance to his people. 11:15. And three of the thirty captains went down to the rock, wherein David was, to the cave of Odollam, when the Philistines encamped in the valley of Raphaim. 11:16. And David was in a hold, and the garrison of the Philistines in Bethlehem. 11:17. And David longed, and said: O that some man would give me water of the cistern of Bethlehem, which is in the gate. 11:18. And these three broke through the midst of the camp of the Philistines, and drew water out of the cistern of Bethlehem, which was in the gate, and brought it to David to drink: and he would not drink of it, but rather offered it to the Lord, 11:19. Saying: God forbid that I should do this in the sight of my God, and should drink the blood of these men: for with the danger of their lives they have brought me the water. And therefore he would not drink. These things did the three most valiant. 11:20. And Abisai the brother of Joab, he was chief of three, and he lifted up his spear against three hundred whom he slew, and he was renowned among the three, 11:21. And illustrious among the second three, and their captain: but yet he attained not to the first three. 11:22. Banaias the son of Joiada a most valiant man, of Cabseel, who had done many acts: he slew the two ariels of Moab: and he went down, and killed a lion in the midst of a pit in the time of snow. Two ariels... That is, two lions, or lion-like men; for Ariel in Hebrew signifies a lion. 11:23. And he slew an Egyptian, whose stature was of five cubits, and who had a spear like a weaver's beam: and he went down to him with a staff, and plucked away the spear, that he held in his hand, and slew him with his own spear. 11:24. These things did Banaias the son of Joiada, who was renowned among the three valiant ones, 11:25. And the first among the thirty, but yet to the three he attained not: and David made him of his council. 11:26. Moreover the most valiant men of the army, were Asahel brother of Joab, and Elchanan the son of his uncle of Bethlehem, 11:27. Sammoth an Arorite, Helles a Phalonite, 11:28. Ira the son of Acces a Thecuite, Abiezer an Anathothite, 11:29. Sobbochai a Husathite, Ilai an Ahohite, 11:30. Maharai a Netophathite, Heled the son of Baana a Netophathite, 11:31. Ethai the son of Ribai of Gabaath of the sons of Benjamin, Banai a Pharathonite, 11:32. Hurai of the torrent Gaas, Abiel an Arbathite, Azmoth a Bauramite, Eliaba a Salabonite, 11:33. The sons of Assem a Gezonite, Jonathan the son of Sage an Ararite, 11:34. Ahiam the son of Sachar an Ararite, 11:35. Eliphal the son of Ur, 11:36. Hepher a Mecherathite, Ahia a Phelonite, 11:37. Hesro a Carmelite, Naarai the son of Azbai, 11:38. Joel the brother of Nathan, Mibahar the son of Agarai. 11:39. Selec an Ammonite, Naharai a Berothite, the armourbearer of Joab the son of Sarvia. 11:40. Ira a Jethrite, Gareb a Jethrite, 11:41. Urias a Hethite, Zabad the son of Oholi, 11:42. Adina the son of Siza a Rubenite the prince of the Rubenites, and thirty with him: 11:43. Hanan the son of Maacha, and Josaphat a Mathanite, 11:44. Ozia an Astarothite, Samma, and Jehiel the sons of Hotham an Arorite, 11:45. Jedihel the son of Zamri, and Joha his brother a Thosaite, 11:46. Eliel a Mahumite, and Jeribai, and Josaia the sons of Elnaim, and Jethma a Moabite, Eliel, and Obed, and Jasiel of Masobia. 1 Paralipomenon Chapter 12 Who followed David when he fled from Saul. And who came to Hebron to make him king. 12:1. Now these are they that came to David to Siceleg, while he yet fled from Saul the son of Cis, and they were most valiant and excellent warriors, 12:2. Bending the bow, and using either hand in hurling stones with slings, and shooting arrows: of the brethren of Saul of Benjamin. 12:3. The chief was Ahiezer, and Joas, the sons of Samoa of Gabaath, and Jaziel, and Phallet the sons of Azmoth, and Beracha, and Jehu an Anathothite. 12:4. And Samaias of Gabaon, the stoutest amongst the thirty and over the thirty; Jeremias, and Jeheziel and Johanan, and Jozabad of Gaderoth; 12:5. And Eluzai, and Jerimuth, and Baalia, and Samaria, and Saphatia the Haruphite; 12:6. Elcana, and Jesia, and Azareel, and Joezer, and Jesbaam of Carehim: 12:7. And Joela, and Zabadia the sons of Jeroham of Gedor. 12:8. From Gaddi also there went over to David, when he lay hid in the wilderness most valiant men, and excellent warriors, holding shield and spear: whose faces were like the faces of a lion, and they were swift like the roebucks on the mountains. 12:9. Ezer the chief, Obdias the second, Eliab the third, 12:10. Masmana the fourth, Jeremias the fifth, 12:11. Ethi the sixth, Eliel the seventh, 12:12. Johanan the eighth, Elzebad the ninth, 12:13. Jerenias the tenth, Machbani the eleventh, 12:14. These were of the sons of Gad, captains of the army: the least of them was captain over a hundred soldiers, and the greatest over a thousand. 12:15. These are they who passed over the Jordan in the first month, when it is used to flow over its banks: and they put to flight all that dwelt in the valleys both toward the east and toward the west. 12:16. And there came also of the men of Benjamin, and of Juda to the hold, in which David abode. 12:17. And David went out to meet them, and said: If you are come peaceably to me to help me, let my heart be joined to you: but if you plot against me for my enemies whereas I have no iniquity in my hands, let the God of our fathers see, and judge. 12:18. But the spirit came upon Amasai the chief among thirty, and he said: We are thine, O David, and for thee, O son of Isai: peace, peace be to thee, and peace to thy helpers. For thy God helpeth thee. So David received them, and made them captains of the band. 12:19. And there were some of Manasses that went over to David, when he came with the Philistines against Saul to fight: but he did not fight with them: because the lords of the Philistines taking counsel sent him back, saying: With the danger of our heads he will return to his master Saul. 12:20. So when he went back to Siceleg, there fled to him of Manasses, Ednas and Jozabad, and Jedihel, and Michael, and Ednas, and Jozabad, and Eliu, and Salathi, captains of thousands in Manasses. 12:21. These helped David against the rovers: for they were all most valiant men, and were made commanders in the army. 12:22. Moreover day by day there came some to David to help him till they became a great number, like the army of God. 12:23. And this is the number of the chiefs of the army who came to David, when he was in Hebron, to transfer to him the kingdom of Saul, according to the word of the Lord. 12:24. The sons of Juda bearing shield and spear, six thousand eight hundred well appointed to war. 12:25. Of the sons of Simeon valiant men for war, seven thousand one hundred. 12:26. Of the sons of Levi, four thousand six hundred. 12:27. And Joiada prince of the race of Aaron, and with him three thousand seven hundred. 12:28. Sadoc also a young man of excellent disposition, and the house of his father, twenty-two principal men. 12:29. And of the sons of Benjamin the brethren of Saul, three thousand: for hitherto a great part of them followed the house of Saul. 12:30. And of the sons of Ephraim twenty thousand eight hundred, men of great valour renowned in their kindreds. 12:31. And of the half tribe of Manasses, eighteen thousand, every one by their names, came to make David king. 12:32. Also of the sons of Issachar men of understanding, that knew all times to order what Israel should do, two hundred principal men: and all the rest of the tribe followed their counsel. 12:33. And of Zabulon such as went forth to battle, and stood in array well appointed with armour for war, there came fifty thousand to his aid, with no double heart. 12:34. And of Nephtali, a thousand leaders: and with them seven and thirty thousand, furnished with shield and spear. 12:35. Of Dan also twenty-eight thousand six hundred prepared for battle. 12:36. And of Aser forty thousand going forth to fight, and challenging in battle. 12:37. And on the other side of the Jordan of the sons of Ruben, and of Gad, and of the half of the tribe of Manasses a hundred and twenty thousand, furnished with arms for war. 12:38. All these men of war well appointed to fight, came with a perfect heart to Hebron, to make David king over all Israel: and all the rest also of Israel, were of one heart to make David king. 12:39. And they were there with David three days eating and drinking: for their brethren had prepared for them. 12:40. Moreover they that were near them even as far as Issachar, and Zabulon, and Nephtali, brought loaves on asses, and on camels, and on mules, and on oxen, to eat: meal, figs, raisins, wine, oil, and oxen, and sheep in abundance, for there was joy in Israel. 1 Paralipomenon Chapter 13 The ark is brought from Cariathiarim. Oza for touching it is struck dead. 13:1. David consulted with the captains of thousands, and of hundreds, and with all the commanders. 13:2. And he said to all the assembly of Israel: If it please you; and if the words which I speak come from the Lord our God, let us send to the rest of our brethren into all the countries of Israel, and to the priests, and the Levites, that dwell in the suburbs of the cities, to gather themselves to us, 13:3. And let us bring again the ark of our God to us: for we sought it not in the days of Saul. 13:4. And all the multitude answered that it should be so: for the word pleased all the people. 13:5. So David assembled all Israel from Sihor of Egypt, even to the entering into Emath, to bring the ark of God from Cariathiarim. 13:6. And David went up with all the men of Israel to the hill of Cariathiarim which is in Juda, to bring thence the ark of the Lord God sitting upon the cherubims, where his name is called upon. 13:7. And they carried the ark of God upon a new cart out of the house of Abinadab. And Oza and his brother drove the cart. 13:8. And David and all Israel played before God with all their might with hymns, and with harps, and with psalteries, and timbrels, and cymbals, and trumpets, 13:9. And when they came to the floor of Chidon, Oza put forth his hand, to hold up the ark: for the ox being wanton had made it lean a little on one side. 13:10. And the Lord was angry with Oza, and struck him, because he had touched the ark; and he died there before the Lord. 13:11. And David was troubled because the Lord had divided Oza: and he called that place the Breach of Oza to this day. 13:12. And he feared God at that time, saying: How can I bring in the ark of God to me? 13:13. And therefore he brought it not home to himself, that is, into the city of David, but carried it aside into the house of Obededom the Gethite. 13:14. And the ark of God remained in the house of Obededom three months: and the Lord blessed his house, and all that he had. 1 Paralipomenon Chapter 14 David's house, and children: his victories over the Philistines. 14:1. And Hiram king of Tyre sent messengers to David, and cedar trees, and masons, and carpenters, to build him a house. 14:2. And David perceived that the Lord had confirmed him king over Israel, and that his kingdom was exalted over his people Israel. 14:3. And David took other wives in Jerusalem: and he begot sons, and daughters. 14:4. Now these are the names of them that were born to him in Jerusalem: Samua, and Sobad, Nathan, and Solomon, 14:5. Jebahar, and Elisua, and Eliphalet, 14:6. And Noga, and Napheg, and Japhia, 14:7. Elisama, and Baaliada, and Eliphalet. 14:8. And the Philistines hearing that David was anointed king over all Israel, went all up to seek him: and David heard of it, and went out against them. 14:9. And the Philistines came and spread themselves in the vale of Raphaim. 14:10. And David consulted the Lord, saying: Shall I go up against the Philistines, and wilt thou deliver them into my hand? And the Lord said to him: Go up, and I will deliver them into thy hand. 14:11. And when they were come to Baalpharasim, David defeated them there, and he said: God hath divided my enemies by my hand, as waters are divided: and therefore the name of that place was called Baalpharasim. 14:12. And they left there their gods, and David commanded that they should be burnt. 14:13. Another time also the Philistines made an irruption, and spread themselves abroad in the valley. 14:14. And David consulted God again, and God said to him: Go not up after them, turn away from them, and come upon them over against the pear trees. 14:15. And when thou shalt hear the sound of one going in the tops of the pear trees, then shalt thou go out to battle. For God is gone out before thee to strike the army of the Philistines. 14:16. And David did as God had commanded him, and defeated the army of the Philistines, slaying them from Gabaon to Gazera. 14:17. And the name of David became famous in all countries, and the Lord made all nations fear aim. 1 Paralipomenon Chapter 15 The ark is brought into the city of David, with great solemnity. Michol derideth David's devotion. 15:1. He made also houses for himself in the city of David: and built a place for the ark of God, and pitched a tabernacle for it. 15:2. Then David said: No one ought to carry the ark of God, but the Levites, whom the Lord hath chosen to carry it, and to minister unto himself for ever. 15:3. And he gathered all Israel together into Jerusalem, that the ark of God might be brought into its place, which he had prepared for it. 15:4. And the sons of Aaron also, and the Levites. 15:5. Of the children of Caath, Uriel was the chief, and his brethren a hundred and twenty. 15:6. Of the sons of Merari, Asaia the chief, and his brethren two hundred and twenty. 15:7. Of the sons of Gersom, Joel the chief, and his brethren a hundred and thirty. 15:8. Of the sons of Elisaphan, Semeias the chief: and his brethren two hundred. 15:9. Of the sons of Hebron, Eliel the chief: and his brethren eighty. 15:10. Of the sons of Oziel, Aminadab the chief: and his brethren a hundred and twelve. 15:11. And David called Sadoc, and Abiathar the priests, and the Levites, Uriel, Asaia, Joel, Semeia, Eliel, and Aminadab: 15:12. And he said to them: You that are the heads of the Levitical families, be sanctified with your brethren, and bring the ark of the Lord the God of Israel to the place, which is prepared for it: 15:13. Lest as the Lord at first struck us, because you were not present, the same should now also come to pass, by our doing some thing against the law. 15:14. So the priests and the Levites were sanctified, to carry the ark of the Lord the God of Israel. 15:15. And the sons of Levi took the ark of God as Moses had commanded, according to the word of the Lord, upon their shoulders, with the staves. 15:16. And David spoke to the chiefs of the Levites, to appoint some of their brethren to be singers with musical instruments, to wit, on psalteries, and harps, and cymbals, that the joyful noise might resound on high. 15:17. And they appointed Levites, Hemam the son of Joel, and of his brethren Asaph the son of Barachias: and of the sons of Merari, their brethren: Ethan the son of Casaia. 15:18. And with them their brethren: in the second rank, Zacharias, and Ben, and Jaziel, and Semiramoth, and Jahiel, and Ani, and Eliab, and Banaias, and Maasias, and Mathathias, and Eliphalu, and Macenias, and Obededom, and Jehiel, the porters. 15:19. Now the singers, Heman, Asaph, and Ethan, sounded with cymbals of brass. 15:20. And Zacharias, and Oziel, and Semiramoth, and Jehiel, and Ani, and Eliab, and Maasias, and Banaias, sung mysteries upon psalteries. 15:21. And Mathathias, and Eliphalu, and Macenias and Obededom, and Jehiel and Ozaziu, sung a song of victory for the octave upon harps. 15:22. And Chonenias chief of the Levites, presided over the prophecy, to give out the tunes: for he was very skilful. The prophecy, to give out the tunes... Singing praises to God is here called prophecy: the more, because these singers were often inspired men. 15:23. And Barachias, and Elcana, were doorkeepers of the ark. 15:24. And Sebenias, and Josaphat, and Nathanael, and Amasai, and Zacharias, and Banaias, and Eliezer the priests, sounded with trumpets, before the ark of God: and Obededom and Jehias were porters of the ark. 15:25. So David and all the ancients of Israel, and the captains over thousands, went to bring the ark of the covenant of the Lord out of the house of Obededom with joy. 15:26. And when God had helped the Levites who carried the ark of the covenant of the Lord, they offered in sacrifice seven oxen, and seven rams. 15:27. And David was clothed with a robe of fine linen, and all the Levites that carried the ark, and the singing men, and Chonenias the ruler of the prophecy among the singers: and David also had on him an ephod of linen. 15:28. And all Israel brought the ark of the covenant of the Lord with joyful shouting, and sounding with the sound of the cornet, and with trumpets, and cymbals, and psalteries, and harps. 15:29. And when the ark of the covenant of the Lord was come to the city of David, Michol the daughter of Saul looking out at a window, saw king David dancing and playing, and she despised him in her heart. 1 Paralipomenon Chapter 16 The ark is placed in the tabernacle. Sacrifice is offered. David blesseth the people, disposeth the offices of Levites, and maketh a psalm of praise to God. 16:1. So they brought the ark of God, and set it in the midst of the tent, which David had pitched for it: and they offered holocausts, and peace offerings before God. 16:2. And when David had made an end of offering holocausts, and peace offerings, he blessed the people in the name of the Lord. 16:3. And he divided to all and every one, both men and women, a loaf of bread, and a piece of roasted beef, and flour fried with oil. 16:4. And he appointed Levites to minister before the ark of the Lord, and to remember his works, and to glorify, and praise the Lord God of Israel. 16:5. Asaph the chief, and next after him Zacharias: moreover Jahiel, and Semiramoth, and Jehiel, and Mathathias, and Eliab, and Banaias, and Obededom: and Jehiel over the instruments of psaltery, and harps: and Asaph sounded with cymbals: 16:6. But Banaias, and Jaziel the priests, to sound the trumpet continually before the ark of the covenant of the Lord. 16:7. In that day David made Asaph the chief to give praise to the Lord with his brethren. 16:8. Praise ye the Lord, and call upon his name: make known his doings among the nations. 16:9. Sing to him, yea, sing praises to him: and relate all his wondrous works. 16:10. Praise ye his holy name: let the heart of them rejoice, that seek the Lord. 16:11. Seek ye the Lord, and his power: seek ye his face evermore. 16:12. Remember his wonderful works, which he hath done: his signs, and the judgments of his mouth. 16:13. O ye seed of Israel his servants, ye children of Jacob his chosen. 16:14. He is the Lord our God: his judgments are in all the earth. 16:15. Remember for ever his covenant: the word, which he commanded to a thousand generations. 16:16. The covenant which he made with Abraham: and his oath to Isaac. 16:17. And he appointed the same to Jacob for a precept: and to Israel for an everlasting covenant: 16:18. Saying: To thee will I give the land of Chanaan: the lot of your inheritance. 16:19. When they were but a small number: very few and sojourners in it. 16:20. And they passed from nation to nation: and from a kingdom to another people. 16:21. He suffered no man to do them wrong: and reproved kings for their sake. 16:22. Touch not my anointed: and do no evil to my prophets. 16:23. Sing ye to the Lord, all the earth: shew forth from day to day his salvation. 16:24. Declare his glory among the Gentiles: his wonders among all people. 16:25. For the Lord is great and exceedingly to be praised: and he is to be feared above all gods. 16:26. For all the gods of the nations are idols: but the Lord made the heavens. 16:27. Praise and magnificence are before him: strength and joy in his place. 16:28. Bring ye to the Lord, O ye families of the nations: bring ye to the Lord glory and empire. 16:29. Give to the Lord glory to his name, bring up sacrifice, and come ye in his sight: and adore the Lord in holy becomingness. 16:30. Let all the earth be moved at his presence: for he hath founded the world immoveable. 16:31. Let the heavens rejoice, and the earth be glad: and let them say among the nations: The Lord hath reigned. 16:32. Let the sea roar, and the fulness thereof: let the fields rejoice, and all things that are in them. 16:33. Then shall the trees of the wood give praise before the Lord: because he is come to judge the earth. 16:34. Give ye glory to the Lord, for he is good: for his mercy endureth for ever. 16:35. And say ye: Save us, O God our savior: and gather us together, and deliver us from the nations, that we may give glory to thy holy name, and may rejoice in singing thy praises. 16:36. Blessed be the Lord the God of Israel from eternity to eternity: and let all the people say Amen, and a hymn to God. 16:37. So he left there before the ark of the covenant of the Lord, Asaph and his brethren to minister in the presence of the ark continually day by day, and in their courses. 16:38. And Obededom, with his brethren sixty-eight: and Obededom the son of Idithun, and Hosa he appointed to be porters. 16:39. And Sadoc the priest, and his brethren priests, before the tabernacle of the Lord in the high place, which was in Gabaon. 16:40. That they should offer holocausts to the Lord upon the altar of holocausts continually, morning and evening, according to all that is written in the law of the Lord, which he commanded Israel. 16:41. And after him Heman, and Idithun, and the rest that were chosen, every one by his name to give praise to the Lord: because his mercy endureth for ever. 16:42. And Heman and Idithun sounded the trumpet, and played on the cymbals, and all kinds of musical instruments to sing praises to God: and the sons of Idithun he made porters. 16:43. And all the people returned to their houses: and David to bless also his own house. 1 Paralipomenon Chapter 17 David's purpose to build a temple, is rewarded by most ample promises: David's thanksgiving. 17:1. Now when David was dwelling in his house, he said to Nathan the prophet: Behold I dwell in a house of cedar: and the ark of the covenant of the Lord is under skins. 17:2. And Nathan said to David: Do all that is in thy heart: for God is with thee. 17:3. Now that night the word of God came to Nathan, saying: 17:4. Go, and speak to David my servant: Thus saith the Lord: Thou shalt not build me a house to dwell in. 17:5. For I have not remained in a house from the time that I brought up Israel, to this day: but I have been always changing places in a tabernacle, and in a tent, 17:6. Abiding with all Israel. Did I ever speak to any one, of all the judges of Israel whom I charged to feed my people, saying: Why have you not built me a house of cedar? 17:7. Now therefore thus shalt thou say to my servant David: Thus saith the Lord of hosts: I took thee from the pastures, from following the flock, that thou shouldst be ruler of my people Israel. 17:8. And I have been with thee whithersoever thou hast gone: and have slain all thy enemies before thee, and have made thee a name like that of one of the great ones that are renowned in the earth. 17:9. And I have given a place my people Israel: they shall be planted, and shall dwell therein, and shall be moved no more, neither shall the children of iniquity waste them, as at the beginning, 17:10. Since the days that I gave judges to my people Israel, and have humbled all thy enemies. And I declare to thee, that the Lord will build thee a house. 17:11. And when thou shalt have ended thy days to go to thy fathers, I will raise up thy seed after thee, which shall be of thy sons: and I will establish his kingdom. 17:12. He shall build me a house, and I will establish his throne for ever. 17:13. I will be to him a father, and he shall be to me a son: and I will not take my mercy away from him, as I took it from him that was before thee. 17:14. But I will settle him in my house, and in my kingdom for ever: and his throne shall be most firm for ever. 17:15. According to all these words, and according to all this vision, so did Nathan speak to David. 17:16. And king David came and sat before the Lord, and said: Who am I, O Lord God, and what is my house, that thou shouldst give such things to me? 17:17. But even this hath seemed little in thy sight, and therefore thou hast also spoken concerning the house of thy servant for the time to come: and hast made me remarkable above all men, O Lord God. 17:18. What can David add more, seeing thou hast thus glorified thy servant, and known him? 17:19. O Lord, for thy servant's sake, according to thy own heart, thou hast shewn all this magnificence, and wouldst have all the great things to be known. 17:20. O Lord there is none like thee: and here is no other God beside thee, of all whom we have heard of with our ears. 17:21. For what other nation is there upon earth like thy people Israel, whom God went to deliver, and make a people for himself, and by his greatness and terrors cast out nations before their face whom he had delivered out of Egypt? 17:22. And thou hast made thy people Israel to be thy own people for ever, and thou, O Lord, art become their God. 17:23. Now therefore, O Lord, let the word which thou hast spoken to thy servant, and concerning his house, be established for ever, and do as thou hast said. 17:24. And let thy name remain and be magnified for ever: and let it be said: The Lord of hosts is God of Israel, and the house of David his servant remaineth before him. 17:25. For thou, O Lord my God, hast revealed to the ear of thy servant, that thou wilt build him a house: and therefore thy servant hath found confidence to pray before thee. 17:26. And now O Lord, thou art God: and thou hast promised to thy servant such great benefits. 17:27. And thou hast begun to bless the house of thy servant, that it may be always before thee: for seeing thou blessest it, O Lord, it shall be blessed for ever. 1 Paralipomenon Chapter 18 David's victories. His chief officers. 18:1. And it came to pass after this, that David defeated the Philistines, and humbled them, and took away Geth, and her daughters out of the hands of the Philistines, 18:2. And he defeated Moab, and the Moabites were made David's servants, and brought him gifts. 18:3. At that time David defeated also Adarezer king of Soba of the land of Hemath, when he went to extend his dominions as far as the river Euphrates. 18:4. And David took from him a thousand chariots, and seven thousand horsemen, and twenty thousand footmen, and he houghed all the chariot horses, only a hundred chariots, which he reserved for himself. 18:5. And the Syrians of Damascus came also to help Adarezer king of Soba: and David slew of them likewise two and twenty thousand men. 18:6. And he put a garrison in Damascus, that Syria also should serve him, and bring gifts. And the Lord assisted him in all things to which he went. 18:7. And David took the golden quivers which the servants of Adarezer had, and he brought them to Jerusalem. 18:8. Likewise out of Thebath and Chun, cities of Adarezer, he brought very much brass, of which Solomon made the brazen sea, and the pillars, and the vessels of brass. 18:9. Now when Thou king of Hemath heard that David had defeated all the army of Adarezer king of Soba, 18:10. He sent Adoram his son to king David to desire peace of him, and to congratulate him that he had defeated and overthrown Adarezer: for Thou was an enemy to Adarezer. 18:11. And all the vessels of gold, and silver and brass king David consecrated to the Lord, with the silver and gold which he had taken from all the nations, as well from Edom, and from Moab, and from the sons of Ammon, as from the Philistines, and from Amalec. 18:12. And Abisai the son of Sarvia slew of the Edomites in the vale of the saltpits, eighteen thousand: 18:13. And he put a garrison in Edom, that Edom should serve David: and the Lord preserved David in all things to which he went. 18:14. So David reigned over all Israel, and executed judgment and justice among all his people. 18:15. And Joab the son of Sarvia was over the army, and Josaphat the son of Ahilud recorder. 18:16. And Sadoc the son of Achitob, and Achimelech the son of Abiathar, were the priests: and Susa, scribe. 18:17. And Banaias the son of Joiada was over the bands of the Cerethi, and the Phelethi: and the sons of David were chief about the king. 1 Paralipomenon Chapter 19 The Ammonites abuse David's ambassadors: both they and their confederates are overthrown. 19:1. Now it came to pass that Naas the king of the children of Ammon died, and his son reigned in his stead. 19:2. And David said: I will shew kindness to Hanon the son of Naas: for his father did a favour to me. And David sent messengers to comfort him upon the death of his father. But when they were come into the land of the children of Ammon, to comfort Hanon, 19:3. The princes of the children of Ammon said to Hanon: Thou thinkest perhaps that David to do honour to thy father hath sent comforters to thee: and thou dost not take notice, that his servants are come to thee to consider, and search, and spy out thy land. 19:4. Wherefore Hanon shaved the heads and beards of the servants of David, and cut away their garments from the buttocks to the feet, and sent them away. 19:5. And when they were gone, they sent word to David, who sent to meet them (for they had suffered a great affront) and ordered them to stay at Jericho till their beards grew and then to return. 19:6. And when the children of Ammon saw that they had done an injury to David, Hanon and the rest of the people sent a thousand talents of silver, to hire them chariots and horsemen out of Mesopotamia and out of Syria Maacha, and out of Soba. 19:7. And they hired two and thirty thousand chariots, and the king of Maacha, with his people. And they came and camped over against Medaba. And the children of Ammon gathered themselves together out of their cities, and came to battle. 19:8. And when David heard of it, he sent Joab, and all the army of valiant men: 19:9. And the children of Ammon came out and put their army in array before the gate of the city: and the kings, that were come to their aid, stood apart in the field. 19:10. Wherefore Joab understanding that the battle was set against him before and behind, chose out the bravest men of all Israel, and marched against the Syrians, 19:11. And the rest of the people he delivered into the hand of Abisai his brother, and they went against the children of Ammon. 19:12. And he said: If the Syrians be too strong for me, then thou shalt help me: but if the children of Ammon be too strong for thee, I will help thee. 19:13. Be of good courage and let us behave ourselves manfully for our people, and for the cities of our God: and the Lord will do that which is good in his sight. 19:14. So Joab and the people that were with him, went against the Syrians to the battle: and he put them to flight. 19:15. And the children of Ammon seeing that the Syrians were fled, they likewise fled from Abisai his brother, and went into the city: and Joab also returned to Jerusalem. 19:16. But the Syrians seeing that they had fallen before Israel, sent messengers, and brought to them the Syrians that were beyond the river: and Sophach, general of the army of Adarezer, was their leader. 19:17. And it was told David, and he gathered together all Israel, and passed the Jordan, and came upon them, and put his army in array against them, and they fought with him. 19:18. But the Syrian fled before Israel: and David slew of the Syrians seven thousand chariots, and forty thousand footmen, and Sophach the general of the army. Seven thousand chariots... That is, of men who fought in chariots. 19:19. And when the servants of Adarezer saw themselves overcome by Israel, they went over to David, and served him: and Syria would not help the children of Ammon any more. 1 Paralipomenon Chapter 20 Rabba is taken. Other victories over the Philistines. 20:1. And it came to pass after the course of a year, at the time that kings go out to battle, Joab gathered together an army and the strength of the troops, and wasted the land of the children of Ammon: and went and besieged Rabba. But David stayed at Jerusalem, when Joab smote Rabba, and destroyed it. 20:2. And David took the crown of Melchom from his head, and found in it a talent weight of gold, and most precious stones, and he made himself a diadem of it: he took also the spoils of the city which were very great. 20:3. And the people that were therein he brought out: and made harrows, and sleds, and chariots of iron to go over them, so that they were cut and bruised to pieces: in this manner David dealt with all the cities of the children of Ammon: and he returned with all his people to Jerusalem. 20:4. After this there arose a war at Gazer against the Philistines: in which Sabachai the Husathite slew Saphai of the race of Raphaim, and humbled them. 20:5. Another battle also was fought against the Philistines, in which Adeodatus the son of Saltus a Bethlehemite slew the brother of Goliath the Gethite, the staff of whose spear was like a weaver's beam. 20:6. There was another battle also in Geth, in which there was a man of great stature, whose fingers and toes were four and twenty, six on each hand and foot: who also was born of the stock of Rapha. 20:7. He reviled Israel: but Jonathan the son of Samaa the brother of David slew him. These were the sons of Rapha in Geth, who fell by the hand of David and his servants. 1 Paralipomenon Chapter 21 David's sin in numbering the people is punished by a pestilence: which ceaseth upon his offering sacrifice in the thrashingfloor of Ornan. 21:1. And Satan rose up against Israel: and moved David to number Israel. 21:2. And David said to Joab, and to the rulers of the people: Go, and number Israel from Bersabee even to Dan, and bring me the number of them that I may know it. 21:3. And Joab answered: The Lord make his people a hundred times more than they are: but, my lord the king, are they not all thy servants: why doth my lord seek this thing, which may be imputed as a sin to Israel? 21:4. But the king's word rather prevailed: and Joab departed, and went through all Israel: and returned to Jerusalem. 21:5. And he gave David the number of them, whom he had surveyed: and all the number of Israel was found to be eleven hundred thousand men that drew the sword: and of Juda four hundred and seventy thousand fighting men. The number, etc... The difference of the numbers here and 2 Kings 24. is to be accounted for, by supposing the greater number to be that which was really found, and the lesser to be that which Joab gave in. 21:6. But Levi and Benjamin he did not number: for Joab unwillingly executed the king's orders. 21:7. And God was displeased with this thing that was commanded: and he struck Israel. 21:8. And David said to God: I have sinned exceedingly in doing this: I beseech thee take away the iniquity of thy servant, for I have done foolishly. 21:9. And the Lord spoke to Gad the seer of David, saying: 21:10. Go, and speak to David, and tell him: Thus saith the Lord: I give thee the choice of three things: choose one which thou wilt, and I will do it to thee. 21:11. And when Gad was come to David, he said to him: Thus saith the Lord: choose which thou wilt: 21:12. Either three years famine: or three months to flee from thy enemies, and not to be able to escape their sword: or three days to have the sword of the Lord, and pestilence in the land, and the angel of the Lord destroying in all the coasts of Israel: now therefore see what I shall answer him who sent me. Three years famine... Which joined with the three foregoing years of famine mentioned, 2 Kings 21. and the seventh year of the land's resting, would make up the seven years proposed by the prophet, 2 Kings 24.13. 21:13. And David said to Gad: I am on every side in a great strait: but it is better for me to fall into the hands of the Lord, for his mercies are many, than into the hands of men. 21:14. So the Lord sent a pestilence upon Israel. And there fell of Israel seventy thousand men. 21:15. And he sent an angel to Jerusalem, to strike it: and as he was striking it, the Lord beheld, and took pity for the greatness of the evil: and said to the angel that destroyed: It is enough, now stop thy hand. And the angel of the Lord stood by the thrashingfloor of Ornan the Jebusite. Ornan... Otherwise Areuna. 21:16. And David lifting up his eyes, saw the angel of the Lord standing between heaven and earth, with a drawn sword in his hand, turned against Jerusalem: and both he and the ancients clothed in haircloth, fell down flat on the ground. 21:17. And David said to God: Am not I he that commanded the people to be numbered? It is I that have sinned: it is I that have done the evil: but as for this flock, what hath it deserved? O Lord my God, let thy hand be turned, I beseech thee, upon me, and upon my father's house: and let not thy people be destroyed. 21:18. And the angel of the Lord commanded Gad to tell David, to go up, and build an altar to the Lord God in the thrashingfloor of Ornan the Jebusite. 21:19. And David went up, according to the word of Gad, which he spoke to him in the name of the Lord. 21:20. Now when Ornan looked up, and saw the angel, he and his four sons hid themselves: for at that time he was thrashing wheat in the floor. 21:21. And as David was coming to Ornan, Ornan saw him, and went out of the thrashingfloor to meet him, and bowed down to him with his face to the ground. 21:22. And David said to him: Give me this place of thy thrashingfloor, that I may build therein an altar to the Lord: but thou shalt take of me as much money as it is worth, that the plague may cease from the people. 21:23. And Ornan said to David: Take it, and let my lord the king do all that pleaseth him: and moreover the oxen also I give for a holocaust, and the drays for wood, and the wheat for the sacrifice: I will give it all willingly. 21:24. And king David said to him: It shall not be so, but I will give thee money as much as it is worth: for I must not take it from thee, and so offer to the Lord holocausts free cost. 21:25. So David gave to Ornan for the place, six hundred sicles of gold of just weight. Six hundred sicles, etc... This was the price of the whole place, on which the temple was afterwards built; but the price of the oxen was fifty sicles of silver. 2 Kings 24.24. 21:26. And he built there an altar to the Lord: and he offered holocausts, and peace offerings, and he called upon the Lord, and he heard him by sending fire from heaven upon the altar of the holocaust. 21:27. And the Lord commanded the angel: and he put up his sword again into the sheath. 21:28. And David seeing that the Lord had heard him in the thrashingfloor of Ornan the Jebusite, forthwith offered victims there. 21:29. But the tabernacle of the Lord, which Moses made in the desert, and the altar of holocausts, was at that time in the high place of Gabaon. 21:30. And David could not go to the altar there to pray to God: for he was seized with an exceeding great fear, seeing the sword of the angel of the Lord. 1 Paralipomenon Chapter 22 David having prepared all necessaries, chargeth Solomon to build the temple and the princes to assist him. 22:1. Then David said: This is the house of God, And this is the altar for the holocaust of Israel. 22:2. And he commanded to gather together all the proselytes of the land of Israel, and out of them he appointed stonecutters to hew stones and polish them, to build the house of God. 22:3. And David prepared in abundance iron for the nails of the gates, and for the closures and joinings: and of brass an immense weight. 22:4. And the cedar trees were without number, which the Sidonians, and Tyrians brought to David. 22:5. And David said: Solomon my son is very young and tender, and the house which I would have to be built to the Lord, must be such as to be renowned in all countries: therefore I will prepare him necessaries. And therefore before his death he prepared all the charges. 22:6. And he called for Solomon his son: and commanded him to build a house to the Lord the God of Israel. 22:7. And David said to Solomon: My son, it was my desire to have built a house to the name of the Lord my God. 22:8. But the word of the Lord came to me, saying: Thou hast shed much blood, and fought many battles, so thou canst not build house to my name, after shedding so much blood before me: 22:9. The son, that shall be born to thee, shall be a most quiet man: for I will make him rest from all his enemies round about: and therefore he shall be called Peaceable: and I will give peace and quietness to Israel all his days. 22:10. He shall build a house to my name, and he shall be a son to me, and I will be a father to him: and I will establish the throne of his kingdom over Israel for ever. 22:11. Now then, my son, the Lord be with thee, and do thou prosper, and build the house to the Lord thy God, as he hath spoken of thee. 22:12. The Lord also give thee wisdom and understanding, that thou mayest be able to rule Israel, and to keep the law of the Lord thy God. 22:13. For then thou shalt be able to prosper, if thou keep the commandments, and judgments, which the Lord commanded Moses to teach Israel: take courage and act manfully, fear not, nor be dismayed. 22:14. Behold I in my poverty have prepared the charges of the house of the Lord, of gold a hundred thousand talents, and of silver a million of talents: but of brass, and of iron there is no weight, for the abundance surpasseth all account: timber also and stones I have prepared for all the charges. 22:15. Thou hast also workmen in abundance, hewers of stones, and masons, and carpenters, and of all trades the most skilful in their work, 22:16. In gold, and in silver, and in brass, and in iron, whereof there is no number. Arise then, and be doing, and the Lord will be with thee. 22:17. David also charged all the princes of Israel, to help Solomon his son, 22:18. Saying: You see, that the Lord your God is with you, and hath given you rest round about, and hath delivered all your enemies into your hands, and the land is subdued before the Lord, and before his people. 22:19. Give therefore your hearts and your souls, to seek the Lord your God and arise, and build a sanctuary to the Lord God, that the ark of the covenant of the Lord, and the vessels consecrated to the Lord, may be brought into the house, which is built to the name of the Lord. 1 Paralipomenon Chapter 23 David appointeth Solomon king. The distribution of the Levites and their offices. 23:1. David being old and full of days, made Solomon his son king over Israel. 23:2. And he gathered together all the princes of Israel, and the priests and Levites. 23:3. And the Levites were numbered from the age of thirty years, and upwards: and there were found of them thirty-eight thousand men. 23:4. Of these twenty-four thousand were chosen, and distributed unto the ministry of the house of the Lord: and six thousand were the overseers and judges. 23:5. Moreover four thousand were porters: and as many singers singing to the Lord with the instruments, which he had made to sing with. 23:6. And David distributed them into courses by the families of the sons of Levi, to wit, of Gerson, and of Caath, and of Merari. 23:7. The sons of Gerson were Leedan and Semei. 23:8. The sons of Leedan: the chief Jahiel, and Zethan, and Joel, three. 23:9. The sons of Semei: Salomith, and Hosiel, and Aran, three: these were the heads of the families of Leedan. 23:10. And the sons of Semei were Leheth, and Ziza, and Jaus, and Baria: these were the sons of Semei, four. 23:11. And Leheth was the first, Ziza the second: but Jaus and Baria had not many children, and therefore they were counted in one family, and in one house. 23:12. The sons of Caath were Amram, and Isaar, Hebron, and Oziel, four. 23:13. The sons of Amram, Aaron, and Moses. And Aaron was separated to minister in the holy of holies, he and his sons for ever, and to burn incense before the Lord, according to his ceremonies, and to bless his name for ever. 23:14. The sons also of Moses, the man of God, were numbered in the tribe of Levi. 23:15. The sons of Moses were Gersom and Eliezer: 23:16. The sons of Gersom: Subuel the first. 23:17. And the sons of Eliezer were: Rohobia the first: and Eliezer had no more sons. But the sons of Rohobia were multiplied exceedingly. 23:18. The sons of Isaar: Salomith the first. 23:19. The sons of Hebron: Jeriau the first, Amarias the second, Jahaziel the third, Jecmaam the fourth. 23:20. The sons of Oziel: Micha the first, Jesia the second. 23:21. The sons of Merari: Moholi, and Musi. The sons of Moholi: Eleazar and Cis. 23:22. And Eleazar died, and had no sons but daughters: and the sons of Cis their brethren took them. 23:23. The sons of Musi: Moholi, and Eder, and Jerimoth, three. 23:24. These are the sons of Levi in their kindreds and families, princes by their courses, and the number of every head that did the works of the ministry of the house of the Lord from twenty years old and upward. 23:25. For David said: The Lord the God of Israel hath given rest to his people, and a habitation in Jerusalem for ever. 23:26. And it shall not be the office of the Levites to carry any more the tabernacle, and all the vessels for the service thereof. 23:27. So according to the last precepts of David, the sons of Levi are to be numbered from twenty years old and upward. 23:28. And they are to be under the hand of the sons of Aaron for the service of the house of the Lord, in the porches, and in the chambers, and in the place of purification, and in the sanctuary, and in all the works of the ministry of the temple of the Lord. 23:29. And the priests have the charge of the loaves of proposition, and of the sacrifice of fine flour, and of the unleavened cakes, and of the fryingpan, and of the roasting, and of every weight and measure. 23:30. And the Levites are to stand in the morning to give thanks, and to sing praises to the Lord: and in like manner in the evening, 23:31. As well in the oblation of the holocausts of the Lord, as in the sabbaths and in the new moons, and the rest of the solemnities, according to the number and ceremonies prescribed for every thing, continually before the Lord. 23:32. And let them keep the observances of the tabernacle of the covenant, and the ceremonies of the sanctuary, and the charge of the sons of Aaron their brethren, that they may minister in the house of the Lord. 1 Paralipomenon Chapter 24 The divisions of the priests into four and twenty courses, to serve in the temple: the chiefs of the Levites. 24:1. Now these were the divisions of the sons of Aaron: The sons of Aaron: Nadab, and Abiu, and Eleazar, and Ithamar. 24:2. But Nadab and Abiu died before their father, and had no children: so Eleazar, and Ithamar did the office of the priesthood. 24:3. And David distributed them, that is, Sadoc of the sons of Eleazar, and Ahimelech of the sons of Ithamar, according to their courses and ministry. 24:4. And there were found many more of the sons of Eleazar among the principal men, than of the sons of Ithamar. And he divided them so, that there were of the sons of Eleazar, sixteen chief men by their families: and of the sons of Ithamar eight by their families and houses. 24:5. And he divided both the families one with the other by lot: for there were princes of the sanctuary, and princes of God, both of the sons of Eleazar, and of the sons of Ithamar. 24:6. And Semeias the son of Nathanael the scribe a Levite, wrote them down before the king and the princes, and Sadoc the priest, and Ahimelech the son of Abiathar, and the princes also of the priestly and Levitical families: one house, which was over the rest, of Eleazar: and another house, which had the rest under it, of Ithamar. 24:7. Now the first lot came forth to Joiarib, the second to Jedei, 24:8. The third to Harim, the fourth to Seorim, 24:9. The fifth to Melchia, the sixth to Maiman, 24:10. The seventh to Accos, the eighth to Abia, 24:11. The ninth to Jesua, the tenth to Sechenia, 24:12. The eleventh to Eliasib, the twelfth to Jacim, 24:13. The thirteenth to Hoppha, the fourteenth to Isbaab, 24:14. The fifteenth to Belga, the sixteenth to Emmer, 24:15. The seventeenth to Hezir, the eighteenth to Aphses, 24:16. The nineteenth to Pheteia, the twentieth to Hezechiel, 24:17. The one and twentieth to Jachin, the two and twentieth to Gamul, 24:18. The three and twentieth to Dalaiau, the four and twentieth to Maaziau. 24:19. These are their courses according to their ministries, to come into the house of the Lord, and according to their manner under the hand of Aaron their father: as the Lord the God of Israel had commanded. 24:20. Now of the rest of the sons of Levi, there was of the sons of Amram, Subael: and of the sons of Subael, Jehedeia. 24:21. Also of the sons of Rohobia the chief Jesias. 24:22. And the son of Isaar Salemoth, and the son of Salemoth Jahath: 24:23. And his son Jeriau the first, Amarias the second, Jahaziel the third, Jecmaan the fourth. 24:24. The son of Oziel, Micha: the son of Micha, Samir. 24:25. The brother of Micha, Jesia: and the son of Jesia, Zacharias. 24:26. The sons of Merari: Moholi and Musi: the son of Oziau: Benno. 24:27. The son also of Merari Oziau, and Soam, and Zacchur, and Hebri. 24:28. And the son of Moholi: Eleazar, who had no sons. 24:29. And the son of Cis, Jeramael. 24:30. The sons of Musi: Moholi, Eder, and Jerimoth. These are the sons of Levi according to the houses of their families. 24:31. And they also cast lots over against their brethren the sons of Aaron before David the king, and Sadoc, and Ahimelech, and the princes of the priestly and Levitical families, both the elder and the younger. The lot divided all equally. 1 Paralipomenon Chapter 25 The number and divisions of the musicians. 25:1. Moreover David and the chief officers of the army separated for the ministry the sons of Asaph, and of Heman, and of Idithun: to prophesy with harps, and with psalteries, and with cymbals according to their number serving in their appointed office. 25:2. Of the sons of Asaph: Zacchur, and Joseph, and Nathania, and Asarela, sons of Asaph: under the hand of Asaph prophesying near the king. 25:3. And of Idithun: the sons of Idithun, Godolias, Sori, Jeseias, and Hasabias, and Mathathias, under the hand of their father Idithun, who prophesied with a harp to give thanks and to praise the Lord. 25:4. Of Heman also: the sons of Heman, Bocciau, Mathaniau, Oziel, Subuel, and Jerimoth, Hananias, Hanani, Eliatha, Geddelthi, and Romemthiezer, and Jesbacassa, Mellothi, Othir, Mahazioth: 25:5. All these were the sons of Heman the seer of the king in the words of God, to lift up the horn: and God gave to Heman fourteen sons and three daughters. 25:6. All these under their father's hand were distributed to sing in the temple of the Lord, with cymbals, and psalteries and harps, for the service of the house of the Lord near the king: to wit, Asaph, and Idithun, and Heman. 25:7. And the number of them with their brethren, that taught the song of the Lord, all the teachers, were two hundred and eighty-eight. 25:8. And they cast lots by their courses, the elder equally with the younger, the learned and the unlearned together. 25:9. And the first lot came forth to Joseph, who was of Asaph. The second to Godolias, to him and his sons, and his brethren twelve. 25:10. The third to Zachur, to his sons and his brethren twelve. 25:11. The fourth to Isari, to his sons and his brethren twelve. 25:12. The fifth to Nathania, to his sons and his brethren twelve. 25:13. The sixth to Bocciau, to his sons and his brethren twelve. 25:14. The seventh to Isreela, to his sons and his brethren twelve. 25:15. The eighth to Jesaia, to his sons and his brethren twelve. 25:16. The ninth to Mathanaias, to his sons and his brethren twelve. 25:17. The tenth to Semeias, to his sons and his brethren twelve. 25:18. The eleventh to Azareel, to his sons and his brethren twelve. 25:19. The twelfth to Hasabia, to his sons and his brethren twelve. 25:20. The thirteenth to Subael, to his sons and his brethren twelve. 25:21. The fourteenth to Mathathias, to his sons and his brethren twelve. 25:22. The fifteenth to Jerimoth, to his sons and his brethren twelve. 25:23. The sixteenth to Hananias, to his sons and his brethren twelve. 25:24. The seventeenth to Jesbacassa, to his sons and his brethren twelve. 25:25. The eighteenth to Hanani, to his sons and his brethren twelve. 25:26. The nineteenth to Mellothi, to his sons and his brethren twelve. 25:27. The twentieth to Eliatha, to his sons and his brethren twelve. 25:28. The one and twentieth to Othir, to his sons and his brethren twelve. 25:29. The two and twentieth to Geddelthi, to his sons and his brethren twelve. 25:30. The three and twentieth to Mahazioth, to his sons and his brethren twelve. 25:31. The four and twentieth to Romemthiezer, to his sons and his brethren twelve. 1 Paralipomenon Chapter 26 The divisions of the porters. Offices of other Levites. 26:1. And the divisions of the porters: of the Corites Meselemia, the son of Core, of the sons of Asaph. 26:2. The sons of Meselemia: Zacharias the firstborn, Jadihel the second, Zabadias the third, Jathanael the fourth, 26:3. Elam the fifth, Johanan the sixth, Elioenai the seventh. 26:4. And the sons of Obededom, Semeias the firstborn, Jozabad the second, Joaha the third, Sachar the fourth, Nathanael the fifth, 26:5. Ammiel the sixth, Issachar the seventh, Phollathi the eighth: for the Lord had blessed him. 26:6. And to Semei his son were born sons, heads of their families: for they were men of great valour. 26:7. The sons then of Semeias were Othni, and Raphael, and Obed, Elizabad, and his brethren most valiant men: and Eliu, and Samachias. 26:8. All these of the sons of Obededom: they, and their sons, and their brethren most able men for service, sixty-two of Obededom. 26:9. And the sons of Meselemia, and their brethren strong men, were eighteen. 26:10. And of Hosa, that is, of the sons of Merari: Semri the chief, (for he had not a firstborn, and therefore his father made him chief.) He had not a firstborn... That is, his firstborn was either dead or not fit to be chief; and therefore he made Semri the chief. 26:11. Helcias the second, Tabelias the third, Zacharias the fourth: all these the sons, and the brethren of Hosa, were thirteen. 26:12. Among these were the divisions of the porters, so that the chiefs of the wards, as well as their brethren, always ministered in the house of the Lord. 26:13. And they cast lots equally, both little and great, by their families for every one of the gates. 26:14. And the lot of the east fell to Selemias. But to his son Zacharias, a very wise and learned man, the north gate fell by lot. 26:15. And to Obededom and his sons that towards the south: in which part of the house was the council of the ancients. 26:16. To Sephim, and Hosa towards the west, by the gate which leadeth to the way of the ascent: ward against ward. 26:17. Now towards the east were six Levites: and towards the north four a day: and towards the south likewise four a day: and where the council was, two and two. 26:18. In the cells also of the porters toward the west four in the way: and two at every cell. 26:19. These are the divisions of the porters of the sons of Core, and of Merari. 26:20. Now Achias was over the treasures of the house of God, and the holy vessels. Holy vessels... Or vessels of the holy places, or of things holy. Vasa sanctorum. 26:21. The sons of Ledan, the sons of Gersonni: of Ledan were heads of the families, of Ledan, and Gersonni, Jehieli. 26:22. The sons of Jehieli: Zathan and Joel, his brethren over the treasures of the house of the Lord, 26:23. With the Amramites, and Isaarites, and Hebronites, and Ozielites. 26:24. And Subael the son of Gersom, the son of Moses, was chief over the treasures. 26:25. His brethren also, Eliezer, whose son Rohobia, and his son Isaias, and his son Joram, and his son Zechri, and his son Selemith. 26:26. Which Selemith and his brethren were over the treasures of the holy things, which king David, and the heads of families, and the captains over thousands and over hundreds, and the captains of the host had dedicated, 26:27. Out of the wars, and the spoils won in battles, which they had consecrated to the building and furniture of the temple of the Lord. 26:28. And all these things that Samuel the seer and Saul the son of Cis, and Abner the son of Ner, and Joab the son of Sarvia had sanctified: and whosoever had sanctified those things, they were under the hand of Selemith and his brethren. 26:29. But Chonenias and his sons were over the Isaarites, for the business abroad over Israel to teach them and judge them. 26:30. And of the Hebronites Hasabias, and his brethren most able men, a thousand seven hundred had the charge over Israel beyond the Jordan westward, in all the works of the Lord, and for the service of the king. 26:31. And the chief of the Hebronites was Jeria according to their families and kindreds. In the fortieth year of the reign of David they were numbered, and there were found most valiant men in Jazer Galaad, 26:32. And his brethren of stronger age, two thousand seven hundred chiefs of families. And king David made them rulers over the Rubenites and the Gadites, and the half tribe of Manasses, for all the service of God, and the king. 1 Paralipomenon Chapter 27 The twelve captains for every month; the twelve princes of the tribes. David's several officers. 27:1. Now the children of Israel according to their number, the heads of families, captains of thousands and of hundreds, and officers, that served the king according to their companies, who came in and went out every month in the year, under every chief were four and twenty thousand. 27:2. Over the first company the first month Jesboam, the son of Zabdiel was chief, and under him were four and twenty thousand. 27:3. Of the sons of Phares, the chief of all the captains in the host in the first month. 27:4. The company of the second month was under Dudia, an Ahohite, and after him was another named Macelloth, who commanded a part of the army of four and twenty thousand. 27:5. And the captain of the third company for the third month, was Banaias the son of Joiada the priest: and in his division were four and twenty thousand. 27:6. This is that Banaias the most valiant among the thirty, and above the thirty. And Amizabad his son commanded his company. 27:7. The fourth, for the fourth month, was Asahel the brother of Joab, and Zabadias his son after him: and in his company were four and twenty thousand. 27:8. The fifth captain for the fifth month, was Samaoth a Jezerite: and his company were four and twenty thousand. 27:9. The sixth, for the sixth month, was Hira the son of Acces a Thecuite: and in his company were four and twenty thousand. 27:10. The seventh, for the seventh month, was Helles a Phallonite of the sons of Ephraim: and in his company were four and twenty thousand. 27:11. The eighth, for the eighth month, was Sobochai a Husathite of the race of Zarahi: and in his company were four and twenty thousand. 27:12. The ninth, for the ninth month, was Abiezer an Anathothite of the sons of Jemini, and in his company were four and twenty thousand. 27:13. The tenth, for the tenth month, was Marai, who was a Netophathite of the race of Zarai: and in his company were four and twenty thousand. 27:14. The eleventh, for the eleventh month, was Banaias, a Pharathonite of the sons of Ephraim: and in his company were four and twenty thousand. 27:15. The twelfth, for the twelfth month, was Holdai a Netophathite, of the race of Gothoniel: and in his company were four and twenty thousand. 27:16. Now the chiefs over the tribes of Israel were these: over the Rubenites, Eliezer the son of Zechri was ruler: over the Simeonites, Saphatias the son of Maacha: 27:17. Over the Levites, Hasabias the son of Camuel: over the Aaronites, Sadoc: 27:18. Over Juda, Eliu the brother of David over Issachar, Amri the son of Michael: 27:19. Over the Zabulonites, Jesmaias the son of Adias: over the Nephtalites, Jerimoth the son of Ozriel: 27:20. Over the sons of Ephraim, Osee the son of Ozaziu: over the half tribe of Manasses, Joel the son of Phadaia: 27:21. And over the half tribe of Manasses in Galaad, Jaddo the son of Zacharias: and over Benjamin, Jasiel the son of Abner. 27:22. And over Dan, Ezrihel the son of Jeroham: these were the princes of the children of Israel. 27:23. But David would not number them from twenty years old and under: because the lord had said that he would multiply Israel like the stars of heaven. 27:24. Joab the son of Sarvia began to number, but he finished not: because upon this there fell wrath upon Israel: and therefore the number of them that were numbered, was not registered in the chronicles of king David. 27:25. And over the king's treasures was Azmoth the son of Adiel: and over those stores which were in the cities, and in the villages, and, in the castles, was Jonathan the son of Ozias. 27:26. And over the tillage, and the husbandmen, who tilled the ground, was Ezri the son of Chelub: 27:27. And over the dressers of the vine yards, was Semeias a Romathite: and over the wine cellars, Zabdias an Aphonite. 27:28. And over the oliveyards and the fig groves, which were in the plains, was Balanam a Gederite: and over the oil cellars, Joas. 27:29. And over the herds that fed in Saron, was Setrai a Saronite: and over the oxen in the valleys, Saphat the son of Adli: 27:30. And over the camels, Ubil an Ishmahelite and over the asses, Jadias a Meronathite: 27:31. And over the sheep Jaziz an Agarene. All these were the rulers of the substance of king David. 27:32. And Jonathan David's uncle, a counsellor, a wise and learned man: he and Jahiel the son of Hachamoni were with the king's sons. 27:33. And Achitophel was the king's counsellor, and Chusai the Arachite, the king's friend. 27:34. And after Achitophel was Joiada the son of Banaias, and Abiathar. And the general of the king's army was Joab. 1 Paralipomenon Chapter 28 David's speech, in a solemn assembly: his exhortation to Solomon. He giveth him a pattern of the temple. 28:1. And David assembled all the chief men of Israel, the princes of the tribes, and the captains of the companies, who waited on the king: and the captains over thousands, and over hundreds, and them who had the charge over the substance and possessions of the king, and his sons with the officers of the court, and the men of power, and all the bravest of the army at Jerusalem. 28:2. And the king rising up, and standing said: Hear me, my brethren and my people: I had a thought to have built a house, in which the ark of the Lord, and the footstool of our God might rest: and prepared all things for the building. 28:3. And God said to me: Thou shalt not build a house to my name: because thou art a man of war, and hast shed blood. 28:4. But the Lord God of Israel chose me of all the house of my father, to be king over Israel for ever: for of Juda he chose the princes: and of the house of Juda, my father's house: and among the sons of my father, it pleased him to choose me king over all Israel. 28:5. And among my sons (for the Lord hath given me many sons) he hath chosen Solomon my son, to sit upon the throne of the kingdom of the Lord over Israel. 28:6. And he said to me: Solomon thy son shall build my house, and my courts: for I have chosen him to be my son, and I will be a father to him. 28:7. And I will establish his kingdom for ever, if he continue to keep my commandments, and my judgments, as at this day. 28:8. Now then before all the assembly of Israel, in the hearing of our God, keep ye, and seek all the commandments of the Lord our God: that you may possess the good land, and may leave it to your children after you for ever. 28:9. And thou my son Solomon, know the God of thy father, and serve him with a perfect heart, and a willing mind: for the Lord searcheth all hearts, and understandeth all the thoughts of minds. If thou seek him, thou shalt find him: but if thou forsake him, he will cast thee off for ever. 28:10. Now therefore seeing the Lord hath chosen thee to build the house of the sanctuary, take courage, and do it. 28:11. And David gave to Solomon his son a description of the porch, and of the temple, and of the treasures, and of the upper floor, and of the inner chambers, and of the house for the mercy seat, 28:12. As also of all the courts, which he had in his thought, and of the chambers round about, for the treasures of the house of the Lord, and for the treasures of the consecrated things, 28:13. And of the divisions of the priests and of the Levites, for all the works of the house of the Lord, and for all the vessels of the service of the temple of the Lord. 28:14. Gold by weight for every vessel for the ministry. And silver by weight according to the diversity of the vessels and uses. 28:15. He gave also gold for the golden candlesticks, and their lamps, according to the dimensions of every candlestick, and the lamps thereof. In like manner also he gave silver by weight for the silver candlesticks, and for their lamps according to the diversity of the dimensions of them. 28:16. He gave also gold for the tables of proposition, according to the diversity of the tables: in like manner also silver for other tables of silver. 28:17. For fleshhooks also, and bowls, and censors of fine gold, and for little lions of gold, according to the measure he gave by weight, for every lion. In like manner also for lions of silver he set aside a different weight of silver. 28:18. And for the altar of incense, he gave the purest gold: and to make the likeness of the chariot of the cherubims spreading their wings, and covering the ark of the covenant of the Lord. 28:19. All these things, said he, came to me written by the hand of the Lord that I might understand all the works of the pattern. 28:20. And David said to Solomon his son: Act like a man, and take courage, and do: fear not, and be not dismayed: for the Lord my God will be with thee, and will not leave thee, nor forsake thee, till thou hast finished all the work for the service of the house of the Lord. 28:21. Behold the courses of the priests and the Levites, for every ministry of the house of the Lord, stand by thee, and are ready, and both the princes, and the people know how to execute all thy commandments. 1 Paralipomenon Chapter 29 David by word and example encourageth the princes to contribute liberally to the building of the temple. His thanksgiving, prayer, and sacrifices: his death. 29:1. And king David said to all the assembly: Solomon my son, whom alone God hath chosen, is as yet young and tender: and the work is great, for a house is prepared not for man, but for God. 29:2. And I with all my ability have prepared the expenses for the house of my God. Gold for vessels of gold, and silver for vessels of silver, brass for things of brass, iron for things of iron, wood for things of wood: and onyx stones, and stones like alabaster, and of divers colours, and all manner of precious stones, and marble of Paros in great abundance. 29:3. Now over and above the things which I have offered into the house of my God I give of my own proper goods, gold and silver for the temple of my God, beside what things I have prepared for the holy house. 29:4. Three thousand talents of gold of the gold of Ophir: and seven thousand talents of refined silver, to overlay the walls of the temple. 29:5. And gold for wheresoever there is need of gold: and silver for wheresoever there is need of silver, for the works to be made by the hands of the artificers: now if any man is willing to offer, let him fill his hand to day, and offer what he pleaseth to the Lord. 29:6. Then the heads of the families, and the princes of the tribes of Israel and the captains of thousands, and of hundreds, and the overseers of the king's possessions promised, 29:7. And they gave for the works of the house of the Lord, of gold, five thousand talents, and ten thousand solids: of silver ten thousand talents: and of brass eighteen thousand talents: and of iron a hundred thousand talents. 29:8. And all they that had stones, gave them to the treasures of the house of the Lord, by the hand of Jahiel the Gersonite. 29:9. And the people rejoiced, when they promised their offerings willingly: because they offered them to the Lord with all their heart: and David the king rejoiced also with a great joy. 29:10. And he blessed the Lord before all the multitude, and he said: Blessed art thou, O Lord the God of Israel, our father from eternity to eternity. 29:11. Thine, O Lord, is magnificence, and power, and glory, and victory: and to thee is praise: for all that is in heaven, and in earth, is thine: thine is the kingdom, O Lord, and thou art above all princes. 29:12. Thine are riches, and thine is glory, thou hast dominion over all, in thy hand is power and might: in thy hand greatness, and the empire of all things. 29:13. Now therefore our God we give thanks to thee, and we praise thy glorious name. 29:14. Who am I, and what is my people, that we should be able to promise thee all these things? all things are thine: and we have given thee what we received of thy hand. 29:15. For we are sojourners before thee, and strangers, as were all our fathers. Our days upon earth are as a shadow, and there is no stay. 29:16. O Lord our God, all this store that we have prepared to build thee a house for thy holy name, is from thy hand, and all things are thine. 29:17. I know my God that thou provest hearts, and lovest simplicity, wherefore I also in the simplicity of my heart, have joyfully offered all these things: and I have seen with great joy thy people, which are here present, offer thee their offerings. 29:18. O Lord God of Abraham, and of Isaac, and of Israel our fathers, keep for ever this will of their heart, and let this mind remain always for the worship of thee. 29:19. And give to Solomon my son a perfect heart, that he may keep thy commandments, thy testimonies, and thy ceremonies, and do all things: and build the house, for which I have provided the charges. 29:20. And David commanded all the assembly: Bless ye the Lord our God. And all the assembly blessed the Lord the God of their fathers: and they bowed themselves and worshipped God, and then the king. 29:21. And they sacrificed victims to the Lord: and they offered holocausts the next day, a thousand bullocks, a thousand rams, a thousand lambs, with their libations, and with every thing prescribed most abundantly for all Israel. 29:22. And they ate, and drank before the Lord that day with great joy. And they anointed the second time Solomon the son of David. And they anointed him to the Lord to be prince, and Sadoc to be high priest. 29:23. And Solomon sat on the throne of the Lord as king instead of David his father, and he pleased all: and all Israel obeyed him. 29:24. And all the princes, and men of power, and all the sons of king David gave their hand, and were subject to Solomon the king. 29:25. And the Lord magnified Solomon over all Israel: and gave him the glory of a reign, such as no king of Israel had before him. 29:26. So David the son of Isai reigned over all Israel. 29:27. And the days that he reigned over Israel, were forty years: in Hebron he reigned seven years, and in Jerusalem three and thirty years. 29:28. And he died in a good age, full of days, and riches, and glory. And Solomon his son reigned in his stead. 29:29. Now the acts of king David first and last are written in the book of Samuel the seer, and in the book of Nathan the prophet, and in the book of Gad the seer: 29:30. And of all his reign, and his valour, and of the times that passed under him, either in Israel, or in all the kingdoms of the countries. THE SECOND BOOK OF PARALIPOMENON 2 Paralipomenon Chapter 1 Solomon offereth sacrifices at Gabaon. His choice of wisdom which God giveth him. 1:1. And Solomon the son of David was strengthened in his kingdom, and the Lord his God was with him, and magnified him to a high degree. 1:2. And Solomon gave orders to all Israel, to the captains of thousands, and of hundreds, and to the rulers, and to the judges of all Israel, and the heads of the families: 1:3. And he went with all the multitude to the high place of Gabaon, where was the tabernacle of the covenant of the Lord, which Moses the servant of God made, in the wilderness. 1:4. For David had brought the ark of God from Cariathiarim to the place, which he had prepared for it, and where he had pitched a tabernacle for it, that is, in Jerusalem. 1:5. And the altar of brass, which Beseleel the son of Uri the son of Hur had made, was there before the tabernacle of the Lord: and Solomon and all the assembly sought it: 1:6. And Solomon went up thither to the brazen altar, before the tabernacle of the covenant of the Lord, and offered up on it a thousand victims. 1:7. And behold that night God appeared to him, saying: Ask what thou wilt that I should give thee. 1:8. And Solomon said to God: Thou hast shewn great kindness to my father David: and hast made me king in his stead. 1:9. Now therefore, O Lord God, let thy word be fulfilled, which thou hast promised to David my father: for thou hast made me king over thy great people, which is as innumerable as the dust of the earth. 1:10. Give me wisdom and knowledge that I may come in and go out before thy people: for who can worthily judge this thy people, which is so great? 1:11. And God said to Solomon: Because this choice hath pleased thy heart, and thou hast not asked riches, and wealth, and glory, nor the lives of them that hate thee, nor many days of life: but hast asked wisdom and knowledge, to be able to judge my people, over which I have made thee king, 1:12. Wisdom and knowledge are granted to thee: and I will give thee riches, and wealth, and glory, so that none of the kings before thee, nor after thee, shall be like thee. 1:13. Then Solomon came from the high place of Gabaon to Jerusalem before the tabernacle of the covenant, and reigned over Israel. 1:14. And he gathered to himself chariots and horsemen, and he had a thousand four hundred chariots, and twelve thousand horsemen: and he placed them in the cities of the chariots, and with the king in Jerusalem. 1:15. And the king made silver and gold to be in Jerusalem as stones, and cedar trees as sycamores, which grow in the plains in great multitude. 1:16. And there were horses brought him from Egypt, and from Coa by the king's merchants, who went, and bought at a price, 1:17. A chariot of four horses for six hundred pieces of silver, and a horse for a hundred and fifty: in like manner market was made in all the kingdoms of the Hethites, and of the kings of Syria. 2 Paralipomenon Chapter 2 Solomon's embassy to Hiram, who sends him a skilful workman and timber. 2:1. And Solomon determined to build a house to the name of the Lord, and a palace for himself. 2:2. And he numbered out seventy thousand men to bear burdens, and eighty thousand to hew stones in the mountains, and three thousand six hundred to oversee them. 2:3. He sent also to Hiram king of Tyre, saying: As thou didst with David my father, and didst send him cedars, to build him a house, in which he dwelt: 2:4. So do with me that I may build a house to the name of the Lord my God, to dedicate it to burn incense before him, and to perfume with aromatical spices, and for the continual setting forth of bread, and for the holocausts, morning and evening, and on the sabbaths, and on the new moons, and the solemnities of the Lord our God for ever, which are commanded for Israel. 2:5. For the house which I desire to build, is great: for our God is great above all gods. 2:6. Who then can be able to build him a worthy house? if heaven, and the heavens of heavens cannot contain him: who am I that I should be able to build him a house? but to this end only, that incense may be burnt before him. 2:7. Send me therefore a skilful man, that knoweth how to work in gold, and in silver, in brass, and in iron, in purple, in scarlet and in blue, and that hath skill in engraving, with the artificers, which I have with me in Judea and Jerusalem, whom David my father provided. 2:8. Send me also cedars, and fir trees, and pine trees from Libanus: for I know that thy servants are skilful in cutting timber in Libanus, and my servants shall be with thy servants, 2:9. To provide me timber in abundance. For the house which I desire to build, is to be exceeding great, and glorious. 2:10. And I will give thy servants the workmen that are to cut down the trees, for their food twenty thousand cores of wheat, and as many cores of barley, and twenty thousand measures of wine, and twenty thousand measures of oil. 2:11. And Hiram king of Tyre sent a letter to Solomon, saying: Because the Lord hath loved his people, therefore he hath made thee king over them. 2:12. And he added, saying: Blessed be the Lord the God of Israel, who made heaven and earth, who hath given to king David a wise and knowing son, endued with understanding and prudence, to build a house to the Lord, and a palace for himself. 2:13. I therefore have sent thee my father Hiram, a wise and most skilful man, 2:14. The son of a woman of the daughters of Dan, whose father was a Tyrian, who knoweth how to work in gold, and in silver, in brass, and in iron, and in marble, and in timber, in purple also, and violet, and silk and scarlet: and who knoweth to grave all sort of graving, and to devise ingeniously all that there may be need of in the work with thy artificers, and with the artificers of my lord David thy father. 2:15. The wheat therefore, and the barley and the oil, and the wine, which thou, my lord, hast promised, send to thy servants. 2:16. And we will cut down as many trees out of Libanus, as thou shalt want, and will convey them in floats by sea to Joppe: and it will be thy part to bring them thence to Jerusalem. 2:17. And Solomon numbered all the proselytes in the land of Israel, after the numbering which David his father had made, and they were found a hundred and fifty-three thousand and six hundred. 2:18. And he set seventy thousand of them to carry burdens on their shoulders, and eighty thousand to hew stones in the mountains: and three thousand and six hundred to be overseers of the work of the people. 2 Paralipomenon Chapter 3 The plan and ornaments of the temple: the cherubims, the veil, and the pillars. 3:1. And Solomon began to build the house of the Lord in Jerusalem, in mount Moria, which had been shewn to David his father, in the place which David had prepared in the thrashingfloor of Ornan the Jebusite. 3:2. And he began to build in the second month, in the fourth year of his reign. 3:3. Now these are the foundations, which Solomon laid, to build the house of God, the length by the first measure sixty cubits, the breadth twenty cubits. 3:4. And the porch in the front, which was extended in length according to the measure of the breadth of the house, twenty cubits: and the height was a hundred and twenty cubits: and he overlaid it within with pure gold. 3:5. And the greater house he ceiled with deal boards, and overlaid them with plates of fine gold throughout: and he graved in them palm trees, and like little chains interlaced with one another. 3:6. He paved also the floor of the temple with most precious marble, of great beauty. 3:7. And the gold of the plates with which he overlaid the house, and the beams thereof, and the posts, and the walls, and the doors was of the finest: and he graved cherubims on the walls. 3:8. He made also the house of the holy of holies: the length of it according to the breadth of the temple, twenty cubits, and the breadth of it in like manner twenty cubits: and he overlaid it with plates of gold, amounting to about six hundred talents. 3:9. He made also nails of gold, and the weight of every nail was fifty sicles: the upper chambers also he overlaid with gold. 3:10. He made also in the house of the holy of holies two cherubims of image work: and he overlaid them with gold. 3:11. The wings of the cherubims were extended twenty cubits, so that one wing was five cubits long, and reached to the wall of the house: and the other was also five cubits long, and reached to the wing of the other cherub. 3:12. In like manner the wing of the other cherub, was five cubits long, and reached to the wall: and his other wing was five cubits long, and touched the wing of the other cherub. 3:13. So the wings of the two cherubims were spread forth, and were extended twenty cubits: and they stood upright on their feet, and their faces were turned toward the house without. 3:14. He made also a veil of violet, purple, scarlet, and silk: and wrought in it cherubims. 3:15. He made also before the doors of the temple two pillars, which were five and thirty cubits high: and their chapiters were five cubits. 3:16. He made also as it were little chains in the oracle, and he put them on the heads of the pillars: and a hundred pomegranates, which he put between the little chains. 3:17. These pillars he put at the entrance of the temple, one on the right hand, and the other on the left: that which was on the right hand, he called Jachin: and that on the left hand, Booz. 2 Paralipomenon Chapter 4 The altar of brass, the molten sea upon twelve oxen, the ten loaves, the candlesticks and other vessels and ornaments of the temple. 4:1. He made also an altar of brass twenty cubits long, and twenty cubits broad, and ten cubits high. 4:2. Also a molten sea of ten cubits from brim to brim, round in compass: it was five cubits high, and a line of thirty cubits compassed it round about. 4:3. And under it there was the likeness of oxen, and certain engravings on the outside of ten cubits compassed the belly of the sea, as it were with two rows. 4:4. And the oxen were cast: and the sea itself was set upon the twelve oxen, three of which looked toward the north, and other three toward the west: and other three toward the south, and the other three that remained toward the east, and the sea stood upon them: and the hinder parts of the oxen were inward under the sea. 4:5. Now the thickness of it was a handbreadth, and the brim of it was like the brim of a cup, or of a crisped lily: and it held three thousand measures. 4:6. He made also ten lavers: and he set five on the right hand, and five on the left, to wash in them all such things as they were to offer for holocausts: but the sea was for the priests to wash in. 4:7. And he made ten golden candlesticks, according to the form which they were commanded to be made by: and he set them in the temple, five on the right hand, and five on the left. 4:8. Moreover also ten tables: and he set them in the temple, five on the right side, and five on the left. Also a hundred bowls of gold. 4:9. He made also the court of the priests, and a great hall, and doors in the hall, which he covered with brass. 4:10. And he set the sea on the right side over against the east toward the south. 4:11. And Hiram made caldrons, and fleshhooks, and bowls: and finished all the king's work the house of God: 4:12. That is to say, the two pillars, and the pommels, and the chapiters, and the network, to cover the chapiters over the pommels. 4:13. And four hundred pomegranates, and two wreaths of network, so that two rows of pomegranates were joined to each wreath, to cover the pommels, and the chapiters of the pillars. 4:14. He made also bases, and lavers, which he set upon the bases: 4:15. One sea, and twelve oxen under the sea; 4:16. And the caldrons, and fleshhooks, and bowls. All the vessels did Hiram his father make for Solomon in the house of the Lord of the finest brass. 4:17. In the country near the Jordan did the king cast them, in a clay ground between Sochot and Saredatha. 4:18. And the multitude of vessels was innumerable, so that the weight of the brass was not known. 4:19. And Solomon made all the vessels for the house of God, and the golden altar, and the tables, upon which were the loaves of proposition, 4:20. The candlesticks also of most pure gold with their lamps to give light before the oracle, according to the manner. 4:21. And certain flowers, and lamps, and golden tongs: all were made of the finest gold. 4:22. The vessels also for the perfumes, and the censers, and the bowls, and the mortars, of pure gold. And he graved the doors of the inner temple, that is, for the holy of holies: and the doors of the temple without were of gold. And thus all the work was finished which Solomon made in the house of the Lord. 2 Paralipomenon Chapter 5 The ark is brought with great solemnity into the temple: the temple is filled with the glory of God. 5:1. Then Solomon brought in all those things that David his father had vowed, the silver, and the gold, and all the vessels he put among the treasures of the house of God. 5:2. And after this he gathered together the ancients of Israel and all the princes of the tribes, and the heads of the families, of the children of Israel to Jerusalem, to bring the ark of the covenant of the Lord out of the city of David, which is Sion. 5:3. And all the men of Israel came to the king in the solemn day of the seventh month. 5:4. And when all the ancients of Israel were come, the Levites took up the ark, 5:5. And brought it in, together with all the furniture of the tabernacle. And the priests with the Levites carried the vessels of the sanctuary, which were in the tabernacle. 5:6. And king Solomon and all the assembly of Israel and all that were gathered together before the ark, sacrificed rams, and oxen without number: so great was the multitude of the victims. 5:7. And the priests brought in the ark of the covenant of the Lord into its place, that is, to the oracle of the temple, into the holy of holies under the wings of the cherubims: 5:8. So that the cherubims spread their wings over the place, in which the ark was set, and covered the ark itself and its staves. 5:9. Now the ends of the staves wherewith the ark was carried, because they were some thing longer, were seen before the oracle: but if a man were a little outward, he could not see them. So the ark has been there unto this day. 5:10. And there was nothing else in the ark but the two tables which Moses put there at Horeb when the Lord gave the law to the children of Israel, at their coming out of Egypt. 5:11. Now when the priests were come out of the sanctuary, for all the priests that could be found there, were sanctified: and as yet at that time the courses and orders of the ministries were not divided among them, 5:12. Both the Levites and the singing men, that is, both they that were under Asaph, and they that were under Heman, and they that were under Idithun, with their sons, and their brethren, clothed with fine linen, sounded with cymbals, and psalteries, and harps, standing on the east side of the altar, and with them a hundred and twenty priests, sounding with trumpets. 5:13. So when they all sounded together, both with trumpets, and voice, and cymbals, and organs, and with divers kind of musical instruments, and lifted up their voice on high: the sound was heard afar off, so that when they began to praise the Lord, and to say: Give glory to the Lord for he is good, for his mercy endureth for ever: the house of God was filled with a cloud. 5:14. Nor could the priests stand and minister by reason of the cloud. For the glory of the Lord had filled the house of God. 2 Paralipomenon Chapter 6 Solomon's blessings and prayer. 6:1. Then Solomon said: The Lord promised that he would dwell in a cloud. 6:2. But I have built a house to his name, that he might dwell there for ever. 6:3. And the king turned his face, and blessed all the multitude of Israel for all the multitude stood attentive and he said: 6:4. Blessed be the Lord the God of Israel, who hath accomplished in deed that which he spoke to David my father, saying: 6:5. From the day that I brought my people out of the land of Egypt, I chose no city among all the tribes of Israel, for a house to be built in it to my name: neither chose I any other man, to be the ruler of my people Israel. 6:6. But I chose Jerusalem, that my name might be there: and I chose David to set him over my people Israel. 6:7. And whereas David my father had a mind to build a house to the name of the Lord the God of Israel, 6:8. The Lord said to him: Forasmuch as it was thy will to build a house to my name, thou hast done well indeed in having such a will: 6:9. But thou shalt not build the house, but thy son, who shall come out of thy loins, he shall build a house to my name. 6:10. The Lord therefore hath accomplished his word which he spoke: and I am risen up in the place of David my father, and sit upon the throne of Israel, as the Lord promised: and have built a house to the name of the Lord God of Israel. 6:11. And I have put in it the ark, wherein is the covenant of the Lord, which he made with the children of Israel. 6:12. And he stood before the altar of the Lord, in presence of all the multitude of Israel, and stretched forth his hands. 6:13. For Solomon had made a brazen scaffold, and had set it in the midst of the temple, which was five cubits long, and five cubits broad, and three cubits high: and he stood upon it: then kneeling down in the presence of all the multitude of Israel, and lifting up his hands towards heaven, 6:14. He said: O Lord God of Israel, there is no God like thee in heaven nor in earth: who keepest covenant and mercy with thy servants, that walk before thee with all their hearts: 6:15. Who hast performed to thy servant David my father all that thou hast promised him: and hast accomplished in fact, what thou hast spoken with thy mouth, as also the present time proveth. 6:16. Now then, O Lord God of Israel, fulfil to thy servant David my father, whatsoever thou hast promised him, saying: There shall not fail thee a man in my sight, to sit upon the throne of Israel: yet so that thy children take heed to their ways, and walk in my law, as thou hast walked before me. 6:17. And now, Lord God of Israel, let thy word be established which thou hast spoken to thy servant David. 6:18. Is it credible then that God should dwell with men on the earth? If heaven and the heavens of heavens do not contain thee, how much less this house, which I have built? 6:19. But to this end only it is made, that thou mayest regard the prayer of thy servant and his supplication, O Lord my God: and mayest hear the prayers which thy servant poureth out before thee. 6:20. That thou mayest open thy eyes upon this house day and night, upon the place wherein thou hast promised that thy name should be called upon, 6:21. And that thou wouldst hear the prayer which thy servant prayeth in it: hearken then to the prayers of thy servant, and of thy people Israel. Whosoever shall pray in its place, hear thou from thy dwelling place, that is, from heaven, and shew mercy. 6:22. If any man sin against his neighbour, and come to swear against him, and bind himself with a curse before the altar in this house: 6:23. Then hear thou from heaven, and do justice to thy servants, so to requite the wicked by making his wickedness fall upon his own head, and to revenge the just, rewarding him according to his justice. 6:24. If thy people Israel be overcome by their enemies, (for they will sin against thee,) and being converted shall do penance, and call upon thy name, and pray to thee in this place, 6:25. Then hear thou from heaven, and forgive the sin of thy people Israel and bring them back into the land which thou gavest to them, and their fathers. 6:26. If the heavens be shut up, and there fall no rain by reason of the sin of the people, and they shall pray to thee in this place, and confess to thy name, and be converted from their sins, where thou dost afflict them, 6:27. Then hear thou from heaven, O Lord, and forgive the sins of thy servants and of thy people Israel and teach them the good way in which they may walk: and give rain to thy land which thou hast given to thy people to possess. 6:28. If a famine arise in the land, or a pestilence or blasting, or mildew, or locusts, or caterpillars: or if their enemies waste the country, and besiege the cities, whatsoever scourge or infirmity shall be upon them: 6:29. Then if any of thy people Israel, knowing his own scourge and infirmity shall pray, and shall spread forth his hands in this house, 6:30. Hear thou from heaven, from thy high dwelling place, and forgive, and render to every one according to his ways, which thou knowest him to have in his heart: for thou only knowest the hearts of the children of men: 6:31. That they may fear thee, and walk in thy ways all the days that they live upon the face of the land, which thou hast given to our fathers. 6:32. If the stranger also, who is not of thy people Israel, come from a far country, for the sake of thy great name, and thy strong hand, and thy stretched out arm, and adore in this place: 6:33. Hear thou from heaven thy firm dwelling place, and do all that which that stranger shall call upon thee for: that all the people of the earth may know thy name, and may fear thee, as thy people Israel, and may know, that thy name is invoked upon this house, which I have built. 6:34. If thy people go out to war against their enemies, by the way that thou shalt send them, and adore thee towards the way of this city, which thou hast chosen, and the house which I have built to thy name: 6:35. Then hear thou from heaven their prayers, and their supplications, and revenge them. 6:36. And if they sin against thee (for there is no man that sinneth not) and thou be angry with them, and deliver them up to their enemies, and they lead them away captive to a land either afar off, or near at hand, 6:37. And if they be converted in their heart in the land to which they were led captive, and do penance, and pray to thee in the land of their captivity saying: We have sinned, we have done wickedly, we have dealt unjustly: 6:38. And return to thee with all their heart, and with all their soul, in the land of their captivity, to which they were led away, and adore thee towards the way of their own land which thou gavest their fathers, and of the city, which thou hast chosen, and the house which I have built to thy name: 6:39. Then hear thou from heaven, that is, from thy firm dwelling place, their prayers, and do judgment, and forgive thy people, although they have sinned: 6:40. For thou art my God: let thy eyes, I beseech thee, be open, and let thy ears be attentive to the prayer, that is made in this place. 6:41. Now therefore arise, O Lord God, into thy resting place, thou and the ark of thy strength: let thy priests, O Lord God, put on salvation, and thy saints rejoice in good things. 6:42. O Lord God, turn not away the face of thy anointed: remember the mercies of David thy servant. 2 Paralipomenon Chapter 7 Fire from heaven consumeth the sacrifices. The solemnity of the dedication of the temple. God signifieth his having heard Solomon's prayer: yet so if he continue to serve him. 7:1. And when Solomon had made an end of his prayer, fire came down from heaven, and consumed the holocausts and the victims: and the majesty of the Lord filled the house. 7:2. Neither could the priests enter into the temple of the Lord, because the majesty of the Lord had filled the temple of the Lord. 7:3. Moreover all the children of Israel saw the fire coming down, and the glory of the Lord upon the house: and falling down with their faces to the ground, upon the stone pavement, they adored and praised the Lord: because he is good, because his mercy endureth for ever. 7:4. And the king and all the people sacrificed victims before the Lord. 7:5. And king Solomon offered a sacrifice of twenty-two thousand oxen, and one hundred and twenty thousand rams: and the king and all the people dedicated the house of God. 7:6. And the priests stood in their offices: and the Levites with the instruments of music of the Lord, which king David made to praise the Lord: because his mercy endureth for ever, singing the hymns of David by their ministry: and the priests sounded with trumpets before them, and all Israel stood. 7:7. Solomon also sanctified the middle of the court before the temple of the Lord: for he offered there the holocausts, and the fat of the peace offerings: because the brazen altar, which he had made, could not hold the holocausts and the sacrifices and the fat: 7:8. And Solomon kept the solemnity at that time seven days, and all Israel with him, a very great congregation, from the entrance of Emath to the torrent of Egypt. 7:9. And he made on the eighth day a solemn assembly, because he had kept the dedication of the altar seven days, and had celebrated the solemnity seven days. 7:10. So on the three and twentieth day of the seventh month he sent away the people to their dwellings, joyful and glad for the good that the Lord had done to David, and to Solomon, and to all Israel his people. 7:11. And Solomon finished the house of the Lord, and the king's house, and all that he had designed in his heart to do, in the house of the Lord, and in his own house, and he prospered. 7:12. And the Lord appeared to him by night, and said: I have heard thy prayer, and I have chosen this place to myself for a house of sacrifice. 7:13. If I shut up heaven, and there fall no rain, or if I give orders, and command the locust to devour the land, or if I send pestilence among my people: 7:14. And my people, upon whom my name is called, being converted, shall make supplication to me, and seek out my face, and do penance for their most wicked ways: then will I hear from heaven, and will forgive their sins and will heal their land. 7:15. My eyes also shall be open, and my ears attentive to the prayer of him that shall pray in this place. 7:16. For I have chosen, and have sanctified this place, that my name may be there for ever, and my eyes and my heart may remain there perpetually. 7:17. And as for thee, if thou walk before me, as David thy father walked, and do according to all that I have commanded thee, and keep my justices and my judgments: 7:18. I will raise up the throne of thy kingdom, as I promised to David thy father, saying: There shall not fail thee a man of thy stock to be ruler in Israel. 7:19. But if you turn away, and forsake my justices, and my commandments which I have set before you, and shall go and serve strange gods, and adore them, 7:20. I will pluck you up by the root out of my land which I have given you: and this house which I have sanctified to my name, I will cast away from before my face, and will make it a byword, and an example among all nations. 7:21. And this house shall be for a proverb to all that pass by, and they shall be astonished and say: Why hath the Lord done thus to this land, and to this house? 7:22. And they shall answer: Because they forsook the Lord the God of their fathers, who brought them out of the land of Egypt, and laid hold on strange gods, and adored them, and worshipped them: therefore all these evils are come upon them. 2 Paralipomenon Chapter 8 Solomon's buildings and other acts. 8:1. And at the end of twenty years after Solomon had built the house of the Lord and his own house: 8:2. He built the cities which Hiram had given to Solomon, and caused the children of Israel to dwell there. 8:3. He went also into Emath Suba, and possessed it. 8:4. And he built Palmira in the desert, and he built other strong cities in Emath. 8:5. And he built Beth-horon the upper, and Beth-horon the nether, walled cities with gates and bars and locks. 8:6. Balaath also and all the strong cities that were Solomon's, and all the cities of the chariots, and the cities of the horsemen. All that Solomon had a mind, and designed, he built in Jerusalem and in Libanus, and in all the land of his dominion. 8:7. All the people that were left of the Hethites, and the Amorrhites, and the Pherezites, and the Hevites, and the Jebusites, that were not of the stock of Israel: 8:8. Of their children, and of the posterity, whom the children of Israel had not slain, Solomon made to be the tributaries, unto this day. 8:9. But of the children of Israel he set none to serve in the king's works: for they were men of war, and chief captains, and rulers of his chariots and horsemen. 8:10. And all the chief captains of king Solomon's army were two hundred and fifty, who taught the people. 8:11. And he removed the daughter of Pharao from the city of David, to the house which he had built for her. For the king said: My wife shall not dwell in the house of David king of Israel, for it is sanctified: because the ark of the Lord came into it. 8:12. Then Solomon offered holocausts to the Lord upon the altar of the Lord which he had built before the porch, 8:13. That every day an offering might be made on it according to the ordinance of Moses, in the sabbaths, and on the new moons, and on the festival days three times a year, that is to say, in the feast of unleavened bread, and in the feast of weeks, and in the feast of tabernacles. 8:14. And he appointed according to the order of David his father the offices of the priests in their ministries: and the Levites in their order to give praise, and minister before the priests according to the duty of every day: and the porters in their divisions by gate and gate: for so David the man of God had commanded. 8:15. And the priests and Levites departed not from the king's commandments, as to any thing that he had commanded, and as to the keeping of the treasures. 8:16. Solomon had all charges prepared, from the day that he founded the house of the Lord, until the day wherein he finished it. 8:17. Then Solomon went to Asiongaber, and to Ailath, on the coast of the Red Sea, which is in the land of Edom. 8:18. And Hiram sent him ships by the hands of his servants, and skilful mariners, and they went with Solomon's servants to Ophir, and they took thence four hundred and fifty talents of gold, and brought it to king Solomon. 2 Paralipomenon Chapter 9 The queen of Saba admireth the wisdom of Solomon. His riches and glory. His death. 9:1. And when the queen of Saba heard of the fame of Solomon, she came to try him with hard questions at Jerusalem, with great riches, and camels, which carried spices, and abundance of gold, and precious stones. And when she was come to Solomon, she proposed to him all that was in her heart. 9:2. And Solomon explained to her all that she proposed: and there was not any thing that he did not make clear unto her. 9:3. And when she had seen these things, to wit, the wisdom of Solomon, and the house which he had built, 9:4. And the meats of his table, and the dwelling places of his servants, and the attendance of his officers, and their apparel, his cupbearers also, and their garments, and the victims which he offered in the house of the Lord: there was no more spirit in her, she was so astonished. 9:5. And she said to the king: The word is true which I heard in my country of thy virtues and wisdom. 9:6. I did not believe them that told it, until I came, and my eyes had seen, and I had proved that scarce one half of thy wisdom had been told me: thou hast exceeded the same with thy virtues. 9:7. Happy are thy men, and happy are thy servants, who stand always before thee, and hear thy wisdom. 9:8. Blessed be the Lord thy God, who hath been pleased to set thee on his throne, king of the Lord thy God. Because God loveth Israel, and will preserve them forever: therefore hath he made thee king over them, to do judgment and justice. 9:9. And she gave to the king a hundred and twenty talents of gold, and spices in great abundance, and most precious stones: there were no such spices as these which the queen of Saba gave to king Solomon. 9:10. And the servants also of Hiram, with the servants of Solomon, brought gold from Ophir, and thyine trees, and most precious stones: 9:11. And the king made of the thyine trees stairs in the house of the Lord, and in the king's house, and harps and psalteries for the singing men: never were there seen such trees in the land of Juda. 9:12. And king Solomon gave to the queen of Saba all that she desired, and that she asked, and many more things than she brought to him: so she returned, and went to her own country with her servants. 9:13. And the weight of the gold, that was brought to Solomon every year, was six hundred and sixty-six talents of gold: 9:14. Beside the sum which the deputies of divers nations, and the merchants were accustomed to bring, and all the kings of Arabia, and the lords of the lands, who brought gold and silver to Solomon. 9:15. And king Solomon made two hundred golden spears, of the sum of six hundred pieces of gold, which went to every spear: 9:16. And three hundred golden shields of three hundred pieces of gold, which went to the covering of every shield: and the king put them in the armoury, which was compassed with a wood. 9:17. The king also made a great throne of ivory, and overlaid it with pure gold. 9:18. And six steps to go up to the throne, and a footstool of gold, and two arms one on either side, and two lions standing by the arms: 9:19. Moreover twelve other little lions standing upon the steps on both sides: there was not such a throne in any kingdom. 9:20. And all the vessels of the king's table were of gold, and the vessels of the house of the forest of Libanus were of the purest gold. For no account was made of silver in those days. 9:21. For the king's ships went to Tharsis with the servants of Hiram, once in three years: and they brought thence gold and silver, and ivory, and apes, and peacocks. 9:22. And Solomon was magnified above all the kings of the earth for riches and glory. 9:23. And all the kings of the earth desired to see the face of Solomon, that they might hear the wisdom which God had given in his heart. 9:24. And every year they brought him presents, vessels of silver and of gold, and garments, and armour, and spices, and horses, and mules. 9:25. And Solomon had forty thousand horses in the stables, and twelve thousand chariots, and horsemen, and he placed them in the cities of the chariots and where the king was in Jerusalem. 9:26. And he exercised authority over all the kings from the river Euphrates to the land of the Philistines, and to the borders of Egypt. 9:27. And he made silver as plentiful in Jerusalem as stones: and cedars as common as the sycamores, which grow in the plains. 9:28. And horses were brought to him out of Egypt, and out of all countries. 9:29. Now the rest of the acts of Solomon first and last are written in the words of Nathan the prophet, and in the books of Ahias the Silonite, and in the vision of Addo the seer, against Jeroboam the son of Nabat. 9:30. And Solomon reigned in Jerusalem over all Israel forty years. 9:31. And he slept with his fathers: and they buried him in the city of David: and Roboam his son reigned in his stead. 2 Paralipomenon Chapter 10 Roboam answereth the people roughly: upon which ten tribes revolt. 10:1. And Roboam went to Sichem: for thither all Israel were assembled, to make him king. 10:2. And when Jeroboam the son of Nabat, who was in Egypt, (for he was fled thither from Solomon,) heard it, forthwith he returned. 10:3. And they sent for him, and he came with all Israel, and they spoke to Roboam, saying: 10:4. Thy father oppressed with a most grievous yoke, do thou govern us with a lighter hand than thy father, who laid upon us a heavy servitude, and ease some thing of the burden, that we may serve thee. 10:5. And he said to them: Come to me again after three days. And when the people were gone, 10:6. He took counsel with the ancients, who had stood before his father Solomon, while he yet lived, saying: What counsel give you to me, that I may answer the people? 10:7. And they said to him: If thou please this people, and soothe them with kind words, they will be thy servants for ever. 10:8. But he forsook the counsel of the ancients, and began to treat with the young men, that had been brought up with him, and were in his train. 10:9. And he said to them: What seemeth good to you? or what shall I answer this people, who have said to me: Ease the yoke which thy father laid upon us? 10:10. But they answered as young men, and brought up with him in pleasures, and said: Thus shalt thou speak to the people, that said to thee: Thy father made our yoke heavy, do thou ease it: thus shalt thou answer them: My little finger is thicker than the loins of my father. 10:11. My father laid upon you a heavy yoke, and I will add more weight to it: my father beat you with scourges, but I will beat you with scorpions. 10:12. So Jeroboam, and all the people came to Roboam the third day, as he commanded them. 10:13. And the king answered roughly, leaving the counsel of the ancients. 10:14. And he spoke according to the advice of the young men: My father laid upon you a heavy yoke, which I will make heavier: my father beat you with scourges, but I will beat you with scorpions. 10:15. And he condescended not to the people's requests: for it was the will of God, that his word might be fulfilled which he had spoken by the hand of Ahias the Silonite to Jeroboam the son of Nabat. 10:16. And all the people upon the king's speaking roughly, said thus unto him: We have no part in David, nor inheritance in the son of Isai. Return to thy dwellings, O Israel, and do thou, O David feed thy own house. And Israel went away to their dwellings. 10:17. But Roboam reigned over the children of Israel that dwelt in the cities of Juda. 10:18. And king Roboam sent Aduram, who was over the tributes, and the children of Israel stoned him, and he died: and king Roboam made haste to get up into his chariot, and fled into Jerusalem. 10:19. And Israel revolted from the house of David unto this day. 2 Paralipomenon Chapter 11 Roboam's reign. His kingdom is strengthened. 11:1. And Roboam came to Jerusalem, and called together all the house of Juda and of Benjamin, a hundred and fourscore thousand chosen men and warriors, to fight against Israel, and to bring back his kingdom to him. 11:2. And the word of the Lord came to Semeias the man of God, saying: 11:3. Speak to Roboam the son of Solomon the king of Juda, and to all Israel, in Juda and Benjamin: 11:4. Thus saith the Lord: You shall not go up, nor fight against your brethren: let every man return to his own house, for by my will this thing has been done. And when they heard the word of the Lord, they returned, and did not go against Jeroboam, 11:5. And Roboam dwelt in Jerusalem, and built walled cities in Juda. 11:6. And he built Bethlehem, and Etam, and Thecue, 11:7. And Bethsur, and Socho, and Odollam, 11:8. And Geth, and Maresa, and Ziph, 11:9. And Aduram, and Lachis, and Azecha, 11:10. Saraa also, and Aialon, and Hebron, which are in Juda and Benjamin, well fenced cities. 11:11. And when he had enclosed them with walls, he put in them governors and storehouses of provisions, that is, of oil and of wine. 11:12. Moreover in every city he made an armoury of shields and spears, and he fortified them with great diligence, and he reigned over Juda, and Benjamin, 11:13. And the priests and Levites, that were in all Israel, came to him out of all their seats, 11:14. Leaving their suburbs, and their possessions, and passing over to Juda, and Jerusalem, because Jeroboam and his sons had cast them off, from executing the priestly office to the Lord. 11:15. And he made to himself priests for the high places, and for the devils, and for the calves which he had made. 11:16. Moreover out of all the tribes of Israel, whosoever gave their heart to seek the Lord the God of Israel, came into Jerusalem to sacrifice their victims before the Lord the God of their fathers. 11:17. And they strengthened the kingdom of Juda, and established Roboam the son of Solomon for three years: for they walked in the ways of David and of Solomon, only three years. 11:18. And Roboam took to wife Mahalath, the daughter of Jerimoth the son of David: and Abihail the daughter of Eliab the son of Isai. 11:19. And they bore him sons Jehus, and Somorias, and Zoom. 11:20. And after her he married Maacha the daughter of Absalom, who bore him Abia, and Ethai, and Ziza, and Salomith. 11:21. And Roboam loved Maacha the daughter of Absalom above all his wives and concubines: for he had married eighteen wives, and threescore concubines: and he begot eight and twenty sons, and threescore daughters. 11:22. But he put at the head of them Abia the son of Maacha to be the chief ruler over all his brethren: for he meant to make him king, 11:23. Because he was wiser and mightier than all his sons, and in all the countries of Juda, and of Benjamin, and in all the walled cities: and he gave them provisions in abundance, and he sought many wives. 2 Paralipomenon Chapter 12 Roboam for his sins is delivered up into the hands of the king of Egypt: who carrieth away all the treasures of the temple. 12:1. And when the kingdom of Roboam was strengthened and fortified, he forsook the law of the Lord, and all Israel with him. 12:2. And in the fifth year of the reign of Roboam, Sesac king of Egypt came up against Jerusalem (because they had sinned against the Lord) 12:3. With twelve hundred chariots and threescore thousand horsemen: and the people were without number that came with him out of Egypt, to wit, Libyans, and Troglodites, and Ethiopians. 12:4. And he took the strongest cities in Juda, and came to Jerusalem. 12:5. And Semeias the prophet came to Roboam, and to the princes of Juda, that were gathered together in Jerusalem, fleeing from Sesac, and he said to them: Thus saith the Lord: You have left me, and I have left you in the hand of Sesac. 12:6. And the princes of Israel, and the king, being in a consternation, said: The Lord is just. 12:7. And when the Lord saw that they were humbled, the word of the Lord came to Semeias, saying: Because they are humbled, I will not destroy them, and I will give them a little help, and my wrath shall not fall upon Jerusalem by the hand of Sesac. 12:8. But yet they shall serve him, that they may know the difference between my service, and the service of a kingdom of the earth. 12:9. So Sesac king of Egypt departed from Jerusalem, taking away the treasures of the king's house, and he took all with him, and the golden shields that Solomon had made, 12:10. Instead of which the king made brazen ones, and delivered them to the captains of the shieldbearers, who guarded the entrance of the palace. 12:11. And when the king entered into the house of the Lord, the shieldbearers came and took them, and brought them back again to their armoury. 12:12. But yet because they were humbled, the wrath of the Lord turned away from them, and they were not utterly destroyed: for even in Juda there were found good works. 12:13. King Roboam therefore was strengthened in Jerusalem, and reigned: he was one and forty years old when he began to reign, and he reigned seventeen years in Jerusalem, the city which the Lord chose out of all the tribes of Israel, to establish his name there: and the name of his mother was Naama an Ammonitess. 12:14. But he did evil, and did not prepare his heart to seek the Lord. 12:15. Now the acts of Roboam first and last are written in the books of Semeias the prophet, and of Addo the seer, and diligently recorded: and there was war between Roboam and Jeroboam all their days. 12:16. And Roboam slept with his fathers, and was buried in the city of David. And Abia his son reigned in his stead. 2 Paralipomenon Chapter 13 Abia's reign: his victory over Jeroboam. 13:1. In the eighteenth year of king Jeroboam, Abia reigned over Juda. 13:2. Three years he reigned in Jerusalem, and his mother's name was Michaia, the daughter of Uriel of Gabaa: and there was war between Abia and Jeroboam. Michaia... Alias Maacha. Her father had also two names, viz., Absalom, or Abessalom, and Uriel. 13:3. And when Abia had begun battle, and had with him four hundred thousand most valiant and chosen men, Jeroboam put his army in array against him, eight hundred thousand men, who were also chosen and most valiant for war. 13:4. And Abia stood upon mount Semeron, which was in Ephraim, and said: Hear me, O Jeroboam, and all Israel: 13:5. Do you not know that the Lord God of Israel gave to David the kingdom over Israel for ever, to him and to his sons by a covenant of salt? A covenant of salt... That is, a firm and perpetual covenant. See Num. 18.19. 13:6. And Jeroboam the son of Nabat, the servant of Solomon the son of David, rose up: and rebelled against his lord. 13:7. And there were gathered to him vain men, and children of Belial: and they prevailed against Roboam the son of Solomon: for Roboam was unexperienced, and of a fearful heart, and could not resist them. 13:8. And now you say that you are able to withstand the kingdom of the Lord, which he possesseth by the sons of David, and you have a great multitude of people, and golden calves, which Jeroboam hath made you for gods. 13:9. And you have cast out the priests of the Lord, the sons of Aaron, and the Levites: and you have made you priests, like all the nations of the earth: whosoever cometh and consecrateth his hand with a bullock of the herd, and with seven rams, is made a priest of those who are no gods. 13:10. But the Lord is our God, whom we forsake not, and the priests who minister to the Lord are the sons of Aaron, and the Levites are in their order. 13:11. And they offer holocausts to the Lord, every day, morning and evening, and incense made according to the ordinance of the law, and the loaves are set forth on a most clean table, and there is with us the golden candlestick, and the lamps thereof, to be lighted always in the evening: for we keep the precepts of the Lord our God, whom you have forsaken. 13:12. Therefore God is the leader in our army, and his priests who sound with trumpets, and resound against you: O children of Israel, fight not against the Lord the God of your fathers, for it is not good for you. 13:13. While he spoke these things, Jeroboam caused an ambushment to come about behind him. And while he stood facing the enemies, he encompassed Juda, who perceived it not, with his army. 13:14. And when Juda looked back, they saw the battle coming upon them both before and behind, and they cried to the Lord: and the priests began to sound with the trumpets. 13:15. And all the men of Juda shouted: and behold when they shouted, God terrified Jeroboam, and all Israel that stood against Abia and Juda. 13:16. And the children of Israel fled before Juda, and the Lord delivered them into their hand. 13:17. And Abia and his people slew them with a great slaughter, and there fell wounded of Israel five hundred thousand valiant men. 13:18. And the children of Israel were brought down, at that time, and the children of Juda were exceedingly strengthened, because they had trusted in the Lord the God of their fathers. 13:19. And Abia pursued after Jeroboam, and took cities from him, Bethel and her daughters, and Jesana with her daughters, Ephron also and her daughters. 13:20. And Jeroboam was not able to resist any more, in the days of Abia: and the Lord struck him, and he died. 13:21. But Abia, being strengthened in his kingdom, took fourteen wives: and begot two and twenty sons, and sixteen daughters. 13:22. And the rest of the acts of Abia, and of his ways and works, are written diligently in the book of Addo the prophet. 2 Paralipomenon Chapter 14 The reign of Asa: his victory over the Ethiopians. 14:1. And Abia slept with his fathers, and they buried him in the city of David: and Asa his son reigned in his stead: in his days the land was quiet ten years. 14:2. And Asa did that which was good and pleasing in the sight of his God, and he destroyed the altars of foreign worship, and the high places. 14:3. And broke the statues, and cut down the groves. 14:4. And he commanded Juda to seek the Lord the God of their fathers, and to do the law, and all the commandments. 14:5. And he took away out of all the cities of Juda the altars, and temples, and reigned in peace. 14:6. He built also strong cities in Juda, for he was quiet, and there had no wars risen in his time, the Lord giving peace. 14:7. And he said to Juda: Let us build these cities, and compass them with walls, and fortify them with towers, and gates, and bars, while all is quiet from wars, because we have sought the Lord the God of our fathers, and he hath given us peace round about. So they built, and there was no hinderance in building. 14:8. And Asa had in his army of men that bore shields and spears of Juda three hundred thousand, and of Benjamin that bore shields and drew bows, two hundred and eighty thousand, all these were most valiant men. 14:9. And Zara the Ethiopian came out against them with his army of ten hundred thousand men, and with three hundred chariots: and he came as far as Maresa. 14:10. And Asa went out to meet him, and set his army in array for battle in the vale of Sephata, which is near Maresa: 14:11. And he called upon the Lord God, and said: Lord, there is no difference with thee, whether thou help with few, or with many: help us, O Lord our God: for with confidence in thee, and in thy name we are come against this multitude. O Lord thou art our God, let not man prevail against thee. 14:12. And the Lord terrified the Ethiopians before Asa and Juda: and the Ethiopians fled. 14:13. And Asa and the people that were with him pursued them to Gerara: and the Ethiopians fell even to utter destruction, for the Lord slew them, and his army fought against them, and they were destroyed. And they took abundance of spoils, 14:14. And they took all the cities round about Gerara: for a great fear was come upon all men: and they pillaged the cities, and carried off much booty. 14:15. And they destroyed the sheepcotes, and took an infinite number of cattle, and of camels: and returned to Jerusalem. 2 Paralipomenon Chapter 15 The prophecy of Azarias. Asa's covenant with God. He deposeth his mother. 15:1. And the spirit of God came upon Azarias the son of Oded, 15:2. And he went out to meet Asa, and said to him: Hear ye me, Asa, and all Juda and Benjamin: The Lord is with you, because you have been with him. If you seek him, you shall find: but if you forsake him, he will forsake you. 15:3. And many days shall pass in Israel, without the true God, and without a priest a teacher, and without the law. 15:4. And when in their distress they shall return to the Lord the God of Israel, and shall seek him, they shall find him. 15:5. At that time there shall be no peace to him that goeth out and cometh in, but terrors on every side among all the inhabitants of the earth. 15:6. For nation shall fight against nation, and city against city, for the Lord will trouble them with all distress. 15:7. Do you therefore take courage, and let not your hands be weakened: for there shall be a reward for your work. 15:8. And when Asa had heard the words, and the prophecy of Azarias the son of Oded the prophet, he took courage, and took away the idols out of all the land of Juda, and out of Benjamin, and out of the cities of mount Ephraim, which he had taken, and he dedicated the altar of the Lord, which was before the porch of the Lord. 15:9. And he gathered together all Juda and Benjamin, and the strangers with them of Ephraim, and Manasses, and Simeon: for many were come over to him out of Israel, seeing that the Lord his God was with him. 15:10. And when they were come to Jerusalem in the third month, in the fifteenth year of the reign of Asa, 15:11. They sacrificed to the Lord in that day of the spoils, and of the prey, that they had brought, seven hundred oxen, and seven thousand rams. 15:12. And he went in to confirm as usual the covenant, that they should seek the Lord the God of their fathers with all their heart, and with all their soul. 15:13. And if any one, said he, seek not the Lord the God of Israel, let him die, whether little or great, man or woman. 15:14. And they swore to the Lord with a loud voice with joyful shouting, and with sound of trumpet, and sound of cornets, 15:15. All that were in Juda with a curse: for with all their heart they swore, and with all their will they sought him, and they found him, and the Lord gave them rest round about. 15:16. Moreover Maacha the mother of king Asa he deposed from the royal authority, because she had made in a grove an idol of Priapus: and he entirely destroyed it, and breaking it into pieces, burnt it at the torrent Cedron. 15:17. But high places were left in Israel: nevertheless the heart of Asa was perfect all his days. 15:18. And the things which his father had vowed, and he himself had vowed, he brought into the house of the Lord, gold and silver, and vessels of divers uses. 15:19. And there was no war unto the five and thirtieth year of the kingdom of Asa. 2 Paralipomenon Chapter 16 Asa is reproved for seeking help from the Syrians: his last acts and death. 16:1. And in the six and thirtieth year of his kingdom, Baasa the king of Israel came up against Juda, and built a wall about Rama, that no one might safely go out or come in of the kingdom of Asa. Six and thirtieth year of his kingdom... That is, of the kingdom of Juda, taking the date of it from the beginning of the reign of Reboam. 16:2. Then Asa brought out silver and gold out of the treasures of the house of the Lord, and of the king's treasures, and sent to Benadad king of Syria, who dwelt in Damascus, saying: 16:3. There is a league between me and thee, as there was between my father and thy father, wherefore I have sent thee silver and gold, that thou mayst break thy league with Baasa king of Israel, and make him depart from me. 16:4. And when Benadad heard this, he sent the captains of his armies against the cities of Israel: and they took Ahion, and Dan, and Abelmaim, and all the walled cities of Nephtali. 16:5. And when Baasa heard of it, he left off the building of Rama, and interrupted his work. 16:6. Then king Asa took all Juda, and they carried away from Rama the stones, and the timber that Baasa had prepared for the building: and he built with them Gabaa, and Maspha. 16:7. At that time Hanani the prophet came to Asa king of Juda, and said to him: Because thou hast had confidence in the king of Syria, and not in the Lord thy God, therefore hath the army of the king of Syria escaped out of thy hand. 16:8. Were not the Ethiopians, and the Libyans much more numerous in chariots, and horsemen, and an exceeding great multitude: yet because thou trustedst in the Lord, he delivered them into thy hand? 16:9. For the eyes of the Lord behold all the earth, and give strength to those who with a perfect heart trust in him. Wherefore thou hast done foolishly, and for this cause from this time wars shall arise against thee. 16:10. And Asa was angry with the seer, and commanded him to be put in prison: for he was greatly enraged because of this thing: and he put to death many of the people at that time. 16:11. But the works of Asa the first and last are written in the book of the kings of Juda and Israel. 16:12. And Asa fell sick in the nine and thirtieth year of his reign, of a most violent pain in his feet, and yet in his illness he did not seek the Lord, but rather trusted in the skill of physicians. 16:13. And he slept with his fathers: and he died in the one and fortieth year of his reign. 16:14. And they buried him in his own sepulchre, which he had made for himself in the city of David: and they laid him on his bed full of spices and odoriferous ointments, which were made by the art of the perfumers, and they burnt them over him with very great pomp. 2 Paralipomenon Chapter 17 Josaphat's reign: his care for the instruction of his people: his numerous forces. 17:1. And Josaphat his son reigned in his stead, and grew strong against Israel. 17:2. And he placed numbers of soldiers in all the fortified cities of Juda. And he put garrisons in the land of Juda, and in the cities of Ephraim, which Asa his father had taken. 17:3. And the Lord was with Josaphat, because he walked in the first ways of David his father: and trusted not in Baalim, 17:4. But in the God of his father, and walked in his commandments, and not according to the sins of Israel. 17:5. And the Lord established the kingdom in his hand, and all Juda brought presents to Josaphat: and he acquired immense riches, and much glory. 17:6. And when his heart had taken courage for the ways of the Lord, he took away also the high places and the groves out of Juda. 17:7. And in the third year of his reign, he sent of his princes Benhail, and Abdias, and Zacharias, and Nathanael, and Micheas, to teach in the cites of Juda: 17:8. And with them the Levites, Semeias, and Nathanias, and Zabadias, and Asael, and Semiramoth, and Jonathan, and Adonias, and Tobias, and Thobadonias Levites, and with them Elisama, and Joram priests. 17:9. And they taught the people in Juda, having with them the book of the law of the Lord: and they went about all the cities of Juda, and instructed the people. 17:10. And the fear of the Lord came upon all the kingdoms of the lands that were round about Juda, and they durst not make war against Josaphat. 17:11. The Philistines also brought presents to Josaphat, and tribute in silver, and the Arabians brought him cattle, seven thousand seven hundred rams, and as many he-goats. 17:12. And Josaphat grew, and became exceeding great: and he built in Juda houses like towers, and walled cities. 17:13. And he prepared many works in the cities of Juda: and he had warriors, and valiant men in Jerusalem. 17:14. Of whom this is the number of the houses and families of every one: in Juda captains of the army, Ednas the chief, and with him three hundred thousand most valiant men. 17:15. After him Johanan the captain, and with him two hundred and eighty thousand. 17:16. And after him was Amasias the son of Zechri, consecrated to the Lord, and with him were two hundred thousand valiant men. 17:17. After him was Eliada valiant in battle, and with him two hundred thousand armed with bow and shield. 17:18. After him also was Jozabad, and with him a hundred and eighty thousand ready for war. 17:19. All these were at the hand of the king, beside others, whom he had put in the walled cities, in all Juda. 2 Paralipomenon Chapter 18 Josaphat accompanies Achab in his expedition against Ramoth; where Achab is slain, as Micheas had foretold. 18:1. Now Josaphat was rich and very glorious, and was joined by affinity to Achab. 18:2. And he went down to him after some years to Samaria: and Achab at his coming killed sheep and oxen in abundance for him and the people that came with him: and he persuaded him to go up to Ramoth Galaad. 18:3. And Achab king of Israel said to Josaphat king of Juda: Come with me to Ramoth Galaad. And he answered him: Thou art as I am, and my people as thy people, and we will be with thee in the war. 18:4. And Josaphat said to the king of Israel: Inquire, I beseech thee, at present the word of the Lord. 18:5. So the king of Israel gathered together of the prophets four hundred men, and he said to them: Shall we go to Ramoth Galaad to fight, or shall we forbear? But they said: Go up, and God will deliver into the king's hand. 18:6. And Josaphat said: Is there not here a prophet of the Lord, that we may inquire also of him? 18:7. And the king of Israel said to Josaphat: There is one man, of whom we may ask the will of the Lord: but I hate him, for he never prophesieth good to me, but always evil: and it is Micheas the son of Jemla. And Josaphat said: Speak not thus, O king. 18:8. And the king of Israel called one of the eunuchs, and said to him: Call quickly Micheas the son of Jemla. 18:9. Now the king of Israel, and Josaphat king of Juda, both sat on their thrones, clothed in royal robes, and they sat in the open court by the gate of Samaria, and all the prophets prophesied before them. 18:10. And Sedecias the son of Chanaana made him horns of iron, and said: Thus saith the Lord: With these shalt thou push Syria, till thou destroy it. 18:11. And all the prophets prophesied in like manner, and said: Go up to Ramoth Galaad, and thou shalt prosper, and the Lord will deliver them into the king's hand. 18:12. And the messenger that went to call Micheas, said to him: Behold the words of all the prophets with one mouth declare good to the king: I beseech thee therefore let not thy word disagree with them, and speak thou also good success. 18:13. And Micheas answered him: As the Lord liveth, whatsoever my God shall say to me, that will I speak. 18:14. So he came to the king: and the king said to him: Micheas, shall we go to Ramoth Galaad to fight, or forbear? And he answered him: Go up, for all shall succeed prosperously, and the enemies shall be delivered into your hands. 18:15. And the king said: I adjure thee again and again to say nothing but the truth to me, in the name of the Lord. 18:16. Then he said: I saw all Israel scattered in the mountains, like sheep without a shepherd: and the Lord said: These have no masters: let every man return to his own house in peace. 18:17. And the king of Israel said to Josaphat: Did I not tell thee that this man would not prophesy me any good, but evil? 18:18. Then he said: Hear ye therefore the word of the Lord: I saw the Lord sitting on his throne, and all the army of heaven standing by him on the right hand and on the left, 18:19. And the Lord said: Who shall deceive Achab king of Israel, that he may go up and fall in Ramoth Galaad? And when one spoke in this manner, and another otherwise: Who shall deceive, etc... See the annotations, 3 Kings 22. 18:20. There came forth a spirit, and stood before the Lord, and said: I will deceive him. And the Lord said to him: By what means wilt thou deceive him? 18:21. And he answered: I will go out, and be a lying spirit in the mouth of all his prophets. And the Lord said: Thou shalt deceive, and shalt prevail: go out, and do so. 18:22. Now therefore behold the Lord hath put a spirit of lying in the mouth of all thy prophets, and the Lord hath spoken evil against thee. 18:23. And Sedecias the son of Chanaana came, and struck Micheas on the cheek and said: Which way went the spirit of the Lord from me, to speak to thee? 18:24. And Micheas said: Thou thyself shalt see in that day, when thou shalt go in from chamber to chamber, to hide thyself. 18:25. And the king of Israel commanded, saying: Take Micheas, and carry him to Amon the governor of the city, and to Joas the son of Amelech, 18:26. And say: Thus saith the king: Put this fellow in prison, and give him bread and water in a small quantity till I return in peace. 18:27. And Micheas said: If thou return in peace, the Lord hath not spoken by me. And he said: Hear, all ye people. 18:28. So the king of Israel and Josaphat king of Juda went up to Ramoth Galaad. 18:29. And the king of Israel said to Josaphat: I will change my dress, and so I will go to the battle, but put thou on thy own garments. And the king of Israel having changed his dress, went to the battle. 18:30. Now the king of Syria had commanded the captains of his cavalry, saying: Fight ye not with small, or great, but with the king of Israel only. 18:31. So when the captains of the cavalry saw Josaphat, they said: This is the king of Israel. And they surrounded him to attack him: but he cried to the Lord, and he helped him, and turned them away from him. 18:32. For when the captains of the cavalry saw, that he was not the king of Israel, they left him. 18:33. And it happened that one of the people shot an arrow at a venture, and struck the king of Israel between the neck and the shoulders, and he said to his chariot man: Turn thy hand, and carry me out of the battle, for I am wounded. 18:34. And the fight was ended that day: but the king of Israel stood in his chariot against the Syrians until the evening, and died at the sunset. 2 Paralipomenon Chapter 19 Josaphat's charge to the judges and to the Levites. 19:1. And Josaphat king of Juda returned to his house in peace to Jerusalem. 19:2. And Jehu the son of Hanani the seer met him, and said to him: Thou helpest the ungodly, and thou art joined in friendship with them that hate the Lord, and therefore thou didst deserve indeed the wrath of the Lord: 19:3. But good works are found in thee, because thou hast taken away the groves out of the land of Juda, and hast prepared thy heart to seek the Lord the God of thy fathers. 19:4. And Josaphat dwelt at Jerusalem: and he went out again to the people from Bersabee to mount Ephraim, and brought them back to the Lord the God of their fathers. 19:5. And he set judges of the land in all the fenced cities of Juda, in every place. 19:6. And charging the judges, he said: Take heed what you do: for you exercise not the judgment of man, but of the Lord: and whatsoever you judge, it shall redound to you. 19:7. Let the fear of the Lord be with you, and do all things with diligence: for there is no iniquity with the Lord our God, nor respect of persons, nor desire of gifts. 19:8. In Jerusalem also Josaphat appointed Levites, and priests and chiefs of the families of Israel, to judge the judgment and the cause of the Lord for the inhabitants thereof. 19:9. And he charged them, saying, Thus shall you do in the fear of the Lord faithfully, and with a perfect heart. 19:10. Every cause that shall come to you of your brethren, that dwell in their cities, between kindred and kindred, wheresoever there is question concerning the law, the commandment, the ceremonies, the justifications: shew it them, that they may not sin against the Lord, and that wrath may not come upon you and your brethren: and so doing you shall not sin. 19:11. And Amarias the priest your high priest shall be chief in the things which regard God: and Zabadias the son of Ismahel, who is ruler in the house of Juda, shall be over those matters which belong to the king's office: and you have before you the Levites for masters, take courage and do diligently, and the Lord will be with you in good things. 2 Paralipomenon Chapter 20 The Ammonites, Moabites, and Syrians combine against Josaphat: he seeketh God's help by public prayer and fasting. A prophet foretelleth that God will fight for his people: the enemies destroy one another. Josaphat with his men gathereth the spoils. He reigneth in peace, but his navy perisheth, for his society with wicked Ochozias. 20:1. After this the children of Moab, and the children of Ammon, and with them of the Ammonites, were gathered together to fight against Josaphat. 20:2. And there came messengers, and told Josaphat, saying: There cometh a great multitude against thee from beyond the sea, and out of Syria, and behold they are in Asasonthamar, which is Engaddi. 20:3. And Josaphat being seized with fear betook himself wholly to pray to the Lord, and he proclaimed a fast for all Juda. 20:4. And Juda gathered themselves together to pray to the Lord: and all came out of their cities to make supplication to him. 20:5. And Josaphat stood in the midst of the assembly of Juda, and Jerusalem, in the house of the Lord before the new court, 20:6. And said: O Lord God of our fathers, thou art God in heaven, and rulest over all the kingdoms and nations, in thy hand is strength and power, and no one can resist thee. 20:7. Didst not thou our God kill all the inhabitants of this land before thy people Israel, and gavest it to the seed of Abraham thy friend for ever? 20:8. And they dwelt in it, and built in it a sanctuary to thy name, saying: 20:9. If evils fall upon us, the sword of judgment, or pestilence, or famine, we will stand in thy presence before this house, in which thy name is called upon: and we will cry to thee in our afflictions, and thou wilt hear, and save us. 20:10. Now therefore behold the children of Ammon, and of Moab, and mount Seir, through whose lands thou didst not allow Israel to pass, when they came out of Egypt, but they turned aside from them, and slew them not, 20:11. Do the contrary, and endeavour to cast us out of the possession which thou hast delivered to us. 20:12. O our God, wilt thou not then judge them? as for us we have not strength enough, to be able to resist this multitude, which cometh violently upon us. But as we know not what to do, we can only turn our eyes to thee. 20:13. And all Juda stood before the Lord with their little ones, and their wives, and their children. 20:14. And Jahaziel the son of Zacharias, the son of Banaias, the son of Jehiel, the son of Mathanias, a Levite of the sons of Asaph, was there, upon whom the spirit of the Lord came in the midst of the multitude, 20:15. And he said: Attend ye, all Juda, and you that dwell in Jerusalem, and thou king Josaphat: Thus saith the Lord to you: Fear ye not, and be not dismayed at this multitude: for the battle is not yours, but God's. 20:16. To morrow you shall go down against them: for they will come up by the ascent named Sis, and you shall find them at the head of the torrent, which is over against the wilderness of Jeruel. 20:17. It shall not be you that shall fight, but only stand with confidence, and you shall see the help of the Lord over you, O Juda, and Jerusalem: fear ye not, nor be you dismayed: to morrow you shall go out against them, and the Lord will be with you. 20:18. Then Josaphat, and Juda, and all the inhabitants of Jerusalem fell flat on the ground before the Lord, and adored him. 20:19. And the Levites of the sons of Caath, and of the sons of Core praised the Lord the God of Israel with a loud voice, on high. 20:20. And they rose early in the morning, and went out through the desert of Thecua: and as they were marching, Josaphat standing in the midst of them, said: Hear me, ye men of Juda, and all the inhabitants of Jerusalem: believe in the Lord your God, and you shall be secure: believe his prophets, and all things shall succeed well. 20:21. And he gave counsel to the people, and appointed the singing men of the Lord, to praise him by their companies, and to go before the army, and with one voice to say: Give glory to the Lord, for his mercy endureth for ever. 20:22. And when they began to sing praises, the Lord turned their ambushments upon themselves, that is to say, of the children of Ammon, and of Moab, and of mount Seir, who were come out to fight against Juda, and they were slain. 20:23. For the children of Ammon, and of Moab, rose up against the inhabitants of mount Seir, to kill and destroy them: and when they had made an end of them, they turned also against one another, and destroyed one another. 20:24. And when Juda came to the watch tower, that looketh toward the desert, they saw afar off all the country, for a great space, full of dead bodies, and that no one was left that could escape death. 20:25. Then Josaphat came, and all the people with him to take away the spoils of the dead, and they found among the dead bodies, stuff of various kinds, and garments, and most precious vessels: and they took them for themselves, insomuch that they could not carry all, nor in three days take away the spoils, the booty was so great. 20:26. And on the fourth day they were assembled in the valley of Blessing: for there they blessed the Lord, and therefore they called that place the valley of Blessing until this day. 20:27. And every man of Juda, and the inhabitants of Jerusalem returned, and Josaphat at their head, into Jerusalem with great joy, because the Lord had made them rejoice over their enemies. 20:28. And they came into Jerusalem with psalteries, and harps, and trumpets into the house of the Lord. 20:29. And the fear of the Lord fell upon all the kingdoms of the lands when they heard that the Lord had fought against the enemies of Israel. 20:30. And the kingdom of Josaphat was quiet, and God gave him peace round about. 20:31. And Josaphat reigned over Juda, and he was five and thirty years old, when he began to reign: and he reigned five and twenty years in Jerusalem: and the name of his mother was Azuba the daughter of Selahi. 20:32. And he walked in the way of his father Asa and departed not from it, doing the things that were pleasing before the Lord. 20:33. But yet he took not away the high places, and the people had not yet turned their heart to the Lord the God of their fathers. 20:34. But the rest of the acts of Josaphat, first and last, are written in the words of Jehu the son of Hanani, which he digested into the books of the kings of Israel. 20:35. After these things Josaphat king of Juda made friendship with Ochozias king of Israel, whose works were very wicked. 20:36. And he was partner with him in making ships, to go to Tharsis: and they made the ships in Asiongaber. 20:37. And Eliezer the son of Dodau of Maresa prophesied to Josaphat, saying: Because thou hast made a league with Ochozias, the Lord hath destroyed thy works, and the ships are broken, and they could not go to Tharsis. 2 Paralipomenon Chapter 21 Joram's wicked reign: his punishment and death. 21:1. And Josaphat slept with his fathers, and was buried with them in the city of David: and Joram his son reigned in his stead. 21:2. And he had brethren the sons of Josaphat, Azarias, and Jahiel, and Zacharias, and Azaria, and Michael, and Saphatias, all these were the sons of Josaphat king of Juda. 21:3. And their father gave them great gifts of silver, and of gold, and pensions, with strong cities in Juda: but the kingdom he gave to Joram, because he was the eldest. 21:4. So Joram rose up over the kingdom of his father: and when he had established himself, he slew all his brethren with the sword, and some of the princes of Israel. 21:5. Joram was two and thirty years old when he began to reign: and he reigned eight years in Jerusalem. 21:6. And he walked in the ways of the kings of Israel, as the house of Achab had done: for his wife was a daughter of Achab, and he did evil in the sight of the Lord. 21:7. But the Lord would not destroy the house of David: because of the covenant which he had made with him: and because he had promised to give a lamp to him, and to his sons for ever. 21:8. In those days Edom revolted, from being subject to Juda, and made themselves a king. 21:9. And Joram went over with his princes, and all his cavalry with him, and rose in the night, and defeated the Edomites who had surrounded him, and all the captains of his cavalry. 21:10. However Edom revolted, from being under the dominion of Juda unto this day: at that time Lobna also revolted, from being under his hand. For he had forsaken the Lord the God of his fathers. 21:11. Moreover he built also high places in the cities of Juda, and he made the inhabitants of Jerusalem to commit fornication, and Juda to transgress. 21:12. And there was a letter brought him from Eliseus the prophet, in which it was written: Thus saith the Lord the God of David thy father: Because thou hast not walked in the ways of Josaphat thy father nor in the ways of Asa king of Juda, 21:13. But hast walked in the ways of the kings of Israel, and hast made Juda and the inhabitants of Jerusalem to commit fornication, imitating the fornication of the house of Achab, moreover also thou hast killed thy brethren, the house of thy father, better men than thyself, 21:14. Behold the Lord will strike thee with a great plague, with all thy people, and thy children, and thy wives, and all thy substance. 21:15. And thou shalt be sick of a very grievous disease of thy bowels, till thy vital parts come out by little and little every day. 21:16. And the Lord stirred up against Joram the spirit of the Philistines, and of the Arabians, who border on the Ethiopians. 21:17. And they came up into the land of Juda, and wasted it, and they carried away all the substance that was found in the king's house, his sons also, and his wives: so that there was no son left him but Joachaz, who was the youngest. Joachaz... Alias Ochozias. 21:18. And besides all this the Lord struck him with an incurable disease in his bowels. 21:19. And as day came after day, and time rolled on, two whole years passed: then after being wasted with a long consumption, so as to void his very bowels, his disease ended with his life. And he died of a most wretched illness, and the people did not make a funeral for him according to the manner of burning, as they had done for his ancestors. 21:20. He was two and thirty years old when he began his reign, and he reigned eight years in Jerusalem. And he walked not rightly, and they buried him in the city of David: but not in the sepulchres of the kings. 2 Paralipomenon Chapter 22 The reign and death of Ochozias. The tyranny of Athalia. 22:1. And the inhabitants of Jerusalem made Ochozias his youngest son king in his place: for the rovers of the Arabians, who had broke in upon the camp, had killed all that were his elder brothers. So Ochozias the son of Joram king of Juda reigned. 22:2. Ochozias was forty-two years old when he began to reign, and he reigned one year in Jerusalem, and the name of his mother was Athalia the daughter of Amri. Forty-two, etc... Divers Greek Bibles read thirty-two, agreeably to 4 Kings 8.17. 22:3. He also walked in the ways of the house of Achab: for his mother pushed him on to do wickedly. 22:4. So he did evil in the sight of the Lord, as the house of Achab did: for they were his counsellors after the death of his father, to his destruction. 22:5. And he walked after their counsels. And he went with Joram the son of Achab king of Israel, to fight against Hazael king of Syria, at Ramoth Galaad: and the Syrians wounded Joram. 22:6. And he returned to be healed in Jezrahel: for he received many wounds in the foresaid battle. And Ochozias the son of Joram king of Juda, went down to visit Joram the son of Achab in Jezrahel where he lay sick. 22:7. For it was the will of God against Ochozias that he should come to Joram: and when he was come should go out also against Jehu the son of Namsi, whom the Lord had anointed to destroy the house of Achab. 22:8. So when Jehu was rooting out the house of Achab, he found the princes of Juda, and the sons of the brethren of Ochozias, who served him, and he slew them. 22:9. And he sought for Ochozias himself, and took him lying hid in Samaria: and when he was brought to him, he killed him, and they buried him: because he was the son of Josaphat, who had sought the Lord with all his heart. And there was no more hope that any one should reign of the race of Ochozias. 22:10. For Athalia his mother, seeing that her son was dead, rose up, and killed all the royal family of the house of Joram. 22:11. But Josabeth the king's daughter took Joas the son of Ochozias, and stole him from among the king's sons that were slain. And she hid him with his nurse in a bedchamber: now Josabeth that hid him, was daughter of king Joram, wife of Joiada the high priest, and sister of Ochozias, and therefore Athalia did not kill him. 22:12. And he was with them hid in the house of God six years, during which Athalia reigned over the land. 2 Paralipomenon Chapter 23 Joiada the high priest causeth Joas to be made king: Athalia to be slain, and idolatry to be destroyed. 23:1. And in the seventh year Joiada being encouraged, took the captains of hundreds, to wit, Azarias the son of Jeroham, and Ismahel the son of Johanan, and Azarias the son of Obed, and Maasias the son of Adaias, and Elisaphat the son of Zechri: and made a covenant with them. 23:2. And they went about Juda, and gathered together the Levites out of all the cities of Juda, and the chiefs of the families of Israel, and they came to Jerusalem. 23:3. And all the multitude made a covenant with the king in the house of God: and Joiada said to them: Behold the king's son shall reign, as the Lord hath said of the sons of David. 23:4. And this is the thing that you shall do: 23:5. A third part of you that come to the sabbath, of the priests, and of the Levites, and of the porters shall be at the gates: and a third part at the king's house: and a third at the gate that is called the Foundation: but let all the rest of the people be in the courts of the house of the Lord. To the sabbath... That is, to perform in your weeks the functions of your office, or the weekly watches. 23:6. And let no one come into the house of the Lord, but the priests, and they that minister of the Levites: let them only come in, because they are sanctified: and let all the rest of the people keep the watches of the Lord. 23:7. And let the Levites be round about the king, every man with his arms; and if any other come into the temple, let him be slain; and let them be with the king, both coming in, and going out. 23:8. So the Levites, and all Juda did according to all that Joiada the high priest had commanded: and they took every one his men that were under him, and that came in by the course of the sabbath, with those who had fulfilled the sabbath, and were to go out. For Joiada the high priest permitted not the companies to depart, which were accustomed to succeed one another every week. 23:9. And Joiada the priest gave to the captains the spears, and the shields, and targets of king David, which he had dedicated in the house of the Lord. 23:10. And he set all the people with swords in their hands from the right side of the temple, to the left side of the temple, before the altar, and the temple, round about the king. 23:11. And they brought out the king's son, and put the crown upon him, and the testimony, and gave him the law to hold in his hand, and they made him king: and Joiada the high priest and his sons anointed him: and they prayed for him, and said: God save the king. 23:12. Now when Athalia heard the noise of the people running and praising the king, she came in to the people, into the temple of the Lord. 23:13. And when she saw the king standing upon the step in the entrance, and the princes, and the companies about him, and all the people of the land rejoicing, and sounding with trumpets, and playing on instruments of divers kinds, and the voice of those that praised, she rent her garments, and said: Treason, treason. 23:14. And Joiada the high priest going out to the captains, and the chiefs of the army, said to them: Take her forth without the precinct of the temple, and when she is without let her be killed with the sword. For the priest commanded that she should not be killed in the house of the Lord. 23:15. And they laid hold on her by the neck: and when she was come within the horse gate of the palace, they killed her there. 23:16. And Joiada made a covenant between himself and all the people, and the king, that they should be the people of the lord. 23:17. And all the people went into the house of Baal, and destroyed it: and they broke down his altars and his idols: and they slew Mathan the priest of Baal before the altars. 23:18. And Joiada appointed overseers in the house of the Lord, under the hands of the priests, and the Levites, whom David had distributed in the house of the Lord: to offer holocausts to the Lord, as it is written in the law of Moses, with joy and singing, according to the disposition of David. 23:19. He appointed also porters in the gates of the house of the Lord, that none who was unclean in any thing should enter in. 23:20. And he took the captains of hundreds, and the most valiant men, and the chiefs of the people, and all the people of the land, and they brought down the king from the house of the Lord, and brought him through the upper gate into the king's house, and set him on the royal throne. 23:21. And all the people of the land rejoiced, and the city was quiet: but Athalia was slain with the sword. 2 Paralipomenon Chapter 24 Joas reigneth well all the days of Joiada: afterwards falleth into idolatry and causeth Zacharias to be slain. He is slain himself by his servants. 24:1. Joas was seven years old when he began to reign: and he reigned forty years in Jerusalem: the name of his mother was Sebia of Bersabee. 24:2. And he did that which is good before the Lord all the days of Joiada the priest. 24:3. And Joiada took for him two wives, by whom he had sons and daughters. 24:4. After this Joas had a mind to repair the house of the Lord. 24:5. And he assembled the priests, and the Levites, and said to them: Go out to the cities of Juda, and gather of all Israel money to repair the temple of your God, from year to year: and do this with speed: but the Levites were negligent. 24:6. And the king called Joiada the chief, and said to him: Why hast thou not taken care to oblige the Levites to bring in out of Juda and Jerusalem the money that was appointed by Moses the servant of the Lord for all the multitude of Israel to bring into the tabernacle of the testimony? 24:7. For that wicked woman Athalia, and her children have destroyed the house of God, and adorned the temple of Baal with all the things that had been dedicated in the temple of the Lord. 24:8. And the king commanded, and they made a chest: and set it by the gate of the house of the Lord on the outside. 24:9. And they made a proclamation in Juda and Jerusalem, that every man should bring to the Lord the money which Moses the servant of God appointed for all Israel, in the desert. 24:10. And all the princes, and all the people rejoiced: and going in they contributed and cast so much into the chest of the Lord, that it was filled. 24:11. And when it was time to bring the chest before the king by the hands of the Levites, (for they saw there was much money,) the king's scribe, and he whom the high priest had appointed went in: and they poured out the money that was in the chest: and they carried back the chest to its place: and thus they did from day to day, and there was gathered an immense sum of money. 24:12. And the king and Joiada gave it to those who were over the works of the house of the Lord: but they hired with it stonecutters, and artificers of every kind of work to repair the house of the Lord: and such as wrought in iron and brass, to uphold what began to be falling. 24:13. And the workmen were diligent, and the breach of the walls was closed up by their hands, and they set up the house of the Lord in its former state, and made it stand firm. 24:14. And when they had finished all the works, they brought the rest of the money before the king and Joiada: and with it were made vessels for the temple for the ministry, and for holocausts and bowls, and other vessels of gold and silver: and holocausts were offered in the house of the Lord continually all the days of Joiada. 24:15. But Joiada grew old and was full of days, and died when he was a hundred and thirty years old. 24:16. And they buried him in the city of David among the kings, because he had done good to Israel, and to his house. 24:17. And after the death of Joiada, the princes of Juda went in, and worshipped the king: and he was soothed by their services and hearkened to them. 24:18. And they forsook the temple of the Lord the God of their fathers, and served groves and idols, and wrath came upon Juda and Jerusalem for this sin. 24:19. And he sent prophets to them to bring them back to the Lord, and they would not give ear when they testified against them. 24:20. The spirit of God then came upon Zacharias the son of Joiada the priest, and he stood in the sight of the people, and said to them: Thus saith the Lord God: Why transgress you the commandment of the Lord which will not be for your good, and have forsaken the Lord, to make him forsake you? 24:21. And they gathered themselves together against him, and stoned him at the king's commandment in the court of the house of the Lord. 24:22. And king Joas did not remember the kindness that Joiada his father had done to him, but killed his son. And when he died, he said: The Lord see, and require it. 24:23. And when a year was come about, the army of Syria came up against him: and they came to Juda and Jerusalem, and killed all the princes of the people, and they sent all the spoils to the king of Damascus. 24:24. And whereas there came a very small number of the Syrians, the Lord delivered into their hands an infinite multitude, because they had forsaken the Lord the God of their fathers: and on Joas they executed shameful judgments. 24:25. And departing they left him in great diseases: and his servants rose up against him, for revenge of the blood of the son of Joiada the priest, and they slew him in his bed, and he died: and they buried him in the city of David, but not in the sepulchres of the kings. 24:26. Now the men that conspired against him were Zabad the son of Semmaath an Ammonitess, and Jozabad the son of Semarith a Moabitess. 24:27. And concerning his sons, and the sum of money which was gathered under him, and the repairing the house of God, they are written more diligently in the book of kings: and Amasias his son reigned in his stead. 2 Paralipomenon Chapter 25 Amasias' reign: he beginneth well, but endeth ill: he is overthrown by Joas, and slain by his people. 25:1. Amasias was five and twenty years old when he began to reign, and he reigned nine and twenty years in Jerusalem, the name of his mother was Joadan of Jerusalem. 25:2. And he did what was good in the sight of the Lord: but yet not with a perfect heart. 25:3. And when he saw himself strengthened in his kingdom, he put to death the servants that had slain the king his father. 25:4. But he slew not their children, as it is written in the book of the law of Moses, where the Lord commanded, saying: The fathers shall not be slain for the children, nor the children for their fathers, but every man shall die for his own sin. 25:5. Amasias therefore gathered Juda together, and appointed them by families, and captains of thousands and of hundreds in all Juda, and Benjamin: and he numbered them from twenty years old and upwards, and found three hundred thousand young men that could go out to battle, and could hold the spear and shield. 25:6. He hired also of Israel a hundred thousand valiant men, for a hundred talents of silver. 25:7. But a man of God came to him, and said: O king, let not the army of Israel go out with thee, for the Lord is not with Israel, and all the children of Ephraim: 25:8. And if thou think that battles consist in the strength of the army, God will make thee to be overcome by the enemies: for it belongeth to God both to help, and to put to flight. 25:9. And Amasias said to the man of God: What will then become of the hundred talents which I have given to the soldiers of Israel? and the man of God answered him: The Lord is rich enough to be able to give thee much more than this. 25:10. Then Amasias separated the army, that came to him out of Ephraim, to go home again: but they being much enraged against Juda, returned to their own country. 25:11. And Amasias taking courage led forth his people, and went to the vale of saltpits, and slew of the children of Seir ten thousand. 25:12. And other ten thousand men the sons of Juda took, and brought to the steep of a certain rock, and cast them down headlong from the top, and they all were broken to pieces. 25:13. But that army which Amasias had sent back, that they should not go with him to battle, spread themselves among the cities of Juda, from Samaria to Beth-horon, and having killed three thousand took away much spoil. 25:14. But Amasias after he had slain the Edomites, set up the gods of the children of Seir, which he had brought thence, to be his gods, and adored them, and burnt incense to them. 25:15. Wherefore the Lord being angry against Amasias, sent a prophet to him, to say to him: Why hast thou adored gods that have not delivered their own people out of thy hand? 25:16. And when he spoke these things, he answered him: Art thou the king's counsellor? be quiet, lest I kill thee. And the prophet departing, said: I know that God is minded to kill thee, because thou hast done this evil, and moreover hast not hearkened to my counsel. 25:17. Then Amasias king of Juda taking very bad counsel, sent to Joas the son of Joachaz the son of Jehu, king of Israel, saying: Come, let us see one another. 25:18. But he sent back the messengers, saying: The thistle that is in Libanus, sent to the cedar in Libanus, saying: Give thy daughter to my son to wife: and behold the beasts that were in the wood of Libanus passed by and trod down the thistle. 25:19. Thou hast said: I have overthrown Edom, and therefore thy heart is lifted up with pride: stay at home, why dost thou provoke evil against thee, that both thou shouldst fall and Juda with thee. 25:20. Amasias would not hearken to him, because it was the Lord's will that he should be delivered into the hands of enemies, because of the gods of Edom. 25:21. So Joas king of Israel went up, and they presented themselves to be seen by one another: and Amasias king of Juda was in Bethsames of Juda: 25:22. And Juda fell before Israel, and they fled to their dwellings. 25:23. And Joas king of Israel took Amasias king of Juda, the son of Joas, the son of Joachaz, in Bethsames, and brought him to Jerusalem: and broke down the walls thereof from the gate of Ephraim, to the gate of the corner, four hundred cubits. 25:24. And he took all the gold, and silver, and all the vessels, that he found in the house of God, and with Obededom, and in the treasures of the king's house, moreover also the sons of the hostages, he brought back to Samaria. 25:25. And Amasias the son of Joas king of Juda lived, after the death of Joas the son of Joachaz king of Israel, fifteen years. 25:26. Now the rest of the acts of Amasias, the first and last, are written in the book of the kings of Juda and Israel. 25:27. And after he revolted from the Lord, they made a conspiracy against him in Jerusalem. And he fled into Lachis, and they sent, and killed him there. 25:28. And they brought him back upon horses, and buried him with his fathers in the city of David. 2 Paralipomenon Chapter 26 Ozias reigneth prosperously, till he invadeth the priests' office, upon which he is struck with a leprosy. 26:1. And all the people of Juda took his son Ozias, who was sixteen years old, and made him king in the room of Amasias his father. 26:2. He built Ailath, and restored it to the dominion of Juda, after that the king slept with his fathers. 26:3. Ozias was sixteen years old when he began to reign, and he reigned two and fifty years in Jerusalem: the name of his mother was Jechelia of Jerusalem. 26:4. And he did that which was right in the eyes of the Lord, according to all that Amasias his father had done. 26:5. And he sought the Lord in the days of Zacharias that understood and saw God: and as long as he sought the Lord, he directed him in all things. 26:6. Moreover he went forth and fought against the Philistines, and broke down the wall of Geth, and the wall of Jabnia, and the wall of Azotus: and he built towns in Azotus, and among the Philistines. 26:7. And God helped him against the Philistines, and against the Arabians, that dwelt in Gurbaal, and against the Ammonites. 26:8. And the Ammonites gave gifts to Ozias: and his name was spread abroad even to the entrance of Egypt for his frequent victories. 26:9. And Ozias built towers in Jerusalem over the gate of the corner, and over the gate of the valley, and the rest, in the same side of the wall, and fortified them. 26:10. And he built towers in the wilderness, and dug many cisterns, for he had much cattle both in the plains, and in the waste of the desert: he had also vineyards and dressers of vines in the mountains, and in Carmel: for he was a man that loved husbandry. 26:11. And the army of his fighting men, that went out to war, was under the hand of Jehiel the scribe, and Maasias the doctor, and under the hand of Henanias, who was one of the king's captains. 26:12. And the whole number of the chiefs by the families of valiant men were two thousand six hundred. 26:13. And the whole army under them three hundred and seven thousand five hundred: who were fit for war, and fought for the king against the enemy. 26:14. And Ozias prepared for them, that is, for the whole army, shields, and spears, and helmets, and coats of mail, and bows, and slings to cast stones. 26:15. And he made in Jerusalem engines of diverse kinds, which he placed in the towers, and in the corners of the walls, to shoot arrows, and great stones: and his name went forth far abroad, for the Lord helped him, and had strengthened him. 26:16. But when he was made strong, his heart was lifted up to his destruction, and he neglected the Lord his God: and going into the temple of the Lord, he had a mind to burn incense upon the altar of incense. 26:17. And immediately Azarias the priest going in after him, and with him fourscore priests of the Lord, most valiant men, 26:18. Withstood the king and said: It doth not belong to thee, Ozias, to burn incense to the Lord, but to the priests, that is, to the sons of Aaron, who are consecrated for this ministry: go out of the sanctuary, do not despise: for this thing shall not be accounted to thy glory by the Lord God. 26:19. And Ozias was angry, and holding in his hand the censer to burn incense, threatened the priests. And presently there rose a leprosy in his forehead before the priests, in the house of the Lord at the altar of incense. 26:20. And Azarias the high priest, and all the rest of the priests looked upon him, and saw the leprosy in his forehead, and they made haste to thrust him out. Yea himself also being frightened, hasted to go out, because he had quickly felt the stroke of the Lord. 26:21. And Ozias the king was a leper unto the day of his death, and he dwelt in a house apart being full of the leprosy, for which he had been cast out of the house of the Lord. And Joatham his son governed the king's house, and judged the people of the land. 26:22. But the rest of the acts of Ozias first and last were written by Isaias the son of Amos, the prophet. 26:23. And Ozias slept with his fathers, and they buried him in the field of the royal sepulchres, because he was a leper: and Joatham his son reigned in his stead. 2 Paralipomenon Chapter 27 Joatham's good reign. 27:1. Joatham was five and twenty years old when he began to reign, and he reigned sixteen years in Jerusalem: the name of his mother was Jerusa the daughter of Sadoc. 27:2. And he did that which was right before the Lord, according to all that Ozias his father had done, only that he entered not into the temple of the Lord, and the people still transgressed. 27:3. He built the high gate of the house of the Lord, and on the wall of Ophel he built much. 27:4. Moreover he built cities in the mountains of Juda, and castles and towers in the forests. 27:5. He fought against the king of the children of Ammon, and overcame them, and the children of Ammon gave him at that time a hundred talents of silver, and ten thousand measures of wheat, and as many measures of barley: so much did the children of Ammon give him in the second and third year. 27:6. And Joatham was strengthened, because he had his way directed before the Lord his God. 27:7. Now the rest of the acts of Joatham, and all his wars, and his works, are written in the book of the kings of Israel and Juda. 27:8. He was five and twenty years old when he began to reign, and he reigned sixteen years in Jerusalem. 27:9. And Joatham slept with his fathers, and they buried him in the city of David: and Achaz his son reigned in his stead. 2 Paralipomenon Chapter 28 The wicked and unhappy reign of Achaz. 28:1. Achaz was twenty years old when he began to reign, and he reigned sixteen years in Jerusalem: he did not that which was right in the sight of the Lord as David his father had done, 28:2. But walked in the ways of the kings of Israel; moreover also he cast statues for Baalim. 28:3. It was he that burnt incense in the valley of Benennom, and consecrated his sons in the fire according to the manner of the nations, which the Lord slew at the coming of the children of Israel. 28:4. He sacrificed also, and burnt incense in the high places, and on the hills, and under every green tree. 28:5. And the Lord his God delivered him into the hands of the king of Syria, who defeated him, and took a great booty out of his kingdom, and carried it to Damascus: he was also delivered into the hands of the king of Israel, who overthrew him with a great slaughter. 28:6. For Phacee the son of Romelia slew of Juda a hundred and twenty thousand in one day, all valiant men, because they had forsaken the Lord the God of their fathers. 28:7. At the same time Zechri a powerful man of Ephraim, slew Maasias the king's son, and Ezricam the governor of his house, and Elcana who was next to the king. 28:8. And the children of Israel carried away of their brethren two hundred thousand women, boys, and girls, and an immense booty: and they brought it to Samaria. 28:9. At that time there was a prophet of the Lord there, whose name was Oded: and he went out to meet the army that came to Samaria, and said to them: Behold the Lord the God of your fathers being angry with Juda, hath delivered them into your hands, and you have butchered them cruelly, so that your cruelty hath reached up to heaven. 28:10. Moreover you have a mind to keep under the children of Juda and Jerusalem for your bondmen and bondwomen, which ought not to be done: for you have sinned in this against the Lord your God. 28:11. But hear ye my counsel, and release the captives that you have brought of your brethren, because a great indignation of the Lord hangeth over you. 28:12. Then some of the chief men of the sons of Ephraim, Azarias the son of Johanan, Barachias the son of Mosollamoth, Ezechias the son of Sellum, and Amasa the son of Adali, stood up against them that came from the war. 28:13. And they said to them: You shall not bring in the captives hither, lest we sin against the Lord. Why will you add to our sins, and heap up upon our former offences? for the sin is great, and the fierce anger of the Lord hangeth over Israel. 28:14. So the soldiers left the spoils, and all that they had taken, before the princes and all the multitude. 28:15. And the men, whom we mentioned above, rose up and took the captives, and with the spoils clothed all them that were naked: and when they had clothed and shod them, and refreshed them with meat and drink, and anointed them because of their labour, and had taken care of them, they set such of them as could not walk, and were feeble, upon beasts, and brought them to Jericho the city of palm trees to their brethren, and they returned to Samaria. 28:16. At that time king Achaz sent to the king of the Assyrians asking help. 28:17. And the Edomites came and slew many of Juda, and took a great booty. 28:18. The Philistines also spread themselves among the cities of the plains, and to the south of Juda: and they took Bethsames, and Aialon, and Gaderoth, and Socho, and Thamnan, and Gamzo, with their villages, and they dwelt in them. 28:19. For the Lord had humbled Juda because of Achaz the king of Juda, for he had stripped it of help, and had contemned the Lord. For he had stripped it of help... That is, Achaz stripped the kingdom of Juda of the divine assistance by his wickedness, and by his introducing idolatry. 28:20. And he brought against him Thelgathphalnasar king of the Assyrians, who also afflicted him, and plundered him without any resistance. 28:21. And Achaz stripped the house of the Lord, and the house of the kings, and of the princes, and gave gifts to the king of the Assyrians, and yet it availed him nothing. 28:22. Moreover also in the time of his distress he increased contempt against the Lord: king Achaz himself by himself, 28:23. Sacrificed victims to the gods of Damascus that struck him, and he said: The gods of the kings of Syria help them, and I will appease them with victims, and they will help me; whereas on the contrary they were the ruin of him, and of all Israel. 28:24. Then Achaz having taken away all the vessels of the house of God, and broken them, shut up the doors of the temple of God, and made himself altars in all the corners of Jerusalem. 28:25. And in all the cities of Juda he built altars to burn frankincense, and he provoked the Lord the God of his fathers to wrath. 28:26. But the rest of his acts, and all his works first and last are written in the book of the kings of Juda and Israel. 28:27. And Achaz slept with his fathers, and they buried him in the city of Jerusalem: for they received him not into the sepulchres of the kings of Israel. And Ezechias his son reigned in his stead. 2 Paralipomenon Chapter 29 Ezechias purifieth the temple, and restoreth religion. 29:1. Now Ezechias began to reign, when he was five and twenty years old, and he reigned nine and twenty years in Jerusalem: the name of his mother was Abia, the daughter of Zacharias. 29:2. And he did that which was pleasing in the sight of the Lord, according to all that David his father had done. 29:3. In the first year and month of his reign he opened the doors of the house of the Lord, and repaired them. 29:4. And he brought the priests and the Levites, and assembled them in the east street. 29:5. And he said to them: Hear me, ye Levites, and be sanctified, purify the house of the Lord the God of your fathers, and take away all filth out of the sanctuary. 29:6. Our fathers have sinned and done evil in the sight of the Lord God, forsaking him: they have turned away their faces from the tabernacle of the Lord, and turned their backs. 29:7. They have shut up the doors that were in the porch, and put out the lamps, and have not burnt incense, nor offered holocausts in the sanctuary of the God of Israel. 29:8. Therefore the wrath of the Lord hath been stirred up against Juda and Jerusalem, and he hath delivered them to trouble, and to destruction, and to be hissed at, as you see with your eyes. 29:9. Behold, our fathers are fallen by the sword, our sons, and our daughters, and wives are led away captives for this wickedness. 29:10. Now therefore I have a mind that we make a covenant with the Lord the God of Israel, and he will turn away the wrath of his indignation from us. 29:11. My sons, be not negligent: the Lord hath chosen you to stand before him, and to minister to him, and to worship him, and to burn incense to him. 29:12. Then the Levites arose, Mahath the son of Amasai, and Joel the son of Azarias, of the sons of Caath: and of the sons of Merari, Cis the son of Abdi, and Azarias the son of Jalaleel. And of the sons of Gerson, Joah the son of Zemma, and Eden the son of Joah. 29:13. And of the sons of Elisaphan, Samri, and Jahiel. Also of the sons of Asaph, Zacharias, and Mathanias. 29:14. And of the sons of Heman, Jahiel, and Semei: and of the sons of Idithun, Semeias, and Oziel. 29:15. And they gathered together their brethren, and sanctified themselves, and went in according to the commandment of the king, and the precept of the Lord, to purify the house of God. 29:16. And the priests went into the temple of the Lord to sanctify it, and brought out all the uncleanness that they found within to the entrance of the house of the Lord, and the Levites took it away, and carried it out abroad to the torrent Cedron. 29:17. And they began to cleanse on the first day of the first month, and on the eighth day of the same month they came into the porch of the temple of the Lord, and they purified the temple in eight days, and on the sixteenth day of the same month they finished what they had begun. 29:18. And they went in to king Ezechias, and said to him: We have sanctified all the house of the Lord, and the altar of holocaust, and the vessels thereof, and the table of proposition with all its vessels, 29:19. And all the furniture of the temple, which king Achaz in his reign had defiled, after his transgression; and behold they are all set forth before the altar of the Lord. 29:20. And king Ezechias rising early, assembled all the rulers of the city, and went up into the house of the Lord: 29:21. And they offered together seven bullocks, and seven rams, and seven lambs, and seven he-goats for sin, for the kingdom, for the sanctuary, for Juda: and he spoke to the priests the sons of Aaron, to offer them upon the altar of the Lord. 29:22. Therefore they killed the bullocks, and the priests took the blood, and poured it upon the altar; they killed also the rams, and their blood they poured also upon the altar, and they killed the lambs, and poured the blood upon the altar. 29:23. And they brought the he-goats for sin before the king, and the whole multitude, and they laid their hand upon them: 29:24. And the priests immolated them, and sprinkled their blood before the altar for an expiation of all Israel: for the king had commanded that the holocaust and the sin offering should be made for all Israel. 29:25. And he set the Levites in the house of the Lord with cymbals, and psalteries, and harps according to the regulation of David the king, and of Gad the seer, and of Nathan the prophet: for it was the commandment of the Lord by the hand of his prophets. 29:26. And the Levites stood, with the instruments of David, and the priests with trumpets. 29:27. And Ezechias commanded that they should offer holocausts upon the altar: and when the holocausts were offered, they began to sing praises to the Lord, and to sound with trumpets, and divers instruments which David the king of Israel had prepared. 29:28. And all the multitude adored, and the singers, and the trumpeters, were in their office till the holocaust was finished. 29:29. And when the oblation was ended, the king, and all that were with him bowed down and adored. 29:30. And Ezechias and the princes commanded the Levites to praise the Lord with the words of David, and Asaph the seer: and they praised him with great joy, and bowing the knee adored. 29:31. And Ezechias added, and said: You have filled your hands to the Lord, come and offer victims, and praises in the house of the Lord. And all the multitude offered victims, and praises, and holocausts with a devout mind. 29:32. And the number of the holocausts which the multitude offered, was seventy bullocks, a hundred rams, and two hundred lambs. 29:33. And they consecrated to the Lord six hundred oxen, and three thousand sheep. 29:34. But the priests were few, and were not enough to flay the holocausts: wherefore the Levites their brethren helped them, till the work was ended, and priests were sanctified, for the Levites are sanctified with an easier rite than the priests. 29:35. So there were many holocausts, and the fat of peace offerings, and the libations of holocausts: and the service of the house of the Lord was completed. 29:36. And Ezechias, and all the people rejoiced because the ministry of the Lord was accomplished. For the resolution of doing this thing was taken suddenly. 2 Paralipomenon Chapter 30 Ezechias inviteth all Israel to celebrate the pasch; the solemnity is kept fourteen days. 30:1. And Ezechias sent to all Israel and Juda: and he wrote letters to Ephraim and Manasses, that they should come to the house of the Lord in Jerusalem, and keep the phase to the Lord the God of Israel, 30:2. For the king, taking counsel, and the princes, and all the assembly of Jerusalem, decreed to keep the phase the second month. 30:3. For they could not keep it in its time; because there were not priests enough sanctified, and the people was not as yet gathered together to Jerusalem. The host of heaven... The sun, moon, and stars. 30:4. And the thing pleased the king, and all the people. 30:5. And they decreed to send messengers to all Israel from Bersabee even to Dan, that they should come, and keep the phase to the Lord the God of Israel in Jerusalem: for many had not kept it as it is prescribed by the law. 30:6. And the posts went with letters by commandment of the king, and his princes, to all Israel and Juda, proclaiming according to the king's orders: Ye children of Israel, turn again to the Lord the God of Abraham, and of Isaac, and of Israel: and he will return to the remnant of you that have escaped the hand of the king of the Assyrians. 30:7. Be not like your fathers, and brethren, who departed from the Lord the God of their fathers, and he hath given them up to destruction, as you see. 30:8. Harden not your necks, as your fathers did: yield yourselves to the Lord, and come to his sanctuary, which he hath sanctified forever: serve the Lord the God of your fathers, and the wrath of his indignation shall be turned away from you. 30:9. For if you turn again to the Lord, your brethren, and children shall find mercy before their masters, that have led them away captive, and they shall return into this land: for the Lord your God is merciful, and will not turn away his face from you, if you return to him. 30:10. So the posts went speedily from city to city, through the land of Ephraim, and of Manasses, even to Zabulon, whilst they laughed at them and mocked them. 30:11. Nevertheless some men of Aser, and of Manasses, and of Zabulon, yielding to the counsel, came to Jerusalem. 30:12. But the hand of God was in Juda, to give them one heart to do the word of the Lord, according to the commandment of the king, and of the princes. 30:13. And much people were assembled to Jerusalem to celebrate the solemnity of the unleavened bread in the second month: 30:14. And they arose and destroyed the altars that were in Jerusalem, and took away all things in which incense was burnt to idols and cast them into the torrent Cedron. 30:15. And they immolated the phase on the fourteenth day of the second month. And the priests and the Levites being at length sanctified offered holocausts in the house of the Lord. 30:16. And they stood in their order according to the disposition and law of Moses the man of God: but the priests received the blood which was to be poured out, from the hands of the Levites, 30:17. Because a great number was not sanctified: and therefore the Levites immolated the phase for them that came not in time to be sanctified to the Lord. 30:18. For a great part of the people from Ephraim, and Manasses, and Issachar, and Zabulon, that had not been sanctified, ate the phase otherwise than it is written: and Ezechias prayed for them, saying: The Lord who is good will shew mercy, 30:19. To all them, who with their whole heart, seek the Lord the God of their fathers: and will not impute it to them that they are not sanctified. 30:20. And the Lord heard him, and was merciful to the people. 30:21. And the children of Israel, that were found at Jerusalem, kept the feast of unleavened bread seven days with great joy, praising the Lord every day, the Levites also, and the priests, with instruments that agreed to their office. 30:22. And Ezechias spoke to the heart of all the Levites, that had good understanding concerning the Lord: and they ate during the seven days of the solemnity, immolating victims of peace offerings, and praising the Lord the God of their fathers. 30:23. And it pleased the whole multitude to keep other seven days: which they did with great joy. 30:24. For Ezechias the king of Juda had given to the multitude a thousand bullocks, and seven thousand sheep: and the princes had given the people a thousand bullocks, and ten thousand sheep: and a great number of priests was sanctified. 30:25. And all the multitude of Juda with the priests and Levites, and all the assembly, that came out of Israel; and the proselytes of the land of Israel, and that dwelt in Juda were full of joy. 30:26. And there was a great solemnity in Jerusalem, such as had not been in that city since the time of Solomon the son of David king of Israel. 30:27. And the priests and the Levites rose up and blessed the people: and their voice was heard: and their prayer came to the holy dwelling place of heaven. 2 Paralipomenon Chapter 31 Idolatry is abolished; and provisions made for the ministers. 31:1. And when these things had been duly celebrated, all Israel that were found in the cities of Juda, went out, and they broke the idols, and cut down the groves, demolished the high places, and destroyed the altars, not only out of all Juda and Benjamin, but out of Ephraim also and Manasses, till they had utterly destroyed them: then all the children of Israel returned to their possessions and cities. 31:2. And Ezechias appointed companies of the priests, and the Levites, by their courses, every man in his own office, to wit, both of the priests, and of the Levites, for holocausts, and for peace offerings, to minister, and to praise, and to sing in the gates of the camp of the Lord. 31:3. And the king's part was, that of his proper substance the holocaust should be offered always morning and evening, and on the sabbaths, and the new moons and the other solemnities, as it is written in the law of Moses. 31:4. He commanded also the people that dwelt in Jerusalem, to give to the priests, and the Levites their portion, that they might attend to the law of the Lord. 31:5. Which when it was noised abroad in the ears of the people, the children of Israel offered in abundance the firstfruits of corn, wine, and oil, and honey: and brought the tithe of all things which the ground bringeth forth. 31:6. Moreover the children of Israel and Juda, that dwelt in the cities of Juda, brought in the tithes of oxen, and sheep, and the tithes of holy things, which they had vowed to the Lord their God: and carrying them all, made many heaps. 31:7. In the third month they began to lay the foundations of the heaps, and in the seventh month, they finished them. 31:8. And when Ezechias and his princes came in, they saw the heaps, and they blessed the Lord and the people of Israel. 31:9. And Ezechias asked the priests and the Levites, why the heaps lay so. 31:10. Azarias the chief priest of the race of Sadoc answered him, saying: Since the firstfruits began to be offered in the house of the Lord, we have eaten, and have been filled, and abundance is left, because the Lord hath blessed his people: and of that which is left is this great store which thou seest. 31:11. Then Ezechias commanded to prepare storehouses in the house of the Lord. And when they had done so, 31:12. They brought in faithfully both the firstfruits, and the tithes, and all they had vowed. And the overseer of them was Chonenias the Levite, and Semei his brother was the second, 31:13. And after him Jehiel, and Azarias, and Nahath, and Asael, and Jerimoth, and Jozabad, and Eliel, and Jesmachias, and Mahath, and Banaias, overseers under the hand of Chonenias, and Semei his brother, by the commandment of Ezechias the king, and Azarias the high priest of the house of God, to whom all things appertained. 31:14. But Core the son of Jemna the Levite, the porter of the east gate, was overseer of the things which were freely offered to the Lord, and of the firstfruits and the things dedicated for the holy of holies. 31:15. And under his charge were Eden, and Benjamin, Jesue, and Semeias, and Amarias, and Sechenias, in the cities of the priests, to distribute faithfully portions to their brethren, both little and great: 31:16. Besides the males from three years old and upward, to all that went into the temple of the Lord, and whatsoever there was need of in the ministry, and their offices according to their courses, day by day. 31:17. To the priests by their families, and to the Levites from the twentieth year and upward, by their classes and companies. 31:18. And to all the multitude, both to their wives, and to their children of both sexes, victuals were given faithfully out of the things that had been sanctified. 31:19. Also of the sons of Aaron who were in the fields and in the suburbs of each city, there were men appointed, to distribute portions to all the males, among the priests and the Levites. 31:20. So Ezechias did all things which we have said in all Juda, and wrought that which was good, and right, and truth, before the Lord his God, 31:21. In all the service of the house of the Lord according to the law and the ceremonies, desiring to seek his God with all his heart, and he did it and prospered. 2 Paralipomenon Chapter 32 Sennacherib invadeth Juda: his army is destroyed by an angel. Ezechias recovereth from his sickness: his other acts. 32:1. After these things, and this truth, Sennacherib king of the Assyrians came and entered into Juda, and besieged the fenced cities, desiring to take them. 32:2. And when Ezechias saw that Sennacherib was come, and that the whole force of the war was turning against Jerusalem, 32:3. He took counsel with the princes, and the most valiant men, to stop up the heads of the springs, that were without the city: and as they were all of this mind, 32:4. He gathered together a very great multitude, and they stopped up all the springs, and the brook, that ran through the midst of the land, saying: Lest the kings of the Assyrians should come, and find abundance of water. 32:5. He built up also with great diligence all the wall that had been broken down, and built towers upon it, and another wall without: and he repaired Mello in the city of David, and made all sorts of arms and shields: 32:6. And he appointed captains of the soldiers of the army: and he called them all together in the street of the gate of the city, and spoke to their heart, saying: 32:7. Behave like men, and take courage: be not afraid nor dismayed for the king of the Assyrians, nor for all the multitude that is with him: for there are many more with us than with him. 32:8. For with him is an arm of flesh: with us the Lord our God, who is our helper, and fighteth for us. And the people were encouraged with these words of Ezechias king of Juda. 32:9. After this, Sennacherib king of the Assyrians sent his servants to Jerusalem, (for he with all his army was besieging Lachis,) to Ezechias king of Juda, and to all the people that were in the city, saying: 32:10. Thus saith Sennacherib king of the Assyrians: In whom do you trust, that you sit still besieged in Jerusalem? 32:11. Doth not Ezechias deceive you, to give you up to die by hunger and thirst, affirming that the Lord your God shall deliver you from the hand of the king of the Assyrians? 32:12. Is it not this same Ezechias, that hath destroyed his high places, and his altars, and commanded Juda and Jerusalem, saying: You shall worship before one altar, and upon it you shall burn incense? 32:13. Know you not what I and my fathers have done to all the people of the lands? have the gods of any nations and lands been able to deliver their country out of my hand? 32:14. Who is there among all the gods of the nations, which my fathers have destroyed, that could deliver his people out of my hand, that your God should be able to deliver you out of this hand? 32:15. Therefore let not Ezechias deceive you, nor delude you with a vain persuasion, and do not believe him. For if no god of all the nations and kingdoms, could deliver his people out of my hand, and out of the hand of my fathers, consequently neither shall your God be able to deliver you out of my hand. 32:16. And many other things did his servants speak against the Lord God, and against Ezechias his servant. 32:17. He wrote also letters full of blasphemy against the Lord the God of Israel, and he spoke against him: As the gods of other nations could not deliver their people out of my hand, so neither can the God of Ezechias deliver his people out of this hand. 32:18. Moreover he cried out with a loud voice, in the Jews' tongue, to the people that sat on the walls of Jerusalem, that he might frighten them, and take the city. 32:19. And he spoke against the God of Jerusalem, as against the gods of the people of the earth, the works of the hands of men. 32:20. And Ezechias the king, and Isaias the prophet the son of Amos, prayed against this blasphemy, and cried out to heaven. 32:21. And the Lord sent an angel, who cut off all the stout men and the warriors, and the captains of the army of the king of the Assyrians: and he returned with disgrace into his own country. And when he was come into the house of his god, his sons that came out of his bowels, slew him with the sword. 32:22. And the Lord saved Ezechias and the inhabitants of Jerusalem, out of the hand of Sennacherib king of the Assyrians, and out of the hand of all, and gave them treasures on every side. 32:23. Many also brought victims, and sacrifices to the Lord to Jerusalem, and presents to Ezechias king of Juda: and he was magnified thenceforth in the sight of all nations. 32:24. In those days Ezechias was sick even to death, and he prayed to the Lord: and he heard him, and gave him a sign. 32:25. But he did not render again according to the benefits which he had received, for his heart was lifted up: and wrath was enkindled against him, and against Juda and Jerusalem. 32:26. And he humbled himself afterwards, because his heart had been lifted up, both he and the inhabitants of Jerusalem: and therefore the wrath of the Lord came not upon them in the days of Ezechias. 32:27. And Ezechias was rich, and very glorious, and he gathered himself great treasures of silver and of gold, and of precious stones, of spices, and of arms, of all kinds, and of vessels of great price. 32:28. Storehouses also of corn, of wine, and of oil, and stalls for all beasts, and folds for cattle. 32:29. And he built himself cities: for he had flocks of sheep, and herds without number, for the Lord had given him very much substance. 32:30. This same Ezechias was, he that stopped the upper source of the waters of Gihon, and turned them away underneath toward the west of the city of David: in all his works he did prosperously what he would. 32:31. But yet in the embassy of the princes of Babylon, that were sent to him, to inquire of the wonder that had happened upon the earth, God left him that he might be tempted, and all things might be made known that were in his heart. 32:32. Now the rest of the acts of Ezechias, and of his mercies are written in the book of the kings of Juda and Israel. 32:33. And Ezechias slept with his fathers, and they buried him above the sepulchres of the sons of David: and all Juda, and all the inhabitants of Jerusalem celebrated his funeral: and Manasses his son reigned in his stead. 2 Paralipomenon Chapter 33 Manasses for his manifold wickedness is led captive to Babylon: he repenteth, and is restored to his kingdom, and destroyeth idolatry: his successor Amon is slain by his servants. 33:1. Manasses was twelve years old when he began to reign, and he reigned fifty-five years in Jerusalem. 33:2. And he did evil before the Lord, according to all the abominations of the nations, which the Lord cast out before the children of Israel: 33:3. And he turned, and built again the high places which Ezechias his father had destroyed: and he built altars to Baalim, and made groves, and he adored all the host of heaven, and worshipped them. The host of heaven... The sun, moon, and stars. 33:4. He built also altars in the house of the Lord, whereof the Lord had said: In Jerusalem shall my name be for ever. 33:5. And he built them for all the host of heaven in the two courts of the house of the Lord. 33:6. And he made his sons to pass through the fire in the valley of Benennom: he observed dreams, followed divinations, gave himself up to magic arts, had with him magicians, and enchanters: and he wrought many evils before the Lord, to provoke him to anger. 33:7. He set also a graven, and a molten statue in the house of God, of which God had said to David, and to Solomon his son: In this house, and in Jerusalem, which I have chosen out of all the tribes of Israel, will I put my name for ever. 33:8. And I will not make the foot of Israel to be removed out of the land which I have delivered to their fathers: yet so if they will take heed to do what I have commanded them, and all the law, and the ceremonies, and judgments by the hand of Moses. 33:9. So Manasses seduced Juda, and the inhabitants of Jerusalem, to do evil beyond all the nations, which the Lord had destroyed before the face of the children of Israel. 33:10. And the Lord spoke to his people, and they would not hearken. 33:11. Therefore he brought upon them the captains of the army of the king of the Assyrians: and they took Manasses, and carried him bound with chains and fetters to Babylon. 33:12. And after that he was in distress he prayed to the Lord his God: and did penance exceedingly before the God of his fathers. 33:13. And he entreated him, and besought him earnestly: and he heard his prayer, and brought him again to Jerusalem into his kingdom, and Manasses knew that the Lord was God. 33:14. After this he built a wall without the city of David, on the west side of Gihon in the valley, from the entering in of the gate round about to Ophel, and raised it up to a great height: and he appointed captains of the army in all the fenced cities of Juda: 33:15. And he took away the strange gods, and the idol out of the house of the Lord: the altars also which he had made in the mount of the house of the Lord, and in Jerusalem, and he cast them all out of the city. 33:16. And he repaired the altar of the Lord, and sacrificed upon it victims, and peace offerings, and praise: and he commanded Juda to serve the Lord the God of Israel. 33:17. Nevertheless the people still sacrificed in the high places to the Lord their God. 33:18. But the rest of the acts of Manasses, and his prayer to his God, and the words of the seers that spoke to him in the name of the Lord the God of Israel, are contained in the words of the kings of Israel. 33:19. His prayer also, and his being heard and all his sins, and contempt, and places wherein he built high places, and set up groves, and statues before he did penance, are written in the words of Hozai. 33:20. And Manasses slept with his fathers, and they buried him in his house: and his son Amon reigned in his stead. 33:21. Amon was two and twenty years old when he began to reign, and he reigned two years in Jerusalem. 33:22. And he did evil in the sight of the Lord, as Manasses his father had done: he sacrificed to all the idols which Manasses his father had made, and served them. 33:23. And he did not humble himself before the lord, as Manasses his father had humbled himself, but committed far greater sin. 33:24. And his servants conspired against him, and slew him in his own house. 33:25. But the rest of the multitude of the people slew them that had killed Amon, and made Josias his son king in his stead. 2 Paralipomenon Chapter 34 Josias destroyeth idolatry, repaireth the temple, and reneweth the covenant between God and the people. 34:1. Josias was eight years old when he began to reign, and he reigned one and thirty years in Jerusalem. 34:2. And he did that which was right in the sight of the Lord, and walked in the ways of David his father: he declined not, neither to the right hand, nor to the left. 34:3. And in the eighth year of his reign, when he was yet a boy, he began to seek the God of his father David: and in the twelfth year after he began to reign, he cleansed Juda and Jerusalem from the high places, and the groves, and the idols, and the graven things. 34:4. And they broke down before him the altars of Baalim, and demolished the idols that had been set upon them: and he cut down the groves and the graven things, and broke them in pieces: and strewed the fragments upon the graves of them that had sacrificed to them. 34:5. And he burnt the bones of the priests on the altars of the idols, and he cleansed Juda and Jerusalem. 34:6. And in the cities of Manasses, and of Ephraim, and of Simeon, even to Nephtali he demolished all. 34:7. And when he had destroyed the altars, and the groves, and had broken the idols in pieces, and had demolished all profane temples throughout all the land of Israel, he returned to Jerusalem. 34:8. Now in the eighteenth year of his reign, when he had cleansed the land, and the temple of the Lord, he sent Saphan the son of Elselias, and Maasias the governor of the city, Joha the son of Joachaz the recorder, to repair the house of the Lord his God. 34:9. And they came to Helcias the high priest: and received of him the money which had been brought into the house of the Lord, and which the Levites and porters had gathered together from Manasses, and Ephraim, and all the remnant of Israel, and from all Juda, and Benjamin, and the inhabitants of Jerusalem, 34:10. Which they delivered into the hands of them that were over the workmen in the house of the Lord, to repair the temple, and mend all that was weak. 34:11. But they gave it to the artificers, and to the masons, to buy stones out of the quarries, and timber for the couplings of the building, and to rafter the houses, which the kings of Juda had destroyed. 34:12. And they did all faithfully. Now the overseers of the workmen were Jahath and Abdias of the sons of Merari, Zacharias and Mosollam of the sons of Caath, who hastened the work: all Levites skilful to play on instruments. 34:13. But over them that carried burdens for divers uses, were scribes, and masters of the number of the Levites, and porters. 34:14. Now when they carried out the money that had been brought into the temple of the Lord, Helcias the priest found the book of the law of the Lord, by the hand of Moses. 34:15. And he said to Saphan the scribe: I have found the book of the law in the house of the Lord: and he delivered it to him. 34:16. But he carried the book to the king, and told him, saying: Lo, all that thou hast committed to thy servants, is accomplished. 34:17. They have gathered together the silver that was found in the house of the Lord: and it is given to the overseers of the artificers, and of the workmen, for divers works. 34:18. Moreover Helcias the priest gave me this book. And he read it before the king. 34:19. And when he had heard the words of the law, he rent his garments: 34:20. And he commanded Helcias, and Ahicam the son of Saphan, and Abdon the son of Micha, and Saphan the scribe, and Asaa the king's servant, saying: 34:21. Go, and pray to the Lord for me, and for the remnant of Israel, and Juda, concerning all the words of this book, which is found: for the great wrath of the Lord hath fallen upon us, because our fathers have not kept the words of the Lord, to do all things that are written in this book. 34:22. And Helcias and they that were sent with him by the king, went to Olda the prophetess, the wife of Sellum the son of Thecuath, the son of Hasra keeper of the wardrobe: who dwelt in Jerusalem in the Second part: and they spoke to her the words above mentioned. 34:23. And she answered them: Thus saith the Lord the God of Israel: Tell the man that sent you to me: 34:24. Thus saith the Lord: Behold I will bring evils upon this place, and upon the inhabitants thereof, and all the curses that are written in this book which they read before the king of Juda. 34:25. Because they have forsaken me, and have sacrificed to strange gods, to provoke me to wrath with all the works of their hands, therefore my wrath shall fail upon this place, and shall not be quenched. 34:26. But as to the king of Juda that sent you to beseech the Lord, thus shall you say to him: Thus saith the Lord the God of Israel: Because thou hast heard the words of this book, 34:27. And thy heart was softened, and thou hast humbled thyself in the sight of God for the things that are spoken against this place, and the inhabitants of Jerusalem, and reverencing my face, hast rent thy garments, and wept before me: I also have heard thee, saith the Lord. 34:28. For now I will gather thee to thy fathers, and thou shalt be brought to thy tomb in peace: and thy eyes shall not see all the evil that I will bring upon this place, and the inhabitants thereof. They therefore reported to the king all that she had said. 34:29. And he called together all the ancients of Juda and Jerusalem. 34:30. And went up to the house of the Lord, and all the men of Juda, and the inhabitants of Jerusalem, the priests and the Levites, and all the people from the least to the greatest. And the king read in their hearing, in the house of the Lord, all the words of the book. 34:31. And standing up in his tribunal, he made a covenant before the Lord to walk after him, and keep his commandments, and testimonies, and justifications with all his heart, and with all his soul, and to do the things that were written in that book which he had read. 34:32. And he adjured all that were found in Jerusalem and Benjamin to do the same: and the inhabitants of Jerusalem did according to the covenant of the Lord the God of their fathers. 34:33. And Josias took away all the abominations out of all the countries of the children of Israel and made all that were left in Israel, to serve the Lord their God. As long as he lived they departed not from the Lord the God of their fathers. 2 Paralipomenon Chapter 35 Josias celebrateth a most solemn pasch. He is slain by the king of Egypt. 35:1. And Josias kept a phase to the Lord in Jerusalem, and it was sacrificed on the fourteenth day of the first month. 35:2. And he set the priests in their offices, and exhorted them to minister in the house of the Lord. 35:3. And he spoke to the Levites, by whose instruction all Israel was sanctified to the Lord, saying: Put the ark in the sanctuary of the temple, which Solomon the son of David king of Israel built: for you shall carry it no more: but minister now to the Lord your God, and to his people Israel. 35:4. And prepare yourselves by your houses, and families according to your courses, as David king of Israel commanded, and Solomon his son hath written. 35:5. And serve ye in the sanctuary by the families and companies of Levi. 35:6. And being sanctified kill the phase, and prepare your brethren, that they may do according to the words which the Lord spoke by the hand of Moses. 35:7. And Josias gave to all the people that were found there in the solemnity of the phase, of lambs and of kids of the flocks, and of other small cattle thirty thousand, and of oxen three thousand, all these were of the king's substance. 35:8. And his princes willingly offered what they had vowed, both to the people and to the priests and the Levites. Moreover Helcias, and Zacharias, and Jahiel rulers of the house of the Lord, gave to the priests to keep the phase two thousand six hundred small cattle, and three hundred oxen. 35:9. And Chonenias, and Semeias and Nathanael, his brethren, and Hasabias, and Jehiel, and Jozabad princes of the Levites, gave to the rest of the Levites to celebrate the phase five thousand small cattle, and five hundred oxen. 35:10. And the ministry was prepared, and the priests stood in their office: the Levites also in their companies, according to the king's commandment. 35:11. And the phase was immolated: and the priests sprinkled the blood with their hand, and the Levites flayed the holocausts: 35:12. And they separated them, to give them by the houses and families of every one, and to be offered to the Lord, as it is written in the book of Moses, and with the oxen they did in like manner. 35:13. And they roasted the phase with fire, according to that which is written in the law: but the victims of peace offerings they boiled in caldrons, and kettles, and pots, and they distributed them speedily among all the people. 35:14. And afterwards they made ready for themselves, and for the priests: for the priests were busied in offering of holocausts and the fat until night, wherefore the Levites prepared for themselves, and for the priests the sons of Aaron last. 35:15. And the singers the sons of Asaph stood in their order, according to the commandment of David, and Asaph, and Heman, and Idithun, the prophets of the king: and the porters kept guard at every gate, so as not to depart one moment from their service, and therefore their brethren the Levites prepared meats for them. 35:16. So all the service of the Lord was duly accomplished that day, both in keeping the phase and offering holocausts upon the altar of the Lord, according to the commandment of king Josias. 35:17. And the children of Israel that were found there, kept the phase at that time, and the feast of unleavened seven days. 35:18. There was no phase like to this in Israel, from the days of Samuel the prophet: neither did any of all the kings of Israel keep such a phase as Josias kept, with the priests, and the Levites, and all Juda, and Israel that were found, and the inhabitants of Jerusalem. 35:19. In the eighteenth year of the reign of Josias was this phase celebrated. 35:20. After that Josias had repaired the temple, Nechao king of Egypt came up to fight in Charcamis by the Euphrates: and Josias went out to meet him. 35:21. But he sent messengers to him, saying: What have I to do with thee, O king of Juda? I come not against thee this day, but I fight against another house, to which God hath commanded me to go in haste: forbear to do against God, who is with me, lest he kill thee. 35:22. Josias would not return, but prepared to fight against him, and hearkened not to the words of Nechao from the mouth of God, but went to fight in the field of Mageddo. 35:23. And there he was wounded by the archers, and he said to his servants: Carry me out of the battle, for I am grievously wounded. 35:24. And they removed him from the chariot into another, that followed him after the manner of kings, and they carried him away to Jerusalem, and he died, and was buried in the monument of his fathers, and all Juda and Jerusalem mourned for him, 35:25. Particularly Jeremias: whose lamentations for Josias all the singing men and singing women repeat unto this day, and it became like a law in Israel: Behold it is found written in the Lamentations. 35:26. Now the rest of the acts of Josias and of his mercies, according to what was commanded by the law of the Lord: 35:27. And his works first and last, are written in the book of the kings of Juda and Israel. 2 Paralipomenon Chapter 36 The reigns of Joachaz, Joakim, Joachin, and Sedecias: the captivity of Babylon released at length by Cyrus. 36:1. Then the people of the land took Joachaz the son of Josias, and made him king instead of his father in Jerusalem. 36:2. Joachaz was three and twenty years old when he began to reign, and he reigned three months in Jerusalem. 36:3. And the king of Egypt came to Jerusalem, and deposed him, and condemned the land in a hundred talents of silver, and a talent of gold. 36:4. And he made Eliakim his brother king in his stead, over Juda and Jerusalem: and he turned his name to Joakim: but he took Joachaz with him and carried him away into Egypt. 36:5. Joakim was five and twenty years old when he began to reign, and he reigned eleven years in Jerusalem: and he did evil before the Lord his God. 36:6. Against him came up Nabuchodonosor king of the Chaldeans, and led him bound in chains into Babylon. 36:7. And he carried also thither the vessels of the Lord, and put them in his temple. 36:8. But the rest of the acts of Joakim, and his abominations, which he wrought, and the things that were found in him, are contained in the book of the kings of Juda and Israel. And Joachin his son reigned in his stead. 36:9. Joachin was eight years old when he began to reign, and he reigned three months and ten days in Jerusalem, and he did evil in the sight of the Lord. Eight years old... He was associated by his father to the kingdom, when he was but eight years old; but after his father's death, when he reigned alone, he was eighteen years old. 4 Kings 24.8. 36:10. And at the return of the year, king Nabuchodonosor sent, and brought him to Babylon, carrying away at the same time the most precious vessels of the house of the Lord: and he made Sedecias his uncle king over Juda and Jerusalem. 36:11. Sedecias was one and twenty years old when he began to reign: and he reigned eleven years in Jerusalem. 36:12. And he did evil in the eyes of the Lord his God, and did not reverence the face of Jeremias the prophet speaking to him from the mouth of the Lord. 36:13. He also revolted from king Nabuchodonosor, who had made him swear by God: and he hardened his neck and his heart, from returning to the Lord the God of Israel. 36:14. Moreover all the chief of the priests, and the people wickedly transgressed according to all the abominations of the Gentiles: and they defiled the house of the Lord, which he had sanctified to himself in Jerusalem. 36:15. And the Lord the God of their fathers sent to them, by the hand of his messengers, rising early, and daily admonishing them: because he spared his people and his dwelling place. 36:16. But they mocked the messengers of God, and despised his words, and misused the prophets, until the wrath of the Lord arose against his people, and there was no remedy. 36:17. For he brought upon them the king of the Chaldeans, and he slew their young men with the sword in the house of his sanctuary, he had no compassion on young man, or maiden, old man or even him that stooped for age, but he delivered them all into his hands. 36:18. And all the vessels of the house of Lord, great and small, and the treasures of the temple and of the king, and of the princes he carried away to Babylon. 36:19. And the enemies set fire to the house of God, and broke down the wall of Jerusalem, burnt all the towers, and what soever was precious they destroyed. 36:20. Whosoever escaped the sword, was led into Babylon, and there served the king and his sons, till the reign of the king of Persia, 36:21. That the word of the Lord by the mouth of Jeremias might be fulfilled, and the land might keep her sabbaths: for all the days of the desolation she kept a sabbath, till the seventy years were expired. 36:22. But in the first year of Cyrus king of the Persians, to fulfil the word of the Lord, which he had spoken by the mouth of Jeremias, the Lord stirred up the heart of Cyrus, king of the Persians: who commanded it to be proclaimed through all his kingdom, and by writing also, saying: 36:23. Thus saith Cyrus king of the Persians: All the kingdoms of the earth hath the Lord the God of heaven given to me, and he hath charged me to build him a house in Jerusalem, which is in Judea: who is there among you of all his people? The Lord his God be with him, and let him go up. THE FIRST BOOK OF ESDRAS This Book taketh its name from the writer: who was a holy priest, and doctor of the law. He is called by the Hebrews, Ezra. 1 Esdras Chapter 1 Cyrus king of Persia releaseth God's people from their captivity, with license to return and build the temple in Jerusalem: and restoreth the holy vessels which Nabuchodonosor had taken from thence. 1:1. In the first year of Cyrus king of the Persians, that the word of the Lord by the mouth of Jeremias might be fulfilled, the Lord stirred up the spirit of Cyrus king of the Persians: and he made a proclamation throughout all his kingdom, and in writing also, saying: 1:2. Thus saith Cyrus king of the Persians: The Lord the God of heaven hath given to me all the kingdoms of the earth, and he hath charged me to build him a house in Jerusalem, which is in Judea. 1:3. Who is there among you of all his people? His God be with him. Let him go up to Jerusalem, which is in Judea, and build the house of the Lord the God of Israel: he is the God that is in Jerusalem. 1:4. And let all the rest in all places wheresoever they dwell, help him every man from his place, with silver and gold, and goods, and cattle, besides that which they offer freely to the temple of God, which is in Jerusalem. 1:5. Then rose up the chief of the fathers of Juda and Benjamin, and the priests, and Levites, and every one whose spirit God had raised up, to go up to build the temple of the Lord, which was in Jerusalem. 1:6. And all they that were round about, helped their hands with vessels of silver, and gold, with goods, and with beasts, and with furniture, besides what they had offered on their own accord. 1:7. And king Cyrus brought forth vessels of the temple of the Lord, which Nabuchodonosor had taken from Jerusalem, and had put them in the temple of his god. 1:8. Now Cyrus king of Persia brought them forth by the hand of Mithridates the son of Gazabar, and numbered them to Sassabasar the prince of Juda. 1:9. And this is the number of them: thirty bowls of gold, a thousand bowls of silver, nine and twenty knives, thirty cups of gold, 1:10. Silver cups of a second sort, four hundred and ten: other vessels a thousand. 1:11. All the vessels of gold and silver, five thousand four hundred: all these Sassabasar brought with them that came up from the captivity of Babylon to Jerusalem. 1 Esdras Chapter 2 The number of them that returned to Judea: their oblations. 2:1. Now these are the children of the province, that went out of the captivity, which Nabuchodonosor king of Babylon had carried away to Babylon, and who returned to Jerusalem and Juda, every man to his city. 2:2. Who came with Zorobabel, Josue, Nehemia, Saraia, Rahelaia, Mardochai, Belsan, Mesphar, Beguai, Rehum, Baana. The number of the men of the people of Israel: 2:3. The children of Pharos two thousand one hundred seventy-two. 2:4. The children of Sephatia, three hundred seventy-two. 2:5. The children of Area, seven hundred seventy-five. 2:6. The children of Phahath Moab, of the children of Josue: Joab, Two thousand eight hundred twelve. 2:7. The children of Elam, a thousand two hundred fifty-four. 2:8. The children of Zethua, nine hundred forty-five. 2:9. The children of Zachai, seven hundred sixty. 2:10. The children of Bani, six hundred forty-two. 2:11. The children of Bebai, six hundred twenty-three. 2:12. The children of Azgad, a thousand two hundred twenty-two. 2:13. The children of Adonicam, six hundred sixty-six. 2:14. The children of Beguai, two thousand fifty-six. 2:15. The children of Adin, four hundred fifty-four. 2:16. The children of Ather, who were of Ezechias, ninety-eight. 2:17. The children of Besai, three hundred and twenty-three. 2:18. The children of Jora, a hundred and twelve. 2:19. The children of Hasum, two hundred twenty-three. 2:20. The children of Gebbar, ninety-five. 2:21. The children of Bethlehem, a hundred twenty-three. 2:22. The men of Netupha, fifty-six. 2:23. The men of Anathoth, a hundred twenty-eight. 2:24. The children of Azmaveth, forty-two. 2:25. The children of Cariathiarim, Cephira, and Beroth, seven hundred forty-three. 2:26. The children of Rama and Gabaa, six hundred twenty-one. 2:27. The men of Machmas, a hundred twenty-two. 2:28. The men of Bethel and Hai, two hundred twenty-three. 2:29. The children of Nebo, fifty-two. 2:30. The children of Megbis, a hundred fifty-six. 2:31. The children of the other Elam, a thousand two hundred fifty-five. 2:32. The children of Harim, three hundred and twenty. 2:33. The children of Lod, Hadid and Ono, seven hundred twenty-five. 2:34. The children of Jericho, three hundred forty-five. 2:35. The children of Senaa, three thousand six hundred thirty. 2:36. The priests: the children of Jadaia of the house of Josue, nine hundred seventy-three. 2:37. The children of Emmer, a thousand fifty-two. 2:38. The children of Pheshur, a thousand two hundred forty-seven. 2:39. The children of Harim, a thousand and seventeen. 2:40. The Levites: the children of Josue and of Cedmihel, the children of Odovia, seventy-four. 2:41. The singing men: the children of Asaph, a hundred twenty-eight. 2:42. The children of the porters: the children of Sellum, the children of Ater, the children of Telmon, the children of Accub, the children of Hatita, the children of Sobai: in all a hundred thirty-nine. 2:43. The Nathinites: the children of Siha, the children of Hasupha, the children of Tabbaoth, 2:44. The children of Ceros, the children of Sia, the children of Phadon, 2:45. The children of Lebana, the children of Hegaba, the children of Accub, 2:46. The children of Hagab, the children of Semlai, the children of Hanan, 2:47. The children of Gaddel, the children of Gaher, the children of Raaia, 2:48. The children of Rasin, the children of Necoda, the children of Gazam, 2:49. The children of Asa, the children of Phasea, the children of Besee, 2:50. The children of Asena, the children of Munim, the children of Nephusim, 2:51. The children of Bacbuc, the children of Hacupha, the children of Harhur, 2:52. The children of Besluth, the children of Mahida, the children of Harsa, 2:53. The children of Bercos, the children of Sisara, the children of Thema, 2:54. The children of Nasia, the children of Hatipha, 2:55. The children of the servants of Solomon, the children of Sotai, the children of Sopheret, the children of Pharuda, 2:56. The children of Jala, the children of Dercon, the children of Geddel, 2:57. The children of Saphatia, the children of Hatil, the children of Phochereth, which were of Asebaim, the children of Ami, 2:58. All the Nathinites, and the children of the servants of Solomon, three hundred ninety-two. 2:59. And these are they that came up from Thelmela, Thelharsa, Cherub, and Adon, and Emer. And they could not shew the house of their fathers and their seed, whether they were of Israel. 2:60. The children of Dalaia, the children of Tobia, the children of Necoda, six hundred fifty-two. 2:61. And of the children of the priests: the children of Hobia, the children of Accos, the children of Berzellai, who took a wife of the daughters of Berzellai, the Galaadite, and was called by their name: 2:62. These sought the writing of their genealogy, and found it not, and they were cast out of the priesthood. 2:63. And Athersatha said to them, that they should not eat of the holy of holies, till there arose a priest learned and perfect. 2:64. All the multitudes as one man, were forty-two thousand three hundred and sixty: Forty-two thousand, etc... Those who are reckoned up above of the tribes of Juda, Benjamin, and Levi, fall short of this number. The rest, who must be taken in to make up the whole sum, were of the other tribes. 2:65. Besides their men-servants, and women-servants, of whom there were seven thousand three hundred and thirty-seven: and among them singing men, and singing women two hundred. 2:66. Their horses seven hundred thirty-six, their mules two hundred forty-five, 2:67. Their camels four hundred thirty-five, their asses six thousand seven hundred and twenty. 2:68. And some of the chief of the fathers, when they came to the temple of the Lord, which is in Jerusalem, offered freely to the house of the Lord to build it in its place. 2:69. According to their ability, they gave towards the expenses of the work, sixty-one thousand solids of gold, five thousand pounds of silver, and a hundred garments for the priests. 2:70. So the priests and the Levites, and some of the people, and the singing men, and the porters, and the Nathinites dwelt in their cities, and all Israel in their cities. 1 Esdras Chapter 3 An altar is built for sacrifice, the feast of tabernacles is solemnly celebrated, and the foundations of the temple are laid. 3:1. And now the seventh month was come, and the children of Israel were in their cities: and the people gathered themselves together as one man to Jerusalem. 3:2. And Josue the son of Josedec rose up, and his brethren the priests, and Zorobabel the son of Salathiel, and his brethren, and they built the altar of the God of Israel that they might offer holocausts upon it, as it is written in the law of Moses the man of God. Josue... or Jesus (Jeshua) the son of Josedec; he was the high priest, at that time. 3:3. And they set the altar of God upon its bases, while the people of the lands round about put them in fear, and they offered upon it a holocaust to the Lord morning and evening. 3:4. And they kept the feast of tabernacles, as it is written, and offered the holocaust every day orderly according to the commandment, the duty of the day in its day. 3:5. And afterwards the continual holocaust, both on the new moons, and on all the solemnities of the Lord, that were consecrated, and on all in which a freewill offering was made to the Lord. 3:6. From the first day of the seventh month they began to offer holocausts to the Lord: but the temple of God was not yet founded. 3:7. And they gave money to hewers of stones and to masons: and meat and drink, and oil to the Sidonians and Tyrians, to bring cedar trees from Libanus to the sea of Joppe, according to the orders which Cyrus king of the Persians had given them. 3:8. And in the second year of their coming to the temple of God in Jerusalem, the second month, Zorobabel the son of Salathiel, and Josue the son of Josedec, and the rest of their brethren the priests, and the Levites, and all that were come from the captivity to Jerusalem began, and they appointed Levites from twenty years old and upward, to hasten forward the work of the Lord. 3:9. Then Josue and his sons and his brethren, Cedmihel, and his sons, and the children of Juda, as one man, stood to hasten them that did the work in the temple of God: the sons of Henadad, and their sons, and their brethren the Levites. 3:10. And when the masons laid the foundations of the temple of the Lord, the priests stood in their ornaments with trumpets: and the Levites the sons of Asaph with cymbals, to praise God by the hands of David king of Israel. 3:11. And they sung together hymns, and praise to the Lord: because he is good, for his mercy endureth for ever towards Israel. And all the people shouted with a great shout, praising the Lord, because the foundations of the temple of the Lord were laid. 3:12. But many of the priests and the Levites, and the chief of the fathers and the ancients that had seen the former temple; when they had the foundation of this temple before their eyes, wept with a loud voice: and many shouting for joy, lifted up their voice. 3:13. So that one could not distinguish the voice of the shout of joy, from the noise of the weeping of the people: for one with another the people shouted with a loud shout, and the voice was heard afar off. 1 Esdras Chapter 4 The Samaritans by their letter to the king hinder the building. 4:1. Now the enemies of Juda and Benjamin heard that the children of the captivity were building a temple to the Lord the God of Israel. 4:2. And they came to Zorobabel, and the chief of the fathers, and said to them: Let us build with you, for we seek your God as ye do: behold we have sacrificed to him, since the days of Asor Haddan king of Assyria, who brought us hither. 4:3. But Zorobabel, and Josue, and the rest of the chief of the fathers of Israel said to them: You have nothing to do with us to build a house to our God, but we ourselves alone will build to the Lord our God, as Cyrus king of the Persians hath commanded us. 4:4. Then the people of the land hindered the hands of the people of Juda, and troubled them in building. 4:5. And they hired counsellors against them, to frustrate their design all the days of Cyrus king of Persia, even until the reign of Darius king of the Persians. 4:6. And in the reign of Assuerus, in the beginning of his reign, they wrote an accusation against the inhabitants of Juda and Jerusalem. Assuerus... Otherwise called Cambyses the son and successor of Cyrus. He is also in the following verse named Artaxerxes, a name common to almost all the kings of Persia. 4:7. And in the days of Artaxerxes, Beselam, Mithridates, and Thabeel, and the rest that were in the council wrote to Artaxerxes king of the Persians: and the letter of accusation was written in Syrian, and was read in the Syrian tongue. 4:8. Reum Beelteem, and Samsai the scribe wrote a letter from Jerusalem to king Artaxerxes, in this manner: 4:9. Reum Beelteem, and Samsai the scribe and the rest of their counsellors, the Dinites, and the Apharsathacites, the Therphalites, the Apharsites, the Erchuites, the Babylonians, the Susanechites, the Dievites, and the Elamites, 4:10. And the rest of the nations, whom the great and glorious Asenaphar brought over: and made to dwell in the cities of Samaria and in the rest of the countries of this side of the river in peace. 4:11. (This is the copy of the letter, which they sent to him:) To Artaxerxes the king, thy servants, the men that are on this side of the river, send greeting. 4:12. Be it known to the king, that the Jews, who came up from thee to us, are come to Jerusalem a rebellious and wicked city, which they are building, setting up the ramparts thereof and repairing the walls. 4:13. And now be it known to the king, that if this city be built up, and the walls thereof repaired, they will not pay tribute nor toll, nor yearly revenues, and this loss will fall upon the kings. 4:14. But we remembering the salt that we have eaten in the palace, and because we count it a crime to see the king wronged, have therefore sent and certified the king, 4:15. That search may be made in the books of the histories of thy fathers, and thou shalt find written in the records: and shalt know that this city is a rebellious city, and hurtful to the kings and provinces, and that wars were raised therein of old time: for which cause also the city was destroyed. 4:16. We certify the king, that if this city be built, and the walls thereof repaired, thou shalt have no possession on this side of the river. 4:17. The king sent word to Reum Beelteem and Samsai the scribe, and to the rest that were in their council, inhabitants of Samaria, and to the rest beyond the river, sending greeting and peace. 4:18. The accusation, which you have sent to us, hath been plainly read before me, 4:19. And I commanded: and search hath been made, and it is found, that this city of old time hath rebelled against kings, and seditions and wars have been raised therein. 4:20. For there have been powerful kings in Jerusalem, who have had dominion over all the country that is beyond the river: and have received tribute, and toll and revenues. 4:21. Now therefore hear the sentence: Hinder those men, that this city be not built, till further orders be given by me. 4:22. See that you be not negligent in executing this, lest by little and little the evil grow to the hurt of the kings. 4:23. Now the copy of the edict of king Artaxerxes was read before Reum Beelteem, and Samsai the scribe, and their counsellors: and they went up in haste to Jerusalem to the Jews, and hindered them with arm and power. 4:24. Then the work of the house of the Lord in Jerusalem was interrupted, and ceased till the second year of the reign of Darius king of the Persians. 1 Esdras Chapter 5 By the exhortation of Aggeus, and Zacharias, the people proceed in building the temple. Which their enemies strive in vain to hinder. 5:1. Now Aggeus the prophet, and Zacharias the son of Addo, prophesied to the Jews that were in Judea and Jerusalem, in the name of the God of Israel. 5:2. Then rose up Zorobabel the son of Salathiel, and Josue the son of Josedec, and began to build the temple of God in Jerusalem, and with them were the prophets of God helping them. 5:3. And at the same time came to them Thathanai, who was governor beyond the river, and Stharbuzanai, and their counsellors: and said thus to them: Who hath given you counsel to build this house, and to repair the walls thereof? 5:4. In answer to which we gave them the names of the men who were the promoters of that building. 5:5. But the eye of their God was upon the ancients of the Jews, and they could not hinder them. And it was agreed that the matter should be referred to Darius, and then they should give satisfaction concerning that accusation. 5:6. The copy of the letter that Thathanai governor of the country beyond the river, and Stharbuzanai, and his counsellors the Arphasachites, who dwelt beyond the river, sent to Darius the king. 5:7. The letter which they sent him, was written thus: To Darius the king all peace. 5:8. Be it known to the king, that we went to the province of Judea, to the house of the great God, which they are building with unpolished stones, and timber is laid in the walls: and this work is carried on diligently and advanceth in their hands. 5:9. And we asked those ancients, and said to them thus: Who hath given you authority to build this house, and to repair these walls? 5:10. We asked also of them their names, that we might give thee notice: and we have written the names of the men that are the chief among them. 5:11. And they answered us in these words, saying: We are the servants of the God of heaven and earth, and we are building a temple that was built these many years ago, and which a great king of Israel built and set up. 5:12. But after that our fathers had provoked the God of heaven to wrath, he delivered them into the hands of Nabuchodonosor the king of Babylon the Chaldean: and he destroyed this house, and carried away the people to Babylon. 5:13. But in the first year of Cyrus the king of Babylon, king Cyrus set forth a decree, that this house of God should be built. 5:14. And the vessels also of gold and silver of the temple of God, which Nabuchodonosor had taken out of the temple, that was in Jerusalem, and had brought them to the temple of Babylon, king Cyrus brought out of the temple of Babylon, and they were delivered to one Sassabasar, whom also he appointed governor, 5:15. And said to him: Take these vessels, and go, and put them in the temple that is in Jerusalem, and let the house of God be built in its place. 5:16. Then came this same Sassabasar, and laid the foundations of the temple of God in Jerusalem, and from that time until now it is in building, and is not yet finished. 5:17. Now therefore if it seem good to the king, let him search in the king's library, which is in Babylon, whether it hath been decreed by Cyrus the king, that the house of God in Jerusalem should be built, and let the king send his pleasure to us concerning this matter. 1 Esdras Chapter 6 King Darius favoureth the building and contributeth to it. 6:1. Then king Darius gave orders, and they searched in the library of the books that were laid up in Babylon, 6:2. And there was found in Ecbatana, which is a castle in the province of Media, a book in which this record was written. 6:3. In the first year of Cyrus the king: Cyrus the king decreed, that the house of God should be built, which is in Jerusalem, in the place where they may offer sacrifices, and that they lay the foundations that may support the height of threescore cubits, and the breadth of threescore cubits, 6:4. Three rows of unpolished stones, and so rows of new timber: and the charges shall be given out of the king's house. 6:5. And also let the golden and silver vessels of the temple of God, which Nabuchodonosor took out of the temple of Jerusalem, and brought to Babylon, be restored, and carried back to the temple of Jerusalem to their place, which also were placed in the temple of God. 6:6. Now therefore Thathanai, governor of the country beyond the river, Stharbuzanai, and your counsellors the Apharsachites, who are beyond the river, depart far from them, 6:7. And let that temple of God be built by the governor of the Jews, and by their ancients, that they may build that house of God in its place. 6:8. I also have commanded what must be done by those ancients of the Jews, that the house of God may be built, to wit, that of the king's chest, that is, of the tribute that is paid out of the country beyond the river, the charges be diligently given to those men, lest the work be hindered. 6:9. And if it shall be necessary, let calves also, and lambs, and kids, for holocausts to the God of heaven, wheat, salt, wine, and oil, according to the custom of the priests that are in Jerusalem, be given them day by day, that there be no complaint in any thing. 6:10. And let them offer oblations to the God of heaven, and pray for the life of the king, and of his children. 6:11. And I have made a decree: That if any whosoever, shall alter this commandment, a beam be taken from his house, and set up, and he be nailed upon it, and his house be confiscated. 6:12. And may the God, that hath caused his name to dwell there, destroy all kingdoms, and the people that shall put out their hand to resist, and to destroy the house of God, that is in Jerusalem. I Darius have made the decree, which I will have diligently complied with. 6:13. So then Thathanai, governor of the country beyond the river, and Stharbuzanai, and his counsellors diligently executed what Darius the king had commanded. 6:14. And the ancients of the Jews built, and prospered according to the prophecy of Aggeus the prophet, and of Zacharias the son of Addo: and they built and finished, by the commandment of the God of Israel, and by the commandment of Cyrus, and Darius, and Artaxerxes kings of the Persians. 6:15. And they were finishing this house of God, until the third day of the month of Adar, which was in the sixth year of the reign of king Darius. 6:16. And the children of Israel, the priests and the Levites, and the rest of the children of the captivity kept the dedication of the house of God with joy. 6:17. And they offered at the dedication of the house of God, a hundred calves, two hundred rams, four hundred lambs, and for a sin offering for all Israel twelve he-goats, according to the number of the tribes of Israel. 6:18. And they set the priests in their divisions, and the Levites in their courses over the works of God in Jerusalem, as it is written in the book of Moses. 6:19. And the children of Israel of the captivity kept the phase, on the fourteenth day of the first month. 6:20. For all the priests and the Levites were purified as one man: all were clean to kill the phase for all the children of the captivity, and for their brethren the priests, and themselves. 6:21. And the children of Israel that were returned from captivity, and all that had separated themselves from the filthiness of the nations of the earth to them, to seek the Lord the God of Israel, did eat. 6:22. And they kept the feast of unleavened bread seven days with joy, for the Lord had made them joyful, and had turned the heart of the king of Assyria to them, that he should help their hands in the work of the house of the Lord the God of Israel. 1 Esdras Chapter 7 Esdras goeth up to Jerusalem to teach, and assist the people, with a gracious decree of Artaxerxes. 7:1. Now after these things in the reign of Artaxerxes king of the Persians, Esdras the son of Saraias, the son of Azarias, the son of Helcias, 7:2. The son of Sellum, the son of Sadoc, the son of Achitob, 7:3. The son of Amarias, the son of Azarias, the son of Maraioth, 7:4. The son of Zarahias, the son of Ozi, the son of Bocci, 7:5. The son of Abisue, the son of Phinees, the son of Eleazar, the son of Aaron, the priest from the beginning. 7:6. This Esdras went up from Babylon, and he was a ready scribe in the law of Moses, which the Lord God had given to Israel: and the king granted him all his request, according to the hand of the Lord his God upon him. 7:7. And there went up some of the children of Israel, and of the children of the priests, and of the children of the Levites, and of the singing men, and of the porters, and of the Nathinites to Jerusalem in the seventh year of Artaxerxes the king. 7:8. And they came to Jerusalem in the fifth month, in the seventh year of the king. 7:9. For upon the first day of the first month he began to go up from Babylon, and on the first day of the fifth month he came to Jerusalem according to the good hand of his God upon him. 7:10. For Esdras had prepared his heart to seek the law of the Lord, and to do and to teach in Israel the commandments and judgment. 7:11. And this is the copy of the letter of the edict, which king Artaxerxes gave to Esdras the priest, the scribe instructed in the words and commandments of the Lord, and his ceremonies in Israel. 7:12. Artaxerxes king of kings to Esdras the priest, the most learned scribe of the law of the God of heaven, greeting. 7:13. It is decreed by me, that all they of the people of Israel, and of the priests and of the Levites in my realm, that are minded to go into Jerusalem, should go with thee. 7:14. For thou art sent from before the king, and his seven counsellors, to visit Judea and Jerusalem according to the law of thy God, which is in thy hand. 7:15. And to carry the silver and gold, which the king and his counsellors have freely offered to the God of Israel, whose tabernacle is in Jerusalem. 7:16. And all the silver and gold that thou shalt find in all the province of Babylon, and that the people is willing to offer, and that the priests shall offer of their own accord to the house of their God, which is in Jerusalem, 7:17. Take freely, and buy diligently with this money, calves, rams, lambs, with the sacrifices and libations of them, and offer them upon the altar of the temple of your God, that is in Jerusalem. 7:18. And if it seem good to thee, and to thy brethren to do any thing with the rest of the silver and gold, do it according to the will of your God. 7:19. The vessels also, that are given thee for the sacrifice of the house of thy God, deliver thou in the sight of God in Jerusalem. 7:20. And whatsoever more there shall be need of for the house of thy God, how much soever thou shalt have occasion to spend, it shall be given out of the treasury, and the king's exchequer, and by me. 7:21. I Artaxerxes the king have ordered and decreed to all the keepers of the public chest, that are beyond the river, that whatsoever Esdras the priest, the scribe of the law of the God of heaven, shall require of you, you give it without delay, 7:22. Unto a hundred talents of silver, and unto a hundred cores of wheat, and unto a hundred bates of wine, and unto a hundred bates of oil, and salt without measure. 7:23. All that belongeth to the rites of the God of heaven, let it be given diligently in the house of the God of heaven: lest his wrath should be enkindled against the realm of the king, and of his sons. 7:24. We give you also to understand concerning all the priests, and the Levites, and the singers, and the porters, and the Nathinites, and ministers of the house of this God, that you have no authority to impose toll or tribute, or custom upon them. 7:25. And thou Esdras according to the wisdom of thy God, which is in thy hand, appoint judges and magistrates, that may judge all the people, that is beyond the river, that is, for them who know the law of thy God, yea and the ignorant teach ye freely. 7:26. And whosoever will not do the law of thy God, and the law of the king diligently, judgment shall be executed upon him, either unto death, or unto banishment, or to the confiscation of goods, or at least to prison. 7:27. Blessed be the Lord the God of our fathers, who hath put this in the king's heart, to glorify the house of the Lord, which is in Jerusalem, 7:28. And hath inclined his mercy toward me before the king and his counsellors, and all the mighty princes of the king: and I being strengthened by the hand of the Lord my God, which was upon me, gathered together out of Israel chief men to go up with me. 1 Esdras Chapter 8 The companions of Esdras. The fast which he appointed. They bring the holy vessels into the temple. 8:1. Now these are the chief of families, and the genealogy of them, who came up with me from Babylon in the reign of Artaxerxes the king. 8:2. Of the sons of Phinees, Gersom. Of the sons of Ithamar, Daniel. Of the sons of David, Hattus. 8:3. Of the sons of Sechenias, the son of Pharos, Zacharias, and with him were numbered a hundred and fifty men. 8:4. Of the sons of Phahath Moab, Eleoenai the son of Zareha, and with him two hundred men. 8:5. Of the sons of Sechenias, the son of Ezechiel, and with him three hundred men. 8:6. Of the sons of Adan, Abed the son of Jonathan, and with him fifty men. 8:7. Of the sons of Alam, Isaias the son of Athalias, and with him seventy men. 8:8. Of the sons of Saphatia: Zebodia the son of Michael, and with him eighty men. 8:9. Of the sons of Joab, Obedia the son of Jahiel, and with him two hundred and eighteen men. 8:10. Of the sons of Selomith, the son of Josphia, and with him a hundred and sixty men. 8:11. Of the sons of Bebai, Zacharias the son of Bebai: and with him eight and twenty men. 8:12. Of the sons of Azgad, Joanan the son of Eccetan, and with him a hundred and ten men. 8:13. Of the sons of Adonicam, who were the last: and these are their names: Eliphelet, and Jehiel, and Samaias, and with them sixty men. 8:14. Of the sons of Begui, Uthai and Zachur, and with them seventy men. 8:15. And I gathered them together to the river, which runneth down to Ahava, and we stayed there three days: and I sought among the people and among the priests for the sons of Levi, and found none there. 8:16. So I sent Eliezer, and Ariel, and Semeias, and Elnathan, and Jarib, and another Elnathan, and Nathan, and Zacharias, and Mosollam, chief men: and Joiarib, and Elnathan, wise men. 8:17. And I sent them to Eddo, who is chief in the place of Chasphia, and I put in their mouth the words that they should speak to Eddo, and his brethren the Nathinites in the place of Chasphia, that they should bring us ministers of the house of our God. 8:18. And by the good hand of our God upon us, they brought us a most learned man of the sons of Moholi the son of Levi the son of Israel, and Sarabias and his sons, and his brethren eighteen, 8:19. And Hasabias, and with him Isaias of the sons of Merari, and his brethren, and his sons twenty. 8:20. And of the Nathinites, whom David, and the princes gave for the service of the Levites, Nathinites two hundred and twenty: all these were called by their names. 8:21. And I proclaimed there a fast by the river Ahava, that we might afflict ourselves before the Lord our God, and might ask of him a right way for us and for our children, and for all our substance. And I proclaimed a fast... It is not enough to part from Babylon, that is, figuratively from sin, but we must also do works of penance; and therefore Esdras here proclaimed an extraordinary fast to those that were come from captivity. This shews that fasting was commanded and practised from the earliest times. 8:22. For I was ashamed to ask the king for aid and for horsemen, to defend us from the enemy in the way: because we had said to the king: The hand of our God is upon all them that seek him in goodness: and his power and strength, and wrath upon all them that forsake him. 8:23. And we fasted, and besought our God for this: and it fell out prosperously unto us. 8:24. And I separated twelve of the chief of the priests, Sarabias, and Hasabias, and with them ten of their brethren, 8:25. And I weighed unto them the silver and gold, and the vessels consecrated for the house of our God, which the king and his counsellors, and his princes, and all Israel, that were found had offered. 8:26. And I weighed to their hands six hundred and fifty talents of silver, and a hundred vessels of silver, and a hundred talents of gold, 8:27. And twenty cups of gold, of a thousand solids, and two vessels of the best shining brass, beautiful as gold. 8:28. And I said to them: You are the holy ones of the Lord, and the vessels are holy, and the silver and gold, that is freely offered to the Lord the God of our fathers. 8:29. Watch ye and keep them, till you deliver them by weight before the chief of the priests, and of the Levites, and the heads of the families of Israel in Jerusalem, into the treasure of the house of the Lord. 8:30. And the priests and the Levites received the weight of the silver and gold, and the vessels, to carry them to Jerusalem to the house of our God. 8:31. Then we set forward from the river Ahava on the twelfth day of the first month to go to Jerusalem: and the hand of our God was upon us, and delivered us from the hand of the enemy, and of such as lay in wait by the way. 8:32. And we came to Jerusalem, and we stayed there three days. 8:33. And on the fourth day the silver and the gold, and the vessels were weighed in the house of our God by the hand of Meremoth the son of Urias the priest, and with him was Eleazar the son of Phinees, and with them Jozabad the son of Josue, and Noadaia the son of Benoi, Levites. 8:34. According to the number and weight of everything: and all the weight was written at that time. 8:35. Moreover the children of them that had been carried away that were come out of the captivity, offered holocausts to the God of Israel, twelve calves for all the people of Israel, ninety-six rams, seventy- seven lambs, and twelve he-goats for sin: all for a holocaust to the Lord. 8:36. And they gave the king's edicts to the lords that were from the king's court, and the governors beyond the river, and they furthered the people and the house of God. 1 Esdras Chapter 9 Esdras mourneth for the transgression of the people: his confession and prayer. 9:1. And after these things were accomplished, the princes came to me, saying: The people of Israel, and the priests and Levites have not separated themselves from the people of the lands, and from their abominations, namely, of the Chanaanites, and the Hethites, and the Pherezites, and the Jebusites, and the Ammonites, and the Moabites, and the Egyptians, and the Amorrhites. This shows how sinful it is to intermarry with those that the Church forbids us, on account of the danger of perversion and falling off from the true faith. 9:2. For they have taken of their daughters for themselves and for their sons, and they have mingled the holy seed with the people of the lands. And the hand of the princes and magistrates hath been first in this transgression. 9:3. And when I had heard this word, I rent my mantle and my coat, and plucked off the hairs of my head and my beard, and I sat down mourning. 9:4. And there were assembled to me all that feared the God of Israel, because of the transgression of those that were come from the captivity, and I sat sorrowful, until the evening sacrifice. 9:5. And at the evening sacrifice I rose up from my affliction, and having rent my mantle and my garment, I fell upon my knees, and spread out my hands to the Lord my God, 9:6. And said: My God I am confounded and ashamed to lift up my face to thee: for our iniquities are multiplied over our heads, and our sins are grown up even unto heaven, 9:7. From the days of our fathers: and we ourselves also have sinned grievously unto this day, and for our iniquities we and our kings, and our priests have been delivered into the hands of the kings of the lands, and to the sword, and to captivity, and to spoil, and to confusion of face, as it is at this day. 9:8. And now as a little, and for a moment has our prayer been made before the Lord our God, to leave us a remnant, and give us a pin in his holy place, and that our God would enlighten our eyes, and would give us a little life in our bondage. A pin... or nail, here signifies a small settlement or holding; which Esdras begs for, to preserve even a part of the people, who, by their great iniquity had incurred the anger of God. 9:9. For we are bondmen, and in our bondage our God hath not forsaken us, but hath extended mercy upon us before the king of the Persians, to give us life, and to set up the house of our God, and to rebuild the desolations thereof, and to give us a fence in Juda and Jerusalem. 9:10. And now, O our God, what shall we say after this? for we have forsaken thy commandments, 9:11. Which thou hast commanded by the hand of thy servants the prophets, saying: The land which you go to possess, is an unclean land, according to the uncleanness of the people, and of other lands, with their abominations, who have filled it from mouth to mouth with their filth. 9:12. Now therefore give not your daughters to their sons, and take not their daughters for your sons, and seek not their peace, nor their prosperity for ever: that you may be strengthened, and may eat the good things of the land, and may have your children your heirs for ever. 9:13. And after all that is come upon us, for our most wicked deeds, and our great sin, seeing that thou our God hast saved us from our iniquity, and hast given us a deliverance as at this day, 9:14. That we should not turn away, nor break thy commandments, nor join in marriage with the people of these abominations. Art thou angry with us unto utter destruction, not to leave us a remnant to be saved? 9:15. O Lord God of Israel, thou art just: for we remain yet to be saved as at this day. Behold we are before thee in our sin, for there can be no standing before thee in this matter. 1 Esdras Chapter 10 Order is given for discharging strange women: the names of the guilty. 10:1. Now when Esdras was thus praying, and beseeching, and weeping, and lying before the temple of God, there was gathered to him of Israel an exceeding great assembly of men and women and children, and the people wept with much lamentation. 10:2. And Sechenias the son of Jehiel of the sons of Elam answered, and said to Esdras: We have sinned against our God, and have taken strange wives of the people of the land: and now if there be repentance in Israel concerning this, 10:3. Let us make a covenant with the Lord our God, to put away all the wives, and such as are born of them, according to the will of the Lord, and of them that fear the commandment of the Lord our God: let it be done according to the law. 10:4. Arise, it is thy part to give orders, and we will be with thee: take courage, and do it. 10:5. So Esdras arose, and made the chiefs of the priests and of the Levites, and all Israel, to swear that they would do according to this word, and they swore. 10:6. And Esdras rose up from before the house of God, and went to the chamber of Johanan the son of Eliasib, and entered in thither: he ate no bread, and drank no water: for he mourned for the transgression of them that were come out of the captivity. 10:7. And proclamation was made in Juda and Jerusalem to all the children of the captivity, that they should assemble together into Jerusalem. 10:8. And that whosoever would not come within three days, according to the counsel of the princes and the ancients, all his substance should be taken away, and he should be cast out of the company of them that were returned from captivity. 10:9. Then all the men of Juda, and Benjamin gathered themselves together to Jerusalem within three days, in the ninth month, the twentieth day of the month: and all the people sat in the street of the house of God, trembling because of the sin, and the rain. 10:10. And Esdras the priest stood up, and said to them: You have transgressed, and taken strange wives, to add to the sins of Israel. 10:11. And now make confession to the Lord the God of your fathers, and do his pleasure, and separate yourselves from the people of the land, and from your strange wives. 10:12. And all the multitude answered and said with a loud voice: According to thy word unto us, so be it done. 10:13. But as the people are many, and it is time of rain, and we are not able to stand without, and it is not a work of one day or two, (for we have exceedingly sinned in this matter,) 10:14. Let rulers be appointed in all the multitude: and in all our cities, let them that have taken strange wives come at the times appointed, and with them the ancients and the judges of every city, until the wrath of our God be turned away from us for this sin. 10:15. Then Jonathan the son of Azahel, and Jaasia the son of Thecua were appointed over this, and Mesollam and Sebethai, Levites, helped them: 10:16. And the children of the captivity did so. And Esdras the priest, and the men heads of the families in the houses of their fathers, and all by their names, went and sat down in the first day of the tenth month to examine the matter. 10:17. And they made an end with all the men that had taken strange wives by the first day of the first month. 10:18. And there were found among the sons of the priests that had taken strange wives: Of the sons of Josue the son of Josedec, and his brethren, Maasia, and Eliezer, and Jarib, and Godolia. 10:19. And they gave their hands to put away their wives, and to offer for their offence a ram of the flock. 10:20. And of the sons of Emmer, Hanani, and Zebedia. 10:21. And of the sons of Harim, Maasia, and Elia, and Semeia, and Jehiel, and Ozias. 10:22. And of the sons of Pheshur, Elioenai, Maasia, Ismael, Nathanael, Jozabed, and Elasa. 10:23. And of the sons of the Levites, Jozabed, and Semei, and Celaia, the same is Calita, Phataia, Juda, and Eliezer. 10:24. And of the singing men, Elisiab: and of the porters, Sellum, and Telem, and Uri. 10:25. And of Israel, of the sons of Pharos, Remeia, and Jezia, and Melchia, and Miamin, and Eliezer, and Melchia, and Banea. 10:26. And of the sons of Elam, Mathania, Zacharias, and Jehiel, and Abdi, and Jerimoth, and Elia. 10:27. And of the sons of Zethua, Elioenai, Eliasib, Mathania, Jerimuth, and Zabad, and Aziaza. 10:28. And of the sons of Babai, Johanan, Hanania, Zabbai, Athalai: 10:29. And of the sons of Bani, Mosollam, and Melluch, and Adaia, Jasub, and Saal, and Ramoth. 10:30. And of the sons of Phahath, Moab, Edna, and Chalal, Banaias, and Maasias, Mathanias, Beseleel, Bennui, and Manasse. 10:31. And of the sons of Herem, Eliezer, Josue, Melchias, Semeias, Simeon, 10:32. Benjamin, Maloch, Samarias. 10:33. And of the sons of Hasom, Mathanai, Mathatha, Zabad, Eliphelet, Jermai, Manasse, Semei. 10:34. Of the sons of Bani, Maaddi, Amram, and Uel, 10:35. Baneas, and Badaias, Cheliau, 10:36. Vania, Marimuth, and Eliasib, 10:37. Mathanias, Mathania, and Jasi, 10:38. And Bani, and Bennui, Semei, 10:39. And Salmias, and Nathan, and Adaias, 10:40. And Mechnedebai, Sisai, Sarai, 10:41. Ezrel, and Selemiau, Semeria, 10:42. Sellum, Amaria, Joseph. 10:43. Of the sons of Nebo, Jehiel, Mathathias, Zabad, Zabina, Jeddu, and Joel, and Banaia. 10:44. All these had taken strange wives, and there were among them women that had borne children. THE BOOK OF NEHEMIAS, WHICH IS CALLED THE SECOND OF ESDRAS This Book takes its name from the writer, who was cupbearer to Artaxerxes (surnamed Longimanus) king of Persia, and was sent by him with a commission to rebuild the walls of Jerusalem. It is also called the second book of Esdras; because it is a continuation of the history, begun by Esdras, of the state of the people of God after their return from captivity. 2 Esdras Chapter 1 Nehemias hearing the miserable state of his countrymen in Judea, lamenteth, fasteth, and prayeth to God for their relief. 1:1. The words of Nehemias the son of Helchias. And it came to pass in the month of Casleu, in the twentieth year, as I was in the castle of Susa, 1:2. That Hanani one of my brethren came, he and some men of Juda; and I asked them concerning the Jews, that remained and were left of the captivity, and concerning Jerusalem. 1:3. And they said to me: They that have remained, and are left of the captivity there in the province, are in great affliction, and reproach: and the wall of Jerusalem is broken down, and the gates thereof are burnt with fire. 1:4. And when I had heard these words, I sat down, and wept, and mourned for many days: and I fasted, and prayed before the face of the God of heaven. 1:5. And I said: I beseech thee, O Lord God of heaven, strong, great, and terrible, who keepest covenant and mercy with those that love thee, and keep thy commandments: 1:6. Let thy ears be attentive, and thy eyes open, to hear the prayer of thy servant, which I pray before thee now, night and day, for the children of Israel thy servants: and I confess the sins of the children of Israel, by which they have sinned against thee: I and my father's house have sinned. 1:7. We have been seduced by vanity, and have not kept thy commandments, and ceremonies and judgments, which thou hast commanded thy servant Moses. 1:8. Remember the word that thou commandedst to Moses thy servant, saying: If you shall transgress, I will scatter you abroad among the nations: 1:9. But if you return to me, and keep my commandments, and do them, though you should be led away to the uttermost parts of the world, I will gather you from thence, and bring you back to the place which I have chosen for my name to dwell there. 1:10. And these are thy servants, and thy people: whom thou hast redeemed by thy great strength, and by thy mighty hand. 1:11. I beseech thee, O Lord, let thy ear be attentive to the prayer of thy servant, and to the prayer of thy servants who desire to fear thy name: and direct thy servant this day, and give him mercy before this man. For I was the king's cupbearer. 2 Esdras Chapter 2 Nehemias with commission from king Artaxerxes cometh to Jerusalem: and exhorteth the Jews to rebuild the walls. 2:1. And it came to pass in the month of Nisan, in the twentieth year of Artaxerxes the king: that wine was before him, and I took up the wine, and gave it to the king: and I was as one languishing away before his face. 2:2. And the king said to me: Why is thy countenance sad, seeing thou dost not appear to be sick? this is not without cause, but some evil, I know not what, is in thy heart. And I was seized with an exceeding great fear: 2:3. And I said to the king: O king, live for ever: why should not my countenance be sorrowful, seeing the city of the place of the sepulchres of my fathers is desolate, and the gates thereof are burnt with fire? 2:4. Then the king said to me: For what dost thou make request? And I prayed to the God of heaven, 2:5. And I said to the king: If it seem good to the king, and if thy servant hath found favour in thy sight, that thou wouldst send me into Judea to the city of the sepulchre of my father, and I will build it. 2:6. And the king said to me, and the queen that sat by him: For how long shall thy journey be, and when wilt thou return? And it pleased the king, and he sent me: and I fixed him a time. 2:7. And I said to the king: If it seem good to the king, let him give me letters to the governors of the country beyond the river, that they convey me over, till I come into Judea: 2:8. And a letter to Asaph the keeper of the king's forest, to give me timber that I may cover the gates of the tower of the house, and the walls of the city, and the house that I shall enter into. And the king gave me according to the good hand of my God with me. 2:9. And I came to the governors of the country beyond the river, and gave them the king's letters. And the king had sent with me captains of soldiers, and horsemen. 2:10. And Sanaballat the Horonite, and Tobias the servant, the Ammonite, heard it, and it grieved them exceedingly, that a man was come, who sought the prosperity of the children of Israel. 2:11. And I came to Jerusalem, and was there three days. 2:12. And I arose in the night, I and some few men with me, and I told not any man what God had put in my heart to do in Jerusalem, and there was no beast with me, but the beast that I rode upon. 2:13. And I went out by night by the gate of the valley, and before the dragon fountain, and to the dung gate, and I viewed the wall of Jerusalem which was broken down, and the gates thereof which were consumed with fire. 2:14. And I passed to the gate of the fountain, and to the king's aqueduct, and there was no place for the beast on which I rode to pass. 2:15. And I went up in the night by the torrent, and viewed the wall, and going back I came to the gate of the valley, and returned. 2:16. But the magistrates knew not whither I went, or what I did: neither had I as yet told any thing to the Jews, or to the priests, or to the nobles, or to the magistrates, or to the rest that did the work. 2:17. Then I said to them: You know the affliction wherein we are, because Jerusalem is desolate, and the gates thereof are consumed with fire: come, and let us build up the walls of Jerusalem, and let us be no longer a reproach. 2:18. And I shewed them how the hand of my God was good with me, and the king's words, which he had spoken to me, and I said: Let us rise up, and build. And their hands were strengthened in good. 2:19. But Sanaballat the Horonite, and Tobias the servant, the Ammonite, and Gossem the Arabian heard of it, and they scoffed at us, and despised us, and said: What is this thing that you do? are you going to rebel against the king? 2:20. And I answered them, and said to them: The God of heaven he helpeth us, and we are his servants: let us rise up and build: but you have no part, nor justice, nor remembrance in Jerusalem. 2 Esdras Chapter 3 They begin to build the walls: the names and order of the builders. 3:1. Then Eliasib the high priest arose, and his brethren the priests, and they built the flock gate: they sanctified it, and set up the doors thereof, even unto the tower of a hundred cubits they sanctified it unto the tower of Hananeel. 3:2. And next to him the men of Jericho built: and next to them built Zachur the son of Amri. 3:3. But the fish gate the sons of Asnaa built: they covered it, and set up the doors thereof, and the locks, and the bars. And next to them built Marimuth the son of Urias the son of Accus. 3:4. And next to him built Mosollam the son of Barachias, the son of Merezebel, and next to them built Sadoc the son of Baana. 3:5. And next to them the Thecuites built: but their great men did not put their necks to the work of their Lord. 3:6. And Joiada the son of Phasea, and Mosollam the son of Besodia built the old gate: they covered it and set up the doors thereof, and the locks, and the bars. 3:7. And next to them built Meltias the Gabaonite, and Jadon the Meronathite, the men of Gabaon and Maspha, for the governor that was in the country beyond the river. 3:8. And next to him built Eziel the son of Araia the goldsmith: and next to him built Ananias the son of the perfumer: and they left Jerusalem unto the wall of the broad street. 3:9. And next to him built Raphaia the son of Hur, lord of the street of Jerusalem. 3:10. And next to him Jedaia the son of Haromaph over against his own house: and next to him built Hattus the son of Hasebonia. 3:11. Melchias the son of Herem, and Hasub the son of Phahath Moab, built half the street, and the tower of the furnaces. 3:12. And next to him built Sellum the son of Alohes, lord of half the street of Jerusalem, he and his daughters. 3:13. And the gate of the valley Hanun built, and the inhabitants of Zanoe: they built it, and set up the doors thereof, and the locks, and the bars, and a thousand cubits in the wall unto the gate of the dunghill. 3:14. And the gate of the dunghill Melchias the son of Rechab built, lord of the street of Bethacharam: he built it, and set up the doors thereof, and the locks, and the bars. 3:15. And the gate of the fountain, Sellum, the son of Cholhoza, built, lord of the street of Maspha: he built it, and covered it, and set up the doors thereof, and the locks, and the bars, and the walls of the pool of Siloe unto the king's guard, and unto the steps that go down from the city of David. 3:16. After him built Nehemias the son of Azboc, lord of half the street of Bethsur, as far as over against the sepulchre of David, and to the pool, that was built with great labour, and to the house of the mighty. 3:17. After him built the Levites, Rehum the son of Benni. After him built Hasebias, lord of half the street of Ceila in his own street. 3:18. After him built their brethren Bavai the son of Enadad, lord of half Ceila. 3:19. And next to him Aser the son of Josue, lord of Maspha, built another measure, over against the going up of the strong corner. 3:20. After him in the mount Baruch the son of Zachai built another measure, from the corner to the door of the house of Eliasib the high priest. 3:21. After him Merimuth the son of Urias the son of Haccus, built another measure, from the door of the house of Eliasib, to the end of the house of Eliasib. 3:22. And after him built the priests, the men of the plains of the Jordan. 3:23. After him built Benjamin and Hasub, over against their own house: and after him built Azarias the son of Maasias the son of Ananias over against his house. 3:24. After him built Bennui the son of Hanadad another measure, from the house of Azarias unto the bending, and unto the corner. 3:25. Phalel, the son of Ozi, over against the bending and the tower, which lieth out from the king's high house, that is, in the court of the prison: after him Phadaia the son of Pharos. 3:26. And the Nathinites dwelt in Ophel, as far as over against the water gate toward the east, and the tower that stood out. 3:27. After him the Thecuites built another measure over against, from the great tower that standeth out unto the wall of the temple. 3:28. And upward from the horse gate the priests built, every man over against his house. 3:29. After them built Sadoc the son of Emmer over against his house. And after him built Semaia the son of Sechenias, keeper of the east gate. 3:30. After him built Hanania the son of Selemia, and Hanun the sixth son of Seleph, another measure: after him built Mosollam the son of Barachias over against his treasury. After him Melcias the goldsmith's son built unto the house of the Nathinites, and of the sellers of small wares, over against the judgment gate, and unto the chamber of the corner. 3:31. And within the chamber of the corner of the flock gate, the goldsmiths and the merchants built. 2 Esdras Chapter 4 The building is carried on notwithstanding the opposition of their enemies. 4:1. And it came to pass, that when Sanaballat heard that we were building the wall he was angry: and being moved exceedingly he scoffed at the Jews. 4:2. And said before his brethren, and the multitude of the Samaritans: What are the silly Jews doing? Will the Gentiles let them alone? will they sacrifice and make an end in a day? are they able to raise stones out of the heaps of the rubbish, which are burnt? 4:3. Tobias also the Ammonite who was by him said: Let them build: if a fox go up, he will leap over their stone wall. 4:4. Hear thou our God, for we are despised: turn their reproach upon their own head, and give them to be despised in a land of captivity. 4:5. Cover not their iniquity, and let not their sin be blotted out from before thy face, because they have mocked thy builders. 4:6. So we built the wall, and joined it all together unto the half thereof: and the heart of the people was excited to work. 4:7. And it came to pass, when Sanaballat, and Tobias, and the Arabians, and the Ammonites, and the Azotians heard that the walls of Jerusalem were made up, and the breaches began to be closed, that they were exceedingly angry. 4:8. And they all assembled themselves together, to come, and to fight against Jerusalem, and to prepare ambushes. 4:9. And we prayed to our God, and set watchmen upon the wall day and night against them. 4:10. And Juda said: The strength of the bearer of burdens is decayed, and the rubbish is very much, and we shall not be able to build the wall. 4:11. And our enemies said: Let them not know, nor understand, till we come in the midst of them, and kill them, and cause the work to cease. 4:12. And it came to pass, that when the Jews that dwelt by them came and told us ten times, out of all the places from whence they came to us, 4:13. I set the people in the place behind the wall round about in order, with their swords, and spears, and bows. 4:14. And I looked and rose up: and I said to the chief men and the magistrates, and to the rest of the common people: be not afraid of them. Remember the Lord who is great and terrible, and fight for your brethren, your sons, and your daughters, and your wives, and your houses. 4:15. And it came to pass, when our enemies heard that the thing had been told us, that God defeated their counsel. And we returned all of us to the walls, every man to his work. 4:16. And it came to pass from that day forward, that half of their young men did the work, and half were ready for to fight, with spears, and shields, and bows, and coats of mail, and the rulers were behind them in all the house of Juda. 4:17. Of them that built on the wall and that carried burdens, and that laded: with one of his hands he did the work, and with the other he held a sword. 4:18. For every one of the builders was girded with a sword about his reins. And they built, and sounded with a trumpet by me. 4:19. And I said to the nobles, and to the magistrates, and to the rest of the common people: The work is great and wide, and we are separated on the wall one far from another: 4:20. In what place soever you shall hear the sound of the trumpet, run all thither unto us: our God will fight for us. 4:21. And let us do the work: and let one half of us hold our spears from the rising of the morning, till the stars appear. 4:22. At that time also I said to the people: Let every one with his servant stay in the midst of Jerusalem, and let us take our turns in the night, and by day, to work. 4:23. Now I and my brethren, and my servants, and the watchmen that followed me, did not put off our clothes: only every man stripped himself when he was to be washed. 2 Esdras Chapter 5 Nehemias blameth the rich, for their oppressing the poor. His exhortation, and bounty to his countrymen. 5:1. Now there was a great cry of the people, and of their wives against their brethren the Jews. 5:2. And there were some that said: Our sons and our daughters are very many: let us take up corn for the price of them, and let us eat and live. 5:3. And there were some that said: Let us mortgage our lands, and our vineyards, and our houses, and let us take corn because of the famine. 5:4. And others said: Let us borrow money for the king's tribute, and let us give up our fields and vineyards: 5:5. And now our flesh is as the flesh of our brethren: and our children as their children. Behold we bring into bondage our sons and our daughters, and some of our daughters are bondwomen already, neither have we wherewith to redeem them, and our fields and our vineyards other men possess. 5:6. And I was exceedingly angry when I heard their cry according to these words. 5:7. And my heart thought with myself: and I rebuked the nobles and magistrates, and said to them: Do you every one exact usury of your brethren? And I gathered together a great assembly against them, 5:8. And I said to them: We, as you know, have redeemed according to our ability our brethren the Jews, that were sold to the Gentiles: and will you then sell your brethren, for us to redeem them? And they held their peace, and found not what to answer. 5:9. And I said to them: The thing you do is not good: why walk you not in the fear of our God, that we be not exposed to the reproaches of the Gentiles our enemies? 5:10. Both I and my brethren, and my servants, have lent money and corn to many: let us all agree not to call for it again; let us forgive the debt that is owing to us. 5:11. Restore ye to them this day their fields, and their vineyards, and their oliveyards, and their houses: and the hundredth part of the money, and of the corn, the wine, and the oil, which you were wont to exact of them, give it rather for them. 5:12. And they said: We will restore, and we will require nothing of them: and we will do as thou sayest. And I called the priests and took an oath of them, to do according to what I had said. 5:13. Moreover I shook my lap, and said: So may God shake every man that shall not accomplish this word, out of his house, and out of his labours, thus may he be shaken out, and become empty. And all the multitude said: Amen. And they praised God. And the people did according to what was said. 5:14. And from the day, in which the king commanded me to be governor in the land of Juda, from the twentieth year even to the two and thirtieth year of Artaxerxes the king, for twelve years, I and my brethren did not eat the yearly allowance that was due to the governors. 5:15. But the former governors that had been before me, were chargeable to the people, and took of them in bread, and wine, and in money every day forty sicles: and their officers also oppressed the people. But I did not so for the fear of God. 5:16. Moreover I built in the work of the wall, and I bought no land, and all my servants were gathered together to the work. 5:17. The Jews also and the magistrates to the number of one hundred and fifty men, were at my table, besides them that came to us from among the nations that were round about us. 5:18. And there was prepared for me day be day one ox, and six choice rams, besides fowls, and once in ten days I gave store of divers wines, and many other things: yet I did not require my yearly allowance as governor: for the people were very much impoverished. 5:19. Remember me, O my God, for good according to all that I have done for this people. 2 Esdras Chapter 6 The enemies seek to terrify Nehemias. He proceedeth and finisheth the wall. 6:1. And it came to pass, when Sanaballat, and Tobias, and Gossem the Arabian, and the rest of our enemies, heard that I had built the wall, and that there was no breach left in it, (though at that time I had not set up the doors in the gates,) 6:2. Sanaballat and Gossem sent to me, saying: Come, and let us make a league together in the villages, in the plain of Ono. But they thought to do me mischief. 6:3. And I sent messengers to them, saying: I am doing a great work, and I cannot come down, lest it be neglected whilst I come, and go down to you. 6:4. And they sent to me according to this word, four times: and I answered them after the same manner. 6:5. And Sanaballat sent his servant to me the fifth time according to the former word, and he had a letter in his hand written in this manner: 6:6. It is reported amongst the Gentiles, and Gossem hath said it, that thou and the Jews think to rebel, and therefore thou buildest the wall, and hast a mind to set thyself king over them: for which end 6:7. Thou hast also set up prophets, to preach of thee at Jerusalem, saying: There is a king in Judea. The king will hear of these things: therefore come now, that we may take counsel together. 6:8. And I sent to them, saying: There is no such thing done as thou sayest: but thou feignest these things out of thy own heart. 6:9. For all these men thought to frighten us, thinking that our hands would cease from the work, and that we would leave off. Wherefore I strengthened my hands the more: 6:10. And I went into the house of Samaia the son of Delaia, the son of Metabeel privately. And he said: Let us consult together in the house of God in the midst of the temple: and let us shut the doors of the temple, for they will come to kill thee, and in the night they will come to slay thee. 6:11. And I said: Should such a man as I flee? and who is there that being as I am, would go into the temple, to save his life? I will not go in. 6:12. And I understood that God had not sent him, but that he had spoken to me as if he had been prophesying, and Tobias, and Sanaballat had hired him. 6:13. For he had taken money, that I being afraid should do this thing, and sin, and they might have some evil to upbraid me withal. 6:14. Remember me, O Lord, for Tobias and Sanaballat, according to their works of this kind: and Noadias the prophet, and the rest of the prophets that would have put me in fear. 6:15. But the wall was finished the five and twentieth day of the month of Elul, in two and fifty days. 6:16. And it came to pass when all our enemies heard of it, that all nations which were round about us, were afraid, and were cast down within themselves, for they perceived that this work was the work of God. 6:17. Moreover in those days many letters were sent by the principal men of the Jews to Tobias, and from Tobias there came letters to them. 6:18. For there were many in Judea sworn to him, because he was the son- in-law of Sechenias the son of Area, and Johanan his son had taken to wife the daughter of Mosollam the son of Barachias. 6:19. And they praised him also before me, and they related my words to him: And Tobias sent letters to put me in fear. 2 Esdras Chapter 7 Nehemias appointeth watchmen in Jerusalem. The list of those who came first from Babylon. 7:1. Now after the wall was built, and I had set up the doors, and numbered the porters and singing men, and Levites: 7:2. I commanded Hanani my brother, and Hananias ruler of the house of Jerusalem, (for he seemed as a sincere man, and one that feared God above the rest,) 7:3. And I said to them: Let not the gates of Jerusalem be opened till the sun be hot. And while they were yet standing by the gates were shut, and barred: and I set watchmen of the inhabitants of Jerusalem, every one by their courses, and every man over against his house. 7:4. And the city was very wide and great, and the people few in the midst thereof, and the houses were not built. 7:5. But God had put in my heart, and I assembled the princes and magistrates, and common people, to number them: and I found a book of the number of them who came up at first and therein it was found written: 7:6. These are the children of the province, who came up from the captivity of them that had been carried away, whom Nabuchodonosor the king of Babylon had carried away, and who returned into Judea, every one into his own city. 7:7. Who came with Zorobabel, Josue, Nehemias, Azarias, Raamias, Nahamani, Mardochai, Belsam, Mespharath, Begoia, Nahum, Baana. The number of the men of the people of Israel: 7:8. The children of Pharos, two thousand one hundred seventy-two. 7:9. The children of Sephatia, three hundred seventy-two. 7:10. The children of Area, six hundred fifty-two. 7:11. The children of Phahath Moab of the children of Josue and Joab, two thousand eight hundred eighteen. 7:12. The children of Elam, one thousand two hundred fifty-four. 7:13. The children of Zethua, eight hundred forty-five. 7:14. The children of Zachai, seven hundred sixty. 7:15. The children of Bannui, six hundred forty-eight. 7:16. The children of Bebai, six hundred twenty-eight. 7:17. The children of Azgad, two thousand three hundred twenty-two. 7:18. The children of Adonicam, six hundred sixty-seven. 7:19. The children of Beguai, two thousand sixty-seven. 7:20. The children of Adin, six hundred fifty-five. 7:21. The children of Ater, children of Hezechias, ninety-eight. 7:22. The children of Hasem, three hundred twenty-eight. 7:23. The children of Besai, three hundred twenty-four. 7:24. The children of Hareph, a hundred and twelve. 7:25. The children of Gabaon, ninety-five. 7:26. The children of Bethlehem, and Netupha, a hundred eighty-eight. 7:27. The men of Anathoth, a hundred twenty-eight. 7:28. The men of Bethazmoth, forty-two. 7:29. The men of Cariathiarim, Cephira, and Beroth, seven hundred forty- three. 7:30. The men of Rama and Geba, six hundred twenty-one. 7:31. The men of Machmas, a hundred twenty-two. 7:32. The men of Bethel and Hai, a hundred twenty-three. 7:33. The men of the other Nebo, fifty-two. 7:34. The men of the other Elam, one thousand two hundred fifty-four. 7:35. The children of Harem, three hundred and twenty. 7:36. The children of Jericho, three hundred forty-five. 7:37. The children of Lod, of Hadid and Ono, seven hundred twenty-one. 7:38. The children of Senaa, three thousand nine hundred thirty. 7:39. The priests: the children of Idaia in the house of Josue, nine hundred and seventy-three. 7:40. The children of Emmer, one thousand fifty-two. 7:41. The children of Phashur, one thousand two hundred forty-seven. 7:42. The children of Arem, one thousand and seventeen. The Levites: 7:43. The children of Josue and Cedmihel, the sons 7:44. Of Oduia, seventy-four. The singing men: 7:45. The children of Asaph, a hundred forty-eight. 7:46. The porters: the children of Sellum, the children of Ater, the children of Telmon, the children of Accub, the children of Hatita, the children of Sobai: a hundred thirty-eight. 7:47. The Nathinites: the children of Soha, the children of Hasupha, the children of Tebbaoth, 7:48. The children of Ceros, the children os Siaa, the children of Phadon, the children of Lebana, the children of Hagaba, the children of Selmai, 7:49. The children of Hanan, the children of Geddel, the children of Gaher, 7:50. The children of Raaia, the children of Rasin, the children of Necoda, 7:51. The children of Gezem, the children of Asa, the children of Phasea, 7:52. The children of Besai, the children of Munim, the children of Nephussim, 7:53. The children of Bacbuc, the children of Hacupha, the children of Harhur, 7:54. The children of Besloth, the children of Mahida, the children of Harsa, 7:55. The children of Bercos, the children of Sisara, the children of Thema, 7:56. The children of Nasia, the children of Hatipha, 7:57. The children of the servants of Solomon, the children of Sothai, the children of Sophereth, the children of Pharida, 7:58. The children of Jahala, the children of Darcon, the children of Jeddel, 7:59. The children of Saphatia, the children of Hatil, the children of Phochereth, who was born of Sabaim, the son of Amon. 7:60. All the Nathinites, and the children of the servants of Solomon, three hundred ninety-two. 7:61. And these are they that came up from Telmela, Thelharsa, Cherub, Addon, and Emmer: and could not shew the house of their fathers, nor their seed, whether they were of Israel. 7:62. The children of Dalaia, the children of Tobia, the children of Necoda, six hundred forty-two. 7:63. And of the priests, the children of Habia, the children of Accos, the children of Berzellai, who took a wife of the daughters of Berzellai the Galaadite, and he was called by their name. 7:64. These sought their writing in the record, and found it not: and they were cast out of the priesthood. 7:65. And Athersatha said to them, that they should not eat of the holies of holies, until there stood up a priest learned and skilful. 7:66. All the multitude as it were one man, forty-two thousand three hundred sixty, 7:67. Beside their men-servants and women-servants, who were seven thousand three hundred thirty-seven: and among them singing men, and singing women, two hundred forty-five. 7:68. Their horses, seven hundred thirty-six: their mules two hundred forty-five. 7:69. Their camels, four hundred thirty-five, their asses, six thousand seven hundred and twenty. (Hitherto is related what was written in the record. From this place forward goeth on the history of Nehemias.) 7:70. And some of the heads of the families gave unto the work. Athersatha gave into the treasure a thousand drams of gold, fifty bowls, and five hundred and thirty garments for priests. Athersatha... That is, Nehemias; as appears from chap. 12. Either that he was so called at the court of the king of Persia, where he was cupbearer: or that, as some think, this name signifies governor; and he was at that time governor of Judea. 7:71. And some of the heads of families gave to the treasure of the work, twenty thousand drams of gold, and two thousand two hundred pounds of silver. 7:72. And that which the rest of the people gave, was twenty thousand drams of gold, and two thousand pounds of silver, and sixty-seven garments for priests. 7:73. And the priests, and the Levites, and the porters, and the singing men, and the rest of the common people, and the Nathinites, and all Israel dwelt in their cities. 2 Esdras Chapter 8 Esdras readeth the law before the people. Nehemias comforteth them. They celebrate the feast of tabernacles. 8:1. And the seventh month came: and the children of Israel were in their cities. And all the people were gathered together as one man to the street which is before the water gate, and they spoke to Esdras the scribe, to bring the book of the law of Moses, which the Lord had commanded to Israel. 8:2. Then Esdras the priest brought the law before the multitude of men and women, and all those that could understand, in the first day of the seventh month. 8:3. And he read it plainly in the street that was before the water gate, from the morning until midday, before the men, and the women, and all those that could understand: and the ears of all the people were attentive to the book. 8:4. And Esdras the scribe stood upon a step of wood, which he had made to speak upon, and there stood by him Mathathias, and Semeia, and Ania, and Uria, and Helcia, and Maasia, on his right hand: and on the left, Phadaia, Misael, and Melchia, and Hasum, and Hasbadana, Zacharia and Mosollam. 8:5. And Esdras opened the book before all the people: for he was above all the people: and when he had opened it, all the people stood. 8:6. And Esdras blessed the Lord the great God: and all the people answered, Amen, amen: lifting up their hands: and they bowed down, and adored God with their faces to the ground. 8:7. Now Josue, and Bani, and Serebia, Jamin, Accub, Sephtai, Odia, Maasia, Celtia, Azarias, Jozabed, Hanan, Phalaia, the Levites, made silence among the people to hear the law: and the people stood in their place. 8:8. And they read in the book of the law of God distinctly and plainly to be understood: and they understood when it was read. 8:9. And Nehemias (he is Athersatha) and Esdras the priest and scribe, and the Levites who interpreted to all the people, said: This is a holy day to the Lord our God: do not mourn, nor weep: for all the people wept, when they heard the words of the law. 8:10. And he said to them: Go, eat fat meats, and drink sweet wine, and send portions to them that have not prepared for themselves: because it is the holy day of the Lord, and be not sad: for the joy of the Lord is our strength. 8:11. And the Levites stilled all the people, saying: Hold your peace, for the day is holy, and be not sorrowful. 8:12. So all the people went to eat and drink, and to send portions, and to make great mirth: because they understood the words that he had taught them. 8:13. And on the second day the chiefs of the families of all the people, the priests, and the Levites were gathered together to Esdras the scribe, that he should interpret to them the words of the law. 8:14. And they found written in the law, that the Lord had commanded by the hand of Moses, that the children of Israel should dwell in tabernacles, on the feast, in the seventh month: 8:15. And that they should proclaim and publish the word in all their cities, and in Jerusalem, saying: Go forth to the mount, and fetch branches of olive, and branches of beautiful wood, branches of myrtle, and branches of palm, and branches of thick trees, to make tabernacles, as it is written. 8:16. And the people went forth, and brought. And they made themselves tabernacles every man on the top of his house, and in their courts, and in the courts of the house of God, and in the street of the water gate, and in the street of the gate of Ephraim. 8:17. And all the assembly of them that were returned from the captivity, made tabernacles, and dwelt in tabernacles: for since the days of Josue the son of Nun the children of Israel had not done so, until that day: and there was exceeding great joy. 8:18. And he read in the book of the law of God day by day, from the first day till the last, and they kept the solemnity seven days, and in the eighth day a solemn assembly according to the manner. 2 Esdras Chapter 9 The people repent with fasting and sackcloth. The Levites confess God's benefits, and the people's ingratitude: they pray for them, and make a covenant with God. 9:1. And in the four and twentieth day of the month the children of Israel came together with fasting and with sackcloth, and earth upon them. 9:2. And the seed of the children of Israel separated themselves from every stranger: and they stood, and confessed their sins, and the iniquities of their fathers. 9:3. And they rose up to stand: and they read in the book of the law of the Lord their God, four times in the day, and four times they confessed, and adored the Lord their God. 9:4. And there stood up upon the step of the Levites, Josue, and Bani, and Cedmihel, Sabania, Bonni, Sarebias, Bani, and Chanani: and they cried with a loud voice to the Lord their God. 9:5. And the Levites Josue and Cedmihel, Bonni, Hasebnia, Serebia, Oduia, Sebnia, and Phathahia, said: Arise, bless the Lord your God from eternity to eternity: and blessed be the high name of thy glory with all blessing and praise. 9:6. Thou thyself, O Lord alone, thou hast made heaven, and the heaven of heavens, and all the host thereof: the earth and all things that are in it: the seas and all that are therein: and thou givest life to all these things, and the host of heaven adoreth thee. 9:7. Thou O Lord God, art he who chosest Abram, and broughtest him forth out of the fire of the Chaldeans, and gavest him the name of Abraham. The fire of the Chaldeans... The city of Ur in Chaldea, the name of which signifies fire. Or out of the fire of the tribulations and temptations, to which he was there exposed.-The ancient Rabbins understood this literally, affirming that Abram was cast into the fire by the idolaters, and brought out by a miracle without any hurt. 9:8. And thou didst find his heart faithful before thee: and thou madest a covenant with him, to give him the land of the Chanaanite, of the Hethite, and of the Amorrhite, and of the Pherezite, and of the Jebusite, and of the Gergezite, to give it to his seed: and thou hast fulfilled thy words, because thou art just. 9:9. And thou sawest the affliction of our fathers in Egypt: and thou didst hear their cry by the Red Sea. 9:10. And thou shewedst signs and wonders upon Pharao, and upon all his servants, and upon the people of his land: for thou knewest that they dealt proudly against them: and thou madest thyself a name, as it is at this day. 9:11. And thou didst divide the sea before them, and they passed through the midst of the sea on dry land: but their persecutors thou threwest into the depth, as a stone into mighty waters. 9:12. And in a pillar of a cloud thou wast their leader by day, and in a pillar of fire by night, that they might see the way by which they went. 9:13. Thou camest down also to mount Sinai, and didst speak with them from heaven, and thou gavest them right judgments, and the law of truth, ceremonies, and good precepts. 9:14. Thou madest known to them thy holy sabbath, and didst prescribe to them commandments, and ceremonies, and the law by the hand of Moses thy servant. 9:15. And thou gavest them bread from heaven in their hunger, and broughtest forth water for them out of the rock in their thirst, and thou saidst to them that they should go in, and possess the land, upon which thou hadst lifted up thy hand to give it them. 9:16. But they and our fathers dealt proudly, and hardened their necks and hearkened not to thy commandments. 9:17. And they would not hear, and they remembered not thy wonders which thou hadst done for them. And they hardened their necks, and gave the head to return to their bondage, as it were by contention. But thou, a forgiving God, gracious, and merciful, longsuffering, and full of compassion, didst not forsake them. And gave the head... That is, they set their head, or were bent to return to Egypt. 9:18. Yea when they had made also to themselves a molten calf, and had said: This is thy God, that brought thee out of Egypt: and had committed great blasphemies: 9:19. Yet thou, in thy many mercies, didst not leave them in the desert: the pillar of the cloud departed not from them by day to lead them in the way, and the pillar of fire by night to shew them the way by which they should go. 9:20. And thou gavest them thy good Spirit to teach them, and thy manna thou didst not withhold from their mouth, and thou gavest them water for their thirst. 9:21. Forty years didst thou feed them in the desert, and nothing was wanting to them: their garments did not grow old, and their feet were not worn. 9:22. And thou gavest them kingdoms, and nations, and didst divide lots for them: and they possessed the land of Sehon, and the land of the king of Hesebon, and the land of Og king of Basan. 9:23. And thou didst multiply their children as the stars of heaven, and broughtest them to the land concerning which thou hadst said to their fathers, that they should go in and possess it. 9:24. And the children came and possessed the land, and thou didst humble before them the inhabitants of the land, the Chanaanites, and gavest them into their hands, with their kings, and the people of the land, that they might do with them as it pleased them. 9:25. And they took strong cities and a fat land, and possessed houses full of all goods: cisterns made by others, vineyards, and oliveyards, and fruit trees in abundance: and they ate, and were filled, and became fat, and abounded with delight in thy great goodness. 9:26. But they provoked thee to wrath, and departed from thee, and threw thy law behind their backs: and they killed thy prophets, who admonished them earnestly to return to thee: and they were guilty of great blasphemies. 9:27. And thou gavest them into the hands of their enemies, and they afflicted them. And in the time of their tribulation they cried to thee, and thou heardest from heaven, and according to the multitude of thy tender mercies thou gavest them saviours, to save them from the hands of their enemies. 9:28. But after they had rest, they returned to do evil in thy sight: and thou leftest them in the hand of their enemies, and they had dominion over them. Then they returned, and cried to thee: and thou heardest from heaven, and deliveredst them many times in thy mercies. 9:29. And thou didst admonish them to return to thy law. But they dealt proudly, and hearkened not to thy commandments, but sinned against thy judgments, which if a man do, he shall live in them: and they withdrew the shoulder, and hardened their neck, and would not hear. 9:30. And thou didst forbear with them for many years, and didst testify against them by thy spirit by the hand of thy prophets: and they heard not, and thou didst deliver them into the hand of the people of the lands. 9:31. Yet in thy very many mercies thou didst not utterly consume them, nor forsake them: because thou art a merciful and gracious God. 9:32. Now therefore our God, great, strong, and terrible, who keepest covenant and mercy, turn not away from thy face all the labour which hath come upon us, upon our kings, and our princes, and our priests, and our prophets, and our fathers, and all the people from the days of the king of Assur, until this day. 9:33. And thou art just in all things that have come upon us: because thou hast done truth, but we have done wickedly. 9:34. Our kings, our princes, our priests, and our fathers have not kept thy law, and have not minded thy commandments, and thy testimonies which thou hast testified among them. 9:35. And they have not served thee in their kingdoms, and in thy manifold goodness, which thou gavest them, and in the large and fat land, which thou deliveredst before them, nor did they return from their most wicked devices. 9:36. Behold we ourselves this day are bondmen: and the land, which thou gavest our fathers, to eat the bread thereof, and the good things thereof, and we ourselves are servants in it. 9:37. And the fruits thereof grow up for the kings, whom thou hast set over us for our sins, and they have dominion over our bodies, and over our beasts, according to their will, and we are in great tribulation. 9:38. And because of all this we ourselves make a covenant, and write it, and our princes, our Levites, and our priests sign it. 2 Esdras Chapter 10 The names of the subscribers to the covenant, and the contents of it. 10:1. And the subscribers were Nehemias, Athersatha the son of Hachelai, and Sedecias, 10:2. Saraias, Azarias, Jeremias, 10:3. Pheshur, Amarias, Melchias, 10:4. Hattus, Sebenia, Melluch, 10:5. Harem, Merimuth, Obdias, 10:6. Daniel, Genthon, Baruch, 10:7. Mosollam, Abia, Miamin, 10:8. Maazia, Belgia, Semeia: these were priests. 10:9. And the Levites, Josue the son of Azanias, Bennui of the sons of Henadad, Cedmihel, 10:10. And their brethren, Sebenia, Oduia, Celita, Phalaia, Hanan, 10:11. Micha, Rohob, Hasebia, 10:12. Zachur, Serebia, Sabania, 10:13. Odaia, Bani, Baninu. 10:14. The heads of the people, Pharos, Phahath Moab, Elam, Zethu, Bani, 10:15. Bonni, Azgad, Bebai, 10:16. Adonia, Begoai, Adin, 10:17. Ater, Hezecia, Azur, 10:18. Odaia, Hasum, Besai, 10:19. Hareph, Anathoth, Nebai, 10:20. Megphias, Mosollam, Hazir, 10:21. Mesizabel, Sadoc, Jeddua, 10:22. Pheltia, Hanan, Anaia, 10:23. Osee, Hanania, Hasub, 10:24. Alohes, Phalea, Sobec, 10:25. Rehum, Hasebna, Maasia, 10:26. Echaia, Hanan, Anan, 10:27. Melluch, Haran, Baana: 10:28. And the rest of the people, priests, Levites, porters, and singing men, Nathinites, and all that had separated themselves from the people of the lands to the law of God, their wives, their sons, and their daughters. 10:29. All that could understand, promising for their brethren, with their chief men, and they came to promise, and swear that they would walk in the law of God, which he gave in the hand of Moses the servant of God, that they would do and keep all the commandments of the Lord our God, and his judgments and his ceremonies. 10:30. And that we would not give our daughters to the people of the land, nor take their daughters for our sons. 10:31. And if the people of the land bring in things to sell, or any things for use, to sell them on the sabbath day, that we would not buy them on the sabbath, or on the holy day. And that we would leave the seventh year, and the exaction of every hand. 10:32. And we made ordinances for ourselves, to give the third part of a sicle every year for the work of the house of our God, 10:33. For the loaves of proposition, and for the continual sacrifice, and for a continual holocaust on the sabbaths, on the new moons, on the set feasts, and for the holy things, and for the sin offering: that atonement might be made for Israel, and for every use of the house of our God. 10:34. And we cast lots among the priests, and the Levites, and the people for the offering of wood, that it might be brought into the house of our God by the houses of our fathers at set times, from year to year: to burn upon the altar of the Lord our God, as it is written in the law of Moses: 10:35. And that we would bring the firstfruits of our land, and the firstfruits of all fruit of every tree, from year to year, in the house of our Lord. 10:36. And the firstborn of our sons, and of our cattle, as it is written in the law, and the firstlings of our oxen, and of our sheep, to be offered in the house of our God, to the priests who minister in the house of our God. 10:37. And that we would bring the firstfruits of our meats, and of our libations, and the fruit of every tree, of the vintage also and of oil to the priests, to the storehouse of our God, and the tithes of our ground to the Levites. The Levites also shall receive the tithes of our works out of all the cities. 10:38. And the priest the son of Aaron shall be with the Levites in the tithes of the Levites, and the Levites shall offer the tithe of their tithes in the house of our God, to the storeroom into the treasure house. 10:39. For the children of Israel and the children of Levi shall carry to the treasury the firstfruits of corn, of wine, and of oil: and the sanctified vessels shall be there, and the priests, and the singing men, and the porters, and ministers, and we will not forsake the house of our God. 2 Esdras Chapter 11 Who were the inhabitants of Jerusalem, and the other cities. 11:1. And the princes of the people dwelt at Jerusalem: but the rest of the people cast lots, to take one part in ten to dwell in Jerusalem the holy city, and nine parts in the other cities. 11:2. And the people blessed all the men that willingly offered themselves to dwell in Jerusalem. 11:3. These therefore are the chief men of the province, who dwelt in Jerusalem, and in the cities of Juda. And every one dwelt in his possession, in their cities: Israel, the priests, the Levites, the Nathinites, and the children of the servants of Solomon. 11:4. And in Jerusalem there dwelt some of the children of Juda, and some of the children of Benjamin: of the children of Juda, Athaias the son of Aziam, the son of Zacharias, the son of Amarias, the son of Saphatias, the son of Malaleel: of the sons of Phares, 11:5. Maasia the son of Baruch, the son of Cholhoza, the son of Hazia, the son of Adaia, the son of Joiarib, the son of Zacharias, the son of the Silonite: 11:6. All these the sons of Phares, who dwelt in Jerusalem, were four hundred sixty-eight valiant men. 11:7. And these are the children of Benjamin: Sellum the son of Mosollam, the son of Joed, the son of Phadaia, the son of Colaia, the son of Masia, the son of Etheel, the son of Isaia. 11:8. And after him Gebbai, Sellai, nine hundred twenty-eight. 11:9. And Joel the son of Zechri their ruler, and Judas the son of Senua was second over the city. 11:10. And of the priests Idaia the son of Joarib, Jachin, 11:11. Saraia the son of Helcias, the son of Mosollam, the son of Sadoc, the son of Meraioth, the son of Achitob the prince of the house of God, 11:12. And their brethren that do the works of the temple: eight hundred twenty-two. And Adaia the son of Jeroham, the son of Phelelia, the son of Amsi, the son of Zacharias, the son of Pheshur, the son of Melchias, 11:13. And his brethren the chiefs of the fathers: two hundred forty- two. And Amassai the son of Azreel, the son of Ahazi, the son of Mosollamoth, the son of Emmer, 11:14. And their brethren who were very mighty, a hundred twenty-eight: and their ruler Zabdiel son of the mighty. 11:15. And of the Levites Semeia the son of Hasub, the son of Azaricam, the son of Hasabia, the son of Boni, 11:16. And Sabathai and Jozabed, who were over all the outward business of the house of God, of the princes of the Levites, 11:17. And Mathania the son of Micha, the son of Zebedei, the son of Asaph, was the principal man to praise, and to give glory in prayer, and Becbecia, the second, one of his brethren, and Abda the son of Samua, the son of Galal, the son of Idithun. 11:18. All the Levites in the holy city were two hundred eighty-four. 11:19. And the porters, Accub, Telmon, and their brethren, who kept the doors: a hundred seventy-two. 11:20. And the rest of Israel, the priests and the Levites were in all the cities of Juda, every man in his possession. 11:21. And the Nathinites, that dwelt in Ophel, and Siaha, and Gaspha of the Nathinites. 11:22. And the overseer of the Levites in Jerusalem, was Azzi the son of Bani, the son of Hasabia, the son of Mathania, the son of Micha. Of the sons of Asaph, were the singing men in the ministry of the house of God. 11:23. For the king's commandment was concerning them, and an order among the singing men day by day. 11:24. And Phathahia the son of Mesezebel of the children of Zara the son of Juda was at the hand of the king, in all matters concerning the people, 11:25. And in the houses through all their countries. Of the children of Juda some dwelt at Cariath-Arbe, and in the villages thereof: and at Dibon, and in the villages thereof: and at Cabseel, and in the villages thereof. 11:26. And at Jesue, and at Molada, and at Bethphaleth, 11:27. And at Hasersuel, and at Bersabee, and in the villages thereof, 11:28. And at Siceleg, and at Mochona, and in the villages thereof, 11:29. And at Remmon, and at Saraa, and at Jerimuth, 11:30. Zanoa, Odollam, and in their villages, at Lachis and its dependencies, and at Azeca and the villages thereof. And they dwelt from Bersabee unto the valley of Ennom. 11:31. And the children of Benjamin, from Geba, at Mechmas, and at Hai, and at Bethel, and in the villages thereof, 11:32. At Anathoth, Nob, Anania, 11:33. Asor, Rama, Gethaim, 11:34. Hadid, Seboim, and Neballat, Lod, 11:35. And Ono the valley of craftsmen. 11:36. And of the Levites were portions of Juda and Benjamin. 2 Esdras Chapter 12 The priests, and Levites that came up with Zorobabel. The succession of high priests: the solemnity of the dedication of the wall. 12:1. Now these are the priests and the Levites, that went up with Zorobabel the son of Salathiel, and Josue: Saraia, Jeremias, Esdras, 12:2. Amaria, Melluch, Hattus, 12:3. Sebenias, Rheum, Merimuth, 12:4. Addo, Genthon, Abia, 12:5. Miamin, Madia, Belga, 12:6. Semeia, and Joiarib, Idaia, Sellum Amoc, Helcias, 12:7. Idaia. These were the chief of the priests, and of their brethren in the days of Josue. 12:8. And the Levites, Jesua, Bennui, Cedmihel, Sarebia, Juda, Mathanias, they and their brethren were over the hymns: 12:9. And Becbecia, and Hanni, and their brethren every one in his office. 12:10. And Josue begot Joacim, and Joacim begot Eliasib, and Eliasib begot Joiada, 12:11. And Joiada begot Jonathan and Jonathan begot Jeddoa. 12:12. And in the days of Joacim the priests and heads of the families were: Of Saraia, Maraia: of Jeremias, Hanania: 12:13. Of Esdras, Mosollam: and of Amaria, Johanan: 12:14. Of Milicho, Jonathan: of Sebenia, Joseph: 12:15. Of Haram, Edna: of Maraioth, Helci: 12:16. Of Adaia, Zacharia: of Genthon, Mosollam: 12:17. Of Abia, Zechri: of Miamin and Moadia, Phelti: 12:18. Of Belga, Sammua of Semaia, Jonathan: 12:19. Of Joiarib, Mathanai: of Jodaia, Azzi: 12:20. Of Sellai, Celai: of Amoc, Heber: 12:21. Of Helcias, Hasebia: of Idaia, Nathanael. 12:22. The Levites the chiefs of the families in the days of Eliasib, and Joiada, and Johanan, and Jeddoa, were recorded, and the priests in the reign of Darius the Persian. 12:23. The sons of Levi, heads of the families were written in the book of Chronicles, even unto the days of Jonathan the son of Eliasib. 12:24. Now the chief of the Levites were Hasebia, Serebia, and Josue the son of Cedmihel: and their brethren by their courses, to praise and to give thanks according to the commandment of David the man of God, and to wait equally in order. 12:25. Mathania, and Becbecia, Obedia, and Mosollam, Telmon, Accub, were keepers of the gates and of the entrances before the gates. 12:26. These were in the days of Joacim the son of Josue, the son of Josedec, and in the days of Nehemias the governor, and of Esdras the priest and scribe. 12:27. And at the dedication of the wall of Jerusalem they sought the Levites out of all their places, to bring them to Jerusalem, and to keep the dedication, and to rejoice with thanksgiving, and with singing, and with cymbals, and psalteries and harps. 12:28. And the sons of the singing men were gathered together out of the plain country about Jerusalem, and out of the villages of Nethuphati, 12:29. And from the house of Galgal, and from the countries of Geba and Azmaveth: for the singing men had built themselves villages round about Jerusalem. 12:30. And the priests and the Levites were purified, and they purified the people, and the gates, and the wall. 12:31. And I made the princes of Juda go up upon the wall, and I appointed two great choirs to give praise. And they went on the right hand upon the wall toward the dung gate. 12:32. And after them went Osaias, and half of the princes of Juda, 12:33. And Azarias, Esdras, and Mosollam, Judas, and Benjamin, and Semeia, and Jeremias. 12:34. And of the sons of the priests with trumpets, Zacharias the son of Jonathan, the son of Semeia, the son of Mathania, the son of Michaia, the son of Zechur, the son of Asaph, 12:35. And his brethren Semeia, and Azareel, Malalai, Galalai, Maai, Nathanael, and Judas, and Hanani, with the musical instruments of David the man of God: and Esdras the scribe before them at the fountain gate. 12:36. And they went up over against them by the stairs of the city of David, at the going up of the wall of the house of David, and to the water gate eastward: 12:37. And the second choir of them that gave thanks went on the opposite side, and I after them, and the half of the people upon the wall, and upon the tower of the furnaces, even to the broad wall, 12:38. And above the gate of Ephraim, and above the old gate, and above the fish gate and the tower of Hananeel, and the tower of Emath, and even to the flock gate: and they stood still in the watch gate. 12:39. And the two choirs of them that gave praise stood still at the house of God, and I and the half of the magistrates with me. 12:40. And the priests, Eliachim, Maasia, Miamin, Michea, Elioenai, Zacharia, Hanania with trumpets, 12:41. And Maasia, and Semeia, and Eleazar, and Azzi, and Johanan, and Melchia, and Elam, and Ezer. And the singers sung loud, and Jezraia was their overseer: 12:42. And they sacrificed on that day great sacrifices, and they rejoiced: for God had made them joyful with great joy: their wives also and their children rejoiced, and the joy of Jerusalem was heard afar off. 12:43. They appointed also in that day men over the storehouses of the treasure, for the libations, and for the firstfruits, and for the tithes, that the rulers of the city might bring them in by them in honour of thanksgiving, for the priests and Levites: for Juda was joyful in the priests and Levites that assisted. 12:44. And they kept the watch of their God, and the observance of expiation, and the singing men, and the porters, according to the commandment of David, and of Solomon his son. 12:45. For in the days of David and Asaph from the beginning there were chief singers appointed, to praise with canticles, and give thanks to God. 12:46. And all Israel, in the days of Zorobabel, and in the days of Nehemias gave portions to the singing men, and to the porters, day by day, and they sanctified the Levites, and the Levites sanctified the sons of Aaron. Sanctified... That is, they gave them that which by the law was set aside, and sanctified for their use. 2 Esdras Chapter 13 Divers abuses are reformed. 13:1. And on that day they read in the book of Moses in the hearing of the people: and therein was found written, that the Ammonites and the Moabites should not come in to the church of God for ever: 13:2. Because they met not the children of Israel with bread and water: and they hired against them Balaam, to curse them, and our God turned the curse into blessing. 13:3. And it came to pass, when they had heard the law, that they separated every stranger from Israel. 13:4. And over this thing was Eliasib the priest, who was set over the treasury of the house of our God, and was near akin to Tobias. Over this thing, etc... Or, he was faulty in this thing, or in this kind. 13:5. And he made him a great storeroom, where before him they laid up gifts, and frankincense, and vessels, and the tithes of the corn, of the wine, and of the oil, the portions of the Levites, and of the singing men, and of the porters, and the firstfruits of the priests. 13:6. But in all this time I was not in Jerusalem, because in the two and thirtieth year of Artaxerxes king of Babylon, I went to the king, and after certain days I asked the king: 13:7. And I came to Jerusalem, and I understood the evil that Eliasib had done for Tobias, to make him a storehouse in the courts of the house of God. 13:8. And it seemed to me exceeding evil. And I cast forth the vessels of the house of Tobias out of the storehouse. 13:9. And I commanded and they cleansed again the vessels of the house of God, the sacrifice, and the frankincense. 13:10. And I perceived that the portions of the Levites had not been given them: and that the Levites, and the singing men, and they that ministered were fled away every man to his own country: 13:11. And I pleaded the matter against the magistrates, and said: Why have we forsaken the house of God? And I gathered them together, and I made them to stand in their places. 13:12. And all Juda brought the tithe of the corn, and the wine, and the oil into the storehouses. 13:13. And we set over the storehouses Selemias the priest, and Sadoc the scribe, and of the Levites Phadaia, and next to them Hanan the son of Zachur, the son of Mathania: for they were approved as faithful, and to them were committed the portions of their brethren. 13:14. Remember me, O my God, for this thing, and wipe not out my kindnesses, which I have done relating to the house of my God and his ceremonies. 13:15. In those days I saw in Juda some treading the presses on the sabbath, and carrying sheaves, and lading asses with wine, and grapes, and figs, and all manner of burthens, and bringing them into Jerusalem on the sabbath day. And I charged them that they should sell on a day on which it was lawful to sell. 13:16. Some Tyrians also dwelt there, who brought fish, and all manner of wares: and they sold them on the sabbaths to the children of Juda in Jerusalem. 13:17. And I rebuked the chief men of Juda, and said to them: What is this evil thing that you are doing, profaning the sabbath day: 13:18. Did not our fathers do these things, and our God brought all this evil upon us, and upon this city? And you bring more wrath upon Israel by violating the sabbath. 13:19. And it came to pass, that when the gates of Jerusalem were at rest on the sabbath day, I spoke: and they shut the gates, and I commanded that they should not open them till after the sabbath: and I set some of my servants at the gates, that none should bring in burthens on the sabbath day. 13:20. So the merchants, and they that sold all kinds of wares, stayed without Jerusalem, once or twice. 13:21. And I charged them, and I said to them: Why stay you before the wall? if you do so another time, I will lay hands on you. And from that time they came no more on the sabbath. 13:22. I spoke also to the Levites that they should be purified, and should come to keep the gates, and to sanctify the sabbath day: for this also remember me, O my God, and spare me according to the multitude of thy tender mercies. 13:23. In those days also I saw Jews that married wives, women of Azotus, and of Ammon, and of Moab. 13:24. And their children spoke half in the speech of Azotus, and could not speak the Jews' language, but they spoke according to the language of this and that people. 13:25. And I chid them, and laid my curse upon them. And I beat some of them, and shaved off their hair, and made them swear by God that they would not give their daughters to their sons, nor take their daughters for their sons, nor for themselves, saying: 13:26. Did not Solomon king of Israel sin in this kind of thing: and surely among many nations, there was not a king like him, and he was beloved of his God, and God made him king over all Israel: and yet women of other countries brought even him to sin. 13:27. And shall we also be disobedient and do all this great evil to transgress against our God, and marry strange women: 13:28. And one of the sons of Joiada the son of Eliasib the high priest, was son-in-law to Sanaballat the Horonite, and I drove him from me. 13:29. Remember them, O Lord my God, that defile the priesthood, and the law of priests and Levites. 13:30. So I separated from them all strangers, and I appointed the courses of the priests and the Levites, every man in his ministry: 13:31. And for the offering of wood at times appointed, and for the firstfruits: remember me, O my God, unto good. Amen. THE BOOK OF TOBIAS This Book takes its name from the holy man Tobias, whose wonderful virtues are herein recorded. It contains most excellent documents of great piety, extraordinary patience, and of a perfect resignation to the will of God. His humble prayer was heard, and the angel Raphael was sent to relieve him: he is thankful and praises the Lord, calling on the children of Israel to do the same. Having lived to the age of one hundred and two years, he exhorts his son and grandsons to piety, foretells the destruction of Ninive and the rebuilding of Jerusalem: he dies happily. Tobias Chapter 1 Tobias's early piety: his works of mercy, particularly in burying the dead. 1:1. Tobias of the tribe and city of Nephtali, (which is in the upper parts of Galilee above Naasson, beyond the way that leadeth to the west, having on the right hand the city of Sephet,) 1:2. When he was made captive in the days of Salmanasar king of the Assyrians, even in his captivity, forsook not the way of truth, 1:3. But every day gave all he could get to his brethren his fellow captives, that were of his kindred. 1:4. And when he was younger than any of the tribe of Nephtali, yet did he no childish thing in his work. 1:5. Moreover when all went to the golden calves which Jeroboam king of Israel had made, he alone fled the company of all, 1:6. And went to Jerusalem to the temple of the Lord, and there adored the Lord God of Israel, offering faithfully all his firstfruits, and his tithes, 1:7. So that in the third year he gave all his tithes to the proselytes, and strangers. 1:8. These and such like things did he observe when but a boy according to the law of God. 1:9. But when he was a man, he took to wife Anna of his own tribe, and had a son by her, whom he called after his own name, 1:10. And from his infancy he taught him to fear God, and to abstain from all sin. 1:11. And when by the captivity he with his wife and his son and all his tribe was come to the city of Ninive, 1:12. (When all ate of the meats of the Gentiles) he kept his soul and never was defiled with their meats. 1:13. And because he was mindful of the Lord with all his heart, God gave him favour in the sight of Salmanasar the king. 1:14. And he gave him leave to go whithersoever he would, with liberty to do whatever he had a mind. 1:15. He therefore went to all that were in captivity, and gave them wholesome admonitions. 1:16. And when he was come to Rages a city of the Medes, and had ten talents of silver of that with which he had been honoured by the king: 1:17. And when amongst a great multitude of his kindred, he saw Gabelus in want, who was one of his tribe, taking a note of his hand he gave him the aforesaid sum of money. 1:18. But after a long time, Salmanasar the king being dead, when Sennacherib his son, who reigned in his place, had a hatred for the children of Israel: 1:19. Tobias daily went among all his kindred and comforted them, and distributed to every one as he was able, out of his goods: 1:20. He fed the hungry, and gave clothes to the naked, and was careful to bury the dead, and they that were slain. 1:21. And when king Sennacherib was come back, fleeing from Judea by reason of the slaughter that God had made about him for his blasphemy, and being angry slew many of the children of Israel, Tobias buried their bodies. 1:22. But when it was told the king, he commanded him to be slain, and took away all his substance. 1:23. But Tobias fleeing naked away with his son and with his wife, lay concealed, for many loved him. 1:24. But after forty-five days, the king was killed by his own sons. 1:25. And Tobias returned to his house, and all his substance was restored to him. Tobias Chapter 2 Tobias leaveth his dinner to bury the dead: he loseth his sight by God's permission, for manifestation of his patience. 2:1. But after this, when there was a festival of the Lord, and a good dinner was prepared in Tobias's house, 2:2. He said to his son: Go, and bring some of our tribe that fear God, to feast with us. 2:3. And when he had gone, returning he told him, that one of the children of Israel lay slain in the street. And he forthwith leaped up from his place at the table, and left his dinner, and came fasting to the body. 2:4. And taking it up carried it privately to his house, that after the sun was down, he might bury him cautiously. 2:5. And when he had hid the body, he ate bread with mourning and fear, 2:6. Remembering the word which the Lord spoke by Amos the prophet: Your festival days shall be turned into lamentation and mourning. 2:7. So when the sun was down, he went and buried him. 2:8. Now all his neighbours blamed him, saying: once already commandment was given for thee to be slain because of this matter, and thou didst scarce escape the sentence of death, and dost thou again bury the dead? 2:9. But Tobias fearing God more than the king, carried off the bodies of them that were slain, and hid them in his house, and at midnight buried them. 2:10. Now it happened one day that being wearied with burying, he came to his house, and cast himself down by the wall and slept, 2:11. And as he was sleeping, hot dung out of a swallow's nest fell upon his eyes, and he was made blind. 2:12. Now this trial the Lord therefore permitted to happen to him, that an example might be given to posterity of his patience, as also of holy Job. 2:13. For whereas he had always feared God from his infancy, and kept his commandments, he repined not against God because the evil of blindness had befallen him, 2:14. But continued immoveable in the fear of God, giving thanks to God all the days of his life. 2:15. For as the kings insulted over holy Job: so his relations and kinsmen mocked at his life, saying: Kings... So Job's three friends are here called, because they were princes in their respective territories. 2:16. Where is thy hope, for which thou gavest alms, and buriedst the dead? 2:17. But Tobias rebuked them, saying: Speak not so: 2:18. For we are the children of saints, and look for that life which God will give to those that never change their faith from him. 2:19. Now Anna his wife went daily to weaving work, and she brought home what she could get for their living by the labour of her hands. 2:20. Whereby it came to pass, that she received a young kid, and brought it home: 2:21. And when her husband heard it bleating, he said: Take heed, lest perhaps it be stolen: restore ye it to its owners, for it is not lawful for us either to eat or to touch any thing that cometh by theft. 2:22. At these words his wife being angry answered: It is evident the hope is come to nothing, and thy alms now appear. 2:23. And with these and other, such like words she upbraided him. Tobias Chapter 3 The prayer of Tobias, and of Sara, in their several afflictions, are heard by God, and the angel Raphael is sent to relieve them. 3:1. Then Tobias sighed, and began to pray with tears, 3:2. Saying, Thou art just, O Lord, and all thy judgments are just, and all thy ways mercy, and truth, and judgment: 3:3. And now, O Lord, think of me, and take not revenge of my sins, neither remember my offences, nor those of my parents. 3:4. For we have not obeyed thy commandments, therefore are we delivered to spoil and to captivity, and death, and are made a fable, and a reproach to all nations, amongst which thou hast scattered us. 3:5. And now, O Lord, great are thy judgments, because we have not done according to thy precepts, and have not walked sincerely before thee. 3:6. And now, O Lord, do with me according to thy will, and command my spirit to be received in peace: for it is better for me to die, than to live. 3:7. Now it happened on the same day, that Sara daughter of Raguel, in Rages a city of the Medes, received a reproach from one of her father's servant maids, Rages... In the Greek it is Ecbatana, which was also called Rages. For there were two cities in Media of the name of Rages. Raguel dwelt in one of them, and Gabelus in the other. 3:8. Because she had been given to seven husbands and a devil named Asmodeus had killed them, at their first going in unto her. 3:9. So when she reproved the maid for her fault, she answered her, saying: May we never see son, or daughter of thee upon the earth, thou murderer of thy husbands. 3:10. Wilt thou kill me also, as thou hast already killed seven husbands? At these words, she went into an upper chamber of her house: and for three days and three nights did neither eat nor drink: 3:11. But continuing in prayer with tears besought God, that he would deliver her from this reproach. 3:12. And it came to pass on the third day when she was making an end of her prayer, blessing the Lord, 3:13. She said: Blessed is thy name, O God of our fathers, who when thou hast been angry, wilt shew mercy, and in the time of tribulation forgivest the sins of them that call upon thee. 3:14. To thee, O Lord, I turn my face, to thee I direct my eyes. 3:15. I beg, O Lord, that thou loose me from the bond of this reproach, or else take me away from the earth. 3:16. Thou knowest, O Lord, that I never coveted a husband, and have kept my soul clean from all lust. 3:17. Never have I joined myself with them that play: neither have I made myself partaker with them that walk in lightness. 3:18. But a husband I consented to take, with thy fear, not with my lust. 3:19. And either I was unworthy of them, or they perhaps were not worthy of me: because perhaps thou hast kept me for another man, 3:20. For thy counsel is not in man's power. 3:21. But this every one is sure of that worshippeth thee, that his life, if it be under trial, shall be crowned and if it be under tribulation, it shall be delivered: and if it be under correction, it shall be allowed to come to thy mercy. 3:22. For thou art not delighted in our being lost, because after a storm thou makest a calm, and after tears and weeping thou pourest in joyfulness. 3:23. Be thy name, O God of Israel, blessed for ever, 3:24. At that time the prayers of them both were heard in the sight of the glory of the most high God: 3:25. And the holy angel of the Lord, Raphael was sent to heal them both, whose prayers at one time were rehearsed in the sight of the Lord. Tobias Chapter 4 Tobias thinking he shall die, giveth his son godly admonitions: and telleth him of money he had lent to a friend. 4:1. Therefore when Tobias thought that his prayer was heard that he might die, he called to him Tobias his son, 4:2. And said to him: Hear, my son, the words of my mouth, and lay them as a foundation in thy heart. 4:3. When God shall take my soul, thou shalt bury my body: and thou shalt honour thy mother all the days of her life: 4:4. For thou must be mindful what and how great perils she suffered for thee in her womb. 4:5. And when she also shall have ended the time of her life, bury her by me. 4:6. And all the days of thy life have God in thy mind: and take heed thou never consent to sin, nor transgress the commandments of the Lord our God. 4:7. Give alms out of thy substance, and turn not away thy face from any poor person: for so it shall come to pass that the face of the Lord shall not be turned from thee. 4:8. According to thy ability be merciful. 4:9. If thou have much give abundantly: if thou have little, take care even so to bestow willingly a little. 4:10. For thus thou storest up to thyself a good reward for the day of necessity. 4:11. For alms deliver from all sin, and from death, and will not suffer the soul to go into darkness. 4:12. Alms shall be a great confidence before the most high God, to all them that give it. 4:13. Take heed to keep thyself, my son, from all fornication, and beside thy wife never endure to know a crime. 4:14. Never suffer pride to reign in thy mind, or in thy words: for from it all perdition took its beginning. 4:15. If any man hath done any work for thee, immediately pay him his hire, and let not the wages of thy hired servant stay with thee at all. 4:16. See thou never do to another what thou wouldst hate to have done to thee by another. 4:17. Eat thy bread with the hungry and the needy, and with thy garments cover the naked, 4:18. Lay out thy bread, and thy wine upon the burial of a just man, and do not eat and drink thereof with the wicked. 4:19. Seek counsel always of a wise man. 4:20. Bless God at all times: and desire of him to direct thy ways, and that all thy counsels may abide in him. 4:21. I tell thee also, my son, that I lent ten talents of silver, while thou wast yet a child, to Gabelus, in Rages a city of the Medes, and I have a note of his hand with me: 4:22. Now therefore inquire how thou mayst go to him, and receive of him the foresaid sum of money, and restore to him the note of his hand. 4:23. Fear not, my son: we lead indeed a poor life, but we shall have many good things if we fear God, and depart from all sin, and do that which is good. Tobias Chapter 5 Young Tobias seeking a guide for his journey, the angel Raphael, in shape of a man, undertaketh this office. 5:1. Then Tobias answered his father, and said: I will do all things, father, which thou hast commanded me. 5:2. But how I shall get this money, I cannot tell; he knoweth not me, and I know not him: what token shall I give him? nor did I ever know the way which leadeth thither. 5:3. Then his father answered him, and said: I have a note of his hand with me, which when thou shalt shew him, he will presently pay it. 5:4. But go now, and seek thee out some faithful man, to go with thee for his hire: that thou mayst receive it, while I yet live. 5:5. Then Tobias going forth, found a beautiful young man, standing girded, and as it were ready to walk. 5:6. And not knowing that he was an angel of God, he saluted him, and said: From whence art thou, good young man? 5:7. But he answered: Of the children of Israel. And Tobias said to him: Knowest thou the way that leadeth to the country of the Medes? 5:8. And he answered: I know it: and I have often walked through all the ways thereof, and I have abode with Gabelus our brother, who dwelleth at Rages a city of the Medes, which is situate in the mount of Ecbatana. 5:9. And Tobias said to him: Stay for me, I beseech thee, till I tell these same things to my father. 5:10. Then Tobias going in told all these things to his father. Upon which his father being in admiration, desired that he would come in unto him. 5:11. So going in he saluted him, and said: Joy be to thee always. 5:12. And Tobias said: What manner of joy shall be to me, who sit in darkness and see not the light of heaven? 5:13. And the young man said to him: Be of good courage, thy cure from God is at hand. 5:14. And Tobias said to him: Canst thou conduct my son to Gabelus at Rages, a city of the Medes? and when thou shalt return, I will pay thee thy hire. 5:15. And the angel said to him: I will conduct him thither, and bring him back to thee. 5:16. And Tobias said to him: I pray thee, tell me, of what family, or what tribe art thou? 5:17. And Raphael the angel answered: Dost thou seek the family of him thou hirest, or the hired servant himself to go with thy son? 5:18. But lest I should make thee uneasy, I am Azarias the son of the great Ananias. Azarias... The angel took the form of Azarias: and therefore might call himself by the name of the man whom he personated. Azarias, in Hebrew, signifies the help of God, and Ananias the grace of God. 5:19. And Tobias answered: Thou art of a great family. But I pray thee be not angry that I desired to know thy family. 5:20. And the angel said to him: I will lead thy son safe, and bring him to thee again safe. 5:21. And Tobias answering, said: May you have a good journey, and God be with you in your way, and his angel accompany you. 5:22. Then all things being ready, that were to be carried in their journey, Tobias bade his father and his mother farewell, and they set out both together. 5:23. And when they were departed, his mother began to weep, and to say: Thou hast taken the staff of our old age, and sent him away from us. 5:24. I wish the money for which thou hast sent him, had never been. 5:25. For our poverty was sufficient for us, that we might account it as riches, that we saw our son. 5:26. And Tobias said to her: Weep not, our son will arrive thither safe, and will return safe to us, and thy eyes shall see him. 5:27. For I believe that the good angel of God doth accompany him, and doth order all things well that are done about him, so that he shall return to us with joy. 5:28. At these words his mother ceased weeping, and held her peace. Tobias Chapter 6 By the angel's advice young Tobias taketh hold on a fish that assaulteth him. Reserveth the heart, the gall, and the liver for medicines. They lodge at the house of Raguel, whose daughter Sara, Tobias is to marry; she had before been married to seven husbands, who were all slain by a devil. 6:1. And Tobias went forward, and the dog followed him, and he lodged the first night by the river of Tigris. 6:2. And he went out to wash his feet, and behold a monstrous fish came up to devour him. 6:3. And Tobias being afraid of him, cried out with a loud voice, saying: Sir, he cometh upon me. 6:4. And the angel said to him: Take him by the gill, and draw him to thee. And when he had done so, he drew him out upon the land, and he began to pant before his feet. 6:5. Then the angel said to him: Take out the entrails of this fish, and lay up his heart, and his gall, and his liver for thee: for these are necessary for useful medicines. 6:6. And when he had done so, he roasted the flesh thereof, and they took it with them in the way: the rest they salted as much as might serve them, till they came to Rages the city of the Medes. 6:7. Then Tobias asked the angel, and said to him: I beseech thee, brother Azarias, tell me what remedies are these things good for, which thou hast bid me keep of the fish? 6:8. And the angel, answering, said to him: If thou put a little piece of its heart upon coals, the smoke thereof driveth away all kind of devils, either from man or from woman, so that they come no more to them. Its heart, etc. The liver (ver. 19)... God was pleased to give these things a virtue against those proud spirits, to make them, who affected to be like the Most High, subject to such mean corporeal creatures as instruments of his power. 6:9. And the gall is good for anointing the eyes, in which there is a white speck, and they shall be cured. 6:10. And Tobias said to him: Where wilt thou that we lodge? 6:11. And the angel answering, said: Here is one whose name is Raguel, a near kinsman of thy tribe, and he hath a daughter named Sara, but he hath no son nor any other daughter beside her. 6:12. All his substance is due to thee, and thou must take her to wife. 6:13. Ask her therefore of her father, and he will give her thee to wife. 6:14. Then Tobias answered, and said: I hear that she hath been given to seven husbands, and they all died: moreover I have heard, that a devil killed them. 6:15. Now I am afraid, lest the same thing should happen to me also: and whereas I am the only child of my parents, I should bring down their old age with sorrow to hell. Hell... That is, to the place where the souls of the good were kept before the coming of Christ. 6:16. Then the angel Raphael said to him: Hear me, and I will shew thee who they are, over whom the devil can prevail. 6:17. For they who in such manner receive matrimony, as to shut out God from themselves, and from their mind, and to give themselves to their lust, as the horse and mule, which have not understanding, over them the devil hath power. 6:18. But thou when thou shalt take her, go into the chamber, and for three days keep thyself continent from her, and give thyself to nothing else but to prayers with her. 6:19. And on that night lay the liver of the fish on the fire, and the devil shall be driven away. 6:20. But the second night thou shalt be admitted into the society of the holy Patriarchs. 6:21. And the third night thou shalt obtain a blessing that sound children may be born of you. 6:22. And when the third night is past, thou shalt take the virgin with the fear of the Lord, moved rather for love of children than for lust, that in the seed of Abraham thou mayst obtain a blessing in children. Tobias Chapter 7 They are kindly entertained by Raguel. Tobias demandeth Sara to wife. 7:1. And they went in to Raguel, and Raguel received them with joy. 7:2. And Raguel looking upon Tobias, said to Anna his wife: How like is this young man to my cousin? 7:3. And when he had spoken these words, he said: Whence are ye young men our brethren? 7:4. But they said: We are of the tribe of Nephtali, of the captivity of Ninive. 7:5. And Raguel said to them: Do you know Tobias my brother? And they said: We know him. 7:6. And when he was speaking many good things of him, the angel said to Raguel: Tobias concerning whom thou inquirest is this young man's father. 7:7. And Raguel went to him, and kissed him with tears and weeping upon his neck, said: A blessing be upon thee, my son, because thou art the son of a good and most virtuous man. 7:8. And Anna his wife, and Sara their daughter wept. 7:9. And after they had spoken, Raguel commanded a sheep to be killed, and a feast to be prepared. And when he desired them to sit down to dinner, 7:10. Tobias said: I will not eat nor drink here this day, unless thou first grant me my petition, and promise to give me Sara thy daughter. 7:11. Now when Raguel heard this he was afraid, knowing what had happened to those seven husbands, that went in unto her: and he began to fear lest it might happen to him also in like manner: and as he was in suspense, and gave no answer to his petition, 7:12. The angel said to him: Be not afraid to give her to this man, for to him who feareth God is thy daughter due to be his wife: therefore another could not have her. 7:13. Then Raguel said: I doubt not but God hath regarded my prayers and tears in his sight. 7:14. And I believe he hath therefore made you come to me, that this maid might be married to one of her own kindred, according to the law of Moses: and now doubt not but I will give her to thee. 7:15. And taking the right hand of his daughter, he gave it into the right hand of Tobias, saying: The God of Abraham, and the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob be with you, and may he join you together, and fulfil his blessing in you. 7:16. And taking paper they made a writing of the marriage. 7:17. And afterwards they made merry, blessing God. 7:18. And Raguel called to him Anna his wife, and bade her to prepare another chamber. 7:19. And she brought Sara her daughter in thither, and she wept. 7:20. And she said to her: Be of good cheer, my daughter: the Lord of heaven give thee joy for the trouble thou hast undergone. Tobias Chapter 8 Tobias burneth part of the fish's liver, and Raphael bindeth the devil. Tobias and Sara pray. 8:1. And after they had supped, they brought in the young man to her. 8:2. And Tobias remembering the angel's word, took out of his bag part of the liver, and laid it upon burning coals. 8:3. Then the angel Raphael took the devil, and bound him in the desert of upper Egypt. 8:4. Then Tobias exhorted the virgin, and said to her: Sara, arise, and let us pray to God to day, and to morrow, and the next day: because for these three nights we are joined to God: and when the third night is over, we will be in our own wedlock. 8:5. For we are the children of saints, and we must not be joined together like heathens that know not God. 8:6. So they both arose, and prayed earnestly both together that health might be given them, 8:7. And Tobias said: Lord God of our fathers, may the heavens and the earth, and the sea, and the fountains, and the rivers, and all thy creatures that are in them, bless thee. 8:8. Thou madest Adam of the slime of the earth, and gavest him Eve for a helper. 8:9. And now, Lord, thou knowest, that not for fleshly lust do I take my sister to wife, but only for the love of posterity, in which thy name may be blessed for ever and ever. 8:10. Sara also said: Have mercy on us, O Lord, have mercy on us, and let us grow old both together in health. 8:11. And it came to pass about the cockcrowing, Raguel ordered his servants to be called for, and they went with him together to dig a grave. 8:12. For he said: Lest perhaps it may have happened to him, in like manner as it did to the other seven husbands, that went in unto her. 8:13. And when they had prepared the pit, Raguel went back to his wife, and said to her: 8:14. Send one of thy maids, and let her see if he be dead, that I may bury him before it be day. 8:15. So she sent one of her maid-servants, who went into the chamber, and found them safe and sound, sleeping both together. 8:16. And returning she brought the good news: and Raguel and Anna his wife blessed the Lord, 8:17. And said: We bless thee, O Lord God of Israel, because it hath not happened as we suspected. 8:18. For thou hast shewn thy mercy to us, and hast shut out from us the enemy that persecuted us. 8:19. And thou hast taken pity upon two only children. Make them, O Lord, bless thee more fully: and to offer up to thee a sacrifice of thy praise, and of their health, that all nations may know, that thou alone art God in all the earth. 8:20. And immediately Raguel commanded his servants, to fill up the pit they had made, before it was day. 8:21. And he spoke to his wife to make ready a feast, and prepare all kind of provisions that are necessary for such as go a journey. 8:22. He caused also two fat kine, and four wethers to be killed, and a banquet to be prepared for all his neighbours, and all his friends, 8:23. And Raguel adjured Tobias, to abide with him two weeks. 8:24. And of all things which Raguel possessed, he gave one half to Tobias, and made a writing, that the half that remained should after their decease come also to Tobias. Tobias Chapter 9 The angel Raphael goeth to Gabelus, receiveth the money, and bringeth him to the marriage. 9:1. Then Tobias called the angel to him, whom he took to be a man, and said to him: Brother Azarias, I pray thee hearken to my words: 9:2. If I should give myself to be thy servant I should not make a worthy return for thy care. 9:3. However, I beseech thee, to take with thee beasts and servants, and to go to Gabelus to Rages the city of the Medes: and to restore to him his note of hand, and receive of him the money, and desire him to come to my wedding. 9:4. For thou knowest that my father numbereth the days: and if I stay one day more, his soul will be afflicted. 9:5. And indeed thou seest how Raguel hath adjured me, whose adjuring I cannot despise. 9:6. Then Raphael took four of Raguel's servants, and two camels, and went to Rages the city of the Medes: and finding Gabelus, gave him his note of hand, and received of him all the money. 9:7. And he told him concerning Tobias the son of Tobias, all that had been done: and made him come with him to the wedding. 9:8. And when he was come into Raguel's house he found Tobias sitting at the table: and he leaped up, and they kissed each other: and Gabelus wept, and blessed God, 9:9. And said: The God of Israel bless thee, because thou art the son of a very good and just man, and that feareth God, and doth almsdeeds: 9:10. And may a blessing come upon thy wife and upon your parents. 9:11. And may you see your children, and your children's children, unto the third and fourth generation: and may your seed be blessed by the God of Israel, who reigneth for ever and ever. 9:12. And when all had said, Amen, they went to the feast: but the marriage feast they celebrated also with the fear of the Lord. Tobias Chapter 10 The parents lament the long absence of their son Tobias. He sets out to return. 10:1. But as Tobias made longer stay upon occasion of the marriage, Tobias his father was solicitous, saying: Why thinkest thou doth my son tarry, or why is he detained there? 10:2. Is Gabelus dead, thinkest thou, and no man will pay him the money? 10:3. And he began to be exceeding sad, both he and Anna his wife with him: and they began both to weep together, because their son did not return to them on the day appointed. 10:4. But his mother wept and was quite disconsolate, and said: Woe, woe is me, my son; why did we send thee to go to a strange country, the light of our eyes, the staff of our old age, the comfort of our life, the hope of our posterity? 10:5. We having all things together in thee alone, ought not to have let thee go from us. 10:6. And Tobias said to her: Hold thy peace, and be not troubled, our son is safe: that man with whom we sent him is very trusty. 10:7. But she could by no means be comforted, but daily running out looked round about, and went into all the ways by which there seemed any hope he might return, that she might if possible see him coming afar off. 10:8. But Raguel said to his son-in-law: Stay here, and I will send a messenger to Tobias thy father, that thou art in health. 10:9. And Tobias said to him: I know that my father and mother now count the days, and their spirit is grievously afflicted within them. 10:10. And when Raguel had pressed Tobias with many words, and he by no means would hearken to him, he delivered Sara unto him, and half of all his substance in men-servants, and women-servants, in cattle, in camels, and in kine, and in much money, and sent him away safe and joyful from him, 10:11. Saying: The holy angel of the Lord be with you in your journey, and bring you through safe, and that you may find all things well about your parents, and my eyes may see your children before I die. 10:12. And the parents taking their daughter kissed her, and let her go: 10:13. Admonishing her to honour her father and mother-in-law, to love her husband, to take care of the family, to govern the house, and to behave herself irreprehensibly. Tobias Chapter 11 Tobias anointeth his father's eyes with the fish's gall, and he recovereth his sight. 11:1. And as they were returning they came to Charan, which is in the midway to Ninive, the eleventh day. 11:2. And the angel said: Brother Tobias, thou knowest how thou didst leave thy father. 11:3. If it please thee therefore, let us go before, and let the family follow softly after us, together with thy wife, and with the beasts. 11:4. And as this their going pleased him, Raphael said to Tobias: Take with thee of the gall of the fish, for it will be necessary. So Tobias took some of that gall and departed. 11:5. But Anna sat beside the way daily, on the top of a hill, from whence she might see afar off. 11:6. And while she watched his coming from that place, she saw him afar off, and presently perceived it was her son coming: and returning she told her husband, saying: Behold thy son cometh. 11:7. And Raphael said to Tobias: As soon as thou shalt come into thy house, forthwith adore the Lord thy God: and giving thanks to him, go to thy father, and kiss him. 11:8. And immediately anoint his eyes with this gall of the fish, which thou carriest with thee. For be assured that his eyes shall be presently opened, and thy father shall see the light of heaven, and shall rejoice in the sight of thee. 11:9. Then the dog, which had been with them in the way, ran before, and coming as if he had brought the news, shewed his joy by his fawning and wagging his tail. The dog, etc... This may seem a very minute circumstance to be recorded in sacred history: but as we learn from our Saviour, St. Matt. 5.18, there are iotas and tittles in the word of God: that is to say, things that appear minute, but which have indeed a deep and mysterious meaning in them. 11:10. And his father that was blind, rising up, began to run stumbling with his feet: and giving a servant his hand, went to meet his son. 11:11. And receiving him kissed him, as did also his wife, and they began to weep for joy. 11:12. And when they had adored God, and given him thanks, they sat down together. 11:13. Then Tobias taking of the gall of the fish, anointed his father's eyes. 11:14. And he stayed about half an hour: and a white skin began to come out of his eyes, like the skin of an egg. 11:15. And Tobias took hold of it, and drew it from his eyes, and recovered his sight. 11:16. And they glorified God, both he and his wife and all that knew him. 11:17. And Tobias said: I bless thee, O Lord God of Israel, because thou hast chastised me, and thou hast saved me and behold I see Tobias my son. 11:18. And after seven days Sara his son's wife and all the family arrived safe, and the cattle, and the camels, and an abundance of money of his wife's: and that money also which he had received of Gabelus, 11:19. And he told his parents all the benefits of God, which he had done to him by the man that conducted him. 11:20. And Achior and Nabath the kinsmen of Tobias came, rejoicing for Tobias, and congratulating with him for all the good things that God had done for him. 11:21. And for seven days they feasted and rejoiced all with great joy. Tobias Chapter 12 Raphael maketh himself known. 12:1. Then Tobias called to him his son and said to him: What can we give to this holy man, that is come with thee? 12:2. Tobias answering, said to his father: Father, what wages shall we give him? or what can be worthy of his benefits? 12:3. He conducted me and brought me safe again, he received the money of Gabelus, he caused me to have my wife, and he chased from her the evil spirit, he gave joy to her parents, myself he delivered from being devoured by the fish, thee also he hath made to see the light of heaven, and we are filled with all good things through him. What can we give him sufficient for these things? 12:4. But I beseech thee, my father, to desire him, that he would vouchsafe to accept of one half of all things that have been brought. 12:5. So the father and the son calling him, took him aside: and began to desire him that he would vouchsafe to accept of half of all things that they had brought, 12:6. Then he said to them secretly, Bless ye the God of heaven, give glory to him in the sight of all that live, because he hath shewn his mercy to you. 12:7. For it is good to hide the secret of a king: to reveal and confess the works of God. 12:8. Prayer is good with fasting and alms more than to lay up treasures of gold. 12:9. For alms delivereth from death, and the same is that which purgeth away sins, and maketh to find mercy and life everlasting. 12:10. But they that commit sin and iniquity, are enemies to their own soul. 12:11. I discover then the truth unto you, and I will not hide the secret from you. 12:12. When thou didst pray with tears, and didst bury the dead, and didst leave thy dinner, and hide the dead by day in thy house, and bury them by night, I offered thy prayer to the Lord. 12:13. And because thou wast acceptable to God, it was necessary that temptation should prove thee. 12:14. And now the Lord hath sent me to heal thee, and to deliver Sara thy son's wife from the devil. 12:15. For I am the angel Raphael, one of the seven, who stand before the Lord. 12:16. And when they had heard these things, they were troubled, and being seized with fear they fell upon the ground on their face. 12:17. And the angel said to them: Peace be to you, fear not. 12:18. For when I was with you, I was there by the will of God: bless ye him, and sing praises to him. 12:19. I seemed indeed to eat and to drink with you but I use an invisible meat and drink, which cannot be seen by men. 12:20. It is time therefore that I return to him that sent me: but bless ye God, and publish all his wonderful works. 12:21. And when he had said these things, he was taken from their sight, and they could see him no more. 12:22. Then they lying prostrate for three hours upon their face, blessed God, and rising up, they told all his wonderful works. Tobias Chapter 13 Tobias the father praiseth God, exhorting all Israel to do the same. Prophesieth the restoration and better state of Jerusalem. 13:1. And Tobias the elder opening his mouth, blessed the Lord, and said: Thou art great O Lord, for ever, and thy kingdom is unto all ages. 13:2. For thou scourgest, and thou savest: thou leadest down to hell, and bringest up again: and there is none that can escape thy hand. 13:3. Give glory to the Lord, ye children of Israel, and praise him in the sight of the Gentiles: 13:4. Because he hath therefore scattered you among the Gentiles, who know not him, that you may declare his wonderful works, and make them know that there is no other almighty God besides him. 13:5. He hath chastised us for our iniquities: and he will save us for his own mercy. 13:6. See then what he hath done with us, and with fear and trembling give ye glory to him: and extol the eternal King of worlds in your works. 13:7. As for me, I will praise him in the land of my captivity: because he hath shewn his majesty toward a sinful nation, 13:8. Be converted therefore, ye sinners, and do justice before God, believing that he will shew his mercy to you. 13:9. And I and my soul will rejoice in him. 13:10. Bless ye the Lord, all his elect, keep days of joy, and give glory to him. 13:11. Jerusalem, city of God, the Lord hath chastised thee for the works of thy hands. Jerusalem... What is prophetically delivered here, and in the following chapter, with relation to Jerusalem, is partly to be understood of the rebuilding of the city after the captivity: and partly of the spiritual Jerusalem, which is the church of Christ, and the eternal Jerusalem in heaven. 13:12. Give glory to the Lord for thy good things, and bless the God eternal that he may rebuild his tabernacle in thee, and may call back all the captives to thee, and thou mayst rejoice for ever and ever. 13:13. Thou shalt shine with a glorious light: and all the ends of the earth shall worship thee, 13:14. Nations from afar shall come to thee: and shall bring gifts, and shall adore the Lord in thee, and shall esteem thy land as holy. 13:15. For they shall call upon the great name in thee, 13:16. They shall be cursed that shall despise thee: and they shall be condemned that shall blaspheme thee: and blessed shall they be that shall build thee up, 13:17. But thou shalt rejoice in thy children, because they shall all be blessed, and shall be gathered together to the Lord. 13:18. Blessed are all they that love thee, and that rejoice in thy peace, 13:19. My soul, bless thou the Lord, because the Lord our God hath delivered Jerusalem his city from all her troubles. 13:20. Happy shall I be if there shall remain of my seed, to see the glory of Jerusalem. 13:21. The gates of Jerusalem shall be built of sapphire, and of emerald, and all the walls thereof round about of precious stones. 13:22. All its streets shall be paved with white and clean stones: and Alleluia shall be sung in its streets, 13:23. Blessed be the Lord, who hath exalted it, and may he reign over it for ever and ever, Amen. Tobias Chapter 14 Old Tobias dieth at the age of a hundred and two years, after exhorting his son and grandsons to piety, foreshewing that Ninive shall be destroyed, and Jerusalem rebuilt. The younger Tobias returneth with his family to Raguel, and dieth happily as he had lived. 14:1. And the words of Tobias were ended. And after Tobias was restored to his sight, he lived two and forty years, and saw the children of his grandchildren. 14:2. And after he had lived a hundred and two years, he was buried honorably in Ninive. 14:3. For he was six and fifty years old when he lost the sight of his eyes, and sixty when he recovered it again. 14:4. And the rest of his life was in joy, and with great increase of the fear of God he departed in peace. 14:5. And at the hour of his death he called unto him his son Tobias and his children, seven young men, his grandsons, and said to them: 14:6. The destruction of Ninive is at hand: for the word of the Lord must be fulfilled: and our brethren, that are scattered abroad from the land of Israel, shall return to it. 14:7. And all the land thereof that is desert shall be filled with people, and the house of God which is burnt in it, shall again be rebuilt: and all that fear God shall return thither. 14:8. And the Gentiles shall leave their idols, and shall come into Jerusalem, and shall dwell in it. 14:9. And all the kings of the earth shall rejoice in it, adoring the King of Israel. 14:10. Hearken therefore, my children, to your father: serve the Lord in truth, and seek to do the things that please him: 14:11. And command your children that they do justice and almsdeeds, and that they be mindful of God, and bless him at all times in truth, and with all their power. 14:12. And now, children, hear me, and do not stay here: but as soon as you shall bury your mother by me in one sepulchre, without delay direct your steps to depart hence: 14:13. For I see that its iniquity will bring it to destruction. 14:14. And it came to pass that after the death of his mother, Tobias departed out of Ninive with his wife, and children, and children's children, and returned to his father and mother-in-law. 14:15. And he found them in health in a good old age: and he took care of them, and he closed their eyes: and all the inheritance of Raguel's house came to him: and he saw his children's children to the fifth generation. 14:16. And after he had lived ninety-nine years in the fear of the Lord, with joy they buried him. 14:17. And all his kindred, and all his generation continued in good life, and in holy conversation, so that they were acceptable both to God, and to men, and to all that dwelt in the land. THE BOOK OF JUDITH The sacred writer of this Book is generally believed to be the high priest Eliachim (called also Joachim). The transactions herein related, most probably happened in his days, and in the reign of Manasses, after his repentance and return from captivity. It takes its name from that illustrious woman, by whose virtue and fortitude, and armed with prayer, the children of Israel were preserved from the destruction threatened them by Holofernes and his great army. It finishes with her canticle of thanksgiving to God. Judith Chapter 1 Nabuchodonosor king of the Assyrians overcometh Arphaxad king of the Medes. 1:1. Now Arphaxad king of the Medes had brought many nations under his dominions, and he built a very strong city, which he called Ecbatana, Arphaxad... He was probably the same as is called Dejoces by Herodotus; to whom he attributes the building of Ecbatana, the capital city of Media. 1:2. Of stones squared and hewed: he made the walls thereof seventy cubits broad, and thirty cubits high, and the towers thereof he made a hundred cubits high. But on the square of them, each side was extended the space of twenty feet. 1:3. And he made the gates thereof according to the height of the towers: 1:4. And he gloried as a mighty one in the force of his army and in the glory of his chariots. 1:5. Now in the twelfth year of his reign, Nabuchodonosor king of the Assyrians, who reigned in Ninive the great city, fought against Arphaxad and overcame him, Nabuchodonosor... Not the king of Babylon, who took and destroyed Jerusalem, but another of the same name, who reigned in Ninive: and is called by profane historians Saosduchin. He succeeded Asarhaddan in the kingdom of the Assyrians, and was contemporary with Manasses king of Juda. 1:6. In the great plain which is called Ragua, about the Euphrates, and the Tigris, and the Jadason, in the plain of Erioch the king of the Elicians. 1:7. Then was the kingdom of Nabuchodonosor exalted, and his heart was elevated: and he sent to all that dwelt in Cilicia and Damascus, and Libanus, 1:8. And to the nations that are in Carmelus, and Cedar, and to the inhabitants of Galilee in the great plain of Asdrelon, 1:9. And to all that were in Samaria, and beyond the river Jordan even to Jerusalem, and all the land of Jesse till you come to the borders of Ethiopia. 1:10. To all these Nabuchodonosor king of the Assyrians, sent messengers: 1:11. But they all with one mind refused, and sent them back empty, and rejected them without honour. 1:12. Then king Nabuchodonosor being angry against all that land, swore by his throne and kingdom that he would revenge himself of all those countries. Judith Chapter 2 Nabuchodonosor sendeth Holofernes to waste the countries of the west. 2:1. In the thirteenth year of the reign of Nabuchodonosor, the two and twentieth day of the first month, the word was given out in the house of Nabuchodonosor king of the Assyrians, that he would revenge himself. 2:2. And he called all the ancients, and all the governors, and his officers of war, and communicated to them the secret of his counsel: 2:3. And he said that his thoughts were to bring all the earth under his empire. 2:4. And when this saying pleased them all, Nabuchodonosor, the king, called Holofernes the general of his armies, 2:5. And said to him: Go out against all the kingdoms of the west, and against them especially that despised my commandment. 2:6. Thy eye shall not spare any kingdom, and all the strong cities thou shalt bring under my yoke. 2:7. Then Holofernes called the captains, and officers of the power of the Assyrians: and he mustered men for the expedition, and the king commanded him, a hundred and twenty thousand fighting men on foot, and twelve thousand archers, horsemen. 2:8. And he made all his warlike preparations to go before with a multitude of innumerable camels, with all provisions sufficient for the armies in abundance, and herds of oxen, and flocks of sheep, without number. 2:9. He appointed corn to be prepared out of all Syria in his passage. 2:10. But gold and silver he took out of the king's house in great abundance. 2:11. And he went forth he and all the army, with the chariots, and horsemen, and archers, who covered the face of the earth, like locusts. 2:12. And when he had passed through the borders of the Assyrians, he came to the great mountains of Ange, which are on the left of Cilicia: and he went up to all their castles, and took all the strong places. 2:13. And he took by assault the renowned city of Melothus, and pillaged all the children of Tharsis, and the children of Ismahel, who were over against the face of the desert, and on the south of the land of Cellon. 2:14. And he passed over the Euphrates and came into Mesopotamia: and he forced all the stately cities that were there, from the torrent of Mambre, till one comes to the sea: 2:15. And he took the borders thereof, from Cilicia to the coasts of Japheth, which are towards the south. 2:16. And he carried away all the children of Madian, and stripped them of all their riches, and all that resisted him he slew with the edge of the sword. 2:17. And after these things he went down into the plains of Damascus in the days of the harvest, and he set all the corn on fire, and he caused all the trees and vineyards to be cut down. 2:18. And the fear of them fell upon all the inhabitants of the land. Judith Chapter 3 Many submit themselves to Holofernes. He destroyeth their cities, and their gods, that Nabuchodonosor only might be called God. 3:1. Then the kings and the princes of all the cities and provinces, of Syria, Mesopotamia, and Syria Sobal, and Libya, and Cilicia sent their ambassadors, who coming to Holofernes, said: 3:2. Let thy indignation towards us cease, for it is better for us to live and serve Nabuchodonosor the great king, and be subject to thee, than to die and to perish, or suffer the miseries of slavery. 3:3. All our cities and our possessions, all mountains and hills, and fields, and herds of oxen, and flocks of sheep, and goats, and horses, and camels, and all our goods, and families are in thy sight: 3:4. Let all we have be subject to thy law, 3:5. Both we and our children are thy servants. 3:6. Come to us a peaceable lord, and use our service as it shall please thee, 3:7. Then he came down from the mountains with horsemen, in great power, and made himself master of every city, and all the inhabitants of the land. 3:8. And from all the cities he took auxiliaries valiant men, and chosen for war, 3:9. And so great a fear lay upon all those provinces, that the inhabitants of all the cities, both princes and nobles, as well as the people, went out to meet him at his coming. 3:10. And received him with garlands, and lights, and dances, and timbrels, and flutes. 3:11. And though they did these things, they could not for all that mitigate the fierceness of his heart: 3:12. For he both destroyed their cities, and cut down their groves. 3:13. For Nabuchodonosor the king had commanded him to destroy all the gods of the earth, that he only might be called God by those nations which could be brought under him by the power of Holofernes. 3:14. And when he had passed through all Syria Sobal, and all Apamea, and all Mesopotamia, he came to the Idumeans into the land of Gabaa, 3:15. And he took possession of their cities, and stayed there for thirty days, in which days he commanded all the troops of his army to be united. Judith Chapter 4 The children of Israel prepare themselves to resist Holofernes. They cry to the Lord for help. 4:1. Then the children of Israel, who dwelt in the land of Juda, hearing these things, were exceedingly afraid of him. 4:2. Dread and horror seized upon their minds, lest he should do the same to Jerusalem and to the temple of the Lord, that he had done to other cities and their temples. 4:3. And they sent into all Samaria round about, as far as Jericho, and seized upon all the tops of the mountains: 4:4. And they compassed their towns with walls and gathered together corn for provision for war. 4:5. And Eliachim the priest wrote to all that were over against Esdrelon, which faceth the great plain near Dothain, and to all by whom there might be a passage of way, that they should take possession of the ascents of the mountains, by which there might be any way to Jerusalem, and should keep watch where the way was narrow between the mountains. 4:6. And the children of Israel did as the priests of the Lord Eliachim had appointed them. 4:7. And all the people cried to the Lord with great earnestness, and they humbled their souls in fastings, and prayers, both they and their wives. 4:8. And the priests put on haircloths, and they caused the little children to lie prostrate before the temple of the Lord, and the altar of the Lord they covered with haircloth. 4:9. And they cried to the Lord the God of Israel with one accord, that their children might not be made a prey, and their wives carried off, and their cities destroyed, and their holy things profaned, and that they might not be made a reproach to the Gentiles. 4:10. Then Eliachim the high priest of the Lord went about all Israel and spoke to them, 4:11. Saying: Know ye that the Lord will hear your prayers, if you continue with perseverance in fastings and prayers in the sight of the Lord. 4:12. Remember Moses the servant of the Lord overcame Amalec that trusted in his own strength, and in his power, and in his army, and in his shields, and in his chariots, and in his horsemen, not by fighting with the sword, but by holy prayers: 4:13. So all the enemies of Israel be, if you persevere in this work which you have begun. 4:14. So they being moved by this exhortation of his, prayed to the Lord, and continued in the sight of the Lord. 4:15. So that even they who offered the holocausts to the Lord, offered the sacrifices to the Lord girded with haircloths, and with ashes upon their head. 4:16. And they all begged of God with all their heart, that he would visit his people Israel. Judith Chapter 5 Achior gives Holofernes an account of the people of Israel. 5:1. And it was told Holofernes the general of the army of the Assyrians, that the children of Israel prepared themselves to resist, and had shut up the ways of the mountains. 5:2. And he was transported with exceeding great fury and indignation, and he called all the princes of Moab and the leaders of Ammon. 5:3. And he said to them: Tell me what is this people that besetteth the mountains: or what are their cities, and of what sort, and how great: also what is their power, or what is their multitude: or who is the king over their warfare: 5:4. And why they above all that dwell in the east, have despised us, and have not come out to meet us, that they might receive us with peace? 5:5. Then Achior captain of all the children of Ammon answering, said; If thou vouchsafe, my lord, to hear, I will tell the truth in thy sight concerning this people, that dwelleth in the mountains, and there shall not a false word come out of my mouth. 5:6. This people is of the offspring of the Chaldeans. 5:7. They dwelt first in Mesopotamia, because they would not follow the gods of their fathers, who were in the land of the Chaldeans. 5:8. Wherefore forsaking the ceremonies of their fathers, which consisted in the worship of many gods, 5:9. They worshipped one God of heaven, who also commanded them to depart from thence, and to dwell in Charan. And when there was a famine over all the land, they went down into Egypt, and there for four hundred years were so multiplied, that the army of them could not be numbered. 5:10. And when the king of Egypt oppressed them, and made slaves of them to labour in clay and brick, in the building of his cities, they cried to their Lord, and he struck the whole land of Egypt with divers plagues. 5:11. And when the Egyptians had cast them out from them, and the plague had ceased from them, and they had a mind to take them again, and bring them back to their service, 5:12. The God of heaven opened the sea to them in their flight, so that the waters were made to stand firm as a wall on either side, and they walked through the bottom of the sea and passed it dry foot. 5:13. And when an innumerable army of the Egyptians pursued after them in that place, they were so overwhelmed with the waters, that there was not one left, to tell what had happened to posterity. 5:14. After they came out of the Red Sea, they abode in the deserts of mount Sina, in which never man could dwell, or son of man rested. 5:15. There bitter fountains were made sweet for them to drink, and for forty years they received food from heaven. 5:16. Wheresoever they went in without bow and arrow, and without shield and sword, their God fought for them and overcame. 5:17. And there was no one that triumphed over this people, but when they departed from the worship of the Lord their God. 5:18. But as often as beside their own God, they worshipped any other, they were given to spoil and to the sword, and to reproach. 5:19. And as often as they were penitent for having revolted from the worship of their God, the God of heaven gave them power to resist. 5:20. So they overthrew the king of the Chanaanites, and of the Jebusites, and of the Pherezites, and of the Hethites, and of the Hevites, and of the Amorrhites, and all the mighty ones in Hesebon, and they possessed their lands, and their cities: 5:21. And as long as they sinned not in the sight of their God, it was well with them: for their God hateth iniquity. 5:22. And even some years ago when they had revolted from the way which God had given them to walk therein, they were destroyed in battles by many nations and very many of them were led away captive into a strange land. 5:23. But of late returning to the Lord their God, from the different places wherein they were scattered, they are come together and are gone up into all these mountains, and possess Jerusalem again, where their holies are. 5:24. Now therefore, my lord, search if there be any iniquity of theirs in the sight of their God: let us go up to them, because their God will surely deliver them to thee, and they shall be brought under the yoke of thy power: 5:25. But if there be no offence of this people in the sight of their God, we cannot resist them because their God will defend them: and we shall be a reproach to the whole earth. 5:26. And it came to pass, when Achior had ceased to speak these words, all the great men of Holofernes were angry, and they had a mind to kill him, saying to each other: 5:27. Who is this, that saith the children of Israel can resist king Nabuchodonosor, and his armies, men unarmed, and without force, and without skill in the art of war? 5:28. That Achior therefore may know that he deceiveth us, let us go up into the mountains: and when the bravest of them shall be taken, then shall he with them be stabbed with the sword, 5:29. That every nation may know that Nabuchodonosor is god of the earth, and besides him there is no other. Judith Chapter 6 Holofernes in great rage sendeth Achior to Bethulia, there to be slain with the Israelites. 6:1. And it came to pass when they had left off speaking, that Holofernes being in a violent passion, said to Achior: 6:2. Because thou hast prophesied unto us, saying: That the nation of Israel is defended by their God, to shew thee that there is no God, but Nabuchodonosor: 6:3. When we shall slay them all as one man, then thou also shalt die with them by the sword of the Assyrians, and all Israel shall perish with thee: 6:4. And thou shalt find that Nabuchodonosor is lord of the whole earth: and then the sword of my soldiers shall pass through thy sides, and thou shalt be stabbed and fall among the wounded of Israel, and thou shalt breathe no more till thou be destroyed with them. 6:5. But if thou think thy prophecy true, let not thy countenance sink, and let the paleness that is in thy face, depart from thee, if thou imaginest these my words cannot be accomplished. 6:6. And that thou mayst know that thou shalt experience these things together with them, behold from this hour thou shalt be associated to their people, that when they shall receive the punishment they deserve from my sword, thou mayst fall under the same vengeance. 6:7. Then Holofernes commanded his servants to take Achior, and to lead him to Bethulia, and to deliver him into the hands of the children of Israel. 6:8. And the servants of Holofernes taking him, went through the plains: but when they came near the mountains, the slingers came out against them. 6:9. Then turning out of the way by the side of the mountain, they tied Achior to a tree hand and foot, and so left him bound with ropes, and returned to their master. 6:10. And the children of Israel coming down from Bethulia, came to him, and loosing him they brought him to Bethulia, and setting him in the midst of the people, asked him what was the matter that the Assyrians had left him bound. 6:11. In those days the rulers there, were Ozias the son of Micha of the tribe of Simeon, and Charmi, called also Gothoniel. 6:12. And Achior related in the midst of the ancients, and in the presence of all the people, all that he had said being asked by Holofernes: and how the people of Holofernes would have killed him for this word, 6:13. And how Holofernes himself being angry had commanded him to be delivered for this cause to the Israelites: that when he should overcome the children of Israel, then he might command Achior also himself to be put to death by diverse torments, for having said: The God of heaven is their defender. 6:14. And when Achior had declared all these things, all the people fell upon their faces, adoring the Lord, and all of them together mourning and weeping poured out their prayers with one accord to the Lord, 6:15. Saying: O Lord God of heaven and earth, behold their pride, and look on our low condition, and have regard to the face of thy saints, and shew that thou forsakest not them that trust on thee, and that thou humblest them that presume of themselves, and glory in their own strength. 6:16. So when their weeping was ended, and the people's prayer, in which they continued all the day, was concluded, they comforted Achior, 6:17. Saying: The God of our fathers, whose power thou hast set forth, will make this return to thee, that thou rather shalt see their destruction. 6:18. And when the Lord our God shall give this liberty to his servants, let God be with thee also in the midst of us: that as it shall please thee, so thou with all thine mayst converse with us. 6:19. Then Ozias, after the assembly was broken up, received him into his house, and made him a great supper. 6:20. And all the ancients were invited, and they refreshed themselves together after their fast was over. 6:21. And afterwards all the people were called together, and they prayed all the night long within the church, desiring help of the God of Israel. The church... That is, the synagogue or place where they met for prayer. Judith Chapter 7 Holofernes besiegeth Bethulia. The distress of the besieged. 7:1. But Holofernes on the next day gave orders to his army, to go up against Bethulia. 7:2. Now there were in his troops a hundred and twenty thousand footmen, and two and twenty thousand horsemen, besides the preparations of those men who had been taken, and who had been brought away out of the provinces and cities of all the youth. 7:3. All these prepared themselves together to fight against the children of Israel, and they came by the hillside to the top, which looketh toward Dothain, from the place which is called Belma, unto Chelmon, which is over against Esdrelon. 7:4. But the children of Israel, when they saw the multitude of them, prostrated themselves upon the ground, putting ashes upon their heads, praying with one accord, that the God of Israel would shew his mercy upon his people. 7:5. And taking their arms of war, they posted themselves at the places, which by a narrow pathway lead directly between the mountains, and they guarded them all day and night. 7:6. Now Holofernes, in going round about, found that the fountain which supplied them with water, ran through an aqueduct without the city on the south side: and he commanded their aqueduct to be cut off. 7:7. Nevertheless there were springs not far from the walls, out of which they were seen secretly to draw water, to refresh themselves a little rather than to drink their fill. 7:8. But the children of Ammon and Moab came to Holofernes, saying: The children of Israel trust not in their spears, nor in their arrows, but the mountains are their defence, and the steep hills and precipices guard them. 7:9. Wherefore that thou mayst overcome them without joining battle, set guards at the springs that they may not draw water out of them, and thou shalt destroy them without sword, or at least being wearied out they will yield up their city, which they suppose, because it is situate in the mountains, to be impregnable. 7:10. And these words pleased Holofernes, and his officers, and he placed all round about a hundred men at every spring. 7:11. And when they had kept this watch for full twenty days, the cisterns, and the reserve of waters failed among all the inhabitants of Bethulia, so that there was not within the city, enough to satisfy them, no not for one day, for water was daily given out to the people by measure. 7:12. Then all the men and women, young men, and children, gathering themselves together to Ozias, all together with one voice, 7:13. Said: God be judge between us and thee, for thou hast done evil against us, in that thou wouldst not speak peaceably with the Assyrians, and for this cause God hath sold us into their hands. 7:14. And therefore there is no one to help us, while we are cast down before their eyes in thirst, and sad destruction. 7:15. And now assemble ye all that are in the city, that we may of our own accord yield ourselves all up to the people of Holofernes. 7:16. For it is better, that being captives we should live and bless the Lord, than that we should die, and be a reproach to all flesh, after we have seen our wives and our infants die before our eyes. 7:17. We call to witness this day heaven and earth, and the God of our fathers, who taketh vengeance upon us according to our sins, conjuring you to deliver now the city into the hand of the army of Holofernes, that our end may be short by the edge of the sword, which is made longer by the drought of thirst. 7:18. And when they had said these things, there was great weeping and lamentation of all in the assembly, and for many hours with one voice they cried to God, saying: 7:19. We have sinned with our fathers, we have done unjustly, we have committed iniquity: 7:20. Have thou mercy on us, because thou art good, or punish our iniquities by chastising us thyself, and deliver not them that trust in thee to a people that knoweth not thee, 7:21. That they may not say among the Gentiles: Where is their God? 7:22. And when being wearied with these cries, and tired with these weepings, they held their peace, 7:23. Ozias rising up all in tears, said: Be of good courage, my brethren, and let us wait these five days for mercy from the Lord. 7:24. For perhaps he will put a stop to his indignation, and will give glory to his own name. 7:25. But if after five days be past there come no aid, we will do the things which you have spoken. Judith Chapter 8 The character of Judith: her discourse to the ancients. 8:1. Now it came to pass, when Judith a widow had heard these words, who was the daughter of Merari, the son of Idox, the son of Joseph, the son of Ozias, the son of Elai, the son of Jamnor, the son of Gedeon, the son of Raphaim, the son of Achitob, the son of Melchias, the son of Enan, the son of Nathanias, the son of Salathiel, the son of Simeon, the son of Ruben: Simeon the son of Ruben... In the Greek, it is the son of Israel. For Simeon the patriarch, from whom Judith descended, was not the son, but the brother of Ruben. It seems more probable that the Simeon and the Ruben here mentioned are not the patriarchs: but two of the descendants of the patriarch Simeon: and that the genealogy of Judith, recorded in this place, is not carried up so high as the patriarchs. No more than that of Elcana the father of Samuel, 1 Kings 1.1, and that of king Saul, 1 Kings 9.1. 8:2. And her husband was Manasses, who died in the time of the barley harvest: 8:3. For he was standing over them that bound sheaves in the field; and the heat came upon his head, and he died in Bethulia his own city, and was buried there with his fathers. 8:4. And Judith his relict was a widow now three years and six months. 8:5. And she made herself a private chamber in the upper part of her house, in which she abode shut up with her maids. 8:6. And she wore haircloth upon her loins, and fasted all the days of her life, except the sabbaths, and new moons, and the feasts of the house of Israel. 8:7. And she was exceedingly beautiful, and her husband left her great riches, and very many servants, and large possessions of herds of oxen, and flocks of sheep. 8:8. And she was greatly renowned among all, because she feared the Lord very much, neither was there any one that spoke an ill word of her. 8:9. When therefore she had heard that Ozias had promised that he would deliver up the city after the fifth day, she sent to the ancients Chabri and Charmi. 8:10. And they came to her, and she said to them: What is this word, by which Ozias hath consented to give up the city to the Assyrians, if within five days there come no aid to us? 8:11. And who are you that tempt the Lord? 8:12. This is not a word that may draw down mercy, but rather that may stir up wrath, and enkindle indignation. 8:13. You have set a time for the mercy of the Lord, and you have appointed him a day, according to your pleasure. 8:14. But forasmuch as the Lord is patient, let us be penitent for this same thing, and with many tears let us beg his pardon: 8:15. For God will not threaten like man, nor be inflamed to anger like the son of man. 8:16. And therefore let us humble our souls before him, and continuing in an humble spirit, in his service: 8:17. Let us ask the Lord with tears, that according to his will so he would shew his mercy to us: that as our heart is troubled by their pride, so also we may glorify in our humility. 8:18. For we have not followed the sins of our fathers, who forsook their God, and worshipped strange gods. 8:19. For which crime they were given up to their enemies, to the sword, and to pillage, and to confusion: but we know no other God but him. 8:20. Let us humbly wait for his consolation, and the Lord our God will require our blood of the afflictions of our enemies, and he will humble all the nations that shall rise up against us, and bring them to disgrace. 8:21. And now, brethren, as you are the ancients among the people of God, and their very soul resteth upon you: comfort their hearts by your speech, that they may be mindful how our fathers were tempted that they might be proved, whether they worshipped their God truly. 8:22. They must remember how our father Abraham was tempted, and being proved by many tribulations, was made the friend of God. 8:23. So Isaac, so Jacob, so Moses, and all that have pleased God, passed through many tribulations, remaining faithful. 8:24. But they that did not receive the trials with the fear of the Lord, but uttered their impatience and the reproach of their murmuring against the Lord, 8:25. Were destroyed by the destroyer, and perished by serpents. 8:26. As for us therefore let us not revenge ourselves for these things which we suffer. 8:27. But esteeming these very punishments to be less than our sins deserve, let us believe that these scourges of the Lord, with which like servants we are chastised, have happened for our amendment, and not for our destruction. 8:28. And Ozias and the ancients said to her: All things which thou hast spoken are true, and there is nothing to be reprehended in thy words. 8:29. Now therefore pray for us, for thou art a holy woman, and one fearing God. 8:30. And Judith said to them: As you know that what I have been able to say is of God: 8:31. So that which I intend to do prove ye if it be of God, and pray that God may strengthen my design. 8:32. You shall stand at the gate this night, and I will go out with my maid-servant: and pray ye, that as you have said, in five days the Lord may look down upon his people Israel. 8:33. But I desire that you search not into what I am doing, and till I bring you word let nothing else be done but to pray for me to the Lord our God. 8:34. And Ozias the prince of Juda said to her: Go in peace, and the Lord be with thee to take revenge of our enemies. So returning they departed. Judith Chapter 9 Judith's prayer, to beg of God to fortify her in her undertaking. 9:1. And when they were gone, Judith went into her oratory: and putting on haircloth, laid ashes on her head: and falling down prostrate before the Lord, she cried to the Lord, saying: 9:2. Lord God of my father Simeon, who gavest him a sword to execute vengeance against strangers, who had defiled by their uncleanness, and uncovered the virgin unto confusion: Gavest him a sword, etc... The justice of God is here praised, in punishing by the sword of Simeon the crime of the Sichemites: and not the act of Simeon, which was justly condemned by his father, Gen. 49.5. Though even with regard to this act, we may distinguish between his zeal against the crime committed by the ravishers of his sister, which zeal may be considered just: and the manner of his punishing that crime, which was irregular and excessive. 9:3. And who gavest their wives to be made a prey, and their daughters into captivity: and all their spoils to be divided to the servants, who were zealous with thy zeal: assist, I beseech thee, O Lord God, me a widow. 9:4. For thou hast done the things of old, and hast devised one thing after another: and what thou hast designed hath been done. 9:5. For all thy ways are prepared, and in thy providence thou hast placed thy judgments. 9:6. Look upon the camp of the Assyrians now, as thou wast pleased to look upon the camp of the Egyptians, when they pursued armed after thy servants, trusting in their chariots, and in their horsemen, and in a multitude of warriors. 9:7. But thou lookedst over their camp, and darkness wearied them. 9:8. The deep held their feet, and the waters overwhelmed them. 9:9. So may it be with these also, O Lord, who trust in their multitude, and in their chariots, and in their pikes, and in their shields, and in their arrows, and glory in their spears, 9:10. And know not that thou art our God, who destroyest wars from the beginning, and the Lord is thy name. 9:11. Lift up thy arm as from the beginning, and crush their power with thy power: let their power fall in their wrath, who promise themselves to violate thy sanctuary, and defile the dwelling place of thy name, and to beat down with their sword the horn of thy altar. 9:12. Bring to pass, O Lord, that his pride may be cut off with his own sword. 9:13. Let him be caught in the net of his own eyes in my regard, and do thou strike him by the graces of the words of my lips. 9:14. Give me constancy in my mind, that I may despise him: and fortitude that I may overthrow him. 9:15. For this will be a glorious monument for thy name, when he shall fall by the hand of a woman. 9:16. For thy power, O Lord, is not in a multitude, nor is thy pleasure in the strength of horses, nor from the beginning have the proud been acceptable to thee: but the prayer of the humble and the meek hath always pleased thee. 9:17. O God of the heavens, creator of the waters, and Lord of the whole creation, hear me a poor wretch, making supplication to thee, and presuming of thy mercy. 9:18. Remember, O Lord, thy covenant, and put thou words in my mouth, and strengthen the resolution in my heart, that thy house may continue in thy holiness: 9:19. And all nations may acknowledge that thou art God, and there is no other besides thee. Judith Chapter 10 Judith goeth out towards the camp, and is taken, and brought to Holofernes. 10:1. And it came to pass, when she had ceased to cry to the Lord, that she rose from the place wherein she lay prostrate before the Lord. 10:2. And she called her maid, and going down into her house she took off her haircloth, and put away the garments of her widowhood, 10:3. And she washed her body, and anointed herself with the best ointment, and plaited the hair of her head, and put a bonnet upon her head, and clothed herself with the garments of her gladness, and put sandals on her feet, and took her bracelets, and lilies, and earlets, and rings, and adorned herself with all her ornaments. 10:4. And the Lord also gave her more beauty: because all this dressing up did not proceed from sensuality, but from virtue: and therefore the Lord increased this her beauty, so that she appeared to all men's eyes incomparably lovely. 10:5. And she gave to her maid a bottle of wine to carry, and a vessel of oil, and parched corn, and dry figs, and bread and cheese, and went out. 10:6. And when they came to the gate of the city, they found Ozias, and the ancients of the city waiting. 10:7. And when they saw her they were astonished, and admired her beauty exceedingly. 10:8. But they asked her no question, only they let her pass, saying: The God of our fathers give thee grace, and may he strengthen all the counsel of thy heart with his power, that Jerusalem may glory in thee, and thy name may be in the number of the holy and just. 10:9. And they that were there said, all with one voice: So be it, so be it. 10:10. But Judith praying to the Lord, passed through the gates, she and her maid. 10:11. And it came to pass, when she went down the hill, about break of day, that the watchmen of the Assyrians met her, and stopped her, saying: Whence comest thou or whither goest thou? 10:12. And she answered: I am a daughter of the Hebrews, and I am fled from them, because I knew they would be made a prey to you, because they despised you, and would not of their own accord yield themselves, that they might find mercy in your sight. Because I knew, etc... In this and the following chapter, some things are related to have been said by Judith, which seem hard to reconcile with truth. But all that is related in scripture of the servants of God is not approved by the scripture; and even the saints in their good enterprises may sometimes slip into venial sins. 10:13. For this reason I thought with myself, saying: I will go to the presence of the prince Holofernes, that I may tell him their secrets, and shew him by what way he may take them, without the loss of one man of his army. 10:14. And when the men had heard her words, they beheld her face, and their eyes were amazed, for they wondered exceedingly at her beauty. 10:15. And they said to her: Thou hast saved thy life by taking this resolution, to come down to our lord. 10:16. And be assured of this, that when thou shalt stand before him, he will treat thee well, and thou wilt be most acceptable to his heart. And they brought her to the tent of Holofernes, telling him of her. 10:17. And when she was come into his presence, forthwith Holofernes was caught by his eyes. 10:18. And his officers said to him: Who can despise the people of the Hebrews, who have such beautiful women, that we should not think it worth our while for their sakes to fight against them? 10:19. And Judith seeing Holofernes sitting under a canopy, which was woven of purple and gold, with emeralds and precious stones: 10:20. After she had looked on his face, bowed down to him, prostrating herself to the ground. And the servants of Holofernes lifted her up, by the command of their master. Judith Chapter 11 Judith's speech to Holofernes. 11:1. Then Holofernes said to her: Be of good comfort, and fear not in thy heart: for I have never hurt a man that was willing to serve Nabuchodonosor the king. 11:2. And if thy people had not despised me, I would never have lifted up my spear against them. 11:3. But now tell me, for what cause hast thou left them, and why it hath pleased thee to come to us? 11:4. And Judith said to him: Receive the words of thy handmaid, for if thou wilt follow the words of thy handmaid, the Lord will do with thee a perfect thing. 11:5. For as Nabuchodonosor the king of the earth liveth, and his power liveth which is in thee for chastising of all straying souls: not only men serve him through thee, but also the beasts of the field obey him. 11:6. For the industry of thy mind is spoken of among all nations, and it is told through the whole world, that thou only art excellent, and mighty in all his kingdom, and thy discipline is cried up in all provinces. 11:7. It is known also what Achior said, nor are we ignorant of what thou hast commanded to be done to him. 11:8. For it is certain that our God is so offended with sins, that he hath sent word by his prophets to the people, that he will deliver them up for their sins. 11:9. And because the children of Israel know they have offended their God, thy dread is upon them. 11:10. Moreover also a famine hath come upon them, and for drought of water they are already to be counted among the dead. 11:11. And they have a design even to kill their cattle, and to drink the blood of them. 11:12. And the consecrated things of the Lord their God which God forbade them to touch, in corn, wine, and oil, these have they purposed to make use of, and they design to consume the things which they ought not to touch with their hands: therefore because they do these things, it is certain they will be given up to destruction. 11:13. And I thy handmaid knowing this, am fled from them, and the Lord hath sent me to tell thee these very things. 11:14. For I thy handmaid worship God even now that I am with thee, and thy handmaid will go out, and I will pray to God, 11:15. And he will tell me when he will repay them for their sins, and I will come and tell thee, so that I may bring thee through the midst of Jerusalem, and thou shalt have all the people of Israel, as sheep that have no shepherd, and there shall not so much as one dog bark against thee: 11:16. Because these things are told me by the providence of God. 11:17. And because God is angry with them, I am sent to tell these very things to thee. 11:18. And all these words pleased Holofernes, and his servants, and they admired her wisdom, and they said one to another: 11:19. There is not such another woman upon earth in look, in beauty, and in sense of words. 11:20. And Holofernes said to her: God hath done well who sent thee before the people, that thou mightest give them into our hands: 11:21. And because thy promise is good, if thy God shall do this for me, he shall also be my God, and thou shalt be great in the house of Nabuchodonosor, and thy name shall be renowned through all the earth. Judith Chapter 12 Judith goeth out in the night to pray: she is invited to a banquet with Holofernes. 12:1. Then he ordered that she should go in where his treasures were laid up, and bade her tarry there, and he appointed what should be given her from his own table. 12:2. And Judith answered him and said: Now I cannot eat of these things which thou commandest to be given me, lest sin come upon me: but I will eat of the things which I have brought. 12:3. And Holofernes said to her: If these things which thou hast brought with thee fail thee, what shall we do for thee? 12:4. And Judith said: As thy soul liveth, my lord, thy handmaid shall not spend all these things till God do by my hand that which I have purposed. And his servants brought her into the tent which he had commanded. 12:5. And when she was going in, she desired that she might have liberty to go out at night and before day to prayer, and to beseech the Lord. 12:6. And he commanded his chamberlains, that she might go out and in, to adore her God as she pleased, for three days. 12:7. And she went out in the nights into the valley of Bethulia, and washed herself in a fountain of water. 12:8. And as she came up, she prayed to the Lord the God of Israel, that he would direct her way to the deliverance of his people. 12:9. And going in, she remained pure in the tent, until she took her own meat in the evening. 12:10. And it came to pass on the fourth day, that Holofernes made a supper for his servants, and said to Vagao his eunuch: Go, and persuade that Hebrew woman, to consent of her own accord to dwell with me. 12:11. For it is looked upon as shameful among the Assyrians, if a woman mock a man, by doing so as to pass free from him. 12:12. Then Vagao went in to Judith, and said: Let not my good maid be afraid to go in to my lord, that she may be honoured before his face, that she may eat with him and drink wine and be merry. 12:13. And Judith answered him: Who am I, that I should gainsay my lord? 12:14. All that shall be good and best before his eyes, I will do. And whatsoever shall please him, that shall be best to me all the days of my life. 12:15. And she arose and dressed herself out with her garments, and going in she stood before his face. 12:16. And the heart of Holofernes was smitten, for he was burning with the desire of her. 12:17. And Holofernes said to her: Drink now, and sit down and be merry; for thou hast found favour before me. 12:18. And Judith said: I will drink my lord, because my life is magnified this day above all my days. 12:19. And she took and ate and drank before him what her maid had prepared for her. 12:20. And Holofernes was made merry on her occasion, and drank exceeding much wine, so much as he had never drunk in his life. Judith Chapter 13 Judith cutteth off the head of Holofernes, and returneth to Bethulia. 13:1. And when it was grown late, his servants made haste to their lodgings, and Vagao shut the chamber doors, and went his way. 13:2. And they were all overcharged with wine. 13:3. And Judith was alone in the chamber. 13:4. But Holofernes lay on his bed, fast asleep, being exceedingly drunk. 13:5. And Judith spoke to her maid to stand without before the chamber, and to watch: 13:6. And Judith stood before the bed praying with tears, and the motion of her lips in silence, 13:7. Saying: Strengthen me, O Lord God of Israel, and in this hour look on the works of my hands, that as thou hast promised, thou mayst raise up Jerusalem thy city: and that I may bring to pass that which I have purposed, having a belief that it might be done by thee. 13:8. And when she had said this, she went to the pillar that was at his bed's head, and loosed his sword that hung tied upon it. 13:9. And when she had drawn it out, she took him by the hair of his head, and said: Strengthen me, O Lord God, at this hour. 13:10. And she struck twice upon his neck, and cut off his head, and took off his canopy from the pillars, and rolled away his headless body. 13:11. And after a while she went out, and delivered the head of Holofernes to her maid, and bade her put it into her wallet. 13:12. And they two went out according to their custom, as it were to prayer, and they passed the camp, and having compassed the valley, they came to the gate of the city. 13:13. And Judith from afar off cried to the watchmen upon the walls: Open the gates for God is with us, who hath shewn his power in Israel. 13:14. And it came to pass, when the men had heard her voice, that they called the ancients of the city. 13:15. And all ran to meet her from the least to the greatest: for they now had no hopes that she would come. 13:16. And lighting up lights they all gathered round about her: and she went up to a higher place, and commanded silence to be made. And when all had held their peace, 13:17. Judith said: Praise ye the Lord our God, who hath not forsaken them that hope in him. 13:18. And by me his handmaid he hath fulfilled his mercy, which he promised to the house of Israel: and he hath killed the enemy of his people by my hand this night. 13:19. Then she brought forth the head of Holofernes out of the wallet, and shewed it them, saying: Behold the head of Holofernes the general of the army of the Assyrians, and behold his canopy, wherein he lay in his drunkenness, where the Lord our God slew him by the hand of a woman. 13:20. But as the same Lord liveth, his angel hath been my keeper both going hence, and abiding there, and returning from thence hither: and the Lord hath not suffered me his handmaid to be defiled, but hath brought me back to you without pollution of sin, rejoicing for his victory, for my escape, and for your deliverance. 13:21. Give all of you glory to him, because he is good, because his mercy endureth for ever. 13:22. And they all adored the Lord, and said to her: The Lord hath blessed thee by his power, because by thee he hath brought our enemies to nought. 13:23. And Ozias the prince of the people of Israel, said to her: Blessed art thou, O daughter, by the Lord the most high God, above all women upon the earth. 13:24. Blessed be the Lord who made heaven and earth, who hath directed thee to the cutting off the head of the prince of our enemies. 13:25. Because he hath so magnified thy name this day, that thy praise shall not depart out of the mouth of men who shall be mindful of the power of the Lord for ever, for that thou hast not spared thy life, by reason of the distress and tribulation of thy people, but hast prevented our ruin in the presence of our God. 13:26. And all the people said: So be it, so be it. 13:27. And Achior being called for came, and Judith said to him: The God of Israel, to whom thou gavest testimony, that he revengeth himself of his enemies, he hath cut off the head of all the unbelievers this night by my hand. 13:28. And that thou mayst find that it is so, behold the head of Holofernes, who in the contempt of his pride despised the God of Israel: and threatened them with death, saying: When the people of Israel shall be taken, I will command thy sides to be pierced with a sword. 13:29. Then Achior seeing the head of Holofernes, being seized with a great fear he fell on his face upon the earth, and his soul swooned away. 13:30. But after he had recovered his spirits he fell down at her feet, and reverenced her, and said: 13:31. Blessed art thou by thy God in every tabernacle of Jacob, for in every nation which shall hear thy name, the God of Israel shall be magnified on occasion of thee. Judith Chapter 14 The Israelites assault the Assyrians, who finding their general slain, are seized with a panic fear. 14:1. And Judith said to all the people: Hear me, my brethren, hang ye up this head upon our walls. 14:2. And as soon as the sun shall rise, let every man take his arms, and rush ye out, not as going down beneath, but as making an assault. 14:3. Then the watchmen must needs run to awake their prince for the battle. 14:4. And when the captains of them shall run to the tent of Holofernes, and shall find him without his head wallowing in his blood, fear shall fall upon them. 14:5. And when you shall know that they are fleeing, go after them securely, for the Lord will destroy them under your feet. 14:6. Then Achior seeing the power that the God of Israel had wrought, leaving the religion of the Gentiles, he believed God, and circumcised the flesh of his foreskin, and was joined to the people of Israel, with all the succession of his kindred until this present day. 14:7. And immediately at break of day, they hung up the head of Holofernes upon the walls, and every man took his arms, and they went out with a great noise and shouting. 14:8. And the watchmen seeing this, ran to the tent of Holofernes. 14:9. And they that were in the tent came, and made a noise, before the door of the chamber to awake him, endeavouring by art to break his rest, that Holofernes might awake, not by their calling him, but by their noise. 14:10. For no man durst knock, or open and go into the chamber of the general of the Assyrians. 14:11. But when his captains and tribunes were come, and all the chiefs of the army of the king of the Assyrians, they said to the chamberlains: 14:12. Go in, and awake him, for the mice, coming out of their holes, have presumed to challenge us to fight. 14:13. Then Vagao going into his chamber, stood before the curtain, and made a clapping with his hands: for he thought that he was sleeping with Judith. 14:14. But when with hearkening, he perceived no motion of one lying, he came near to the curtain, and lifting it up, and seeing the body of Holofernes, lying upon the ground, without the head, weltering in his blood, he cried out with a loud voice, with weeping, and rent his garments. 14:15. And he went into the tent of Judith, and not finding her, he ran out to the people, 14:16. And said: One Hebrew woman hath made confusion in the house of king Nabuchodonosor: for behold Holofernes lieth upon the ground, and his head is not upon him. 14:17. Now when the chiefs of the army of the Assyrians had heard this, they all rent their garments, and an intolerable fear and dread fell upon them, and their minds were troubled exceedingly. 14:18. And there was a very great cry in the midst of their camp. Judith Chapter 15 The Assyrians flee: the Hebrews pursue after them, and are enriched by their spoils. 15:1. And when all the army heard that Holofernes was beheaded, courage and counsel fled from them, and being seized with trembling and fear they thought only to save themselves by flight. 15:2. So that no one spoke to his neighbour, but hanging down the head, leaving all things behind, they made haste to escape from the Hebrews, who, as they heard, were coming armed upon them, and fled by the ways of the fields, and the paths of the hills. 15:3. So the children of Israel seeing them fleeing, followed after them. And they went down sounding with trumpets and shouting after them. 15:4. And because the Assyrians were not united together, they went without order in their flight; but the children of Israel pursuing in one body, defeated all that they could find. 15:5. And Ozias sent messengers through all the cities and countries of Israel. 15:6. And every country, and every city, sent their chosen young men armed after them, and they pursued them with the edge of the sword until they came to the extremities of their confines. 15:7. And the rest that were in Bethulia went into the camp of the Assyrians, and took away the spoils which the Assyrians in their flight had left behind them, and they were laden exceedingly, 15:8. But they that returned conquerors to Bethulia, brought with them all things that were theirs, so that there was no numbering of their cattle, and beasts, and all their moveables, insomuch that from the least to the greatest all were made rich by their spoils. 15:9. And Joachim the high priest came from Jerusalem to Bethulia with all his ancients to see Judith. 15:10. And when she was come out to him, they all blessed her with one voice, saying: Thou art the glory of Jerusalem, thou art the joy of Israel, thou art the honour of our people: 15:11. For thou hast done manfully, and thy heart has been strengthened, because thou hast loved chastity, and after thy husband hast not known any other: therefore also the hand of the Lord hath strengthened thee, and therefore thou shalt be blessed for ever. 15:12. And all the people said: So be it, so be it. 15:13. And thirty days were scarce sufficient for the people of Israel to gather up the spoils of the Assyrians. 15:14. But all those things that were proved to be the peculiar goods of Holofernes, they gave to Judith in gold, and silver, and garments and precious stones, and all household stuff, and they all were delivered to her by the people. 15:15. And all the people rejoiced, with the women, and virgins, and young men, playing on instruments and harps. Judith Chapter 16 The canticle of Judith: her virtuous life and death. 16:1. Then Judith sung this canticle to the Lord, saying: 16:2. Begin ye to the Lord with timbrels, sing ye to the Lord with cymbals, tune unto him a new psalm, extol and call upon his name. 16:3. The Lord putteth an end to wars, the Lord is his name. 16:4. He hath set his camp in the midst of his people, to deliver us from the hand of all our enemies. 16:5. The Assyrian came out of the mountains from the north in the multitude of his strength: his multitude stopped up the torrents, and their horses covered the valleys. 16:6. He bragged that he would set my borders on fire, and kill my young men with the sword, to make my infants a prey, and my virgins captives. 16:7. But the almighty Lord hath struck him, and hath delivered him into the hands of a woman, and hath slain him. 16:8. For their mighty one did not fall by young men, neither did the sons of Titan strike him, nor tall giants oppose themselves to him, but Judith the daughter of Merari weakened him with the beauty of her face. 16:9. For she put off her the garments of widowhood, and put on her the garments of joy, to give joy to the children of Israel. 16:10. She anointed her face with ointment, and bound up her locks with a crown, she took a new robe to deceive him. 16:11. Her sandals ravished his eyes, her beauty made his soul her captive, with a sword she cut off his head. 16:12. The Persians quaked at her constancy, and the Medes at her boldness. 16:13. Then the camp of the Assyrians howled, when my lowly ones appeared, parched with thirst. 16:14. The sons of the damsels have pierced them through, and they have killed them like children fleeing away: they perished in battle before the face of the Lord my God. 16:15. Let us sing a hymn to the Lord, let us sing a new hymn to our God. 16:16. O Adonai, Lord, great art thou, and glorious in thy power, and no one can overcome thee. 16:17. Let all thy creatures serve thee: because thou hast spoken, and they were made: thou didst send forth thy spirit, and they were created, and there is no one that can resist thy voice. 16:18. The mountains shall be moved from the foundations with the waters: the rocks shall melt as wax before thy face. 16:19. But they that fear thee, shall be great with thee in all things. 16:20. Woe be to the nation that riseth up against my people: for the Lord almighty will take revenge on them, in the day of judgment he will visit them. 16:21. For he will give fire, and worms into their flesh, that they may burn, and may feel for ever. 16:22. And it came to pass after these things, that all the people, after the victory, came to Jerusalem to adore the Lord: and as soon as they were purified, they all offered holocausts, and vows, and their promises. 16:23. And Judith offered for an anathema of oblivion all the arms of Holofernes, which the people gave her, and the canopy that she had taken away out of his chamber. An anathema of oblivion... That is, a gift or offering made to God, by way of an everlasting monument, to prevent the oblivion or forgetting so great a benefit. 16:24. And the people were joyful in the sight of the sanctuary, and for three months the joy of this victory was celebrated with Judith. 16:25. And after those days every man returned to his house, and Judith was made great in Bethulia, and she was most renowned in all the land of Israel. 16:26. And chastity was joined to her virtue, so that she knew no man all the days of her life, after the death of Manasses her husband. 16:27. And on festival days she came forth with great glory. 16:28. And she abode in her husband's house a hundred and five years, and made her handmaid free, and she died, and was buried with her husband in Bethulia. 16:29. And all the people mourned for seven days. 16:30. And all the time of her life there was none that troubled Israel, nor many years after her death. 16:31. But the day of the festivity of this victory is received by the Hebrews in the number of holy days, and is religiously observed by the Jews from that time until this day. THE BOOK OF ESTHER This Book takes its name from queen Esther, whose history is here recorded. The general opinion of almost all commentators on the Holy Scriptures makes Mardochai the writer of it: which also may be collected below from chap. 9 ver. 20. Esther Chapter 1 King Assuerus maketh a great feast. Queen Vasthi being sent for refuseth to come: for which disobedience she is deposed. 1:1. In the days of Assuerus, who reigned from India to Ethiopia over a hundred and twenty seven provinces: 1:2. When he sat on the throne of his kingdom, the city Susan was the capital of his kingdom. 1:3. Now in the third year of his reign he made a great feast for all the princes, and for his servants, for the most mighty of the Persians, and the nobles of the Medes, and the governors of the provinces in his sight, 1:4. That he might shew the riches of the glory of his kingdom, and the greatness, and boasting of his power, for a long time, to wit, for a hundred and fourscore days. 1:5. And when the days of the feast were expired, he invited all the people that were found in Susan, from the greatest to the least: and commanded a feast to be made seven days in the court of the garden, and of the wood, which was planted by the care and the hand of the king. 1:6. And there were hung up on every side sky coloured, and green, and violet hangings, fastened with cords of silk, and of purple, which were put into rings of ivory, and were held up with marble pillars. The beds also were of gold and silver, placed in order upon a floor paved with porphyry and white marble: which was embellished with painting of wonderful variety. 1:7. And they that were invited, drank in golden cups, and the meats were brought in divers vessels one after another. Wine also in abundance and of the best was presented, as was worthy of a king's magnificence. 1:8. Neither was there any one to compel them to drink that were not willing, but as the king had appointed, who set over every table one of his nobles, that every man might take what he would. 1:9. Also Vasthi the queen made a feast for the women in the palace, where king Assuerus was used to dwell. 1:10. Now on the seventh day, when the king was merry, and after very much drinking was well warmed with wine, he commanded Mauman, and Bazatha, and Harbona, and Bagatha, and Abgatha, and Zethar, and Charcas, the seven eunuchs that served in his presence, 1:11. To bring in queen Vasthi before the king, with the crown set upon her head, to shew her beauty to all the people and the princes: for she was exceeding beautiful. 1:12. But she refused, and would not come at the king's commandment, which he had signified to her by the eunuchs. Whereupon the king, being angry, and inflamed with a very great fury, 1:13. Asked the wise men, who according to the custom of the kings, were always near his person, and all he did was by their counsel, who knew the laws, and judgments of their forefathers: 1:14. (Now the chief and nearest him were, Charsena, and Sethar, and Admatha, and Tharsis, and Mares, and Marsana, and Mamuchan, seven princes of the Persians and of the Medes, who saw the face of the king, and were used to sit first after him:) 1:15. What sentence ought to pass upon Vasthi the queen, who had refused to obey the commandment of king Assuerus, which he had sent to her by the eunuchs? 1:16. And Mamuchan answered, in the hearing of the king and the princes: Queen Vasthi hath not only injured the king, but also all the people and princes that are in all the provinces of king Assuerus. 1:17. For this deed of the queen will go abroad to all women, so that they will despise their husbands, and will say: King Assuerus commanded that queen Vasthi should come in to him, and she would not. 1:18. And by this example all the wives of the princes of the Persians and the Medes will slight the commandments of their husbands: wherefore the king's indignation is just. 1:19. If it please thee, let an edict go out from thy presence, and let it be written according to the law of the Persians and of the Medes, which must not be altered, that Vasthi come in no more to the king, but another, that is better than her, be made queen in her place. 1:20. And let this be published through all the provinces of thy empire, (which is very wide,) and let all wives, as well of the greater as of the lesser, give honour to their husbands. 1:21. His counsel pleased the king, and the princes: and the king did according to the counsel of Mamuchan. 1:22. And he sent letters to all the provinces of his kingdom, as every nation could hear and read, in divers languages and characters, that the husbands should be rulers and masters in their houses: and that this should be published to every people. Esther Chapter 2 Esther is advanced to be queen. Mardochai detecteth a plot against the king. 2:1. After this, when the wrath of king Assuerus was appeased, he remembered Vasthi, and what she had done and what she had suffered: 2:2. And the king's servants and his officers said: Let young women be sought for the king, virgins and beautiful, 2:3. And let some persons be sent through all the provinces to look for beautiful maidens and virgins: and let them bring them to the city of Susan, and put them into the house of the women under the hand of Egeus the eunuch, who is the overseer and keeper of the king's women: and let them receive women's ornaments, and other things necessary for their use. 2:4. And whosoever among them all shall please the king's eyes, let her be queen instead of Vasthi. The word pleased the king: and he commanded it should be done as they had suggested. 2:5. There was a man in the city of Susan, a Jew, named Mardochai, the son of Jair, the son of Semei, the son of Cis, of the race of Jemini, 2:6. Who had been carried away from Jerusalem at the time that Nabuchodonosor king of Babylon carried away Jechonias king of Juda, 2:7. And he had brought up his brother's daughter Edissa, who by another name was called Esther: now she had lost both her parents: and was exceeding fair and beautiful. And her father and mother being dead, Mardochai adopted her for his daughter. 2:8. And when the king's ordinance was noised abroad, and according to his commandment many beautiful virgins were brought to Susan, and were delivered to Egeus the eunuch: Esther also among the rest of the maidens was delivered to him to be kept in the number of the women. 2:9. And she pleased him, and found favour in his sight. And he commanded the eunuch to hasten the women's ornaments, and to deliver to her her part, and seven of the most beautiful maidens of the king's house, and to adorn and deck out both her and her waiting maids. 2:10. And she would not tell him her people nor her country. For Mardochai had charged her to say nothing at all of that: 2:11. And he walked every day before the court of the house, in which the chosen virgins were kept, having a care for Esther's welfare, and desiring to know what would befall her. 2:12. Now when every virgin's turn came to go in to the king, after all had been done for setting them off to advantage, it was the twelfth month: so that for six months they were anointed with oil of myrrh, and for other six months they used certain perfumes and sweet spices. 2:13. And when they were going in to the king, whatsoever they asked to adorn themselves they received: and being decked out, as it pleased them, they passed from the chamber of the women to the king's chamber. 2:14. And she that went in at evening, came out in the morning, and from thence she was conducted to the second house, that was under the hand of Susagaz the eunuch, who had the charge over the king's concubines: neither could she return any more to the king, unless the king desired it, and had ordered her by name to come. 2:15. And as the time came orderly about, the day was at hand, when Esther, the daughter of Abihail the brother of Mardochai, whom he had adopted for his daughter, was to go in to the king. But she sought not women's ornaments, but whatsoever Egeus the eunuch the keeper of the virgins had a mind, he gave her to adorn her. For she was exceeding fair, and her incredible beauty made her appear agreeable and amiable in the eyes of all. 2:16. So she was brought to the chamber of king Assuerus the tenth month, which is called Tebeth, in the seventh year of his reign. 2:17. And the king loved her more than all the women, and she had favour and kindness before him above all the women, and he set the royal crown on her head, and made her queen instead of Vasthi. 2:18. And he commanded a magnificent feast to be prepared for all the princes, and for his servants, for the marriage and wedding of Esther, And he gave rest to all the provinces, and bestowed gifts according to princely magnificence. 2:19. And when the virgins were sought the second time, and gathered together, Mardochai stayed at the king's gate, 2:20. Neither had Esther as yet declared her country and people, according to his commandment. For whatsoever he commanded, Esther observed: and she did all things in the same manner as she was wont at that time when he brought her up a little one. 2:21. At that time, therefore, when Mardochai abode at the king's gate, Bagathan and Thares, two of the king's eunuchs, who were porters, and presided in the first entry of the palace, were angry: and they designed to rise up against the king, and to kill him. 2:22. And Mardochai had notice of it, and immediately he told it to queen Esther: and she to the king in Mardochai's name, who had reported the thing unto her. 2:23. It was inquired into, and found out: and they were both hanged on a gibbet. And it was put in the histories, and recorded in the chronicles before the king. Esther Chapter 3 Aman, advanced by the king, is offended at Mardochai, and therefore procureth the king's decree to destroy the whole nation of the Jews. 3:1. After these things, king Assuerus advanced Aman, the son of Amadathi, who was of the race of Agag: and he set his throne above all the princes that were with him. 3:2. And all the king's servants, that were at the doors of the palace, bent their knees, and worshipped Aman: for so the emperor had commanded them, only Mardochai did not bend his knee, nor worship him. 3:3. And the king's servants that were chief at the doors of the palace, said to him: Why dost thou alone not observe the king's commandment? 3:4. And when they were saying this often, and he would not hearken to them, they told Aman, desirous to know whether he would continue in his resolution: for he had told them that he was a Jew. 3:5. Now when Aman had heard this, and had proved by experience that Mardochai did not bend his knee to him, nor worship him, he was exceeding angry. 3:6. And he counted it nothing to lay his hands upon Mardochai alone: for he had heard that he was of the nation of the Jews, and he chose rather to destroy all the nation of the Jews that were in the kingdom of Assuerus. 3:7. In the first month (which is called Nisan) in the twelfth year of the reign of Assuerus, the lot was cast into an urn, which in Hebrew is called Phur, before Aman, on what day and what month the nation of the Jews should be destroyed: and there came out the twelfth month, which is called Adar. 3:8. And Aman said to king Assuerus: There is a people scattered through all the provinces of thy kingdom, and separated one from another, that use new laws and ceremonies, and moreover despise the king's ordinances: and thou knowest very well that it is not expedient for thy kingdom that they should grow insolent by impunity. 3:9. If it please thee, decree that they may be destroyed, and I will pay ten thousand talents to thy treasurers. 3:10. And the king took the ring that he used, from his own hand, and gave it to Aman, the son of Amadathi of the race of Agag, the enemy of the Jews, 3:11. And he said to him: As to the money which thou promisest, keep it for thyself: and as to the people, do with them as seemeth good to thee. 3:12. And the king's scribes were called in the first month Nisan, on the thirteenth day of the same mouth: and they wrote, as Aman had commanded, to all the king's lieutenants, and to the judges of the provinces, and of divers nations, as every nation could read, and hear according to their different languages, in the name of king Assuerus: and the letters, sealed with his ring, 3:13. Were sent by the king's messengers to all provinces, to kill and destroy all the Jews, both young and old, little children, and women, in one day, that is, on the thirteenth of the twelfth month, which is called Adar, and to make a spoil of their goods. 3:14. And the contents of the letters were to this effect, that all provinces might know and be ready against that day. 3:15. The couriers that were sent made haste to fulfil the king's commandment. And immediately the edict was hung up in Susan, the king and Aman feasting together, and all the Jews that were in the city weeping. Esther Chapter 4 Mardochai desireth Esther to petition the king for the Jews. They join in fasting and prayer. 4:1. Now when Mardochai had heard these things, he rent his garments, and put on sackcloth, strewing ashes on his head and he cried with a loud voice in the street in the midst of the city, shewing the anguish of his mind. 4:2. And he came lamenting in this manner even to the gate of the palace: for no one clothed with sackcloth might enter the king's court. 4:3. And in all provinces, towns, and places, to which the king's cruel edict was come, there was great mourning among the Jews, with fasting, wailing, and weeping, many using sackcloth and ashes for their bed. 4:4. Then Esther's maids and her eunuchs went in, and told her. And when she heard it she was in a consternation and she sent a garment, to clothe him, and to take away the sackcloth: but he would not receive it. 4:5. And she called for Athach the eunuch, whom the king had appointed to attend upon her, and she commanded him to go to Mardochai, and learn of him why he did this. 4:6. And Athach going out went to Mardochai, who was standing in the street of the city, before the palace gate: 4:7. And Mardochai told him all that had happened, how Aman had promised to pay money into the king's treasures, to have the Jews destroyed. 4:8. He gave him also a copy of the edict which was hanging up in Susan, that he should shew it to the queen, and admonish her to go in to the king, and to entreat him for her people. 4:9. And Athach went back and told Esther all that Mardochai had said. 4:10. She answered him, and bade him say to Mardochai: 4:11. All the king's servants, and all the provinces that are under his dominion, know, that whosoever, whether man or woman, cometh into the king's inner court, who is not called for, is immediately to be put to death without any delay: except the king shall hold out the golden sceptre to him, in token of clemency, that so he may live. How then can I go in to the king, who for these thirty days now have not been called unto him? 4:12. And when Mardochai had heard this, 4:13. He sent word to Esther again, saying: Think not that thou mayst save thy life only, because thou art in the king's house, more than all the Jews: 4:14. For if thou wilt now hold thy peace, the Jews shall be delivered by some other occasion: and thou, and thy father's house shall perish. And who knoweth whether thou art not therefore come to the kingdom, that thou mightest be ready in such a time as this? 4:15. And again Esther sent to Mardochai in these words: 4:16. Go, and gather together all the Jews whom thou shalt find in Susan, and pray ye for me. Neither eat nor drink for three days and three nights: and I with my handmaids will fast in like manner, and then I will go in to the king, against the law, not being called, and expose myself to death and to danger. 4:17. So Mardochai went, and did all that Esther had commanded him. Esther Chapter 5 Esther is graciously received: she inviteth the king and Aman to dinner, Aman prepareth a gibbet for Mardochai. 5:1. And on the third day Esther put on her royal apparel, and stood in the inner court of the king's house, over against the king's hall: now he sat upon his throne in the hall of the palace, over against the door of the house. 5:2. And when he saw Esther the queen standing, she pleased his eyes, and he held out toward her the golden sceptre, which he held in his hand and she drew near, and kissed the top of his sceptre. 5:3. And the king said to her: What wilt thou, queen Esther? what is thy request? if thou shouldst even ask one half of the kingdom, it shall be given to thee. 5:4. But she answered: If it please the king, I beseech thee to come to me this day, and Aman with thee to the banquet which I have prepared. 5:5. And the king said forthwith: Call ye Aman quickly, that he may obey Esther's will. So the king and Aman came to the banquet which the queen had prepared for them. 5:6. And the king said to her, after he had drunk wine plentifully: What dost thou desire should be given thee? and for what thing askest thou? although thou shouldst ask the half of my kingdom, thou shalt have it. 5:7. And Esther answered: My petition and request is this: 5:8. If I have found favour in the king's sight, and if it please the king to give me what I ask, and to fulfil my petition: let the king and Aman come to the banquet which I have prepared them, and to morrow I will open my mind to the king. 5:9. So Aman went out that day joyful and merry. And when he saw Mardochai sitting before the gate of the palace, and that he not only did not rise up to honour him, but did not so much as move from the place where he sat, he was exceedingly angry: 5:10. But dissembling his anger, and returning into his house, he called together to him his friends, and Zares his wife: 5:11. And he declared to them the greatness of his riches, and the multitude of his children, and with how great glory the king had advanced him above all his princes and servants. 5:12. And after this he said: Queen Esther also hath invited no other to the banquet with the king, but me: and with her I am also to dine to morrow with the king: 5:13. And whereas I have all these things, I think I have nothing, so long as I see Mardochai the Jew sitting before the king's gate. 5:14. Then Zares his wife, and the rest of his friends answered him: Order a great beam to be prepared, fifty cubits high, and in the morning speak to the king, that Mardochai may be hanged upon it, and so thou shalt go full of joy with the king to the banquet. The counsel pleased him, and he commanded a high gibbet to be prepared. Esther Chapter 6 The king hearing of the good service done him by Mardochai, commandeth Aman to honour him next to the king, which he performeth. 6:1. That night the king passed without sleep, and he commanded the histories and chronicles of former times to be brought him. And when they were reading them before him, 6:2. They came to that place where it was written, how Mardochai had discovered the treason of Bagathan and Thares the eunuchs, who sought to kill king Assuerus. 6:3. And when the king heard this, he said: What honour and reward hath Mardochai received for this fidelity? His servants and ministers said to him: He hath received no reward at all. No reward at all... He received some presents from the king, chap. 12.5; but these were so inconsiderable in the opinion of the courtiers, that they esteemed them as nothing at all. 6:4. And the king said immediately: Who is in the court? for Aman was coming in to the inner court of the king's house, to speak to the king, that he might order Mardochai to be hanged upon the gibbet, which was prepared for him. 6:5. The servants answered: Aman standeth in the court, and the king said: Let him come in. 6:6. And when he was come in, he said to him: What ought to be done to the man whom the king is desirous to honour? But Aman thinking in his heart, and supposing that the king would honour no other but himself, 6:7. Answered: The man whom the king desireth to honour, 6:8. Ought to be clothed with the king's apparel, and to be set upon the horse that the king rideth upon, and to have the royal crown upon his head, 6:9. And let the first of the king's princes and nobles hold his horse, and going through the street of the city, proclaim before him and say: Thus shall he be honoured, whom the king hath a mind to honour. 6:10. And the king said to him: Make haste and take the robe and the horse, and do as thou hast spoken to Mardochai the Jew, who sitteth before the gates of the palace. Beware thou pass over any of those things which thou hast spoken. 6:11. So Aman took the robe and the horse, and arraying Mardochai in the street of the city, and setting him on the horse, went before him, and proclaimed: This honour is he worthy of, whom the king hath a mind to honour. 6:12. But Mardochai returned to the palace gate: and Aman made haste to go to his house, mourning and having his head covered: 6:13. And he told Zares his wife, and his friends, all that had befallen him. And the wise men whom he had in counsel, and his wife answered him: If Mardochai be of the seed of the Jews, before whom thou hast begun to fall, thou canst not resist him, but thou shalt fall in his sight. 6:14. As they were yet speaking, the king's eunuchs came, and compelled him to go quickly to the banquet which the queen had prepared. Esther Chapter 7 Esther's petition for herself and her people: Aman is hanged upon the gibbet he had prepared for Mardochai. 7:1. So the king and Aman went in, to drink with the queen. 7:2. And the king said to her again the second day, after he was warm with wine: What is thy petition, Esther, that it may be granted thee? and what wilt thou have done: although thou ask the half of my kingdom, thou shalt have it. 7:3. Then she answered: If I have found favour in thy sight, O king, and if it please thee, give me my life for which I ask, and my people for which I request. 7:4. For we are given up, I and my people, to be destroyed, to be slain, and to perish. And would God we were sold for bondmen and bondwomen: the evil might be borne with, and I would have mourned in silence: but now we have an enemy, whose cruelty redoundeth upon the king. 7:5. And king Assuerus answered and said: Who is this, and of what power, that he should do these things? 7:6. And Esther said: It is this Aman that is our adversary and most wicked enemy. Aman hearing this was forthwith astonished, not being able to bear the countenance of the king and of the queen. 7:7. But the king being angry rose up, and went from the place of the banquet into the garden set with trees. Aman also rose up to entreat Esther the queen for his life, for he understood that evil was prepared for him by the king. 7:8. And when the king came back out of the garden set with trees, and entered into the place of the banquet, he found Aman was fallen upon the bed on which Esther lay, and he said: He will force the queen also in my presence, in my own house. The word was not yet gone out of the king's mouth, and immediately they covered his face. 7:9. And Harbona, one of the eunuchs that stood waiting on the king, said: Behold the gibbet which he hath prepared for Mardochai, who spoke for the king, standeth in Aman's house, being fifty cubits high. And the king said to him: Hang him upon it. 7:10. So Aman was hanged on the gibbet, which he had prepared for Mardochai: and the king's wrath ceased. Esther Chapter 8 Mardochai is advanced: Aman's letters are reversed. 8:1. On that day king Assuerus gave the house of Aman, the Jews' enemy, to queen Esther, and Mardochai came in before the king. For Esther had confessed to him that he was her uncle. 8:2. And the king took the ring which he had commanded to be taken again from Aman, and gave it to Mardochai. And Esther set Mardochai over her house. 8:3. And not content with these things, she fell down at the king's feet and wept, and speaking to him besought him, that he would give orders that the malice of Aman the Agagite, and his most wicked devices which he had invented against the Jews, should be of no effect. 8:4. But he, as the manner was, held out the golden sceptre with his hand, which was the sign of clemency: and she arose up and stood before him, 8:5. And said: If it please the king, and if I have found favour in his sight, and my request be not disagreeable to him, I beseech thee, that the former letters of Aman the traitor and enemy of the Jews, by which he commanded that they should be destroyed in all the king's provinces, may be reversed by new letters. 8:6. For how can I endure the murdering and slaughter of my people? 8:7. And king Assuerus answered Esther the queen, and Mardochai the Jew: I have given Aman's house to Esther, and I have commanded him to be hanged on a gibbet, because he durst lay hands on the Jews. 8:8. Write ye therefore to the Jews, as it pleaseth you in the king's name, and seal the letters with my ring. For this was the custom, that no man durst gainsay the letters which were sent in the king's name, and were sealed with his ring. 8:9. Then the king's scribes and secretaries were called for (now it was the time of the third month which is called Siban) the three and twentieth day of the month, and letters were written, as Mardochai had a mind, to the Jews, and to the governors, and to the deputies, and to the judges, who were rulers over the hundred and twenty-seven provinces, from India even to Ethiopia: to province and province, to people and people, according to their languages and characters, and to the Jews, according as they could read and hear. 8:10. And these letters which were sent in the king's name, were sealed with his ring, and sent by posts: who were to run through all the provinces, to prevent the former letters with new messages. 8:11. And the king gave orders to them, to speak to the Jews in every city, and to command them to gather themselves together, and to stand for their lives, and to kill and destroy all their enemies with their wives and children and all their houses, and to take their spoil. 8:12. And one day of revenge was appointed through all the provinces, to wit, the thirteenth of the twelfth month Adar. 8:13. And this was the content of the letter, that it should be notified in all lands and peoples that were subject to the empire of king Assuerus, that the Jews were ready to be revenged of their enemies. 8:14. So the swift posts went out carrying the messages, and the king's edict was hung up in Susan. 8:15. And Mardochai going forth out of the palace, and from the king's presence, shone in royal apparel, to wit, of violet and sky colour, wearing a golden crown on his head, and clothed with a cloak of silk and purple. And all the city rejoiced, and was glad. 8:16. But to the Jews, a new light seemed to rise, joy, honour, and dancing. 8:17. And in all peoples, cities, and provinces, whithersoever the king's commandments came, there was wonderful rejoicing, feasts and banquets, and keeping holy day: Insomuch that many of other nations and religion, joined themselves to their worship and ceremonies. For a great dread of the name of the Jews had fallen upon all. Esther Chapter 9 The Jews kill their enemies that would have killed them. The days of Phurim are appointed to be kept holy. 9:1. So on the thirteenth day of the twelfth month, which as we have said above is called Adar, when all the Jews were designed to be massacred, and their enemies were greedy after their blood, the case being altered, the Jews began to have the upper hand, and to revenge themselves of their adversaries. To revenge, etc... The Jews on this occasion, by authority from the king, were made executioners of the public justice, for punishing by death a crime worthy of death, viz., a malicious conspiracy for extirpating their whole nation. 9:2. And they gathered themselves together in every city, and town, and place, to lay their hands on their enemies, and their persecutors. And no one durst withstand them, for the fear of their power had gone through every people. 9:3. And the judges of the provinces, and the governors, and lieutenants, and every one in dignity, that presided over every place and work, extolled the Jews for fear of Mardochai: 9:4. For they knew him to be prince of the palace, and to have great power: and the fame of his name increased daily, and was spread abroad through all men's mouths. 9:5. So the Jews made a great slaughter of their enemies, and killed them, repaying according to what they had prepared to do to them: 9:6. Insomuch that even in Susan they killed five hundred men, besides the ten sons of Aman the Agagite, the enemy of the Jews: whose names are these: 9:7. Pharsandatha, and Delphon, and Esphatha 9:8. And Phoratha, and Adalia, and Aridatha, 9:9. And Phermesta, and Arisai, and Aridai, and Jezatha. 9:10. And when they had slain them, they would not touch the spoils of their goods. 9:11. And presently the number of them that were killed in Susan was brought to the king. 9:12. And he said to the queen: The Jews have killed five hundred men in the city of Susan, besides the ten sons of Aman: how many dost thou think they have slain in all the provinces? What askest thou more, and what wilt thou have me to command to be done? 9:13. And she answered: If it please the king, let it be granted to the Jews, to do to morrow in Susan as they have done to day, and that the ten sons of Aman may be hanged upon gibbets. 9:14. And the king commanded that it should be so done. And forthwith the edict was hung up in Susan, and the ten sons of Aman were hanged. 9:15. And on the fourteenth day of the month Adar the Jews gathered themselves together, and they killed in Susan three hundred men: but they took not their substance. 9:16. Moreover through all the provinces which were subject to the king's dominion the Jews stood for their lives, and slew their enemies and persecutors: insomuch that the number of them that were killed amounted to seventy-five thousand, and no man took any of their goods. 9:17. Now the thirteenth day of the month Adar was the first day with them all of the slaughter, and on the fourteenth day they left off. Which they ordained to be kept holy day, so that all times hereafter they should celebrate it with feasting, joy, and banquets. 9:18. But they that were killing in the city of Susan, were employed in the slaughter on the thirteenth and fourteenth day of the same month: and on the fifteenth day they rested. And therefore they appointed that day to be a holy day of feasting and gladness. 9:19. But those Jews that dwelt in towns not walled and in villages, appointed the fourteenth day of the month Adar for banquets and gladness, so as to rejoice on that day, and send one another portions of their banquets and meats. 9:20. And Mardochai wrote all these things, and sent them comprised in letters to the Jews that abode in all the king's provinces, both those that lay near and those afar off, 9:21. That they should receive the fourteenth and fifteenth day of the month Adar for holy days, and always at the return of the year should celebrate them with solemn honour: 9:22. Because on those days the Jews revenged themselves of their enemies, and their mourning and sorrow were turned into mirth and joy, and that these should be days of feasting and gladness, in which they should send one to another portions of meats, and should give gifts to the poor. 9:23. And the Jews undertook to observe with solemnity all they had begun to do at that time, which Mardochai by letters had commanded to be done. 9:24. For Aman, the son of Amadathi of the race of Agag, the enemy and adversary of the Jews, had devised evil against them, to kill them and destroy them; and had cast Phur, that is, the lot. 9:25. And afterwards Esther went in to the king, beseeching him that his endeavours might be made void by the king's letters: and the evil that he had intended against the Jews, might return upon his own head. And so both he and his sons were hanged upon gibbets. 9:26. And since that time these days are called Phurim, that is, of lots: because Phur, that is, the lot, was cast into the urn. And all things that were done, are contained in the volume of this epistle, that is, of this book: 9:27. And the things that they suffered, and that were afterwards changed, the Jews took upon themselves and their seed, and upon all that had a mind to be joined to their religion, so that it should be lawful for none to pass these days without solemnity: which the writing testifieth, and certain times require, as the years continually succeed one another. 9:28. These are the days which shall never be forgot: and which all provinces in the whole world shall celebrate throughout all generations: neither is there any city wherein the days of Phurim, that is, of lots, must not be observed by the Jews, and by their posterity, which is bound to these ceremonies. 9:29. And Esther the queen, the daughter of Abihail, and Mardochai the Jew, wrote also a second epistle, that with all diligence this day should be established a festival for the time to come. 9:30. And they sent to all the Jews that were in the hundred and twenty- seven provinces of king Assuerus, that they should have peace, and receive truth, 9:31. And observe the days of lots, and celebrate them with joy in their proper time: as Mardochai and Esther had appointed, and they undertook them to be observed by themselves and by their seed, fasts, and cries, and the days of lots, 9:32. And all things which are contained in the history of this book, which is called Esther. Esther Chapter 10 Assuerus's greatness. Mardochai's dignity. 10:1. And king Assuerus made all the land, and all the islands of the sea tributary. 10:2. And his strength and his empire, and the dignity and greatness wherewith he exalted Mardochai, are written in the books of the Medes, and of the Persians: 10:3. And how Mardochai of the race of the Jews, was next after king Assuerus: and great among the Jews, and acceptable to the people of his brethren, seeking the good of his people, and speaking those things which were for the welfare of his seed. 10:4. Then Mardochai said: God hath done these things. Then Mardochai, etc... Here St. Jerome advertiseth the reader, that what follows is not in the Hebrew, but is found in the septuagint Greek edition, which the seventy-two interpreters translated out of the Hebrew, or added by the inspiration of the Holy Ghost. 10:5. I remember a dream that I saw, which signified these same things: and nothing thereof hath failed. A dream... This dream was prophetical and extraordinary: otherwise the general rule is not to observe dreams. 10:6. The little fountain which grew into a river, and was turned into a light, and into the sun, and abounded into many waters, is Esther, whom the king married, and made queen. 10:7. But the two dragons are I and Aman. 10:8. The nations that were assembled are they that endeavoured to destroy the name of the Jews. 10:9. And my nation is Israel, who cried to the Lord, and the Lord saved his people: and he delivered us from all evils, and hath wrought great signs and wonders among the nations: 10:10. And he commanded that there should be two lots, one of the people of God, and the other of all the nations. 10:11. And both lots came to the day appointed already from that time before God to all nations: 10:12. And the Lord remembered his people, and had mercy on his inheritance. 10:13. And these days shall be observed in the month of Adar on the fourteenth, and fifteenth day of the same month, with all diligence, and joy of the people gathered into one assembly, throughout all the generations hereafter of the people of Israel. Esther Chapter 11 The dream of Mardochai, which in the ancient Greek and Latin Bibles was into the beginning of the book, but was detached by St. Jerome, and put in this place. 11:1. In the fourth year of the reign of Ptolemy and Cleopatra, Dositheus, who said he was a priest, and of the Levitical race, and Ptolemy his son brought this epistle of Phurim, which they said Lysimachus the son of Ptolemy had interpreted in Jerusalem. 11:2. In the second year of the reign of Artaxerxes the great, in the first day of the month Nisan, Mardochai the son of Jair, the son of Semei, the son of Cis, of the tribe of Benjamin: 11:3. A Jew who dwelt in the city of Susan, a great man and among the first of the king's court, had a dream. 11:4. Now he was of the number of the captives, whom Nabuchodonosor king of Babylon had carried away from Jerusalem with Jechonias king of Juda: 11:5. And this was his dream: Behold there were voices, and tumults, and thunders, and earthquakes, and a disturbance upon the earth. 11:6. And behold two great dragons came forth ready to fight one against another. 11:7. And at their cry all nations were stirred up to fight against the nation of the just. 11:8. And that was a day of darkness and danger, of tribulation and distress, and great fear upon the earth. 11:9. And the nation of the just was troubled fearing their own evils, and was prepared for death. 11:10. And they cried to God: and as they were crying, a little fountain grew into a very great river, and abounded into many waters. 11:11. The light and the sun rose up, and the humble were exalted, and they devoured the glorious. 11:12. And when Mardochai had seen this, and arose out of his bed, he was thinking what God would do: and he kept it fixed in his mind, desirous to know what the dream should signify. Esther Chapter 12 Mardochai detects the conspiracy of the two eunuchs. 12:1. And he abode at that time in the king's court with Bagatha and Thara the king's eunuchs, who were porters of the palace. 12:2. And when he understood their designs, and had diligently searched into their projects, he learned that they went about to lay violent hands on king Artaxerxes, and he told the king thereof. 12:3. Then the king had them both examined, and after they had confessed, commanded them to be put to death. 12:4. But the king made a record of what was done: and Mardochai also committed the memory of the thing to writing. 12:5. And the king commanded him, to abide in the court of the palace, and gave him presents for the information. 12:6. But Aman the son of Amadathi the Bugite was in great honour with the king, and sought to hurt Mardochai and his people, because of the two eunuchs of the king who were put to death. Esther Chapter 13 A copy of a letter sent by Aman to destroy the Jews. Mardochai's prayer for the people. 13:1. And this was the copy of the letter: Artaxerxes the great king who reigneth from India to Ethiopia, to the princes and governors of the hundred and twenty-seven provinces, that are subject to his empire, greeting. 13:2. Whereas I reigned over many nations, and had brought all the world under my dominion, I was not willing to abuse the greatness of my power, but to govern my subjects with clemency and that they might live quietly without any terror, and might enjoy peace, which is desired by all men, 13:3. But when I asked my counsellors how this might be accomplished, one that excelled the rest in wisdom and fidelity, and was second after the king, Aman by name, 13:4. Told me that there was a people scattered through the whole world, which used new laws, and acted against the customs of all nations, despised the commandments of kings, and violated by their opposition the concord of all nations. 13:5. Wherefore having learned this, and seeing one nation in opposition to all mankind using perverse laws, and going against our commandments, and disturbing the peace and concord of the provinces subject to us, 13:6. We have commanded that all whom Aman shall mark out, who is chief over all the provinces, and second after the king, and whom we honour as a father, shall be utterly destroyed by their enemies, with their wives and children, and that none shall have pity on them, on the fourteenth day of the twelfth month Adar of this present year: 13:7. That these wicked men going down to hell in one day, may restore to our empire the peace which they had disturbed. 13:8. But Mardochai besought the Lord, remembering all his works, 13:9. And said: O Lord, Lord, almighty king, for all things are in thy power, and there is none that can resist thy will, if thou determine to save Israel. 13:10. Thou hast made heaven and earth and all things that are under the cope of heaven. 13:11. Thou art Lord of all, and there is none that can resist thy majesty. 13:12. Thou knowest all things, and thou knowest that it was not out of pride and or any desire of glory, that I refused to worship the proud Aman, 13:13. (For I would willingly and readily for the salvation of Israel have kissed even the steps of his feet,) 13:14. But I feared lest I should transfer the honour of my God to a man, and lest I should adore any one except my God. 13:15. And now, O Lord, O king, O God of Abraham, have mercy on thy people, because our enemies resolve to destroy us, and extinguish thy inheritance. 13:16. Despise not thy portion, which thou hast redeemed for thyself out of Egypt. 13:17. Hear my supplication, and be merciful to thy lot and inheritance, and turn our mourning into joy, that we may live and praise thy name, O Lord, and shut not the mouths of them that sing to thee. 13:18. And all Israel with like mind and supplication cried to the Lord, because they saw certain death hanging over their heads. Esther Chapter 14 The prayer of Esther for herself and her people. 14:1. Queen Esther also, fearing the danger that was at hand, had recourse to the Lord. 14:2. And when she had laid away her royal apparel, she put on garments suitable for weeping and mourning: instead of divers precious ointments, she covered her head with ashes and dung, and she humbled her body with fasts: and all the places in which before she was accustomed to rejoice, she filled with her torn hair. 14:3. And she prayed to the Lord the God of Israel, saying: O my Lord, who alone art our king, help me a desolate woman, and who have no other helper but thee. 14:4. My danger is in my hands. 14:5. I have heard of my father that thou, O Lord, didst take Israel from among all nations, and our fathers from all their predecessors, to possess them as an everlasting inheritance, and thou hast done to them as thou hast promised. 14:6. We have sinned in thy sight, and therefore thou hast delivered us into the hands of our enemies: 14:7. For we have worshipped their gods. Thou art just, O Lord. 14:8. And now they are not content to oppress us with most hard bondage, but attributing the strength of their hands to the power of their idols. 14:9. They design to change thy promises, and destroy thy inheritance, and shut the mouths of them that praise thee, and extinguish the glory of thy temple and altar, 14:10. That they may open the mouths of Gentiles, and praise the strength of idols, and magnify for ever a carnal king. 14:11. Give not, O Lord, thy sceptre to them that are not, lest they laugh at our ruin: but turn their counsel upon themselves, and destroy him that hath begun to rage against us. 14:12. Remember, O Lord, and shew thyself to us in the time of our tribulation, and give me boldness, O Lord, king of gods, and of all power: 14:13. Give me a well ordered speech in my mouth in the presence of the lion, and turn his heart to the hatred of our enemy, that both he himself may perish, and the rest that consent to him. 14:14. But deliver us by thy hand, and help me, who have no other helper, but thee, O Lord, who hast the knowledge of all things. 14:15. And thou knowest that I hate the glory of the wicked, and abhor the bed of the uncircumcised, and of every stranger. 14:16. Thou knowest my necessity, that I abominate the sign of my pride and glory, which is upon my head in the days of my public appearance, and detest it as a menstruous rag, and wear it not in the days of my silence, 14:17. And that I have not eaten at Aman's table, nor hath the king's banquet pleased me, and that I have not drunk the wine of the drink offerings: 14:18. And that thy handmaid hath never rejoiced, since I was brought hither unto this day but in thee, O Lord, the God of Abraham. 14:19. O God, who art mighty above all, hear the voice of them, that have no other hope, and deliver us from the hand of the wicked, and deliver me from my fear. Esther Chapter 15 Esther comes into the king's presence: she is terrified, but God turns his heart. 15:1. And he commanded her (no doubt but he was Mardochai) to go to the king, and petition for her people, and for her country. 15:2. Remember, (said he,) the days of thy low estate, how thou wast brought up by my hand, because Aman the second after the king hath spoken against us unto death. 15:3. And do thou call upon the Lord, and speak to the king for us, and deliver us from death. 15:4. And on the third day she laid away the garments she wore, and put on her glorious apparel. 15:5. And glittering in royal robes, after she had called upon God the ruler and Saviour of all, she took two maids with her, 15:6. And upon one of them she leaned, as if for delicateness and overmuch tenderness she were not able to bear up her own body. 15:7. And the other maid followed her lady, bearing up her train flowing on the ground. 15:8. But she with a rosy colour in her face, and with gracious and bright eyes hid a mind full of anguish, and exceeding great fear. 15:9. So going in she passed through all doors in order, and stood before the king, where he sat upon his royal throne, clothed with his royal robes, and glittering with gold, and precious stones, and he was terrible to behold. 15:10. And when he had lifted up his countenance, and with burning eyes had shewn the wrath of his heart, the queen sunk down, and her colour turned pale, and she rested her weary head upon her handmaid. 15:11. And God changed the king's spirit into mildness, and all in haste and in fear he leaped from his throne, and holding her up in his arms, till she came to herself, caressed her with these words: 15:12. What is the matter, Esther? I am thy brother, fear not. 15:13. Thou shalt not die: for this law is not made for thee, but for all others. 15:14. Come near then, and touch the sceptre. 15:15. And as she held her peace, he took the golden sceptre, and laid it upon her neck, and kissed her, and said: Why dost thou not speak to me? 15:16. She answered: I saw thee, my lord, as an angel of God, and my heart was troubled for fear of thy majesty. 15:17. For thou, my lord, art very admirable, and thy face is full of graces. 15:18. And while she was speaking, she fell down again, and was almost in a swoon. 15:19. But the king was troubled, and all his servants comforted her. Esther Chapter 16 A copy of the king's letter in favour of the Jews. 16:1. The great king Artaxerxes, from India to Ethiopia, to the governors and princes of a hundred and twenty-seven provinces, which obey our command, sendeth greeting. From India to Ethiopia... That is, who reigneth from India to Ethiopia. 16:2. Many have abused unto pride the goodness of princes, and the honour that hath been bestowed upon them: 16:3. And not only endeavour to oppress the king's subjects, but not bearing the glory that is given them, take in hand, to practise also against them that gave it. 16:4. Neither are they content not to return thanks for benefits received, and to violate in themselves the laws of humanity, but they think they can also escape the justice of God who seeth all things. 16:5. And they break out into so great madness, as to endeavour to undermine by lies such as observe diligently the offices committed to them, and do all things in such manner as to be worthy of all men's praise, 16:6. While with crafty fraud they deceive the ears of princes that are well meaning, and judge of others by their own nature. 16:7. Now this is proved both from ancient histories, and by the things which are done daily, how the good designs of kings are depraved by the evil suggestions of certain men. 16:8. Wherefore we must provide for the peace of all provinces. 16:9. Neither must you think, if we command different things, that it cometh of the levity of our mind, but that we give sentence according to the quality and necessity of times, as the profit of the commonwealth requireth. 16:10. Now that you may more plainly understand what we say, Aman the son of Amadathi, a Macedonian both in mind and country, and having nothing of the Persian blood, but with his cruelty staining our goodness, was received being a stranger by us: 16:11. And found our humanity so great towards him, that he was called our father, and was worshipped by all as the next man after the king: 16:12. But he was so far puffed up with arrogancy, as to go about to deprive us of our kingdom and life. 16:13. For with certain new and unheard of devices he hath sought the destruction of Mardochai, by whose fidelity and good services our life was saved, and of Esther the partner of our kingdom with all their nation: 16:14. Thinking that after they were slain, he might work treason against us left alone without friends, and might transfer the kingdom of the Persians to the Macedonians. 16:15. But we have found that the Jews, who were by that most wicked man appointed to be slain, are in no fault at all, but contrariwise, use just laws, 16:16. And are the children of the highest and the greatest, and the ever living God, by whose benefit the kingdom was given both to our fathers and to us, and is kept unto this day. 16:17. Wherefore know ye that those letters which he sent in our name, are void and of no effect. 16:18. For which crime both he himself that devised it, and all his kindred hang on gibbets, before the gates of this city Susan: not we, but God repaying him as he deserved. 16:19. But this edict, which we now send, shall be published in all cities, that the Jews may freely follow their own laws. 16:20. And you shall aid them that they may kill those who had prepared themselves to kill them, on the thirteenth day of the twelfth month, which is called Adar. 16:21. For the almighty God hath turned this day of sadness and mourning into joy to them. 16:22. Wherefore you shall also count this day among other festival days, and celebrate it with all joy, that it may be known also in times to come, 16:23. That all they who faithfully obey the Persians, receive a worthy reward for their fidelity: but they that are traitors to their kingdom, are destroyed for their wickedness. 16:24. And let every province and city, that will not be partaker of this solemnity, perish by the sword and by fire, and be destroyed in such manner as to be made unpassable, both to men and beasts, for an example of contempt, and disobedience. THE BOOK OF JOB This Book takes its name from the holy man of whom it treats: who, according to the more probable opinion, was of the race of Esau; and the same as Jobab, king of Edom, mentioned Gen. 36.33. It is uncertain who was the writer of it. Some attribute it to Job himself; others to Moses, or some one of the prophets. In the Hebrew it is written in verse, from the beginning of the third chapter to the forty-second chapter. Job Chapter 1 1:1. There was a man in the land of Hus, whose name was Job, and that man was simple and upright, and fearing God, and avoiding evil. Hus... The land of Hus was a part of Edom; as appears from Lam. 4.21. Ibid. Simple... That is, innocent, sincere, and without guile. 1:2. And there were born to him seven sons and three daughters. 1:3. And his possession was seven thousand sheep, and three thousand camels, and five hundred yoke of oxen, and five hundred she-asses, and a family exceedingly great: and this man was great among all the people of the east. 1:4. And his sons went, and made a feast by houses, every one in his day. And sending, they called their three sisters, to eat and drink with them. And made a feast by houses... That is, each made a feast in his own house and had his day, inviting the others, and their sisters. 1:5. And when the days of their feasting were gone about, Job sent to them, and sanctified them: and rising up early, offered holocausts for every one of them. For he said: Lest perhaps my sons have sinned, and have blessed God in their hearts. So did Job all days. Blessed... For greater horror of the very thought of blasphemy, the scripture both here and ver. 11, and in the following chapter, ver. 5 and 9, uses the word bless to signify its contrary. 1:6. Now on a certain day, when the sons of God came to stand before the Lord, Satan also was present among them. The sons of God... The angels.-Ibid. Satan also, etc.. This passage represents to us in a figure, accommodated to the ways and understandings of men, 1. The restless endeavours of Satan against the servants of God; 2. That he can do nothing without God's permission; 3. That God doth not permit him to tempt them above their strength: but assists them by his divine grace in such manner, that the vain efforts of the enemy only serve to illustrate their virtue and increase their merit. 1:7. And the Lord said to him: Whence comest thou? And he answered and said: I have gone round about the earth, and walked through it. 1:8. And the Lord said to him: Hast thou considered my servant, Job, that there is none like him in the earth, a simple and upright man, and fearing God, and avoiding evil? 1:9. And Satan answering, said: Doth Job fear God in vain? 1:10. Hast thou not made a fence for him, and his house, and all his substance round about, blessed the works of his hands, and his possession hath increased on the earth? 1:11. But stretch forth thy hand a little, and touch all that he hath, and see if he bless thee not to thy face. 1:12. Then the Lord said to Satan: Behold, all that he hath is in thy hand: only put not forth thy hand upon his person. And Satan went forth from the presence of the Lord. 1:13. Now upon a certain day, when his sons and daughters were eating and drinking wine, in the house of their eldest brother, 1:14. There came a messenger to Job, and said: The oxen were ploughing, and the asses feeding beside them, 1:15. And the Sabeans rushed in, and took all away, and slew the servants with the sword; and I alone have escaped to tell thee. 1:16. And while he was yet speaking, another came, and said: The fire of God fell from heaven, and striking the sheep and the servants, hath consumed them; and I alone have escaped to tell thee. 1:17. And while he also was yet speaking, there came another, and said: The Chaldeans made three troops, and have fallen upon the camels, and taken them; moreover, they have slain the servants with the sword: and I alone have escaped to tell thee. 1:18. He was yet speaking, and behold another came in, and said: Thy sons and daughters were eating and drinking wine in the house of their eldest brother, 1:19. A violent wind came on a sudden from the side of the desert, and shook the four corners of the house, and it fell upon thy children, and they are dead: and I alone have escaped to tell thee. 1:20. Then Job rose up, and rent his garments, and having shaven his head, fell down upon the ground, and worshipped, 1:21. And said: Naked came I out of my mother's womb, and naked shall I return thither: the Lord gave, and the Lord hath taken away: as it hath pleased the Lord, so is it done: blessed be the name of the Lord. 1:22. In all these things Job sinned not by his lips, nor spoke he any foolish thing against God. Job Chapter 2 2:1. And it came to pass, when on a certain day the sons of God came, and stood before the Lord, and Satan came amongst them, and stood in his sight, 2:2. That the Lord said to Satan: Whence comest thou? And he answered, and said: I have gone round about the earth, and walked through it. 2:3. And the Lord said to Satan: Hast thou considered my servant, Job, that there is none like him in the earth, a man simple and upright, and fearing God, and avoiding evil, and still keeping his innocence? But thou hast moved me against him, that I should afflict him without cause. 2:4. And Satan answered, and said: Skin for skin; and all that a man hath, he will give for his life: 2:5. But put forth thy hand, and touch his bone and his flesh, and then thou shalt see that he will bless thee to thy face. 2:6. And the Lord said to Satan: Behold, he is in thy hand, but yet save his life. 2:7. So Satan went forth from the presence of the Lord, and struck Job with a very grievous ulcer, from the sole of the foot even to the top of his head: 2:8. And he took a potsherd and scraped the corrupt matter, sitting on a dunghill. 2:9. And his wife said to him: Dost thou still continue in thy simplicity? bless God and die. 2:10. And he said to her: Thou hast spoken like one of the foolish women: If we have received good things at the hand of God, why should we not receive evil? In all these things Job did not sin with his lips. 2:11. Now when Job's three friends heard all the evil that had befallen him, they came every one from his own place, Eliphaz, the Themanite, and Baldad, the Suhite, and Sophar, the Naamathite. For they had made an appointment to come together and visit him, and comfort him. 2:12. And when they had lifted up their eyes afar off, they knew him not, and crying out, they wept, and rending their garments, they sprinkled dust upon their heads toward heaven. 2:13. And they sat with him on the ground seven day and seven nights and no man spoke to him a word: for they saw that his grief was very great. Job Chapter 3 3:1. After this, Job opened his mouth, and cursed his day, Cursed his day... Job cursed the day of his birth, not by way of wishing evil to any thing of God's creation; but only to express in a stronger manner his sense of human miseries in general, and of his own calamities in particular. 3:2. And he said: 3:3. Let the day perish wherein I was born, and the night in which it was said: A man child is conceived. 3:4. Let that day be turned into darkness, let not God regard it from above, and let not the light shine upon it. 3:5. Let darkness, and the shadow of death, cover it, let a mist overspread it, and let it be wrapped up in bitterness. 3:6. Let a darksome whirlwind seize upon that night, let it not be counted in the days of the year, nor numbered in the months. 3:7. Let that night be solitary, and not worthy of praise. 3:8. Let them curse it who curse the day, who are ready to raise up a leviathan: 3:9. Let the stars be darkened with the mist thereof: let it expect light, and not see it, nor the rising of the dawning of the day: 3:10. Because it shut not up the doors of the womb that bore me, nor took away evils from my eyes. 3:11. Why did I not die in the womb? why did I not perish when I came out of the belly? 3:12. Why received upon the knees? why suckled at the breasts? 3:13. For now I should have been asleep and still, and should have rest in my sleep: 3:14. With kings and consuls of the earth, who build themselves solitudes: 3:15. Or with princes, that possess gold, and fill their houses with silver: 3:16. Or as a hidden untimely birth, I should not be; or as they that, being conceived, have not seen the light. 3:17. There the wicked cease from tumult, and there the wearied in strength are at rest. 3:18. And they sometime bound together without disquiet, have not heard the voice of the oppressor. 3:19. The small and great are there, and the servant is free from his master. 3:20. Why is light given to him that is in misery, and life to them that are in bitterness of soul? 3:21. That look for death, and it cometh not, as they that dig for a treasure: 3:22. And they rejoice exceedingly when they have found the grave? 3:23. To a man whose way is hidden, and God hath surrounded him with darkness? 3:24. Before I eat I sigh: and as overflowing waters, so is my roaring: 3:25. For the fear which I feared, hath come upon me: and that which I was afraid of, hath befallen me. 3:26. Have I not dissembled? have I not kept silence? have I not been quiet? and indignation is come upon me. Job Chapter 4 4:1. Then Eliphaz, the Themanite, answered, and said: 4:2. If we begin to speak to thee, perhaps thou wilt take it ill; but who can withhold the words he hath conceived? 4:3. Behold thou hast taught many, and thou hast strengthened the weary hands: 4:4. Thy words have confirmed them that were staggering, and thou hast strengthened the trembling knees: 4:5. But now the scourge is come upon thee, and thou faintest: It hath touched thee, and thou art troubled. 4:6. Where is thy fear, thy fortitude, thy patience, and the perfection of thy ways? 4:7. Remember, I pray thee, who ever perished being innocent? or when were the just destroyed? 4:8. On the contrary, I have seen those who work iniquity, and sow sorrows, and reap them, 4:9. Perishing by the blast of God, and consumed by the spirit of his wrath. 4:10. The roaring of the lion, and the voice of the lioness, and the teeth of the whelps of lions, are broken: 4:11. The tiger hath perished for want of prey, and the young lions are scattered abroad. 4:12. Now there was a word spoken to me in private, and my ears by stealth, as it were, received the veins of its whisper. 4:13. In the horror of a vision by night, when deep sleep is wont to hold men, 4:14. Fear seized upon me, and trembling, and all my bones were affrighted: 4:15. And when a spirit passed before me, the hair of my flesh stood up. 4:16. There stood one whose countenance I knew not, an image before my eyes, and I heard the voice, as it were, of a gentle wind. 4:17. Shall man be justified in comparison of God, or shall a man be more pure than his maker? Shall man be justified in comparison of God, etc... These are the words which Eliphaz had heard from an angel, which, ver. 15, he calls a spirit. 4:18. Behold, they that serve him are not steadfast, and in his angels he found wickedness: 4:19. How much more shall they that dwell in houses of clay, who have an earthly foundation, be consumed as with the moth? 4:20. From morning till evening they shall be cut down: and because no one understandeth, they shall perish for ever. 4:21. And they that shall be left, shall be taken away from them: they shall die, and not in wisdom. Job Chapter 5 5:1. Call now, if there be any that will answer thee, and turn to some of the saints. 5:2. Anger indeed killeth the foolish, and envy slayeth the little one. 5:3. I have seen a fool with a strong root, and I cursed his beauty immediately. 5:4. His children shall be far from safety, and shall be destroyed in the gate, and there shall be none to deliver them. 5:5. Whose harvest the hungry shall eat, and the armed man shall take him by violence, and the thirsty shall drink up his riches. 5:6. Nothing upon earth is done without a cause, and sorrow doth not spring out of the ground. 5:7. Man is born to labour, and the bird to fly. 5:8. Wherefore I will pray to the Lord, and address my speech to God: 5:9. Who doth great things, and unsearchable and wonderful things without number: 5:10. Who giveth rain upon the face of the earth, and watereth all things with waters: 5:11. Who setteth up the humble on high, and comforteth with health those that mourn. 5:12. Who bringeth to nought the designs of the malignant, so that their hands cannot accomplish what they had begun: 5:13. Who catcheth the wise in their craftiness, and disappointeth the counsel of the wicked: 5:14. They shall meet with darkness in the day, and grope at noonday as in the night. 5:15. But he shall save the needy from the sword of their mouth, and the poor from the hand of the violent. 5:16. And to the needy there shall be hope, but iniquity shall draw in her mouth. 5:17. Blessed is the man whom God correcteth: refuse not, therefore, the chastising of the Lord. 5:18. For he woundeth, and cureth: he striketh, and his hands shall heal. 5:19. In six troubles he shall deliver thee, and in the seventh, evil shall not touch thee. 5:20. In famine he shall deliver thee from death; and in battle, from the hand of the sword. 5:21. Thou shalt be hidden from the scourge of the tongue: and thou shalt not fear calamity when it cometh. 5:22. In destruction and famine thou shalt laugh: and thou shalt not be afraid of the beasts of the earth. 5:23. But thou shalt have a covenant with the stones of the lands, and the beasts of the earth shall be at peace with thee. 5:24. And thou shalt know that thy tabernacle is in peace, and visiting thy beauty, thou shalt not sin. 5:25. Thou shalt know also that thy seed shall be multiplied, and thy offspring like the grass of the earth. 5:26. Thou shalt enter into the grave in abundance, as a heap of wheat is brought in its season. 5:27. Behold, this is even so, as we have searched out: which thou having heard, consider it thoroughly in thy mind. Job Chapter 6 6:1. But Job answered, and said: 6:2. O that my sins, whereby I have deserved wrath, and the calamity that I suffer, were weighed in a balance. My sins, etc... He does not mean to compare his sufferings with his real sins: but with the imaginary crimes which his friends imputed to him: and especially with his wrath, or grief, expressed in the third chapter, which they so much accused. Though, as he tells them here, it bore no proportion with the greatness of his calamity. 6:3. As the sand of the sea, this would appear heavier: therefore, my words are full of sorrow: 6:4. For the arrows of the Lord are in me, the rage whereof drinketh up my spirit, and the terrors of the Lord war against me. 6:5. Will the wild ass bray when he hath grass? or will the ox low when he standeth before a full manger? 6:6. Or can an unsavoury thing be eaten, that is not seasoned with salt? or can a man taste that which, when tasted, bringeth death? 6:7. The things which before my soul would not touch, now, through anguish, are my meats. 6:8. Who will grant that my request may come: and that God may give me what I look for? 6:9. And that he that hath begun may destroy me, that he may let loose his hand, and cut me off? 6:10. And that this may be my comfort, that afflicting me with sorrow, he spare not, nor I contradict the words of the Holy one. 6:11. For what is my strength, that I can hold out? or what is my end, that I should keep patience? 6:12. My strength is not the strength of stones, nor is my flesh of brass. 6:13. Behold there is no help for me in myself, and my familiar friends also are departed from me. 6:14. He that taketh away mercy from his friend, forsaketh the fear of the Lord. 6:15. My brethren have passed by me, as the torrent that passeth swiftly in the valleys. 6:16. They that fear the hoary frost, the snow shall fall upon them. 6:17. At the time when they shall be scattered they shall perish: and after it groweth hot, they shall be melted out of their place. 6:18. The paths of their steps are entangled: they shall walk in vain, and shall perish. 6:19. Consider the paths of Thema, the ways of Saba, and wait a little while. 6:20. They arc confounded, because I have hoped: they are come also even unto me, and are covered with shame. 6:21. Now you are come: and now, seeing my affliction, you are afraid. 6:22. Did I say: Bring to me, and give me of your substance? 6:23. Or deliver me from the hand of the enemy, and rescue me out of the hand of the mighty? 6:24. Teach me, and I will hold my peace: and if I have been ignorant of any thing, instruct me. 6:25. Why have you detracted the words of truth, whereas there is none of you that can reprove me? 6:26. You dress up speeches only to rebuke, and you utter words to the wind. 6:27. You rush in upon the fatherless, and you endeavour to overthrow your friend. 6:28. However, finish what you have begun: give ear and see whether I lie. 6:29. Answer, I beseech you, without contention: and speaking that which is just, judge ye. 6:30. And you shall not find iniquity in my tongue, neither shall folly sound in my mouth. Job Chapter 7 7:1. The life of man upon earth is a warfare, and his days are like the days of a hireling. 7:2. As a servant longeth for the shade, as the hireling looketh for the end of his work; 7:3. So I also have had empty months, and have numbered to myself wearisome nights. 7:4. If I lie down to sleep, I shall say: When shall I rise? and again, I shall look for the evening, and shall be filled with sorrows even till darkness. 7:5. My flesh is clothed with rottenness and the filth of dust; my skin is withered and drawn together. 7:6. My days have passed more swiftly than the web is cut by the weaver, and are consumed without any hope. 7:7. Remember that my life is but wind, and my eye shall not return to see good things. 7:8. Nor shall the sight of man behold me: thy eyes are upon me, and I shall be no more. 7:9. As a cloud is consumed, and passeth away: so he that shall go down to hell shall not come up. 7:10. Nor shall he return any more into his house, neither shall his place know him any more. 7:11. Wherefore, I will not spare my month, I will speak in the affliction of my spirit: I will talk with the bitterness of my soul. 7:12. Am I a sea, or a whale, that thou hast inclosed me in a prison? 7:13. If I say: My bed shall comfort me, and I shall be relieved, speaking with myself on my couch: 7:14. Thou wilt frighten me with dreams, and terrify me with visions. 7:15. So that my soul rather chooseth hanging, and my bones death. 7:16. I have done with hope, I shall now live no longer: spare me, for my days are nothing. 7:17. What is a man, that thou shouldst magnify him or why dost thou set thy heart upon him? 7:18. Thou visitest him early in the morning, and thou provest him suddenly. 7:19. How long wilt thou not spare me, nor suffer me to swallow down my spittle? 7:20. I have sinned: what shall I do to thee, O keeper of men? why hast thou set me opposite to thee, and am I become burdensome to myself? 7:21. Why dost thou not remove my sin, and why dost thou not take away my iniquity? Behold now I shall sleep in the dust: and if thou seek me in the morning, I shall not be. Job Chapter 8 8:1. Then Baldad, the Suhite, answered, and said: 8:2. How long wilt thou speak these things, and how long shall the words of thy mouth be like a strong wind? 8:3. Doth God pervert judgment, or doth the Almighty overthrow that which is just? 8:4. Although thy children have sinned against him, and he hath left them in the hand of their iniquity: 8:5. Yet if thou wilt arise early to God, and wilt beseech the Almighty: 8:6. If thou wilt walk clean and upright, he will presently awake unto thee, and will make the dwelling of thy justice peaceable: 8:7. In so much, that if thy former things were small thy latter things would be multiplied exceedingly. 8:8. For inquire of the former generation, and search diligently into the memory of the fathers: 8:9. (For we are but of yesterday, and are ignorant that our days upon earth are but a shadow.) 8:10. And they shall teach thee: they shall speak to thee, and utter words out of their hearts. 8:11. Can the rush be green without moisture? or sedge bush grow without water? 8:12. When it is yet in flower, and is not plucked u with the hand, it withereth before all herbs. 8:13. Even so are the ways of all that forget God, an the hope of the hypocrite shall perish: 8:14. His folly shall not please him, and his trust shall be like the spider's web. 8:15. He shall lean upon his house, and it shall no stand: he shall prop it up, and it shall not rise: 8:16. He seemeth to have moisture before the sun cometh; and at his rising, his blossom shall shoot forth. 8:17. His roots shall be thick upon a heap of stones; and among the stones he shall abide. 8:18. If one swallow him up out of his place, he shall deny him, and shall say: I know thee not. 8:19. For this is the joy of his way, that others may spring again out of the earth. 8:20. God will not cast away the simple, nor reach out his hand to the evil doer: 8:21. Until thy mouth be filled with laughter, and thy lips with rejoicing. 8:22. They that hate thee, shall be clothed with confusion: and the dwelling of the wicked shall not stand. Job Chapter 9 9:1. And Job answered, and said: 9:2. Indeed I know it is so, and that man cannot be justified, compared with God. 9:3. If he will contend with him, he cannot answer him one for a thousand. 9:4. He is wise in heart, and mighty in strength: who hath resisted him, and hath had peace? 9:5. Who hath removed mountains, and they whom he overthrew in his wrath, knew it not. 9:6. Who shaketh the earth out of her place, and the pillars thereof tremble. 9:7. Who commandeth the sun, and it riseth not: and shutteth up the stars, as it were, under a seal: 9:8. Who alone spreadeth out the heavens, and walketh upon the waves of the sea, 9:9. Who maketh Arcturus, and Orion, and Hyades, and the inner parts of the south. Arcturus, etc... These are names of stars or constellations. In Hebrew, Ash, Cesil, and Cimah. See note chap. 38, ver. 31. 9:10. Who doth things great and incomprehensible, and wonderful, of which there is no number. 9:11. If he come to me, I shall not see him: if he depart, I shall not understand. 9:12. If he examine on a sudden, who shall answer him? or who can say: Why dost thou so? 9:13. God, whose wrath no man can resist, and under whom they stoop that bear up the world. 9:14. What am I then, that I should answer him, and have words with him? 9:15. I, who although I should have any just thing, would not answer, but would make supplication to my judge. 9:16. And if he should hear me when I call, I should not believe that he had heard my voice. 9:17. For he shall crush me in a whirlwind, and multiply my wounds even without cause. Without cause... That is, without my knowing the cause: or without any crime of mine. 9:18. He alloweth not my spirit to rest, and he filleth me with bitterness. 9:19. If strength be demanded, he is most strong: if equity of judgment, no man dare bear witness for me. 9:20. If I would justify myself, my own mouth shall condemn me: if I would shew myself innocent, he shall prove me wicked. 9:21. Although I should be simple, even this my soul shall be ignorant of, and I shall be weary of my life. 9:22. One thing there is that I have spoken, both the innocent and the wicked he consumeth. 9:23. If he scourge, let him kill at once, and not laugh at the pains of the innocent. 9:24. The earth is given into the hand of the wicked, he covereth the face of the judges thereof: and if it be not he, who is it then? 9:25. My days have been swifter than a post: they have fled away and have not seen good. 9:26. They have passed by as ships carrying fruits, as an eagle flying to the prey. 9:27. If I say: I will not speak so: I change my face, and am tormented with sorrow. 9:28. I feared all my works, knowing that thou didst not spare the offender. 9:29. But if so also I am wicked, why have I laboured in vain? 9:30. If I be washed, as it were, with snow waters, and my hands shall shine ever so clean: 9:31. Yet thou shalt plunge me in filth, and my garments shall abhor me. 9:32. For I shall not answer a man that is like myself: nor one that may be heard with me equally in judgment. 9:33. There is none that may be able to reprove both, and to put his hand between both. 9:34. Let him take his rod away from me, and let not his fear terrify me. 9:35. I will speak, and will not fear him: for I cannot answer while I am in fear. Job Chapter 10 10:1. My soul is weary of my life, I will let go my speech against myself, I will speak in the bitterness of my soul. 10:2. I will say to God: Do not condemn me: tell me why thou judgest me so? 10:3. Doth it seem good to thee that thou shouldst calumniate me, and oppress me, the work of thy own hands, and help the counsel of the wicked? 10:4. Hast thou eyes of flesh: or, shalt thou see as man seeth? 10:5. Are thy days as the days of man, and are thy years as the times of men: 10:6. That thou shouldst inquire after my iniquity, and search after my sin? 10:7. And shouldst know that I have done no wicked thing, whereas there is no man that can deliver out of thy hand? 10:8. Thy hands have made me, and fashioned me wholly round about, and dost thou thus cast me down headlong on a sudden? 10:9. Remember, I beseech thee, that thou hast made me as the clay, and thou wilt bring me into dust. 10:10. Hast thou not milked me as milk, and curdled me like cheese? 10:11. Thou hast clothed me with skin and flesh: thou hast put me together with bones and sinews: 10:12. Thou hast granted me life and mercy, and thy visitation hath preserved my spirit. 10:13. Although thou conceal these things in thy heart, yet I know that thou rememberest all things. 10:14. If I have sinned, and thou hast spared me for an hour: why dost thou not suffer me to be clean from my iniquity? 10:15. And if I be wicked, woe unto me: and if just, I shall not lift up my head, being filled with affliction and misery. 10:16. And for pride thou wilt take me as a lioness, and returning, thou tormentest me wonderfully. 10:17. Thou renewest thy witnesses against me, and multipliest thy wrath upon me, and pains war against me. 10:18. Why didst thou bring me forth out of the womb? O that I had been consumed, that eye might not see me! 10:19. I should have been as if I had not been, carried from the womb to the grave. 10:20. Shall not the fewness of my days be ended shortly? Suffer me, therefore, that I may lament my sorrow a little: 10:21. Before I go and return no more, to a land that is dark and covered with the mist of death: 10:22. A land of misery and darkness, where the shadow of death, and no order, but everlasting horror dwelleth. Job Chapter 11 Sophar reproves Job, for justifying himself, and invites him to repentance. 11:1. Then Sophar the Naamathite answered, and said: 11:2. Shall not he that speaketh much, hear also? or shall a man full of talk be justified? 11:3. Shall men hold their peace to thee only? and when thou hast mocked others, shall no man confute thee? 11:4. For thou hast said: My word is pure, and I am clean in thy sight. 11:5. And I wish that God would speak with thee, and would open his lips to thee, 11:6. That he might shew thee the secrets of wisdom, and that his law is manifold, and thou mightest understand that he exacteth much less of thee, than thy iniquity deserveth. 11:7. Peradventure thou wilt comprehend the steps of God, and wilt find out the Almighty perfectly? 11:8. He is higher than heaven, and what wilt thou do? he is deeper than hell, and how wilt thou know? 11:9. The measure of him is longer than the earth, and broader than the sea. 11:10. If he shall overturn all things, or shall press them together, who shall contradict him? 11:11. For he knoweth the vanity of men, and when he seeth iniquity, doth he not consider it? 11:12. A vain man is lifted up into pride, and thinketh himself born free like a wild ass's colt. 11:13. But thou hast hardened thy heart, and hast spread thy hands to him. 11:14. If thou wilt put away from thee the iniquity that is in thy hand, and let not injustice remain in thy tabernacle: 11:15. Then mayst thou lift up thy face without spot, and thou shalt be steadfast, and shalt not fear. 11:16. Thou shalt also forget misery, and remember it only as waters that are passed away. 11:17. And brightness like that of the noonday, shall arise to thee at evening: and when thou shalt think thyself consumed, thou shalt rise as the day star. 11:18. And thou shalt have confidence, hope being set before thee, and being buried thou shalt sleep secure. 11:19. Thou shalt rest, and there shall be none to make thee afraid: and many shall entreat thy face. 11:20. But the eyes of the wicked shall decay, and the way to escape shall fail them, and their hope the abomination of the soul. Job Chapter 12 Job's reply to Sophar. He extols God's power and wisdom. 12:1. Then Job answered, and said: 12:2. Are you then men alone, and shall wisdom die with you? 12:3. I also have a heart as well as you: for who is ignorant of these things, which you know? 12:4. He that is mocked by his friends as I, shall call upon God and he will hear him: for the simplicity of the just man is laughed to scorn. 12:5. The lamp despised in the thoughts of the rich, is ready for the time appointed. 12:6. The tabernacles of robbers abound, and they provoke God boldly; whereas it is he that hath given all into their hands: 12:7. But ask now the beasts, and they shall teach thee: and the birds of the air, and they shall tell thee. 12:8. Speak to the earth, and it shall answer thee: and the fishes of the sea shall tell. 12:9. Who is ignorant that the hand of the Lord hath made all these things? 12:10. In whose hand is the soul of every living thing, and the spirit of all flesh of man. 12:11. Doth not the ear discern words, and the palate of him that eateth, the taste? 12:12. In the ancient is wisdom, and in length of days prudence. 12:13. With him is wisdom and strength, he hath counsel and understanding. 12:14. If he pull down, there is no man that can build up: if he shut up a man, there is none that can open. 12:15. If he withhold the waters, all things shall be dried up: and if he send them out, they shall overturn the earth. 12:16. With him is strength and wisdom: he knoweth both the deceivers, and him that is deceived. 12:17. He bringeth counsellors to a foolish end, and judges to insensibility. 12:18. He looseth the belt of kings, and girdeth their loins with a cord. 12:19. He leadeth away priests without glory, and overthroweth nobles. 12:20. He changeth the speech of the true speakers, and taketh away the doctrine of the aged. 12:21. He poureth contempt upon princes, and relieveth them that were oppressed. 12:22. He discovereth deep things out of darkness, and bringeth up to light the shadow of death. 12:23. He multiplieth nations, and destroyeth them, and restoreth them again after they were overthrown. 12:24. He changeth the heart of the princes of the people of the earth, and deceiveth them that they walk in vain where there is no way. 12:25. They shall grope as in the dark, and not in the light, and he shall make them stagger like men that are drunk. Job Chapter 13 Job persists in maintaining his innocence: and reproves his friends. 13:1. Behold my eye hath seen all these things, and my ear hath heard them, and I have understood them all. 13:2. According to your knowledge I also know: neither am I inferior to you. 13:3. But yet I will speak to the Almighty, and I desire to reason with God. 13:4. Having first shewn that you are forgers of lies, and maintainers of perverse opinions. 13:5. And I wish you would hold your peace, that you might be thought to be wise men. 13:6. Hear ye therefore my reproof, and attend to the judgment of my lips. 13:7. Hath God any need of your lie, that you should speak deceitfully for him? 13:8. Do you accept this person, and do you endeavour to judge for God? 13:9. Or shall it please him, from whom nothing can be concealed? or shall he be deceived as a man, with your deceitful dealings? 13:10. He shall reprove you, because in secret you accept his person. 13:11. As soon as he shall move himself, he shall trouble you: and his dread shall fall upon you. 13:12. Your remembrance shall be compared to ashes, and your necks shall be brought to clay. 13:13. Hold your peace a little while, that I may speak whatsoever my mind shall suggest to me. 13:14. Why do I tear my flesh with my teeth, and carry my soul in my hands? 13:15. Although he should kill me, I will trust in him: but yet I will reprove my ways in his sight. 13:16. And he shall be my saviour: for no hypocrite shall come before his presence. 13:17. Hear ye my speech, and receive with your ears hidden truths. 13:18. If I shall be judged, I know that I shall be found just. 13:19. Who is he that will plead against me? let him come: why am I consumed holding my peace? 13:20. Two things only do not to me, and then from thy face I shall not be hid: 13:21. Withdraw thy hand far from me, and let not thy dread terrify me. 13:22. Call me, and I will answer thee: or else I will speak, and do thou answer me. 13:23. How many are my iniquities and sins? make me know my crimes and offenses. 13:24. Why hidest thou thy face, and thinkest me thy enemy? 13:25. Against a leaf, that is carried away with the wind, thou shewest thy power, and thou pursuest a dry straw. 13:26. For thou writest bitter things against me, and wilt consume me for the sins of my youth. 13:27. Thou hast put my feet in the stocks, and hast observed all my paths, and hast considered the steps of my feet: 13:28. Who am to be consumed as rottenness, and as a garment that is motheaten. Job Chapter 14 Job declares the shortness of man's days: and professes his belief of a resurrection. 14:1. Man born of a woman, living for a short time, is filled with many miseries. 14:2. Who cometh forth like a flower, and is destroyed, and fleeth as a shadow, and never continueth in the same state. 14:3. And dost thou think it meet to open thy eyes upon such an one, and to bring him into judgment with thee? 14:4. Who can make him clean that is conceived of unclean seed? is it not thou who only art? 14:5. The days of man are short, and the number of his months is with thee: thou hast appointed his bounds which cannot be passed. 14:6. Depart a little from him, that he may rest until his wished for day come, as that of the hireling. 14:7. A tree hath hope: if it be cut, it growth green again, and the boughs thereof sprout. 14:8. If its roots be old in the earth, and its stock be dead in the dust: 14:9. At the scent of water, it shall spring, and bring forth leaves, as when it was first planted. 14:10. But man when he shall be dead, and stripped and consumed, I pray you where is he? 14:11. As if the waters should depart out of the sea, and an emptied river should be dried up; 14:12. So man when he is fallen asleep shall not rise again; till the heavens be broken, he shall not awake, nor rise up out of his sleep. 14:13. Who will grant me this, that thou mayst protect me in hell, and hide me till thy wrath pass, and appoint me a time when thou wilt remember me? That thou mayst protect me in hell... That is, in the state of the dead; and in the place where the souls are kept waiting for their Redeemer. 14:14. Shall man that is dead, thinkest thou, live again? all the days in which I am now in warfare, I expect until my change come. 14:15. Thou shalt call me, and I will answer thee: to the work of thy hands thou shalt reach out thy right hand. 14:16. Thou indeed hast numbered my steps, but spare my sins. 14:17. Thou hast sealed up my offences as it were in a bag, but hast cured my iniquity. 14:18. A mountain falling cometh to nought, and a rock is removed out of its place. 14:19. Waters wear away the stones, and with inundation the ground by little and little is washed away: so in like manner thou shalt destroy man. 14:20. Thou hast strengthened him for a little while, that he may pass away for ever: thou shalt change his face, and shalt send him away. 14:21. Whether his children come to honour or dishonour, he shall not understand. 14:22. But yet his flesh, while he shall live, shall have pain, and his soul shall mourn over him. Job Chapter 15 Eliphaz returns to the charge against Job, and describes the wretched state of the wicked. 15:1. And Eliphaz the Themanite, answered, and said: 15:2. Will a wise man answer as if he were speaking in the wind, and fill his stomach with burning heat? 15:3. Thou reprovest him by words, who is not equal to thee, and thou speakest that which is not good for thee. 15:4. As much as is in thee, thou hast made void fear, and hast taken away prayers from before God. Thou hast made void fear... That is, cast off the fear of offending God. 15:5. For thy iniquity hath taught thy mouth, and thou imitatest the tongue of blasphemers. 15:6. Thy own mouth shall condemn thee, and not I: and thy own lips shall answer thee. 15:7. Art thou the first man that was born, or wast thou made before the hills? 15:8. Hast thou heard God's counsel, and shall his wisdom be inferior to thee? 15:9. What knowest thou that we are ignorant of? what dost thou understand that we know not? 15:10. There are with us also aged and ancient men, much elder than thy fathers. 15:11. Is it a great matter that God should comfort thee? but thy wicked words hinder this. 15:12. Why doth thy heart elevate thee, and why dost thou stare with thy eyes, as if they were thinking great things? 15:13. Why doth thy spirit swell against God, to utter such words out of thy mouth? 15:14. What is man that he should be without spot, and he that is born of a woman that he should appear just? 15:15. Behold among his saints none is unchangeable, and the heavens are not pure in his sight. 15:16. How much more is man abominable, and unprofitable, who drinketh iniquity like water? 15:17. I will shew thee, hear me: and I will tell thee what I have seen. 15:18. Wise men confess and hide not their fathers. Wise men confess and hide not their fathers... That is, the knowledge and documents they have received from their fathers they are not ashamed to own. 15:19. To whom alone the earth was given, and no stranger hath passed among them. 15:20. The wicked man is proud all his days, and the number of the years of his tyranny is uncertain. 15:21. The sound of dread is always in his ears: and when there is peace, he always suspecteth treason. 15:22. He believeth not that he may return from darkness to light, looking round about for the sword on every side. 15:23. When he moveth himself to seek bread, he knoweth that the day of darkness is ready at his hand. 15:24. Tribulation shall terrify him, and distress shall surround him, as a king that is prepared for the battle. 15:25. For he hath stretched out his hand against God, and hath strengthened himself against the Almighty. 15:26. He hath run against him with his neck raised up, and is armed with a fat neck. 15:27. Fatness hath covered his face, and the fat hangeth down on his sides. 15:28. He hath dwelt in desolate cities, and in desert houses that are reduced into heaps. 15:29. He shall not be enriched, neither shall his substance continue, neither shall he push his root in the earth. 15:30. He shall not depart out of darkness: the flame shall dry up his branches, and he shall be taken away by the breath of his own mouth. 15:31. He shall not believe, being vainly deceived by error, that he may be redeemed with any price. 15:32. Before his days be full he shall perish: and his hands shall wither away. 15:33. He shall be blasted as a vine when its grapes are in the first flower, and as an olive tree that casteth its flower. 15:34. For the congregation of the hypocrite is barren, and fire shall devour their tabernacles, who love to take bribes. 15:35. He hath conceived sorrow, and hath brought forth iniquity, and his womb prepareth deceits. Job Chapter 16 Job expostulates with his friends: and appeals to the judgment of God. 16:1. Then Job answered, and said: 16:2. I have often heard such things as these: you are all troublesome comforters. 16:3. Shall windy words have no end? or is it any trouble to thee to speak? 16:4. I also could speak like you: and would God your soul were for my soul. 16:5. I would comfort you also with words, and would wag my head over you. 16:6. I would strengthen you with my mouth, and would move my lips, as sparing you. 16:7. But what shall I do? If I speak, my pain will not rest: and if I hold my peace, it will not depart from me. 16:8. But now my sorrow hath oppressed me, and all my limbs are brought to nothing. 16:9. My wrinkles bear witness against me, and a false speaker riseth up against my face, contradicting me. 16:10. He hath gathered together his fury against me, and threatening me he hath gnashed with his teeth upon me: my enemy hath beheld me with terrible eyes. 16:11. They have opened their mouths upon me, and reproaching me they have struck me on the cheek, they are filled with my pains. 16:12. God hath shut me up with the unjust man, and hath delivered me into the hands of the wicked. 16:13. I that was formerly so wealthy, am all on a sudden broken to pieces: he hath taken me by my neck, he hath broken me, and hath set me up to be his mark. 16:14. He hath compassed me round about with his lances, he hath wounded my loins, he hath not spared, and hath poured out my bowels on the earth, 16:15. He hath torn me with wound upon wound, he hath rushed in upon me like a giant. 16:16. I have sowed sackcloth upon my skin, and have covered my flesh with ashes. 16:17. My face is swollen with weeping, and my eyelids are dim. 16:18. These things have I suffered without the iniquity of my hand, when I offered pure prayers to God. 16:19. O earth, cover not thou my blood, neither let my cry find a hiding place in thee. 16:20. For behold my witness is in heaven, and he that knoweth my conscience is on high. 16:21. My friends are full of words: my eye poureth out tears to God. 16:22. And O that a man might so be judged with God, as the son of man is judged with his companion! 16:23. For behold short years pass away, and I am walking in a path by which I shall not return. Job Chapter 17 Job's hope in God: he expects rest in death. 17:1. My spirit shall be wasted, my days shall be shortened and only the grave remaineth for me. 17:2. I have not sinned, and my eye abideth in bitterness. Not sinned... That is, I am not guilty of such sins as they charge me with. 17:3. Deliver me, O Lord, and set me beside thee, and let any man's hand fight against me. 17:4. Thou hast set their heart far from understanding, therefore they shall not be exalted. 17:5. He promiseth a prey to his companions, and the eyes of his children shall fail. 17:6. He hath made me as it were a byword of the people, and I am an example before them. 17:7. My eye is dim through indignation, and my limbs are brought as it were to nothing. 17:8. The just shall be astonished at this, and the innocent shall be raised up against the hypocrite. 17:9. And the just man shall hold on his way, and he that hath clean hands shall be stronger and stronger. 17:10. Wherefore be you all converted, and come, and I shall not find among you any wise man. 17:11. My days have passed away, my thoughts are dissipated, tormenting my heart. 17:12. They have turned night into day, and after darkness I hope for light again. 17:13. If I wait hell is my house, and I have made my bed in darkness. Hell... Sheol. The region of the dead. 17:14. I have said to rottenness: Thou art my father; to worms, my mother and my sister. 17:15. Where is now then my expectation, and who considereth my patience? 17:16. All that I have shall go down into the deepest pit: thinkest thou that there at least I shall have rest? Deepest pit... Literally, hell. Job Chapter 18 Baldad again reproves Job and describes the miseries of the wicked. 18:1. Then Baldad the Suhite answered, and said: 18:2. How long will you throw out words? understand first, and so let us speak. 18:3. Why are we reputed as beasts, and counted vile before you? 18:4. Thou that destroyest thy soul in thy fury, shall the earth be forsaken for thee, and shall rocks be removed out of their place? 18:5. Shall not the light of the wicked be extinguished, and the flame of his fire not shine? 18:6. The light shall be dark in his tabernacle, and the lamp that is over him, shall be put out. 18:7. The step of his strength shall be straitened, and his own counsel shall cast him down headlong. 18:8. For he hath thrust his feet into a net, and walketh in its meshes. 18:9. The sole of his foot shall be held in a snare, and thirst shall burn against him. 18:10. A gin is hidden for him in the earth, and his trap upon the path. 18:11. Fears shall terrify him on every side, and shall entangle his feet. 18:12. Let his strength be wasted with famine, and let hunger invade his ribs. 18:13. Let it devour the beauty of his skin, let the firstborn death consume his arms. 18:14. Let his confidence be rooted out of his tabernacle, and let destruction tread upon him like a king. 18:15. Let the companions of him that is not, dwell in his tabernacle, let brimstone be sprinkled in his tent. 18:16. Let his roots be dried up beneath, and his harvest destroyed above. 18:17. Let the memory of him perish from the earth, and let not his name be renowned in the streets. 18:18. He shall drive him out of light into darkness, and shall remove him out of the world. 18:19. His seed shall not subsist, nor his offspring among his people, nor any remnants in his country. 18:20. They that come after him shall be astonished at his day, and horror shall fall upon them that went before. 18:21. These then are the tabernacles of the wicked, and this the place of him that knoweth not God. Job Chapter 19 Job complains of the cruelty of his friends; he describes his own sufferings: and his belief of a future resurrection. 19:1. Then Job answered, and said: 19:2. How long do you afflict my soul, and break me in pieces with words? 19:3. Behold, these ten times you confound me, and are not ashamed to oppress me. 19:4. For if I have been ignorant, my ignorance shall be with me. 19:5. But you set yourselves up against me, and reprove me with my reproaches. 19:6. At least now understand, that God hath not afflicted me with an equal judgment, and compassed me with his scourges. With an equal judgment... St. Gregory explains these words thus: Job being a just man, and truly considering his own life, thought that his affliction was greater than his sins deserved: and in that respect, that the punishment was not equal, yet it was just, as coming from God, who gives a crown of justice to those who suffer for righteousness' sake, and proves the just with tribulations, as gold is tried by fire. 19:7. Behold I shall cry suffering violence, and no one will hear: I shall cry aloud, and there is none to judge. 19:8. He hath hedged in my path round about, and I cannot pass, and in my way he hath set darkness. 19:9. He hath stripped me of my glory, and hath taken the crown from my head. 19:10. He hath destroyed me on every side, and I am lost, and he hath taken away my hope, as from a tree that is plucked up. 19:11. His wrath is kindled against me, and he hath counted me as his enemy. 19:12. His troops have come together, and have made themselves a way by me, and have besieged my tabernacle round about. 19:13. He hath put my brethren far from me, and my acquaintance like strangers have departed from me. 19:14. My kinsmen have forsaken me, and they that knew me, have forgotten me. 19:15. They that dwell in my house, and my maid-servants have counted me as a stranger, and I have been like an alien in their eyes. 19:16. I called my servant, and he gave me no answer, I entreated him with my own mouth. 19:17. My wife hath abhorred my breath, and I entreated the children of my womb. 19:18. Even fools despised me, and when I was gone from them, they spoke against me. 19:19. They that were sometime my counsellors, have abhorred me: and he whom I loved most is turned against me. 19:20. The flesh being consumed, my bone hath cleaved to my skin, and nothing but lips are left about my teeth. 19:21. Have pity on me, have pity on me, at least you my friends, because the hand of the Lord hath touched me. 19:22. Why do you persecute me as God, and glut yourselves with my flesh? 19:23. Who will grant me that my words may be written? who will grant me that they may be marked down in a book? 19:24. With an iron pen and in a plate of lead, or else be graven with an instrument in flint stone? 19:25. For I know that my Redeemer liveth, and in the last day I shall rise out of the earth. Ver. 25, 26, and 27 shew Job's explicit belief in his Redeemer, and also of the resurrection of the flesh, not as one tree riseth in place of another, but that the selfsame flesh shall rise at the last day, by the power of God, changed in quality but not in substance, every one to receive sentence according to his works in this life. 19:26. And I shall be clothed again with my skin, and in my flesh I shall see my God. 19:27. Whom I myself shall see, and my eyes shall behold, and not another: this my hope is laid up in my bosom. 19:28. Why then do you say now: Let us persecute him, and let us find occasion of word against him? 19:29. Flee then from the face of the sword, for the sword is the revenger of iniquities: and know ye that there is a judgment. Job Chapter 20 Sophar declares the shortness of the prosperity of the wicked: and their sudden downfall. 20:1. Then Sophar the Naamathite answered, and said: 20:2. Therefore various thoughts succeed one another in me, and my mind is hurried away to different things. 20:3. The doctrine with which thou reprovest me, I will hear, and the spirit of my understanding shall answer for me. 20:4. This I know from the beginning, since man was placed upon the earth, 20:5. That the praise of the wicked is short, and the joy of the hypocrite but for a moment. 20:6. If his pride mount up even to heaven, and his head touch the clouds: 20:7. In the end he shall be destroyed like a dunghill, and they that had seen him, shall say: Where is he? 20:8. As a dream that fleeth away he shall not be found, he shall pass as a vision of the night: 20:9. The eyes that had seen him, shall see him no more, neither shall his place any more behold him. 20:10. His children shall be oppressed with want, and his hands shall render to him his sorrow. 20:11. His bones shall be filled with the vices of his youth, and they shall sleep with him in the dust. 20:12. For when evil shall be sweet in his mouth, he will hide it under his tongue. 20:13. He will spare it, and not leave it, and will hide it in his throat. 20:14. His bread in his belly shall be turned into the gall of asps within him, 20:15. The riches which he hath swallowed, he shall vomit up, and God shall draw them out of his belly. 20:16. He shall suck the head of asps, and the viper's tongue shall kill him. 20:17. Let him not see the streams of the river, the brooks of honey and of butter. 20:18. He shall be punished for all that he did, and yet shall not be consumed: according to the multitude of his devices so also shall he suffer. According to the multitude of his devices... That is, his stratagems to gratify his passions and to oppress and destroy the poor. 20:19. Because he broke in and stripped the poor: he hath violently taken away a house which he did not build. 20:20. And yet his belly was not filled: and when he hath the things he coveted, he shall not be able to possess them. 20:21. There was nothing left of his meat, and therefore nothing shall continue of his goods: 20:22. When he shall be filled, he shall be straitened, he shall burn, and every sorrow shall fall upon him. 20:23. May his belly be filled, that God may send forth the wrath of his indignation upon him, and rain down his war upon him. 20:24. He shall flee from weapons of iron, and shall fall upon a bow of brass. 20:25. The sword is drawn out, and cometh forth from its scabbard, and glittereth in his bitterness: the terrible ones shall go and come upon him. 20:26. All darkness is hid in his secret places: a fire that is not kindled shall devour him, he shall be afflicted when left in his tabernacle. 20:27. The heavens shall reveal his iniquity, and the earth shall rise up against him. 20:28. The offspring of his house shall be exposed, he shall be pulled down in the day of God's wrath. 20:29. This is the portion of a wicked man from God, and the inheritance of his doings from the Lord. Job Chapter 21 Job shews that the wicked often prosper in this world, even to the end of their life: but that their judgment is in another world. 21:1. Then Job answered, and said: 21:2. Hear, I beseech you, my words, and do penance. 21:3. Suffer me, and I will speak, and after, if you please, laugh at my words. 21:4. Is my debate against man, that I should not have just reason to be troubled? 21:5. Hearken to me and be astonished, and lay your finger on your mouth. 21:6. As for me, when I remember, I am afraid, and trembling taketh hold on my flesh. 21:7. Why then do the wicked live, are they advanced, and strengthened with riches? 21:8. Their seed continueth before them, a multitude of kinsmen, and of children's children in their sight. 21:9. Their houses are secure and peaceable, and the rod of God is not upon them. 21:10. Their cattle have conceived, and failed not: their cow has calved, and is not deprived of her fruit. 21:11. Their little ones go out like a flock, and their children dance and play. 21:12. They take the timbrel, and the harp, and rejoice at the sound of the organ. 21:13. They spend their days in wealth, and in a moment they go down to hell. 21:14. Who have said to God: Depart from us, we desire not the knowledge of thy ways. 21:15. Who is the Almighty, that we should serve him? and what doth it profit us if we pray to him? 21:16. Yet because their good things are not in their hand, may the counsel of the wicked be far from me. 21:17. How often shall the lamp of the wicked be put out, and a deluge come upon them, and he shall distribute the sorrows of his wrath? 21:18. They shall be as chaff before the face of the wind, and as ashes which the whirlwind scattereth. 21:19. God shall lay up the sorrow of the father for his children: and when he shall repay, then shall he know. 21:20. His eyes shall see his own destruction, and he shall drink of the wrath of the Almighty. 21:21. For what is it to him what befalleth his house after him: and if the number of his months be diminished by one half? 21:22. Shall any one teach God knowledge, who judgeth those that are high? 21:23. One man dieth strong, and hale, rich and happy. 21:24. His bowels are full of fat, and his bones are moistened with marrow. 21:25. But another dieth in bitterness of soul without any riches: 21:26. And yet they shall sleep together in the dust, and worms shall cover them. 21:27. Surely I know your thoughts, and your unjust judgments against me. 21:28. For you say: Where is the house of the prince? and where are the dwelling places of the wicked? 21:29. Ask any one of them that go by the way, and you shall perceive that he knoweth these same things. 21:30. Because the wicked man is reserved to the day of destruction, and he shall be brought to the day of wrath. 21:31. Who shall reprove his way to his face? and who shall repay him what he hath done? 21:32. He shall be brought to the graves, and shall watch in the heap of the dead. 21:33. He hath been acceptable to the gravel of Cocytus, and he shall draw every man after him, and there are innumerable before him. Acceptable to the gravel of Cocytus... The Hebrew word, which St. Jerome has here rendered by the name Cocytus, (which the poets represent as a river in hell,) signifies a valley or a torrent: and in this place, is taken for the low region of death and hell: which willingly, as it were, receives the wicked at their death: who are ushered in by innumerable others that have gone before them; and are followed by multitudes above number. 21:34. How then do ye comfort me in vain, whereas your answer is shewn to be repugnant to truth? Job Chapter 22 Eliphaz falsely imputes many crimes to Job, but promises him prosperity if he will repent. 22:1. Then Eliphaz the Themanite answered, and said: 22:2. Can man be compared with God, even though he were of perfect knowledge? 22:3. What doth it profit God if thou be just? or what dost thou give him if thy way be unspotted? 22:4. Shall he reprove thee for fear, and come with thee into judgment: 22:5. And not for thy manifold wickedness and thy infinite iniquities? 22:6. For thou hast taken away the pledge of thy brethren without cause, and stripped the naked of their clothing. 22:7. Thou hast not given water to the weary, thou hast withdrawn bread from the hungry. 22:8. In the strength of thy arm thou didst possess the land, and being the most mighty thou holdest it. 22:9. Thou hast sent widows away empty, and the arms of the fatherless thou hast broken in pieces. 22:10. Therefore art thou surrounded with shares, and sudden fear troubleth thee. 22:11. And didst thou think that thou shouldst not see darkness, and that thou shouldst not be covered with the violence of overflowing waters? 22:12. Dost not thou think that God is higher than heaven, and is elevated above the height of the stars? 22:13. And thou sayest: What doth God know? and he judgeth as it were through a mist. 22:14. The clouds are his covert, and he doth not consider our things, and he walketh about the poles of heaven. 22:15. Dost thou desire to keep the path of ages, which wicked men have trodden? 22:16. Who were taken away before their time, and a flood hath overthrown their foundation. 22:17. Who said to God: Depart from us: and looked upon the Almighty as if he could do nothing: 22:18. Whereas he had filled their houses with good things: whose way of thinking be far from me. 22:19. The just shall see, and shall rejoice, and the innocent shall laugh them to scorn. 22:20. Is not their exaltation cut down, and hath not fire devoured the remnants of them? 22:21. Submit thyself then to him, and be at peace: and thereby thou shalt have the best fruits. 22:22. Receive the law of his mouth, and lay up his words in thy heart. 22:23. If thou wilt return to the Almighty, thou shalt be built up, and shalt put away iniquity far from thy tabernacle. 22:24. He shall give for earth flint, and for flint torrents of gold. 22:25. And the Almighty shall be against thy enemies, and silver shall be heaped together for thee. 22:26. Then shalt thou abound in delights in the Almighty, and shalt lift up thy face to God. 22:27. Thou shalt pray to him, and he will hear thee, and thou shalt pay vows. 22:28. Thou shalt decree a thing, and it shall come to thee, and light shall shine in thy ways. 22:29. For he that hath been humbled, shall be in glory: and he that shall bow down his eyes, he shall be saved. 22:30. The innocent shall be saved, and he shall be saved by the cleanness of his hands. Job Chapter 23 Job wishes to be tried at God's tribunal. 23:1. Then Job answered, and said: 23:2. Now also my words are in bitterness, and the hand of my scourge is more grievous than my mourning. 23:3. Who will grant me that I might know and find him, and come even to his throne? 23:4. I would set judgment before him, and would fill my mouth with complaints. 23:5. That I might know the words that he would answer me, and understand what he would say to me. 23:6. I would not that he should contend with me with much strength, nor overwhelm me with the weight of his greatness. 23:7. Let him propose equity against me, and let my judgment come to victory. 23:8. But if I go to the east, he appeareth not; if to the west, I shall not understand him. 23:9. If to the left hand, what shall I do? I shall not take hold on him: if I turn myself to the right hand, I shall not see him. 23:10. But he knoweth my way, and has tried me as gold that passeth through the fire: 23:11. My foot hath followed his steps, I have kept his way, and have not declined from it. 23:12. I have not departed from the commandments of his lips, and the words of his mouth I have hid in my bosom. 23:13. For he is alone, and no man can turn away his thought: and whatsoever his soul hath desired, that hath he done. 23:14. And when he shall have fulfilled his will in me, many other like things are also at hand with him. 23:15. And therefore I am troubled at his presence, and when I consider him I am made pensive with fear. 23:16. God hath softened my heart, and the Almighty hath troubled me. 23:17. For I have not perished because of the darkness that hangs over me, neither hath the mist covered my face. Job Chapter 24 God's providence often suffers the wicked to go on a long time in their sins: but punisheth them in another life. 24:1. Times are not hid from the Almighty: but they that know him, know not his days. 24:2. Some have removed landmarks, have taken away flocks by force, and fed them. 24:3. They have driven away the ass of the fatherless, and have taken away the widow's ox for a pledge. 24:4. They have overturned the way of the poor, and have oppressed together the meek of the earth. 24:5. Others like wild asses in the desert go forth to their work: by watching for a prey they get bread for their children. 24:6. They reap the field that is not their own, and gather the vintage of his vineyard whom by violence they have oppressed. 24:7. They send men away naked, taking away their clothes who have no covering in the cold: 24:8. Who are wet, with the showers of the mountains, and having no covering embrace the stones. 24:9. They have violently robbed the fatherless, and stripped the poor common people. 24:10. From the naked and them that go without clothing, and from the hungry they have taken away the ears of corn. 24:11. They have taken their rest at noon among the stores of them, who after having trodden the winepresses suffer thirst. 24:12. Out of the cities they have made men to groan, and the soul of the wounded hath cried out, and God doth not suffer it to pass unrevenged. 24:13. They have been rebellious to the light, they have not known his ways, neither have they returned by his paths. 24:14. The murderer riseth at the very break of day, he killeth the needy, and the poor man: but in the night he will be as a thief. 24:15. The eye of the adulterer observeth darkness, saying: No eye shall see me: and he will cover his face. 24:16. He diggeth through houses in the dark, as in the day they had appointed for themselves, and they have not known the light. 24:17. If the morning suddenly appear, it is to them the shadow of death: and they walk in darkness as if it were in light. 24:18. He is light upon the face of the water: cursed be his portion on the earth, let him not walk by the way of the vineyards. 24:19. Let him pass from the snow waters to excessive heat, and his sin even to hell. 24:20. Let mercy forget him: may worms be his sweetness: let him be remembered no more, but be broken in pieces as an unfruitful tree. 24:21. For he hath fed the barren that beareth not, and to the widow he hath done no good. 24:22. He hath pulled down the strong by his might: and when he standeth up, he shall not trust to his life. 24:23. God hath given him place for penance, and he abuseth it unto pride: but his eyes are upon his ways. 24:24. They are lifted up for a little while and shall not stand, and shall be brought down as all things, and shall be taken away, and as the tops of the ears of corn they shall be broken. 24:25. And if it be not so, who can convince me that I have lied, and set my words before God? Job Chapter 25 God's providence often suffers the wicked to go on a long time in their sins: but punisheth them in another life. 25:1. Then Baldad the Suhite answered, and I said: 25:2. Power and terror are with him, who maketh peace in his high places. 25:3. Is there any numbering of his soldiers? and upon whom shall not his light arise? 25:4. Can man be justified compared with God, or he that is born of a woman appear clean? 25:5. Behold even the moon doth not shine, and the stars are not pure in his sight. 25:6. How much less man that is rottenness and the son of man who is a worm? Job Chapter 26 Job declares his sentiments of the wisdom and power of God. 26:1. Then Job answered, and said: 26:2. Whose helper art thou? is it of him that is weak? and dost thou hold up the arm of him that has no strength? 26:3. To whom hast thou given counsel? perhaps to him that hath no wisdom, and thou hast shewn thy very great prudence. 26:4. Whom hast thou desired to teach? was it not him that made life? 26:5. Behold the giants groan under the waters, and they that dwell with them. 26:6. Hell is naked before him, and there is no covering for destruction. 26:7. He stretched out the north over the empty space, and hangeth the earth upon nothing. 26:8. He bindeth up the waters in his clouds, so that they break not out and fall down together. 26:9. He withholdeth the face of his throne, and spreadeth his cloud over it. 26:10. He hath set bounds about the waters, till light and darkness come to an end. 26:11. The pillars of heaven tremble, and dread at his beck. 26:12. By his power the seas are suddenly gathered together, and his wisdom has struck the proud one. 26:13. His spirit hath adorned the heavens, and his obstetric hand brought forth the winding serpent. His obstetric hand brought forth the winding serpent... That is, the omnipotent power of God: which brought forth all things created in time, but conceived in the Divine mind from all eternity. The winding serpent, a constellation of fixed stars winding round the north pole, called Draco. This appears from the foregoing part of the same verse, His spirit hath adorned the heavens. 26:14. Lo, these things are said in part of his ways: and seeing we have heard scarce a little drop of his word, who shall be able to behold the thunder of his greatness? Job Chapter 27 Job persists in asserting his own innocence, and that hypocrites will be punished in the end. 27:1. Job also added, taking up his parable, and said: 27:2. As God liveth, who hath taken away my judgment, and the Almighty, who hath brought my soul to bitterness, 27:3. As long as breath remaineth in me, and the spirit of God in my nostrils, 27:4. My lips shall not speak iniquity, neither shall my tongue contrive lying. 27:5. God forbid that I should judge you to be just: till I die I will not depart from my innocence. 27:6. My justification, which I have begun to hold, I will not forsake: for my heart doth not reprehend me in all my life. 27:7. Let my enemy be as the ungodly, and my adversary as the wicked one. 27:8. For what is the hope of the hypocrite if through covetousness he take by violence, and God deliver not his soul? 27:9. Will God hear his cry, when distress shall come upon him? 27:10. Or can he delight himself in the Almighty, and call upon God at all times? 27:11. I will teach you by the hand of God, what the Almighty hath, and I will not conceal it. 27:12. Behold you all know it, and why do you speak vain things without cause? 27:13. This is the portion of a wicked man with God, and the inheritance of the violent, which they shall receive of the Almighty. 27:14. If his sons be multiplied, they shall be for the sword, and his grandsons shall not be filled with bread. 27:15. They that shall remain of him, shall be buried in death, and his widows shall not weep. 27:16. If he shall heap together silver as earth, and prepare raiment as clay, 27:17. He shall prepare indeed, but the just man shall be clothed with it: and the innocent shall divide the silver. 27:18. He hath built his house as a moth, and as a keeper he hath made a booth. 27:19. The rich man when he shall sleep shall take away nothing with him: he shall open his eyes and find nothing. 27:20. Poverty like water shall take hold on him, a tempest shall oppress him in the night: 27:21. A burning wind shall take him up, and carry him away, and as a whirlwind shall snatch him from his place. 27:22. And he shall cast upon him, and shall not spare: out of his hand he would willingly flee. 27:23. He shall clasp his hands upon him, and shall hiss at him, beholding his place. Job Chapter 28 Man's industry searcheth out many things: true wisdom is taught by God alone. 28:1. Silver hath beginnings of its veins, and gold hath a place wherein it is melted. 28:2. Iron is taken out of the earth, and stone melted with heat is turned into brass. 28:3. He hath set a time for darkness, and the end of all things he considereth, the stone also that is in the dark and the shadow of death. 28:4. The flood divideth from the people that are on their journey, those whom the food of the needy man hath forgotten, and who cannot be come at. 28:5. The land, out of which bread grew in its place, hath been overturned with fire. 28:6. The stones of it are the place of sapphires, and the clods of it are gold. 28:7. The bird hath not known the path, neither hath the eye of the vulture beheld it. 28:8. The children of the merchants have not trodden it, neither hath the lioness passed by it. 28:9. He hath stretched forth his hand to the flint, he hath overturned mountains from the roots. 28:10. In the rocks he hath cut out rivers, and his eye hath seen every precious thing. 28:11. The depths also of rivers he hath searched, and hidden things he hath brought forth to light. 28:12. But where is wisdom to be found, and where is the place of understanding? 28:13. Man knoweth not the price thereof, neither is it found in the land of them that live in delights. 28:14. The depth saith: It is not in me: and the sea saith: It is not with me. 28:15. The finest gold shall not purchase it, neither shall silver be weighed in exchange for it. 28:16. It shall not be compared with the dyed colours of India, or with the most precious stone sardonyx, or the sapphire. 28:17. Gold or crystal cannot equal it, neither shall any vessels of gold be changed for it. 28:18. High and eminent things shall not be mentioned in comparison of it: but wisdom is drawn out of secret places. 28:19. The topaz of Ethiopia shall not be equal to it, neither shall it be compared to the cleanest dyeing. 28:20. Whence then cometh wisdom? and where is the place of understanding? 28:21. It is hid from the eyes of all living, and the fowls of the air know it not. 28:22. Destruction and death have said: With our ears we have heard the fame thereof. 28:23. God understandeth the way of it, and he knoweth the place thereof. 28:24. For he beholdeth the ends of the world: and looketh on all things that are under heaven. 28:25. Who made a weight for the winds, and weighed the waters by measure. 28:26. When he gave a law for the rain, and a way for the sounding storms. 28:27. Then he saw it, and declared, and prepared, and searched it. 28:28. And he said to man: Behold the fear of the Lord, that is wisdom: and to depart from evil, is understanding. Job Chapter 29 Job relates his former happiness, and the respect that all men shewed him. 29:1. Job also added, taking up his parable, and said: 29:2. Who will grant me, that I might be according to the months past, according to the days in which God kept me? 29:3. When his lamp shined over my head, and I walked by his light in darkness? 29:4. As I was in the days of my youth, when God was secretly in my tabernacle? 29:5. When the Almighty was with me: and my servants round about me? 29:6. When I washed my feet with butter, and the rock poured me out rivers of oil? 29:7. When I went out to the gate of the city, and in the street they prepared me a chair? 29:8. The young men saw me, and hid themselves: and the old men rose up and stood. 29:9. The princes ceased to speak, and laid the finger on their mouth. 29:10. The rulers held their peace, and their tongue cleaved to their throat. 29:11. The ear that heard me blessed me, and the eye that saw me gave witness to me: 29:12. Because I had delivered the poor man that cried out; and the fatherless, that had no helper. 29:13. The blessing of him that was ready to perish came upon me, and I comforted the heart of the widow. 29:14. I was clad with justice: and I clothed myself with my judgment, as with a robe and a diadem. 29:15. I was an eye to the blind, and a foot to the lame. 29:16. I was the father of the poor: and the cause which I knew not, I searched out most diligently. 29:17. I broke the jaws of the wicked man, and out of his teeth I took away the prey. 29:18. And I said: I shall die in my nest, and as a palm tree shall multiply my days. 29:19. My root is opened beside the waters, and dew shall continue in my harvest. 29:20. My glory shall always be renewed, and my bow in my hand shall be repaired. 29:21. They that heard me, waited for my sentence, and being attentive held their peace at my counsel. 29:22. To my words they durst add nothing, and my speech dropped upon them. 29:23. They waited for me as for rain, and they opened their mouth as for a latter shower. 29:24. If at any time I laughed on them, they believed not, and the light of my countenance fell not on earth. 29:25. If I had a mind to go to them, I sat first, and when I sat as a king, with his army standing about him, yet I was a comforter of them that mourned. Job Chapter 30 Job shews the wonderful change of his temporal estate, from welfare to great calamity. 30:1. But now the younger in time scorn me, whose fathers I would not have set with the dogs of my flock: But now the younger in time... That is, younger than I am, and as it were obscure, when I was conspicuous and in magnificence; they now look down on me. 30:2. The strength of whose hands was to me as nothing, and they were thought unworthy of life itself. 30:3. Barren with want and hunger, who gnawed in the wilderness, disfigured with calamity and misery. 30:4. And they ate grass, and barks of trees, and the root of junipers was their food. 30:5. Who snatched up these things out of the valleys, and when they had found any of them, they ran to them with a cry. 30:6. They dwelt in the desert places of torrents, and in caves of earth, or upon the gravel. 30:7. They pleased themselves among these kind of things, and counted it delightful to be under the briers. 30:8. The children of foolish and base men, and not appearing at all upon the earth. 30:9. Now I am turned into their song, and am become their byword. 30:10. They abhor me, and flee far from me, and are not afraid to spit in my face. 30:11. For he hath opened his quiver, and hath afflicted me, and hath put a bridle into my mouth. 30:12. At the right hand of my rising, my calamities forthwith arose: they have overthrown my feet, and have overwhelmed me with their paths as with waves. 30:13. They have destroyed my ways, they have lain in wait against me, and they have prevailed, and there was none to help. 30:14. They have rushed in upon me, as when a wall is broken, and a gate opened, and have rolled themselves down to my miseries. 30:15. I am brought to nothing: as a wind thou hast taken away my desire: and my prosperity hath passed away like a cloud. 30:16. And now my soul fadeth within myself, and the days of affliction possess me. 30:17. In the night my bone is pierced with sorrows: and they that feed upon me, do not sleep. 30:18. With the multitude of them my garment is consumed, and they have girded me about, as with the collar of my coat. 30:19. I am compared to dirt, and am likened to embers and ashes. 30:20. I cry to thee, and thou hearest me not: I stand up, and thou dost not regard me. 30:21. Thou art changed to be cruel toward me, and in the hardness of thy hand thou art against me. 30:22. Thou hast lifted me up, and set me as it were upon the wind, and thou hast mightily dashed me. 30:23. I know that thou wilt deliver me to death, where a house is appointed for every one that liveth. 30:24. But yet thou stretchest not forth thy hand to their consumption: and if they shall fall down thou wilt save. 30:25. I wept heretofore for him that was afflicted, and my soul had compassion on the poor. 30:26. I expected good things, and evils are come upon me: I waited for light, and darkness broke out. 30:27. My inner parts have boiled without any rest, the days of affliction have prevented me. 30:28. I went mourning without indignation; I rose up, and cried in the crowd. 30:29. I was the brother of dragons, and companion of ostriches. Brother of dragons, etc... Imitating these creatures in their lamentable noise. 30:30. My skin is become black upon me, and my bones are dried up with heat. 30:31. My harp is turned to mourning, and my organ into the voice of those that weep. Job Chapter 31 Job, to defend himself from the unjust judgments of his friends, gives a sincere account of his own virtues. 31:1. I made a covenant with my eyes, that I would not so much as think upon a virgin. 31:2. For what part should God from above have in me, and what inheritance the Almighty from on high? 31:3. Is not destruction to the wicked, and aversion to them that work iniquity? 31:4. Doth not he consider my ways, and number all my steps? 31:5. If I have walked in vanity, and my foot hath made haste to deceit: 31:6. Let him weigh me in a just balance, and let God know my simplicity. 31:7. If my step hath turned out of the way, and if my heart hath followed my eyes, and if a spot hath cleaved to my hands: 31:8. Then let me sow and let another reap: and let my offspring be rooted out. 31:9. If my heart hath been deceived upon a woman, and if I have laid wait at my friend's door: 31:10. Let my wife be the harlot of another, and let other men lie with her. 31:11. For this is a heinous crime, and a most grievous iniquity. 31:12. It is a fire that devoureth even to destruction, and rooteth up all things that spring. 31:13. If I have despised to abide judgment with my man-servant, or my maid-servant, when they had any controversy against me: 31:14. For what shall I do when God shall rise to judge? and when he shall examine, what shall I answer him? 31:15. Did not he that made me in the womb make him also: and did not one and the same form me in the womb? 31:16. If I have denied to the poor what they desired, and have made the eyes of the widow wait: 31:17. If I have eaten my morsel alone, and the fatherless hath not eaten thereof: 31:18. (For from my infancy mercy grew up with me: and it came out with me from my mother's womb:) 31:19. If I have despised him that was perishing for want of clothing, and the poor man that had no covering: 31:20. If his sides have not blessed me, and if he were not warmed with the fleece of my sheep: 31:21. If I have lifted up my hand against the fatherless, even when I saw myself superior in the gate: 31:22. Let my shoulder fall from its joint, and let my arm with its bones be broken. 31:23. For I have always feared God as waves swelling over me, and his weight I was unable to bear. 31:24. If I have thought gold my strength, and have said to fine gold: My confidence: 31:25. If I have rejoiced over my great riches, and because my hand had gotten much. 31:26. If I beheld the sun when it shined and the moon going in brightness: If I beheld the sun, etc... If I behold the sun and moon with admiration, knowing them to be created and governed by the power of God, I call on my adversaries to produce any thing against me, whereby I could be charged with worshipping the sun or moon. 31:27. And my heart in secret hath rejoiced, and I have kissed my hand with, my mouth: 31:28. Which is a very great iniquity, and a denial against the most high God. 31:29. If I have been glad at the downfall of him that hated me, and have rejoiced that evil had found him. 31:30. For I have not given my mouth to sin, by wishing a curse to his soul. 31:31. If the men of my tabernacle have not said: Who will give us of his flesh that we may be filled? 31:32. The stranger did not stay without, my door was open to the traveller. 31:33. If as a man I have hid my sin, and have concealed my iniquity in my bosom. 31:34. If I have been afraid at a very great multitude, and the contempt of kinsmen hath terrified me: and have not rather held my peace, and not gone out of the door. 31:35. Who would grant me a hearing, that the Almighty may hear my desire: and that he himself that judgeth would write a book, 31:36. That I may carry it on my shoulder, and put it about me as a crown? 31:37. At every step of mine I would pronounce it, and offer it as to a prince. 31:38. If my land cry against me, and with it the furrows thereof mourn: 31:39. If I have eaten the fruits thereof without money, and have afflicted the son of the tillers thereof: 31:40. Let thistles grow up to me instead of wheat, and thorns instead of barley. The words of Job are ended. Job Chapter 32 Eliu is angry with Job and his friends. He boasts of himself. 32:1. So these three men ceased to answer Job, because he seemed just to himself. 32:2. And Eliu the son of Barachel the Buzite of the kindred of Ram, was angry and was moved to indignation: now he was angry against Job, because he said he was just before God. 32:3. And he was angry with his friends, because they had not found a reasonable answer, but only had condemned Job. 32:4. So Eliu waited while Job was speaking because they were his elders that were speaking. 32:5. But when he saw that the three were not able to answer, he was exceedingly angry. 32:6. Then Eliu the son of Barachel the Buzite answered, and said: I am younger in days, and you are more ancient, therefore hanging down my head, I was afraid to shew you my opinion. 32:7. For I hoped that greater age would speak, and that a multitude of years would teach wisdom. 32:8. But, as I see, there is a spirit in men, and the inspiration of the Almighty giveth understanding. 32:9. They that are aged are not the wise men, neither do the ancients understand judgment. 32:10. Therefore I will speak: Hearken to me, I also will shew you my wisdom. 32:11. For I have waited for your words, I have given ear to your wisdom, as long as you were disputing in words. 32:12. And as long as I thought you said some thing, I considered: but, as I see, there is none of you that can convince Job, and answer his words. 32:13. Lest you should say: We have found wisdom, God hath cast him down, not man. 32:14. He hath spoken nothing to me, and I will not answer him according to your words. 32:15. They were afraid, and answered no more, and they left off speaking. 32:16. Therefore because I have waited, and they have not spoken: they stood, and answered no more: 32:17. I also will answer my part, and will shew my knowledge. 32:18. For I am full of matter to speak of, and the spirit of my bowels straiteneth me. 32:19. Behold, my belly is as new wine which wanteth vent, which bursteth the new vessels. 32:20. I will speak and take breath a little: I will open my lips, and will answer. 32:21. I will not accept the person of man, and I will not level God with man. I will not level God with man... Here Eliu considers that Job hath put himself on a level with God, by the manner he assumed to justify his own life in speaking to God as if he spoke to an equal: Eliu expresses in the following ver. 22 his fear of punishment hereafter for such an attempt. 32:22. For I know not how long I shall continue, and whether after a while my Maker may take me away. Job Chapter 33 Eliu blames Job for asserting his own innocence. 33:1. Hear therefore, O Job, my speeches, and hearken to all my words. 33:2. Behold now I have opened my mouth, let my tongue speak within my jaws. 33:3. My words are from my upright heart, and my lips shall speak a pure sentence. 33:4. The spirit of God made me, and the breath of the Almighty gave me life. 33:5. If thou canst, answer me, and stand up against my face. 33:6. Behold God hath made me as well as thee, and of the same clay I also was formed. 33:7. But yet let not my wonder terrify thee, and let not my eloquence be burdensome to thee. 33:8. Now thou hast said in my hearing, and I have heard the voice of thy words: 33:9. I am clean, and without sin: I am unspotted, and there is no iniquity in me. 33:10. Because he hath found complaints against me, therefore he hath counted me for his enemy. 33:11. He hath put my feet in the stocks, he hath observed all my paths. 33:12. Now this is the thing in which thou art not justified: I will answer thee, that God is greater than man. 33:13. Dost thou strive against him, because he hath not answered thee to all words? 33:14. God speaketh once, and repeateth not the selfsame thing the second time. 33:15. By a dream in a vision by night, when deep sleep falleth upon men, and they are sleeping in their beds: 33:16. Then he openeth the ears of men, and teaching instructeth them in what they are to learn. 33:17. That he may withdraw a man from the things he is doing, and may deliver him from pride. 33:18. Rescuing his soul from corruption: and his life from passing to the sword. 33:19. He rebuketh also by sorrow in the bed, and he maketh all his bones to wither. 33:20. Bread becometh abominable to him in his life, and to his soul the meat which before he desired. 33:21. His flesh shall be consumed away, and his bones that were covered shall be made bare. 33:22. His soul hath drawn near to corruption, and his life to the destroyers. 33:23. If there shall be an angel speaking for him, one among thousands, to declare man's uprightness, 33:24. He shall have mercy on him, and shall say: Deliver him, that he may not go down to corruption: I have found wherein I may be merciful to him. 33:25. His flesh is consumed with punishments, let him return to the days of his youth. 33:26. He shall pray to God, and he will be gracious to him: and he shall see his face with joy, and he will render to man his justice. 33:27. He shall look upon men, and shall say: I have sinned, and indeed I have offended, and I have not received what I have deserved. 33:28. He hath delivered his soul from going into destruction, that it may live and see the light. 33:29. Behold, all these things God worketh three times within every one. 33:30. That he may withdraw their souls from corruption, and enlighten them with the light of the living. 33:31. Attend, Job, and hearken to me, and hold thy peace, whilst I speak. 33:32. But if thou hast any thing to say, answer me, speak: for I would have thee to appear just. 33:33. And if thou have not, hear me: hold thy peace, and I will teach thee wisdom. Job Chapter 34 Eliu charges Job with blasphemy: and sets forth the power and justice of God. 34:1. And Eliu continued his discourse, and said: 34:2. Hear ye, wise men, my words, and ye learned, hearken to me: 34:3. For the ear trieth words, and the mouth discerneth meats by the taste. 34:4. Let us choose to us judgment, and let us see among ourselves what is the best. 34:5. For Job hath said: I am just, and God hath overthrown my judgment. 34:6. For in judging me there is a lie: my arrow is violent without any sin. 34:7. What man is there like Job, who drinketh up scorning like water? 34:8. Who goeth in company with them that work iniquity, and walketh with wicked men? 34:9. For he hath said: Man shall not please God, although he run with him. 34:10. Therefore, ye men of understanding, hear me: far from God be wickedness, and iniquity from the Almighty. 34:11. For he will render to a man his work, and according to the ways of every one he will reward them. 34:12. For in very deed God will not condemn without cause, neither will the Almighty pervert judgment. 34:13. What other hath he appointed over the earth? or whom hath he set over the world which he made? 34:14. If he turn his heart to him, he shall draw his spirit and breath unto himself. 34:15. All flesh shall perish together, and man shall return into ashes. 34:16. If then thou hast understanding, hear what is said, and hearken to the voice of my words. 34:17. Can he be healed that loveth not judgment? and how dost thou so far condemn him that is just? 34:18. Who saith to the king: Thou art an apostate: who calleth rulers ungodly: 34:19. Who accepteth not the persons of princes: nor hath regarded the tyrant, when he contended against the poor man: for all are the work of his hands. 34:20. They shall suddenly die, and the people shall be troubled at midnight, and they shall pass, and take away the violent without hand. 34:21. For his eyes are upon the ways of men, and he considereth all their steps. 34:22. There is no darkness, and there is no shadow of death, where they may be hid who work iniquity. 34:23. For it is no longer in the power of man to enter into judgment with God. 34:24. He shall break in pieces many and innumerable, and shall make others to stand in their stead. 34:25. For he knoweth their works: and therefore he shall bring night on them, and they shall be destroyed. 34:26. He hath struck them, as being wicked, in open sight. 34:27. Who as it were on purpose have revolted from him, and would not understand all his ways: 34:28. So that they caused the cry of the needy to come to him, and he heard the voice of the poor. 34:29. For when he granteth peace, who is there that can condemn? When he hideth his countenance, who is there that can behold him, whether it regard nations, or all men? 34:30. Who maketh a man that is a hypocrite to reign for the sins of the people? 34:31. Seeing then I have spoken of God, I will not hinder thee in thy turn. 34:32. If I have erred, teach thou me: if I have spoken iniquity, I will add no more. 34:33. Doth God require it of thee, because it hath displeased thee? for thou begannest to speak, and not I: but if thou know any thing better, speak. 34:34. Let men of understanding speak to me, and let a wise man hearken to me. 34:35. But Job hath spoken foolishly, and his words sound not discipline. 34:36. My father, let Job be tried even to the end: cease not from the man of iniquity. 34:37. Because he addeth blasphemy upon his sins, let him be tied fast in the mean time amongst us: and then let him provoke God to judgment with his speeches. Job Chapter 35 Eliu declares that the good or evil done by man cannot reach God. 35:1. Moreover Eliu spoke these words: 35:2. Doth thy thought seem right to thee, that thou shouldst say: I am more just than God? 35:3. For thou saidst: That which is right doth not please thee: or what will it profit thee if I sin? 35:4. Therefore I will answer thy words, and thy friends with thee. 35:5. Look up to heaven and see, and behold the sky, that it is higher than thee. 35:6. If thou sin, what shalt thou hurt him? and if thy iniquities be multiplied, what shalt thou do against him? 35:7. And if thou do justly, what shalt thou give him, or what shall he receive of thy hand? 35:8. Thy wickedness may hurt a man that is like thee: and thy justice may help the son of man. 35:9. By reason of the multitude of oppressors they shall cry out: and shall wail for the violence of the arm of tyrants. 35:10. And he hath not said: Where is God, who made me, who hath given songs in the night? 35:11. Who teacheth us more than the beasts of the earth, and instructeth us more than the fowls of the air. 35:12. There shall they cry, and he will not hear, because of the pride of evil men. 35:13. God therefore will not hear in vain, and the Almighty will look into the causes of every one. 35:14. Yea, when thou shalt say: He considereth not: be judged before him, and expect him. 35:15. For he doth not now bring on his fury, neither doth he revenge wickedness exceedingly. 35:16. Therefore Job openeth his mouth in vain, and multiplieth words without knowledge. Job Chapter 36 Eliu proceeds in setting forth the justice and power of God. 36:1. Eliu also proceeded, and said: 36:2. Suffer me a little, and I will shew thee: for I have yet somewhat to speak in God's behalf. 36:3. I will repeat my knowledge from the beginning, and I will prove my Maker just. 36:4. For indeed my words are without a lie, and perfect knowledge shall be proved to thee. 36:5. God doth not cast away the mighty, whereas he himself also is mighty. 36:6. But he saveth not the wicked, and he giveth judgment to the poor. 36:7. He will not take away his eyes from the just, and he placeth kings on the throne for ever, and they are exalted. 36:8. And if they shall be in chains, and be bound with the cords of poverty: 36:9. He shall shew them their works, and their wicked deeds, because they have been violent. 36:10. He also shall open their ear, to correct them: and shall speak, that they may return from iniquity. 36:11. If they shall hear and observe, they shall accomplish their days in good, and their years in glory. 36:12. But if they hear not, they shall pass by the sword, and shall be consumed in folly. 36:13. Dissemblers and crafty men prove the wrath of God, neither shall they cry when they are bound. 36:14. Their soul shall die in a storm, and their life among the effeminate. 36:15. He shall deliver the poor out of his distress, and shall open his ear in affliction. 36:16. Therefore he shall set thee at large out of the narrow mouth, and which hath no foundation under it: and the rest of thy table shall be full of fatness. Out of the narrow mouth... That is, out of hell, whose entrance is narrow, and its depth bottomless; but figuratively meant here, that is, from his miseries and calamity to be restored to his former state of happiness. 36:17. Thy cause hath been judged as that of the wicked, cause and judgment thou shalt recover. 36:18. Therefore let not anger overcome thee to oppress any man: neither let multitude of gifts turn thee aside. 36:19. Lay down thy greatness without tribulation, and all the mighty of strength. 36:20. Prolong not the night that people may come up for them. 36:21. Beware thou turn not aside to iniquity: for this thou hast begun to follow after misery. For this thou hast begun to follow after misery... Eliu charges Job, that notwithstanding his misery, he does not fear God as he ought: but in his judgment, falls into iniquity. 36:22. Behold, God is high in his strength, and none is like him among the lawgivers. 36:23. Who can search out his ways? or who can say to him: Thou hast wrought iniquity? 36:24. Remember that thou knowest not his work, concerning which men have sung. 36:25. All men see him, every one beholdeth afar off. 36:26. Behold, God is great, exceeding our knowledge: the number of his years is inestimable. 36:27. He lifteth up the drops of rain, and poureth out showers like floods: 36:28. Which flow from the clouds that cover all above. 36:29. If he will spread out clouds as his tent, 36:30. And lighten with his light from above, he shall cover also the ends of the sea. 36:31. For by these he judgeth people, and giveth food to many mortals. 36:32. In his hands he hideth the light, and commandeth it to come again. 36:33. He sheweth his friend concerning it, that it is his possession, and that he may come up to it. Job Chapter 37 Eliu goes on in his discourse, shewing God's wisdom and power, by his wonderful works. 37:1. At this my heart trembleth, and is moved out of its place. 37:2. Hear ye attentively the terror of his voice, and the sound that cometh out of his mouth. 37:3. He beholdeth under all the heavens, and his light is upon the ends of the earth. 37:4. After it a noise shall roar, he shall thunder with the voice of his majesty, and shall not be found out, when his voice shall be heard. 37:5. God shall thunder wonderfully with his voice, he that doth great and unsearchable things. 37:6. He commandeth the snow to go down upon the earth, and the winter rain, and the shower of his strength. 37:7. He sealeth up the hand of all men, that every one may know his works. He sealeth up, etc... When he sends those showers of his strength, that is, those storms of rain, he seals up, that is, he shuts up the hands of men from their usual works abroad, and confines them within doors, to consider his works; or to forecast their works, that is, what they themselves are to do. 37:8. Then the beast shall go into his covert, and shall abide in his den. 37:9. Out of the inner parts shall a tempest come, and cold out of the north. 37:10. When God bloweth there cometh frost, and again the waters are poured out abundantly. 37:11. Corn desireth clouds, and the clouds spread their light: 37:12. Which go round about, whithersoever the will of him that governeth them shall lead them, to whatsoever he shall command them upon the face of the whole earth: 37:13. Whether in one tribe, or in his own land, or in what place soever of his mercy he shall command them to be found. 37:14. Hearken to these things, Job: Stand, and consider the wondrous works of God. 37:15. Dost thou know when God commanded the rains, to shew his light of his clouds? 37:16. Knowest thou the great paths of the clouds, and the perfect knowledges? 37:17. Are not thy garments hot, when the south wind blows upon the earth? 37:18. Thou perhaps hast made the heavens with him, which are most strong, as if they were of molten brass. 37:19. Shew us what we may say to him: or we are wrapped up in darkness. 37:20. Who shall tell him the things I speak? even if a man shall speak, he shall be swallowed up. He shall be swallowed up... All that man can say when he speaks of God, is so little and inconsiderable in comparison with the subject, that man is lost, and as it were swallowed up in so immense an ocean. 37:21. But now they see not the light: the air on a sudden shall be thickened into clouds, and the wind shall pass and drive them away. 37:22. Cold cometh out of the north, and to God praise with fear. 37:23. We cannot find him worthily: he is great in strength, and in judgment, and in justice, and he is ineffable. 37:24. Therefore men shall fear him, and all that seem to themselves to be wise, shall not dare to behold him. Job Chapter 38 God interposes and shews from the things he hath made, that man cannot comprehend his power and wisdom. 38:1. Then the Lord answered Job out of a whirlwind, and said: The Lord.. That is, an angel speaking in the name of the Lord. 38:2. Who is this that wrappeth up sentences in unskilful words? 38:3. Gird up thy loins like a man: I will ask thee, and answer thou me. 38:4. Where wast thou when I laid the foundations of the earth? tell me if thou hast understanding. 38:5. Who hath laid the measures thereof, if thou knowest or who hath stretched the line upon it? 38:6. Upon what are its bases grounded? or who laid the corner stone thereof, 38:7. When the morning stars praised me together, and all the sons of God made a joyful melody? 38:8. Who shut up the sea with doors, when it broke forth as issuing out of the womb: 38:9. When I made a cloud the garment thereof, and wrapped it in a mist as in swaddling bands? 38:10. I set my bounds around it, and made it bars and doors: 38:11. And I said: Hitherto thou shalt come, and shalt go no further, and here thou shalt break thy swelling waves. 38:12. Didst thou since thy birth command the morning, and shew the dawning of the day its place? 38:13. And didst thou hold the extremities of the earth shaking them, and hast thou shaken the ungodly out of it? 38:14. The seal shall be restored as clay, and shall stand as a garment. 38:15. From the wicked their light shall be taken away, and the high arm shall be broken. 38:16. Hast thou entered into the depths of the sea, and walked in the lowest parts of the deep? 38:17. Have the gates of death been opened to thee, and hast thou seen the darksome doors? 38:18. Hast thou considered the breadth of the earth? tell me, if thou knowest all things? 38:19. Where is the way where light dwelleth, and where is the place of darkness? 38:20. That thou mayst bring every thing to its own bounds, and understand the paths of the house thereof. 38:21. Didst thou know then that thou shouldst be born? and didst thou know the number of thy days? 38:22. Hast thou entered into the storehouses of the snow, or hast thou beheld the treasures of the hail: 38:23. Which I have prepared for the time of the enemy, against the day of battle and war? 38:24. By what way is the light spread, and heat divided upon the earth? 38:25. Who gave a course to violent showers, or a way for noisy thunder: 38:26. That it should rain on the earth without man in the wilderness, where no mortal dwelleth: 38:27. That it should fill the desert and desolate land, and should bring forth green grass? 38:28. Who is the father of rain? or who begot the drops of dew? 38:29. Out of whose womb came the ice? and the frost from heaven who hath gendered it? 38:30. The waters are hardened like a stone, and the surface of the deep is congealed. 38:31. Shalt thou be able to join together the shining stars the Pleiades, or canst thou stop the turning about of Arcturus? Pleiades... Hebrew, Cimah. A cluster of seven stars in the constellation Taurus or the Bull. Arcturus, a bright star in the constellation Bootes. The Hebrew name Cesil, is variously interpreted; by some, Orion; by others, the Great Bear is understood. 38:32. Canst thou bring forth the day star in its time, and make the evening star to rise upon the children of the earth? 38:33. Dost thou know the order of heaven, and canst thou set down the reason thereof on the earth? 38:34. Canst thou lift up thy voice to the clouds, that an abundance of waters may cover thee? 38:35. Canst thou send lightnings, and will they go, and will they return and say to thee: Here we are? 38:36. Who hath put wisdom in the heart of man? or who gave the cock understanding? Understanding... That instinct by which he distinguishes the times of crowing in the night. 38:37. Who can declare the order of the heavens, or who can make the harmony of heaven to sleep? 38:38. When was the dust poured on the earth, and the clods fastened together? 38:39. Wilt thou take the prey for the lioness, and satisfy the appetite of her whelps, 38:40. When they couch in the dens and lie in wait in holes? 38:41. Who provideth food for the raven, when her young ones cry to God, wandering about, because they have no meat? Job Chapter 39 The wonders of the power and providence of God in many of his creatures. 39:1. Knowest thou the time when the wild goats bring forth among the rocks, or hast thou observed the hinds when they fawn? 39:2. Hast thou numbered the months of their conceiving, or knowest thou the time when they bring forth? 39:3. They bow themselves to bring forth young, and they cast them, and send forth roarings. 39:4. Their young are weaned and go to feed: they go forth, and return not to them. 39:5. Who hath sent out the wild ass free, and who hath loosed his bonds? 39:6. To whom I have given a house in the wilderness, and his dwellings in the barren land. 39:7. He scorneth the multitude of the city, he heareth not the cry of the driver. 39:8. He looketh round about the mountains of his pasture, and seeketh for every green thing, 39:9. Shall the rhinoceros be willing to serve thee, or will he stay at thy crib? 39:10. Canst thou bind the rhinoceros with thy thong to plough, or will he break the clods of the valleys after thee? 39:11. Wilt thou have confidence in his great strength, and leave thy labours to him? 39:12. Wilt thou trust him that he will render thee the seed, and gather it into thy barnfloor? 39:13. The wing of the ostrich is like the wings of the heron, and of the hawk. 39:14. When she leaveth her eggs on the earth, thou perhaps wilt warm them in the dust. 39:15. She forgetteth that the foot may tread upon them, or that the beasts of the field may break them. 39:16. She is hardened against her young ones, as though they were not hers, she hath laboured in vain, no fear constraining her. 39:17. For God hath deprived her of wisdom, neither hath he given her understanding. 39:18. When time shall be, she setteth up her wings on high: she scorneth the horse and his rider. 39:19. Wilt thou give strength to the horse or clothe his neck with neighing? 39:20. Wilt thou lift him up like the locusts? the glory of his nostrils is terror. 39:21. He breaketh up the earth with his hoof, he pranceth boldly, he goeth forward to meet armed men. 39:22. He despiseth fear, he turneth not his back to the sword. 39:23. Above him shall the quiver rattle, the spear and shield shall glitter. 39:24. Chasing and raging he swalloweth the ground, neither doth he make account when the noise of the trumpet soundeth. 39:25. When he heareth the trumpet he saith: Ha, ha: he smelleth the battle afar off, the encouraging of the captains, and the shouting of the army. 39:26. Doth the hawk wax feathered by thy wisdom, spreading her wings to the south? 39:27. Will the eagle mount up at thy command, and make her nest in high places? 39:28. She abideth among the rocks, and dwelleth among cragged flints, and stony hills, where there is no access. 39:29. From thence she looketh for the prey, and her eyes behold afar off. 39:30. Her young ones shall suck up blood: and wheresoever the carcass shall be, she is immediately there. 39:31. And the Lord went on, and said to Job: 39:32. Shall he that contendeth with God be so easily silenced? surely he that reproveth God, ought to answer him. 39:33. Then Job answered the Lord, and said: 39:34. What can I answer, who hath spoken inconsiderately? I will lay my hand upon my mouth. Spoken inconsiderately... If we discuss all Job's words (saith St. Gregory), we shall find nothing impiously spoken; as may be gathered from the words of the Lord himself, chap. 42, ver. 7, 8; but what was reprehensible in him, was the manner of expressing himself at times, speaking too much of his own affliction, and too little of God's goodness towards him, which here he acknowledges as inconsiderate. 39:35. One thing I have spoken, which I wish I had not said: and another, to which I will add no more. Job Chapter 40 Of the power of God in the behemoth and the leviathan. 40:1. And the Lord answering Job out of the whirlwind, said: 40:2. Gird up thy loins like a man: I will ask thee, and do thou tell me. 40:3. Wilt thou make void my judgment: and condemn me, that thou mayst be justified? 40:4. And hast thou an arm like God, and canst thou thunder with a voice like him? 40:5. Clothe thyself with beauty, and set thyself up on high, and be glorious, and put on goodly garments. 40:6. Scatter the proud in thy indignation, and behold every arrogant man, and humble him. 40:7. Look on all that are proud, and confound them, and crush the wicked in their place, 40:8. Hide them in the dust together, and plunge their faces into the pit. 40:9. Then I will confess that thy right hand is able to save thee. 40:10. Behold behemoth whom I made with thee, he eateth grass like an ox. Behemoth... In Hebrew, behema, which signifies in general an animal; but many authors explain, that here it is put for the elephant. 40:11. His strength is in his loins, and his force in the navel of his belly. 40:12. He setteth up his tail like a cedar, the sinews of his testicles are wrapped together. 40:13. His bones are like pipes of brass, his gristle like plates of iron. 40:14. He is the beginning of the ways of God, who made him, he will apply his sword. He will apply his sword... This text is variously explained: some explain the sword, the horn given to the animal for his defence: others, the power that God hath given to the animal for his defence: others, the power that God hath given to man to slay him, notwithstanding his great size and strength. 40:15. To him the mountains bring forth grass: there all the beasts of the field shall play. 40:16. He sleepeth under the shadow, in the covert of the reed, and in moist places. 40:17. The shades cover his shadow, the willows of the brook shall compass him about. 40:18. Behold, he will drink up a river, and not wonder: and he trusteth that the Jordan may run into his mouth. 40:19. In his eyes as with a hook he shall take him, and bore through his nostrils with stakes. 40:20. Canst thou draw out the leviathan with a hook, or canst thou tie his tongue with a cord? Leviathan... The whale or some sea monster. 40:21. Canst thou put a ring in his nose, or bore through his jaw with a buckle? 40:22. Will he make many supplications to thee, or speak soft words to thee? 40:23. Will he make a covenant with thee, and wilt thou take him to be a servant for ever, 40:24. Shalt thou play with him as with a bird, or tie him up for thy handmaids? 40:25. Shall friends cut him in pieces, shall merchants divide him? 40:26. Wilt thou fill nets with his skin, and the cabins of fishes with his head? 40:27. Lay thy hand upon him: remember the battle, and speak no more. 40:28. Behold his hope shall fail him, and in the sight of all he shall be cast down. Job Chapter 41 A further description of the leviathan. 41:1. I will not stir him up, like one that is cruel, for who can resist my countenance? 41:2. Who hath given me before that I should repay him? All things that are under heaven are mine. 41:3. I will not spare him, nor his mighty words, and framed to make supplication. 41:4. Who can discover the face of his garment? or who can go into the midst of his mouth? 41:5. Who can open the doors of his face? his teeth are terrible round about. 41:6. His body is like molten shields, shut close up with scales pressing upon one another. 41:7. One is joined to another, and not so much as any air can come between them: 41:8. They stick one to another and they hold one another fast, and shall not be separated. 41:9. His sneezing is like the shining of fire, and his eyes like the eyelids of the morning. 41:10. Out of his mouth go forth lamps, like torches of lighted fire. 41:11. Out of his nostrils goeth smoke, like that of a pot heated and boiling. 41:12. His breath kindleth coals, and a flame cometh forth out of his mouth. 41:13. In his neck strength shall dwell, and want goeth before his face. 41:14. The members of his flesh cleave one to another: he shall send lightnings against him, and they shall not be carried to another place. 41:15. His heart shall be as hard as a stone, and as firm as a smith's anvil, 41:16. When he shall raise him up, the angels shall fear, and being affrighted shall purify themselves. Angels... Elim, Hebrew: which signifies here, the mighty, the most valiant, shall fear this monstrous fish, and in their fear shall seek to be purified. 41:17. When a sword shall lay at him, it shall not be able to hold, nor a spear, nor a breastplate. 41:18. For he shall esteem iron as straw, and brass as rotten wood. 41:19. The archer shall not put him to flight, the stones of the sling are to him like stubble. 41:20. As stubble will he esteem the hammer, and he will laugh him to scorn who shaketh the spear. 41:21. The beams of the sun shall be under him, and he shall strew gold under him like mire. Under him... He shall not value the beams of the sun; and gold to him shall be like mire. 41:22. He shall make the deep sea to boil like a pot, and shall make it as when ointments boil. 41:23. A path shall shine after him, he shall esteem the deep as growing old. The deep as growing old... Growing hoary, as it were with the froth which he leaves behind him. 41:24. There is no power upon earth that can be compared with him who was made to fear no one, 41:25. He beholdeth every high thing, he is king over all the children of pride. He is king, etc... He is superior in strength to all that are great and strong amongst living creatures: mystically it is understood of the devil, who is king over all the proud. Job Chapter 42 Job submits himself. God pronounces in his favour. Job offers sacrifice for his friends. He is blessed with riches and children, and dies happily, 42:1. Then Job answered the Lord, and said: 42:2. I know that thou canst do all things, and no thought is hid from thee. 42:3. Who is this that hideth counsel without knowledge? Therefore I have spoken unwisely, and things that above measure exceeded my knowledge. 42:4. Hear, and I will speak: I will ask thee, and do thou tell me. 42:5. With the hearing of the ear, I have heard thee, but now my eye seeth thee. 42:6. Therefore I reprehend myself, and do penance in dust and ashes. 42:7. And after the Lord had spoken these words to Job, he said to Eliphaz the Themanite: My wrath is kindled against thee, and against thy two friends, because you have not spoken the thing that is right before me, as my servant Job hath. 42:8. Take unto you therefore seven oxen and seven rams, and go to my servant Job, and offer for yourselves a holocaust, and my servant Job shall pray for you: his face I will accept, that folly be not imputed to you: for you have not spoken right things before me, as my servant Job hath. 42:9. So Eliphaz the Themanite, and Baldad the Suhite, and Sophar the Naamathite went, and did as the Lord had spoken to them, and the Lord accepted the face of Job. 42:10. The Lord also was turned at the penance of Job, when he prayed for his friends. And the Lord gave Job twice as much as he had before. 42:11. And all his brethren came to him, and all his sisters, and all that knew him before, and they ate bread with him in his house: and bemoaned him, and comforted him upon all the evil that God had brought upon him. And every man gave him one ewe, and one earring of gold. 42:12. And the Lord blessed the latter end of Job more than his beginning. And he had fourteen thousand sheep, and six thousand camels, and a thousand yoke of oxen, and a thousand she-asses. 42:13. And he had seven sons, and three daughters. 42:14. And he called the name of one Dies, and the name of the second Cassia, and the name of the third Cornustibii. 42:15. And there were not found in all the earth women so beautiful as the daughters of Job: and their father gave them inheritance among their brethren. 42:16. And Job lived after these things, a hundred and forty years, and he saw his children, and his children's children, unto the fourth generation, and he died an old man, and full of days. THE BOOK OF PSALMS The psalms are called by the Hebrews TEHILLIM, that is, Hymns of Praise. The author, of a great part of them at least, was king David: but many are of opinion that some of them were made by Asaph, and others whose names are prefixed in the titles. Psalms Chapter 1 Beatus vir. The happiness of the just and the evil state of the wicked. 1:1. Blessed is the man who hath not walked in the counsel of the ungodly, nor stood in the way of sinners, nor sat in the chair of pestilence: 1:2. But his will is in the law of the Lord, and on his law he shall meditate day and night. 1:3. And he shall be like a tree which is planted near the running waters, which shall bring forth its fruit, in due season. And his leaf shall not fall off: and all whatsoever he shall do shall prosper. 1:4. Not so the wicked, not so: but like the dust, which the wind driveth from the face of the earth. 1:5. Therefore the wicked shall not rise again in judgment: nor sinners in the council of the just. 1:6. For the Lord knoweth the way of the just: and the way of the wicked shall perish. Psalms Chapter 2 Quare fremuerunt. The vain efforts of persecutors against Christ and his church. 2:1. Why have the Gentiles raged, and the people devised vain things? 2:2. The kings of the earth stood up, and the princes met together, against the Lord, and against his Christ. 2:3. Let us break their bonds asunder: and let us cast away their yoke from us. 2:4. He that dwelleth in heaven shall laugh at them: and the Lord shall deride them. 2:5. Then shall he speak to them in his anger, and trouble them in his rage. 2:6. But I am appointed king by him over Sion, his holy mountain, preaching his commandment. 2:7. The Lord hath said to me: Thou art my son, this day have I begotten thee. 2:8. Ask of me, and I will give thee the Gentiles for thy inheritance, and the utmost parts of the earth for thy possession. 2:9. Thou shalt rule them with a rod of iron, and shalt break them in pieces like a potter's vessel. 2:10. And now, O ye kings, understand: receive instruction, you that judge the earth. 2:11. Serve ye the Lord with fear: and rejoice unto him with trembling. 2:12. Embrace discipline, lest at any time the Lord be angry, and you perish from the just way. 2:13. When his wrath shall be kindled in a short time, blessed are all they that trust in him. Psalms Chapter 3 Domine, quid multiplicati. The prophet's danger and delivery from his son Absalom: mystically, the passion and resurrection of Christ. 3:1. The psalm of David when he fled from the face of his son Absalom. 3:2. Why, O Lord, are they multipied that affict me? many are they who rise up against me. 3:3. Many say to my soul: There is no salvation for him in his God. 3:4. But thou, O Lord, art my protector, my glory, and the lifter up of my head. 3:5. I have cried to the Lord with my voice: and he hath heard me from his holy hill. 3:6. I have slept and have taken my rest: and I have risen up, because the Lord hath protected me. 3:7. I will not fear thousands of the people surrounding me: arise, O Lord; save me, O my God. 3:8. For thou hast struck all them who are my adversaries without cause: thou hast broken the teeth of sinners. 3:9. Salvation is of the Lord: and thy blessing is upon thy people. Psalms Chapter 4 Cum invocarem. The prophet teacheth us to flee to God in tribulation, with confidence in him. 4:1. Unto the end, in verses. A psalm for David. Unto the end... Or, as St. Jerome renders it, victori, to him that overcometh: which some understand of the chief musician; to whom they suppose the psalms, which bear that title, were given to be sung: we rather understand the psalms thus inscribed to refer to Christ, who is the end of the law, and the great conqueror of death and hell, and to the New Testament.-Ibid. In verses, in carminibus... In the Hebrew, it is neghinoth, supposed by some to be a musical instrument, with which this psalm was to be sung.-Ibid. For David, or to David... That is, inspired to David himself, or to be sung. 4:2. When I called upon him, the God of my justice heard me: when I was in distress, thou hast enlarged me. Have mercy on me: and hear my prayer. 4:3. O ye sons of men, how long will you be dull of heart? why do you love vanity, and seek after lying? 4:4. Know ye also that the Lord hath made his holy one wonderful: the Lord will hear me when I shall cry unto him. 4:5. Be ye angry, and sin not: the things you say in your hearts, be sorry for them upon your beds. 4:6. Offer up the sacrifice of justice, and trust in the Lord: many say, Who sheweth us good things? 4:7. The light of thy countenance, O Lord, is signed upon us: thou hast given gladness in my heart. 4:8. By the fruit of their corn, their wine, and oil, they rest: 4:9. In peace in the self same I will sleep, and I will rest: 4:10. For thou, O Lord, singularly hast settled me in hope. Psalms Chapter 5 Verba mea auribul. A prayer to God against the iniquities of men. 5:1. Unto the end, for her that obtaineth the inheritance. A psalm for David. For her that obtaineth the inheritance... That is, for the church of Christ. 5:2. Give ear, O Lord, to my words, understand my cry. 5:3. Hearken to the voice of my prayer, O my King and my God. 5:4. For to thee will I pray: O Lord, in the morning thou shalt hear my voice. 5:5. In the morning I will stand before thee, and I will see: because thou art not a God that willest iniquity. 5:6. Neither shall the wicked dwell near thee: nor shall the unjust abide before thy eyes. 5:7. Thou hatest all the workers of iniquity: thou wilt destroy all that speak a lie. The bloody and the deceitful man the Lord will abhor. 5:8. But as for me in the multitude of thy mercy, I will come into thy house; I will worship towards thy holy temple, in thy fear. 5:9. Conduct me, O Lord, in thy justice: because of my enemies, direct my way in thy sight. 5:10. For there is no truth in their mouth: their heart is vain. 5:11. Their throat is an open sepulchre: they dealt deceitfully with their tongues: judge them, O God. Let them fall from their devices: according to the multitude of their wickednesses cast them out: for they have provoked thee, O Lord. 5:12. But let all them be glad that hope in thee: they shall rejoice for ever, and thou shalt dwell in them. And all they that love thy name shall glory in thee. 5:13. For thou wilt bless the just. O Lord, thou hast crowned us, as with a shield of thy good will. Psalms Chapter 6 Domine, ne in furore. A prayer of a penitent sinner, under the scourge of God. The first penitential psalm. 6:1. Unto the end, in verses, a psalm for David, for the octave. For the octave... That is, to be sung on an instrument of eight strings. St. Augustine understands it mystically, of the last resurrection, and the world to come; which is, as it were, the octave, or eighth day, after the seven days of this mortal life: and for this octave, sinners must dispose themselves, like David, by bewailing their sins, whilst they are here upon earth. 6:2. O Lord, rebuke me not in thy indignation, nor chastise me in thy wrath. 6:3. Have mercy on me, O Lord, for I am weak: heal me, O Lord, for my bones are troubled. 6:4. And my soul is troubled exceedingly: but thou, O Lord, how long? 6:5. Turn to me, O Lord, and deliver my soul: O save me for thy mercy's sake. 6:6. For there is no one in death, that is mindful of thee: and who shall confess to thee in hell? 6:7. I have laboured in my groanings, every night I will wash my bed: I will water my couch with my tears. 6:8. My eye is troubled through indignation: I have grown old amongst all my enemies. 6:9. Depart from em, all ye workers of iniquity: for the Lord hath heard the voice of my weeping. 6:10. The Lord hath heard my supplication: the Lord hath received my prayer. 6:11. Let all my enemies be ashamed, and be very much troubled: let them be turned back, and be ashamed very speedily. Psalms Chapter 7 Domine, Deus meus. David, trusting in the justice of his cause, prayeth for God's help against his enemies. 7:1. The psalm of David, which he sung to the Lord, for the words of Chusi, the son of Jemini. 7:2. O Lord, my God, in thee have I put my trust; same me from all them that persecute me, and deliver me. 7:3. Lest at any time he seize upon my soul like a lion, while there is no one to redeem me, nor to save. 7:4. O Lord, my God, if I have done this thing, if there be iniquity in my hands: 7:5. If I have rendered to them that repaid me evils, let me deservedly fall empty before my enemies. 7:6. Let the enemy pursue my soul, and take it, and tread down my life, on the earth, and bring down my glory to the dust. 7:7. Rise up, O Lord, in thy anger: and be thou exalted in the borders of my enemies. And arise, O Lord, my God, in the precept which thou hast commanded: 7:8. And a congregation of people shall surround thee. And for their sakes return thou on high. 7:9. The Lord judgeth the people. Judge me, O Lord, according to my justice, and according to my innocence in me. 7:10. The wickedness of sinners shall be brought to nought; and thou shalt direct the just: the searcher of hearts and reins is God. 7:11. Just is my help from the Lord; who saveth the upright of heart. 7:12. God is a just judge, strong and patient: is he angry every day? 7:13. Except you will be converted, he will brandish his sword; he hath bent his bow, and made it ready. 7:14. And in it he hath prepared to instruments of death, he hath made ready his arrows for them that burn. For them that burn... That is, against the persecutors of his saints. 7:15. Behold he hath been in labour with injustice: he hath conceived sorrow, and brought forth iniquity. 7:16. He hath opened a pit and dug it: and he is fallen into the hole he made. 7:17. His sorrow shall be turned on his own head: and his iniquity shall come down upon his crown. 7:18. I will give glory to the Lord according to his justice: and will sing to the name of the Lord the most high. Psalms Chapter 8 Domine, Dominus noster. God is wonderful in his works; especially in mankind, singularly exalted by the incarnation of Christ. 8:1. Unto the end, for the presses: a psalm for David. The presses... In Hebrew, Gittith, supposed to be a musical instrument. 8:2. O Lord, our Lord, how admirable is thy name in the whole earth! For thy magnificence is elevated above the heavens. 8:3. Out of the mouth of infants and of sucklings thou hast perfected praise, because of thy enemies, that thou mayst destroy the enemy and the avenger. 8:4. For I will behold thy heavens, the works of thy fingers: the moon and the stars which thou hast founded. 8:5. What is man, that thou art mindful of him? or the son of man, that thou visitest him? 8:6. Thou hast made him a little less than the angels, thou hast crowned him with glory and honour: 8:7. And hast set him over the works of thy hands. 8:8. Thou hast subjected all things under his feet, all sheep and oxen: moreover, the beasts also of the fields. 8:9. The birds of the air, and the fishes of the sea, that pass through the paths of the sea. 8:10. O Lord, our Lord, how admirable is thy name in the whole earth! Psalms Chapter 9 Confitebor tibi, Domine. The church praiseth God for his protection against her enemies. 9:1. Unto the end, for the hidden things of the Son. A psalm for David. The hidden things of the Son... The humility and sufferings of Christ, the Son of God; and of good Christians, who are his sons by adoption; are called hidden things, with regard to the children of this world, who know not the value and merit of them. 9:2. I will give praise to thee, O Lord, with my whole heart: I will relate all thy wonders. 9:3. I will be glad, and rejoice in thee: I will sing to thy name, O thou most high. 9:4. When my enemy shall be turned back: they shall be weakened, and perish before thy face. 9:5. For thou hast maintained my judgment and my cause: thou hast sat on the throne, who judgest justice. 9:6. Thou hast rebuked the Gentiles, and the wicked one hath perished; thou hast blotted out their name for ever and ever. 9:7. The swords of the enemy have failed unto the end: and their cities thou hast destroyed. Their memory hath perished with a noise: 9:8. But the Lord remaineth for ever. He hath prepared his throne in judgment: 9:9. And he shall judge the world in equity, he shall judge the people in justice. 9:10. And the Lord is become a refuge for the poor: a helper in due time in tribulation. 9:11. And let them trust in thee who know thy name: for thou hast not forsaken them that seek thee, O Lord. 9:12. Sing ye to the Lord, who dwelleth in Sion: declare his ways among the Gentiles: 9:13. For requiring their blood, he hath remembered them: he hath not forgotten the cry of the poor. 9:14. Have mercy on me, O Lord: see my humiliation which I suffer from my enemies. 9:15. Thou that liftest me up from the gates of death, that I may declare all thy praises in the gates of the daughter of Sion. 9:16. I will rejoice in thy salvation: the Gentiles have stuck fast in the destruction which they prepared. Their foot hath been taken in the very snare which they hid. 9:17. The Lord shall be known when he executeth judgments: the sinner hath been caught in the works of his own hands. 9:18. The wicked shall be turned into hell, all the nations that forget God. 9:19. For the poor man shall not be forgotten to the end: the patience of the poor shall not perish for ever. 9:20. Arise, O Lord, let not man be strengthened: let the Gentiles be judged in thy sight. 9:21. Appoint, O Lord, a lawgiver over them: that the Gentiles may know themselves to be but men. Here the late Hebrew doctors divide this psalm into two, making ver. 22 the beginning of psalm 10. And again they join Psalms 146 and 147 into one, in order that the whole number of psalms should not exceed 150. And in this manner the psalms are numbered in the Protestant Bible. (Psalm Chapter 10 according to the Hebrews.) 9:1. Why, O Lord, hast thou retired afar off? why dost thou slight us in our wants, in the time of trouble? 9:2. Whilst the wicked man is proud, the poor is set on fire: they are caught in the counsels which they devise. 9:3. For the sinner is praised in the desires of his soul: and the unjust man is blessed. 9:4. The sinner hath provoked the Lord, according to the multitude of his wrath, he will not seek him: 9:5. God is not before his eyes: his ways are filthy at all times. Thy judgments are removed form his sight: he shall rule over all his enemies. 9:6. For he hath said in his heart: I shall not be moved from generation to generation, and shall be without evil. 9:7. His mouth is full of cursing, and of bitterness, and of deceit: under his tongue are labour and sorrow. 9:8. He sitteth in ambush with the rich, in private places, that he may kill the innocent. 9:9. His eyes are upon the poor man: he lieth in wait, in secret, like a lion in his den. He lieth in ambush, that he may catch the poor man: so catch the poor, whilst he draweth him to him. 9:10. In his net he will bring him down, he will crouch and fall, when he shall have power over the poor. 9:11. For he hath said in his heart: God hath forgotten, he hath turned away his face, not to see to the end. 9:12. Arise, O Lord God, let thy hand be exalted: forget not the poor. 9:13. Wherefore hath the wicked provoked God? for he hath said in his heart: He will not require it. 9:14. Thou seest it, for thou considerest labour and sorrow: that thou mayst deliver them into thy hands. To thee is the poor man left: thou wilt be a helper to the orphan. 9:15. Break thou the arm of the sinner and of the malignant: his sin shall be sought, and shall not be found. 9:16. The Lord shall reign to eternity, yea, for ever and ever: ye Gentiles shall perish from his land. 9:17. The Lord hath heard the desire of the poor: thy ear hath heard the preparation of their heart. 9:18. To judge for the fatherless and for the humble, that man may no more presume to magnify himself upon earth. Psalms Chapter 10 In Domino confido. The just man's confidence in God in the midst of persecutions. 10:1. Unto the end. A psalm to David. 10:2. In the Lord I put my trust: how then do you say to my soul: Get thee away from hence to the mountain, like a sparrow. 10:3. For, lo, the wicked have bent their bow: they have prepared their arrows in the quiver, to shoot in the dark the upright of heart. 10:4. For they have destroyed the things which thou hast made: but what has the just man done? 10:5. The Lord is in his holy temple, the Lord's throne is in heaven. His eyes look on the poor man: his eyelids examine the sons of men. 10:6. The Lord trieth the just and the wicked: but he that loveth iniquity, hateth his own soul. 10:7. He shall rain snares upon sinners: fire and brimstone, and storms of winds, shall be the portion of their cup. 10:8. For the Lord is just, and hath loved justice: his countenance hath beheld righteousness. Psalms Chapter 11 Salvum me fac. The prophet calls for God's help against the wicked. 11:1. Unto the end: for the octave, a psalm for David. 11:2. Save me, O Lord, for there is now no saint: truths are decayed from among the children of men. 11:3. They have spoken vain things, every one to his neighbour: with deceitful lips, and with a double heart have they spoken. 11:4. May the Lord destroy all deceitful lips, and the tongue that speaketh proud things. 11:5. Who have said: We will magnify our tongue: our lips are our own: who is Lord over us? 11:6. By reason of the misery of the needy, and the groans of the poor, now will I arise, saith the Lord. I will set him in safety: I will deal confidently in his regard. 11:7. The words of the Lord are pure words: as silver tried by the fire, purged from the earth, refined seven times. 11:8. Thou, O Lord, wilt preserve us: and keep us from this generation for ever. 11:9. The wicked walk round about: according to thy highness, thou hast multiplied the children of men. Psalms Chapter 12 Usquequo, Domine. A prayer in tribulation. 12:1. Unto the end, a psalm for David. How long, O Lord, wilt thou forget me unto the end? how long dost thou turn away thy face from me? 12:2. How long shall I take counsels in my soul, sorrow in my heart all the day? 12:3. How long shall my enemy be exalted over Me? 12:4. Consider, and hear me, O Lord, my God. Enlighten my eyes, that I never sleep in death: 12:5. Lest at any time my enemy say: I have prevailed against him. They that trouble me, will rejoice when I am moved: 12:6. But I have trusted in thy mercy. My heart shall rejoice in thy salvation: I will sing to the Lord, who giveth me good things: yea, I will sing to the name of the Lord, the most high. Psalms Chapter 13 Dixit insipiens. 1. The general corruption of man before our redemption by Christ. 13:1. Unto the end, a psalm for David. The fool hath said in his heart: There is no God. They are corrupt, and are become abominable in their ways: there is none that doth good, no not one. 13:2. The Lord hath looked down from heaven upon the children of men, to see if there be any that understand and seek God. 13:3. They are all gone aside, they are become unprofitable together: there is none that doth good: no not one. Their throat is an open sepulchre; with their tongues they acted deceitfully: the poison of asps is under their lips. Their mouth is full of cursing and bitterness; their feet are swift to shed blood. Destruction and unhappiness in their ways; and the way of peace they have not known: there is no fear of God before their eyes. 13:4. Shall not all they know that work iniquity, who devour my people as they eat bread? 13:5. They have not called upon the Lord: there have they trembled for fear, where there was no fear. 13:6. For the Lord is in the just generation: you have confounded the counsel of the poor man; but the Lord is his hope. 13:7. Who shall give out of Sion the salvation of Israel? when the Lord shall have turned away the captivity of his people, Jacob shall rejoice, and Israel shall be glad. Psalms Chapter 14 Domine, quis habitabit. What kind of men shall dwell in the heavenly Sion. 14:1. A psalm for David. Lord, who shall dwell in thy tabernacle? or who shall rest in thy holy hill? 14:2. He that walketh without blemish, and worketh justice: 14:3. He that speaketh truth in his heart, who hath not used deceit in his tongue: Nor hath done evil to his neighbour: nor taken up a reproach against his neighbours. 14:4. In his sight the malignant is brought to nothing: but he glorifieth them that fear the Lord. He that sweareth to his neighbour, and deceiveth not; 14:5. He that hath not put out his money to usury, nor taken bribes against the innocent: He that doth these things, shall not be moved for ever. Psalms Chapter 15 Conserva me, Domine. Christ's future victory and triumph over the world and death. 15:1. The inscription of a title to David himself. Preserve me, O Lord, for I have put my trust in thee. The inscription of a title... That is, of a pillar or monument, staylographia: which is as much as to say, that this psalm is most worthy to be engraved on an everlasting monument. 15:2. I have said to the Lord, thou art my God, for thou hast no need of my goods. 15:3. To the saints, who are in his land, he hath made wonderful all my desires in them. 15:4. Their infirmities were multiplied: afterwards they made haste. I will not gather together their meetings for bloodofferings: nor will I be mindful of their names by my lips. 15:5. The Lord is the portion of my inheritance and of my cup: it is thou that wilt restore my inheritance to me. 15:6. The lines are fallen unto me in goodly places: for my inheritance is goodly to me. 15:7. I will bless the Lord, who hath given me understanding: moreover, my reins also have corrected me even till night. 15:8. I set the Lord always in my sight: for he is at my right hand, that I be not moved. 15:9. Therefore my heart hath been glad, and my tongue hath rejoiced: moreover, my flesh also shall rest in hope. 15:10. Because thou wilt not leave my soul in hell; nor wilt thou give thy holy one to see corruption. 15:11. Thou hast made known to me the ways of life, thou shalt fill me with joy with thy countenance: at thy right hand are delights even to the end. Psalms Chapter 16 Exaudi, Domine, justitiam. A just man's prayer in tribulation against the malice of his enemy. 16:1. The prayer of David. Hear, O Lord, my justice: attend to my supplication. Give ear unto my prayer, which proceedeth not from deceitful lips. 16:2. Let my judgment come forth from thy countenance: let thy eyes behold the things that are equitable. 16:3. Thou hast proved my heart, and visited it by night, thou hast tried me by fire: and iniquity hath not been found in me. 16:4. That my mouth may not speak the works of men: for the sake of the words of thy lips, I have kept hard ways. 16:5. Perfect thou my goings in thy paths: that my footsteps be not moved. 16:6. I have cried to thee, for thou, O God, hast heard me: O incline thy ear unto me, and hear my words. 16:7. Shew forth thy wonderful mercies; thou who savest them that trust in thee. 16:8. From them that resist thy right hand keep me, as the apple of thy eye. Protect me under the shadow of thy wings. 16:9. From the face of the wicked who have afflicted me. My enemies have surrounded my soul: 16:10. They have shut up their fat: their mouth hath spoken proudly. Their fat... That is, their bowels of compassion: for they have none for me. 16:11. They have cast me forth, and now they have surrounded me: they have set their eyes bowing down to the earth. 16:12. They have taken me, as a lion prepared for the prey; and as a young lion dwelling in secret places. 16:13. Arise, O Lord, disappoint him and supplant him; deliver my soul from the wicked one; thy sword 16:14. From the enemies of thy hand. O Lord, divide them from the few of the earth in their life: their belly is filled from thy hidden stores. They are full of children: and they have left to their little ones the rest of their substance. Divide them from the few, etc... That is, cut them off from the earth, and the few trifling things thereof; which they are so proud of, or divide them from the few; that is, from thy elect, who are but few; that they may no longer have it in their power to oppress them. It is not meant by way of a curse or imprecation; but, as many other the like passages in the psalms, by way of a prediction, or prophecy of what should come upon them, in punishment of their wickedness. Ibid. Thy hidden stores... Thy secret treasures, out of which thou furnishest those earthly goods, which, with a bountiful hand thou hast distributed both to the good and the bad. 16:15. But as for me, I will appear before thy sight in justice: I shall be satisfied when thy glory shall appear. Psalms Chapter 17 Diligam te, Domine. David's thanks to God for his delivery from all his enemies. 17:1. Unto the end, for David, the servant of the Lord, who spoke to the Lord the words of this canticle, in the day that the Lord delivered him from the hand of all his enemies, and from the hand of Saul: and he said: 17:2. I will love thee, O Lord, my strength: 17:3. The Lord is my firmament, my refuge, and my deliverer. My God is my helper, and in him will I put my trust. My protector, and the horn of my salvation, and my support. 17:4. Praising, I will call upon the Lord: and I shall be saved from my enemies. 17:5. The sorrows of death surrounded me: and the torrents of iniquity troubled me. 17:6. The sorrows of hell encompassed me: and the snares of death prevented me. 17:7. In my affliction I called upon the Lord, and I cried to my God: And he heard my voice from his holy temple: and my cry before him came into his ears. 17:8. The earth shook and trembled: the foundations of the mountains were troubled and were moved, because he was angry with them. 17:9. There went up a smoke in his wrath: and a fire flamed from his face: coals were kindled by it. 17:10. He bowed the heavens, and came down, and darkness was under his feet. 17:11. And he ascended upon the cherubim, and he flew; he flew upon the wings of the winds. 17:12. And he made darkness his covert, his pavilion round about him: dark waters in the clouds of the air. 17:13. At the brightness that was before him the clouds passed, hail and coals of fire. 17:14. And the Lord thundered from heaven, and the Highest gave his voice: hail and coals of fire. 17:15. And he sent forth his arrows, and he scattered them: he multiplied lightnings, and troubled them. 17:16. Then the fountains of waters appeared, and the foundations of the world were discovered: At thy rebuke, O Lord, at the blast of the spirit of thy wrath. 17:17. He sent from on high, and took me: and received me out of many waters. 17:18. He delivered me from my strongest enemies, and from them that hated me: for they were too strong for me. 17:19. They prevented me in the day of my affliction: and the Lord became my protector. 17:20. And he brought me forth into a large place: he saved me, because he was well pleased with me. 17:21. And the Lord will reward me according to my justice; and will repay me according to the cleanness of my hands: 17:22. Because I have kept the ways of the Lord; and have not done wickedly against my God. 17:23. For all his judgments are in my sight: and his justices I have not put away from me. 17:24. And I shall be spotless with him: and shall keep myself from my iniquity. 17:25. And the Lord will reward me according to my justice: and according to the cleanness of my hands before his eyes. 17:26. With the holy thou wilt be holy; and with the innocent man thou wilt be innocent: 17:27. And withe the elect thou wilt be elect: and with the perverse thou wilt be perverted. 17:28. For thou wilt save the humble people; but wilt bring down the eyes of the proud. 17:29. For thou lightest my lamp, O Lord: O my God, enlighten my darkness. 17:30. For by thee I shall be delivered from temptation; and through my God I shall go over a wall. 17:31. As for my God, his way is undefiled: the words of the Lord are fire-tried: he is the protector of all that trust in him. 17:32. For who is God but the Lord? or who is God but our God? 17:33. God, who hath girt me with strength; and made my way blameless. 17:34. Who hath made my feet like the feet of harts: and who setteth me upon high places. 17:35. Who teacheth my hands to war: and thou hast made my arms like a brazen bow. 17:36. And thou hast given me the protection of thy salvation: and thy right hand hath held me up: And thy discipline hath corrected me unto the end: and thy discipline, the same shall teach me. 17:37. Thou hast enlarged my steps under me; and my feet are not weakened. 17:38. I will pursue after my enemies, and overtake them: and I will not turn again till they are consumed. 17:39. I will break them, and they shall not be able to stand: they shall fall under my feet. 17:40. And thou hast girded me with strength unto battle; and hast subdued under me them that rose up against me. 17:41. And thou hast made my enemies furn their back upon me, and hast destroyed them that hated me. 17:42. They cried, but there was none to save them, to the Lord: but he heard them not. 17:43. And I shall beat them as small as the dust before the wind; I shall bring them to nought, like the dirt in the streets. 17:44. Thou wilt deliver me from the contradictions of the people; thou wilt make me head of the Gentiles. 17:45. A people which I knew not, hath served me: at the hearing of the ear they have obeyed me. 17:46. The children that are strangers have lied to me, strange children have faded away, and have halted from their paths. 17:47. The Lord liveth, and blessed by my God, and let the God of my salvation be exalted. 17:48. O God, who avengest me, and subduest the people under me, my deliverer from my enraged enemies. 17:49. And thou wilt lift me up above them that rise up against me: from the unjust man thou wilt deliver me. 17:50. Therefore will I give glory to thee, O Lord, among the nations, and I will sing a psalm to thy name. 17:51. Giving great deliverance to his king, and shewing mercy to David, his anointed: and to his seed for ever. Psalms Chapter 18 Coeli enarrant. The works of God shew forth his glory: his law is greatly to be esteemed and loved. 18:1. Unto the end. A Psalm for David. 18:2. The heavens shew forth the glory of God, and the firmament declareth the work of his hands. 18:3. Day to day uttereth speech, and night to night sheweth knowledge. 18:4. There are no speeches nor languages, where their voices are not heard. 18:5. Their sound hath gone forth into all the earth: and their words unto the ends of the world. 18:6. He hath set his tabernacle in the sun: and he as a bridegroom coming out of his bridechamber, Hath rejoiced as a giant to run the way: 18:7. His going out is from the end of heaven, And his circuit even to the end thereof: and there is no one that can hide himself from his heat. 18:8. The law of the Lord is unspotted, converting souls: the testimony of the Lord is faithful, giving wisdom to little ones. 18:9. The justices of the Lord are right, rejoicing hearts: the commandment of the Lord is lightsome, enlightening the eyes. 18:10. The fear of the Lord is holy, enduring for ever and ever: the judgments of the Lord are true, justified in themselves. 18:11. More to be desired than gold and many precious stones: and sweeter than honey and the honeycomb. 18:12. For thy servant keepeth them, and in keeping them there is a great reward. 18:13. Who can understand sins? from my secret ones cleanse me, O Lord: 18:14. And from those of others spare thy servant. If they shall have no dominion over me, then shall I be without spot: and I shall be cleansed form the greatest sin. 18:15. And the words of my mouth shall be such as may please: and the meditation of my heart always in thy sight. O Lord, my helper and my Redeemer. Psalms Chapter 19 Exaudiat te Dominus. A prayer for the king. 19:1. Unto the end. A psalm for David. 19:2. May the Lord hear thee in the day of tribulation: may the name of the God of Jacob protect thee. 19:3. May he send thee help from the sanctuary: and defend thee out of Sion. 19:4. May he be mindful of all thy sacrifices: and may thy whole burntoffering be made fat. 19:5. May he give thee according to thy own heart; and confirm all thy counsels. 19:6. We will rejoice in thy salvation; and in the name of our God we shall be exalted. 19:7. The Lord fulfil all thy petitions: now have I known that the Lord hath saved his anointed. He will hear him from his holy heaven: the salvation of his right hand is in powers. The salvation of his right hand is in powers... That is, in strength. His right hand is strong and mighty to save them that trust in him. 19:8. Some trust in chariots, and some in horses: but we will call upon the name of the Lord, our God. 19:9. They are bound, and have fallen: but we are risen, and are set upright. O Lord, save the king: and hear us in the day that we shall call upon thee. Psalms Chapter 20 Domine, in virtute. Praise to God for Christ's exaltation after his passion. 20:1. Unto the end. A psalm for David. 20:2. In thy strength, O Lord, the king shall joy; and in thy salvation he shall rejoice exceedingly. 20:3. Thou hast given him his heart's desire: and hast not withholden from him the will of his lips. 20:4. For thou hast prevented him with blessings of sweetness: thou hast set on his head a crown of precious stones. 20:5. He asked life of thee: and thou hast given him length of days for ever and ever. 20:6. His glory is great in thy salvation: glory and great beauty shalt thou lay upon him. 20:7. For thou shalt give him to be a blessing for ever and ever: thou shalt make him joyful in gladness with thy countenance. 20:8. For the king hopeth in the Lord: and through the mercy of the most High he shall not be moved. 20:9. Let thy hand be found by all thy enemies: let thy right hand find out all them that hate thee. 20:10. Thou shalt make them as an oven of fire, in the time of thy anger: the Lord shall trouble them in his wrath, and fire shall devour them. 20:11. Their fruit shalt thou destroy from the earth: and their seed from among the children of men. 20:12. For they have intended evils against thee: they have devised counsels which they have not been able to establish. 20:13. For thou shalt make them turn their back: in thy remnants thou shalt prepare their face. In thy remnants thou shalt prepare their face... Or thou shalt set thy remnants against their faces. That is, thou shalt make them see what punishments remain for them hereafter from thy justice. Instead of remnants, St. Jerome renders it funes, that is, cords or strings, viz., of the bow of divine justice, from which God directs his arrows against the faces of his enemies. 20:14. Be thou exalted, O Lord, in thy own strength: we will sing and praise thy power. Psalms Chapter 21 Deus Deus meus. Christ's passion: and the conversion of the Gentiles. 21:1. Unto the end, for the morning protection, a psalm for David. 21:2. O God my God, look upon me: why hast thou forsaken me? Far from my salvation are the words of my sins. The words of my sins... That is, the sins of the world, which I have taken upon myself, cry out against me, and are the cause of all my sufferings. 21:3. O my God, I shall cry by day, and thou wilt not hear: and by night, and it shall not be reputed as folly in me. 21:4. But thou dwellest in the holy place, the praise of Israel. 21:5. In thee have our fathers hoped: they have hoped, and thou hast delivered them. 21:6. They cried to thee, and they were saved: they trusted in thee, and were not confounded. 21:7. But I am a worm, and no man: the reproach of men, and the outcast of the people. 21:8. All they that saw me have laughed me to scorn: they have spoken with the lips, and wagged the head. 21:9. He hoped in the Lord, let him deliver him: let him save him, seeing he delighteth in him. 21:10. For thou art he that hast drawn me out of the womb: my hope from the breasts of my mother. 21:11. I was cast upon thee from the womb. From my mother's womb thou art my God, 21:12. Depart not from me. For tribulation is very near: for there is none to help me. 21:13. Many calves have surrounded me: fat bulls have besieged me. 21:14. They have opened their mouths against me, as a lion ravening and roaring. 21:15. I am poured out like water; and all my bones are scattered. My heart is become like wax melting in the midst of my bowels. 21:16. My strength is dried up like a potsherd, and my tongue hath cleaved to my jaws: and thou hast brought me down into the dust of death. 21:17. For many dogs have encompassed me: the council of the malignant hath besieged me. They have dug my hands and feet. 21:18. They have numbered all my bones. And they have looked and stared upon me. 21:19. They parted my garments amongst them; and upon my vesture they cast lots. 21:20. But thou, O Lord, remove not thy help to a distance from me; look towards my defence. 21:21. Deliver, O God, my soul from the sword: my only one from the hand of the dog. 21:22. Save me from the lion's mouth; and my lowness from the horns of the unicorns. 21:23. I will declare thy name to my brethren: in the midst of the church will I praise thee. 21:24. Ye that fear the Lord, praise him: all ye the seed of Jacob, glorify him. 21:25. Let all the seed of Israel fear him: because he hath not slighted nor despised the supplication of the poor man. Neither hath he turned away his face form me: and when I cried to him he heard me. 21:26. With thee is my praise in a great church: I will pay my vows in the sight of them that fear him. 21:27. The poor shall eat and shall be filled: and they shall praise the Lord that seek him: their hearts shall live for ever and ever. 21:28. All the ends of the earth shall remember, and shall be converted to the Lord: And all the kindreds of the Gentiles shall adore in his sight. 21:29. For the kingdom is the Lord's; and he shall have dominion over the nations. 21:30. All the fat ones of the earth have eaten and have adored: all they that go down to the earth shall fall before him. 21:31. And to him my soul shall live: and my seed shall serve him. 21:32. There shall be declared to the Lord a generation to come: and the heavens shall shew forth his justice to a people that shall be born, which the Lord hath made. Psalms Chapter 22 Dominus regit me. God's spiritual benefits to faithful souls. 22:1. A psalm for David. The Lord ruleth me: and I shall want nothing. Ruleth me... In Hebrew, Is my shepherd, viz., to feed, guide, and govern me. 22:2. He hath set me in a place of pasture. He hath brought me up, on the water of refreshment: 22:3. He hath converted my soul. He hath led me on the paths of justice, for his own name's sake. 22:4. For though I should walk in the midst of the shadow of death, I will fear no evils, for thou art with me. Thy rod and thy staff, they have comforted me. 22:5. Thou hast prepared a table before me against them that afflict me. Thou hast anointed my head with oil; and my chalice which inebreateth me, how goodly is it! 22:6. And thy mercy will follow me all the days of my life. And that I may dwell in the house of the Lord unto length of days. Psalms Chapter 23 Domini est terra. Who are they that shall ascend to heaven: Christ's triumphant ascension thither. 23:1. On the first day of the week, a psalm for David. The earth is the Lord's and the fulness thereof: the world, and all they that dwell therein. 23:2. For he hath founded it upon the seas; and hath prepared it upon the rivers. 23:3. Who shall ascend into the mountain of the Lord: or who shall stand in his holy place? 23:4. The innocent in hands, and clean of heart, who hath not taken his soul in vain, nor sworn deceitfully to his neighbour. 23:5. He shall receive a blessing from the Lord, and mercy from God his Saviour. 23:6. This is the generation of them that seek him, of them that seek the face of the God of Jacob. 23:7. Lift up your gates, O ye princes, and be ye lifted up, O eternal gates: and the King of Glory shall enter in. 23:8. Who is this King of Glory? the Lord who is strong and mighty: the Lord mighty in battle. 23:9. Lift up your gates, O ye princes, and be ye lifted up, O eternal gates: and the King of Glory shall enter in. 23:10. Who is this King of Glory? the Lord of hosts, he is the King of Glory. Psalms Chapter 24 Ad te, Domine, levavi. A prayer for grace, mercy, and protection against our enemies. 24:1. Unto the end, a psalm for David. To thee, O Lord, have I lifted up my soul. 24:2. In thee, O my God, I put my trust; let me not be ashamed. 24:3. Neither let my enemies laugh at me: for none of them that wait on thee shall be confounded. 24:4. Let all them be confounded that act unjust things without cause. Shew, O Lord, thy ways to me, and teach me thy paths. 24:5. Direct me in thy truth, and teach me; for thou art God my Saviour; and on thee have I waited all the day long. 24:6. Remember, O Lord, thy bowels of compassion; and thy mercies that are from the beginning of the world. 24:7. The sins of my youth and my ignorances do not remember. According to thy mercy remember thou me: for thy goodness' sake, O Lord. 24:8. The Lord is sweet and righteous: therefore he will give a law to sinners in the way. 24:9. He will guide the mild in judgment: he will teach the meek his ways. 24:10. All the ways of the Lord are mercy and truth, to them that seek after his covenant and his testimonies. 24:11. For thy name's sake, O Lord, thou wilt pardon my sin: for it is great. 24:12. Who is the man that feareth the Lord? He hath appointed him a law in the way he hath chosen. 24:13. His soul shall dwell in good things: and his seed shall inherit the land. 24:14. The Lord is a firmament to them that fear him: and his covenant shall be made manifest to them. 24:15. My eyes are ever towards the Lord: for he shall pluck my feet out of the snare. 24:16. Look thou upon me, and have mercy on me; for I am alone and poor. 24:17. The troubles of my heart are multiplied: deliver me from my necessities. 24:18. See my abjection and my labour; and forgive me all my sins. 24:19. Consider my enemies for they are multiplied, and have hated me with an unjust hatred. 24:20. Deep thou my soul, and deliver me: I shall not be ashamed, for I have hoped in thee. 24:21. The innocent and the upright have adhered to me: because I have waited on thee. 24:22. Deliver Israel, O God, from all his tribulations. Psalms Chapter 25 Judica me, Domine. David's prayer to God in his distress, to be delivered, that he may come to worship him in his tabernacle. 25:1. Unto the end, a psalm for David. Judge me, O Lord, for I have walked in my innocence: and I have put my trust in the Lord, and shall not be weakened. 25:2. Prove me, O Lord, and try me; burn my reins and my heart. 25:3. For thy mercy is before my eyes; and I am well pleased with thy truth. 25:4. I have not sat with the council of vanity: neither will I go in with the doers of unjust things. 25:5. I have hated the assembly of the malignant; and with the wicked I will not sit. 25:6. I will wash my hands among the innocent; and will compass thy altar, O Lord: 25:7. That I may hear the voice of thy praise: and tell of all thy wondrous works. 25:8. I have loved, O Lord, the beauty of thy house; and the place where thy glory dwelleth. 25:9. Take not away my soul, O God, with the wicked: nor my life with bloody men: 25:10. In whose hands are iniquities: their right hand is filled with gifts. 25:11. But as for me, I have walked in my innocence: redeem me, and have mercy on me. 25:12. My foot hath stood in the direct way: in the churches I will bless thee, O Lord. Psalms Chapter 26 Dominus illuminatio. David's faith and hope in God. 26:1. The psalm of David before he was anointed. The Lord is my light and my salvation, whom shall I fear? The Lord is the protector of my life: of whom shall I be afraid? 26:2. Whilst the wicked draw near against me, to eat my flesh. My enemies that trouble me, have themselves been weakened, and have fallen. 26:3. If armies in camp should stand together against me, my heart shall not fear. If a battle should rise up against me, in this will I be confident. 26:4. One thing I have asked of the Lord, this will I seek after; that I may dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life. That I may see the delight of the Lord, and may visit his temple. 26:5. For he hath hidden me in his tabernacle; in the day of evils, he hath protected me in the secret place of his tabernacle. 26:6. He hath exalted me upon a rock: and now he hath lifted up my head above my enemies. I have gone round, and have offered up in his tabernacle a sacrifice of jubilation: I will sing, and recite a psalm to the Lord. 26:7. Hear, O Lord, my voice, with which I have cried to thee: have mercy on me and hear me. 26:8. My heart hath said to thee: My face hath sought thee: thy face, O Lord, will I still seek. 26:9. Turn not away thy face from me; decline not in thy wrath from thy servant. Be thou my helper, forsake me not; do not thou despise me, O God my Saviour. 26:10. For my father and my mother have left me: but the Lord hath taken me up. 26:11. Set me, O Lord, a law in thy way, and guide me in the right path, because of my enemies. 26:12. Deliver me not over to the will of them that trouble me; for unjust witnesses have risen up against me; and iniquity hath lied to itself. 26:13. I believe to see the good things of the Lord in the land of the living. 26:14. Expect the Lord, do manfully, and let thy heart take courage, and wait thou for the Lord. Psalms Chapter 27 Ad te, Domine, clamabo. David's prayer that his enemies may not prevail over him. 27:1. A psalm for David himself. Unto thee will I cry, O Lord: O my God, be not thou silent to me: lest if thou be silent to me, I become like them that go down into the pit. 27:2. Hear, O Lord, the voice of my supplication, when I pray to thee; when I lift up my hands to thy holy temple. 27:3. Draw me not away together with the wicked; and with the workers of iniquity destroy me not: Who speak peace with their neighbour, but evils are in their hearts. 27:4. Give them according to their works, and according to the wickedness of their inventions. According to the works of their hands give thou to them: render to them their reward. 27:5. Because they have not understood the works of the Lord, and the operations of his hands: thou shalt destroy them, and shalt not build them up. 27:6. Blessed be the Lord, for he hath heard the voice of my supplication. 27:7. The Lord is my helper and my protector: in him hath my heart confided, and I have been helped. And my flesh hath flourished again, and with my will I will give praise to him. 27:8. The Lord is the strength of his people, and the protector of the salvation of his anointed. 27:9. Save, O Lord, thy people, and bless thy inheritance: and rule them and exalt them for ever. Psalms Chapter 28 Afferte Domino. An invitation to glorify God, with a commemoration of his mighty works. 28:1. A psalm for David, at the finishing of the tabernacle. Bring to the Lord, O ye children of God: bring to the Lord the offspring of rams. 28:2. Bring to the Lord glory and honour: bring to the Lord glory to his name: adore ye the Lord in his holy court. 28:3. The voice of the Lord is upon the waters; the God of majesty hath thundered, The Lord is upon many waters. 28:4. The voice of the Lord is in power; the voice of the Lord in magnificence. 28:5. The voice of the Lord breaketh the cedars: yea, the Lord shall break the cedars of Libanus. 28:6. And shall reduce them to pieces, as a calf of Libanus, and as the beloved son of unicorns. Shall reduce them to pieces, etc... In Hebrew, shall make them to skip like a calf. The psalmist here describes the effects of thunder (which he calls the voice of the Lord) which sometimes breaks down the tallest and strongest trees; and makes their broken branches skip, etc. All this is to be understood mystically of the powerful voice of God's word in his church; which has broken the pride of the great ones of this world, and brought many of them meekly and joyfully to submit their necks to the sweet yoke of Christ. 28:7. The voice of the Lord divideth the flame of fire: 28:8. The voice of the Lord shaketh the desert: and the Lord shall shake the desert of Cades. 28:9. The voice of the Lord prepareth the stags: and he will discover the thick woods: and in his temple all shall speak his glory. 28:10. The Lord maketh the flood to dwell: and the Lord shall sit king for ever. The Lord will give strength to his people: the Lord will bless his people with peace. Psalms Chapter 29 Exaltabo te, Domine. David praiseth God for his deliverance, and his merciful dealings with him. 29:1. A psalm of a canticle, at the dedication of David's house. 29:2. I will extol thee, O Lord, for thou hast upheld me: and hast not made my enemies to rejoice over me. 29:3. O Lord my God, I have cried to thee, and thou hast healed me. 29:4. Thou hast brought forth, O Lord, my soul from hell: thou hast saved me from them that go down into the pit. 29:5. Sing to the Lord, O ye his saints: and give praise to the memory of his holiness. 29:6. For wrath is in his indignation; and life in his good will. In the evening weeping shall have place, and in the morning gladness. 29:7. And in my abundance I said: I shall never be moved. 29:8. O Lord, in thy favour, thou gavest strength to my beauty. Thou turnedst away thy face from me, and I became troubled. 29:9. To thee, O Lord, will I cry: and I will make supplication to my God. 29:10. What profit is there in my blood, whilst I go down to corruption? Shall dust confess to thee, or declare thy truth? 29:11. The Lord hath heard, and hath had mercy on me: the Lord became my helper. 29:12. Thou hast turned for me my mourning into joy: thou hast cut my sackcloth, and hast compassed me with gladness: 29:13. To the end that my glory may sing to thee, and I may not regret: O Lord my God, I will give praise to thee for ever. Psalms Chapter 30 In te, Domine, speravi. A prayer of a just man under affliction. 30:1. Unto the end, a psalm for David, in an ecstasy. 30:2. In thee, O Lord, have I hoped, let me never be confounded: deliver me in thy justice. 30:3. Bow down thy ear to me: make haste to deliver me. Be thou unto me a God, a protector, and a house of refuge, to save me. 30:4. For thou art my strength and my refuge; and for thy name's sake thou wilt lead me, and nourish me. 30:5. Thou wilt bring me out of this snare, which they have hidden for me: for thou art my protector. 30:6. Into thy hands I commend my spirit: thou hast redeemed me, O Lord, the God of truth. 30:7. Thou hast hated them that regard vanities, to no purpose. But I have hoped in the Lord: 30:8. I will be glad and rejoice in thy mercy. For thou hast regarded my humility, thou hast saved my soul out of distresses. 30:9. And thou hast not shut me up in the hands of the enemy: thou hast set my feet in a spacious place. 30:10. Have mercy on me, O Lord, for I am afflicted: my eye is troubled with wrath, my soul, and my belly: 30:11. For my life is wasted with grief: and my years in sighs. My strength is weakened through poverty and my bones are disturbed. 30:12. I am become a reproach among all my enemies, and very much to my neighbours; and a fear to my acquaintance. They that saw me without fled from me. 30:13. I am forgotten as one dead from the heart. I am become as a vessel that is destroyed. 30:14. For I have heard the blame of many that dwell round about. While they assembled together against me, they consulted to take away my life. 30:15. But I have put my trust in thee, O Lord: I said: Thou art my God. 30:16. My lots are in thy hands. Deliver me out of the hands of my enemies; and from them that persecute me. 30:17. Make thy face to shine upon thy servant; save me in thy mercy. 30:18. Let me not be confounded, O Lord, for I have called upon thee. Let the wicked be ashamed, and be brought down to hell. 30:19. Let deceitful lips be made dumb. Which speak iniquity against the just, with pride and abuse. 30:20. O how great is the multitude of thy sweetness, O Lord, which thou hast hidden for them that fear thee! Which thou hast wrought for them that hope in thee, in the sight of the sons of men. 30:21. Thou shalt hide them in the secret of thy face, from the disturbance of men. Thou shalt protect them in thy tabernacle from the contradiction of tongues. 30:22. Blessed be the Lord, for he hath shewn his wonderful mercy to me in a fortified city. 30:23. But I said in the excess of my mind: I am cast away from before thy eyes. Therefore thou hast heard the voice of my prayer, when I cried to thee. 30:24. O love the Lord, all ye his saints: for the Lord will require truth, and will repay them abundantly that act proudly. 30:25. Do ye manfully, and let your heart be strengthened, all ye that hope in the Lord. Psalms Chapter 31 Beati quorum. The second penitential psalm. 31:1. To David himself, understanding. Blessed are they whose iniquities are forgiven, and whose sins are covered. 31:2. Blessed is the man to whom the Lord hath not imputed sin, and in whose spirit there is no guile. 31:3. Because I was silent my bones grew old; whilst I cried out all the day long. Because I was silent, etc... That is, whilst I kept silence, by concealing, or refusing to confess my sins, thy hand was heavy upon me, etc. 31:4. For day and night thy hand was heavy upon me: I am turned in my anguish, whilst the thorn is fastened. I am turned, etc... That is, I turn and roll about in my bed to seek for ease in my pain whilst the thorn of thy justice pierces my flesh, and sticks fast in me. Or, I am turned: that is, I am converted to thee, my God, by being brought to a better understanding by thy chastisements. In the Hebrew it is, my moisture is turned into the droughts of the summer. 31:5. I have acknowledged my sin to thee, and my injustice I have not concealed. I said I will confess against my self my injustice to the Lord: and thou hast forgiven the wickedness of my sin. 31:6. For this shall every one that is holy pray to thee in a seasonable time. And yet in a flood of many waters, they shall not come nigh unto him. 31:7. Thou art my refuge from the trouble which hath encompassed me: my joy, deliver me from them that surround me. 31:8. I will give thee understanding, and I will instruct thee in this way, in which thou shalt go: I will fix my eyes upon thee. 31:9. Do not become like the horse and the mule, who have no understanding. With bit and bridle bind fast their jaws, who come not near unto thee. 31:10. Many are the scourges of the sinner, but mercy shall encompass him that hopeth in the Lord. 31:11. Be glad in the Lord, and rejoice, ye just, and glory, all ye right of heart. Psalms Chapter 32 Exultate, justi. An exhortation to praise God, and to trust in him. 32:1. A psalm for David. Rejoice in the Lord, O ye just: praise becometh the upright. 32:2. Give praise to the Lord on the harp; sing to him with the psaltery, the instrument of ten strings. 32:3. Sing to him a new canticle, sing well unto him with a loud noise. 32:4. For the word of the Lord is right, and all his works are done with faithfulness. 32:5. He loveth mercy and judgment; the earth is full of the mercy of the Lord. 32:6. By the word of the Lord the heavens were established; and all the power of them by the spirit of his mouth: 32:7. Gathering together the waters of the sea, as in a vessel; laying up the depths in storehouses. 32:8. Let all the earth fear the Lord, and let all the inhabitants of the world be in awe of him. 32:9. For he spoke and they were made: he commanded and they were created. 32:10. The Lord bringeth to nought the counsels of nations; and he rejecteth the devices of people, and casteth away the counsels of princes. 32:11. But the counsel of the Lord standeth for ever: the thoughts of his heart to all generations. 32:12. Blessed is the nation whose God is the Lord: the people whom he hath chosen for his inheritance. 32:13. The Lord hath looked from heaven: he hath beheld all the sons of men. 32:14. From his habitation which he hath prepared, he hath looked upon all that dwell on the earth. 32:15. He who hath made the hearts of every one of them: who understandeth all their works. 32:16. The king is not saved by a great army: nor shall the giant be saved by his own great strength. 32:17. Vain is the horse for safety: neither shall he be saved by the abundance of his strength. 32:18. Behold the eyes of the Lord are on them that fear him: and on them that hope in his mercy. 32:19. To deliver their souls from death; and feed them in famine. 32:20. Our soul waiteth for the Lord: for he is our helper and protector. 32:21. For in him our heart shall rejoice: and in his holy name we have trusted. 32:22. Let thy mercy, O Lord, be upon us, as we have hooped in thee. Psalms Chapter 33 Benedicam Dominum. An exhortation to the praise, and service of God. 33:1. For David, when he changed his countenance before Achimelech, who dismissed him, and he went his way. [1 Kings 21.] 33:2. I will bless the Lord at all times, his praise shall be always in my mouth. 33:3. In the Lord shall my soul be praised: let the meek hear and rejoice. 33:4. O magnify the Lord with me; and let us extol his name together. 33:5. I sought the Lord, and he heard me; and he delivered me from all my troubles. 33:6. Come ye to him and be enlightened: and your faces shall not be confounded. 33:7. This poor man cried, and the Lord heard him: and saved him out of all his troubles. 33:8. The angel of the Lord shall encamp round about them that fear him: and shall deliver them. 33:9. O taste, and see that the Lord is sweet: blessed is the man that hopeth in him. 33:10. Fear the Lord, all ye his saints: for there is no want to them that fear him. 33:11. The rich have wanted, and have suffered hunger: but they that seek the Lord shall not be deprived of any good. 33:12. Come, children, hearken to me: I will teach you the fear of the Lord. 33:13. Who is the man that desireth life: who liveth to see good days? 33:14. Keep thy tongue form evil, and thy lips from speaking guile. 33:15. Turn away from evil and do good: seek after peace and pursue it. 33:16. The eyes of the Lord are upon the just: and his ears unto their prayers. 33:17. But the countenance of the Lord is against them that do evil things: to cut off the remembrance of them from the earth. 33:18. The just cried, and the Lord heard them: and delivered them out of all their troubles. 33:19. The Lord is nigh unto them that are of a contrite heart: and he will save the humble of spirit. 33:20. Many are the afflictions of the just; but out of them all will the Lord deliver them. 33:21. The Lord is nigh unto them that are of a contrite heart: and he will save the humble of spirit. 33:22. The death of the wicked is very evil: and they that hate the just shall be guilty. 33:23. The Lord will redeem the souls of his servants: and none of them that trust in him shall offend. Psalms Chapter 34 Judica, Domine, nocentes me. David, in the person of Christ, prayeth against his persecutors: prophetecally foreshewing the punishments that shall fall upon them. 34:1. For David himself. Judge thou, O Lord, them that wrong me: overthrow them that fight against me. 34:2. Take hold of arms and shield: and rise up to help me. 34:3. Bring out the sword, and shut up the way against them that persecute me: say to my soul: I am thy salvation. 34:4. Let them be confounded and ashamed that seek after my soul. Let them be turned back and be confounded that devise evil against me. 34:5. Let them become as dust before the wind: and let the angel of the Lord straiten them. 34:6. Let their way become dark and slippery; and let the angel of the Lord pursue them. 34:7. For without cause they have hidden their net for me unto destruction: without cause they have upbraided my soul. 34:8. Let the snare which he knoweth not come upon him: and let the net which he hath hidden catch him: and into that very snare let them fall. 34:9. But my soul shall rejoice in the Lord; and shall be delighted in his salvation. 34:10. All my bones shall say: Lord, who is like to thee? Who deliverest the poor from the hand of them that are stronger than he; the needy and the poor from them that strip him. 34:11. Unjust witnesses rising up have asked me things I knew not. 34:12. They repaid me evil for good: to the depriving me of my soul. 34:13. But as for me, when they were troublesome to me, I was clothed with haircloth. I humbled my soul with fasting; and my prayer shall be turned into my bosom. 34:14. As a neighbour and as an own brother, so did I please: as one mourning and sorrowful so was I humbled. 34:15. But they rejoiced against me, and came together: scourges were gathered together upon me, and I knew not. 34:16. They were separated, and repented not: they tempted me, they scoffed at me with scorn: they gnashed upon me with their teeth. 34:17. Lord, when wilt thou look upon me? rescue thou my soul from their malice: my only one from the lions. 34:18. I will give thanks to thee in a great church; I will praise thee in a strong people. 34:19. Let not them that are my enemies wrongfully rejoice over me: who have hated me without cause, and wink with the eyes. 34:20. For they spoke indeed peaceably to me; and speaking in the anger of the earth they devised guile. 34:21. And they opened their mouth wide against me; they said: Well done, well done, our eyes have seen it. 34:22. Thou hast seen, O Lord, be not thou silent: O Lord, depart not from me. 34:23. Arise, and be attentive to my judgment: to my cause, my God, and my Lord. 34:24. Judge me, O Lord my God according to thy justice, and let them not rejoice over me. 34:25. Let them not say in their hearts: It is well, it is well, to our mind: neither let them say: We have swallowed him up. 34:26. Let them blush: and be ashamed together, who rejoice at my evils. Let them be clothed with confusion and shame, who speak great things against me. 34:27. Let them rejoice and be glad, who are well pleased with my justice, and let them say always: The Lord be magnified, who delights in the peace of his servant. 34:28. And my tongue shall meditate thy justice, thy praise all the day long. Psalms Chapter 35 Dixit injustus. The malice of sinners, and the goodness of God. 35:1. Unto the end, for the servant of God, David himself. 35:2. The unjust hath said within himself, that he would sin: there is no fear of God before his eyes. 35:3. For in his sight he hath done deceitfully, that his iniquity may be found unto hatred. Unto hatred... That is, hateful to God. 35:4. The words of his mouth are iniquity and guile: he would not understand that he might do well. 35:5. He hath devised iniquity on his bed, he hath set himself on every way that is not good: but evil he hath not hated. 35:6. O Lord, thy mercy is in heaven, and thy truth reacheth even to the clouds. 35:7. Thy justice is as the mountains of God, thy judgments are a great deep. Men and beasts thou wilt preserve, O Lord: 35:8. O how hast thou multiplied thy mercy, O God! But the children of men shall put their trust under the covert of thy wings. 35:9. They shall be inebriated with the plenty of thy house; and thou shalt make them drink of the torrent of thy pleasure. 35:10. For with thee is the fountain of life; and in thy light we shall see light. 35:11. Extend thy mercy to them that know thee, and thy justice to them that are right in heart. 35:12. Let not the foot of pride come to me, and let not the hand of the sinner move me. 35:13. There the workers of iniquity are fallen, they are cast out, and could not stand. Psalms Chapter 36 Noli aemulari. An exhortation to despise this world; and the short prosperity of the wicked; and to trust in Providence. 36:1. Be not emulous of evildoers; nor envy them that work iniquity. 36:2. For they shall shortly wither away as grass, and as the green herbs shall quickly fall. 36:3. Trust in the Lord, and do good, and dwell in the land, and thou shalt be fed with its riches. 36:4. Delight in the Lord, and he will give thee the requests of thy heart. 36:5. Commit thy way to the Lord, and trust in him, and he will do it. 36:6. And he will bring forth thy justice as the light, and thy judgment as the noonday. 36:7. Be subject to the Lord and pray to him. Envy not the man who prospereth in his way; the man who doth unjust things. 36:8. Cease from anger, and leave rage; have no emulation to do evil. 36:9. For evildoers shall be cut off: but they that wait upon the Lord, they shall inherit the land. 36:10. For yet a little while, and the wicked shall not be: and thou shalt seek his place, and shalt not find it. 36:11. But the meek shall inherit the land, and shall delight in abundance of peace. 36:12. The sinner shall watch the just man: and shall gnash upon him with his teeth. 36:13. But the Lord shall laugh at him: for he foreseeth that his day shall come. 36:14. The wicked have drawn out the sword: they have bent their bow. To cast down the poor and needy, to kill the upright of heart. 36:15. Let their sword enter into their own hearts, and let their bow be broken. 36:16. Better is a little to the just, than the great riches of the wicked. 36:17. For the arms of the wicked shall be broken in pieces; but the Lord strengtheneth the just. 36:18. The Lord knoweth the days of the undefiled; and their inheritance shall be for ever. 36:19. They shall not be confounded in the evil time; and in the days of famine they shall be filled: 36:20. Because the wicked shall perish. And the enemies of the Lord, presently after they shall be honoured and exalted, shall come to nothing and vanish like smoke. 36:21. The sinner shall borrow, and not pay again; but the just sheweth mercy and shall give. 36:22. For such as bless him shall inherit the land: but such as curse him shall perish. 36:23. With the Lord shall the steps of a man be directed, and he shall like well his way. 36:24. When he shall fall he shall not be bruised, for the Lord putteth his hand under him. 36:25. I have been young and now am old; and I have not seen the just forsaken, nor his seed seeking bread. 36:26. He sheweth mercy, and lendeth all the day long; and his seed shall be in blessing. 36:27. Decline from evil and do good, and dwell for ever and ever. 36:28. For the Lord loveth judgment, and will not forsake his saints: they shall be preserved for ever. The unjust shall be punished, and the seed of the wicked shall perish. 36:29. But the just shall inherit the land, and shall dwell therein for evermore. 36:30. The mouth of the just shall meditate wisdom: and his tongue shall speak judgment. 36:31. The law of his God is in his heart, and his steps shall not be supplanted. 36:32. The wicked watcheth the just man, and seeketh to put him to death, 36:33. But the Lord will not leave him in his hands; nor condemn him when he shall be judged. 36:34. Expect the Lord and keep his way: and he will exalt thee to inherit the land: when the sinners shall perish thou shalt see. 36:35. I have seen the wicked highly exalted, and lifted up like the cedars of Libanus. 36:36. And I passed by, and lo, he was not: and I sought him and his place was not found. 36:37. Keep innocence, and behold justice: for there are remnants for the peaceable man. 36:38. But the unjust shall be destroyed together: the remnants of the wicked shall perish. 36:39. But the salvation of the just is from the Lord, and he is their protector in the time of trouble. 36:40. And the Lord will help them and deliver them: and he will rescue them from the wicked, and save them because they have hoped in him. Psalms Chapter 37 Domine, ne in furore. A prayer of a penitent for the remission of his sins. The third penitential psalm. 37:1. A psalm for David, for a remembrance of the sabbath. For a remembrance... Viz., of our miseries and sins: and to be sung on the sabbath day. 37:2. Rebuke me not, O Lord, in thy indignation; nor chastise me in thy wrath. 37:3. For thy arrows are fastened in me: and thy hand hath been strong upon me. 37:4. There is no health in my flesh, because of thy wrath: there is no peace for my bones, because of my sins. 37:5. For my iniquities are gone over my head: and as a heavy burden are become heavy upon me. 37:6. My sores are putrified and corrupted, because of my foolishness. 37:7. I am become miserable, and am bowed down even to the end: I walked sorrowful all the day long. 37:8. For my loins are filled with illusions; and there is no health in my flesh. 37:9. I am afflicted and humbled exceedingly: I roared with the groaning of my heart. 37:10. Lord, all my desire is before thee, and my groaning is not hidden from thee. 37:11. My heart is troubled, my strength hath left me, and the light of my eyes itself is not with me. 37:12. My friends and my neighbours have drawn near, and stood against me. And they that were near me stood afar off: 37:13. And they that sought my soul used violence. And they that sought evils to me spoke vain things, and studied deceits all the day long. 37:14. But I, as a deaf man, heard not: and as a dumb man not opening his mouth. 37:15. And I became as a man that heareth not: and that hath no reproofs in his mouth. 37:16. For in thee, O Lord, have I hoped: thou wilt hear me, O Lord my God. 37:17. For I said: Lest at any time my enemies rejoice over me: and whilst my feet are moved, they speak great things against me. 37:18. For I am ready for scourges: and my sorrow is continually before me. 37:19. For I will declare my iniquity: and I will think for my sin. 37:20. But my enemies live, and are stronger than I: and they that hate me wrongfully are multiplied. 37:21. They that render evil for good, have detracted me, because I followed goodness. 37:22. For sake me not, O Lord my God: do not thou depart from me. 37:23. Attend unto my help, O Lord, the God of my salvation. Psalms Chapter 38 Dixi custodiam. A just man's peace and patience in his sufferings; considering the vanity of the world, and the providence of God. 38:1. Unto the end, for Idithun himself, a canticle of David. 38:2. I said: I will take heed to my ways: that I sin not with my tongue. I have set a guard to my mouth, when the sinner stood against me. 38:3. I was dumb, and was humbled, and kept silence from good things: and my sorrow was renewed. 38:4. My heart grew hot within me: and in my meditation a fire shall flame out. 38:5. I spoke with my tongue: O Lord, make me know my end. And what is the number of my days: that I may know what is wanting to me. 38:6. Behold thou hast made my days measurable, and my substance is as nothing before thee. And indeed all things are vanity: every man living. 38:7. Surely man passeth as an image: yea, and he is disquieted in vain. He storeth up: and he knoweth not for whom he shall gather these things. 38:8. And now what is my hope? is it not the Lord? and my substance is with thee. 38:9. Deliver thou me from all my iniquities: thou hast made me a reproach to the fool. 38:10. I was dumb, and I opened not my mouth, because thou hast done it. 38:11. Remove thy scourges from me. The strength of thy hand hath made me faint in rebukes: 38:12. Thou hast corrected man for iniquity. And thou hast made his soul to waste away like a spider: surely in vain is any man disquieted. 38:13. Hear my prayer, O Lord, and my supplication: give ear to my tears. Be no silent: for I am a stranger with thee, and a sojourner as all my fathers were. 38:14. O forgive me, that I may be refreshed, before I go hence, and be no more. Psalms Chapter 39 Expectans expectavi. Christ's coming, and redeeming mankind. 39:1. Unto the end, a psalm for David himself. 39:2. With expectation I have waited for the Lord, and he was attentive to me. 39:3. And he heard my prayers, and brought me out of the pit of misery and the mire of dregs. And he set my feet upon a rock, and directed my steps. 39:4. And he put a new canticle into my mouth, a song to our God. Many shall see, and shall fear: and they shall hope in the Lord. 39:5. Blessed is the man whose trust is in the name of the Lord; and who hath not had regard to vanities, and lying follies. 39:6. Thou hast multiplied thy wonderful works, O Lord my God: and in thy thoughts there is no one like to thee. I have declared and I have spoken they are multiplied above number. 39:7. Sacrifice and oblation thou didst not desire; but thou hast pierced ears for me. Burnt offering and sin offering thou didst not require: 39:8. Then said I, Behold I come. In the head of the book it is written of me 39:9. That I should do thy will: O my God, I have desired it, and thy law in the midst of my heart. 39:10. I have declared thy justice in a great church, lo, I will not restrain my lips: O Lord, thou knowest it. 39:11. I have not hid thy justice within my heart: I have declared thy truth and thy salvation. I have not concealed thy mercy and thy truth from a great council. 39:12. Withhold not thou, O Lord, thy tender mercies from me: thy mercy and thy truth have always upheld me. 39:13. For evils without number have surrounded me; my iniquities have overtaken me, and I was not able to see. They are multiplied above the hairs of my head: and my heart hath forsaken me. My iniquities... That is, the sins of all mankind, which I have taken upon me. 39:14. Be pleased, O Lord, to deliver me: look down, O Lord, to help me. 39:15. Let them be confounded and ashamed together, that seek after my soul to take it away. Let them be turned backward and be ashamed that desire evils to me. 39:16. Let them immediately bear their confusion, that say to me: 'Tis well, 'tis well. 'T is well... The Hebrew here is an interjection of insult and derision, like the Vah. Matt. 27.49. 39:17. Let all that seek thee rejoice and be glad in thee: and let such as love thy salvation say always: The Lord be magnified. 39:18. But I am a beggar and poor: the Lord is careful for me. Thou art my helper and my protector: O my God, be not slack. Psalms Chapter 40 Beatus qui intelligit. The happiness of him that shall believe in Christ; notwithstanding the humility and poverty in which he shall come: the malice of his enemies, especially of the traitor Judas. 40:1. Unto the end, a psalm for David himself. 40:2. Blessed is he that understandeth concerning the needy and the poor: the Lord will deliver him in the evil day. 40:3. The Lord preserve him and give him life, and make him blessed upon the earth: and deliver him not up to the will of his enemies. 40:4. The Lord help him on his bed of sorrow: thou hast turned all his couch in his sickness. 40:5. I said: O Lord, be thou merciful to me: heal my soul, for I have sinned against thee. 40:6. My enemies have spoken evils against me: when shall he die and his name perish? 40:7. And if he came in to see me, he spoke vain things: his heart gathered together iniquity to itself. He went out and spoke to the same purpose. 40:8. All my enemies whispered together against me: they devised evils to me. 40:9. They determined against me an unjust word: shall he that sleepeth rise again no more? 40:10. For even the man of my peace, in whom I trusted, who ate my bread, hath greatly supplanted me. 40:11. But thou, O Lord, have mercy on me, and raise my up again: and I will requite them. 40:12. By this I know, that thou hast had a good will for me: because my enemy shall not rejoice over me. 40:13. But thou hast upheld me by reason of my innocence: and hast established me in thy sight for ever. 40:14. Blessed be the Lord the God of Israel from eternity to eternity. So be it. So be it. Psalms Chapter 41 Quemadmodum desiderat. The fervent desire of the just after God: hope in afflictions. 41:1. Unto the end, understanding for the sons of Core. 41:2. As the hart panteth after the fountains of water; so my soul panteth after thee, O God. 41:3. My soul hath thirsted after the strong living God; when shall I come and appear before the face of God? 41:4. My tears have been my bread day and night, whilst it is said to me daily: Where is thy God? 41:5. These things I remembered, and poured out my soul in me: for I shall go over into the place of the wonderful tabernacle, even to the house of God: With the voice of joy and praise; the noise of one feasting. 41:6. Why art thou sad, O my soul? and why dost thou trouble me? Hope in God, for I will still give praise to him: the salvation of my countenance, 41:7. And my God. My soul is troubled within my self: therefore will I remember thee from the land of Jordan and Hermoniim, from the little hill. 41:8. Deep calleth on deep, at the noise of thy flood-gates. All thy heights and thy billows have passed over me. 41:9. In the daytime the Lord hath commanded his mercy; and a canticle to him in the night. With me is prayer to the God of my life. 41:10. I will say to God: Thou art my support. Why hast thou forgotten me? and why go I mourning, whilst my enemy afflicteth me? 41:11. Whilst my bones are broken, my enemies who trouble me have reproached me; Whilst they say to me day by day: Where is thy God? 41:12. Why art thou cast down, O my soul? and why dost thou disquiet me? Hope thou in God, for I will still give praise to him: the salvation of my countenance, and my God. Psalms Chapter 42 Judica me, Deus. The prophet aspireth after the temple and altar of God. 42:1. A psalm for David. Judge me, O God, and distinguish my cause from the nation that is not holy: deliver me from the unjust and deceitful man. 42:2. For thou art God my strength: why hast thou cast me off? and why do I go sorrowful whilst the enemy afflicteth me? 42:3. Sent forth thy light and thy truth: they have conducted me, and brought me unto thy holy hill, and into thy tabernacles. 42:4. And I will go in to the altar of God: to God who giveth joy to my youth. 42:5. To thee, O God my God, I will give praise upon the harp: why art thou sad, O my soul? and why dost thou disquiet me? 42:6. Hope in God, for I will still give praise to him: the salvation of my countenance, and my God. Psalms Chapter 43 Deus auribus nostris. The church commemorates former favours, and present afflictions; under which she prays for succour. 43:1. Unto the end, for the sons of Core, to give understanding. 43:2. We have heard, O God, with our ears: our fathers have declared to us, The work thou hast wrought in their days, and in the days of old. 43:3. Thy hand destroyed the Gentiles, and thou plantedst them: thou didst afflict the people and cast them out. 43:4. For they got not the possession of the land by their own sword: neither did their own arm save them. But thy right hand and thy arm, and the light of thy countenance: because thou wast pleased with them. 43:5. Thou art thyself my king and my God, who commandest the saving of Jacob. 43:6. Through thee we will push down our enemies with the horn: and through thy name we will despise them that rise up against us. 43:7. For I will not trust in my bow: neither shall my sword save me. 43:8. But thou hast saved us from them that afflict us: and hast put them to shame that hate us. 43:9. In God shall we glory all the day long: and in thy name we will give praise for ever. 43:10. But now thou hast cast us off, and put us to shame: and thou, O God, wilt not go out with our armies. 43:11. Thou hast made us turn our back to our enemies: and they that hated us plundered for themselves. 43:12. Thou hast given us up like sheep to be eaten: thou hast scattered us among the nations. 43:13. Thou hast sold thy people for no price: and there was no reckoning in the exchange of them. 43:14. Thou hast made us a reproach to our neighbours, a scoff and derision to them that are round about us. 43:15. Thou hast made us a byword among the Gentiles: a shaking of the head among the people. 43:16. All the day long my shame is before me: and the confusion of my face hath covered me, 43:17. At the voice of him that reproacheth and detracteth me: at the face of the enemy and persecutor. 43:18. All these things have come upon us, yet we have not forgotten thee: and we have not done wickedly in thy covenant. 43:19. And our heart hath not turned back: neither hast thou turned aside our steps from thy way. 43:20. For thou hast humbled us in the place of affliction: and the shadow of death hath covered us. 43:21. If we have forgotten the name of our God, and if we have spread forth our hands to a strange god: 43:22. Shall not God search out these things: for he knoweth the secrets of the heart. Because for thy sake we are killed all the day long: we are counted as sheep for the slaughter. 43:23. Arise, why sleepest thou, O Lord? arise, and cast us not off to the end. 43:24. Why turnest thou thy face away? and forgettest our want and our trouble? 43:25. For our soul is humbled down to the dust: our belly cleaveth to the earth. 43:26. Arise, O Lord, help us and redeem us for thy name's sake. Psalms Chapter 44 Eructavit cor meum. The excellence of Christ's kingdom, and the endowments of his church. 44:1. Unto the end, for them that shall be changed, for the sons of Core, for understanding. A canticle for the Beloved. For them that shall be changed... i.e., for souls happily changed, by being converted to God.-Ibid. The Beloved... Viz., Our Lord Jesus Christ. 44:2. My heart hath uttered a good word: I speak my works to the king: My tongue is the pen of a scrivener that writeth swiftly. 44:3. Thou art beautiful above the sons of men: grace is poured abroad in thy lips; therefore hath God blessed thee for ever. 44:4. Gird thy sword upon thy thigh, O thou most mighty. 44:5. With thy comeliness and thy beauty set out, proceed prosperously, and reign. Because of truth and meekness and justice: and thy right hand shall conduct thee wonderfully. 44:6. Thy arrows are sharp: under thee shall people fall, into the hearts of the king's enemies. 44:7. Thy throne, O God, is forever and ever: the sceptre of thy kingdom is a sceptre of uprightness. 44:8. Thou hast loved justice, and hated iniquity: therefore God, thy God, hath anointed thee with the oil of gladness above thy fellows. 44:9. Myrrh and stacte and cassia perfume thy garments, from the ivory houses: out of which 44:10. The daughters of kings have delighted thee in thy glory. The queen stood on thy right hand, in gilded clothing; surrounded with variety. 44:11. Hearken, O daughter, and see, and incline thy ear: and forget thy people and thy father's house. 44:12. And the king shall greatly desire thy beauty; for he is the Lord thy God, and him they shall adore. 44:13. And the daughters of Tyre with gifts, yea, all the rich among the people, shall entreat thy countenance. 44:14. All the glory of the king's daughter is within in golden borders, 44:15. Clothed round about with varieties. After her shall virgins be brought to the king: her neighbours shall be brought to thee. 44:16. They shall be brought with gladness and rejoicing: they shall be brought into the temple of the king. 44:17. Instead of thy fathers, sons are born to thee: thou shalt make them princes over all the earth. 44:18. They shall remember thy name throughout all generations. Therefore shall people praise thee for ever; yea, for ever and ever. Psalms Chapter 45 Deus noster refugium. The church in persecution trusteth in the protection of God. 45:1. Unto the end, for the sons of Core, for the hidden. 45:2. Our God is our refuge and strength: a helper in troubles, which have found us exceedingly. 45:3. Therefore we will not fear, when the earth shall be troubled; and the mountains shall be removed into the heart of the sea. 45:4. Their waters roared and were troubled: the mountains were troubled with his strength. 45:5. The stream of the river maketh the city of God joyful: the most High hath sanctified his own tabernacle. 45:6. God is in the midst thereof, it shall not be moved: God will help it in the morning early. 45:7. Nations were troubled, and kingdoms were bowed down: he uttered his voice, the earth trembled. 45:8. The Lord of armies is with us: the God of Jacob is our protector. 45:9. Come and behold ye the works of the Lord: what wonders he hath done upon earth, 45:10. Making wars to cease even to the end of the earth. He shall destroy the bow, and break the weapons: and the shield he shall burn in the fire. 45:11. Be still and see that I am God; I will be exalted among the nations, and I will be exalted in the earth. 45:12. The Lord of armies is with us: the God of Jacob is our protector. Psalms Chapter 46 Omnes gentes, plaudite. The Gentiles are invited to praise God for the establishment of the kingdom of Christ. 46:1. Unto the end, for the sons of Core. 46:2. O clap your hands, all ye nations: shout unto God with the voice of joy, 46:3. For the Lord is high, terrible: a great king over all the earth. 46:4. He hath subdued the people under us; and the nations under our feet. 46:5. He hath chosen for us his inheritance, the beauty of Jacob which he hath love. 46:6. God is ascended with jubilee, and the Lord with the sound of trumpet. 46:7. Sing praises to our God, sing ye: sing praises to our king, sing ye. 46:8. For God is the king of all the earth: sing ye wisely. 46:9. God shall reign over the nations: God sitteth on his holy throne. 46:10. The princes of the people are gathered together, with the God of Abraham: for the strong gods of the earth are exceedingly exalted. Psalms Chapter 47 Magnus Dominus. God is greatly to be praised for the establishment of his church. 47:1. A psalm of a canticle, for the sons of Core, on the second day of the week. 47:2. Great is the Lord, and exceedingly to be praised in the city of our God, in his holy mountain. 47:3. With the joy of the whole earth is mount Sion founded, on the sides of the north, the city of the great king. 47:4. In her houses shall God be known, when he shall protect her. 47:5. For behold the kings of the earth assembled themselves: they gathered together. 47:6. So they saw, and they wondered, they were troubled, they were moved: 47:7. Trembling took hold of them. There were pains as of a woman in labour. 47:8. With a vehement wind thou shalt break in pieces the ships of Tharsis. 47:9. As we have heard, so have we seen, in the city of the Lord of hosts, in the city of our God: God hath founded it for ever. 47:10. We have received thy mercy, O God, in the midst of thy temple. 47:11. According to thy name, O God, so also is thy praise unto the ends of the earth: thy right hand is full of justice. 47:12. Let mount Sion rejoice, and the daughters of Juda be glad; because of thy judgments, O Lord. 47:13. Surround Sion, and encompass her: tell lye in her towers. 47:14. Set your hearts on her strength; and distribute her houses, that ye may relate it in another generation. 47:15. For this is God, our God unto eternity, and for ever and ever: he shall rule us for evermore. Psalms Chapter 48 Audite haec, omnes gentes. The folly of worldlings, who live on in sin, without thinking of death or hell. 48:1. Unto the end, a psalm for the sons of Core. 48:2. Hear these things, all ye nations: give ear, all ye inhabitants of the world. 48:3. All you that are earthborn, and you sons of men: both rich and poor together. 48:4. My mouth shall speak wisdom: and the meditation of my heart understanding. 48:5. I will incline my ear to a parable; I will open my proposition on the psaltery. 48:6. Why shall I fear in the evil day? the iniquity of my heel shall encompass me. The iniquity of my heel... That is, the iniquity of my steps or ways: or the iniquity of my pride, with which as with the heel, I have spurned and kicked at my neighbours: or the iniquity of my heel, that is, the iniquity in which I shall be found in death. The meaning of this verse is, Why should I now indulge those passions and sinful affections, or commit now those sins, which will cause me so much fear and anguish in the evil day; when the sorrows of death shall compass me, and the perils of hell shall find me? 48:7. They that trust in their own strength, and glory in the multitude of their riches, They that trust, etc... As much as to say, let them fear that trust in their strength or riches: for they have great reason to fear: seeing no brother or other man, how much a friend soever, can by any price or labour rescue them from death. 48:8. No brother can redeem, nor shall man redeem: he shall not give to God his ransom, 48:9. Nor the price of the redemption of his soul: and shall labour for ever, And shall labour for ever, etc... This seems to be a continuation of the foregoing sentence: as much as to say no man can by any price or ransom prolong his life, that so he may still continue to labour here, and live to the end of the world. Others understand it of the eternal sorrows, and dying life of hell, which is the dreadful consequence of dying in sin. 48:10. And shall still live unto the end. 48:11. He shall not see destruction, when he shall see the wise dying: the senseless and the fool shall perish together: And they shall leave their riches to strangers: He shall not see destruction, etc... Or, shall he not see destruction? As much as to say, however thoughtless he may be of his death, he must not expect to escape; when even the wise and the good are not exempt from dying. 48:12. And their sepulchres shall be their houses for ever. Their dwelling places to all generations: they have called their lands by their names. They have called, etc... That is, they have left their names on their graves, which alone remain of their lands. 48:13. And man when he was in honour did not understand; he is compared to senseless beasts, and is become like to them. 48:14. This way of theirs is a stumblingblock to them: and afterwards they shall delight in their mouth. They shall delight in their mouth... Notwithstanding the wretched way in which they walk, they shall applaud themselves with their mouths, and glory in their doings. 48:15. They are laid in hell like sheep: death shall feed upon them. And the just shall have dominion over them in the morning; and their help shall decay in hell from their glory. In the morning... That is, in the resurrection to a new life; when the just shall judge and condemn the wicked. Ibid. From their glory... That is, when their short-lived glory in this world shall be past, and be no more. 48:16. But God will redeem my soul from the hand of hell, when he shall receive me. 48:17. Be not thou afraid, when a man shall be made rick, and when the glory of his house shall be increased. 48:18. For when he shall die he shall take nothing away; nor shall his glory descend with him. 48:19. For in his lifetime his soul will be blessed: and he will praise thee when thou shalt do well to him. 48:20. He shall go in to the generations of his fathers: and he shall never see light. 48:21. Man when he was in honour did not understand: he hath been compared to senseless beasts, and made like to them. Psalms Chapter 49 Deus deorum. The coming of Christ: who prefers virtue and inward purity before the blood of victims. 49:1. A psalm for Asaph. The God of gods, the Lord hath spoken: and he hath called the earth. From the rising of the sun, to the going down thereof: 49:2. Out of Sion the loveliness of his beauty. 49:3. God shall come manifestly: our God shall come, and shall not keep silence. A fire shall burn before him: and a mighty tempest shall be round about him. 49:4. He shall call heaven from above, and the earth, to judge his people. 49:5. Gather ye together his saints to him: who set his covenant before sacrifices. 49:6. And the heavens shall declare his justice: for God is judge. 49:7. Hear, O my people, and I will speak: O Israel, and I will testify to thee: I am God, thy God. 49:8. I will not reprove thee for thy sacrifices: and thy burnt offerings are always in my sight. 49:9. I will not take calves out of thy house: nor he-goats out of thy flocks. 49:10. For all the beasts of the woods are mine: the cattle on the hills, and the oxen. 49:11. I know all the fowls of the air: and with me is the beauty of the field. 49:12. If I should be hungry, I would not tell thee: for the world is mine, and the fulness thereof. 49:13. Shall I eat the flesh of bullocks? or shall I drink the blood of goats? 49:14. Offer to God the sacrifice of praise: and pay thy vows to the most High. 49:15. And call upon me in the day of trouble: I will deliver thee, and thou shalt glorify me. 49:16. But to the sinner God hath said: Why dost thou declare my justices, and take my covenant in thy mouth? 49:17. Seeing thou hast hated discipline: and hast cast my words behind thee. 49:18. If thou didst see a thief thou didst run with him: and with adulterers thou hast been a partaker. 49:19. Thy mouth hath abounded with evil, and thy tongue framed deceits. 49:20. Sitting thou didst speak against thy brother, and didst lay a scandal against thy mother's son: 49:21. These things hast thou done, and I was silent. Thou thoughtest unjustly that I should be like to thee: but I will reprove thee, and set before thy face. 49:22. Understand these things, you that forget God; lest he snatch you away, and there be none to deliver you. 49:23. The sacrifice of praise shall glorify me: and there is the way by which I will shew him the salvation of God. Psalms Chapter 50 Miserere. The repentance and confession of David after his sin. The fourth penitential psalm. 50:1. Unto the end, a psalm of David, 50:2. When Nathan the prophet came to him, after he had sinned with Bethsabee. [2 Kings 12.] 50:3. Have mercy on me, O God, according to thy great mercy. And according to the multitude of thy tender mercies blot out my iniquity. 50:4. Wash me yet more from my iniquity, and cleanse me from my sin. 50:5. For I know my iniquity, and my sin is always before me. 50:6. To thee only have I sinned, and have done evil before thee: that thou mayst be justified in thy words, and mayst overcome when thou art judged. 50:7. For behold I was conceived in iniquities; and in sins did my mother conceive me. 50:8. For behold thou hast loved truth: the uncertain and hidden things of thy wisdom thou hast made manifest to me. 50:9. Thou shalt sprinkle me with hyssop, and I shall be cleansed: thou shalt wash me, and I shall be made whiter than snow. 50:10. To my hearing thou shalt give joy and gladness: and the bones that have been humbled shall rejoice. 50:11. Turn away thy face from my sins, and blot out all my iniquities. 50:12. Create a clean heart in me, O God: and renew a right spirit within my bowels. 50:13. Cast me not away from thy face; and take not thy holy spirit from me. 50:14. Restore unto me the joy of thy salvation, and strengthen me with a perfect spirit. 50:15. I will teach the unjust thy ways: and the wicked shall be converted to thee. 50:16. Deliver me from blood, O God, thou God of my salvation: and my tongue shall extol thy justice. 50:17. O Lord, thou wilt open my lips: and my mouth shall declare thy praise. 50:18. For if thou hadst desired sacrifice, I would indeed have given it: with burnt offerings thou wilt not be delighted. 50:19. A sacrifice to God is an afflicted spirit: a contrite and humbled heart, O God, thou wilt not despise. 50:20. Deal favourably, O Lord, in thy good will with Sion; that the walls of Jerusalem may be built up. 50:21. Then shalt thou accept the sacrifice of justice, oblations and whole burnt offerings: then shall they lay calves upon thy altar. Psalms Chapter 51 Quid gloriaris. David condemneth the wickedness of Doeg, and foretelleth his destruction. 51:1. Unto the end, understanding for David, 51:2. When Doeg the Edomite came and told Saul: David went to the house of Achimelech. 51:3. Why dost thou glory in malice, thou that art mighty in iniquity? 51:4. All the day long thy tongue hath devised injustice: as a sharp razor, thou hast wrought deceit. 51:5. Thou hast loved malice more than goodness: and iniquity rather than to speak righteousness. 51:6. Thou hast loved all the words of ruin, O deceitful tongue. 51:7. Therefore will God destroy thee for ever: he will pluck thee out, and remove thee from thy dwelling place: and thy root out of the land of the living. 51:8. The just shall see and fear, and shall laugh at him, and say: 51:9. Behold the man that made not God his helper: But trusted in the abundance of his riches: and prevailed in his vanity. 51:10. But I, as a fruitful olive tree in the house of God, have hoped in the mercy of God for ever, yea for ever and ever. 51:11. I will praise thee for ever, because thou hast done it: and I will wait on thy name, for it is good in the sight of thy saints. Psalms Chapter 52 Dixit insipiens. The general corruption of man before the coming of Christ. 52:1. Unto the end, for Maeleth, understandings to David. The fool said in his heart: There is no God. Maeleth... Or Machalath. A musical instrument, or a chorus of musicians, for St. Jerome renders it, per chorum. 52:2. They are corrupted, and become abominable in iniquities: there is none that doth good. 52:3. God looked down from heaven on the children of men: to see if there were any that did understand, or did seek God. 52:4. All have gone aside, they are become unprofitable together, there is none that doth good, no not one. 52:5. Shall not all the workers of iniquity know, who eat up my people as they eat bread? 52:6. They have not called upon God: there have they trembled for fear, where there was no fear. For God hath scattered the bones of them that please men: they have been confounded, because God hath despised them. God hath scattered the bones, etc... That is, God has brought to nothing the strength of all those that seek to please men, to the prejudice of their duty to their Maker. 52:7. Who will give out of Sion the salvation of Israel? when God shall bring back the captivity of his people, Jacob shall rejoice, and Israel shall be glad. Psalms Chapter 53 Deus, in nomine tuo. A prayer for help in destress. 53:1. Unto the end, in verses, understanding for David. 53:2. When the en of Ziph had come and said to Saul: Is not David hidden with us? [1 Kings 23.19] 53:3. Save me, O God, by thy name, and judge me in thy strength. 53:4. O God, hear my prayer: give ear to the words of my mouth. 53:5. For strangers have risen up against me; and the mighty have sought after my soul: and they have not set God before their eyes. 53:6. For behold God is my helper: and the Lord is the protector of my soul. 53:7. Turn back the evils upon my enemies; and cut them off in thy truth. 53:8. I will freely sacrifice to thee, and will give praise, O God, to thy name: because it is good: 53:9. For thou hast delivered me out of all trouble: and my eye hath looked down upon my enemies. Psalms Chapter 54 Exaudi, Deus. A prayer of a just man under persecution from the wicked. It agrees to Christ persecuted by the Jews, and betrayed by Judas. 54:1. Unto the end, in verses, understanding for David. 54:2. Hear, O God, my prayer, and despise not my supplication: 54:3. Be attentive to me and hear me. I am grieved in my exercise; and am troubled, 54:4. At the voice of the enemy, and at the tribulation of the sinner. For they have cast iniquities upon me: and in wrath they were troublesome to me. 54:5. My heart is troubled within me: and the fear of death is fallen upon me. 54:6. Fear and trembling are come upon me: and darkness hath covered me. 54:7. And I said: Who will give me wings like a dove, and I will fly and be at rest? 54:8. Lo, I have gone far off flying away; and I abode in the wilderness. 54:9. I waited for him that hath saved me from pusillanimity of spirit, and a storm. 54:10. Cast down, O Lord, and divide their tongues; for I have seen iniquity and contradiction in the city. 54:11. Day and night shall iniquity surround it upon its walls: and in the midst thereof are labour, 54:12. And injustice. And usury and deceit have not departed from its streets. 54:13. For if my enemy had reviled me, I would verily have borne with it. And if he that hated me had spoken great things against me, I would perhaps have hidden my self from him. 54:14. But thou a man of one mind, my guide, and my familiar, 54:15. Who didst take sweetmeats together with me: in the house of God we walked with consent. 54:16. Let death come upon them, and let them go down alive into hell. For there is wickedness in their dwellings: in the midst of them. Let death, etc... This, and such like imprecations which occur in the psalms, are delivered prophetically; that is, by way of foretelling the punishments which shall fall upon the wicked from divine justice, and approving the righteous ways of God: but not by way of ill will, or uncharitable curses, which the law of God disallows. 54:17. But I have cried to God: and the Lord will save me. 54:18. Evening and morning, and at noon I will speak and declare: and he shall hear my voice. 54:19. He shall redeem my soul in peace from them that draw near to me: for among many they were with me. Among many, etc... That is, they that drew near to attack me were many in company all combined to fight against me. 54:20. God shall hear, and the Eternal shall humble them. For there is no change with them, and they have not feared God: 54:21. He hath stretched forth his hand to repay. They have defiled his covenant, 54:22. They are divided by the wrath of his countenance, and his heart hath drawn near. His words are smoother than oil, and the same are darts. They are divided, etc... Dispersed, scattered, and brought to nothing, by the wrath of God; who looks with indignation on their wicked and deceitful ways. 54:23. Cast thy care upon the Lord, and he shall sustain thee: he shall not suffer the just to waver for ever. 54:24. But thou, O God, shalt bring them down into the pit of destruction. Bloody and deceitful men shall not live out half their days; but I will trust in thee, O Lord. Psalms Chapter 55 Miserere mei, Deus. A prayer of David in danger and distress. 55:1. Unto the end, for a people that is removed at a distance form the sanctuary: for David, for an inscription of a title (or pillar) when the Philistines held him in Geth. 55:2. Have mercy on me, O God, for man hath trodden me under foot; all the day long he hath afflicted me fighting against me. 55:3. My enemies have trodden on me all the day long; for they are many that make war against me. 55:4. From the height of the day I shall fear: but I will trust in thee. The height of the day... That is, even at noonday, when the sun is the highest, I am still in danger. 55:5. In God I will praise my words, in God I have put my trust: I will not fear what flesh can do against me. My words... The words or promises God has made in my favour. 55:6. All the day long they detested my words: all their thoughts were against me unto evil. 55:7. They will dwell and hide themselves: they will watch my heel. As they have waited for my soul, 55:8. For nothing shalt thou save them: in thy anger thou shalt break the people in pieces. O God, For nothing shalt thou save them... That is, since they lie in wait to ruin my soul, thou shalt for no consideration favour or assist them, but execute thy justice upon them. 55:9. I have declared to thee my life: thou hast set me tears in thy sight, As also in thy promise. 55:10. Then shall my enemies be turned back. In what day soever I shall call upon thee, behold I know thou art my God. 55:11. In God will I praise the word, in the Lord will I praise his speech. In God have I hoped, I will not fear what man can do to me. 55:12. In me, O God, are vows to thee, which I will pay, praises to thee: 55:13. Because thou hast delivered my soul from death, my feet from falling: that I may please in the sight of God, in the light of the living. Psalms Chapter 56 Miserere mei, Deus. The prophet prays in his affliction, and praises God for his delivery. 56:1. Unto the end, destroy not, for David, for an inscription of a title, when he fled from Saul into the cave. [1 Kings 24.] Destroy not... Suffer me not to be destroyed. 56:2. Have mercy on me, O God, have mercy on me: for my soul trusteth in thee. And in the shadow of thy wings will I hope, until iniquity pass away. 56:3. I will cry to God the most high; to God who hath done good to me. 56:4. He hath sent from heaven and delivered me: he hath made them a reproach that trod upon me. God hath sent his mercy and his truth, 56:5. And he hath delivered my soul from the midst of the young lions. I slept troubled. The sons of men, whose teeth are weapons and arrows, and their tongue a sharp sword. 56:6. Be thou exalted, O God, above the heavens, and thy glory above all the earth. 56:7. They prepared a snare for my feet; and they bowed down my soul. They dug a pit before my face, and they are fallen into it. 56:8. My heart is ready, O God, my heart is ready: I will sing, and rehearse a psalm. 56:9. Arise, O my glory, arise psaltery and harp: I will arise early. 56:10. I will give praise to thee, O Lord, among the people: I will sing a psalm to thee among the nations. 56:11. For thy mercy is magnified even to the heavens: and thy truth unto the clouds. 56:12. Be thou exalted, O God, above the heavens: and thy glory above all the earth. Psalms Chapter 57 Si vere utique. David reproveth the wicked, and foretelleth their punishment. 57:1. Unto the end, destroy not, for David, for an inscription of a title. 57:2. If in very deed ye speak justice: judge right things, ye sons of men. 57:3. For in your heart you work iniquity: your hands forge injustice in the earth. 57:4. The wicked are alienated from the womb; they have gone astray from the womb: they have spoken false things. 57:5. Their madness is according to the likeness of a serpent: like the deaf asp that stoppeth her ears: 57:6. Which will not hear the voice of the charmers; nor of the wizard that charmeth wisely. 57:7. God shall break in pieces their teeth in their mouth: the Lord shall break the grinders of the lions. 57:8. They shall come to nothing, like water running down; he hath bent his bow till they be weakened. 57:9. Like wax that melteth they shall be taken away: fire hath fallen on them, and they shall not see the sun. 57:10. Before your thorns could know the brier; he swalloweth them up, as alive, in his wrath. Before your thorns, etc... That is, before your thorns grow up, so as to become strong briers, they shall be overtaken and consumed by divine justice, swallowing them up, as it were, alive in his wrath. 57:11. The just shall rejoice when he shall see the revenge: he shall wash his hands in the blood of the sinner. Shall wash his hands, etc... Shall applaud the justice of God, and take occasion from the consideration of the punishment of the wicked to wash and cleanse his hands from sin. 57:12. And man shall say: If indeed there be fruit to the just: there is indeed a God that judgeth them on the earth. Psalms Chapter 58 Eripe me. A prayer to be delivered from the wicked, with confidence in God's help and protection. It agrees to Christ and his enemies the Jews. 58:1. Unto the end, destroy not, for David for an inscription of a title, when Saul sent and watched his house to kill him. [1 Kings 19.] 58:2. Deliver me from my enemies, O my God; and defend me from them that rise up against me. 58:3. Deliver me from them that work iniquity, and save me from bloody men. 58:4. For behold they have caught my soul: the mighty have rushed in upon me: 58:5. Neither is it my iniquity, nor my sin, O Lord: without iniquity have I run, and directed my steps. 58:6. Rise up thou to meet me, and behold: even thou, O Lord, the God of hosts, the God of Israel. Attend to visit all the nations: have no mercy on all them that work iniquity. 58:7. They shall return at evening, and shall suffer hunger like dogs: and shall go round about the city. 58:8. Behold they shall speak with their mouth, and a sword is in their lips: for who, say they, hath heard us? 58:9. But thou, O Lord, shalt laugh at them: thou shalt bring all the nations to nothing. 58:10. I will keep my strength to thee: for thou art my protector: 58:11. My God, his mercy shall prevent me. 58:12. God shall let me see over my enemies: slay them not, lest at any time my people forget. Scatter them by thy power; and bring them down, O Lord, my protector: 58:13. For the sin of their mouth, and the word of their lips: and let them be taken in their pride. And for their cursing and lying they shall be talked of, 58:14. When they are consumed: when they are consumed by thy wrath, and they shall be no more. And they shall know that God will rule Jacob, and all the ends of the earth. 58:15. They shall return at evening and shall suffer hunger like dogs: and shall go round about the city. 58:16. They shall be scattered abroad to eat, and shall murmur if they be not filled. 58:17. But I will sing thy strength: and will extol thy mercy in the morning. For thou art become my support, and my refuge, in the day of my trouble. 58:18. Unto thee, O my helper, will I sing, for thou art God my defence: my God my mercy. Psalms Chapter 59 Deus, repulisti nos. After many afflictions, the church of Christ shall prevail. 59:1. Unto the end, for them that shall be changed, for the inscription of a title, to David himself, for doctrine, 59:2. When he set fire to Mesopotamia of Syria and Sobal: and Joab returned and slew of Edom, in the vale of the saltpits, twelve thousand men. 59:3. O God, thou hast cast us off, and hast destroyed us; thou hast been angry, and hast had mercy on us. 59:4. Thou hast moved the earth, and hast troubled it: heal thou the breaches thereof, for it has been moved. 59:5. Thou hast shewn thy people hard things; thou hast made us drink the wine of sorrow. 59:6. Thou hast given a warning to them that fear thee: that they may flee from before the bow: That thy beloved may be delivered. 59:7. Save me with thy right hand, and hear me. 59:8. God hath spoken in his holy place: I will rejoice, and I will divide Sichem; and will mete out the vale of tabernacles. 59:9. Galaad is mine, and Manasses is mine: and Ephraim is the strength of my head. Juda is my king: 59:10. Moab is the pot of my hope. Into Edom will I stretch out my shoe: to me the foreigners are made subject. The pot of my hope... Or my watering pot. That is, a vessel for meaner uses, by being reduced to serve me, even in the meanest employments. Ibid. Foreigners... So the Philistines are called, who had no kindred with the Israelites; whereas the Edomites, Moabites, etc., were originally of the same family. 59:11. Who will bring me into the strong city? who will lead me into Edom? 59:12. Wilt not thou, O God, who hast cast us off? and wilt not thou, O God, go out with our armies? 59:13. Give us help from trouble: for vain is the salvation of man. 59:14. Through God we shall do mightily: and he shall bring to nothing them that afflict us. Psalms Chapter 60 Exaudi, Deus. A prayer for the coming of the kingdom of Christ, which shall have no end. 60:1. Unto the end, in hymns, for David. 60:2. Hear, O God, my supplication: be attentive to my prayer. 60:3. To thee have I cried from the ends of the earth: when my heart was in anguish, thou hast exalted me on a rock. Thou hast conducted me; 60:4. For thou hast been my hope; a tower of strength against the face of the enemy. 60:5. In thy tabernacle I shall dwell for ever: I shall be protected under the covert of thy wings. 60:6. For thou, my God, hast heard my prayer: thou hast given an inheritance to them that fear thy name. 60:7. Thou wilt add days to the days of the king: his years even to generation and generation. 60:8. He abideth for ever in the sight of God: his mercy and truth who shall search? 60:9. So will I sing a psalm to thy name for ever and ever: that I may pay my vows from day to day. Psalms Chapter 61 Nonne Deo. The prophet encourageth himself and all others to trust in God, and serve him. 61:1. Unto the end, for Idithun, a psalm of David. 61:2. Shall not my soul be subject to God? for from him is my salvation. 61:3. For he is my God and my saviour: he is my protector, I shall be moved no more. 61:4. How long do you rush in upon a man? you all kill, as if you were thrusting down a leaning wall, and a tottering fence. 61:5. But they have thought to cast away my price; I ran in thirst: they blessed with their mouth, but cursed with their heart. 61:6. But be thou, O my soul, subject to God: for from him is my patience. 61:7. For he is my God and my saviour: he is my helper, I shall not be moved. 61:8. In God is my salvation and my glory: he is the God of my help, and my hope is in God. 61:9. Trust in him, all ye congregation of people: pour out your hearts before him. God is our helper for ever. 61:10. But vain are the sons of men, the sons of men are liars in the balances: that by vanity they may together deceive. Are liars in the balances, etc... They are so vain and light, that if they are put into the scales, they will be found to be of no weight; and to be mere lies, deceit, and vanity. Or, They are liars in their balances, by weighing things by false weights, and preferring the temporal before the eternal. 61:11. Trust not in iniquity, and cover not robberies: if riches abound, set not your heart upon them. 61:12. God hath spoken once, these two things have I heard, that power belongeth to God, 61:13. And mercy to thee, O Lord; for thou wilt render to every man according to his works. Psalms Chapter 62 Deus Deus meus, ad te. The prophet aspireth after God. 62:1. A psalm of David while he was in the desert of Edom. 62:2. O God, my God, to thee do I watch at break of day. For thee my soul hath thirsted; for thee my flesh, O how many ways! 62:3. In a desert land, and where there is no way, and no water: so in the sanctuary have I come before thee, to see thy power and thy glory. 62:4. For thy mercy is better than lives: thee my lips will praise. 62:5. Thus will I bless thee all my life long: and in thy name I will lift up my hands. 62:6. Let my soul be filled as with marrow and fatness: and my mouth shall praise thee with joyful lips. 62:7. If I have remembered thee upon my bed, I will meditate on thee in the morning: 62:8. Because thou hast been my helper. And I will rejoice under the covert of thy wings: 62:9. My soul hath stuck close to thee: thy right hand hath received me. 62:10. But they have fought my soul in vain, they shall go into the lower parts of the earth: 62:11. They shall be delivered into the hands of the sword, they shall be the portions of foxes. 62:12. But the king shall rejoice in God, all they shall be praised that swear by him: because the mouth is stopped of them that speak wicked things. Psalms Chapter 63 Exaudi Deus orationem. A prayer in affliction, with confidence in God that he will bring to nought the machinations of persecutors. 63:1. Unto the end, a psalm for David. 63:2. Hear O God, my prayer, when I make supplication to thee: deliver my soul from the fear of the enemy. 63:3. Thou hast protected me from the assembly of the malignant; from the multitude of the workers of iniquity. 63:4. For they have whetted their tongues like a sword; they have bent their bow a bitter thing, 63:5. To shoot in secret the undefiled. 63:6. They will shoot at him on a sudden, and will not fear: they are resolute in wickedness. They have talked of hiding snares; they have said: Who shall see them? 63:7. They have searched after iniquities: they have failed in their search. Man shall come to a deep heart: A deep heart... That is, crafty, subtle, deep projects and designs; which nevertheless shall not succeed; for God shall be exalted in bringing them to nought by his wisdom and power. 63:8. And God shall be exalted. The arrows of children are their wounds: The arrows of children are their wounds... That is, the wounds, stripes, or blows, they seek to inflict upon the just, are but like the weak efforts of children's arrows, which can do no execution: and their tongues, that is, their speeches against them come to nothing. 63:9. And their tongues against them are made weak. All that saw them were troubled; 63:10. And every man was afraid. And they declared the works of God, and understood his doings. 63:11. The just shall rejoice in the Lord, and shall hope in him: and all the upright in heart shall be praised. Psalms Chapter 64 Te decet. God is to be praised in his church, to which all nations shall be called. 64:1. To the end, a psalm of David. The canticle of Jeremias and Ezechiel to the people of the captivity, when they began to go out. Of the captivity... That is, the people of the captivity of Babylon. This is not in the Hebrew, but is found in the ancient translation of the Septuagint. 64:2. A hymn, O God, becometh thee in Sion: and a vow shall be paid to thee in Jerusalem. 64:3. O hear my prayer: all flesh shall come to thee. 64:4. The words of the wicked have prevailed over us: and thou wilt pardon our transgressions. 64:5. Blessed is he whom thou hast chosen and taken to thee: he shall dwell in thy courts. We shall be filled with the good things of thy house; holy is thy temple, 64:6. Wonderful in justice. Hear us, O God our saviour, who art the hope of all the ends of the earth, and in the sea afar off. 64:7. Thou who preparest the mountains by thy strength, being girded with power: 64:8. Who troublest the depth of the sea, the noise of its waves. The Gentiles shall be troubled, 64:9. And they that dwell in the uttermost borders shall be afraid at thy signs: thou shalt make the outgoings of the morning and of the evening to be joyful. 64:10. Thou hast visited the earth, and hast plentifully watered it; thou hast many ways enriched it. The river of God is filled with water, thou hast prepared their food: for so is its preparation. 64:11. Fill up plentifully the streams thereof, multiply its fruits; it shall spring up and rejoice in its showers. 64:12. Thou shalt bless the crown of the year of thy goodness: and thy fields shall be filled with plenty. 64:13. The beautiful places of the wilderness shall grow fat: and the hills shall be girded about with joy, 64:14. The rams of the flock are clothed, and the vales shall abound with corn: they shall shout, yea they shall sing a hymn. Psalms Chapter 65 Jubilate Deo. An invitation to praise God. 65:1. Unto the end, a canticle of a psalm of the resurrection. Shout with joy to God, all the earth, 65:2. Sing ye a psalm to his name; give glory to his praise. 65:3. Say unto God, How terrible are thy works, O Lord! in the multitude of thy strength thy enemies shall lie to thee. 65:4. Let all the earth adore thee, and sing to thee: let it sing a psalm to thy name. 65:5. Come and see the works of God; who is terrible in his counsels over the sons of men. 65:6. Who turneth the sea into dry land, in the river they shall pass on foot: there shall we rejoice in him. 65:7. Who by his power ruleth for ever: his eyes behold the nations; let not them that provoke him be exalted in themselves. 65:8. O bless our God, ye Gentiles: and make the voice of his praise to be heard. 65:9. Who hath set my soul to live: and hath not suffered my feet to be moved: 65:10. For thou, O God, hast proved us: thou hast tried us by fire, as silver is tried. 65:11. Thou hast brought us into a net, thou hast laid afflictions on our back: 65:12. Thou hast set men over our heads. We have passed through fire and water, and thou hast brought us out into a refreshment. 65:13. I will go into thy house with burnt offerings: I will pay thee my vows, 65:14. Which my lips have uttered, And my mouth hath spoken, when I was in trouble. 65:15. I will offer up to thee holocausts full of marrow, with burnt offerings of rams: I will offer to thee bullocks with goats. 65:16. Come and hear, all ye that fear God, and I will tell you what great things he hath done for my soul. 65:17. I cried to him with my mouth: and I extolled him with my tongue. 65:18. If I have looked at iniquity in my heart, the Lord will not hear me. 65:19. Therefore hath God heard me, and hath attended to the voice of my supplication. 65:20. Blessed be God, who hath not turned away my prayer, nor his mercy from me. Psalms Chapter 66 Deus misereatur. A prayer for the propagation of the church. 66:1. Unto the end, in hymns, a psalm of a canticle for David. 66:2. May God have mercy on us, and bless us: may he cause the light of his countenance to shine upon us, and may he have mercy on us. 66:3. That we may know thy way upon earth: thy salvation in all nations. 66:4. Let people confess to thee, O God: let all people give praise to thee. 66:5. Let the nations be glad and rejoice: for thou judgest the people with justice, and directest the nations upon earth. 66:6. Let the people, O God, confess to thee: let all the people give praise to thee: 66:7. The earth hath yielded her fruit. May God, our God bless us, 66:8. May God bless us: and all the ends of the earth fear him. Psalms Chapter 67 Exurgat Deus. The glorious establishment of the church of the New Testament, prefigured by the benefits bestowed on the people of Israel. 67:1. Unto the end, a psalm of a canticle for David himself. 67:2. Let God arise, and let his enemies be scattered: and let them that hate him flee from before his face. 67:3. As smoke vanisheth, so let them vanish away: as wax melteth before the fire, so let the wicked perish at the presence of God. 67:4. And let the just feast, and rejoice before God: and be delighted with gladness. 67:5. Sing ye to God, sing a psalm to his name, make a way for him who ascendeth upon the west: the Lord is his name. Rejoice ye before him: but the wicked shall be troubled at his presence, Who ascendeth upon the west... Super occasum. St. Gregory understands it of Christ, who after his going down, like the sun, in the west, by his passion and death, ascended more glorious, and carried all before him. St. Jerome renders it, who ascendeth, or cometh up, through the deserts. 67:6. Who is the father of orphans, and the judge of widows. God in his holy place: 67:7. God who maketh men of one manner to dwell in a house: Who bringeth out them that were bound in strength; in like manner them that provoke, that dwell in sepulchres. Of one manner... That is, agreeing in faith, unanimous in love, and following the same manner of discipline. It is verified in the servants of God, living together in his house, which is the church. 1 Tim. 3.15. Ibid. Them that were bound, etc... The power and mercy of God appears in his bringing out of their captivity those that were strongly bound in their sins: and in restoring to his grace those whose behaviour had been most provoking; and who by their evil habits were not only dead, but buried in their sepulchres. 67:8. O God, when thou didst go forth in the sight of thy people, when thou didst pass through the desert: 67:9. The earth was moved, and the heavens dropped at the presence of the God of Sina, at the presence of the God of Israel. 67:10. Thou shalt set aside for thy inheritance a free rain, O God: and it was weakened, but thou hast made it perfect. A free rain... the manna, which rained plentifully from heaven, in favour of God's inheritance, that is, of his people Israel: which was weakened indeed under a variety of afflictions, but was made perfect by God; that is, was still supported by divine providence, and brought on to the promised land. It agrees particularly to the church of Christ his true inheritance, which is plentifully watered with the free rain of heavenly grace; and through many infirmities, that is, crosses and tribulations, is made perfect, and fitted for eternal glory. 67:11. In it shall thy animals dwell; in thy sweetness, O God, thou hast provided for the poor. In it, etc... That is, in this church, which is thy fold and thy inheritance, shall thy animals, thy sheep, dwell: where thou hast plentifully provided for them. 67:12. The Lord shall give the word to them that preach good tidings with great power. To them that preach good tidings... Evangelizantibus. That is, to the preachers of the gospel; who receiving the word from the Lord, shall with great power and efficacy preach throughout the world the glad tidings of a Saviour, and of eternal salvation through him. 67:13. The king of powers is of the beloved, of the beloved; and the beauty of the house shall divide spoils. The king of powers... That is, the mighty King, the Lord of hosts, is of the beloved, of the beloved; that is, is on the side of Christ, his most beloved son: and his beautiful house, viz., the church, in which God dwells forever, shall by her spiritual conquests divide the spoils of many nations. The Hebrew (as it now stands pointed) is thus rendered, The kings of armies have fled, they have fled, and she that dwells at home (or the beauty of the house) shall divide the spoils. 67:14. If you sleep among the midst of lots, you shall be as the wings of a dove covered with silver, and the hinder parts of her back with the paleness of gold. If you sleep among the midst of lots (intermedios cleros, etc.)... Viz., in such dangers and persecutions, as if your enemies were casting lots for your goods and persons: or in the midst of the lots, (intermedios terminos, as St. Jerome renders it,) that is, upon the very bounds or borders of the dominions of your enemies: you shall be secure nevertheless under the divine protection; and shall be enabled to fly away, like a dove, with glittering wings and feathers shining like the palest and most precious gold; that is, with great increase of virtue, and glowing with the fervour of charity. 67:15. When he that is in heaven appointeth kings over her, they shall be whited with snow in Selmon. Kings over her... That is, pastors and rulers over his church, viz., the apostles and their successors. Then by their ministry shall men be made whiter than the snow which lies on the top of the high mountain Selmon. 67:16. The mountain of God is a fat mountain. A curdled mountain, a fat mountain. The mountain of God... The church, which, Isa. 2.2, is called The mountain of the house of the Lord upon the top of mountains. It is here called a fat and a curdled mountain; that is to say, most fruitful, and enriched by the spiritual gifts and graces of the Holy Ghost. 67:17. Why suspect, ye curdled mountains? A mountain in which God is well pleased to dwell: for there the Lord shall dwell unto the end. Why suspect, ye curdled mountains?... Why do you suppose or imagine there may be any other such curdled mountains? You are mistaken: the mountain thus favoured by God is but one; and this same he has chosen for his dwelling for ever. 67:18. The chariot of God is attended by ten thousands; thousands of them that rejoice: the Lord is among them in Sina, in the holy place. The chariot of God... Descending to give his law on mount Sina: as also of Jesus Christ his Son, ascending into heaven, to send from thence the Holy Ghost, to publish his new law, is attended with ten thousands, that is, with an innumerable multitude of joyful angels. 67:19. Thou hast ascended on high, thou hast led captivity captive; thou hast received gifts in men. Yea for those also that do not believe, the dwelling of the Lord God. Led captivity captive... Carrying away with thee to heaven those who before had been the captives of Satan; and receiving from God the Father gifts to be distributed to men; even to those who were before unbelievers. 67:20. Blessed be the Lord day by day: the God of our salvation will make our journey prosperous to us. 67:21. Our God is the God of salvation: and of the Lord, of the Lord are the issues from death. The issues from death... The Lord alone is master of the issues, by which we may escape from death. 67:22. But God shall break the heads of his enemies: the hairy crown of them that walk on in their sins. 67:23. The Lord said: I will turn them from Basan, I will turn them into the depth of the sea: I will turn them from Basan, etc... I will cast out my enemies from their rich possessions, signified by Basan, a fruitful country; and I will drive them into the depth of the sea: and make such a slaughter of them, that the feet of my servants may be dyed in their blood, etc. 67:24. That thy foot may be dipped in the blood of thy enemies; the tongue of thy dogs be red with the same. 67:25. They have seen thy goings, O God, the goings of my God: of my king who is in his sanctuary. Thy goings... Thy ways, thy proceedings, by which thou didst formerly take possession of the promised land in favour of thy people; and shalt afterwards of the whole world, which thou shalt subdue to thy Son. 67:26. Princes went before joined with singers, in the midst of young damsels playing on timbrels. Princes... The apostles, the first converters of nations; attended by numbers of perfect souls, singing the divine praises, and virgins consecrated to God. 67:27. In the churches bless ye God the Lord, from the fountains of Israel. From the fountains of Israel... From whom both Christ and his apostles sprung. By Benjamin, the holy fathers on this place understand St. Paul, who was of that tribe, named here a youth, because he was the last called to the apostleship. By the princes of Juda, Zabulon, and Nephthali, we may understand the other apostles, who were of the tribe of Juda; or of the tribes of Zabulon, and Nephthali, where our Lord began to preach, Matt. 4.13, etc. 67:28. There is Benjamin a youth, in ecstasy of mind. The princes of Juda are their leaders: the princes of Zabulon, the princes of Nephthali. 67:29. Command thy strength, O God confirm, O God, what thou hast wrought in us. Command thy strength.. Give orders that thy strength may be always with us. 67:30. From thy temple in Jerusalem, kings shall offer presents to thee. 67:31. Rebuke the wild beasts of the reeds, the congregation of bulls with the kine of the people; who seek to exclude them who are tried with silver. Scatter thou the nations that delight in wars: Rebuke the wild beasts of the reeds... or the wild beasts, which lie hid in the reeds. That is, the devils, who hide themselves in order to surprise their prey. Or by wild beasts, are here understood persecutors, who, for all their attempts against the Church, are but as weak reeds, which cannot prevail against them who are supported by the strength of the Almighty. The same are also called the congregation of bulls (from their rage against the Church) who assemble together all their kine, that is, the people their subjects, to exclude if they can, from Christ and his inheritance, his constant confessors, who are like silver tried by fire. 67:32. Ambassadors shall come out of Egypt: Ethiopia shall soon stretch out her hands to God. Ambassadors shall come, etc... It is a prophecy of the conversion of the Gentiles, and by name of the Egyptians and Ethiopians. 67:33. Sing to God, ye kingdoms of the earth: sing ye to the Lord: Sing ye to God, 67:34. Who mounteth above the heaven of heavens, to the east. Behold he will give to his voice the voice of power: To the east... From mount Olivet, which is on the east side of Jerusalem.-Ibid. The voice of power... That is, he will make his voice to be a powerful voice: by calling from death to life, such as were dead in mortal sin: as at the last day he will by the power of his voice call all the dead from their graves. 67:35. Give ye glory to God for Israel, his magnificence, and his power is in the clouds. 67:36. God is wonderful in his saints: the God of Israel is he who will give power and strength to his people. Blessed be God. Psalms Chapter 68 Salvum me fac, Deus. Christ in his passion declareth the greatness of his sufferings, and the malice of his persecutors the Jews; and foretelleth their reprobation. 68:1. Unto the end, for them that shall be changed; for David. For them that shall be changed... A psalm for Christian converts, to remember the passion of Christ. 68:2. Save me, O God: for the waters are come in even unto my soul. The waters... Of afflictions and sorrows. My soul is sorrowful even unto death. Matt. 26.38. 68:3. I stick fast in the mire of the deep and there is no sure standing. I am come into the depth of the sea, and a tempest hath overwhelmed me. 68:4. I have laboured with crying; my jaws are become hoarse, my eyes have failed, whilst I hope in my God. 68:5. They are multiplied above the hairs of my head, who hate me without cause. My enemies are grown strong who have wrongfully persecuted me: then did I pay that which I took not away. I pay that which I took not away... Christ in his passion made restitution of what he had not taken away, by suffering the punishment due to our sins, and so repairing the injury we had done to God. 68:6. O God, thou knowest my foolishness; and my offences are not hidden from thee: My foolishness and my offences... which my enemies impute to me: or the follies and sins of men, which I have taken upon myself. 68:7. Let not them be ashamed for me, who look for thee, O Lord, the Lord of hosts. Let them not be confounded on my account, who seek thee, O God of Israel. 68:8. Because for thy sake I have borne reproach; shame hath covered my face. 68:9. I am become a stranger to my brethren, and an alien to the sons of my mother. 68:10. For the zeal of thy house hath eaten me up: and the reproaches of them that reproached thee are fallen upon me. 68:11. And I covered my soul in fasting: and it was made a reproach to me. 68:12. And I made haircloth my garment: and I became a byword to them. 68:13. They that sat in the gate spoke against me: and they that drank wine made me their song. 68:14. But as for me, my prayer is to thee, O Lord; for the time of thy good pleasure, O God. In the multitude of thy mercy hear me, in the truth of thy salvation. 68:15. Draw me out of the mire, that I may not stick fast: deliver me from them that hate me, and out of the deep waters. 68:16. Let not the tempest of water drown me, nor the deep water swallow me up: and let not the pit shut her mouth upon me. 68:17. Hear me, O Lord, for thy mercy is kind; look upon me according to the multitude of thy tender mercies. 68:18. And turn not away thy face from thy servant: for I am in trouble, hear me speedily. 68:19. Attend to my soul, and deliver it: save me because of my enemies. 68:20. Thou knowest my reproach, and my confusion, and my shame. 68:21. In thy sight are all they that afflict me; my heart hath expected reproach and misery. And I looked for one that would grieve together with me, but there was none: and for one that would comfort me, and I found none. 68:22. And they gave me gall for my food, and in my thirst they gave me vinegar to drink. 68:23. Let their table become as a snare before them, and a recompense, and a stumblingblock. Let their table, etc... What here follows in the style of an imprecation, is a prophecy of the wretched state to which the Jews should be reduced in punishment of their wilful obstinacy. 68:24. Let their eyes be darkened that they see not; and their back bend thou down always. 68:25. Pour out thy indignation upon them: and let thy wrathful anger take hold of them. 68:26. Let their habitation be made desolate: and let there be none to dwell in their tabernacles. 68:27. Because they have persecuted him whom thou hast smitten; and they have added to the grief of my wounds. 68:28. Add thou iniquity upon their iniquity: and let them not come into thy justice. 68:29. Let them be blotted out of the book of the living; and with the just let them not be written. 68:30. But I am poor and sorrowful: thy salvation, O God, hath set me up. 68:31. I will praise the name of God with a canticle: and I will magnify him with praise. 68:32. And it shall please God better than a young calf, that bringeth forth horns and hoofs. 68:33. Let the poor see and rejoice: seek ye God, and your soul shall live. 68:34. For the Lord hath heard the poor: and hath not despised his prisoners. 68:35. Let the heavens and the earth praise him; the sea, and every thing that creepeth therein. 68:36. For God will save Sion, and the cities of Juda shall be built up. And they shall dwell there, and acquire it by inheritance. Sion... The catholic church. The cities of Juda, etc., her places of worship, which shall be established throughout the world. And there, viz., in this church of Christ, shall his servants dwell, etc. 68:37. And the seed of his servants shall possess it; and they that love his name shall dwell therein. Psalms Chapter 69 Deus in adjutorium. A prayer in persecution. 69:1. Unto the end, a psalm for David, to bring to remembrance that the Lord saved him. 69:2. O God, come to my assistance; O Lord, make haste to help me. 69:3. Let them be confounded and ashamed that seek my soul: 69:4. Let them be turned backward, and blush for shame that desire evils to me: Let them be presently turned away blushing for shame that say to me: 'Tis well, 'tis well. 'T is well, 't is well... Euge, euge. St. Jerome renders it, vah, vah! which is the voice of one insulting and deriding. Some understand it as a detestation of deceitful flatterers. 69:5. Let all that seek thee rejoice and be glad in thee; and let such as love thy salvation say always: The Lord be magnified. 69:6. But I am needy and poor; O God, help me. Thou art my helper and my deliverer: O lord, make no delay. Psalms Chapter 70 In te, Domine. A prayer for perseverance. 70:1. A psalm for David. Of the sons of Jonadab, and the former captives. In thee, O Lord, I have hoped, let me never be put to confusion: Of the sons of Jonadab... The Rechabites, of whom see Jer. 35. By this addition of the seventy-two interpreters, we gather that this psalm was usually sung in the synagogue, in the person of the Rechabites, and of those who were first carried away into captivity. 70:2. Deliver me in thy justice, and rescue me. Incline thy ear unto me, and save me. 70:3. Be thou unto me a God, a protector, and a place of strength: that thou mayst make me safe. For thou art my firmament and my refuge. 70:4. Deliver me, O my God, out of the hand of the sinner, and out of the hand of the transgressor of the law and of the unjust. 70:5. For thou art my patience, O Lord: my hope, O Lord, from my youth. 70:6. By thee have I been confirmed from the womb: from my mother's womb thou art my protector. Of thee I shall continually sing: 70:7. I am become unto many as a wonder, but thou art a strong helper. 70:8. Let my mouth be filled with praise, that I may sing thy glory; thy greatness all the day long. 70:9. Cast me not off in the time of old age: when my strength shall fail, do not thou forsake me. 70:10. For my enemies have spoken against me; and they that watched my soul have consulted together, 70:11. Saying: God hath forsaken him: pursue and take him, for there is none to deliver him. 70:12. O God, be not thou far from me: O my God, make haste to my help. 70:13. Let them be confounded and come to nothing that detract my soul; let them be covered with confusion and blame that seek my hurt. 70:14. But I will always hope; and will add to all thy praise. 70:15. My mouth shall shew forth thy justice; thy salvation all the day long. Because I have not known learning, Learning... As much as to say, I build not upon human learning, but only on the power and justice of God. 70:16. I will enter into the powers of the Lord: O Lord, I will be mindful of thy justice alone. 70:17. Thou hast taught me, O God, from my youth: and till now I will declare thy wonderful works. 70:18. And unto old age and grey hairs: O God, forsake me not, Until I shew forth thy arm to all the generation that is to come: Thy power, 70:19. And thy justice, O God, even to the highest great things thou hast done: O God, who is like to thee? 70:20. How great troubles hast thou shewn me, many and grievous: and turning thou hast brought me to life, and hast brought me back again from the depths of the earth: 70:21. Thou hast multiplied thy magnificence; and turning to me thou hast comforted me. 70:22. For I will also confess to thee thy truth with the instruments of psaltery: O God, I will sing to thee with the harp, thou holy one of Israel. 70:23. My lips shall greatly rejoice, when I shall sing to thee; and my soul which thou hast redeemed. 70:24. Yea and my tongue shall meditate on thy justice all the day; when they shall be confounded and put to shame that seek evils to me. Psalms Chapter 71 Deus, judicium tuum. A prophecy of the coming of Christ, and of his kingdom: prefigured by Solomon and his happy reign. 71:1. A psalm on Solomon. 71:2. Give to the king thy judgment, O God, and to the king's son thy justice: To judge thy people with justice, and thy poor with judgment. 71:3. Let the mountains receive peace for the people: and the hills justice. 71:4. He shall judge the poor of the people, and he shall save the children of the poor: and he shall humble the oppressor. 71:5. And he shall continue with the sun and before the moon, throughout all generations. 71:6. He shall come down like rain upon the fleece; and as showers falling gently upon the earth. 71:7. In his days shall justice spring up, and abundance of peace, till the moon be taken away. 71:8. And he shall rule from sea to sea, and from the river unto the ends of the earth. 71:9. Before him the Ethiopians shall fall down: and his enemies shall lick the ground. 71:10. The kings of Tharsis and the islands shall offer presents: the kings of the Arabians and of Saba shall bring gifts: 71:11. And all kings of the earth shall adore him: all nations shall serve him. 71:12. For he shall deliver the poor from the mighty: and the needy that had no helper. 71:13. He shall spare the poor and needy: and he shall save the souls of the poor. 71:14. He shall redeem their souls from usuries and iniquity: and their names shall be honourable in his sight. 71:15. And he shall live, and to him shall be given of the gold of Arabia, for him they shall always adore: they shall bless him all the day. 71:16. And there shall be a firmament on the earth on the tops of mountains, above Libanus shall the fruit thereof be exalted: and they of the city shall flourish like the grass of the earth. A firmament on the earth, etc... This may be understood of the church of Christ, ever firm and visible: and of the flourishing condition of its congregation. 71:17. Let his name be blessed for evermore: his name continueth before the sun. And in him shall all the tribes of the earth be blessed: all nations shall magnify him. 71:18. Blessed be the Lord, the God of Israel, who alone doth wonderful things. 71:19. And blessed be the name of his majesty for ever: and the whole earth shall be filled with his majesty. So be it. So be it. 71:20. The praises of David, the son of Jesse, are ended. Are ended... By this it appears that this psalm, though placed here, was in order of time the last of those which David composed. Psalms Chapter 72 Quam bonus Israel Deus. The temptation of the weak, upon seeing the prosperity of the wicked, is overcome by the consideration of the justice of God, who will quickly render to every one according to his works. 72:1. A psalm for Asaph. How good is God to Israel, to them that are of a right heart! 72:2. But my feet were almost moved; my steps had well nigh slipped. 72:3. Because I had a zeal on occasion of the wicked, seeing the prosperity of sinners. 72:4. For there is no regard to their death, nor is there strength in their stripes. 72:5. They are not in the labour of men: neither shall they be scourged like other men. 72:6. Therefore pride hath held them fast: they are covered with their iniquity and their wickedness. 72:7. Their iniquity hath come forth, as it were from fatness: they have passed into the affection of the heart. Fatness... Abundance and temporal prosperity, which hath encouraged them in their iniquity: and made them give themselves up to their irregular affections. 72:8. They have thought and spoken wickedness: they have spoken iniquity on high. 72:9. They have set their mouth against heaven: and their tongue hath passed through the earth. 72:10. Therefore will my people return here and full days shall be found in them. Return here... or hither. The weak among the servants of God, will be apt often to return to this thought, and will be shocked when they consider the full days, that is, the long and prosperous life of the wicked; and will be tempted to make the reflections against providence which are set down in the following verses. 72:11. And they said: How doth God know? and is there knowledge in the most High? 72:12. Behold these are sinners; and yet, abounding in the world they have obtained riches. 72:13. And I said: Then have I in vain justified my heart, and washed my hands among the innocent. 72:14. And I have been scourged all the day; and my chastisement hath been in the mornings. 72:15. If I said: I will speak thus; behold I should condemn the generation of thy children. If I said, etc... That is, if I should indulge such thoughts as these. 72:16. I studied that I might know this thing, it is a labour in my sight: 72:17. Until I go into the sanctuary of God, and understand concerning their last ends. 72:18. But indeed for deceits thou hast put it to them: when they were lifted up thou hast cast them down. Thou hast put it to them... In punishment of their deceits, or for deceiving them, thou hast brought evils upon them in their last end, which, in their prosperity they never apprehended. 72:19. How are they brought to desolation? they have suddenly ceased to be: they have perished by reason of their iniquity. 72:20. As the dream of them that awake, O Lord; so in thy city thou shalt bring their image to nothing. 72:21. For my heart hath been inflamed, and my reins have been changed: 72:22. And I am brought to nothing, and I knew not. 72:23. I am become as a beast before thee: and I am always with thee. 72:24. Thou hast held me by my right hand; and by thy will thou hast conducted me, and with thy glory thou hast received me. 72:25. For what have I in heaven? and besides thee what do I desire upon earth? 72:26. For thee my flesh and my heart hath fainted away: thou art the God of my heart, and the God that is my portion for ever. 72:27. For behold they that go far from thee shall perish: thou hast destroyed all them that are disloyal to thee. 72:28. But it is good for me to adhere to my God, to put my hope in the Lord God: That I may declare all thy praises, in the gates of the daughter of Sion. Psalms Chapter 73 Ut quid, Deus. A prayer of the church under grievous persecutions. 73:1. Understanding for Asaph. O God, why hast thou cast us off unto the end: why is thy wrath enkindled against the sheep of thy pasture? 73:2. Remember thy congregation, which thou hast possessed from the beginning. The sceptre of thy inheritance which thou hast redeemed: mount Sion in which thou hast dwelt. 73:3. Lift up thy hands against their pride unto the end; see what things the enemy hath done wickedly in the sanctuary. 73:4. And they that hate thee have made their boasts, in the midst of thy solemnity. They have set up their ensigns for signs, Their ensigns, etc... They have fixed their colours for signs and trophies, both on the gates, and on the highest top of the temple: and they knew not, that is, they regarded not the sanctity of the place. This psalm manifestly foretells the time of the Machabees, and the profanation of the temple by Antiochus. 73:5. And they knew not both in the going out and on the highest top. As with axes in a wood of trees, 73:6. They have cut down at once the gates thereof, with axe and hatchet they have brought it down. 73:7. They have set fire to thy sanctuary: they have defiled the dwelling place of thy name on the earth. 73:8. They said in their heart, the whole kindred of them together: Let us abolish all the festival days of God from the land. 73:9. Our signs we have not seen, there is now no prophet: and he will know us no more. 73:10. How long, O God, shall the enemy reproach: is the adversary to provoke thy name for ever? 73:11. Why dost thou turn away thy hand: and thy right hand out of the midst of thy bosom for ever? 73:12. But God is our king before ages: he hath wrought salvation in the midst of the earth. 73:13. Thou by thy strength didst make the sea firm: thou didst crush the heads of the dragons in the waters. The sea firm... By making the waters of the Red Sea stand like firm walls, whilst Israel passed through: and destroying the Egyptians called here dragons from their cruelty, in the same waters, with their king: casting up their bodies on the shore to be stripped by the Ethiopians inhabiting in those days the coast of Arabia. 73:14. Thou hast broken the heads of the dragon: thou hast given him to be meat for the people of the Ethiopians. 73:15. Thou hast broken up the fountains and the torrents: thou hast dried up the Ethan rivers. Ethan rivers... That is, rivers which run with strong streams. This was verified in Jordan, Jos. 3, and in Arnon, Num. 21.14. 73:16. Thine is the day, and thine is the night: thou hast made the morning light and the sun. 73:17. Thou hast made all the borders of the earth: the summer and the spring were formed by thee. 73:18. Remember this, the enemy hath reproached the Lord: and a foolish people hath provoked thy name. 73:19. Deliver not up to beasts the souls that confess to thee: and forget not to the end the souls of thy poor. 73:20. Have regard to thy covenant: for they that are the obscure of the earth have been filled with dwellings of iniquity. The obscure of the earth... Mean and ignoble wretches have been filled, that is, enriched, with houses of iniquity, that is, with our estates and possessions, which they have unjustly acquired. 73:21. Let not the humble be turned away with confusion: the poor and needy shall praise thy name. 73:22. Arise, O God, judge thy own cause: remember thy reproaches with which the foolish man hath reproached thee all the day. 73:23. Forget not the voices of thy enemies: the pride of them that hate thee ascendeth continually. Psalms Chapter 74 Confitebimur tibi. There is a just judgment to come: therefore let the wicked take care. 74:1. Unto the end, corrupt not, a psalm of a canticle for Asaph. Corrupt not... It is believed to have been the beginning of some ode or hymn, to the tune of which this psalm was to be sung. St. Augustine and other fathers take it to be an admonition of the spirit of God, not to faint or fail in our hope: but to persevere with constancy in good: because God will not fail in his due time to render to every man according to his works. 74:2. We will praise thee, O God: we will praise, and we will call upon thy name. We will relate thy wondrous works: 74:3. When I shall take a time, I will judge justices. When I shall take a time... In proper times: particularly at the last day, when the earth shall melt away at the presence of the great Judge: the same who originally laid the foundations of it, and as it were established its pillars. 74:4. The earth is melted, and all that dwell therein: I have established the pillars thereof. 74:5. I said to the wicked: Do not act wickedly: and to the sinners: Lift not up the horn. 74:6. Lift not up your horn on high: speak not iniquity against God. 74:7. For neither from the east, nor from the west, nor from the desert hills: 74:8. For God is the judge. One he putteth down, and another he lifteth up: 74:9. For in the hand of the Lord there is a cup of strong wine full of mixture. And he hath poured it out from this to that: but the dregs thereof are not emptied: all the sinners of the earth shall drink. 74:10. But I will declare for ever: I will sing to the God of Jacob. 74:11. And I will break all the horns of sinners: but the horns of the just shall be exalted. Psalms Chapter 75 Notus in Judaea. God is known in his church: and exerts his power in protecting it. It alludes to the slaughter of the Assyrians, in the days of king Ezechias. 75:1. Unto the end, in praises, a psalm for Asaph: a canticle to the Assyrians. 75:2. In Judea God is known: his name is great in Israel. 75:3. And his place is in peace: and his abode in Sion: 75:4. There hath he broken the powers of bows, the shield, the sword, and the battle. 75:5. Thou enlightenest wonderfully from the everlasting hills. 75:6. All the foolish of heart were troubled. They have slept their sleep; and all the men of riches have found nothing in their hands. 75:7. At thy rebuke, O God of Jacob, they have all slumbered that mounted on horseback. 75:8. Thou art terrible, and who shall resist thee? from that time thy wrath. From that time, etc... From the time that thy wrath shall break out. 75:9. Thou hast caused judgment to be heard from heaven: the earth trembled and was still, 75:10. When God arose in judgment, to save all the meek of the earth. 75:11. For the thought of man shall give praise to thee: and the remainders of the thought shall keep holiday to thee. 75:12. Vow ye, and pay to the Lord your God: all you that are round about him bring presents. To him that is terrible, 75:13. Even to him who taketh away the spirit of princes: to the terrible with the kings of the earth. Psalms Chapter 76 Voce mea. The faithful have recourse to God in trouble of mind, with confidence in his mercy and power. 76:1. Unto the end, for Idithun, a psalm of Asaph. 76:2. I cried to the Lord with my voice; to God with my voice, and he gave ear to me. 76:3. In the days of my trouble I sought God, with my hands lifted up to him in the night, and I was not deceived. My soul refused to be comforted: 76:4. I remembered God, and was delighted, and was exercised, and my spirit swooned away. 76:5. My eyes prevented the watches: I was troubled, and I spoke not. 76:6. I thought upon the days of old: and I had in my mind the eternal years. 76:7. And I meditated in the night with my own heart: and I was exercised and I swept my spirit. 76:8. Will God then cast off for ever? or will he never be more favourable again? 76:9. Or will he cut off his mercy for ever, from generation to generation? 76:10. Or will God forget to shew mercy? or will he in his anger shut up his mercies? 76:11. And I said, Now have I begun: this is the change of the right hand of the most High. 76:12. I remembered the works of the Lord: for I will be mindful of thy wonders from the beginning. 76:13. And I will meditate on all thy works: and will be employed in thy inventions. 76:14. Thy way, O God, is in the holy place: who is the great God like our God? 76:15. Thou art the God that dost wonders. Thou hast made thy power known among the nations: 76:16. With thy arm thou hast redeemed thy people the children of Jacob and of Joseph. 76:17. The waters saw thee, O God, the waters saw thee: and they were afraid, and the depths were troubled. 76:18. Great was the noise of the waters: the clouds sent out a sound. For thy arrows pass: 76:19. The voice of thy thunder in a wheel. Thy lightnings enlightened the world: the earth shook and trembled. 76:20. Thy way is in the sea, and thy paths in many waters: and thy footsteps shall not be known. 76:21. Thou hast conducted thy people like sheep, by the hand of Moses and Aaron. Psalms Chapter 77 Attendite. God's great benefits to the people of Israel, notwithstanding their ingratitude. 77:1. Understanding for Asaph. Attend, O my people, to my law: incline your ears to the words of my mouth. 77:2. I will open my mouth in parables: I will utter propositions from the beginning. Propositions... Deep and mysterious sayings. By this it appears that the historical facts of ancient times, commemorated in this psalm, were deep and mysterious: as being figures of great truths appertaining to the time of the New Testament. 77:3. How great things have we heard and known, and our fathers have told us. 77:4. They have not been hidden from their children, in another generation. Declaring the praises of the Lord, and his powers, and his wonders which he hath done. 77:5. And he set up a testimony in Jacob: and made a law in Israel. How great things he commanded our fathers, that they should make the same known to their children: 77:6. That another generation might know them. The children that should be born and should rise up, and declare them to their children. 77:7. That they may put their hope in God and may not forget the works of God: and may seek his commandments. 77:8. That they may not become like their fathers, a perverse and exasperating generation. A generation that set not their heart aright: and whose spirit was not faithful to God. 77:9. The sons of Ephraim who bend and shoot with the bow: they have turned back in the day of battle. 77:10. They kept not the covenant of God: and in his law they would not walk. 77:11. And they forgot his benefits, and his wonders that he had shewn them. 77:12. Wonderful things did he do in the sight of their fathers, in the land of Egypt, in the field of Tanis. 77:13. He divided the sea and brought them through: and he made the waters to stand as in a vessel. 77:14. And he conducted them with a cloud by day: and all the night with a light of fire. 77:15. He struck the rock in the wilderness: and gave them to drink, as out of the great deep. 77:16. He brought forth water out of the rock: and made streams run down as rivers. 77:17. And they added yet more sin against him: they provoked the most High to wrath in the place without water. 77:18. And they tempted God in their hearts, by asking meat for their desires. 77:19. And they spoke ill of God: they said: Can God furnish a table in the wilderness? 77:20. Because he struck the rock, and the waters gushed out, and the streams overflowed. Can he also give bread, or provide a table for his people? 77:21. Therefore the Lord heard, and was angry: and a fire was kindled against Jacob, and wrath came up against Israel. 77:22. Because they believed not in God: and trusted not in his salvation. 77:23. And he had commanded the clouds from above, and had opened the doors of heaven. 77:24. And had rained down manna upon them to eat, and had given them the bread of heaven. 77:25. Man ate the bread of angels: he sent them provisions in abundance. 77:26. He removed the south wind from heaven: and by his power brought in the southwest wind. 77:27. And he rained upon them flesh as dust: and feathered fowls like as the sand of the sea. 77:28. And they fell in the midst of their camp, round about their pavilions. 77:29. So they did eat, and were filled exceedingly, and he gave them their desire: 77:30. they were not defrauded of that which they craved. As yet their meat was in their mouth: 77:31. And the wrath of God came upon them. And he slew the fat ones amongst them, and brought down the chosen men of Israel. 77:32. In all these things they sinned still: and they behaved not for his wondrous works. 77:33. And their days were consumed in vanity, and their years in haste. 77:34. When he slew them, then they sought him: and they returned, and came to him early in the morning. 77:35. And they remembered that God was their helper: and the most high God their redeemer. 77:36. And they loved him with their mouth: and with their tongue they lied unto him: 77:37. But their heart was not right with him: nor were they counted faithful in his covenant. 77:38. But he is merciful, and will forgive their sins: and will not destroy them. And many a time did he turn away his anger: and did not kindle all his wrath. 77:39. And he remembered that they are flesh: a wind that goeth and returneth not. 77:40. How often did they provoke him in the desert: and move him to wrath in the place without water? 77:41. And they turned back and tempted God: and grieved the holy one of Israel. 77:42. They remembered not his hand, in the day that he redeemed them from the hand of him that afflicted them: 77:43. How he wrought his signs in Egypt, and his wonders in the field of Tanis. 77:44. And he turned their rivers into blood, and their showers that they might not drink. 77:45. He sent amongst them divers sorts of flies, which devoured them: and frogs which destroyed them. 77:46. And he gave up their fruits to the blast, and their labours to the locust. 77:47. And he destroyed their vineyards with hail, and their mulberry trees with hoarfrost. 77:48. And he gave up their cattle to the hail, and their stock to the fire. 77:49. And he sent upon them the wrath of his indignation: indignation and wrath and trouble, which he sent by evil angels. 77:50. He made a way for a path to his anger: he spared not their souls from death, and their cattle he shut up in death. 77:51. And he killed all the firstborn in the land of Egypt: the firstfruits of all their labour in the tabernacles of Cham. 77:52. And he took away his own people as sheep: and guided them in the wilderness like a flock. 77:53. And he brought them out in hope and they feared not: and the sea overwhelmed their enemies. 77:54. And he brought them into the mountain of his sanctuary: the mountain which his right hand had purchased. And he cast out the Gentiles before them: and by lot divided to them their land by a line of distribution. 77:55. And he made the tribes of Israel to dwell in their tabernacles. 77:56. Yet they tempted, and provoked the most high God: and they kept not his testimonies. 77:57. And they turned away, and kept not the covenant: even like their fathers they were turned aside as a crooked bow. 77:58. They provoked him to anger on their hills: and moved him to jealousy with their graven things. 77:59. God heard, and despised them, and he reduced Israel exceedingly as it were to nothing. 77:60. And he put away the tabernacle of Silo, his tabernacle where he dwelt among men. 77:61. And he delivered their strength into captivity: and their beauty into the hands of the enemy. 77:62. And he shut up his people under the sword: and he despised his inheritance. 77:63. Fire consumed their young men: and their maidens were not lamented. 77:64. Their priests fell by the sword: and their widows did not mourn. 77:65. And the Lord was awaked as one out of sleep, and like a mighty man that hath been surfeited with wine. 77:66. And he smote his enemies on the hinder parts: he put them to an everlasting reproach. 77:67. And he rejected the tabernacle of Joseph: and chose not the tribe of Ephraim: 77:68. But he chose the tribe of Juda, mount Sion which he loved. 77:69. And he built his sanctuary as of unicorns, in the land which he founded for ever. As of unicorns... That is, firm and strong like the horn of the unicorn. This is one of the chiefest of the propositions of this psalm, foreshewing the firm establishment of the one, true, and everlasting sanctuary of God, in his church. 77:70. And he chose his servant David, and took him from the flocks of sheep: he brought him from following the ewes great with young, 77:71. To feed Jacob his servant and Israel his inheritance. 77:72. And he fed them in the innocence of his heart: and conducted them by the skilfulness of his hands. Psalms Chapter 78 Deus, venerunt gentes. The church in time of persecution prayeth for relief. It seems to belong to the time of the Machabees. 78:1. A psalm for Asaph. O God, the heathens are come into thy inheritance, they have defiled thy holy temple: they have made Jerusalem as a place to keep fruit. 78:2. They have given the dead bodies of thy servants to be meat for the fowls of the air: the flesh of thy saints for the beasts of the earth. 78:3. They have poured out their blood as water, round about Jerusalem and there was none to bury them. 78:4. We are become a reproach to our neighbours: a scorn and derision to them that are round about us. 78:5. How long, O Lord, wilt thou be angry for ever: shall thy zeal be kindled like a fire? 78:6. Pour out thy wrath upon the nations that have not known thee: and upon the kingdoms that have not called upon thy name. 78:7. Because they have devoured Jacob; and have laid waste his place. 78:8. Remember not our former iniquities: let thy mercies speedily prevent us, for we are become exceeding poor. 78:9. Help us, O God, our saviour: and for the glory of thy name, O Lord, deliver us: and forgive us our sins for thy name's sake: 78:10. Lest they should say among the Gentiles: Where is their God? And let him be made known among the nations before our eyes, By the revenging the blood of thy servants, which hath been shed: 78:11. Let the sighing of the prisoners come in before thee. According to the greatness of thy arm, take possession of the children of them that have been put to death. 78:12. And render to our neighbours sevenfold in their bosom: the reproach wherewith they have reproached thee, O Lord. 78:13. But we thy people, and the sheep of thy pasture, will give thanks to thee for ever. We will shew forth thy praise, unto generation and generation. Psalms Chapter 79 Qui regis Israel. A prayer for the church in tribulation, commemorating God's former favours. 79:1. Unto the end, for them that shall be changed, a testimony for Asaph, a psalm. 79:2. Give ear, O thou that rulest Israel: thou that leadest Joseph like a sheep. Thou that sittest upon the cherubims, shine forth 79:3. Before Ephraim, Benjamin, and Manasses. Stir up thy might, and come to save us. 79:4. Convert us, O God: and shew us thy face, and we shall be saved. 79:5. O Lord God of hosts, how long wilt thou be angry against the prayer of thy servant? 79:6. How long wilt thou feed us with the bread of tears: and give us for our drink tears in measure? 79:7. Thou hast made us to be a contradiction to our neighbours: and our enemies have scoffed at us. 79:8. O God of hosts, convert us: and shew thy face, and we shall be saved. 79:9. Thou hast brought a vineyard out of Egypt: thou hast cast out the Gentiles and planted it. 79:10. Thou wast the guide of its journey in its sight: thou plantedst the roots thereof, and it filled the land. 79:11. The shadow of it covered the hills: and the branches thereof the cedars of God. 79:12. It stretched forth its branches unto the sea, and its boughs unto the river. 79:13. Why hast thou broken down the hedge thereof, so that all they who pass by the way do pluck it? 79:14. The boar out of the wood hath laid it waste: and a singular wild beast hath devoured it. 79:15. Turn again, O God of hosts, look down from heaven, and see, and visit this vineyard: 79:16. And perfect the same which thy right hand hath planted: and upon the son of man whom thou hast confirmed for thyself. 79:17. Things set on fire and dug down shall perish at the rebuke of thy countenance. Things set on fire, etc... So this vineyard of thine, almost consumed already, must perish, if thou continue thy rebukes. 79:18. Let thy hand be upon the man of thy right hand: and upon the son of man whom thou hast confirmed for thyself. The man of thy right hand... Christ. 79:19. And we depart not from thee, thou shalt quicken us: and we will call upon thy name. 79:20. O Lord God of hosts, convert us and shew thy face, and we shall be saved. Psalms Chapter 80 Exultate Deo. An invitation to a solemn praising of God. 80:1. Unto the end, for the winepresses, a psalm for Asaph himself. For the winepresses, etc... Torcularibus. It either signifies a musical instrument, or that this psalm was to be sung at the feast of the tabernacles after the gathering in of the vintage. 80:2. Rejoice to God our helper: sing aloud to the God of Jacob. 80:3. Take a psalm, and bring hither the timbrel: the pleasant psaltery with the harp. 80:4. Blow up the trumpet on the new moon, on the noted day of your solemnity. 80:5. For it is a commandment in Israel, and a judgment to the God of Jacob. 80:6. He ordained it for a testimony in Joseph, when he came out of the land of Egypt: he heard a tongue which he knew not. 80:7. He removed his back from the burdens: his hands had served in baskets. 80:8. Thou calledst upon me in affliction, and I delivered thee: I heard thee in the secret place of tempest: I proved thee at the waters of contradiction. In the secret place of tempest... Heb., Of thunder. When thou soughtest to hide thyself from the tempest: or, when I came down to mount Sina, hidden from thy eyes in a storm of thunder. 80:9. Hear, O my people, and I will testify to thee: O Israel, if thou wilt hearken to me, 80:10. There shall be no new god in thee: neither shalt thou adore a strange god. 80:11. For I am the Lord thy God, who brought thee out of the land of Egypt: open thy mouth wide, and I will fill it. 80:12. But my people heard not my voice: and Israel hearkened not to me. 80:13. So I let them go according to the desires of their heart: they shall walk in their own inventions. 80:14. If my people had heard me: if Israel had walked in my ways: 80:15. I should soon have humbled their enemies, and laid my hand on them that troubled them. 80:16. The enemies of the Lord have lied to him: and their time shall be for ever. Their time shall be forever... Impenitent sinners shall suffer for ever. 80:17. And he fed them with the fat of wheat, and filled them with honey out of the rock. Psalms Chapter 81 Deus stetit. An exhortation to judges and men in power. 81:1. A psalm for Asaph. God hath stood in the congregation of gods: and being in the midst of them he judgeth gods. 81:2. How long will you judge unjustly: and accept the persons of the wicked? 81:3. Judge for the needy and fatherless: do justice to the humble and the poor. 81:4. Rescue the poor; and deliver the needy out of the hand of the sinner. 81:5. They have not known nor understood: they walk on in darkness: all the foundations of the earth shall be moved. 81:6. I have said: You are gods and all of you the sons of the most High. 81:7. But you like men shall die: and shall fall like one of the princes. 81:8. Arise, O God, judge thou the earth: for thou shalt inherit among all the nations. Psalms Chapter 82 Deus, quis similis. A prayer against the enemies of God's church. 82:1. A canticle of a psalm for Asaph. 82:2. O God, who shall be like to thee? hold not thy peace, neither be thou still, O God. 82:3. For lo, thy enemies have made a noise: and they that hate thee have lifted up the head. 82:4. They have taken a malicious counsel against thy people, and have consulted against thy saints. 82:5. They have said: Come and let us destroy them, so that they be not a nation: and let the name of Israel be remembered no more. 82:6. For they have contrived with one consent: they have made a covenant together against thee, 82:7. The tabernacle of the Edomites, and the Ishmahelites: Moab, and the Agarens, 82:8. Gebal, and Ammon and Amalec: the Philistines, with the inhabitants of Tyre. 82:9. Yea, and the Assyrian also is joined with them: they are come to the aid of the sons of Lot. 82:10. Do to them as thou didst to Madian and to Sisara: as to Jabin at the brook of Cisson. 82:11. Who perished at Endor: and became as dung for the earth. 82:12. Make their princes like Oreb, and Zeb, and Zebee, and Salmana. All their princes, 82:13. Who have said: Let us possess the sanctuary of God for an inheritance. 82:14. O my God, make them like a wheel; and as stubble before the wind. 82:15. As fire which burneth the wood: and as a flame burning mountains: 82:16. So shalt thou pursue them with thy tempest: and shalt trouble them in thy wrath. 82:17. Fill their faces with shame; and they shall seek thy name, O Lord. 82:18. Let them be ashamed and troubled for ever and ever: and let them be confounded and perish. 82:19. And let them know that the Lord is thy name: thou alone art the most High over all the earth. Psalms Chapter 83 Quam dilecta. The soul aspireth after heaven; rejoicing in the mean time, in being in the communion of God's church upon earth. 83:1. Unto the end, for the winepresses, a psalm for the sons of Core. 83:2. How lovely are thy tabernacles, O Lord of hosts! 83:3. my soul longeth and fainteth for the courts of the Lord. My heart and my flesh have rejoiced in the living God. 83:4. For the sparrow hath found herself a house, and the turtle a nest for herself where she may lay her young ones: Thy altars, O Lord of hosts, my king and my God. 83:5. Blessed are they that dwell in thy house, O Lord: they shall praise thee for ever and ever. 83:6. Blessed is the man whose help is from thee: in his heart he hath disposed to ascend by steps, In his heart he hath disposed to ascend by steps, etc... Ascensiones in corde suo disposuit. As by steps men ascended to the temple of God situated on a hill; so the good Christian ascends towards the eternal temple by certain steps of virtue disposed or ordered within the heart: and this whilst he lives as yet in the body, in this vale of tears, the place which man hath set: that is, which he hath brought himself to: being cast out of paradise for his sin. 83:7. In the vale of tears, in the place which he hath set. 83:8. For the lawgiver shall give a blessing, they shall go from virtue to virtue: the God of gods shall be seen in Sion. 83:9. O Lord God of hosts, hear my prayer: give ear, O God of Jacob. 83:10. Behold, O God our protector: and look on the face of thy Christ. 83:11. For better is one day in thy courts above thousands. I have chosen to be an abject in the house of my God, rather than to dwell in the tabernacles of sinners. 83:12. For God loveth mercy and truth: the Lord will give grace and glory. 83:13. He will not deprive of good things them that walk in innocence: O Lord of hosts, blessed is the man that trusteth in thee. Psalms Chapter 84 Benedixisti, Domine. The coming of Christ, to bring peace and salvation to man. 84:1. Unto the end, for the sons of Core, a psalm. 84:2. Lord, thou hast blessed thy land: thou hast turned away the captivity of Jacob. 84:3. Thou hast forgiven the iniquity of thy people: thou hast covered all their sins. 84:4. Thou hast mitigated all thy anger: thou hast turned away from the wrath of thy indignation. 84:5. Convert us, O God our saviour: and turn off thy anger from us. 84:6. Wilt thou be angry with us for ever: or wilt thou extend thy wrath from generation to generation? 84:7. Thou wilt turn, O God, and bring us to life: and thy people shall rejoice in thee. 84:8. Shew us, O Lord, thy mercy; and grant us thy salvation. 84:9. I will hear what the Lord God will speak in me: for he will speak peace unto his people: And unto his saints: and unto them that are converted to the heart. 84:10. Surely his salvation is near to them that fear him: that glory may dwell in our land. 84:11. Mercy and truth have met each other: justice and peace have kissed. 84:12. Truth is sprung out of the earth: and justice hath looked down from heaven. 84:13. For the Lord will give goodness: and our earth shall yield her fruit. 84:14. Justice shall walk before him: and shall set his steps in the way. Psalms Chapter 85 Inclina, Domine. A prayer for God's grace to assist us to the end. 85:1. A prayer for David himself. Incline thy ear, O Lord, and hear me: for I am needy and poor. 85:2. Preserve my soul, for I am holy: save thy servant, O my God, that trusteth in thee. I am holy... I am by my office and profession dedicated to thy service. 85:3. Have mercy on me, O Lord, for I have cried to thee all the day. 85:4. Give joy to the soul of thy servant, for to thee, O Lord, I have lifted up my soul. 85:5. For thou, O Lord, art sweet and mild: and plenteous in mercy to all that call upon thee. 85:6. Give ear, O Lord, to my prayer: and attend to the voice of my petition. 85:7. I have called upon thee in the day of my trouble: because thou hast heard me. 85:8. There is none among the gods like unto thee, O Lord: and there is none according to thy works. 85:9. All the nations thou hast made shall come and adore before thee, O Lord: and they shall glorify thy name. 85:10. For thou art great and dost wonderful things: thou art God alone. 85:11. Conduct me, O Lord, in thy way, and I will walk in thy truth: let my heart rejoice that it may fear thy name. 85:12. I will praise thee, O Lord my God, with my whole heart, and I will glorify thy name for ever: 85:13. For thy mercy is great towards me: and thou hast delivered my soul out of the lower hell. 85:14. O God, the wicked are risen up against me, and the assembly of the mighty have sought my soul: and they have not set thee before their eyes. 85:15. And thou, O Lord, art a God of compassion, and merciful, patient, and of much mercy, and true. 85:16. O look upon me, and have mercy on me: give thy command to thy servant, and save the son of thy handmaid. 85:17. Shew me a token for good: that they who hate me may see, and be confounded, because thou, O Lord, hast helped me and hast comforted me. Psalms Chapter 86 Fundamenta ejus. The glory of the church of Christ. 86:1. For the sons of Core, a psalm of a canticle. The foundations thereof are the holy mountains: The holy mountains... The apostles and prophets. Eph. 2.20. 86:2. The Lord loveth the gates of Sion above all the tabernacles of Jacob. 86:3. Glorious things are said of thee, O city of God. 86:4. I will be mindful of Rahab and of Babylon knowing me. Behold the foreigners, and Tyre, and the people of the Ethiopians, these were there. Rahab... Egypt, etc. To this Sion, which is the church of God, many shall resort from all nations. 86:5. Shall not Sion say: This man and that man is born in her? and the Highest himself hath founded her. Shall not Sion say, etc... The meaning is, that Sion, viz., the church, shall not only be able to commemorate this or that particular person of renown born in her, but also to glory in great multitudes of people and princes of her communion; who have been foretold in the writings of the prophets, and registered in the writings of the apostles. 86:6. The Lord shall tell in his writings of peoples and of princes, of them that have been in her. 86:7. The dwelling in thee is as it were of all rejoicing. Psalms Chapter 87 Domine, Deus salutis. A prayer of one under grievous affliction: it agrees to Christ in his passion, and alludes to his death and burial. 87:1. A canticle of a psalm for the sons of Core: unto the end, for Maheleth, to answer understanding of Eman the Ezrahite. Maheleth... A musical instrument, or chorus of musicians, to answer one another.-Ibid. Understanding... Or a psalm of instruction, composed by Eman the Ezrahite, or by David, in his name. 87:2. O Lord, the God of my salvation: I have cried in the day, and in the night before thee. 87:3. Let my prayer come in before thee: incline thy ear to my petition. 87:4. For my soul is filled with evils: and my life hath drawn nigh to hell. 87:5. I am counted among them that go down to the pit: I am become as a man without help, 87:6. Free among the dead. Like the slain sleeping in the sepulchres, whom thou rememberest no more: and they are cut off from thy hand. 87:7. They have laid me in the lower pit: in the dark places, and in the shadow of death. 87:8. Thy wrath is strong over me: and all thy waves thou hast brought in upon me. 87:9. Thou hast put away my acquaintance far from me: they have set me an abomination to themselves. I was delivered up, and came not forth: 87:10. My eyes languished through poverty. All the day I cried to thee, O Lord: I stretched out my hands to thee. 87:11. Wilt thou shew wonders to the dead? or shall physicians raise to life, and give praise to thee? 87:12. Shall any one in the sepulchre declare thy mercy: and thy truth in destruction? 87:13. Shall thy wonders be known in the dark; and thy justice in the land of forgetfulness? 87:14. But I, O Lord, have cried to thee: and in the morning my prayer shall prevent thee. 87:15. Lord, why castest thou off my prayer: why turnest thou away thy face from me? 87:16. I am poor, and in labours from my youth: and being exalted have been humbled and troubled. 87:17. Thy wrath hath come upon me: and thy terrors have troubled me. 87:18. They have come round about me like water all the day: they have compassed me about together. 87:19. Friend and neighbour thou hast put far from me: and my acquaintance, because of misery. Psalms Chapter 88 Misericordias Domini. The perpetuity of the church of Christ, in consequence of the promise of God: which, notwithstanding, God permits her to suffer sometimes most grievous afflictions. 88:1. Of understanding, for Ethan the Ezrahite. 88:2. The mercies of the Lord I will sing for ever. I will shew forth thy truth with my mouth to generation and generation. 88:3. For thou hast said: Mercy shall be built up for ever in the heavens: thy truth shall be prepared in them. 88:4. I have made a covenant with my elect: I have sworn to David my servant: 88:5. Thy seed will I settle for ever. And I will build up thy throne unto generation and generation. 88:6. The heavens shall confess thy wonders, O Lord: and thy truth in the church of the saints. 88:7. For who in the clouds can be compared to the Lord: or who among the sons of God shall be like to God? 88:8. God, who is glorified in the assembly of the saints: great and terrible above all them that are about him. 88:9. O Lord God of hosts, who is like to thee? thou art mighty, O Lord, and thy truth is round about thee. 88:10. Thou rulest the power of the sea: and appeasest the motion of the waves thereof. 88:11. Thou hast humbled the proud one, as one that is slain: with the arm of thy strength thou hast scattered thy enemies. 88:12. Thine are the heavens, and thine is the earth: the world and the fulness thereof thou hast founded: 88:13. The north and the sea thou hast created. Thabor and Hermon shall rejoice in thy name: 88:14. Thy arm is with might. Let thy hand be strengthened, and thy right hand exalted: 88:15. Justice and judgment are the preparation of thy throne. Mercy and truth shall go before thy face: 88:16. Blessed is the people that knoweth jubilation. They shall walk, O Lord, in the light of thy countenance: 88:17. And in thy name they shall rejoice all the day, and in thy justice they shall be exalted. 88:18. For thou art the glory of their strength: and in thy good pleasure shall our horn be exalted. 88:19. For our protection is of the Lord, and of our king the holy one of Israel. 88:20. Then thou spokest in a vision to thy saints, and saidst: I have laid help upon one that is mighty, and have exalted one chosen out of my people. 88:21. I have found David my servant: with my holy oil I have anointed him. 88:22. For my hand shall help him: and my arm shall strengthen him. 88:23. The enemy shall have no advantage over him: nor the son of iniquity have power to hurt him. 88:24. And I will cut down his enemies before his face; and them that hate him I will put to flight. 88:25. And my truth and my mercy shall be with him: and in my name shall his horn be exalted. 88:26. And I will set his hand in the sea; and his right hand in the rivers. 88:27. He shall cry out to me: Thou art my father: my God, and the support of my salvation. 88:28. And I will make him my firstborn, high above the kings of the earth. 88:29. I will keep my mercy for him for ever: and my covenant faithful to him. 88:30. And I will make his seed to endure for evermore: and his throne as the days of heaven. 88:31. And if his children forsake my law, and walk not in my judgments: 88:32. If they profane my justices: and keep not my commandments: 88:33. I will visit their iniquities with a rod and their sins with stripes. 88:34. But my mercy I will not take away from him: nor will I suffer my truth to fail. 88:35. Neither will I profane my covenant: and the words that proceed from my mouth I will not make void. 88:36. Once have I sworn by my holiness: I will not lie unto David: 88:37. His seed shall endure for ever. 88:38. And his throne as the sun before me: and as the moon perfect for ever, and a faithful witness in heaven. 88:39. But thou hast rejected and despised: thou hast been angry with my anointed. 88:40. Thou hast overthrown the covenant of thy servant: thou hast profaned his sanctuary on the earth. Overthrown the covenant, etc... All this seems to relate to the time of the captivity of Babylon, in which, for the sins of the people and their princes, God seemed to have set aside for a while the covenant he made with David. 88:41. Thou hast broken down all his hedges: thou hast made his strength fear. 88:42. All that pass by the way have robbed him: he is become a reproach to his neighbours. 88:43. Thou hast set up the right hand of them that oppress him: thou hast made all his enemies to rejoice. 88:44. Thou hast turned away the help of his sword; and hast not assisted him in battle. 88:45. Thou hast made his purification to cease: and thou hast cast his throne down to the ground. 88:46. Thou hast shortened the days of his time: thou hast covered him with confusion. 88:47. How long, O Lord, turnest thou away unto the end? shall thy anger burn like fire? 88:48. Remember what my substance is: for hast thou made all the children of men in vain? 88:49. Who is the man that shall live, and not see death: that shall deliver his soul from the hand of hell? 88:50. Lord, where are thy ancient mercies, according to what thou didst swear to David in thy truth? 88:51. Be mindful, O Lord, of the reproach of thy servants (which I have held in my bosom) of many nations: 88:52. Wherewith thy enemies have reproached, O Lord; wherewith they have reproached the change of thy anointed. 88:53. Blessed be the Lord for evermore. So be it. So be it. Psalms Chapter 89 Domine, refugium. A prayer for the mercy of God: recounting the shortness and miseries of the days of man. 89:1. A prayer of Moses the man of God. Lord, thou hast been our refuge from generation to generation. 89:2. Before the mountains were made, or the earth and the world was formed; from eternity and to eternity thou art God. 89:3. Turn not man away to be brought low: and thou hast said: Be converted, O ye sons of men. Turn not man away, etc... Suffer him not quite to perish from thee, since thou art pleased to call upon him to be converted to thee. 89:4. For a thousand years in thy sight are as yesterday, which is past. And as a watch in the night, 89:5. Things that are counted nothing, shall their years be. 89:6. In the morning man shall grow up like grass; in the morning he shall flourish and pass away: in the evening he shall fall, grow dry, and wither. 89:7. For in thy wrath we have fainted away: and are troubled in thy indignation. 89:8. Thou hast set our iniquities before thy eyes: our life in the light of thy countenance. 89:9. For all our days are spent; and in thy wrath we have fainted away. Our years shall be considered as a spider: As a spider... As frail and weak as a spider's web; and miserable withal, whilst like a spider we spend our bowels in weaving webs to catch flies. 89:10. The days of our years in them are threescore and ten years. But if in the strong they be fourscore years: and what is more of them is labour and sorrow. For mildness is come upon us: and we shall be corrected. Mildness is come upon us, etc... God's mildness corrects us; inasmuch as he deals kindly with us, in shortening the days of this miserable life; and so weaning our affections from all its transitory enjoyments, and teaching us true wisdom. 89:11. Who knoweth the power of thy anger, and for thy fear 89:12. Can number thy wrath? So make thy right hand known: and men learned in heart, in wisdom. 89:13. Return, O Lord, how long? and be entreated in favour of thy servants. 89:14. We are filled in the morning with thy mercy: and we have rejoiced, and are delighted all our days. 89:15. We have rejoiced for the days in which thou hast humbled us: for the years in which we have seen evils. 89:16. Look upon thy servants and upon their works: and direct their children. 89:17. And let the brightness of the Lord our God be upon us: and direct thou the works of our hands over us; yea, the work of our hands do thou direct. Psalms Chapter 90 Qui habitat. The just is secure under the protection of God. 90:1. The praise of a canticle for David. He that dwelleth in the aid of the most High, shall abide under the protection of the God of Jacob. 90:2. He shall say to the Lord: Thou art my protector, and my refuge: my God, in him will I trust. 90:3. For he hath delivered me from the snare of the hunters: and from the sharp word. 90:4. He will overshadow thee with his shoulders: and under his wings thou shalt trust. 90:5. His truth shall compass thee with a shield: thou shalt not be afraid of the terror of the night. 90:6. Of the arrow that flieth in the day, of the business that walketh about in the dark: of invasion, or of the noonday devil. 90:7. A thousand shall fall at thy side, and ten thousand at thy right hand: but it shall not come nigh thee. 90:8. But thou shalt consider with thy eyes: and shalt see the reward of the wicked. 90:9. Because thou, O Lord, art my hope: thou hast made the most High thy refuge. 90:10. There shall no evil come to thee: nor shall the scourge come near thy dwelling. 90:11. For he hath given his angels charge over thee; to keep thee in all thy ways. 90:12. In their hands they shall bear thee up: lest thou dash thy foot against a stone. 90:13. Thou shalt walk upon the asp and the basilisk: and thou shalt trample under foot the lion and the dragon. 90:14. Because he hoped in me I will deliver him: I will protect him because he hath known my name. 90:15. He shall cry to me, and I will hear him: I am with him in tribulation, I will deliver him, and I will glorify him. 90:16. I will fill him with length of days; and I will shew him my salvation. Psalms Chapter 91 Bonum est confiteri. God is to be praised for his wondrous works. 91:1. A psalm of a canticle on the sabbath day. 91:2. It is good to give praise to the Lord: and to sing to thy name, O most High. 91:3. To shew forth thy mercy in the morning, and thy truth in the night: 91:4. Upon an instrument of ten strings, upon the psaltery: with a canticle upon the harp. 91:5. For thou hast given me, O Lord, a delight in thy doings: and in the works of thy hands I shall rejoice. 91:6. O Lord, how great are thy works! thy thoughts are exceeding deep. 91:7. The senseless man shall not know: nor will the fool understand these things. 91:8. When the wicked shall spring up as grass: and all the workers of iniquity shall appear: That they may perish for ever and ever: 91:9. But thou, O Lord, art most high for evermore. 91:10. For behold thy enemies, O lord, for behold thy enemies shall perish: and all the workers of iniquity shall be scattered. 91:11. But my horn shall be exalted like that of the unicorn: and my old age in plentiful mercy. 91:12. My eye also hath looked down upon my enemies: and my ear shall hear of the downfall of the malignant that rise up against me. 91:13. The just shall flourish like the palm tree: he shall grow up like the cedar of Libanus. 91:14. They that are planted in the house of the Lord shall flourish in the courts of the house of our God. 91:15. They shall still increase in a fruitful old age: and shall be well treated, 91:16. That they may shew, That the Lord our God is righteous, and there is no iniquity in him. Psalms Chapter 92 Dominus regnavit. The glory and stability of the kingdom; that is, of the church of Christ. Praise in the way of a canticle, for David himself, on the day before the sabbath, when the earth was founded. 92:1. The Lord hath reigned, he is clothed with beauty: the Lord is clothed with strength, and hath girded himself. For he hath established the world which shall not be moved. 92:2. My throne is prepared from of old: thou art from everlasting. 92:3. The floods have lifted up, O Lord: the floods have lifted up their voice. The floods have lifted up their waves, 92:4. With the noise of many waters. Wonderful are the surges of the sea: wonderful is the Lord on high. 92:5. Thy testimonies are become exceedingly credible: holiness becometh thy house, O Lord, unto length of days. Psalms Chapter 93 Deus ultionum. God shall judge and punish the oppressors of his people. A psalm for David himself on the fourth day of the week. 93:1. The Lord is the God to whom revenge belongeth: the God of revenge hath acted freely. 93:2. Lift up thyself, thou that judgest the earth: render a reward to the proud. 93:3. How long shall sinners, O Lord: how long shall sinners glory? 93:4. Shall they utter, and speak iniquity: shall all speak who work injustice? 93:5. Thy people, O Lord, they have brought low: and they have afflicted thy inheritance. 93:6. They have slain the widow and the stranger: and they have murdered the fatherless. 93:7. And they have said: The Lord shall not see: neither shall the God of Jacob understand. 93:8. Understand, ye senseless among the people: and, you fools, be wise at last. 93:9. He that planted the ear, shall he not hear? or he that formed the eye, doth he not consider? 93:10. He that chastiseth nations, shall he not rebuke: he that teacheth man knowledge? 93:11. The Lord knoweth the thoughts of men, that they are vain. 93:12. Blessed is the man whom thou shalt instruct, O Lord: and shalt teach him out of thy law. 93:13. That thou mayst give him rest from the evil days: till a pit be dug for the wicked. Rest from the evil days... That thou mayst mitigate the sorrows, to which he is exposed, during the short and evil days of his mortality. 93:14. For the Lord will not cast off his people: neither will he forsake his own inheritance. 93:15. Until justice be turned into judgment: and they that are near it are all the upright in heart. Until justice be turned into judgment, etc... By being put in execution; which will be agreeable to all the upright in heart. 93:16. Who shall rise up for me against the evildoers? or who shall stand with me against the workers of iniquity? 93:17. Unless the Lord had been my helper, my soul had almost dwelt in hell. 93:18. If I said: My foot is moved: thy mercy, O Lord, assisted me. 93:19. According to the multitude of my sorrows in my heart, thy comforts have given joy to my soul. 93:20. Doth the seat of iniquity stick to thee, who framest labour in commandment? Doth the seat of iniquity stick to thee, etc... That is, wilt thou, O God, who art always just, admit of the seat of iniquity: that is, of injustice, or unjust judges, to have any partnership with thee? Thou who framest, or makest, labour in commandment, that is, thou who obligest us to labour with all diligence to keep thy commandments. 93:21. They will hunt after the soul of the just, and will condemn innocent blood. 93:22. But the Lord is my refuge: and my God the help of my hope. 93:23. And he will render them their iniquity: and in their malice he will destroy them: the Lord our God will destroy them. Psalms Chapter 94 Venite exultemus. An invitation to adore and serve God, and to hear his voice. Praise of a canticle for David himself. 94:1. Come let us praise the Lord with joy: let us joyfully sing to God our saviour. 94:2. Let us come before his presence with thanksgiving; and make a joyful noise to him with psalms. 94:3. For the Lord is a great God, and a great King above all gods. 94:4. For in his hand are all the ends of the earth: and the heights of the mountains are his. 94:5. For the sea is his, and he made it: and his hands formed the dry land. 94:6. Come let us adore and fall down: and weep before the Lord that made us. 94:7. For he is the Lord our God: and we are the people of his pasture and the sheep of his hand. 94:8. To day if you shall hear his voice, harden not your hearts: 94:9. As in the provocation, according to the day of temptation in the wilderness: where your fathers tempted me, they proved me, and saw my works. 94:10. Forty years long was I offended with that generation, and I said: These always err in heart. 94:11. And these men have not known my ways: so I swore in my wrath that they shall not enter into my rest. Psalms Chapter 95 Cantate Domino. An exhortation to praise God for the coming of Christ and his kingdom. 95:1. A canticle for David himself, when the house was built after the captivity. Sing ye to the Lord a new canticle: sing to the Lord, all the earth. When the house was built, etc... Alluding to that time, and then ordered to be sung: but principally relating to the building of the church of Christ, after our redemption from the captivity of Satan. 95:2. Sing ye to the Lord and bless his name: shew forth his salvation from day to day. 95:3. Declare his glory among the Gentiles: his wonders among all people. 95:4. For the Lord is great, and exceedingly to be praised: he is to be feared above all gods. 95:5. For all the gods of the Gentiles are devils: but the Lord made the heavens. 95:6. Praise and beauty are before him: holiness and majesty in his sanctuary. 95:7. Bring ye to the Lord, O ye kindreds of the Gentiles, bring ye to the Lord glory and honour: 95:8. Bring to the Lord glory unto his name. Bring up sacrifices, and come into his courts: 95:9. Adore ye the Lord in his holy court. Let all the earth be moved at his presence. 95:10. Say ye among the Gentiles, the Lord hath reigned. For he hath corrected the world, which shall not be moved: he will judge the people with justice. 95:11. Let the heavens rejoice, and let the earth be glad, let the sea be moved, and the fulness thereof: 95:12. The fields and all things that are in them shall be joyful. Then shall all the trees of the woods rejoice 95:13. before the face of the Lord, because he cometh: because he cometh to judge the earth. He shall judge the world with justice, and the people with his truth. Psalms Chapter 96 Dominus regnavit. All are invited to rejoice at the glorious coming and reign of Christ. 96:1. For the same David, when his land was restored again to him. The Lord hath reigned, let the earth rejoice: let many islands be glad. 96:2. Clouds and darkness are round about him: justice and judgment are the establishment of his throne. Clouds and darkness... The coming of Christ in the clouds with great terror and majesty to judge the world, is here prophesied. 96:3. A fire shall go before him, and shall burn his enemies round about. 96:4. His lightnings have shone forth to the world: the earth saw and trembled. 96:5. The mountains melted like wax, at the presence of the Lord: at the presence of the Lord of all the earth. 96:6. The heavens declared his justice: and all people saw his glory. 96:7. Let them be all confounded that adore graven things, and that glory in their idols. Adore him, all you his angels: 96:8. Sion heard, and was glad. And the daughters of Juda rejoiced, because of thy judgments, O Lord. 96:9. For thou art the most high Lord over all the earth: thou art exalted exceedingly above all gods. 96:10. You that love the Lord, hate evil: the Lord preserveth the souls of his saints, he will deliver them out of the hand of the sinner. 96:11. Light is risen to the just, and joy to the right of heart. 96:12. Rejoice, ye just, in the Lord: and give praise to the remembrance of his holiness. Psalms Chapter 97 Cantate Domino. All are again invited to praise the Lord, for the victories of Christ. 97:1. A psalm for David himself. Sing ye to the Lord a new canticle: because he hath done wonderful things. His right hand hath wrought for him salvation, and his arm is holy. 97:2. The Lord hath made known his salvation: he hath revealed his justice in the sight of the Gentiles. 97:3. He hath remembered his mercy and his truth toward the house of Israel. All the ends of the earth have seen the salvation of our God. 97:4. Sing joyfully to God, all the earth; make melody, rejoice and sing. 97:5. Sing praise to the Lord on the harp, on the harp, and with the voice of a psalm: 97:6. With long trumpets, and sound of cornet. Make a joyful noise before the Lord our king: 97:7. Let the sea be moved and the fullness thereof: the world and they that dwell therein. 97:8. The rivers shall clap their hands, the mountains shall rejoice together 97:9. At the presence of the Lord: because he cometh to judge the earth. He shall judge the world with justice, and the people with equity. Psalms Chapter 98 Dominus regnavit. The reign of the Lord in Sion: that is, of Christ in his church. 98:1. A psalm for David himself. The Lord hath reigned, let the people be angry: he that sitteth on the cherubims: let the earth be moved. Let the people be angry... Though many enemies rage, and the whole earth be stirred up to oppose the reign of Christ, he shall still prevail. 98:2. The lord is great in Sion, and high above all people. 98:3. Let them give praise to thy great name: for it is terrible and holy: 98:4. And the king's honour loveth judgment. Thou hast prepared directions: thou hast done judgment and justice in Jacob. Loveth judgment... Requireth discretion.-Ibid. Directions... Most right and just laws to direct men. 98:5. Exalt ye the Lord our God, and adore his footstool, for it is holy. Adore his footstool... The ark of the covenant was called, in the Old Testament, God's footstool: over which he was understood to sit, on his propitiatory, or mercy seat, as on a throne, between the wings of the cherubims, in the sanctuary: to which the children of Israel paid a great veneration. But as this psalm evidently relates to Christ, and the New Testament, where the ark has no place, the holy fathers understand this text, of the worship paid by the church to the body and blood of Christ in the sacred mysteries: inasmuch as the humanity of Christ is, as it were, the footstool of the divinity. So St. Ambrose, L. 3. De Spiritu Sancto, c. 12. And St. Augustine upon this psalm. 98:6. Moses and Aaron among his priests: and Samuel among them that call upon his name. They called upon the Lord, and he heard them: Moses and Aaron among his priests... By this it is evident, that Moses also was a priest, and indeed the chief priest, inasmuch as he consecrated Aaron, and offered sacrifice for him. Lev. 8. So that his pre-eminence over Aaron makes nothing for lay church headship. 98:7. He spoke to them in the pillar of the cloud. They kept his testimonies, and the commandment which he gave them. 98:8. Thou didst hear them, O Lord our God: thou wast a merciful God to them, and taking vengeance on all their inventions. All their inventions... that is, all the enterprises of their enemies against them, as in the case of Core, Dathan, and Abiron. 98:9. Exalt ye the Lord our God, and adore at his holy mountain: for the Lord our God is holy. Psalms Chapter 99 Jubilate Deo. All are invited to rejoice in God the creator of all. 99:1. A psalm of praise. 99:2. Sing joyfully to God, all the earth: serve ye the Lord with gladness. Come in before his presence with exceeding great joy. 99:3. Know ye that the Lord he is God: he made us, and not we ourselves. We are his people and the sheep of his pasture. 99:4. Go ye into his gates with praise, into his courts with hymns: and give glory to him. Praise ye his name: 99:5. For the Lord is sweet, his mercy endureth for ever, and his truth to generation and generation. Psalms Chapter 100 Misericordiam et judicium. The prophet exhorteth all by his example, to follow mercy and justice. 100:1. A psalm for David himself. Mercy and judgment I will sing to thee, O Lord: I will sing, 100:2. And I will understand in the unspotted way, when thou shalt come to me. I walked in the innocence of my heart, in the midst of my house. I will understand, etc... That is, I will apply my mind, I will do my endeavour, to know and to follow the perfect way of thy commandments: not trusting to my own strength, but relying on thy coming to me by thy grace. 100:3. I will not set before my eyes any unjust thing: I hated the workers of iniquities. 100:4. The perverse heart did not cleave to me: and the malignant, that turned aside from me, I would not know. 100:5. The man that in private detracted his neighbour, him did I persecute. With him that had a proud eye, and an unsatiable heart, I would not eat. 100:6. My eyes were upon the faithful of the earth, to sit with me: the man that walked in the perfect way, he served me. 100:7. He that worketh pride shall not dwell in the midst of my house: he that speaketh unjust things did not prosper before my eyes. 100:8. In the morning I put to death all the wicked of the land: that I might cut off all the workers of iniquity from the city of the Lord. Psalms Chapter 101 Domine, exaudi. A prayer for one in affliction: the fifth penitential psalm. 101:1. The prayer of the poor man, when he was anxious, and poured out his supplication before the Lord. 101:2. Hear, O Lord, my prayer: and let my cry come to thee. 101:3. Turn not away thy face from me: in the day when I am in trouble, incline thy ear to me. In what day soever I shall call upon thee, hear me speedily. 101:4. For my days are vanished like smoke, and my bones are grown dry like fuel for the fire. 101:5. I am smitten as grass, and my heart is withered: because I forgot to eat my bread. 101:6. Through the voice of my groaning, my bone hath cleaved to my flesh. 101:7. I am become like to a pelican of the wilderness: I am like a night raven in the house. A pelican, etc... I am become through grief, like birds that affect solitude and darkness. 101:8. I have watched, and am become as a sparrow all alone on the housetop. 101:9. All the day long my enemies reproached me: and they that praised me did swear against me. 101:10. For I did eat ashes like bread, and mingled my drink with weeping. 101:11. Because of thy anger and indignation: for having lifted me up thou hast thrown me down. 101:12. My days have declined like a shadow, and I am withered like grass. 101:13. But thou, O Lord, endurest for ever: and thy memorial to all generations. 101:14. Thou shalt arise and have mercy on Sion: for it is time to have mercy on it, for the time is come. 101:15. For the stones thereof have pleased thy servants: and they shall have pity on the earth thereof. 101:16. All the Gentiles shall fear thy name, O Lord, and all the kings of the earth thy glory. 101:17. For the Lord hath built up Sion: and he shall be seen in his glory. 101:18. He hath had regard to the prayer of the humble: and he hath not despised their petition. 101:19. Let these things be written unto another generation: and the people that shall be created shall praise the Lord: 101:20. Because he hath looked forth from his high sanctuary: from heaven the Lord hath looked upon the earth. 101:21. That he might hear the groans of them that are in fetters: that he might release the children of the slain: 101:22. That they may declare the name of the Lord in Sion: and his praise in Jerusalem; 101:23. When the people assemble together, and kings, to serve the Lord. 101:24. He answered him in the way of his strength: Declare unto me the fewness of my days. He answered him in the way of his strength... That is, the people, mentioned in the foregoing verse, or the penitent, in whose person this psalm is delivered, answered the Lord in the way of his strength: that is, according to the best of his power and strength: or when he was in the flower of his age and strength: inquiring after the fewness of his days: to know if he should live long enough to see the happy restoration of Sion, etc. 101:25. Call me not away in the midst of my days: thy years are unto generation and generation. 101:26. In the beginning, O Lord, thou foundedst the earth: and the heavens are the works of thy hands. 101:27. They shall perish but thou remainest: and all of them shall grow old like a garment: And as a vesture thou shalt change them, and they shall be changed. 101:28. But thou art always the selfsame, and thy years shall not fail. 101:29. The children of thy servants shall continue and their seed shall be directed for ever. Psalms Chapter 102 Benedic, anima. Thanksgiving to God for his mercies. 102:1. For David himself. Bless the Lord, O my soul: and let all that is within me bless his holy name. 102:2. Bless the Lord, O my soul, and never forget all he hath done for thee. 102:3. Who forgiveth all thy iniquities: who healeth all thy diseases. 102:4. Who redeemeth thy life from destruction: who crowneth thee with mercy and compassion. 102:5. Who satisfieth thy desire with good things: thy youth shall be renewed like the eagle's. 102:6. The Lord doth mercies, and judgment for all that suffer wrong. 102:7. He hath made his ways known to Moses: his wills to the children of Israel. 102:8. The Lord is compassionate and merciful: longsuffering and plenteous in mercy. 102:9. He will not always be angry: nor will he threaten for ever. 102:10. He hath not dealt with us according to our sins: nor rewarded us according to our iniquities. 102:11. For according to the height of the heaven above the earth: he hath strengthened his mercy towards them that fear him. 102:12. As far as the east is from the west, so far hath he removed our iniquities from us. 102:13. As a father hath compassion on his children, so hath the Lord compassion on them that fear him: 102:14. For he knoweth our frame. He remembereth that we are dust: 102:15. Man's days are as grass, as the flower of the field so shall he flourish. 102:16. For the spirit shall pass in him, and he shall not be: and he shall know his place no more. 102:17. But the mercy of the Lord is from eternity and unto eternity upon them that fear him: And his justice unto children's children, 102:18. To such as keep his covenant, And are mindful of his commandments to do them. 102:19. The lord hath prepared his throne in heaven: and his kingdom shall rule over all. 102:20. Bless the Lord, all ye his angels: you that are mighty in strength, and execute his word, hearkening to the voice of his orders. 102:21. Bless the Lord, all ye his hosts: you ministers of his that do his will. 102:22. Bless the Lord, all his works: in every place of his dominion, O my soul, bless thou the Lord. Psalms Chapter 103 Benedic, anima. God is to be praised for his mighty works, and wonderful providence. 103:1. For David himself. Bless the Lord, O my soul: O Lord my God, thou art exceedingly great. Thou hast put on praise and beauty: 103:2. And art clothed with light as with a garment. Who stretchest out the heaven like a pavilion: 103:3. Who coverest the higher rooms thereof with water. Who makest the clouds thy chariot: who walkest upon the wings of the winds. 103:4. Who makest thy angels spirits: and thy ministers a burning fire. 103:5. Who hast founded the earth upon its own bases: it shall not be moved for ever and ever. 103:6. The deep like a garment is its clothing: above the mountains shall the waters stand. 103:7. At thy rebuke they shall flee: at the voice of thy thunder they shall fear. 103:8. The mountains ascend, and the plains descend into the place which thou hast founded for them. 103:9. Thou hast set a bound which they shall not pass over; neither shall they return to cover the earth. 103:10. Thou sendest forth springs in the vales: between the midst of the hills the waters shall pass. 103:11. All the beasts of the field shall drink: the wild asses shall expect in their thirst. 103:12. Over them the birds of the air shall dwell: from the midst of the rocks they shall give forth their voices. 103:13. Thou waterest the hills from thy upper rooms: the earth shall be filled with the fruit of thy works: 103:14. Bringing forth grass for cattle, and herb for the service of men. That thou mayst bring bread out of the earth: 103:15. And that wine may cheer the heart of man. That he may make the face cheerful with oil: and that bread may strengthen man's heart. 103:16. The trees of the field shall be filled, and the cedars of Libanus which he hath planted: 103:17. There the sparrows shall make their nests. The highest of them is the house of the heron. 103:18. The high hills are a refuge for the harts, the rock for the irchins. 103:19. He hath made the moon for seasons: the sun knoweth his going down. 103:20. Thou hast appointed darkness, and it is night: in it shall all the beasts of the woods go about: 103:21. The young lions roaring after their prey, and seeking their meat from God. 103:22. The sun ariseth, and they are gathered together: and they shall lie down in their dens. 103:23. Man shall go forth to his work, and to his labour until the evening. 103:24. How great are thy works, O Lord? thou hast made all things in wisdom: the earth is filled with thy riches. 103:25. So is this great sea, which stretcheth wide its arms: there are creeping things without number: Creatures little and great. 103:26. There the ships shall go. This sea dragon which thou hast formed to play therein. 103:27. All expect of thee that thou give them food in season. 103:28. What thou givest to them they shall gather up: when thou openest thy hand, they shall all be filled with good. 103:29. But if thou turnest away thy face, they shall be troubled: thou shalt take away their breath, and they shall fail, and shall return to their dust. 103:30. Thou shalt send forth thy spirit, and they shall be created: and thou shalt renew the face of the earth. 103:31. May the glory of the Lord endure for ever: the Lord shall rejoice in his works. 103:32. He looketh upon the earth, and maketh it tremble: he troubleth the mountains, and they smoke. 103:33. I will sing to the Lord as long as I live: I will sing praise to my God while I have my being. 103:34. Let my speech be acceptable to him: but I will take delight in the Lord. 103:35. Let sinners be consumed out of the earth, and the unjust, so that they be no more: O my soul, bless thou the Lord. Psalms Chapter 104 Confitemini Domino. A thanksgiving to God for his benefits to his people Israel. Alleluia. 104:1. Give glory to the Lord, and call upon his name: declare his deeds among the Gentiles. 104:2. Sing to him, yea sing praises to him: relate all his wondrous works. 104:3. Glory ye in his holy name: let the heart of them rejoice that seek the Lord. 104:4. Seek ye the lord, and be strengthened: seek his face evermore. 104:5. Remember his marvellous works which he hath done; his wonders, and the judgments of his mouth. 104:6. O ye seed of Abraham his servant; ye sons of Jacob his chosen. 104:7. He is the Lord our God: his judgments are in all the earth. 104:8. He hath remembered his covenant for ever: the word which he commanded to a thousand generations. 104:9. Which he made to Abraham; and his oath to Isaac: 104:10. And he appointed the same to Jacob for a law, and to Israel for an everlasting testament: 104:11. Saying: To thee will I give the land of Chanaan, the lot of your inheritance. 104:12. When they were but a small number: yea very few, and sojourners therein: 104:13. And they passed from nation to nation, and from one kingdom to another people. 104:14. He suffered no man to hurt them: and he reproved kings for their sakes. 104:15. Touch ye not my anointed: and do no evil to my prophets. 104:16. And he called a famine upon the land: and he broke in pieces all the support of bread. 104:17. He sent a man before them: Joseph, who was sold for a slave. 104:18. They humbled his feet in fetters: the iron pierced his soul, 104:19. Until his word came. The word of the Lord inflamed him. 104:20. The king sent, and he released him: the ruler of the people, and he set him at liberty. 104:21. He made him master of his house, and ruler of all his possession. 104:22. That he might instruct his princes as himself, and teach his ancients wisdom. 104:23. And Israel went into Egypt: and Jacob was a sojourner in the land of Cham. 104:24. And he increased his people exceedingly: and strengthened them over their enemies. 104:25. He turned their heart to hate his people: and to deal deceitfully with his servants. He turned their heart, etc... Not that God (who is never the author of sin) moved the Egyptians to hate and persecute his people; but that the Egyptians took occasion of hating and envying them, from the sight of the benefits which God bestowed upon them. 104:26. He sent Moses his servant: Aaron the man whom he had chosen. 104:27. He gave them power to shew them signs, and his wonders in the land of Cham. 104:28. He sent darkness, and made it obscure: and grieved not his words. Grieved not his words... That is, he was not wanting to fulfil his words: or he did not grieve Moses and Aaron, the carriers of his words: or he did not grieve his words, that is, his sons, the children of Israel, who enjoyed light whilst the Egyptians were oppressed with darkness. 104:29. He turned their waters into blood, and destroyed their fish. 104:30. Their land brought forth frogs, in the inner chambers of their kings. 104:31. He spoke, and there came divers sorts of flies and sciniphs in all their coasts. Sciniphs... See the annotation, Ex.8.16. 104:32. He gave them hail for rain, a burning fire in the land. 104:33. And he destroyed their vineyards and their fig trees: and he broke in pieces the trees of their coasts. 104:34. He spoke, and the locust came, and the bruchus, of which there was no number. Bruchus... An insect of the locust kind. 104:35. And they devoured all the grass in their land, and consumed all the fruit of their ground. 104:36. And he slew all the firstborn in their land: the firstfruits of all their labour. 104:37. And he brought them out with silver and gold: and there was not among their tribes one that was feeble. 104:38. Egypt was glad when they departed: for the fear of them lay upon them. 104:39. He spread a cloud for their protection, and fire to give them light in the night. 104:40. They asked, and the quail came: and he filled them with the bread of heaven. 104:41. He opened the rock, and waters flowed: rivers ran down in the dry land. 104:42. Because he remembered his holy word, which he had spoken to his servant Abraham. 104:43. And he brought forth his people with joy, and his chosen with gladness. 104:44. And he gave them the lands of the Gentiles: and they possessed the labours of the people: 104:45. That they might observe his justifications, and seek after his law. His justifications... That is, his commandments; which here, and in many other places of the scripture, are called justifications, because the keeping of them makes man just. The Protestants render it by the word statutes, in favour of their doctrine, which does not allow good works to justify. Psalms Chapter 105 Confitemini Domino. A confession of the manifold sins and ingratitudes of the Israelites. Alleluia. 105:1. Give glory to the Lord, for he is good: for his mercy endureth for ever. 105:2. Who shall declare the powers of the Lord? who shall set forth all his praises? 105:3. Blessed are they that keep judgment, and do justice at all times. 105:4. Remember us, O Lord, in the favour of thy people: visit us with thy salvation. 105:5. That we may see the good of thy chosen, that we may rejoice in the joy of thy nation: that thou mayst be praised with thy inheritance. 105:6. We have sinned with our fathers: we have acted unjustly, we have wrought iniquity. 105:7. Our fathers understood not thy wonders in Egypt: they remembered not the multitude of thy mercies: And they provoked to wrath going up to the sea, even the Red Sea. 105:8. And he saved them for his own name's sake: that he might make his power known. 105:9. And he rebuked the Red Sea and it was dried up: and he led them through the depths, as in a wilderness. 105:10. And he saved them from the hand of them that hated them: and he redeemed them from the hand of the enemy. 105:11. And the water covered them that afflicted them: there was not one of them left. 105:12. And they believed his words: and they sang his praises. 105:13. They had quickly done, they forgot his works: and they waited not for his counsel. 105:14. And they coveted their desire in the desert: and they tempted God in the place without water. 105:15. And he gave them their request: and sent fulness into their souls. 105:16. And they provoked Moses in the camp, Aaron the holy one of the Lord. 105:17. The earth opened and swallowed up Dathan: and covered the congregation of Abiron. 105:18. And a fire was kindled in their congregation: the flame burned the wicked. 105:19. They made also a calf in Horeb: and they adored the graven thing. 105:20. And they changed their glory into the likeness of a calf that eateth grass. 105:21. They forgot God, who saved them, who had done great things in Egypt, 105:22. Wondrous works in the land of Cham: terrible things in the Red Sea. 105:23. And he said that he would destroy them: had not Moses his chosen stood before him in the breach: To turn away his wrath, lest he should destroy them. 105:24. And they set at nought the desirable land. They believed not his word, 105:25. And they murmured in their tents: they hearkened not to the voice of the Lord. 105:26. And he lifted up his hand over them: to overthrow them in the desert; 105:27. And to cast down their seed among the nations, and to scatter them in the countries. 105:28. They also were initiated to Beelphegor: and ate the sacrifices of the dead. Initiated... That is, they dedicated, or consecrated themselves to the idol of the Moabites and Madianites, called Beelphegor, or Baal-Peor. Num. 25.3.-Ibid. The dead... Viz., idols without life. 105:29. And they provoked him with their inventions: and destruction was multiplied among them. 105:30. Then Phinees stood up, and pacified him: and the slaughter ceased. 105:31. And it was reputed to him unto justice, to generation and generation for evermore. 105:32. They provoked him also at the waters of contradiction: and Moses was afflicted for their sakes: 105:33. Because they exasperated his spirit. And he distinguished with his lips. He distinguished with his lips... Moses, by occasion of the people's rebellion and incredulity, was guilty of distinguishing with his lips; when, instead of speaking to the rock, as God had commanded, he said to the people, with a certain hesitation in his faith, Hear ye, rebellious and incredulous: Can we from this rock bring out water for you? Num. 20.10. 105:34. They did not destroy the nations of which the Lord spoke unto them. 105:35. And they were mingled among the heathens, and learned their works: 105:36. And served their idols, and it became a stumblingblock to them. 105:37. And they sacrificed their sons, and their daughters to devils. 105:38. And they shed innocent blood: the blood of their sons and of their daughters which they sacrificed to the idols of Chanaan. And the land was polluted with blood, 105:39. And was defiled with their works: and they went aside after their own inventions. 105:40. And the Lord was exceedingly angry with his people: and he abhorred his inheritance. 105:41. And he delivered them into the hands of the nations: and they that hated them had dominion over them. 105:42. And their enemies afflicted them: and they were humbled under their hands: 105:43. Many times did he deliver them. But they provoked him with their counsel: and they were brought low by their iniquities. 105:44. And he saw when they were in tribulation: and he heard their prayer. 105:45. And he was mindful of his covenant: and repented according to the multitude of his mercies. 105:46. And he gave them unto mercies, in the sight of all those that had made them captives. 105:47. Save us, O Lord, our God: and gather us from among the nations: That we may give thanks to thy holy name, and may glory in thy praise. 105:48. Blessed be the Lord the God of Israel, from everlasting to everlasting: and let all the people say: So be it, so be it. Psalms Chapter 106 Confitemini Domino. All are invited to give thanks to God for his perpetual providence over men.. Alleluia. 106:1. Give glory to the Lord, for he is good: for his mercy endureth for ever. 106:2. Let them say so that have been redeemed by the Lord, whom he hath redeemed from the hand of the enemy: and gathered out of the countries. 106:3. From the rising and from the setting of the sun, from the north and from the sea. 106:4. They wandered in a wilderness, in a place without water: they found not the way of a city for their habitation. 106:5. They were hungry and thirsty: their soul fainted in them. 106:6. And they cried to the Lord in their tribulation: and he delivered them out of their distresses. 106:7. And he led them into the right way, that they might go to a city of habitation. 106:8. Let the mercies of the Lord give glory to him: and his wonderful works to the children of men. 106:9. For he hath satisfied the empty soul, and hath filled the hungry soul with good things. 106:10. Such as sat in darkness and in the shadow of death: bound in want and in iron. 106:11. Because they had exasperated the words of God: and provoked the counsel of the most High: 106:12. And their heart was humbled with labours: they were weakened, and there was none to help them. 106:13. Then they cried to the Lord in their affliction: and he delivered them out of their distresses. 106:14. And he brought them out of darkness, and the shadow of death; and broke their bonds in sunder. 106:15. Let the mercies of the Lord give glory to him, and his wonderful works to the children of men. 106:16. Because he hath broken gates of brass, and burst iron bars. 106:17. He took them out of the way of their iniquity: for they were brought low for their injustices. 106:18. Their soul abhorred all manner of meat: and they drew nigh even to the gates of death. 106:19. And they cried to the Lord in their affliction: and he delivered them out of their distresses. 106:20. He sent his word, and healed them: and delivered them from their destructions. 106:21. Let the mercies of the Lord give glory to him: and his wonderful works to the children of men. 106:22. And let them sacrifice the sacrifice of praise: and declare his works with joy. 106:23. They that go down to the sea in ships, doing business in the great waters: 106:24. These have seen the works of the Lord, and his wonders in the deep. 106:25. He said the word, and there arose a storm of wind: and the waves thereof were lifted up. 106:26. They mount up to the heavens, and they go down to the depths: their soul pined away with evils. 106:27. They were troubled, and reeled like a drunken man; and all their wisdom was swallowed up. 106:28. And they cried to the Lord in their affliction: and he brought them out of their distresses. 106:29. And he turned the storm into a breeze: and its waves were still. 106:30. And they rejoiced because they were still: and he brought them to the haven which they wished for. 106:31. Let the mercies of the Lord give glory to him, and his wonderful works to the children of men. 106:32. And let them exalt him in the church of the people: and praise him in the chair of the ancients. 106:33. He hath turned rivers into a wilderness: and the sources of waters into dry ground: 106:34. A fruitful land into barrenness, for the wickedness of them that dwell therein. 106:35. He hath turned a wilderness into pools of waters, and a dry land into water springs. 106:36. And hath placed there the hungry; and they made a city for their habitation. 106:37. Anti they sowed fields, and planted vineyards: and they yielded fruit of birth. 106:38. And he blessed them, and they were multiplied exceedingly: and their cattle he suffered not to decrease. 106:39. Then they were brought to be few: and they were afflicted through the trouble of evils and sorrow. 106:40. Contempt was poured forth upon their princes: and he caused them to wander where there was no passing, and out of the way. 106:41. And he helped the poor out of poverty: and made him families like a flock of sheep. 106:42. The just shall see, and shall rejoice, and all iniquity shall stop her mouth. 106:43. Who is wise, and will keep these things; and will understand the mercies of the Lord? Psalms Chapter 107 Paratum cor meum. The prophet praiseth God for benefits received. 107:1. A canticle of a psalm for David himself. 107:2. My heart is ready, O God, my heart is ready: I will sing, and will give praise, with my glory. 107:3. Arise, my glory; arise, psaltery and harp: I will arise in the morning early. 107:4. I will praise thee, O Lord, among the people: and I will sing unto thee among the nations. 107:5. For thy mercy is great above the heavens: and thy truth even unto the clouds. 107:6. Be thou exalted, O God, above the heavens, and thy glory over all the earth: 107:7. That thy beloved may be delivered. Save with thy right hand and hear me. 107:8. God hath spoken in his holiness. I will rejoice, and I will divide Sichem and I will mete out the vale of tabernacles. 107:9. Galaad is mine: and Manasses is mine and Ephraim the protection of my head. Juda is my king: 107:10. Moab the pot of my hope. Over Edom I will stretch out my shoe: the aliens are become my friends. 107:11. Who will bring me into the strong city? who will lead me into Edom? 107:12. Wilt not thou, O God, who hast cast us off? and wilt not thou, O God, go forth with our armies? 107:13. O grant us help from trouble: for vain is the help of man. 107:14. Through God we shall do mightily: and he will bring our enemies to nothing. Psalms Chapter 108 Deus, laudem meam. David in the person of Christ, prayeth against his persecutors; more especially the traitor Judas: foretelling and approving his just punishment for his obstinacy in sin and final impenitence. 108:1. Unto the end, a psalm for David. 108:2. O God, be not thou silent in my praise: for the mouth of the wicked and the mouth of the deceitful man is opened against me. 108:3. They have spoken against me with deceitful tongues; and they have compassed me about with words of hatred; and have fought against me without cause. 108:4. Instead of making me a return of love, they detracted me: but I gave myself to prayer. 108:5. And they repaid me evil for good: and hatred for my love. 108:6. Set thou the sinner over him: and may the devil stand at his right hand. Set thou the sinner over him, etc... Give to the devil, that arch- sinner, power over him: let him enter into him, and possess him. The imprecations, contained in the thirty verses of this psalm, are opposed to the thirty pieces of silver for which Judas betrayed our Lord; and are to be taken as prophetic denunciations of the evils that should befall the traitor and his accomplices the Jews; and not properly as curses. 108:7. When he is judged, may he go out condemned; and may his prayer be turned to sin. 108:8. May his days be few: and his bishopric let another take. 108:9. May his children be fatherless, and his wife a widow. 108:10. Let his children be carried about vagabonds, and beg; and let them be cast out of their dwellings. 108:11. May the usurer search all his substance: and let strangers plunder his labours. 108:12. May there be none to help him: nor none to pity his fatherless offspring. 108:13. May his posterity be cut off; in one generation may his name be blotted out. 108:14. May the iniquity of his fathers be remembered in the sight of the Lord: and let not the sin of his mother be blotted out. 108:15. May they be before the Lord continually, and let the memory of them perish from the earth: 108:16. Because he remembered not to shew mercy, 108:17. But persecuted the poor man and the beggar; and the broken in heart, to put him to death. 108:18. And he loved cursing, and it shall come unto him: and he would not have blessing, and it shall be far from him. And he put on cursing, like a garment: and it went in like water into his entrails, and like oil in his bones. 108:19. May it be unto him like a garment which covereth him; and like a girdle with which he is girded continually. 108:20. This is the work of them who detract me before the Lord; and who speak evils against my soul. 108:21. But thou, O Lord, do with me for thy name's sake: because thy mercy is sweet. Do thou deliver me, 108:22. For I am poor and needy, and my heart is troubled within me. 108:23. I am taken away like the shadow when it declineth: and I am shaken off as locusts. 108:24. My knees are weakened through fasting: and my flesh is changed for oil. For oil... Propter oleum. The meaning is, my flesh is changed, being perfectly emaciated and dried up, as having lost all its oil or fatness. 108:25. And I am become a reproach to them: they saw me and they shaked their heads. 108:26. Help me, O Lord my God; save me; according to thy mercy. 108:27. And let them know that this is thy hand: and that thou, O Lord, hast done it. 108:28. They will curse and thou wilt bless: let them that rise up against me be confounded: but thy servant shall rejoice. 108:29. Let them that detract me be clothed with shame: and let them be covered with their confusion as with a double cloak. 108:30. I will give great thanks to the Lord with my mouth: and in the midst of many I will praise him. 108:31. Because he hath stood at the right hand of the poor, to save my soul from persecutors. Psalms Chapter 109 Dixit Dominus. Christ's exaltation and everlasting priesthood. 109:1. A psalm for David. The Lord said to my Lord: Sit thou at my right hand: Until I make thy enemies thy footstool. 109:2. The Lord will send forth the sceptre of thy power out of Sion: rule thou in the midst of thy enemies. 109:3. With thee is the principality in the day of thy strength: in the brightness of the saints: from the womb before the day star I begot thee. 109:4. The Lord hath sworn, and he will not repent: Thou art a priest for ever according to the order of Melchisedech. 109:5. The Lord at thy right hand hath broken kings in the day of his wrath. 109:6. He shall judge among nations, he shall fill ruins: he shall crush the heads in the land of many. 109:7. He shall drink of the torrent in the way: therefore shall he lift up the head. Psalms Chapter 110 Confitebor tibi, Domine. God is to be praised for his graces, and benefits to his church. Alleluia. 110:1. I will praise thee, O Lord, with my whole heart; in the council of the just, and in the congregation. 110:2. Great are the works of the Lord: sought out according to all his wills. 110:3. His work is praise and magnificence: and his justice continueth for ever and ever. 110:4. He hath made a remembrance of his wonderful works, being a merciful and gracious Lord: 110:5. He hath given food to them that fear him. He will be mindful for ever of his covenant: 110:6. He will shew forth to his people the power of his works. 110:7. That he may give them the inheritance of the Gentiles: the works of his hands are truth and judgment. 110:8. All his commandments are faithful: confirmed for ever and ever, made in truth and equity. 110:9. He hath sent redemption to his people: he hath commanded his covenant for ever. Holy and terrible is his name: 110:10. The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom. A good understanding to all that do it: his praise continueth for ever and ever. Psalms Chapter 111 Beatus vir. The good man is happy. Alleluia, of the returning of Aggeus and Zacharias. Of the returning, etc... This is in the Greek and Latin, but not in the Hebrew. It signifies that this psalm was proper to be sung at the time of the return of the people from their captivity; to inculcate to them, how happy they might be, if they would be constant in the service of God. 111:1. Blessed is the man that feareth the Lord: he shall delight exceedingly in his commandments. 111:2. His seed shall be mighty upon earth: the generation of the righteous shall be blessed. 111:3. Glory and wealth shall be in his house: and his justice remaineth for ever and ever. 111:4. To the righteous a light is risen up in darkness: he is merciful, and compassionate and just. 111:5. Acceptable is the man that sheweth mercy and lendeth: he shall order his words with judgment: 111:6. Because he shall not be moved for ever. 111:7. The just shall be in everlasting remembrance: he shall not fear the evil hearing. His heart is ready to hope in the Lord: 111:8. His heart is strengthened, he shall not be moved until he look over his enemies. 111:9. He hath distributed, he hath given to the poor: his justice remaineth for ever and ever: his horn shall be exalted in glory. 111:10. The wicked shall see, and shall be angry, he shall gnash with his teeth and pine away: the desire of the wicked shall perish. Psalms Chapter 112 Laudate, pueri. God is to be praised for his regard to the poor and humble. Alleluia. 112:1. Praise the Lord, ye children: praise ye the name of the Lord. 112:2. Blessed be the name of the Lord, from henceforth now and for ever. 112:3. From the rising of the sun unto the going down of the same, the name of the Lord is worthy of praise. 112:4. The Lord is high above all nations; and his glory above the heavens. 112:5. Who is as the Lord our God, who dwelleth on high: 112:6. And looketh down on the low things in heaven and in earth? 112:7. Raising up the needy from the earth, and lifting up the poor out of the dunghill: 112:8. That he may place him with princes, with the princes of his people. 112:9. Who maketh a barren woman to dwell in a house, the joyful mother of children. Psalms Chapter 113 In exitu Israel. God hath shewn his power in delivering his people: idols are vain. The Hebrews divide this into two psalms. Alleluia. 113:1. When Israel went out of Egypt, the house of Jacob from a barbarous people: 113:2. Judea was made his sanctuary, Israel his dominion. 113:3. The sea saw and fled: Jordan was turned back. 113:4. The mountains skipped like rams, and the hills like the lambs of the flock. 113:5. What ailed thee, O thou sea, that thou didst flee: and thou, O Jordan, that thou wast turned back? 113:6. Ye mountains, that ye skipped like rams, and ye hills, like lambs of the flock? 113:7. At the presence of the Lord the earth was moved, at the presence of the God of Jacob: 113:8. Who turned the rock into pools of water, and the stony hill into fountains of waters. 113:9. Not to us, O Lord, not to us; but to thy name give glory. 113:10. For thy mercy, and for thy truth's sake: lest the Gentiles should say: Where is their God? 113:11. But our God is in heaven: he hath done all things whatsoever he would. 113:12. The idols of the Gentiles are silver and gold, the works of the hands of men. 113:13. They have mouths and speak not: they have eyes and see not. 113:14. They have ears and hear not: they have noses and smell not. 113:15. They have hands and feel not: they have feet and walk not: neither shall they cry out through their throat. 113:16. Let them that make them become like unto them: and all such as trust in them. 113:17. The house of Israel hath hoped in the Lord: he is their helper and their protector. 113:18. The house of Aaron hath hoped in the Lord: he is their helper and their protector. 113:19. They that fear the Lord have hoped in the Lord: he is their helper and their protector. 113:20. The Lord hath been mindful of us, and hath blessed us. He hath blessed the house of Israel: he hath blessed the house of Aaron. 113:21. He hath blessed all that fear the Lord, both little and great. 113:22. May the Lord add blessings upon you: upon you, and upon your children. 113:23. Blessed be you of the Lord, who made heaven and earth. 113:24. The heaven of heaven is the Lord's: but the earth he has given to the children of men. 113:25. The dead shall not praise thee, O Lord: nor any of them that go down to hell. 113:26. But we that live bless the Lord: from this time now and for ever. Psalms Chapter 114 Dilexi. The prayer of a just man in affliction, with a lively confidence in God. Alleluia. 114:1. I have loved, because the Lord will hear the voice of my prayer. 114:2. Because he hath inclined his ear unto me: and in my days I will call upon him. 114:3. The sorrows of death have compassed me: and the perils of hell have found me. I met with trouble and sorrow: 114:4. And I called upon the name of the Lord. O Lord, deliver my soul. 114:5. The Lord is merciful and just, and our God sheweth mercy. 114:6. The Lord is the keeper of little ones: I was humbled, and he delivered me. 114:7. Turn, O my soul, into thy rest: for the Lord hath been bountiful to thee. 114:8. For he hath delivered my soul from death: my eyes from tears, my feet from falling. 114:9. I will please the Lord in the land of the living. Psalms Chapter 115 Credidi. This in the Hebrew is joined with the foregoing psalm, and continues to express the faith and gratitude of the psalmist. Alleluia. 115:10. I have believed, therefore have I spoken; but I have been humbled exceedingly. 115:11. I said in my excess: Every man is a liar. 115:12. What shall I render to the Lord, for all the things that he hath rendered to me? 115:13. I will take the chalice of salvation; and I will call upon the name of the Lord. 115:14. I will pay my vows to the Lord before all his people: 115:15. Precious in the sight of the Lord is the death of his saints. 115:16. O Lord, for I am thy servant: I am thy servant, and the son of thy handmaid. Thou hast broken my bonds: 115:17. I will sacrifice to thee the sacrifice of praise, and I will call upon the name of the Lord. 115:18. I will pay my vows to the Lord in the sight of all his people: 115:19. In the courts of the house of the Lord, in the midst of thee, O Jerusalem. Psalms Chapter 116 Laudate Dominum. All nations are called upon to praise God for his mercy and truth. Alleluia. 116:1. O Praise the Lord, all ye nations: praise him, all ye people. 116:2. For his mercy is confirmed upon us: and the truth of the Lord remaineth for ever. Psalms Chapter 117 Confitemini Domino. The psalmist praiseth God for his delivery from evils: putteth his whole trust in him; and foretelleth the coming of Christ. Alleluia. 117:1. Give praise to the Lord, for he is good: for his mercy endureth for ever. 117:2. Let Israel now say, that he is good: that his mercy endureth for ever. 117:3. Let the house of Aaron now say, that his mercy endureth for ever. 117:4. Let them that fear the Lord now say, that his mercy endureth for ever. 117:5. In my trouble I called upon the Lord: and the Lord heard me, and enlarged me. 117:6. The Lord is my helper: I will not fear what man can do unto me. 117:7. The Lord is my helper: and I will look over my enemies. 117:8. It is good to confide in the Lord, rather than to have confidence in man. 117:9. It is good to trust in the Lord, rather than to trust in princes. 117:10. All nations compassed me about; and, in the name of the Lord I have been revenged on them. 117:11. Surrounding me they compassed me about: and in the name of the Lord I have been revenged on them. 117:12. They surrounded me like bees, and they burned like fire among thorns: and in the name of the Lord I was revenged on them. 117:13. Being pushed I was overturned that I might fall: but the Lord supported me. 117:14. The Lord is my strength and my praise: and he is become my salvation. 117:15. The voice of rejoicing and of salvation is in the tabernacles of the just. 117:16. The right hand of the Lord hath wrought strength: the right hand of the Lord hath exalted me: the right hand of the Lord hath wrought strength. 117:17. I shall not die, but live: and shall declare the works of the Lord. 117:18. The Lord chastising hath chastised me: but he hath not delivered me over to death. 117:19. Open ye to me the gates of justice: I will go in to them, and give praise to the Lord. 117:20. This is the gate of the Lord, the just shall enter into it. 117:21. I will give glory to thee because thou hast heard me: and art become my salvation. 117:22. The stone which the builders rejected; the same is become the head of the corner. 117:23. This is the Lord's doing, and it is wonderful in our eyes. 117:24. This is the day which the Lord hath made: let us be glad and rejoice therein. 117:25. O Lord, save me: O Lord, give good success. 117:26. Blessed be he that cometh in the name of the Lord. We have blessed you out of the house of the Lord. 117:27. The Lord is God, and he hath shone upon us. Appoint a solemn day, with shady boughs, even to the horn of the altar. 117:28. Thou art my God, and I will praise thee: thou art my God, and I will exalt thee. I will praise thee, because thou hast heard me, and art become my salvation. 117:29. O praise ye the Lord, for he is good: for his mercy endureth for ever. Psalms Chapter 118 Beati immaculati. Of the excellence of virtue consisting in the love and observance of the commandments of God. Alleluia. ALEPH. Aleph... The first eight verses of this psalm in the original begin with Aleph, which is the name of the first letter of the Hebrew alphabet. The second eight verses begin with Beth, the name of the second letter of the Hebrew alphabet; and so to the end of the whole alphabet, in all twenty-two letters, each letter having eight verses. This order is variously expounded by the holy fathers; which shews the difficulty of understanding the holy scriptures, and consequently with what humility, and submission to the Church they are to be read. 118:1. Blessed are the undefiled in the way, who walk in the law of the Lord. 118:2. Blessed are they that search his testimonies: that seek him with their whole heart. His testimonies... The commandments of God are called his testimonies, because they testify his holy will unto us. Note here, that in almost every verse of this psalm (which in number are 176) the word and law of God, and the love and observance of it, is perpetually inculcated, under a variety of denominations, all signifying the same thing. 118:3. For they that work iniquity, have not walked in his ways. 118:4. Thou hast commanded thy commandments to be kept most diligently. 118:5. O! that my ways may be directed to keep thy justifications. 118:6. Then shall I not be confounded, when I shall look into all thy commandments. 118:7. I will praise thee with uprightness of heart, when I shall have learned the judgments of thy justice. 118:8. I will keep thy justifications: O! do not thou utterly forsake me. BETH. 118:9. By what doth a young man correct his way? by observing thy words. 118:10. With my whole heart have I sought after thee: let me not stray from thy commandments. 118:11. Thy words have I hidden in my heart, that I may not sin against thee. 118:12. Blessed art thou, O Lord: teach me thy justifications. 118:13. With my lips I have pronounced all the judgments of thy mouth. 118:14. I have been delighted in the way of thy testimonies, as in all riches. 118:15. I will meditate on thy commandments: and I will consider thy ways. 118:16. I will think of thy justifications: I will not forget thy words. GIMEL. 118:17. Give bountifully to thy servant, enliven me: and I shall keep thy words. 118:18. Open thou my eyes: and I will consider the wondrous things of thy law. 118:19. I am a sojourner on the earth: hide not thy commandments from me. 118:20. My soul hath coveted to long for thy justifications, at all times. 118:21. Thou hast rebuked the proud: they are cursed who decline from thy commandments. 118:22. Remove from me reproach and contempt: because I have sought after thy testimonies. 118:23. For princes sat, and spoke against me: but thy servant was employed in thy justifications. 118:24. For thy testimonies are my meditation: and thy justifications my counsel. DALETH. 118:25. My soul hath cleaved to the pavement: quicken thou me according to thy word. 118:26. I have declared my ways, and thou hast heard me: teach me thy justifications. 118:27. Make me to understand the way of thy justifications: and I shall be exercised in thy wondrous works. 118:28. My soul hath slumbered through heaviness: strengthen thou me in thy words. 118:29. Remove from me the way of iniquity: and out of thy law have mercy on me. 118:30. I have chosen the way of truth: thy judgments I have not forgotten. 118:31. I have stuck to thy testimonies, O Lord: put me not to shame. 118:32. I have run the way of thy commandments, when thou didst enlarge my heart. HE. 118:33. Set before me for a law the way of thy justifications, O Lord: and I will always seek after it. 118:34. Give me understanding, and I will search thy law; and I will keep it with my whole heart. 118:35. Lead me into the path of thy commandments; for this same I have desired. 118:36. Incline my heart into thy testimonies and not to covetousness. 118:37. Turn away my eyes that they may not behold vanity: quicken me in thy way. 118:38. Establish thy word to thy servant, in thy fear. 118:39. Turn away my reproach, which I have apprehended: for thy judgments are delightful. 118:40. Behold I have longed after thy precepts: quicken me in thy justice. VAU. 118:41. Let thy mercy also come upon me, O Lord: thy salvation according to thy word. 118:42. So shall I answer them that reproach me in any thing; that I have trusted in thy words. 118:43. And take not thou the word of truth utterly out of my mouth: for in thy words, I have hoped exceedingly. 118:44. So shall I always keep thy law, for ever and ever. 118:45. And I walked at large: because I have sought after thy commandments. 118:46. And I spoke of thy testimonies before kings: and I was not ashamed. 118:47. I meditated also on thy commandments, which I loved. 118:48. And I lifted up my hands to thy commandments, which I loved: and I was exercised in thy justifications. ZAIN. 118:49. Be thou mindful of thy word to thy servant, in which thou hast given me hope. 118:50. This hath comforted me in my humiliation: because thy word hath enlivened me. 118:51. The proud did iniquitously altogether: but I declined not from thy law. 118:52. I remembered, O Lord, thy judgments of old: and I was comforted. 118:53. A fainting hath taken hold of me, because of the wicked that forsake thy law. 118:54. Thy justifications were the subject of my song, in the place of my pilgrimage. 118:55. In the night I have remembered thy name, O Lord: and have kept thy law. 118:56. This happened to me: because I sought after thy justifications. HETH. 118:57. O Lord, my portion, I have said, I would keep thy law. 118:58. I entreated thy face with all my heart: have mercy on me according to thy word. 118:59. I have thought on my ways: and turned my feet unto thy testimonies. 118:60. I am ready, and am not troubled: that I may keep thy commandments. 118:61. The cords of the wicked have encompassed me: but I have not forgotten thy law. 118:62. I rose at midnight to give praise to thee; for the judgments of thy justification. 118:63. I am a partaker with all them that fear thee, and that keep thy commandments. 118:64. The earth, O Lord, is full of thy mercy: teach me thy justifications. TETH. 118:65. Thou hast done well with thy servant, O Lord, according to thy word. 118:66. Teach me goodness and discipline and knowledge; for I have believed thy commandments. 118:67. Before I was humbled I offended; therefore have I kept thy word. 118:68. Thou art good; and in thy goodness teach me thy justifications. 118:69. The iniquity of the proud hath been multiplied over me: but I will seek thy commandments with my whole heart. 118:70. Their heart is curdled like milk: but I have meditated on thy law. 118:71. It is good for me that thou hast humbled me, that I may learn thy justifications. 118:72. The law of thy mouth is good to me, above thousands of gold and silver. JOD. 118:73. Thy hands have made me and formed me: give me understanding, and I will learn thy commandments. 118:74. They that fear thee shall see me, and shall be glad: because I have greatly hoped in thy words. 118:75. I know, O Lord, that thy judgments are equity: and in thy truth thou hast humbled me. 118:76. O! let thy mercy be for my comfort, according to thy word unto thy servant. 118:77. Let thy tender mercies come unto me, and I shall live: for thy law is my meditation. 118:78. Let the proud be ashamed, because they have done unjustly towards me: but I will be employed in thy commandments. 118:79. Let them that fear thee turn to me: and they that know thy testimonies. 118:80. Let my heart be undefiled in thy justifications, that I may not be confounded. CAPH. 118:81. My soul hath fainted after thy salvation: and in thy word I have very much hoped. 118:82. My eyes have failed for thy word, saying: When wilt thou comfort me? 118:83. For I am become like a bottle in the frost: I have not forgotten thy justifications. 118:84. How many are the days of thy servant: when wilt thou execute judgment on them that persecute me? 118:85. The wicked have told me fables: but not as thy law. 118:86. All thy statutes are truth: they have persecuted me unjustly, do thou help me. 118:87. They had almost made an end of me upon earth: but I have not forsaken thy commandments. 118:88. Quicken thou me according to thy mercy: and I shall keep the testimonies of thy mouth. LAMED. 118:89. For ever, O Lord, thy word standeth firm in heaven. 118:90. Thy truth unto all generations: thou hast founded the earth, and it continueth. 118:91. By thy ordinance the day goeth on: for all things serve thee. 118:92. Unless thy law had been my meditation, I had then perhaps perished in my abjection. 118:93. Thy justifications I will never forget: for by them thou hast given me life. 118:94. I am thine, save thou me: for I have sought thy justifications. 118:95. The wicked have waited for me to destroy me: but I have understood thy testimonies. 118:96. I have seen an end of all perfection: thy commandment is exceeding broad. MEM. 118:97. O how have I loved thy law, O Lord! it is my meditation all the day. 118:98. Through thy commandment, thou hast made me wiser than my enemies: for it is ever with me. 118:99. I have understood more than all my teachers: because thy testimonies are my meditation. 118:100. I have had understanding above ancients: because I have sought thy commandments. 118:101. I have restrained my feet from every evil way: that I may keep thy words. 118:102. I have not declined from thy judgments, because thou hast set me a law. 118:103. How sweet are thy words to my palate! more than honey to my mouth. 118:104. By thy commandments I have had understanding: therefore have I hated every way of iniquity. NUN. 118:105. Thy word is a lamp to my feet, and a light to my paths. 118:106. I have sworn and am determined to keep the judgments of thy justice. 118:107. I have been humbled, O Lord, exceedingly: quicken thou me according to thy word. 118:108. The free offerings of my mouth make acceptable, O Lord: and teach me thy judgments. 118:109. My soul is continually in my hands: and I have not forgotten thy law. 118:110. Sinners have laid a snare for me: but I have not erred from thy precepts. 118:111. I have purchased thy testimonies for an inheritance for ever: because they are the joy of my heart. 118:112. I have inclined my heart to do thy justifications for ever, for the reward. SAMECH. 118:113. I have hated the unjust: and have loved thy law. 118:114. Thou art my helper and my protector: and in thy word I have greatly hoped. 118:115. Depart from me, ye malignant: and I will search the commandments of my God. 118:116. Uphold me according to thy word, and I shall live: and let me not be confounded in my expectation. 118:117. Help me, and I shall be saved: and I will meditate always on thy justifications. 118:118. Thou hast despised all them that fall off from thy judgments; for their thought is unjust. 118:119. I have accounted all the sinners of the earth prevaricators: therefore have I loved thy testimonies. 118:120. Pierce thou my flesh with thy fear: for I am afraid of thy judgments. AIN. 118:121. I have done judgment and justice: give me not up to them that slander me. 118:122. Uphold thy servant unto good: let not the proud calumniate me. 118:123. My eyes have fainted after thy salvation: and for the word of thy justice. 118:124. Deal with thy servant according to thy mercy: and teach me thy justifications. 118:125. I am thy servant: give me understanding that I may know thy testimonies. 118:126. It is time, O Lord, to do: they have dissipated thy law. 118:127. Therefore have I loved thy commandments above gold and the topaz. 118:128. Therefore was I directed to all thy commandments: I have hated all wicked ways. PHE. 118:129. Thy testimonies are wonderful: therefore my soul hath sought them. 118:130. The declaration of thy words giveth light: and giveth understanding to little ones. 118:131. I opened my mouth, and panted: because I longed for thy commandments. 118:132. Look thou upon me, and have mercy on me according to the judgment of them that love thy name. 118:133. Direct my steps according to thy word: and let no iniquity have dominion over me. 118:134. Redeem me from the calumnies of men: that I may keep thy commandments. 118:135. Make thy face to shine upon thy servant: and teach me thy justifications. 118:136. My eyes have sent forth springs of water: because they have not kept thy law. SADE. 118:137. Thou art just, O Lord: and thy judgment is right. 118:138. Thou hast commanded justice thy testimonies: and thy truth exceedingly. 118:139. My zeal hath made me pine away: because my enemies forgot thy words. 118:140. Thy word is exceedingly refined: and thy servant hath loved it. 118:141. I am very young and despised; but I forget not thy justifications. 118:142. Thy justice is justice for ever: and thy law is the truth. 118:143. Trouble and anguish have found me: thy commandments are my meditation. 118:144. Thy testimonies are justice for ever: give me understanding, and I shall live. COPH. 118:145. I cried with my whole heart, hear me, O Lord: I will seek thy justifications. 118:146. I cried unto thee, save me: that I may keep thy commandments. 118:147. I prevented the dawning of the day, and cried: because in thy words I very much hoped. 118:148. My eyes to thee have prevented the morning: that I might meditate on thy words. 118:149. Hear thou my voice, O Lord, according to thy mercy: and quicken me according to thy judgment. 118:150. They that persecute me have drawn nigh to iniquity; but they are gone far off from thy law. 118:151. Thou art near, O Lord: and all thy ways are truth. 118:152. I have known from the beginning concerning thy testimonies: that thou hast founded them for ever. RES. 118:153. See my humiliation and deliver me for I have not forgotten thy law. 118:154. Judge my judgment and redeem me: quicken thou me for thy word's sake. 118:155. Salvation is far from sinners; because they have not sought thy justifications. 118:156. Many, O Lord, are thy mercies: quicken me according to thy judgment. 118:157. Many are they that persecute me and afflict me; but I have not declined from thy testimonies. 118:158. I beheld the transgressors, and pined away; because they kept not thy word. 118:159. Behold I have loved thy commandments, O Lord; quicken me thou in thy mercy. 118:160. The beginning of thy words is truth: all the judgments of thy justice are for ever. SIN. 118:161. Princes have persecuted me without cause: and my heart hath been in awe of thy words. 118:162. I will rejoice at thy words, as one that hath found great spoil. 118:163. I have hated and abhorred iniquity; but I have loved thy law. 118:164. Seven times a day I have given praise to thee, for the judgments of thy justice. 118:165. Much peace have they that love thy law, and to them there is no stumbling block. 118:166. I looked for thy salvation, O Lord: and I loved thy commandments. 118:167. My soul hath kept thy testimonies and hath loved them exceedingly. 118:168. I have kept thy commandments and thy testimonies: because all my ways are in thy sight. TAU. 118:169. Let my supplication, O Lord, come near in thy sight: give me understanding according to thy word. 118:170. Let my request come in before thee; deliver thou me according to thy word. 118:171. My lips shall utter a hymn, when thou shalt teach me thy justifications. 118:172. My tongue shall pronounce thy word: because all thy commandments are justice. 118:173. Let thy hand be with me to save me; for I have chosen thy precepts. 118:174. I have longed for thy salvation, O Lord; and thy law is my meditation. 118:175. My soul shall live and shall praise thee: and thy judgments shall help me. 118:176. I have gone astray like a sheep that is lost: seek thy servant, because I have not forgotten thy commandments. Psalms Chapter 119 Ad Dominum. A prayer in tribulation. A gradual canticle. A gradual canticle... The following psalms, in number fifteen, are called gradual psalms, or canticles, from the word gradus, signifying steps, ascensions, or degrees: either because they were appointed to be sung on the fifteen steps, by which the people ascended to the temple: or, that in the singing of them the voice was to be raised by certain steps or ascensions: or, that they were to be sung by the people returning from their captivity and ascending to Jerusalem, which was seated amongst mountains. The holy fathers, in a mystical sense, understand these steps, or ascensions, of the degrees by which Christians spiritually ascend to virtue and perfection; and to the true temple of God in the heavenly Jerusalem. 119:1. In my trouble I cried to the Lord: and he heard me. 119:2. O Lord, deliver my soul from wicked lips, and a deceitful tongue. 119:3. What shall be given to thee, or what shall be added to thee, to a deceitful tongue? 119:4. The sharp arrows of the mighty, with coals that lay waste. 119:5. Woe is me, that my sojourning is prolonged! I have dwelt with the inhabitants of Cedar: 119:6. My soul hath been long a sojourner. 119:7. With them that hated peace I was peaceable: when I spoke to them they fought against me without cause. Psalms Chapter 120 Levavi oculos. God is the keeper of his servants. A gradual canticle. 120:1. I have lifted up my eyes to the mountains, from whence help shall come to me. 120:2. My help is from the Lord, who made heaven and earth. 120:3. May he not suffer thy foot to be moved: neither let him slumber that keepeth thee. 120:4. Behold he shall neither slumber nor sleep, that keepeth Israel. 120:5. The Lord is thy keeper, the Lord is thy protection upon thy right hand. 120:6. The sun shall not burn thee by day: nor the moon by night. 120:7. The Lord keepeth thee from all evil: may the Lord keep thy soul. 120:8. May the Lord keep thy coming in and thy going out; from henceforth now and for ever. Psalms Chapter 121 Laetatus sum in his. The desire and hope of the just for the coming of the kingdom of God, and the peace of his church. 121:1. A gradual canticle. I rejoiced at the things that were said to me: We shall go into the house of the Lord. 121:2. Our feet were standing in thy courts, O Jerusalem. 121:3. Jerusalem, which is built as a city, which is compact together. 121:4. For thither did the tribes go up, the tribes of the Lord: the testimony of Israel, to praise the name of the Lord. 121:5. Because their seats have sat in judgment, seats upon the house of David. 121:6. Pray ye for the things that are for the peace of Jerusalem: and abundance for them that love thee. 121:7. Let peace be in thy strength: and abundance in thy towers. 121:8. For the sake of my brethren, and of my neighbours, I spoke peace of thee. 121:9. Because of the house of the Lord our God, I have sought good things for thee. Psalms Chapter 122 Ad te levavi. A prayer in affliction, with confidence in God. A gradual canticle. 122:1. To thee have I lifted up my eyes, who dwellest in heaven. 122:2. Behold as the eyes of servants are on the hands of their masters, As the eyes of the handmaid are on the hands of her mistress: so are our eyes unto the Lord our God, until he have mercy on us. 122:3. Have mercy on us, O Lord, have mercy on us: for we are greatly filled with contempt. 122:4. For our soul is greatly filled: we are a reproach to the rich, and contempt to the proud. Psalms Chapter 123 Nisi quia Domini. The church giveth glory to God for her deliverance, from the hands of her enemies. 123:1. A gradual canticle. If it had not been that the Lord was with us, let Israel now say: 123:2. If it had not been that the Lord was with us, When men rose up against us, 123:3. Perhaps they had swallowed us up alive. When their fury was enkindled against us, 123:4. Perhaps the waters had swallowed us up. 123:5. Our soul hath passed through a torrent: perhaps our soul had passed through a water insupportable. 123:6. Blessed be the Lord, who hath not given us to be a prey to their teeth. 123:7. Our soul hath been delivered as a sparrow out of the snare of the fowlers. The snare is broken, and we are delivered. 123:8. Our help is in the name of the Lord, who made heaven and earth. Psalms Chapter 124 Qui confidunt. The just are always under God's protection. 124:1. A gradual canticle. They that trust in the Lord shall be as mount Sion: he shall not be moved for ever that dwelleth 124:2. In Jerusalem. Mountains are round about it: so the Lord is round about his people from henceforth now and for ever. 124:3. For the Lord will not leave the rod of sinners upon the lot of the just: that the just may not stretch forth their hands to iniquity. 124:4. Do good, O Lord, to those that are good, and to the upright of heart. 124:5. But such as turn aside into bonds, the Lord shall lead out with the workers of iniquity: peace upon Israel. Psalms Chapter 125 In convertendo. The people of God rejoice at their delivery from captivity. 125:1. A gradual canticle. When the Lord brought back the captivity of Sion, we became like men comforted. 125:2. Then was our mouth filled with gladness; and our tongue with joy. Then shall they say among the Gentiles: The Lord hath done great things for them. 125:3. The Lord hath done great things for us: we are become joyful. 125:4. Turn again our captivity, O Lord, as a stream in the south. 125:5. They that sow in tears shall reap in joy. 125:6. Going they went and wept, casting their seeds. 125:7. But coming they shall come with joyfulness, carrying their sheaves. Psalms Chapter 126 Nisi Dominus. Nothing can be done without God's grace and blessing. 126:1. A gradual canticle of Solomon. Unless the Lord build the house, they labour in vain that build it. Unless the Lord keep the city, he watcheth in vain that keepeth it. 126:2. It is vain for you to rise before light, rise ye after you have sitten, you that eat the bread of sorrow. When he shall give sleep to his beloved, It is vain for you to rise before light... That is, your early rising, your labour and worldly solicitude, will be vain, that is, will avail you nothing, without the light, grace, and blessing of God. 126:3. Behold the inheritance of the Lord are children: the reward, the fruit of the womb. 126:4. As arrows in the hand of the mighty, so the children of them that have been shaken. 126:5. Blessed is the man that hath filled the desire with them; he shall not be confounded when he shall speak to his enemies in the gate. Psalms Chapter 127 Beati omnes. The fear of God is the way to happiness. 127:1. A gradual canticle. Blessed are all they that fear the Lord: that walk in his ways. 127:2. For thou shalt eat the labours of thy hands: blessed art thou, and it shall be well with thee. 127:3. Thy wife as a fruitful vine, on the sides of thy house. Thy children as olive plants, round about thy table. 127:4. Behold, thus shall the man be blessed that feareth the Lord. 127:5. May the Lord bless thee out of Sion: and mayst thou see the good things of Jerusalem all the days of thy life. 127:6. And mayst thou see thy children's children, peace upon Israel. Psalms Chapter 128 Saepe expugnaverunt. The church of God is invincible: her persecutors come to nothing. 128:1. A gradual canticle. Often have they fought against me from my youth, let Israel now say. 128:2. Often have they fought against me from my youth: but they could not prevail over me. 128:3. The wicked have wrought upon my back: they have lengthened their iniquity. 128:4. The Lord who is just will cut the necks of sinners: 128:5. Let them all be confounded and turned back that hate Sion. 128:6. Let them be as grass upon the tops of houses: which withereth before it be plucked up: 128:7. Who with the mower filleth not his hand: nor he that gathereth sheaves his bosom. 128:8. And they that passed by have not said: The blessing of the Lord be upon you: we have blessed you in the name of the Lord. Psalms Chapter 129 De profundis. A prayer of a sinner, trusting in the mercies of God. The sixth penitential psalm. 129:1. A gradual canticle. Out of the depths I have cried to thee, O Lord: 129:2. Lord, hear my voice. Let thy ears be attentive to the voice of my supplication. 129:3. If thou, O Lord, wilt mark iniquities: Lord, who shall stand it. 129:4. For with thee there is merciful forgiveness: and by reason of thy law, I have waited for thee, O Lord. My soul hath relied on his word: 129:5. my soul hath hoped in the Lord. 129:6. From the morning watch even until night, let Israel hope in the Lord. 129:7. Because with the Lord there is mercy: and with him plentiful redemption. 129:8. And he shall redeem Israel from all his iniquities. Psalms Chapter 130 Domine, none est. The prophet's humility. 130:1. A gradual canticle of David. Lord, my heart is not exalted: nor are my eyes lofty. Neither have I walked in great matters, nor in wonderful things above me. 130:2. If I was not humbly minded, but exalted my soul: As a child that is weaned is towards his mother, so reward in my soul. 130:3. Let Israel hope in the Lord, from henceforth now and for ever. Psalms Chapter 131 Memento, Domine. A prayer for the fulfilling of the promise made to David. 131:1. A gradual canticle. O Lord, remember David, and all his meekness. 131:2. How he swore to the Lord, he vowed a vow to the God of Jacob: 131:3. If I shall enter into the tabernacle of my house: if I shall go up into the bed wherein I lie: 131:4. If I shall give sleep to my eyes, or slumber to my eyelids, 131:5. Or rest to my temples: until I find out a place for the Lord, a tabernacle for the God of Jacob. 131:6. Behold we have heard of it in Ephrata: we have found it in the fields of the wood. We have heard of it in Ephrata... When I was young, and lived in Bethlehem, otherwise called Ephrata, I heard of God's tabernacle and ark, and had a devout desire of seeking it; and accordingly I found it at Cariathiarim, the city of the woods: where it was till it was removed to Jerusalem. See 1 Par. 13. 131:7. We will go into his tabernacle: we will adore in the place where his feet stood. 131:8. Arise, O Lord, into thy resting place: thou and the ark, which thou hast sanctified. 131:9. Let thy priests be clothed with justice: and let thy saints rejoice. 131:10. For thy servant David's sake, turn not away the face of thy anointed. 131:11. The Lord hath sworn truth to David, and he will not make it void: of the fruit of thy womb I will set upon thy throne. 131:12. If thy children will keep my covenant, and these my testimonies which I shall teach them: Their children also for evermore shall sit upon thy throne. 131:13. For the Lord hath chosen Sion: he hath chosen it for his dwelling. 131:14. This is my rest for ever and ever: here will I dwell, for I have chosen it. 131:15. Blessing I will bless her widow: I will satisfy her poor with bread. 131:16. I will clothe her priests with salvation, and her saints shall rejoice with exceeding great joy. 131:17. There will I bring forth a horn to David: I have prepared a lamp for my anointed. 131:18. His enemies I will clothe with confusion: but upon him shall my sanctification flourish. Psalms Chapter 132 Ecce quam bonum. The happiness of brotherly love and concord. 132:1. A gradual canticle of David. Behold how good and how pleasant it is for brethren to dwell together in unity: 132:2. Like the precious ointment on the head, that ran down upon the beard, the beard of Aaron, Which ran down to the skirt of his garment: 132:3. As the dew of Hermon, which descendeth upon mount Sion. For there the Lord hath commanded blessing, and life for evermore. Psalms Chapter 133 Ecce nunc benedicite. An exhortation to praise God continually. 133:1. A gradual canticle. Behold now bless ye the Lord, all ye servants of the Lord: Who stand in the house of the Lord, in the courts of the house of our God. 133:2. In the nights lift up your hands to the holy places, and bless ye the Lord. 133:3. May the Lord out of Sion bless thee, he that made heaven and earth. Psalms Chapter 134 Laudate nomen. An exhortation to praise God: the vanity of idols. 134:1. Alleluia. Praise ye the name of the Lord: O you his servants, praise the Lord: 134:2. You that stand in the house of the Lord, in the courts of the house of our God. 134:3. Praise ye the Lord, for the Lord is good: sing ye to his name, for it is sweet. 134:4. For the Lord hath chosen Jacob unto himself: Israel for his own possession. 134:5. For I have known that the Lord is great, and our God is above all gods. 134:6. Whatsoever the Lord pleased he hath done, in heaven, in earth, in the sea, and in all the deeps. 134:7. He bringeth up clouds from the end of the earth: he hath made lightnings for the rain. He bringeth forth winds out of his stores: 134:8. He slew the firstborn of Egypt from man even unto beast. 134:9. He sent forth signs and wonders in the midst of thee, O Egypt: upon Pharao, and upon all his servants. 134:10. He smote many nations, and slew mighty kings: 134:11. Sehon king of the Amorrhites, and Og king of Basan, and all the kingdoms of Chanaan. 134:12. And gave their land for an inheritance, for an inheritance to his people Israel. 134:13. Thy name, O Lord, is for ever: thy memorial, O Lord, unto all generations. 134:14. For the Lord will judge his people, and will be entreated in favour of his servants. 134:15. The idols of the Gentiles are silver and gold, the works of men's hands. 134:16. They have a mouth, but they speak not: they have eyes, but they see not. 134:17. They have ears, but they hear not: neither is there any breath in their mouths. 134:18. Let them that make them be like to them: and every one that trusteth in them. 134:19. Bless the Lord, O house of Israel: bless the Lord, O house of Aaron. 134:20. Bless the Lord, O house of Levi: you that fear the Lord, bless the Lord. 134:21. Blessed be the Lord out of Sion, who dwelleth in Jerusalem. Psalms Chapter 135 Confitemini Domino. God is to be praised for his wonderful works. 135:1. Alleluia. Praise the Lord, for he is good: for his mercy endureth for ever. Praise the Lord... By this invitation to praise the Lord, thrice repeated, we profess the Blessed Trinity, One God in three distinct Persons, the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Ghost. 135:2. Praise ye the God of gods: for his mercy endureth for ever. 135:3. Praise ye the Lord of lords: for his mercy endureth for ever. 135:4. Who alone doth great wonders: for his mercy endureth for ever. 135:5. Who made the heavens in understanding: for his mercy endureth for ever. 135:6. Who established the earth above the waters: for his mercy endureth for ever. 135:7. Who made the great lights: for his mercy endureth for ever. 135:8. The sun to rule the day: for his mercy endureth for ever. 135:9. The moon and the stars to rule the night: for his mercy endureth for ever. 135:10. Who smote Egypt with their firstborn: for his mercy endureth for ever. 135:11. Who brought out Israel from among them: for his mercy endureth for ever. 135:12. With a mighty hand and with a stretched out arm: for his mercy endureth for ever. 135:13. Who divided the Red Sea into parts: for his mercy endureth for ever. 135:14. And brought out Israel through the midst thereof: for his mercy endureth for ever. 135:15. And overthrew Pharao and his host in the Red Sea: for his mercy endureth for ever. 135:16. Who led his people through the desert: for his mercy endureth for ever. 135:17. Who smote great kings: for his mercy endureth for ever. 135:18. And slew strong kings: for his mercy endureth for ever. 135:19. Sehon king of the Amorrhites: for his mercy endureth for ever. 135:20. And Og king of Basan: for his mercy endureth for ever. 135:21. And he gave their land for an inheritance: for his mercy endureth for ever. 135:22. For an inheritance to his servant Israel: for his mercy endureth for ever. 135:23. For he was mindful of us in our affliction: for his mercy endureth for ever. 135:24. And he redeemed us from our enemies: for his mercy endureth for ever. 135:25. Who giveth food to all flesh: for his mercy endureth for ever. 135:26. Give glory to the God of heaven: for his mercy endureth for ever. 135:27. Give glory to the Lord of lords: for his mercy endureth for ever. Psalms Chapter 136 Super flumina. The lamentation of the people of God in their captivity in Babylon. A psalm of David, for Jeremias. For Jeremias... For the time of Jeremias, and the captivity of Babylon. 136:1. Upon the rivers of Babylon, there we sat and wept: when we remembered Sion: 136:2. On the willows in the midst thereof we hung up our instruments. 136:3. For there they that led us into captivity required of us the words of songs. And they that carried us away, said: Sing ye to us a hymn of the songs of Sion. 136:4. How shall we sing the song of the Lord in a strange land? 136:5. If I forget thee, O Jerusalem, let my right hand be forgotten. 136:6. Let my tongue cleave to my jaws, if I do not remember thee: If I make not Jerusalem the beginning of my joy. 136:7. Remember, O Lord, the children of Edom, in the day of Jerusalem: Who say: Rase it, rase it, even to the foundation thereof. 136:8. O daughter of Babylon, miserable: blessed shall he be who shall repay thee thy payment which thou hast paid us. 136:9. Blessed be he that shall take and dash thy little ones against the rock. Dash thy little ones, etc... In the spiritual sense, we dash the little ones of Babylon against the rock, when we mortify our passions, and stifle the first motions of them, by a speedy recourse to the rock which is Christ. Psalms Chapter 137 Confitebor tibi. Thanksgiving to God for his benefits. 137:1. For David himself. I will praise thee, O Lord, with my whole heart: for thou hast heard the words of my mouth. I will sing praise to thee in the sight of the angels: 137:2. I will worship towards thy holy temple, and I will give glory to thy name. For thy mercy, and for thy truth: for thou hast magnified thy holy name above all. 137:3. In what day soever I shall call upon thee, hear me: thou shalt multiply strength in my soul. 137:4. May all the kings of the earth give glory to thee: for they have heard all the words of thy mouth. 137:5. And let them sing in the ways of the Lord: for great is the glory of the Lord. 137:6. For the Lord is high, and looketh on the low: and the high he knoweth afar off. 137:7. If I shall walk in the midst of tribulation, thou wilt quicken me: and thou hast stretched forth thy hand against the wrath of my enemies: and thy right hand hath saved me. 137:8. The Lord will repay for me: thy mercy, O Lord, endureth for ever: O despise not the works of thy hands. Psalms Chapter 138 Domine, probasti. God's special providence over his servants. 138:1. Unto the end, a psalm of David. Lord, thou hast proved me, and known me: 138:2. Thou hast known my sitting down, and my rising up. 138:3. Thou hast understood my thoughts afar off: my path and my line thou hast searched out. 138:4. And thou hast foreseen all my ways: for there is no speech in my tongue. There is no speech, etc... Viz., unknown to thee: or when there is no speech in my tongue; yet my whole interior and my most secret thoughts are known to thee. 138:5. Behold, O Lord, thou hast known all things, the last and those of old: thou hast formed me, and hast laid thy hand upon me. 138:6. Thy knowledge is become wonderful to me: it is high, and I cannot reach to it. 138:7. Whither shall I go from thy spirit? or whither shall I flee from thy face? 138:8 If I ascend into heaven, thou art there: if I descend into hell, thou art present. 138:9. If I take my wings early in the morning, and dwell in the uttermost parts of the sea: 138:10. Even there also shall thy hand lead me: and thy right hand shall hold me. 138:11. And I said: Perhaps darkness shall cover me: and night shall be my light in my pleasures. 138:12. But darkness shall not be dark to thee, and night shall be light all the day: the darkness thereof, and the light thereof are alike to thee. 138:13. For thou hast possessed my reins: thou hast protected me from my mother's womb. 138:14. I will praise thee, for thou art fearfully magnified: wonderful are thy works, and my soul knoweth right well. 138:15. My bone is not hidden from thee, which thou hast made in secret: and my substance in the lower parts of the earth. 138:16. Thy eyes did see my imperfect being, and in thy book all shall be written: days shall be formed, and no one in them. 138:17. But to me thy friends, O God, are made exceedingly honourable: their principality is exceedingly strengthened. 138:18. I will number them, and they shall be multiplied above the sand, I rose up and am still with thee. 138:19. If thou wilt kill the wicked, O God: ye men of blood, depart from me: 138:20. Because you say in thought: They shall receive thy cities in vain. Because you say in thought, etc... Depart from me, you wicked, who plot against the servants of God, and think to cast them out of the cities of their habitation; as if they have received them in vain, and to no purpose. 138:21. Have I not hated them, O Lord, that hated thee: and pined away because of thy enemies? 138:22. I have hated them with a perfect hatred: and they are become enemies to me. I have hated them... Not with an hatred of malice, but a zeal for the observance of God's commandments; which he saw were despised by the wicked, who are to be considered enemies to God. 138:23. Prove me, O God, and know my heart: examine me, and know my paths. 138:24. And see if there be in me the way of iniquity: and lead me in the eternal way. Psalms Chapter 139 Eripe me, Domine. A prayer to be delivered from the wicked. 139:1. Unto the end, a psalm of David. 139:2. Deliver me, O Lord, from the evil man: rescue me from the unjust man. 139:3. Who have devised iniquities in their hearts: all the day long they designed battles. 139:4. They have sharpened their tongues like a serpent: the venom of asps is under their lips. 139:5. Keep me, O Lord, from the hand of the wicked: and from unjust men deliver me. Who have proposed to supplant my steps: 139:6. The proud have hidden a net for me. And they have stretched out cords for a snare: they have laid for me a stumblingblock by the wayside. 139:7. I said to the Lord: Thou art my God: hear, O Lord, the voice of my supplication. 139:8. O Lord, Lord, the strength of my salvation: thou hast overshadowed my head in the day of battle. 139:9. Give me not up, O Lord, from my desire to the wicked: they have plotted against me; do not thou forsake me, lest they should triumph. 139:10. The head of them compassing me about: the labour of their lips shall overwhelm them. 139:11. Burning coals shall fall upon them; thou wilt cast them down into the fire: in miseries they shall not be able to stand. 139:12. A man full of tongue shall not be established in the earth: evil shall catch the unjust man unto destruction. 139:13. I know that the Lord will do justice to the needy, and will revenge the poor. 139:14. But as for the just, they shall give glory to thy name: and the upright shall dwell with thy countenance. Psalms Chapter 140 Domine, clamavi. A prayer against sinful words, and deceitful flatterers. A psalm of David. 140:1. I have cried to thee, O Lord, hear me: hearken to my voice, when I cry to thee. 140:2. Let my prayer be directed as incense in thy sight; the lifting up of my hands, as evening sacrifice. 140:3. Set a watch, O Lord, before my mouth: and a door round about my lips. 140:4. Incline not my heart to evil words; to make excuses in sins. With men that work iniquity: and I will not communicate with the choicest of them. 140:5. The just man shall correct me in mercy, and shall reprove me: but let not the oil of the sinner fatten my head. For my prayer shall still be against the things with which they are well pleased: Let not the oil of the sinner, etc... That is, the flattery, or deceitful praise.-Ibid. For my prayer, etc... So far from coveting their praises, who are never well pleased but with things that are evil; I shall continually pray to be preserved from such things as they are delighted with. 140:6. Their judges falling upon the rock have been swallowed up. They shall hear my words, for they have prevailed: Their judges, etc... Their rulers, or chiefs, quickly vanish and perish, like ships dashed against the rocks, and swallowed up by the waves. Let them then hear my words, for they are powerful and will prevail; or, as it is in the Hebrew, for they are sweet. 140:7. As when the thickness of the earth is broken up upon the ground: Our bones are scattered by the side of hell. 140:8. But to thee, O Lord, Lord, are my eyes: in thee have I put my trust, take not away my soul. 140:9. Keep me from the snare, which they have laid for me, and from the stumblingblocks of them that work iniquity. 140:10. The wicked shall fall in his net: I am alone until I pass. I am alone, etc... Singularly protected by the Almighty, until I pass all their nets and snares. Psalms Chapter 141 Voce mea. A prayer of David in extremity of danger. 141:1. Of understanding for David, A prayer when he was in the cave. [1 Kings 24.] 141:2. I cried to the Lord with my voice: with my voice I made supplication to the Lord. 141:3. In his sight I pour out my prayer, and before him I declare my trouble: 141:4. When my spirit failed me, then thou knewest my paths. In this way wherein I walked, they have hidden a snare for me. 141:5. I looked on my right hand, and beheld, and there was no one that would know me. Flight hath failed me: and there is no one that hath regard to my soul. 141:6. I cried to thee, O Lord: I said: Thou art my hope, my portion in the land of the living. 141:7. Attend to my supplication: for I am brought very low. Deliver me from my persecutors; for they are stronger than I. 141:8. Bring my soul out of prison, that I may praise thy name: the just wait for me, until thou reward me. Psalms Chapter 142 Domine, exaudi. The psalmist in tribulation calleth upon God for his delivery. The seventh penitential psalm. 142:1. A psalm of David, when his son Absalom pursued him. [2 Kings 17.] Hear, O Lord, my prayer: give ear to my supplication in thy truth: hear me in thy justice. 142:2. And enter not into judgment with thy servant: for in thy sight no man living shall be justified. 142:3. For the enemy hath persecuted my soul: he hath brought down my life to the earth. He hath made me to dwell in darkness as those that have been dead of old: 142:4 And my spirit is in anguish within me: my heart within me is troubled. 142:5. I remembered the days of old, I meditated on all thy works: I meditated upon the works of thy hands. 142:6. I stretched forth my hands to thee: my soul is as earth without water unto thee. 142:7. Hear me speedily, O Lord: my spirit hath fainted away. Turn not away thy face from me, lest I be like unto them that go down into the pit. 142:8. Cause me to hear thy mercy in the morning; for in thee have I hoped. Make the way known to me, wherein I should walk: for I have lifted up my soul to thee. 142:9. Deliver me from my enemies, O Lord, to thee have I fled: 142:10. Teach me to do thy will, for thou art my God. Thy good spirit shall lead me into the right land: 142:11. For thy name's sake, O Lord, thou wilt quicken me in thy justice. Thou wilt bring my soul out of trouble: 142:12. And in thy mercy thou wilt destroy my enemies. And thou wilt cut off all them that afflict my soul: for I am thy servant. Psalms Chapter 143 Benedictus Dominus. The prophet praiseth God, and prayeth to be delivered from his enemies. No worldly happiness is to be compared with that of serving God. A psalm of David against Goliath. 143:1. Blessed be the Lord my God, who teacheth my hands to fight, and my fingers to war. 143:2. My mercy, and my refuge: my support, and my deliverer: My protector, and I have hoped in him: who subdueth my people under me. 143:3. Lord, what is man, that thou art made known to him? or the son of man, that thou makest account of him? 143:4. Man is like to vanity: his days pass away like a shadow. 143:5. Lord, bow down thy heavens and descend: touch the mountains, and they shall smoke. 143:6. Send forth lightning, and thou shalt scatter them: shoot out thy arrows, and thou shalt trouble them. 143:7. Put forth thy hand from on high, take me out, and deliver me from many waters: from the hand of strange children: 143:8. Whose mouth hath spoken vanity: and their right hand is the right hand of iniquity. 143:9. To thee, O God, I will sing a new canticle: on the psaltery and an instrument of ten strings I will sing praises to thee. 143:10. Who givest salvation to kings: who hast redeemed thy servant David from the malicious sword: 143:11. Deliver me, And rescue me out of the hand of strange children; whose mouth hath spoken vanity: and their right hand is the right hand of iniquity: 143:12. Whose sons are as new plants in their youth: Their daughters decked out, adorned round about after the similitude of a temple: 143:13. Their storehouses full, flowing out of this into that. Their sheep fruitful in young, abounding in their goings forth: 143:14. Their oxen fat. There is no breach of wall, nor passage, nor crying out in their streets. 143:15. They have called the people happy, that hath these things: but happy is that people whose God is the Lord. Psalms Chapter 144 Exaltabo te, Deus. A psalm of praise, to the infinite majesty of God. 144:1. Praise, for David himself. I will extol thee, O God my king: and I will bless thy name for ever; yea, for ever and ever. 144:2. Every day will I bless thee: and I will praise thy name for ever; yea, for ever and ever. 144:3. Great is the Lord, and greatly to be praised: and of his greatness there is no end. 144:4. Generation and generation shall praise thy works: and they shall declare thy power. 144:5. They shall speak of the magnificence of the glory of thy holiness: and shall tell thy wondrous works. 144:6. And they shall speak of the might of thy terrible acts: and shall declare thy greatness. 144:7. They shall publish the memory of the abundance of thy sweetness: and shall rejoice in thy justice. 144:8. The Lord is gracious and merciful: patient and plenteous in mercy. 144:9. The Lord is sweet to all: and his tender mercies are over all his works. 144:10. Let all thy works, O lord, praise thee: and let thy saints bless thee. 144:11. They shall speak of the glory of thy kingdom: and shall tell of thy power: 144:12. To make thy might known to the sons of men: and the glory of the magnificence of thy kingdom. 144:13. Thy kingdom is a kingdom of all ages: and thy dominion endureth throughout all generations. The Lord is faithful in all his words: and holy in all his works. 144:14. The Lord lifteth up all that fall: and setteth up all that are cast down. 144:15. The eyes of all hope in thee, O Lord: and thou givest them meat in due season. 144:16. Thou openest thy hand, and fillest with blessing every living creature. 144:17. The Lord is just in all his ways: and holy in all his works. 144:18. The Lord is nigh unto all them that call upon him: to all that call upon him in truth. 144:19. He will do the will of them that fear him: and he will hear their prayer, and save them. 144:20. The Lord keepeth all them that love him; but all the wicked he will destroy. 144:21. My mouth shall speak the praise of the Lord: and let all flesh bless his holy name forever; yea, for ever and ever. Psalms Chapter 145 Lauda, anima. We are not to trust in men, but in God alone. 145:1 Alleluia, of Aggeus and Zacharias. 145:2. Praise the Lord, O my soul, in my life I will praise the Lord: I will sing to my God as long as I shall be. Put not your trust in princes: 145:3. In the children of men, in whom there is no salvation. 145:4. His spirit shall go forth, and he shall return into his earth: in that day all their thoughts shall perish. 145:5. Blessed is he who hath the God of Jacob for his helper, whose hope is in the Lord his God: 145:6. Who made heaven and earth, the sea, and all things that are in them. 145:7. Who keepeth truth for ever: who executeth judgment for them that suffer wrong: who giveth food to the hungry. The Lord looseth them that are fettered: 145:8. The Lord enlighteneth the blind. The Lord lifteth up them that are cast down: the Lord loveth the just. 145:9. The Lord keepeth the strangers, he will support the fatherless and the widow: and the ways of sinners he will destroy. 145:10. The Lord shall reign for ever: thy God, O Sion, unto generation and generation. Psalms Chapter 146 Laudate Dominum. An exhortation to praise God for his benefits. 146:1. Alleluia. Praise ye the Lord, because psalm is good: to our God be joyful and comely praise. 146:2. The Lord buildeth up Jerusalem: he will gather together the dispersed of Israel. 146:3. Who healeth the broken of heart, and bindeth up their bruises. 146:4. Who telleth the number of the stars: and calleth them all by their names. 146:5. Great is our Lord, and great is his power: and of his wisdom there is no number. 146:6. The Lord lifteth up the meek, and bringeth the wicked down even to the ground. 146:7. Sing ye to the Lord with praise: sing to our God upon the harp. 146:8. Who covereth the heaven with clouds, and prepareth rain for the earth. Who maketh grass to grow on the mountains, and herbs for the service of men. 146:9. Who giveth to beasts their food: and to the young ravens that call upon him. 146:10. He shall not delight in the strength of the horse: nor take pleasure in the legs of a man. 146:11. The Lord taketh pleasure in them that fear him: and in them that hope in his mercy. Psalms Chapter 147 Lauda, Jerusalem. The church is called upon to praise God for his peculiar graces and favours to his people. In the Hebrew, this psalm is joined to the foregoing. Alleluia. 147:12. Praise the Lord, O Jerusalem: praise thy God, O Sion. 147:13. Because he hath strengthened the bolts of thy gates, he hath blessed thy children within thee. 147:14. Who hath placed peace in thy borders: and filleth thee with the fat of corn. 147:15. Who sendeth forth his speech to the earth: his word runneth swiftly. 147:16. Who giveth snow like wool: scattereth mists like ashes. 147:17. He sendeth his crystal like morsels: who shall stand before the face of his cold? He sendeth his crystal... That is, his ice. Some understand it of hail, which is, as it were, ice, divided into particles or morsels. 147:18. He shall send out his word, and shall melt them: his wind shall blow, and the waters shall run. 147:19. Who declareth his word to Jacob: his justices and his judgments to Israel. 147:20. He hath not done in like manner to every nation: and his judgments he hath not made manifest to them. Alleluia. Psalms Chapter 148 Laudate Dominum de caelis. All creatures are invited to praise their Creator. Alleluia. 148:1. Praise ye the Lord from the heavens: praise ye him in the high places. 148:2. Praise ye him, all his angels, praise ye him, all his hosts. 148:3. Praise ye him, O sun and moon: praise him, all ye stars and light. 148:4. Praise him, ye heavens of heavens: and let all the waters that are above the heavens 148:5. Praise the name of the Lord. For he spoke, and they were made: he commanded, and they were created. 148:6. He hath established them for ever, and for ages of ages: he hath made a decree, and it shall not pass away. 148:7. Praise the Lord from the earth, ye dragons, and all ye deeps: 148:8. Fire, hail, snow, ice, stormy winds, which fulfil his word: 148:9. Mountains and all hills, fruitful trees and all cedars: 148:10. Beasts and all cattle: serpents and feathered fowls: 148:11. Kings of the earth and all people: princes and all judges of the earth: 148:12. Young men and maidens: let the old with the younger, praise the name of the Lord: 148:13. For his name alone is exalted. 148:14. The praise of him is above heaven and earth: and he hath exalted the horn of his people. A hymn to all his saints to the children of Israel, a people approaching to him. Alleluia. Psalms Chapter 149 Cantate Domino. The church is particularly bound to praise God. Alleluia. 149:1. Sing ye to the Lord a new canticle: let his praise be in the church of the saints. 149:2. Let Israel rejoice in him that made him: and let the children of Sion be joyful in their king. 149:3. Let them praise his name in choir: let them sing to him with the timbrel and the psaltery. 149:4. For the Lord is well pleased with his people: and he will exalt the meek unto salvation. 149:5. The saints shall rejoice in glory: they shall be joyful in their beds. 149:6. The high praises of God shall be in their mouth: and two-edged swords in their hands: 149:7. To execute vengeance upon the nations, chastisements among the people: 149:8. To bind their kings with fetters, and their nobles with manacles of iron. 149:9. To execute upon them the judgment that is written: this glory is to all his saints. Alleluia. Psalms Chapter 150 Laudate Dominum in sanctis. An exhortation to praise God with all sorts of instruments. Alleluia. 150:1. Praise ye the Lord in his holy places: praise ye him in the firmament of his power. 150:2. Praise ye him for his mighty acts: praise ye him according to the multitude of his greatness. 150:3. Praise him with the sound of trumpet: praise him with psaltery and harp. 150:4. Praise him with timbrel and choir: praise him with strings and organs. 150:5. Praise him on high sounding cymbals: praise him on cymbals of joy: let every spirit praise the Lord. Alleluia. THE BOOK OF PROVERBS This Book is so called, because it consists of wise and weighty sentences: regulating the morals of men: and directing them to wisdom and virtue. And these sentences are also called PARABLES, because great truths are often couched in them under certain figures and similitudes. Proverbs Chapter 1 The use and end of the proverbs. An exhortation to flee the company of the wicked: and to hearken to the voice of wisdom. 1:1. The parables of Solomon, the son of David, king of Israel, 1:2. To know wisdom, and instruction: 1:3. To understand the words of prudence: and to receive the instruction of doctrine, justice, and judgment, and equity: 1:4. To give subtilty to little ones, to the young man knowledge and understanding. 1:5. A wise man shall hear, and shall be wiser: and he that understandeth shall possess governments. 1:6. He shall understand a parable and the interpretation, the words of the wise, and their mysterious sayings. 1:7. The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom. Fools despise wisdom and instruction. 1:8. My son, hear the instruction of thy father, and forsake not the law of thy mother: 1:9. That grace may be added to thy head, and a chain of gold to thy neck. 1:10. My son, if sinners shall entice thee, consent not to them. 1:11. If they shall say: Come with us, let us lie in wait for blood, let us hide snares for the innocent without cause: 1:12. Let us swallow him up alive like hell, and whole as one that goeth down into the pit. 1:13. We shall find all precious substance, we shall fill our houses with spoils. 1:14. Cast in thy lot with us, let us all have one purse. 1:15. My son, walk not thou with them, restrain thy foot from their paths. 1:16. For their feet run to evil, and make haste to shed blood. 1:17. But a net is spread in vain before the eyes of them that have wings. 1:18. And they themselves lie in wait for their own blood, and practise deceits against their own souls. 1:19. So the ways of every covetous man destroy the souls of the possessors. 1:20. Wisdom preacheth abroad, she uttereth her voice in the streets: 1:21. At the head of multitudes she crieth out, in the entrance of the gates of the city she uttereth her words, saying: 1:22. O children, how long will you love childishness, and fools covet those things which are hurtful to themselves, and the unwise hate knowledge? 1:23. Turn ye at my reproof: behold I will utter my spirit to you, and will shew you my words. 1:24. Because I called, and you refused: I stretched out my hand, and there was none that regarded. 1:25. You have despised all my counsel, and have neglected my reprehensions. 1:26. I also will laugh in your destruction, and will mock when that shall come to you which you feared. 1:27. When sudden calamity shall fall on you, and destruction, as a tempest, shall be at hand: when tribulation and distress shall come upon you: 1:28. Then shall they call upon me, and I will not hear: they shall rise in the morning, and shall not find me: 1:29. Because they have hated instruction, and received not the fear of the Lord, 1:30. Nor consented to my counsel, but despised all my reproof. 1:31. Therefore they shall eat the fruit of their own way, and shall be filled with their own devices. 1:32. The turning away of little ones shall kill them, and the prosperity of fools shall destroy them. 1:33. But he that shall hear me, shall rest without terror, and shall enjoy abundance, without fear of evils. Proverbs Chapter 2 The advantages of wisdom: and the evils from which it delivers. 2:1. My son, if thou wilt receive my words, and wilt hide my commandments with thee, 2:2. That thy ear may hearken to wisdom: incline thy heart to know prudence. 2:3. For if thou shalt call for wisdom, and incline thy heart to prudence: 2:4. If thou shalt seek her as money, and shalt dig for her as for a treasure: 2:5. Then shalt thou understand the fear of the Lord, and shalt find the knowledge of God: 2:6. Because the Lord giveth wisdom: and out of his mouth cometh prudence and knowledge. 2:7. He wilt keep the salvation of the righteous, and protect them that walk in simplicity, 2:8. Keeping the paths of justice, and guarding the ways of saints. 2:9. Then shalt thou understand justice, and judgment, and equity, and every good path. 2:10. If wisdom shall enter into thy heart, and knowledge please thy soul: 2:11. Counsel shall keep thee, and prudence shall preserve thee, 2:12. That thou mayst be delivered from the evil way, and from the man that speaketh perverse things: 2:13. Who leave the right way, and walk by dark ways: 2:14. Who are glad when they have done evil, and rejoice in the most wicked things: 2:15. Whose ways are perverse, and their steps infamous. 2:16. That thou mayst be delivered from the strange woman, and from the stranger, who softeneth her words; 2:17. And forsaketh the guide of her youth, 2:18. And hath forgotten the covenant of her God: for her house inclineth unto death, and her paths to hell. 2:19. None that go in unto her, shall return again, neither shall they take hold of the paths of life. 2:20. That thou mayst walk in a good way: and mayst keep the paths of the just. 2:21. For they that are upright, shall dwell in the earth; and the simple shall continue in it. 2:22. But the wicked shall be destroyed from the earth: and they that do unjustly, shall be taken away from it. Proverbs Chapter 3 An exhortation to the practice of virtue. 3:1. My son, forget not my law, and let thy heart keep my commandments. 3:2. For they shall add to thee length of days, and years of life, and peace. 3:3. Let not mercy and truth leave thee, put them about thy neck, and write them in the tables of thy heart. 3:4. And thou shalt find grace, and good understanding before God and men. 3:5. Have confidence in the Lord with all thy heart, and lean not upon thy own prudence. 3:6. In all thy ways think on him, and he will direct thy steps. 3:7. Be not wise in thy own conceit: fear God, and depart from evil: 3:8. For it shall be health to thy navel, and moistening to thy bones. 3:9. Honour the Lord with thy substance, and give him of the first of all thy fruits; 3:10. And thy barns shall be filled with abundance, and thy presses shall run over with wine. 3:11. My son, reject not the correction of the Lord: and do not faint when thou art chastised by him: 3:12. For whom the Lord loveth, he chastiseth: and as a father in the son he pleaseth himself. 3:13. Blessed is the man that findeth wisdom, and is rich in prudence: 3:14. The purchasing thereof is better than the merchandise of silver, and her fruit than the chief and purest gold: 3:15. She is more precious than all riches: and all the things that are desired, are not to be compared to her. 3:16. Length of days is in her right hand, and in her left hand riches and glory. 3:17. Her ways are beautiful ways, and all her paths are peaceable. 3:18. She is a tree of life to them that lay hold on her: and he that shall retain her is blessed. 3:19. The Lord by wisdom hath founded the earth, hath established the heavens by prudence. 3:20. By his wisdom the depths have broken out, and the clouds grow thick with dew. 3:21. My son, let not these things depart from thy eyes: keep the law and counsel: 3:22. And there shall be life to thy soul, and grace to thy mouth. 3:23. Then shalt thou walk confidently in thy way, and thy foot shall not stumble: 3:24. If thou sleep, thou shalt not fear: thou shalt rest, and thy sleep shall be sweet. 3:25. Be not afraid of sudden fear, nor of the power of the wicked falling upon thee. 3:26. For the Lord will be at thy side, and will keep thy foot that thou be not taken. 3:27. Do not withhold him from doing good, who is able: if thou art able, do good thyself also. 3:28. Say not to thy friend: Go, and come again: and to morrow I will give to thee: when thou canst give at present. 3:29. Practise not evil against thy friend, when he hath confidence in thee. 3:30. Strive not against a man without cause, when he hath done thee no evil. 3:31. Envy not the unjust man, and do not follow his ways. 3:32. For every mocker is an abomination to the Lord, and his communication is with the simple. 3:33. Want is from the Lord in the house of the wicked: but the habitations of the just shall be blessed. 3:34. He shall scorn the scorners, and to the meek he will give grace. 3:35. The wise shall possess glory: the promotion of fools is disgrace. Proverbs Chapter 4 A further exhortation to seek after wisdom. 4:1. Hear, ye children, the instruction of a father, and attend, that you may know prudence. 4:2. I will give you a good gift, forsake not my law. 4:3. For I also was my father's son, tender, and as an only son in the sight of my mother: 4:4. And he taught me, and said: Let thy heart receive my words, keep my commandments, and thou shalt live. 4:5. Get wisdom, get prudence: forget not, neither decline from the words of my mouth. 4:6. Forsake her not, and she shall keep thee: love her, and she shall preserve thee. 4:7. The beginning of wisdom, get wisdom, and with all thy possession purchase prudence. 4:8. Take hold on her, and she shall exalt thee: thou shalt be glorified by her, when thou shalt embrace her. 4:9. She shall give to thy head increase of graces, and protect thee with a noble crown. 4:10. Hear, O my son, and receive my words, that years of life may be multiplied to thee. 4:11. I will shew thee the way of wisdom, I will lead thee by the paths of equity: 4:12. Which when thou shalt have entered, thy steps shall not be straitened, and when thou runnest, thou shalt not meet a stumblingblock. 4:13. Take hold on instruction, leave it not: keep it, because it is thy life. 4:14. Be not delighted in the paths of the wicked, neither let the way of evil men please thee. 4:15. Flee from it, pass not by it: go aside, and forsake it. 4:16. For they sleep not, except they have done evil: and their sleep is taken away unless they have made some to fall. 4:17. They eat the bread of wickedness, and drink the wine of iniquity. 4:18. But the path of the just, as a shining light, goeth forwards, and increaseth even to perfect day. 4:19. The way of the wicked is darksome: they know not where they fall. 4:20. My son, hearken to my words, and incline thy ear to my sayings. 4:21. Let them not depart from thy eyes, keep them in the midst of thy heart: 4:22. For they are life to those that find them, and health to all flesh. 4:23. With all watchfulness keep thy heart, because life issueth out from it. 4:24. Remove from thee a froward mouth, and let detracting lips be far from thee. 4:25. Let thy eyes look straight on, and let thy eyelids go before thy steps. 4:26. Make straight the path for thy feet, and all thy ways shall be established. 4:27. Decline not to the right hand, nor to the left: turn away thy foot from evil. For the Lord knoweth the ways that are on the right hand: but those are perverse which are on the left hand. But he will make thy courses straight, he will bring forward thy ways in peace. Proverbs Chapter 5 An exhortation to fly unlawful lust, and the occasions of it. 5:1. My son, attend to my wisdom, and incline thy ear to my prudence, 5:2. That thou mayst keep thoughts, and thy lips may preserve instruction. Mind not the deceit of a woman. 5:3. For the lips of a harlot are like a honeycomb dropping, and her throat is smoother than oil. 5:4. But her end is bitter as wormwood, and sharp as a two-edged sword. 5:5. Her feet go down into death, and her steps go in as far as hell. 5:6. They walk not by the path of life, her steps are wandering, and unaccountable. 5:7. Now, therefore, my son, hear me, and depart not from the words of my mouth. 5:8. Remove thy way far from her, and come not nigh the doors of her house. 5:9. Give not thy honour to strangers, and thy years to the cruel. 5:10. Lest strangers be filled with thy strength, and thy labours be in another man's house, 5:11. And thou mourn at the last, when thou shalt have spent thy flesh and thy body, and say; 5:12. Why have I hated instruction, and my heart consented not to reproof, 5:13. And have not heard the voice of them that taught me, and have not inclined my ear to masters? 5:14. I have almost been in all evil, in the midst of the church and of the congregation. 5:15. Drink water out of thy own cistern, and the streams of thy own well: 5:16. Let thy fountains be conveyed abroad, and in the streets divide thy waters. 5:17. Keep them to thyself alone, neither let strangers be partakers with thee. 5:18. Let thy vein be blessed, and rejoice with the wife of thy youth: 5:19. Let her be thy dearest hind, and most agreeable fawn: let her breasts inebriate thee at all times: be thou delighted continually with her love. 5:20. Why art thou seduced, my son, by a strange woman, and art cherished in the bosom of another? 5:21. The Lord beholdeth the ways of man, and considereth all his steps. 5:22. His own iniquities catch the wicked, and he is fast bound with the ropes of his own sins. 5:23. He shall die, because he hath not received instruction, and in the multitude of his folly he shall be deceived. Proverbs Chapter 6 Documents on several heads. 6:1. My son, if thou be surety for thy friend, thou hast engaged fast thy hand to a stranger, 6:2. Thou art ensnared with the words of thy mouth, and caught with thy own words. 6:3. Do, therefore, my son, what I say, and deliver thyself: because thou art fallen into the hand of thy neighbour. Run about, make haste, stir up thy friend: 6:4. Give not sleep to thy eyes, neither let thy eyelids slumber. 6:5. Deliver thyself as a doe from the hand, and as a bird from the hand of the fowler. 6:6. Go to the ant, O sluggard, and consider her ways, and learn wisdom: 6:7. Which, although she hath no guide, nor master, nor captain, 6:8. Provideth her meat for herself in the summer, and gathereth her food in the harvest. 6:9. How long wilt thou sleep, O sluggard? when wilt thou arise out of thy sleep? 6:10. Thou wilt sleep a little, thou wilt slumber a little, thou wilt fold thy hands a little to sleep: 6:11. And want shall come upon thee, as a traveller, and poverty as a man armed. But if thou be diligent, thy harvest shall come as a fountain, and want shall flee far from thee. 6:12. A man that is an apostate, an unprofitable man, walketh with a perverse mouth, 6:13. He winketh with the eyes, presseth with the foot, speaketh with the finger. 6:14. With a wicked heart he deviseth evil, and at all times he soweth discord. 6:15. To such a one his destruction shall presently come, and he shall suddenly be destroyed, and shall no longer have any remedy. 6:16. Six things there are, which the Lord hateth, and the seventh his soul detesteth: 6:17. Haughty eyes, a lying tongue, hands that shed innocent blood, 6:18. A heart that deviseth wicked plots, feet that are swift to run into mischief, 6:19. A deceitful witness that uttereth lies, and him that soweth discord among brethren. 6:20. My son, keep the commandments of thy father, and forsake not the law of thy mother. 6:21. Bind them in thy heart continually, and put them about thy neck. 6:22. When thou walkest, let them go with thee: when thou sleepest, let them keep thee, and when thou awakest, talk with them. 6:23. Because the commandment is a lamp, and the law a light, and reproofs of instruction are the way of life: 6:24. That they may keep thee from the evil woman, and from the flattering tongue of the stranger. 6:25. Let not thy heart covet her beauty, be not caught with her winks: 6:26. For the price of a harlot is scarce one loaf: but the woman catcheth the precious soul of a man. 6:27. Can a man hide fire in his bosom, and his garments not burn? 6:28. Or can he walk upon hot coals, and his feet not be burnt? 6:29. So he that goeth in to his neighbour's wife, shall not be clean when he shall touch her. 6:30. The fault is not so great when a man hath stolen: for he stealeth to fill his hungry soul: The fault is not so great, etc... The sin of theft is not so great, as to be compared with adultery: especially when a person pressed with hunger (which is the case here spoken of) steals to satisfy nature. Moreover the damage done by theft may much more easily be repaired, than the wrong done by adultery. But this does not hinder, but that theft also is a mortal sin, forbidden by one of the ten commandments. 6:31. And if he be taken, he shall restore sevenfold, and shall give up all the substance of his house. 6:32. But he that is an adulterer, for the folly of his heart shall destroy his own soul: 6:33. He gathereth to himself shame and dishonour, and his reproach shall not be blotted out: 6:34. Because the jealousy and rage of the husband will not spare in the day of revenge, 6:35. Nor will he yield to any man's prayers, nor will he accept for satisfaction ever so many gifts. Proverbs Chapter 7 The love of wisdom is the best preservative from being led astray by temptation. 7:1. My son, keep my words, and lay up my precepts with thee. Son, 7:2. Keep my commandments, and thou shalt live: and my law as the apple of thy eye: 7:3. Bind it upon thy fingers, write it upon the tables of thy heart. 7:4. Say to wisdom: Thou art my sister: and call prudence thy friend, 7:5. That she may keep thee from the woman that is not thine, and from the stranger who sweeteneth her words. 7:6. For I looked out of the window of my house through the lattice, 7:7. And I see little ones, I behold a foolish young man, 7:8. Who passeth through the street by the corner, and goeth nigh the way of her house, 7:9. In the dark when it grows late, in the darkness and obscurity of the night. 7:10. And behold a woman meeteth him in harlot's attire, prepared to deceive souls: talkative and wandering, 7:11. Not bearing to be quiet, not able to abide still at home, 7:12. Now abroad, now in the streets, now lying in wait near the corners. 7:13. And catching the young man, she kisseth him, and with an impudent face, flattereth, saying: 7:14. I vowed victims for prosperity, this day I have paid my vows. 7:15. Therefore I am come out to meet thee, desirous to see thee, and I have found thee. 7:16. I have woven my bed with cords, I have covered it with painted tapestry, brought from Egypt. 7:17. I have perfumed my bed with myrrh, aloes, and cinnamon. 7:18. Come, let us be inebriated with the breasts, and let us enjoy the desired embraces, till the day appear. 7:19. For my husband is not at home, he is gone a very long journey. 7:20. He took with him a bag of money: he will return home the day of the full moon. 7:21. She entangled him with many words, and drew him away with the flattery of her lips. 7:22. Immediately he followeth her as an ox led to be a victim, and as a lamb playing the wanton, and not knowing that he is drawn like a fool to bonds, 7:23. Till the arrow pierce his liver: as if a bird should make haste to the snare, and knoweth not that his life is in danger. 7:24. Now, therefore, my son, hear me, and attend to the words of my mouth. 7:25. Let not thy mind be drawn away in her ways: neither be thou deceived with her paths. 7:26. For she hath cast down many wounded, and the strongest have been slain by her. 7:27. Her house is the way to hell, reaching even to the inner chambers of death. Proverbs Chapter 8 The preaching of wisdom. Her excellence. 8:1. Doth not wisdom cry aloud, and prudence put forth her voice? 8:2. Standing in the top of the highest places by the way, in the midst of the paths, 8:3. Beside the gates of the city, in the very doors she speaketh, saying: 8:4. O ye men, to you I call, and my voice is to the sons of men. 8:5. O little ones understand subtlety, and ye unwise, take notice. 8:6. Hear, for I will speak of great things: and my lips shall be opened to preach right things. 8:7. My mouth shall meditate truth, and my lips shall hate wickedness. 8:8. All my words are just, there is nothing wicked, nor perverse in them. 8:9. They are right to them that understand, and just to them that find knowledge. 8:10. Receive my instruction, and not money: choose knowledge rather than gold. 8:11. For wisdom is better than all the most precious things: and whatsoever may be desired cannot be compared to it. 8:12. I, wisdom, dwell in counsel, and am present in learned thoughts. 8:13. The fear of the Lord hateth evil; I hate arrogance, and pride, and every wicked way, and a mouth with a double tongue. 8:14. Counsel and equity is mine, prudence is mine, strength is mine. 8:15. By me kings reign, and lawgivers decree just things. 8:16. By me princes rule, and the mighty decree justice. 8:17. I love them that love me: and they that in the morning early watch for me, shall find me. 8:18. With me are riches and glory, glorious riches and justice. 8:19. For my fruit is better than gold and the precious stone, and my blossoms than choice silver. 8:20. I walk in the way of justice, in the midst of the paths of judgment, 8:21. That I may enrich them that love me, and may fill their treasures. 8:22. The Lord possessed me in the beginning of his ways, before he made any thing from the beginning. 8:23. I was set up from eternity, and of old, before the earth was made. 8:24. The depths were not as yet, and I was already conceived, neither had the fountains of waters as yet sprung out. 8:25. The mountains, with their huge bulk, had not as yet been established: before the hills, I was brought forth: 8:26. He had not yet made the earth, nor the rivers, nor the poles of the world. 8:27. When he prepared the heavens, I was present: when with a certain law, and compass, he enclosed the depths: 8:28. When he established the sky above, and poised the fountains of waters: 8:29. When he compassed the sea with its bounds, and set a law to the waters that they should not pass their limits: when he balanced the foundations of the earth; 8:30. I was with him forming all things: and was delighted every day, playing before him at all times; 8:31. Playing in the world: and my delights were to be with the children of men. 8:32. Now, therefore, ye children, hear me: blessed are they that keep my ways. 8:33. Hear instruction, and be wise, and refuse it not. 8:34. Blessed is the man that heareth me, and that watcheth daily at my gates, and waiteth at the posts of my doors. 8:35. He that shall find me, shall find life, and shall have salvation from the Lord. 8:36. But he that shall sin against me shall hurt his own soul. All that hate me love death. Proverbs Chapter 9 Wisdom invites all to her feast. Folly calls another way. 9:1. Wisdom hath built herself a house, she hath hewn her out seven pillars. 9:2. She hath slain her victims, mingled her wine, and set forth her table. 9:3. She hath sent her maids to invite to the tower, and to the walls of the city: 9:4. Whosoever is a little one, let him come to me. And to the unwise she said: 9:5. Come, eat my bread, and drink the wine which I have mingled for you. 9:6. Forsake childishness, and live, and walk by the ways of prudence. 9:7. He that teacheth a scorner, doth an injury to himself; and he that rebuketh a wicked man, getteth himself a blot. 9:8. Rebuke not a scorner, lest he hate thee. Rebuke a wise man, and he will love thee. 9:9. Give an occasion to a wise man, and wisdom shall be added to him. Teach a just man, and he shall make haste to receive it. 9:10. The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom: and the knowledge of the holy is prudence. 9:11. For by me shall thy days be multiplied, and years of life shall be added to thee. 9:12. If thou be wise, thou shalt be so to thyself: and if a scorner, thou alone shalt bear the evil. 9:13. A foolish woman and clamorous, and full of allurements, and knowing nothing at all, 9:14. Sat at the door of her house, upon a seat, in a high place of the city, 9:15. To call them that pass by the way, and go on their journey: 9:16. He that is a little one, let him turn to me. And to the fool she said: 9:17. Stolen waters are sweeter, and hidden bread is more pleasant. 9:18. And he did not know that giants are there, and that her guests are in the depths of hell. Proverbs Chapter 10 In the twenty following chapters are contained many wise sayings and axioms, relating to wisdom and folly, virtue and vice. 10:1. A wise son maketh the father glad: but a foolish son is the sorrow of his mother. 10:2. Treasures of wickedness shall profit nothing: but justice shall deliver from death. 10:3. The Lord will not afflict the soul of the just with famine, and he will disappoint the deceitful practices of the wicked. 10:4. The slothful hand hath wrought poverty: but the hand of the industrious getteth riches. He that trusteth to lies feedeth the winds: and the same runneth after birds, that fly away. 10:5. He that gathereth in the harvest, is a wise son: but he that snorteth in the summer, is the son of confusion. 10:6. The blessing of the Lord is upon the head of the just: but iniquity covereth the mouth of the wicked. 10:7. The memory of the just is with praises: and the name of the wicked shall rot. 10:8. The wise of heart receiveth precepts: a fool is beaten with lips. 10:9. He that walketh sincerely, walketh confidently: but he that perverteth his ways, shall be manifest. 10:10. He that winketh with the eye, shall cause sorrow: and the foolish in lips shall be beaten. 10:11. The mouth of the just is a vein of life: and the mouth of the wicked covereth iniquity. 10:12. Hatred stirreth up strifes: and charity covereth all sins. 10:13. In the lips of the wise is wisdom found: and a rod on the back of him that wanteth sense. 10:14. Wise men lay up knowledge: but the mouth of the fool is next to confusion. 10:15. The substance of a rich man is the city of his strength: the fear of the poor is their poverty. 10:16. The work of the just is unto life: but the fruit of the wicked unto sin. 10:17. The way of life, to him that observeth correction: but he that forsaketh reproofs, goeth astray. 10:18. Lying lips hide hatred: he that uttereth reproach, is foolish. 10:19. In the multitude of words there shall not want sin: but he that refraineth his lips, is most wise. 10:20. The tongue of the just is as choice silver: but the heart of the wicked is nothing worth. 10:21. The lips of the just teach many: but they that are ignorant, shall die in the want of understanding. 10:22. The blessing of the Lord maketh men rich: neither shall affliction be joined to them. 10:23. A fool worketh mischief as it were for sport: but wisdom is prudence to a man. 10:24. That which the wicked feareth, shall come upon him: to the just their desire shall be given. 10:25. As a tempest that passeth, so the wicked shall be no more: but the just is as an everlasting foundation. 10:26. As vinegar to the teeth, and smoke to the eyes, so is the sluggard to them that sent him. 10:27. The fear of the Lord shall prolong days: and the years of the wicked shall be shortened. 10:28. The expectation of the just is joy: but the hope of the wicked shall perish. 10:29. The strength of the upright is the way of the Lord: and fear to them that work evil. 10:30. The just shall never be moved: but the wicked shall not dwell on the earth. 10:31. The mouth of the just shall bring forth wisdom: the tongue of the perverse shall perish. 10:32. The lips of the just consider what is acceptable: and the mouth of the wicked uttereth perverse things. Proverbs Chapter 11 11:1. A deceitful balance is an abomination before the Lord: and a just weight is his will. 11:2. Where pride is, there also shall be reproach: but where humility is, there also is wisdom. 11:3. The simplicity of the just shall guide them: and the deceitfulness of the wicked shall destroy them. 11:4. Riches shall not profit in the day of revenge: but justice shall deliver from death. 11:5. The justice of the upright shall make his way prosperous: and the wicked man shall fall by his own wickedness. 11:6. The justice of the righteous shall deliver them: and the unjust shall be caught in their own snares. 11:7. When the wicked man is dead, there shall be no hope any more: and the expectation of the solicitous shall perish. 11:8. The just is delivered out of distress: and the wicked shall be given up for him. 11:9. The dissembler with his mouth deceiveth his friend: but the just shall be delivered by knowledge. 11:10. When it goeth well with the just, the city shall rejoice: and when the wicked perish, there shall be praise. 11:11. By the blessing of the just the city shall be exalted: and by the mouth of the wicked it shall be overthrown. 11:12. He that despiseth his friend, is mean of heart: but the wise man will hold his peace. 11:13. He that walketh deceitfully, revealeth secrets: but he that is faithful, concealeth the thing committed to him by his friend. 11:14. Where there is no governor, the people shall fall: but there is safety where there is much counsel. 11:15. He shall be afflicted with evil, that is surety for a stranger: but he that is aware of snares, shall be secure. 11:16. A gracious woman shall find glory: and the strong shall have riches. 11:17. A merciful man doth good to his own soul: but he that is cruel casteth off even his own kindred. 11:18. The wicked maketh an unsteady work: but to him that soweth justice, there is a faithful reward. 11:19. Clemency prepareth life: and the pursuing of evil things, death. 11:20. A perverse heart is abominable to the Lord: and his will is in them that walk sincerely. 11:21. Hand in hand the evil man shall not be innocent: but the seed of the just shall be saved. 11:22. A golden ring in a swine's snout, a woman fair and foolish. 11:23. The desire of the just is all good, the expectation of the wicked is indignation. 11:24. Some distribute their own goods, and grow richer: others take away what is not their own, and are always in want. 11:25. The soul that blesseth, shall be made fat: and he that inebriateth, shall be inebriated also himself. 11:26. He that hideth up corn, shall be cursed among the people: but a blessing upon the head of them that sell. 11:27. Well doth he rise early who seeketh good things; but he that seeketh after evil things, shall be oppressed by them. 11:28. He that trusteth in his riches shall fall: but the just shall spring up as a green leaf. 11:29. He that troubleth his own house, shall inherit the winds: and the fool shall serve the wise. 11:30. The fruit of the just man is a tree of life: and he that gaineth souls is wise. 11:31. If the just man receive in the earth, how much more the wicked and the sinner. Proverbs Chapter 12 12:1. He that loveth correction, loveth knowledge: but he that hateth reproof, is foolish. 12:2. He that is good, shall draw grace from the Lord: but he that trusteth in his own devices, doth wickedly. 12:3. Man shall not be strengthened by wickedness: and the root of the just shall not be moved. 12:4. A diligent woman is a crown to her husband: and she that doth things worthy of confusion, is as rottenness in his bones. 12:5. The thoughts of the just are judgments: and the counsels of the wicked are deceitful. 12:6. The words of the wicked lie in wait for blood: the mouth of the just shall deliver them. 12:7. Turn the wicked, and they shall not be: but the house of the just shall stand firm. 12:8. A man shall be known by his learning: but he that is vain and foolish, shall be exposed to contempt. 12:9. Better is the poor man that provideth for himself, than he that is glorious and wanteth bread. 12:10. The just regardeth the lives of his beasts: but the bowels of the wicked are cruel. 12:11. He that tilleth his land shall be satisfied with bread: but he that pursueth idleness is very foolish. He that is delighted in passing his time over wine, leaveth a reproach in his strong holds. 12:12. The desire of the wicked is the fortification of evil men: but the root of the just shall prosper. 12:13. For the sins of the lips ruin draweth nigh to the evil man: but the just shall escape out of distress. 12:14. By the fruit of his own mouth shall a man be filled with good things, and according to the works of his hands it shall be repaid him. 12:15. The way of a fool is right in his own eyes: but he that is wise hearkeneth unto counsels. 12:16. A fool immediately sheweth his anger: but he that dissembleth injuries is wise. 12:17. He that speaketh that which he knoweth, sheweth forth justice: but he that lieth, is a deceitful witness. 12:18. There is that promiseth, and is pricked as it were with a sword of conscience: but the tongue of the wise is health. 12:19. The lip of truth shall be steadfast for ever: but he that is a hasty witness, frameth a lying tongue. 12:20. Deceit is in the heart of them that think evil things: but joy followeth them that take counsels of peace. 12:21. Whatsoever shall befall the just man, shall not make him sad: but the wicked shall be filled with mischief. 12:22. Lying lips are an abomination to the Lord: but they that deal faithfully, please him. 12:23. A cautious man concealeth knowledge: and the heart of fools publisheth folly. 12:24. The hand of the valiant shall bear rule: but that which is slothful shall be under tribute. 12:25. Grief in the heart of a man shall bring him low, but with a good word he shall be made glad. 12:26. He that neglecteth a loss for the sake of a friend, is just: but the way of the wicked shall deceive them. 12:27. The deceitful man shall not find gain: but the substance of a just man shall be precious gold. 12:28. In the path of justice is life: but the bye-way leadeth to death. Proverbs Chapter 13 13:1. A wise son heareth the doctrine of his father: but he that is a scorner, heareth not when he is reproved. 13:2. Of the fruit of his own month shall a man be filled with good things: but the soul of transgressors is wicked. 13:3. He that keepeth his mouth keepeth his soul: but he that hath no guard on his speech shall meet with evils. 13:4. The sluggard willeth, and willeth not: but the soul of them that work, shall be made fat. 13:5. The just shall hate a lying word: but the wicked confoundeth, and shall be confounded. 13:6. Justice keepeth the way of the innocent: but wickedness overthroweth the sinner. 13:7. One is as it were rich, when he hath nothing and another is as it were poor, when he hath great riches. 13:8. The ransom of a man's life are his riches: but he that is poor, beareth not reprehension. 13:9. The light of the just giveth joy: but the lamp of the wicked shall be put out. 13:10. Among the proud there are always contentions: but they that do all things with counsel, are ruled by wisdom. 13:11. Substance got in haste shall be diminished: but that which by little and little is gathered with the hand, shall increase. 13:12. Hope that is deferred afflicteth the soul: desire when it cometh, is a tree of life. 13:13. Whosoever speaketh ill of any thing, bindeth himself for the time to come: but he that feareth the commandment, shall dwell in peace. Deceitful souls go astray in sins: the just are merciful, and shew mercy. 13:14. The law of the wise is a fountain of life, that he may decline from the ruin of death. 13:15. Good instruction shall give grace: in the way of scorners is a deep pit. 13:16. The prudent man doth all things with counsel: but he that is a fool, layeth open his folly. 13:17. The messenger of the wicked shall fall into mischief: but a faithful ambassador is health. 13:18. Poverty and shame to him that refuseth instruction: but he that yieldeth to reproof shall be glorified. 13:19. The desire that is accomplished, delighteth the soul: fools hate them that flee from evil things. 13:20. He that walketh with the wise, shall be wise: a friend of fools shall become like to them. 13:21. Evil pursueth sinners: and to the just good shall be repaid. 13:22. The good man leaveth heirs, sons, and grandsons: and the substance of the sinner is kept for the just. 13:23. Much food is in the tillage of fathers: but for others it is gathered without judgment. 13:24. He that spareth the rod, hateth his son: but he that loveth him, correcteth him betimes. 13:25. The just eateth and filleth his soul: but the belly of the wicked is never to be filled. Proverbs Chapter 14 14:1. A wise woman buildeth her house: but the foolish will pull down with her hands that also which is built. 14:2. He that walketh in the right way, and feareth God, is despised by him that goeth by an infamous way. 14:3. In the mouth of a fool is the rod of pride: but the lips of the wise preserve them. 14:4. Where there are no oxen, the crib is empty: but where there is much corn, there the strength of the ox is manifest. 14:5. A faithful witness will not lie: but a deceitful witness uttereth a lie. 14:6. A scorner seeketh wisdom, and findeth it not: the learning of the wise is easy. 14:7. Go against a foolish man, and he knoweth not the lips of prudence. 14:8. The wisdom of a discreet man is to understand his way: and the imprudence of fools erreth. 14:9. A fool will laugh at sin, but among the just grace shall abide. 14:10. The heart that knoweth the bitterness of his own soul, in his joy the stranger shall not intermeddle. 14:11. The house of the wicked shall be destroyed: but the tabernacles of the just shall flourish. 14:12. There is a way which seemeth just to a man: but the ends thereof lead to death. 14:13. Laughter shall be mingled with sorrow, and mourning taketh hold of the ends of joy. 14:14. A fool shall be filled with his own ways, and the good man shall be above him. 14:15. The innocent believeth every word: the discreet man considereth his steps. No good shall come to the deceitful son: but the wise servant shall prosper in his dealings, and his way shall be made straight. 14:16. A wise man feareth, and declineth from evil: the fool leapeth over, and is confident. 14:17. The impatient man shall work folly: and the crafty man is hateful. 14:18. The childish shall possess folly, and the prudent shall look for knowledge. 14:19. The evil shall fall down before the good: and the wicked before the gates of the just. 14:20. The poor man shall be hateful even to his own neighbour: but the friends of the rich are many. 14:21. He that despiseth his neighbour, sinneth: but he that sheweth mercy to the poor, shall be blessed. He that believeth in the Lord, loveth mercy. 14:22. They err that work evil: but mercy and truth prepare good things. 14:23. In much work there shall be abundance: but where there are many words, there is oftentimes want. 14:24. The crown of the wise, is their riches: the folly of fools, imprudence. 14:25. A faithful witness delivereth souls: and the double dealer uttereth lies. 14:26. In the fear of the Lord is confidence of strength, and there shall be hope for his children. 14:27. The fear of the Lord is a fountain of life, to decline from the ruin of death. 14:28. In the multitude of people is the dignity of the king: and in the small number of the people the dishonour of the prince. 14:29. He that is patient, is governed with much wisdom: but he that is impatient, exalteth his folly. 14:30. Soundness of heart is the life of the flesh: but envy is the rottenness of the bones. 14:31. He that oppresseth the poor, upbraideth his maker: but he that hath pity on the poor, honoureth him. 14:32. The wicked man shall be driven out in his wickedness: but the just hath hope in his death. 14:33. In the heart of the prudent resteth wisdom, and it shall instruct all the ignorant. 14:34. Justice exalteth a nation: but sin maketh nations miserable. 14:35. A wise servant is acceptable to the king: he that is good for nothing shall feel his anger. Proverbs Chapter 15 15:1. A mild answer breaketh wrath: but a harsh word stirreth up fury. 15:2. The tongue of the wise adorneth knowledge: but the mouth of fools bubbleth out folly. 15:3. The eyes of the Lord in every place behold the good and the evil. 15:4. A peaceable tongue is a tree of life: but that which is immoderate, shall crush the spirit. 15:5. A fool laugheth at the instruction of his father: but he that regardeth reproofs shall become prudent. In abundant justice there is the greatest strength: but the devices of the wicked shall be rooted out. 15:6. The house of the just is very much strength: and in the fruits of the wicked is trouble. 15:7. The lips of the wise shall disperse knowledge: the heart of fools shall be unlike. 15:8. The victims of the wicked are abominable to the Lord: the vows of the just are acceptable. 15:9. The way of the wicked is an abomination to the Lord: he that followeth justice is beloved by him. 15:10. Instruction is grievous to him that forsaketh the way of life: he that hateth reproof shall die. 15:11. Hell and destruction are before the Lord: how much more the hearts of the children of men? 15:12. A corrupt man loveth not one that reproveth him: nor will he go to the wise. 15:13. A glad heart maketh a cheerful countenance: but by grief of mind the spirit is cast down. 15:14. The heart of the wise seeketh instruction: and the mouth of fools feedeth on foolishness. 15:15. All the days of the poor are evil: a secure mind is like a continual feast. 15:16. Better is a little with the fear of the Lord, than great treasures without content. 15:17. It is better to be invited to herbs with love, than to a fatted calf with hatred. 15:18. A passionate man stirreth up strifes: he that is patient appeaseth those that are stirred up. 15:19. The way of the slothful is as a hedge of thorns: the way of the just is without offence. 15:20. A wise son maketh a father joyful: but the foolish man despiseth his mother. 15:21. Folly is joy to the fool: and the wise man maketh straight his steps. 15:22. Designs are brought to nothing where there is no counsel: but where there are many counsellors, they are established. 15:23. A man rejoiceth in the sentence of his mouth: and a word in due time is best. 15:24. The path of life is above for the wise, that he may decline from the lowest hell. 15:25. The Lord will destroy the house of the proud: and will strengthen the borders of the widow. 15:26. Evil thoughts are an abomination to the Lord: and pure words most beautiful shall be confirmed by him. 15:27. He that is greedy of gain troubleth his own house: but he that hateth bribes shall live. By mercy and faith sins are purged away: and by the fear of the Lord every one declineth from evil. 15:28. The mind of the just studieth obedience: the mouth of the wicked overfloweth with evils. 15:29. The Lord is far from the wicked: and he will hear the prayers of the just. 15:30. The light of the eyes rejoiceth the soul: a good name maketh the bones fat. 15:31. The ear that heareth the reproofs of life, shall abide in the midst of the wise. 15:32. He that rejecteth instruction, despiseth his own soul: but he that yieldeth to reproof, possesseth understanding. 15:33. The fear of the Lord is the lesson of wisdom: and humility goeth before glory. Proverbs Chapter 16 16:1. It is the part of man to prepare the soul: and of the Lord to govern the tongue. It is the part of man, etc... That is, a man should prepare in his heart and soul what he is to say: but after all, it must be the Lord that must govern his tongue, to speak to the purpose. Not that we can think any thing of good without God's grace; but that after we have (with God's grace) thought and prepared within our souls what we would speak, if God does not govern our tongue, we shall not succeed in what we speak. 16:2. All the ways of a man are open to his eyes: the Lord is the weigher of spirits. 16:3. Lay open thy works to the Lord: and thy thoughts shall be directed. 16:4. The Lord hath made all things for himself: the wicked also for the evil day. 16:5. Every proud man is an abomination to the Lord: though hand should be joined to hand, he is not innocent. The beginning of a good way is to do justice: and this is more acceptable with God, than to offer sacrifices. 16:6. By mercy and truth iniquity is redeemed; and by the fear of the Lord men depart from evil. 16:7. When the ways of man shall please the Lord, he will convert even his enemies to peace. 16:8. Better is a little with justice, than great revenues with iniquity. 16:9. The heart of man disposeth his way: but the Lord must direct his steps. 16:10. Divination is in the lips of the king, his mouth shall not err in judgment. 16:11. Weight and balance are judgments of the Lord: and his work all the weights of the bag. 16:12. They that act wickedly are abominable to the king: for the throne is established by justice. 16:13. Just lips are the delight of kings: he that speaketh right things shall be loved. 16:14. The wrath of a king is as messengers of death: and the wise man will pacify it. 16:15. In the cheerfulness of the king's countenance is life: and his clemency is like the latter rain. 16:16. Get wisdom, because it is better than gold: and purchase prudence, for it is more precious than silver. 16:17. The path of the just departeth from evils: he that keepeth his soul keepeth his way. 16:18. Pride goeth before destruction: and the spirit is lifted up before a fall. 16:19. It is better to be humbled with the meek, than to divide spoils with the proud. 16:20. The learned in word shall find good things: and he that trusteth in the Lord is blessed. 16:21. The wise in heart shall be called prudent: and he that is sweet in words, shall attain to greater things. 16:22. Knowledge is a fountain of life to him that possesseth it: the instruction of fools is foolishness. 16:23. The heart of the wise shall instruct his mouth: and shall add grace to his lips. 16:24. Well ordered words are as a honeycomb: sweet to the soul, and health to the bones. 16:25. There is a way that seemeth to a man right: and the ends thereof lead to death. 16:26. The soul of him that laboureth, laboureth for himself, because his mouth hath obliged him to it. 16:27. The wicked man diggeth evil, and in his lips is a burning fire. 16:28. A perverse man stirreth up quarrels: and one full of words separateth princes. 16:29. An unjust man allureth his friend: and leadeth him into a way that is not good. 16:30. He that with fixed eyes deviseth wicked things, biting his lips, bringeth evil to pass. 16:31. Old age is a crown of dignity, when it is found in the ways of justice. 16:32. The patient man is better than the valiant: and he that ruleth his spirit, than he that taketh cities. 16:33. Lots are cast into the lap, but they are disposed of by the Lord. Proverbs Chapter 17 17:1. Better is a dry morsel with joy, than a house full of victims with strife. 17:2. A wise servant shall rule over foolish sons, and shall divide the inheritance among the brethren. 17:3. As silver is tried by fire, and gold in the furnace: so the Lord trieth the hearts. 17:4. The evil man obeyeth an unjust tongue: and the deceitful hearkeneth to lying lips. 17:5. He that despiseth the poor, reproacheth his maker: and he that rejoiceth at another man's ruin, shall not be unpunished. 17:6. Children's children are the crown of old men: and the glory of children are their fathers. 17:7. Eloquent words do not become a fool, nor lying lips a prince. 17:8. The expectation of him that expecteth is a most acceptable jewel: whithersoever he turneth himself, he understandeth wisely. 17:9. He that concealeth a transgression, seeketh friendships: he that repeateth it again, separateth friends. 17:10. A reproof availeth more with a wise man, than a hundred stripes with a fool. 17:11. An evil man always seeketh quarrels: but a cruel angel shall be sent against him. 17:12. It is better to meet a bear robbed of her whelps, than a fool trusting in his own folly. 17:13. He that rendereth evil for good, evil shall not depart from his house. 17:14. The beginning of quarrels is as when one letteth out water: and before he suffereth reproach, he forsaketh judgment. 17:15. He that justifieth the wicked, and he that condemneth the just, both are abominable before God. 17:16. What doth it avail a fool to have riches, seeing he cannot buy wisdom? He that maketh his house high, seeketh a downfall: and he that refuseth to learn, shall fall into evils. 17:17. He that is a friend loveth at all times: and a brother is proved in distress. 17:18. A foolish man will clap hands, when he is surety for his friend. 17:19. He that studieth discords, loveth quarrels: and he that exalteth his door, seeketh ruin. 17:20. He that is of a perverse heart, shall not find good: and he that perverteth his tongue, shall fall into evil. 17:21. A fool is born to his own disgrace: and even his father shall not rejoice in a fool. 17:22. A joyful mind maketh age flourishing: a sorrowful spirit drieth up the bones. 17:23. The wicked man taketh gifts out of the bosom, that he may pervert the paths of judgment. 17:24. Wisdom shineth in the face of the wise: the eyes of fools are in the ends of the earth. 17:25. A foolish son is the anger of the father: and the sorrow of the mother that bore him. 17:26. It is no good thing to do hurt to the just: nor to strike the prince, who judgeth right. 17:27. He that setteth bounds to his words, is knowing and wise: and the man of understanding is of a precious spirit. 17:28. Even a fool, if he will hold his peace, shall be counted wise: and if he close his lips, a man of understanding. Proverbs Chapter 18 18:1. He that hath a mind to depart from a friend, seeketh occasions: he shall ever be subject to reproach. 18:2. A fool receiveth not the words of prudence: unless thou say those things which are in his heart. 18:3. The wicked man, when he is come into the depths of sins, contemneth: but ignominy and reproach follow him. 18:4. Words from the mouth of a man are as deep water: and the fountain of wisdom is an overflowing stream. 18:5. It is not good to accept the person of the wicked, to decline from the truth of judgment. 18:6. The lips of a fool intermeddle with strife: and his mouth provoketh quarrels. 18:7. The mouth of a fool is his destruction: and his lips are the ruin of his soul. 18:8. The words of the double tongued are as if they were harmless: and they reach even to the inner parts of the bowels. Fear casteth down the slothful: and the souls of the effeminate shall be hungry. 18:9. He that is loose and slack in his work, is the brother of him that wasteth his own works. 18:10. The name of the Lord is a strong tower: the just runneth to it, and shall be exalted. 18:11. The substance of the rich man is the city of his strength, and as a strong wall compassing him about. 18:12. Before destruction, the heart of a man is exalted: and before he be glorified, it is humbled. 18:13. He that answereth before he heareth, sheweth himself to be a fool, and worthy of confusion. 18:14. The spirit of a man upholdeth his infirmity: but a spirit that is easily angered, who can bear? 18:15. A wise heart shall acquire knowledge: and the ear of the wise seeketh instruction. 18:16. A man's gift enlargeth his way, and maketh him room before princes. 18:17. The just is first accuser of himself: his friend cometh, and shall search him. 18:18. The lot suppresseth contentions, and determineth even between the mighty. 18:19. A brother that is helped by his brother, is like a strong city: and judgments are like the bars of cities. 18:20. Of the fruit of a man's mouth shall his belly be satisfied: and the offspring of his lips shall fill him. 18:21. Death and life are in the power of the tongue: they that love it, shall eat the fruits thereof. 18:22. He that hath found a good wife, hath found a good thing, and shall receive a pleasure from the Lord. He that driveth away a good wife, driveth away a good thing: but he that keepeth an adulteress, is foolish and wicked. 18:23. The poor will speak with supplications, and the rich will speak roughly. 18:24. A man amiable in society, shall be more friendly than a brother. Proverbs Chapter 19 19:1. Better is the poor man, that walketh in his simplicity, than a rich man that is perverse in his lips and unwise. 19:2. Where there is no knowledge of the soul, there is no good: and he that is hasty with his feet shall stumble. 19:3. The folly of a man supplanteth his steps: and he fretteth in his mind against God. 19:4. Riches make many friends: but from the poor man, even they whom he had, depart. 19:5. A false witness shall not be unpunished: and he that speaketh lies, shall not escape. 19:6. Many honour the person of him that is mighty, and are friends of him that giveth gifts. 19:7. The brethren of the poor man hate him: moreover also his friends have departed far from him. He that followeth after words only, shall have nothing. 19:8. But he that possesseth a mind, loveth his own soul, and he that keepeth prudence, shall find good things. 19:9. A false witness shall not be unpunished: and he that speaketh lies, shall perish. 19:10. Delicacies are not seemly for a fool: nor for a servant to have rule over princes. 19:11. The learning of a man is known by patience: and his glory is to pass over wrongs. 19:12. As the roaring of a lion, so also is the anger of a king: and his cheerfulness as the dew upon the grass. 19:13. A foolish son is the grief of his father: and a wrangling wife is like a roof continually dropping through. 19:14. House and riches are given by parents: but a prudent wife is properly from the Lord. 19:15. Slothfulness casteth into a deep sleep, and an idle soul shall suffer hunger. 19:16. He that keepeth the commandment, keepeth his own soul: but he that neglecteth his own way, shall die. 19:17. He that hath mercy on the poor, lendeth to the Lord: and he will repay him. 19:18. Chastise thy son, despair not: but to the killing of him set not thy soul. 19:19. He that is impatient, shall suffer damage: and when he shall take away, he shall add another thing. 19:20. Hear counsel, and receive instruction, that thou mayst be wise in thy latter end. 19:21. There are many thoughts in the heart of a man: but the will of the Lord shall stand firm. 19:22. A needy man is merciful: and better is the poor than the lying man. 19:23. The fear of the Lord is unto life: and he shall abide in the fulness without being visited with evil. 19:24. The slothful hideth his hand under his armpit, and will not so much as bring it to his mouth. 19:25. The wicked man being scourged, the fool shall be wiser: but if thou rebuke a wise man, he will understand discipline. 19:26. He that afflicteth his father, and chaseth away his mother, is infamous and unhappy. 19:27. Cease not, O my son, to hear instruction, and be not ignorant of the words of knowledge. 19:28. An unjust witness scorneth judgment: and the mouth of the wicked devoureth iniquity. 19:29. Judgments are prepared for scorners: and striking hammers for the bodies of fools. Proverbs Chapter 20 20:1. Wine is a luxurious thing, and drunkenness riotous: whosoever is delighted therewith, shall not be wise. 20:2. As the roaring of a lion, so also is the dread of a king: he that provoketh him, sinneth against his own soul. 20:3. It is an honour for a man to separate himself from quarrels: but all fools are meddling with reproaches. 20:4. Because of the cold the sluggard would not plough: he shall beg therefore in the summer, and it shall not be given him. 20:5. Counsel in the heart of a man is like deep water: but a wise man will draw it out. 20:6. Many men are called merciful: but who shall find a faithful man? 20:7. The just that walketh in his simplicity, shall leave behind him blessed children. 20:8. The king, that sitteth on the throne of judgment, scattereth away all evil with his look. 20:9. Who can say: My heart is clean, I am pure from sin? 20:10. Diverse weights and diverse measures, both are abominable before God. 20:11. By his inclinations a child is known, if his works be clean and right. 20:12. The hearing ear, and the seeing eye, the Lord hath made them both. 20:13. Love not sleep, lest poverty oppress thee: open thy eyes, and be filled with bread. 20:14. It is naught, it is naught, saith every buyer: and when he is gone away, then he will boast. 20:15. There is gold and a multitude of jewels: but the lips of knowledge are a precious vessel. 20:16. Take away the garment of him that is surety for a stranger, and take a pledge from him for strangers. 20:17. The bread of lying is sweet to a man: but afterwards his mouth shall be filled with gravel. 20:18. Designs are strengthened by counsels: and wars are to be managed by governments. 20:19. Meddle not with him that revealeth secrets, and walketh deceitfully, and openeth wide his lips. 20:20. He that curseth his father, and mother, his lamp shall be put out in the midst of darkness. 20:21. The inheritance gotten hastily in the beginning, in the end shall be without a blessing. 20:22. Say not: I will return evil: wait for the Lord, and he will deliver thee. 20:23. Diverse weights are an abomination before the Lord: a deceitful balance is not good. 20:24. The steps of men are guided by the Lord: but who is the man that can understand his own way? 20:25. It is ruin to a man to devour holy ones, and after vows to retract. 20:26. A wise king scattereth the wicked, and bringeth over them the wheel. 20:27. The spirit of a man is the lamp of the Lord, which searcheth all the hidden things of the bowels. 20:28. Mercy and truth preserve the king, and his throne is strengthened by clemency. 20:29. The joy of young men is their strength: and the dignity of old men, their grey hairs. 20:30. The blueness of a wound shall wipe away evils: and stripes in the more inward parts of the belly. Proverbs Chapter 21 21:1. As the divisions of waters, so the heart of the king is in the hand of the Lord: whithersoever he will, he shall turn it. 21:2. Every way of a man seemeth right to himself: but the Lord weigheth the hearts. 21:3. To do mercy and judgment, pleaseth the Lord more than victims. 21:4. Haughtiness of the eyes is the enlarging of the heart: the lamp of the wicked is sin. 21:5. The thoughts of the industrious always bring forth abundance: but every sluggard is always in want. 21:6. He that gathereth treasures by a lying tongue, is vain and foolish, and shall stumble upon the snares of death. 21:7. The robberies of the wicked shall be their downfall, because they would not do judgment. 21:8. The perverse way of a man is strange: but as for him that is pure, his work is right. 21:9. It is better to sit in a corner of the housetop, than with a brawling woman, and in a common house. 21:10. The soul of the wicked desireth evil, he will not have pity on his neighbour. 21:11. When a pestilent man is punished, the little one will be wiser: and if he follow the wise, he will receive knowledge. 21:12. The just considereth seriously the house of the wicked, that he may withdraw the wicked from evil. 21:13. He that stoppeth his ear against the cry of the poor, shall also cry himself, and shall not be heard. 21:14. A secret present quencheth anger: and a gift in the bosom, the greatest wrath. 21:15. It is joy to the just to do judgment: and dread to them that work iniquity. 21:16. A man that shall wander out of the way of doctrine, shall abide in the company of the giants. 21:17. He that loveth good cheer, shall be in want: he that loveth wine, and fat things, shall not be rich. 21:18. The wicked is delivered up for the just: and the unjust for the righteous. 21:19. It is better to dwell in a wilderness, than with a quarrelsome and passionate woman. 21:20. There is a treasure to be desired, and oil in the dwelling of the just: and the foolish man shall spend it. 21:21. He that followeth justice and mercy, shall find life, justice, and glory. 21:22. The wise man hath scaled the city of the strong, and hath cast down the strength of the confidence thereof. 21:23. He that keepeth his mouth and his tongue, keepeth his soul from distress. 21:24. The proud and the arrogant is called ignorant, who in anger worketh pride. 21:25. Desires kill the slothful: for his hands have refused to work at all. 21:26. He longeth and desireth all the day: but he that is just, will give, and will not cease. 21:27. The sacrifices of the wicked are abominable, because they are offered of wickedness. 21:28. A lying witness shall perish: an obedient man shall speak of victory. 21:29. The wicked man impudently hardeneth his face: but he that is righteous, correcteth his way. 21:30. There is no wisdom, there is no prudence, there is no counsel against the Lord. 21:31. The horse is prepared for the day of battle: but the Lord giveth safety. Proverbs Chapter 22 22:1. A good name is better than great riches: and good favour is above silver and gold. 22:2. The rich and poor have met one another: the Lord is the maker of them both. 22:3. The prudent man saw the evil, and hid himself: the simple passed on, and suffered loss. 22:4. The fruit of humility is the fear of the Lord, riches and glory and life. 22:5. Arms and swords are in the way of the perverse: but he that keepeth his own soul, departeth far from them. 22:6. It is a proverb: A young man according to his way, even when he is old, he will not depart from it. 22:7. The rich ruleth over the poor: and the borrower is servant to him that lendeth. 22:8. He that soweth iniquity, shall reap evils, and with the rod of his anger he shall be consumed. 22:9. He that is inclined to mercy, shall be blessed: for of his bread he hath given to the poor. He that maketh presents, shall purchase victory and honour: but he carrieth away the souls of the receivers. 22:10. Cast out the scoffer, and contention shall go out with him, and quarrels and reproaches shall cease. 22:11. He that loveth cleanness of heart, for the grace of his lips shall have the king for his friend. 22:12. The eyes of the Lord preserve knowledge: and the words of the unjust are overthrown. 22:13. The slothful man saith: There is a lion without, I shall be slain in the midst of the streets. 22:14. The mouth of a strange woman is a deep pit: he whom the Lord is angry with, shall fall into it. 22:15. Folly is bound up in the heart of a child, and the rod of correction shall drive it away. 22:16. He that oppresseth the poor, to increase his own riches, shall himself give to one that is richer, and shall be in need. 22:17. Incline thy ear, and hear the words of the wise: and apply thy heart to my doctrine: 22:18. Which shall be beautiful for thee, if thou keep it in thy bowels, and it shall flow in thy lips: 22:19. That thy trust may be in the Lord, wherefore I have also shewn it to thee this day. 22:20. Behold I have described it to thee three manner of ways, in thoughts and knowledge: 22:21. That I might shew thee the certainty, and the words of truth, to answer out of these to them that sent thee. 22:22. Do no violence to the poor, because he is poor: and do not oppress the needy in the gate: 22:23. Because the Lord will judge his cause: and will afflict them that have afflicted his soul. 22:24. Be not a friend to an angry man, and do not walk with a furious man: 22:25. Lest perhaps thou learn his ways, and take scandal to thy soul. 22:26. Be not with them that fasten down their hands, and that offer themselves sureties for debts: 22:27. For if thou have not wherewith to restore, what cause is there that he should take the covering from thy bed? 22:28. Pass not beyond the ancient bounds which thy fathers have set. 22:29. Hast thou seen a man swift in his work? he shall stand before kings, and shall not be before those that are obscure. Proverbs Chapter 23 23:1. When thou shalt sit to eat with a prince, consider diligently what is set before thy face: 23:2. And put a knife to thy throat, if it be so that thou have thy soul in thy own power. 23:3. Be not desirous of his meats, in which is the bread of deceit. 23:4. Labour not to be rich: but set bounds to thy prudence. 23:5. Lift not up thy eyes to riches which thou canst not have: because they shall make themselves wings like those of an eagle, and shall fly towards heaven. 23:6. Eat not with an envious man, and desire not his meats: 23:7. Because, like a soothsayer, and diviner, he thinketh that which he knoweth not. Eat and drink, will he say to thee: and his mind is not with thee. 23:8. The meats which thou hadst eaten, thou shalt vomit up: and shalt loose thy beautiful words. 23:9. Speak not in the ears of fools: because they will despise the instruction of thy speech. 23:10. Touch not the bounds of little ones: and enter not into the field of the fatherless: 23:11. For their near kinsman is strong: and he will judge their cause against thee. 23:12. Let thy heart apply itself to instruction and thy ears to words of knowledge. 23:13. Withhold not correction from a child: for if thou strike him with the rod, he shall not die. 23:14. Thou shalt beat him with the rod, and deliver his soul from hell. 23:15. My son, if thy mind be wise, my heart shall rejoice with thee: 23:16. And my reins shall rejoice, when thy lips shall speak what is right. 23:17. Let not thy heart envy sinners: but be thou in the fear of the Lord all the day long: 23:18. Because thou shalt have hope in the latter end, and thy expectation shall not be taken away. 23:19. Hear thou, my son, and be wise: and guide thy mind in the way. 23:20. Be not in the feasts of great drinkers, nor in their revellings, who contribute flesh to eat: 23:21. Because they that give themselves to drinking, and that club together, shall be consumed: and drowsiness shall be clothed with rags. 23:22. Hearken to thy father, that begot thee: and despise not thy mother when she is old. 23:23. Buy truth, and do not sell wisdom, and instruction, and understanding. 23:24. The father of the just rejoiceth greatly: he that hath begotten a wise son, shall have joy in him. 23:25. Let thy father and thy mother be joyful, and let her rejoice that bore thee. 23:26. My son, give me thy heart: and let thy eyes keep my ways. 23:27. For a harlot is a deep ditch: and a strange woman is a narrow pit. 23:28. She lieth in wait in the way as a robber, and him whom she shall see unwary, she will kill. 23:29. Who hath woe? whose father hath woe? who hath contentions? who falls into pits? who hath wounds without cause? who hath redness of eyes? 23:30. Surely they that pass their time in wine, and study to drink off their cups. 23:31. Look not upon the wine when it is yellow, when the colour thereof shineth in the glass: it goeth in pleasantly, 23:32. But in the end, it will bite like a snake, and will spread abroad poison like a basilisk. 23:33. Thy eyes shall behold strange women, and thy heart shall utter perverse things. 23:34. And thou shalt be as one sleeping in the midst of the sea, and as a pilot fast asleep when the stern is lost. 23:35. And thou shalt say: They have beaten me, but I was not sensible of pain: they drew me, and I felt not: when shall I awake and find wine again? Proverbs Chapter 24 24:1. Seek not to be like evil men, neither desire to be with them: 24:2. Because their mind studieth robberies, and their lips speak deceits. 24:3. By wisdom the house shall be built, and by prudence it shall be strengthened. 24:4. By instruction the storerooms shall be filled with all precious and most beautiful wealth. 24:5. A wise man is strong: and a knowing man, stout and valiant. 24:6. Because war is managed by due ordering: and there shall be safety where there are many counsels. 24:7. Wisdom is too high for a fool; in the gate he shall not open his mouth. 24:8. He that deviseth to do evils, shall be called a fool. 24:9. The thought of a fool is sin: and the detractor is the abomination of men. 24:10. If thou lose hope, being weary in the day of distress, thy strength shall be diminished. 24:11. Deliver them that are led to death: and those that are drawn to death, forbear not to deliver. 24:12. If thou say: I have not strength enough: he that seeth into the heart, he understandeth, and nothing deceiveth the keeper of thy soul, and he shall render to a man according to his works. 24:13. Eat honey, my son, because it is good, and the honeycomb most sweet to thy throat. 24:14. So also is the doctrine of wisdom to thy soul: which when thou hast found, thou shalt have hope in the end, and thy hope shall not perish. 24:15. Lie not in wait, nor seek after wickedness in the house of the just, nor spoil his rest. 24:16. For a just man shall fall seven times, and shall rise again: but the wicked shall fall down into evil. 24:17. When thy enemy shall fall, be not glad, and in his ruin let not thy heart rejoice: 24:18. Lest the Lord see, and it displease him, and he turn away his wrath from him. 24:19. Contend not with the wicked, nor seek to be like the ungodly. 24:20. For evil men have no hope of things to come, and the lamp of the wicked shall be put out. 24:21. My son, fear the Lord, and the king: and have nothing to do with detractors. 24:22. For their destruction shall rise suddenly: and who knoweth the ruin of both? 24:23. These things also to the wise: It is not good to have respect to persons in judgment. 24:24. They that say to the wicked man: Thou art just: shall be cursed by the people, and the tribes shall abhor them. 24:25. They that rebuke him shall be praised: and a blessing shall come upon them. 24:26. He shall kiss the lips, who answereth right words. 24:27. Prepare thy work without, and diligently till thy ground: that afterward thou mayst build thy house. 24:28. Be not witness without cause against thy neighbour: and deceive not any man with thy lips. 24:29. Say not: I will do to him as he hath done to me: I will render to every one according to his work. 24:30. I passed by the field of the slothful man, and by the vineyard of the foolish man: 24:31. And behold it was all filled with nettles, and thorns had covered the face thereof, and the stone wall was broken down. 24:32. Which when I had seen, I laid it up in my heart, and by the example I received instruction. 24:33. Thou wilt sleep a little, said I, thou wilt slumber a little, thou wilt fold thy hands a little to rest. 24:34. And poverty shall come to thee as a runner, and beggary as an armed man. Proverbs Chapter 25 25:1. These are also parables of Solomon, which the men of Ezechias, king of Juda, copied out. 25:2. It is the glory of God to conceal the word, and the glory of kings to search out the speech. 25:3. The heaven above and the earth beneath, and the heart of kings is unsearchable. 25:4. Take away the rust from silver, and there shall come forth a most pure vessel: 25:5. Take away wickedness from the face of the king, and his throne shall be established with justice. 25:6. Appear not glorious before the king, and stand not in the place of great men. 25:7. For it is better that it should be said to thee: Come up hither; than that thou shouldst be humbled before the prince. 25:8. The things which thy eyes have seen, utter not hastily in a quarrel: lest afterward thou mayst not be able to make amends, when thou hast dishonoured thy friend. 25:9. Treat thy cause with thy friend, and discover not the secret to a stranger: 25:10. Lest he insult over thee, when he hath heard it, and cease not to upbraid thee. Grace and friendship deliver a man: keep these for thyself, lest thou fall under reproach. 25:11. To speak a word in due time, is like apples of gold on beds of silver. 25:12. As an earring of gold and a bright pearl, so is he that reproveth the wise, and the obedient ear. 25:13. As the cold of snow in the time of harvest, so is a faithful messenger to him that sent him, for he refresheth his soul. 25:14. As clouds, and wind, when no rain followeth, so is the man that boasteth, and doth not fulfil his promises. 25:15. By patience a prince shall be appeased, and a soft tongue shall break hardness. 25:16. Thou hast found honey, eat what is sufficient for thee, lest being glutted therewith thou vomit it up. 25:17. Withdraw thy foot from the house of thy neighbour, lest having his fill he hate thee. 25:18. A man that beareth false witness against his neighbour, is like a dart and a sword and a sharp arrow. 25:19. To trust in an unfaithful man in the time of trouble, is like a rotten tooth, and weary foot, 25:20. And one that looseth his garment in cold weather. As vinegar upon nitre, so is he that singeth songs to a very evil heart. As a moth doth by a garment, and a worm by the wood: so the sadness of a man consumeth the heart. 25:21. If thy enemy be hungry, give him to eat: if he thirst, give him water to drink: 25:22. For thou shalt heap hot coals upon his head, and the Lord will reward thee. 25:23. The north wind driveth away rain, as doth a sad countenance a backbiting tongue. 25:24. It is better to sit in a corner of the housetop: than with a brawling woman, and in a common house. 25:25. As cold water to a thirsty soul, so are good tidings from a far country. 25:26. A just man falling down before the wicked, is as a fountain troubled with the foot and a corrupted spring. 25:27. As it is not good for a man to eat much honey, so he that is a searcher of majesty shall be overwhelmed by glory. Majesty... Viz., of God. For to search into that incomprehensible Majesty, and to pretend to sound the depths of the wisdom of God, is exposing our weak understanding to be blinded with an excess of light and glory, which it cannot comprehend. 25:28. As a city that lieth open and is not compassed with walls, so is a man that cannot refrain his own spirit in speaking. Proverbs Chapter 26 26:1. As snow in summer, and rain in harvest, so glory is not seemly for a fool. 26:2. As a bird flying to other places, and a sparrow going here or there: so a curse uttered without cause shall come upon a man. As a bird, etc... The meaning is, that a curse uttered without cause shall do no harm to the person that is cursed, but will return upon him that curseth, as whithersoever a bird flies, it returns to its own nest. 26:3. A whip for a horse, and a snaffle for an ass, and a rod for the back of fools. 26:4. Answer not a fool according to his folly, lest thou be made like him. Answer not a fool, etc... Viz., so as to imitate him but only so as to reprove his folly. 26:5. Answer a fool according to his folly, lest he imagine himself to be wise. 26:6. He that sendeth words by a foolish messenger, is lame of feet and drinketh iniquity. 26:7. As a lame man hath fair legs in vain: so a parable is unseemly in the mouth of fools. 26:8. As he that casteth a stone into the heap of Mercury: so is he that giveth honour to a fool. 26:9. As if a thorn should grow in the hand of a drunkard: so is a parable in the mouth of fools. 26:10. Judgment determineth causes: and he that putteth a fool to silence, appeaseth anger. 26:11. As a dog that returneth to his vomit, so is the fool that repeateth his folly. 26:12. Hast thou seen a man wise in his own conceit? there shall be more hope of a fool than of him. 26:13. The slothful man saith: There is a lion in the way, and a lioness in the roads. 26:14. As the door turneth upon its hinges, so doth the slothful upon his bed. 26:15. The slothful hideth his hand under his armpit, and it grieveth him to turn it to his mouth. 26:16. The sluggard is wiser in his own conceit, than seven men that speak sentences. 26:17. As he that taketh a dog by the ears, so is he that passeth by in anger, and meddleth with another man's quarrel. 26:18. As he is guilty that shooteth arrows, and lances unto death. 26:19. So is the man that hurteth his friend deceitfully: and when he is taken, saith: I did it in jest. 26:20. When the wood faileth, the fire shall go out: and when the talebearer is taken away, contentions shall cease. 26:21. As coals are to burning coals, and wood to fire, so an angry man stirreth up strife. 26:22. The words of a talebearer are as it were simple, but they reach to the innermost parts of the belly. 26:23. Swelling lips joined with a corrupt heart, are like an earthern vessel adorned with silver dross. 26:24. An enemy is known by his lips, when in his heart he entertaineth deceit. 26:25. When he shall speak low, trust him not: because there are seven mischiefs in his heart. 26:26. He that covereth hatred deceitfully, his malice shall be laid open in the public assembly. 26:27. He that diggeth a pit, shall fall into it: and he that rolleth a stone, it shall return to him. 26:28. A deceitful tongue loveth not truth: and a slippery mouth worketh ruin. Proverbs Chapter 27 27:1. Boast not for to morrow, for thou knowest not what the day to come may bring forth. 27:2. Let another praise thee, and not thy own mouth: a stranger, and not thy own lips. 27:3. A stone is heavy, and sand weighty: but the anger of a fool is heavier than them both. 27:4. Anger hath no mercy: nor fury, when it breaketh forth: and who can bear the violence of one provoked? 27:5. Open rebuke is better than hidden love. 27:6. Better are the wounds of a friend, than the deceitful kisses of an enemy. 27:7. A soul that is full shall tread upon the honeycomb: and a soul that is hungry shall take even bitter for sweet. 27:8. As a bird that wandereth from her nest, so is a man that leaveth his place. 27:9. Ointment and perfumes rejoice the heart: and the good counsels of a friend are sweet to the soul. 27:10. Thy own friend, and thy father's friend, forsake not: and go not into thy brother's house in the day of thy affliction. Better is a neighbour that is near than a brother afar off. 27:11. Study wisdom, my son, and make my heart joyful, that thou mayst give an answer to him that reproacheth. 27:12. The prudent man seeing evil hideth himself: little ones passing on have suffered losses. 27:13. Take away his garment that hath been surety for a stranger: and take from him a pledge for strangers. 27:14. He that blesseth his neighbour with a loud voice, rising in the night, shall be like to him that curseth. 27:15. Roofs dropping through in a cold day, and a contentious woman are alike. 27:16. He that retaineth her, is as he that would hold the wind, and shall call the oil of his right hand. 27:17. Iron sharpeneth iron, so a man sharpeneth the countenance of his friend. 27:18. He that keepeth the fig tree, shall eat the fruit thereof: and he that is the keeper of his master, shall be glorified. 27:19. As the faces of them that look therein, shine in the water, so the hearts of men are laid open to the wise. 27:20. Hell and destruction are never filled: so the eyes of men are never satisfied. 27:21. As silver is tried in the fining-pot, and gold in the furnace: so a man is tried by the mouth of him that praiseth. The heart of the wicked seeketh after evils, but the righteous heart seeketh after knowledge. 27:22. Though thou shouldst bray a fool in the mortar, as when a pestle striketh upon sodden barley, his folly would not be taken from him. 27:23. Be diligent to know the countenance of thy cattle, and consider thy own flocks: 27:24. For thou shalt not always have power: but a crown shall be given to generation and generation. 27:25. The meadows are open, and the green herbs have appeared, and the hay is gathered out of the mountains. 27:26. Lambs are for thy clothing: and kids for the price of the field. 27:27. Let the milk of the goats be enough for thy food, and for the necessities of thy house, and for maintenance for thy handmaids. Proverbs Chapter 28 28:1. The wicked man fleeth, when no man pursueth: but the just, bold as a lion, shall be without dread. 28:2. For the sins of the land many are the princes thereof: and for the wisdom of a man, and the knowledge of those things that are said, the life of the prince shall be prolonged. 28:3. A poor man that oppresseth the poor, is like a violent shower, which bringeth a famine. 28:4. They that forsake the law, praise the wicked man: they that keep it, are incensed against him. 28:5. Evil men think not on judgment: but they that seek after the Lord, take notice of all things. 28:6. Better is the poor man walking in his simplicity, than the rich in crooked ways. 28:7. He that keepeth the law, is a wise son: but he that feedeth gluttons, shameth his father. 28:8. He that heapeth together riches by usury and loan, gathereth them for him that will be bountiful to the poor. 28:9. He that turneth away his ears from hearing the law, his prayer shall be an abomination. 28:10. He that deceiveth the just in a wicked way, shall fall in his own destruction: and the upright shall possess his goods. 28:11. The rich man seemeth to himself wise: but the poor man that is prudent shall search him out. 28:12. In the joy of the just there is great glory: when the wicked reign, men are ruined. 28:13. He that hideth his sins, shall not prosper: but he that shall confess, and forsake them, shall obtain mercy. 28:14. Blessed is the man that is always fearful: but he that is hardened in mind shall fall into evil. 28:15. As a roaring lion, and a hungry bear, so is a wicked prince over the poor people. 28:16. A prince void of prudence shall oppress many by calumny: but he that hateth covetousness, shall prolong his days. 28:17. A man that doth violence to the blood of a person, if he flee even to the pit, no man will stay him. 28:18. He that walketh uprightly, shall be saved: he that is perverse in his ways, shall fall at once. 28:19. He that tilleth his ground, shall be filled with bread: but he that followeth idleness, shall be filled with poverty. 28:20. A faithful man shall be much praised: but he that maketh haste to be rich, shall not be innocent. 28:21. He that hath respect to a person in judgment, doth not well: such a man even for a morsel of bread forsaketh the truth. 28:22. A man that maketh haste to be rich, and envieth others, is ignorant that poverty shall come upon him. 28:23. He that rebuketh a man, shall afterward find favour with him, more than he that by a flattering tongue deceiveth him. 28:24. He that stealeth any thing from his father, or from his mother: and saith, This is no sin, is the partner of a murderer. 28:25. He that boasteth and puffeth up himself, stirreth up quarrels: but he that trusteth in the Lord, shall be healed. 28:26. He that trusteth in his own heart, is a fool: but he that walketh wisely, he shall be saved. 28:27. He that giveth to the poor shall not want: he that despiseth his entreaty, shall suffer indigence. 28:28. When the wicked rise up, men shall hide themselves: when they perish, the just shall be multiplied. Proverbs Chapter 29 29:1. The man that with a stiff neck despiseth him that reproveth him, shall suddenly be destroyed: and health shall not follow him. 29:2. When just men increase, the people shall rejoice: when the wicked shall bear rule, the people shall mourn. 29:3. A man that loveth wisdom, rejoiceth his father: but he that maintaineth harlots, shall squander away his substance. 29:4. A just king setteth up the land: a covetous man shall destroy it. 29:5. A man that speaketh to his friend with flattering and dissembling words, spreadeth a net for his feet. 29:6. A snare shall entangle the wicked man when he sinneth: and the just shall praise and rejoice. 29:7. The just taketh notice of the cause of the poor: the wicked is void of knowledge. 29:8. Corrupt men bring a city to ruin: but wise men turn away wrath. 29:9. If a wise man contend with a fool, whether he be angry, or laugh, he shall find no rest. 29:10. Bloodthirsty men hate the upright: but just men seek his soul. 29:11. A fool uttereth all his mind: a wise man deferreth, and keepeth it till afterwards. 29:12. A prince that gladly heareth lying words, hath all his servants wicked. 29:13. The poor man and the creditor have met one another: the Lord is the enlightener of them both. 29:14. The king that judgeth the poor in truth, his throne shall be established for ever. 29:15. The rod and reproof give wisdom: but the child that is left to his own will, bringeth his mother to shame. 29:16. When the wicked are multiplied, crimes shall be multiplied: but the just shall see their downfall. 29:17. Instruct thy son and he shall refresh thee, and shall give delight to thy soul. 29:18. When prophecy shall fail, the people shall be scattered abroad: but he that keepeth the law, is blessed. 29:19. A slave will not be corrected by words: because he understandeth what thou sayest, and will not answer. 29:20. Hast thou seen a man hasty to speak? folly is rather to be looked for, than his amendment. 29:21. He that nourisheth his servant delicately from his childhood, afterwards shall find him stubborn. 29:22. A passionate man provoketh quarrels: and he that is easily stirred up to wrath, shall be more prone to sin. 29:23. Humiliation followeth the proud: and glory shall uphold the humble of spirit. 29:24. He that is partaker with a thief, hateth his own soul: he heareth one putting him to his oath, and discovereth not. 29:25. He that feareth man shall quickly fall: he that trusteth in the Lord, shall be set on high. 29:26. Many seek the face of the prince: but the judgment of every one cometh forth from the Lord. 29:27. The just abhor a wicked man: and the wicked loathe them that are in the right way. The son that keepeth the word, shall be free from destruction. Proverbs Chapter 30 The wise man thinketh humbly of himself. His prayer and sentiments upon certain virtues and vices. 30:1. The words of Gatherer the son of Vomiter. The vision which the man spoke, with whom God is, and who being strengthened by God, abiding with him, said: Gatherer, etc... Or, as it is in the Latin, Congregans the son of Vomens. The Latin interpreter has given us in this place the signification of the Hebrew names, instead of the names themselves, which are in the Hebrew, Agur the son of Jakeh. But whether this Agur be the same person as Solomon, as many think, or a different person, whose doctrine was adopted by Solomon, and inserted among his parables or proverbs, is uncertain. 30:2. I am the most foolish of men, and the wisdom of men is not with me. 30:3. I have not learned wisdom, and have not known the science of saints. 30:4. Who hath ascended up into heaven, and descended? who hath held the wind in his hands? who hath bound up the waters together as in a garment? who hath raised up all the borders of the earth? what is his name, and what is the name of his son, if thou knowest? 30:5. Every word of God is fire tried: he is a buckler to them that hope in him. Is fire tried... That is, most pure, like gold purified by fire. 30:6. Add not any thing to his words, lest thou be reproved and found a liar: 30:7. Two things I have asked of thee, deny them not to me before I die. 30:8. Remove far from me vanity, and lying words. Give me neither beggary, nor riches: give me only the necessaries of life: 30:9. Lest perhaps being filled, I should be tempted to deny, and say: Who is the Lord? or being compelled by poverty, I should steal, and forswear the name of my God. 30:10. Accuse not a servant to his master, lest he curse thee, and thou fall. 30:11. There is a generation that curseth their father, and doth not bless their mother. 30:12. A generation that are pure in their own eyes, and yet are not washed from their filthiness. 30:13. A generation, whose eyes are lofty, and their eyelids lifted up on high. 30:14. A generation that for teeth hath swords, and grindeth with their jaw teeth, to devour the needy from off the earth, and the poor from among men. 30:15. The horseleech hath two daughters that say: Bring, bring. There are three things that never are satisfied, and the fourth never saith: It is enough. The horseleech... Concupiscence, which hath two daughters that are never satisfied, viz., lust and avarice. 30:16. Hell and the mouth of the womb, and the earth which is not satisfied with water: and the fire never saith: It is enough. 30:17. The eye that mocketh at his father, and that despiseth the labour of his mother in bearing him, let the ravens of the brooks pick it out, and the young eagles eat it. 30:18. Three things are hard to me, and the fourth I am utterly ignorant of. 30:19. The way of an eagle in the air, the way of a serpent upon a rock, the way of a ship in the midst of the sea, and the way of a man in youth. 30:20. Such also is the way of an adulterous woman, who eateth and wipeth her mouth, and saith: I have done no evil. 30:21. By three things the earth is disturbed, and the fourth it cannot bear. 30:22. By a slave when he reigneth: by a fool when he is filled with meat: 30:23. By an odious woman when she is married: and by a bondwoman when she is heir to her mistress. 30:24. There are four very little things of the earth, and they are wiser than the wise. 30:25. The ants, a feeble people, which provide themselves food in the harvest: 30:26. The rabbit, a weak people, which maketh its bed in the rock: 30:27. The locust hath no king, yet they all go out by their bands: 30:28. The stellio supporteth itself on hands, and dwelleth in kings' houses. The stellio... A kind of house lizard marked with spots like stars, from whence it has its name. 30:29. There are three things, which go well, and the fourth that walketh happily: 30:30. A lion, the strongest of beasts, who hath no fear of any thing he meeteth: 30:31. A cock girded about the loins: and a ram: and a king, whom none can resist. 30:32. There is that hath appeared a fool after he was lifted up on high: for if he had understood, he would have laid his hand upon his mouth. 30:33. And he that strongly squeezeth the paps to bring out milk, straineth out butter: and he that violently bloweth his nose, bringeth out blood: and he that provoketh wrath, bringeth forth strife. Proverbs Chapter 31 An exhortation to chastity, temperance, and works of mercy; with the praise of a wise woman. 31:1. The words of king Lamuel. The vision wherewith his mother instructed him. Lamuel... This name signifies God with him, and is supposed to have been one of the names of Solomon. 31:2. What, O my beloved, what, O the beloved of my womb, what, O the beloved of my vows? 31:3. Give not thy substance to women, and thy riches to destroy kings. 31:4. Give not to kings, O Lamuel, give not wine to kings: because there is no secret where drunkenness reigneth: 31:5. And lest they drink and forget judgments, and pervert the cause of the children of the poor. 31:6. Give strong drink to them that are sad; and wine to them that are grieved in mind: 31:7. Let them drink, and forget their want, and remember their sorrow no more. 31:8. Open thy mouth for the dumb, and for the causes of all the children that pass. 31:9. Open thy mouth, decree that which is just, and do justice to the needy and poor. 31:10. Who shall find a valiant woman? far, and from the uttermost coasts is the price of her. 31:11. The heart of her husband trusteth in her, and he shall have no need of spoils. 31:12. She will render him good, and not evil all the days of her life. 31:13. She hath sought wool and flax, and hath wrought by the counsel of her hands. 31:14. She is like the merchant's ship, she bringeth her bread from afar. 31:15. And she hath risen in the night, and given a prey to her household, and victuals to her maidens. 31:16. She hath considered a field, and bought it: with the fruit of her hands she hath planted a vineyard. 31:17. She hath girded her loins with strength, and hath strengthened her arm. 31:18. She hath tasted, and seen that her traffic is good: her lamp shall not be put out in the night. 31:19. She hath put out her hand to strong things, and her fingers have taken hold of the spindle. 31:20. She hath opened her hand to the needy, and stretched out her hands to the poor. 31:21. She shall not fear for her house in the cold of snow: for all her domestics are clothed with double garments. 31:22. She hath made for herself clothing of tapestry: fine linen, and purple, is her covering. 31:23. Her husband is honourable in the gates, when he sitteth among the senators of the land. 31:24. She made fine linen, and sold it, and delivered a girdle to the Chanaanite. The Chanaanite... The merchant, for Chanaanite, in Hebrew, signifies a merchant. 31:25. Strength and beauty are her clothing, and she shall laugh in the latter day. 31:26. She hath opened her mouth to wisdom, and the law of clemency is on her tongue. 31:27. She hath looked well on the paths of her house, and hath not eaten her bread idle. 31:28. Her children rose up, and called her blessed: her husband, and he praised her. 31:29. Many daughters have gathered together riches: thou hast surpassed them all. 31:30. Favour is deceitful, and beauty is vain: the woman that feareth the Lord, she shall be praised. 31:31. Give her of the fruit of her hands: and let her works praise her in the gates. ECCLESIASTES This Book is called Ecclesiastes, or The Preacher, (in Hebrew, Coheleth,) because in it, Solomon, as an excellent preacher, setteth forth the vanity of the things of this world: to withdraw the hearts and affections of men from such empty toys. Ecclesiastes Chapter 1 The vanity of all temporal things. 1:1. The words of Ecclesiastes, the son of David, king of Jerusalem. 1:2. Vanity of vanities, said Ecclesiastes: vanity of vanities, and all is vanity. 1:3. What hath a man more of all his labour, that he taketh under the sun? 1:4. One generation passeth away, and another generation cometh: but the earth standeth for ever. 1:5. The sun riseth, and goeth down, and returneth to his place: and there rising again, 1:6. Maketh his round by the south, and turneth again to the north: the spirit goeth forward surveying all places round about, and returneth to his circuits. 1:7. All the rivers run into the sea, yet the sea doth not overflow: unto the place from whence the rivers come, they return, to flow again. 1:8. All things are hard: man cannot explain them by word. The eye is not filled with seeing, neither is the ear filled with hearing. 1:9. What is it that hath been? the same thing that shall be. What is it that hath been done? the same that shall be done. 1:10. Nothing under the sun is new, neither is any man able to say: Behold this is new: for it hath already gone before in the ages that were before us. 1:11. There is no remembrance of former things: nor indeed of those things which hereafter are to come, shall there be any remembrance with them that shall be in the latter end. 1:12. I Ecclesiastes was king over Israel in Jerusalem, 1:13. And I proposed in my mind to seek and search out wisely concerning all things that are done under the sun. This painful occupation hath God given to the children of men, to be exercised therein. 1:14. I have seen all things that are done under the sun, and behold all is vanity, and vexation of spirit. 1:15. The perverse are hard to be corrected, and the number of fools is infinite. 1:16. I have spoken in my heart, saying: Behold I am become great, and have gone beyond all in wisdom, that were before me in Jerusalem: and my mind hath contemplated many things wisely, and I have learned. 1:17. And I have given my heart to know prudence, and learning, and errors, and folly: and I have perceived that in these also there was labour, and vexation of spirit, 1:18. Because in much wisdom there is much indignation: and he that addeth knowledge, addeth also labour. Ecclesiastes Chapter 2 The vanity of pleasures, riches, and worldly labours. 2:1. I said in my heart: I will go, and abound with delights, and enjoy good things. And I saw that this also was vanity. 2:2. Laughter I counted error: and to mirth I said: Why art thou vainly deceived? 2:3. I thought in my heart, to withdraw my flesh from wine, that I might turn my mind to wisdom, and might avoid folly, till I might see what was profitable for the children of men: and what they ought to do under the sun, all the days of their life. 2:4. I made me great works, I built me houses, and planted vineyards, 2:5. I made gardens, and orchards, and set them with trees of all kinds, 2:6. And I made me ponds of water, to water therewith the wood of the young trees, 2:7. I got me men-servants, and maid-servants, and had a great family: and herds of oxen, and great flocks of sheep, above all that were before me in Jerusalem: 2:8. I heaped together for myself silver and gold, and the wealth of kings, and provinces: I made me singing men, and singing women, and the delights of the sons of men, cups and vessels to serve to pour out wine: 2:9. And I surpassed in riches all that were before me in Jerusalem: my wisdom also remained with me. 2:10. And whatsoever my eyes desired, I refused them not: and I withheld not my heart from enjoying every pleasure, and delighting itself in the things which I had prepared: and esteemed this my portion, to make use of my own labour. 2:11. And when I turned myself to all the works which my hands had wrought, and to the labours wherein I had laboured in vain, I saw in all things vanity, and vexation of mind, and that nothing was lasting under the sun. 2:12. I passed further to behold wisdom, and errors and folly, (What is man, said I that he can follow the King his maker?) 2:13. And I saw that wisdom excelled folly, as much as light differeth from darkness. 2:14. The eyes of a wise man are in his head: the fool walketh in darkness: and I learned that they were to die both alike. 2:15. And I said in my heart: If the death of the fool and mine shall be one, what doth it avail me, that I have applied myself more to the study of wisdom? And speaking with my own mind, I perceived that this also was vanity. 2:16. For there shall be no remembrance of the wise no more than of the fool forever, and the times to come shall cover all things together with oblivion: the learned dieth in like manner as the unlearned. 2:17. And therefore I was weary of my life, when I saw that all things under the sun are evil, and all vanity and vexation of spirit. 2:18. Again I hated all my application wherewith I had earnestly laboured under the sun, being like to have an heir after me, 2:19. Whom I know not whether he will be a wise man or a fool, and he shall have rule over all my labours with which I have laboured and been solicitous: and is there anything so vain? 2:20. Wherefore I left off and my heart renounced labouring anymore under the sun. 2:21. For when a man laboureth in wisdom, and knowledge, and carefulness, he leaveth what he hath gotten to an idle man: so this also is vanity, and a great evil. 2:22. For what profit shall a man have of all his labour, and vexation of spirit, with which he hath been tormented under the sun? 2:23. All his days are full of sorrows and miseries, even in the night he doth not rest in mind: and is not this vanity? 2:24. Is it not better to eat and drink, and to shew his soul good things of his labours? and this is from the hand of God. 2:25. Who shall so feast and abound with delights as I? 2:26. God hath given to a man that is good in his sight, wisdom, and knowledge, and joy: but to the sinner he hath given vexation, and superfluous care, to heap up and to gather together, and to give it to him that hath pleased God: but this also is vanity, and a fruitless solicitude of the mind. Ecclesiastes Chapter 3 All human things are liable to perpetual changes. We are to rest on God's providence, and cast away fruitless cares. 3:1. All things have their season, and in their times all things pass under heaven. 3:2. A time to be born and a time to die. A time to plant, and a time to pluck up that which is planted. 3:3. A time to kill, and a time to heal. A time to destroy, and a time to build. 3:4. A time to weep, and a time to laugh. A time to mourn, and a time to dance. 3:5. A time to scatter stones, and a time to gather. A time to embrace, and a time to be far from embraces. 3:6. A time to get, and a time to lose. A time to keep, and a time to cast away. 3:7. A time to rend, and a time to sew. A time to keep silence, and a time to speak. 3:8. A time of love, and a time of hatred. A time of war, and a time of peace. 3:9. What hath man more of his labour? 3:10. I have seen the trouble, which God hath given the sons of men to be exercised in it. 3:11. He hath made all things good in their time, and hath delivered the world to their consideration, so that man cannot find out the work which God hath made from the beginning to the end. 3:12. And I have known that there was no better thing than to rejoice, and to do well in this life. 3:13. For every man that eateth and drinketh, and seeth good of his labour, this is the gift of God. 3:14. I have learned that all the works which God hath made, continue for ever: we cannot add any thing, nor take away from those things which God hath made that he may be feared. 3:15. That which hath been made, the same continueth: the things that shall be, have already been: and God restoreth that which is past. 3:16. I saw under the sun in the place of judgment wickedness, and in the place of justice iniquity. 3:17. And I said in my heart: God shall judge both the just and the wicked, and then shall be the time of every thing. 3:18. I said in my heart concerning the sons of men, that God would prove them, and shew them to be like beasts. 3:19. Therefore the death of man, and of beasts is one, and the condition of them both is equal: as man dieth, so they also die: all things breathe alike, and man hath nothing more than beast: all things are subject to vanity. Man hath nothing more, etc... Viz., as to the life of the body. 3:20. And all things go to one place: of earth they were made, and into earth they return together. 3:21. Who knoweth if the spirit of the children of Adam ascend upward, and if the spirit of the beasts descend downward? Who knoweth, etc... Viz., experimentally: since no one in this life can see a spirit. But as to the spirit of the beasts, which is merely animal, and become extinct by the death of the beast, who can tell the manner it acts so as to give life and motion, and by death to descend downward, that is, to be no more? 3:22. And I have found that nothing is better than for a man to rejoice in his work, and that this is his portion. For who shall bring him to know the things that shall be after him? Ecclesiastes Chapter 4 Other instances of human miseries. 4:1. I turned myself to other things, and I saw the oppressions that are done under the sun, and the tears of the innocent, and they had no comforter; and they were not able to resist their violence, being destitute of help from any. 4:2. And I praised the dead rather than the living: 4:3. And I judged him happier than them both, that is not yet born, nor hath seen the evils that are done under the sun. 4:4. Again I considered all the labours of men, and I remarked that their industries are exposed to the envy of their neighbour: so in this also there is vanity, and fruitless care. 4:5. The fool foldeth his hands together, and eateth his own flesh, saying: 4:6. Better is a handful with rest, than both hands full with labour, and vexation of mind. 4:7. Considering I found also another vanity under the sun: 4:8. There is but one, and he hath not a second, no child, no brother, and yet he ceaseth not to labour, neither are his eyes satisfied with riches, neither doth he reflect, saying: For whom do I labour, and defraud my soul of good things? in this also is vanity, and a grievous vexation. 4:9. It is better therefore that two should be together, than one: for they have the advantage of their society: 4:10. If one fall he shall be supported by the other: woe to him that is alone, for when he falleth, he hath none to lift him up. 4:11. And if two lie together, they shall warm one another: how shall one alone be warmed? 4:12. And if a man prevail against one, two shall withstand him: a threefold cord is not easily broken. 4:13. Better is a child that is poor and wise, than a king that is old and foolish, who knoweth not to foresee for hereafter. 4:14. Because out of prison and chains sometimes a man cometh forth to a kingdom: and another born king is consumed with poverty. 4:15. I saw all men living, that walk under the sun with the second young man, who shall rise up in his place. 4:16. The number of the people, of all that were before him is infinite: and they that shall come afterwards, shall not rejoice in him: but this also is vanity, and vexation of spirit. 4:17. Keep thy foot, when thou goest into the house of God, and draw nigh to hear. For much better is obedience, than the victims of fools, who know not what evil they do. Ecclesiastes Chapter 5 Caution in words. Vows are to be paid. Riches are often pernicious: the moderate use of them is the gift of God. 5:1. Speak not any thing rashly, and let not thy heart be hasty to utter a word before God. For God is in heaven, and thou upon earth: therefore let thy words be few. 5:2. Dreams follow many cares: and in many words shall be found folly. 5:3. If thou hast vowed any thing to God, defer not to pay it: for an unfaithful and foolish promise displeaseth him: but whatsoever thou hast vowed, pay it. 5:4. And it is much better not to vow, than after a vow not to perform the things promised. 5:5. Give not thy mouth to cause thy flesh to sin: and say not before the angel: There is no providence: lest God be angry at thy words, and destroy all the works of thy hands. 5:6. Where there are many dreams, there are many vanities, and words without number: but do thou fear God. 5:7. If thou shalt see the oppressions of the poor, and violent judgments, and justice perverted in the province, wonder not at this matter: for he that is high hath another higher, and there are others still higher than these: 5:8. Moreover there is the king that reigneth over all the land subject to him. 5:9. A covetous man shall not be satisfied with money: and he that loveth riches shall reap no fruit from them: so this also is vanity. 5:10. Where there are great riches, there are also many to eat them. And what doth it profit the owner, but that he seeth the riches with his eyes? 5:11. Sleep is sweet to a labouring man, whether he eat little or much: but the fulness of the rich will not suffer him to sleep. 5:12. There is also another grievous evil, which I have seen under the sun: riches kept to the hurt of the owner. 5:13. For they are lost with very great affliction: he hath begotten a son, who shall be in extremity of want. 5:14. As he came forth naked from his mother's womb, so shall he return, and shall take nothing away with him of his labour. 5:15. A most deplorable evil: as he came, so shall he return. What then doth it profit him that he hath laboured for the wind? 5:16. All the days of his life he eateth in darkness, and in many cares, and in misery, and sorrow. 5:17. This therefore hath seemed good to me, that a man should eat and drink, and enjoy the fruit of his labour, wherewith he hath laboured under the sun, all the days of his life, which God hath given him: and this is his portion. 5:18. And every man to whom God hath given riches, and substance, and hath given him power to eat thereof, and to enjoy his portion, and to rejoice of his labour: this is the gift of God. 5:19. For he shall not much remember the days of his life, because God entertaineth his heart with delight. Ecclesiastes Chapter 6 The misery of the covetous man. 6:1. There is also another evil, which I have seen under the sun, and that frequent among men: 6:2. A man to whom God hath given riches, and substance, and honour, and his soul wanteth nothing of all that he desireth: yet God doth not give him power to eat thereof, but a stranger shall eat it up. This is vanity and a great misery. 6:3. If a man beget a hundred children, and live many years, and attain to a great age, and his soul make no use of the goods of his substance, and he be without burial: of this man I pronounce, that the untimely born is better than he. 6:4. For he came in vain, and goeth to darkness, and his name shall be wholly forgotten. 6:5. He hath not seen the sun, nor known the distance of good and evil: 6:6. Although he lived two thousand years, and hath not enjoyed good things: do not all make haste to one place? 6:7. All the labour of man is for his mouth, but his soul shall not be filled. 6:8. What hath the wise man more than the fool? and what the poor man, but to go thither, where there is life? 6:9. Better it is to see what thou mayst desire, than to desire that which thou canst not know. But this also is vanity, and presumption of spirit. 6:10. He that shall be, his name is already called: and it is known, that he is a man, and cannot contend in judgment with him that is stronger than himself. 6:11. There are many words that have much vanity in disputing. Ecclesiastes Chapter 7 Prescriptions against worldly vanities: mortification, patience, and seeking wisdom. 7:1. What needeth a man to seek things that are above him, whereas he knoweth not what is profitable for him in his life, in all the days of his pilgrimage, and the time that passeth like a shadow? Or who can tell him what shall be after him under the sun? 7:2. A good name is better than precious ointments: and the day of death than the day of one's birth. 7:3. It is better to go to the house of mourning, than to the house of feasting: for in that we are put in mind of the end of all, and the living thinketh what is to come. 7:4. Anger is better than laughter: because by the sadness of the countenance the mind of the offender is corrected. Anger... That is, correction, or just wrath and zeal against evil. 7:5. The heart of the wise is where there is mourning, and the heart of fools where there is mirth. 7:6. It is better to be rebuked by a wise man, than to be deceived by the flattery of fools. 7:7. For as the crackling of thorns burning under a pot, so is the laughter of a fool: now this also is vanity. 7:8. Oppression troubleth the wise, and shall destroy the strength of his heart. 7:9. Better is the end of a speech than the beginning. Better is the patient man than the presumptuous. 7:10. Be not quickly angry: for anger resteth in the bosom of a fool. 7:11. Say not: What thinkest thou is the cause that former times were better than they are now? for this manner of question is foolish. 7:12. Wisdom with riches is more profitable, and bringeth more advantage to them that see the sun. 7:13. For as wisdom is a defence, so money is a defence: but learning and wisdom excel in this, that they give life to him that possesseth them. 7:14. Consider the works of God, that no man can correct whom he hath despised. 7:15. In the good day enjoy good things, and beware beforehand of the evil day: for God hath made both the one and the other, that man may not find against him any just complaint. 7:16. These things also I saw in the days of my vanity: A just man perisheth in his justice, and a wicked man liveth a long time in his wickedness. 7:17. Be not over just: and be not more wise than is necessary, lest thou become stupid. Over just... Viz., By an excessive rigour in censuring the ways of God in bearing with the wicked. 7:18. Be not overmuch wicked: and be not foolish, lest thou die before thy time. Be not overmuch wicked... That is, lest by the greatness of your sin you leave no room for mercy. 7:19. It is good that thou shouldst hold up the just, yea and from him withdraw not thy hand: for he that feareth God, neglecteth nothing. 7:20. Wisdom hath strengthened the wise more than ten princes of the city. 7:21. For there is no just man upon earth, that doth good, and sinneth not. 7:22. But do not apply thy heart to all words that are spoken: lest perhaps thou hear thy servant reviling thee. 7:23. For thy conscience knoweth that thou also hast often spoken evil of others. 7:24. I have tried all things in wisdom. I have said: I will be wise: and it departed farther from me, 7:25. Much more than it was: it is a great depth, who shall find it out? 7:26. I have surveyed all things with my mind, to know, and consider, and seek out wisdom and reason: and to know the wickedness of the fool, and the error of the imprudent: 7:27. And I have found a woman more bitter than death, who is the hunter's snare, and her heart is a net, and her hands are bands. He that pleaseth God shall escape from her: but he that is a sinner, shall be caught by her. 7:28. Lo this have I found, said Ecclesiastes, weighing one thing after another, that I might find out the account, 7:29. Which yet my soul seeketh, and I have not found it. One man among a thousand I have found, a woman among them all I have not found. 7:30. Only this I have found, that God made man right, and he hath entangled himself with an infinity of questions. Who is as the wise man? and who hath known the resolution of the word? Of the word... That is, of this obscure and difficult matter. Ecclesiastes Chapter 8 True wisdom is to observe God's commandments. The ways of God are unsearchable. 8:1. The wisdom of a man shineth in his countenance, and the most mighty will change his face. 8:2. I observe the mouth of the king, and the commandments of the oath of God. 8:3. Be not hasty to depart from his face, and do not continue in an evil work: for he will do all that pleaseth him: 8:4. And his word is full of power: neither can any man say to him: Why dost thou so? 8:5. He that keepeth the commandment, shall find no evil. The heart of a wiser man understandeth time and answer. 8:6. There is a time and opportunity for every business, and great affliction for man: 8:7. Because he is ignorant of things past, and things to come he cannot know by any messenger. 8:8. It is not in man's power to stop the spirit, neither hath he power in the day of death, neither is he suffered to rest when war is at hand, neither shall wickedness save the wicked. 8:9. All these things I have considered, and applied my heart to all the works that are done under the sun. Sometimes one man ruleth over another to his own hurt. 8:10. I saw the wicked buried: who also when they were yet living were in the holy place, and were praised in the city as men of just works: but this also is vanity. 8:11. For because sentence is not speedily pronounced against the evil, the children of men commit evils without any fear. 8:12. But though a sinner do evil a hundred times, and by patience be borne withal, I know from thence that it shall be well with them that fear God, who dread his face. 8:13. But let it not be well with the wicked, neither let his days be prolonged, but as a shadow let them pass away that fear not the face of the Lord. 8:14. There is also another vanity, which is done upon the earth. There are just men to whom evils happen, as though they had done the works of the wicked: and there are wicked men, who are as secure as though they had the deeds of the just: but this also I judge most vain. 8:15. Therefore I commended mirth, because there was no good for a man under the sun, but to eat, and drink, and be merry, and that he should take nothing else with him of his labour in the days of his life, which God hath given him under the sun. No good for a man, etc... Some commentators think the wise man here speaks in the person of the libertine: representing the objections of these men against divine providence, and the inferences they draw from thence, which he takes care afterwards to refute. But it may also be said, that his meaning is to commend the moderate use of the goods of this world, preferably to the cares and solicitudes of worldlings, their attachment to vanity and curiosity, and presumptuously diving into the unsearchable ways of divine providence. 8:16. And I applied my heart to know wisdom, and to understand the distraction that is upon earth: for there are some that day and night take no sleep with their eyes. 8:17. And I understood that man can find no reason of all those works of God that are done under the sun: and the more he shall labour to seek, so much the less shall he find: yea, though the wise man shall say, that he knoweth it, he shall not be able to find it. Ecclesiastes Chapter 9 Man knows not certainty that he is in God's grace. After death no more work or merit. 9:1. All these things have I considered in my heart, that I might carefully understand them: there are just men and wise men, and their works are in the hand of God: and yet man knoweth not whether he be worthy of love, or hatred: 9:2. But all things are kept uncertain for the time to come, because all things equally happen to the just and to the wicked, to the good and to the evil, to the clean and to the unclean, to him that offereth victims, and to him that despiseth sacrifices. As the good is, so also is the sinner: as the perjured, so he also that sweareth truth. 9:3. This is a very great evil among all things that are done under the sun, that the same things happen to all men: whereby also the hearts of the children of men are filled with evil, and with contempt while they live, and afterwards they shall be brought down to hell. 9:4. There is no man that liveth always, or that hopeth for this: a living dog is better than a dead lion. 9:5. For the living know that they shall die, but the dead know nothing more, neither have they a reward any more: for the memory of them is forgotten. Know nothing more... Viz., as to the transactions of this world, in which they have now no part, unless it be revealed to them; neither have they any knowledge or power now of doing any thing to secure their eternal state, (if they have not taken care of it in their lifetime:) nor can they now procure themselves any good, as the living always may do, by the grace of God. 9:6. Their love also, and their hatred, and their envy are all perished, neither have they any part in this world, and in the work that is done under the sun. 9:7. Go then, and eat thy bread with joy, and drink thy wine with gladness: because thy works please God. 9:8. At all times let thy garments be white, and let not oil depart from thy head. 9:9. Live joyfully with the wife whom thou lovest, all the days of thy unsteady life, which are given to thee under the sun, all the time of thy vanity: for this is thy portion in life, and in thy labour wherewith thou labourest under the sun. 9:10. Whatsoever thy hand is able to do, do it earnestly: for neither work, nor reason, nor wisdom, nor knowledge shall be in hell, whither thou art hastening. 9:11. I turned me to another thing, and I saw that under the sun, the race is not to the swift, nor the battle to the strong, nor bread to the wise, nor riches to the learned, nor favour to the skilful: but time and chance in all. 9:12. Man knoweth not his own end: but as fishes are taken with the hook, and as birds are caught with the snare, so men are taken in the evil time, when it shall suddenly come upon them. 9:13. This wisdom also I have seen under the sun, and it seemed to me to be very great: 9:14. A little city, and few men in it: there came against it a great king, and invested it, and built bulwarks round about it, and the siege was perfect. 9:15. Now there was found in it a man poor and wise, and he delivered the city by his wisdom, and no man afterward remembered that poor man. 9:16. And I said that wisdom is better than strength: how then is the wisdom of the poor man slighted, and his words not heard? 9:17. The words of the wise are heard in silence, more than the cry of a prince among fools. 9:18. Better is wisdom, than weapons of war: and he that shall offend in one, shall lose many good things. Ecclesiastes Chapter 10 Observations on wisdom and folly, ambition and detraction. 10:1. Dying flies spoil the sweetness of the ointment. Wisdom and glory is more precious than a small and shortlived folly. 10:2. The heart of a wise man is in his right hand, and the heart of a fool is in his left hand. 10:3. Yea, and the fool when he walketh in the way, whereas he himself is a fool, esteemeth all men fools. 10:4. If the spirit of him that hath power, ascend upon thee, leave not thy place: because care will make the greatest sins to cease. 10:5. There is an evil that I have seen under the sun, as it were by an error proceeding from the face of the prince: 10:6. A fool set in high dignity, and the rich sitting beneath. 10:7. I have seen servants upon horses: and princes walking on the ground as servants. 10:8. He that diggeth a pit, shall fall into it: and he that breaketh a hedge, a serpent shall bite him. 10:9. He that removeth stones, shall be hurt by them: and he that cutteth trees, shall be wounded by them. 10:10. If the iron be blunt, and be not as before, but be made blunt, with much labour it shall be sharpened: and after industry shall follow wisdom. 10:11. If a serpent bite in silence, he is nothing better that backbiteth secretly. 10:12. The words of the mouth of a wise man are grace: but the lips of a fool shall throw him down headlong. 10:13. The beginning of his words is folly, and the end of his talk is a mischievous error. 10:14. A fool multiplieth words. A man cannot tell what hath been before him: and what shall be after him, who can tell him? 10:15. The labour of fools shall afflict them that know not how to go to the city. 10:16. Woe to thee, O land, when thy king is a child, and when the princes eat in the morning. 10:17. Blessed is the land, whose king is noble, and whose princes eat in due season for refreshment, and not for riotousness. 10:18. By slothfulness a building shall be brought down, and through the weakness of hands, the house shall drop through. 10:19. For laughter they make bread, and wine that the living may feast: and all things obey money. 10:20. Detract not the king, no not in thy thought; and speak not evil of the rich man in thy private chamber: because even the birds of the air will carry thy voice, and he that hath wings will tell what thou hast said. Ecclesiastes Chapter 11 Exhortation to works of mercy, while we have time, to diligence in good, and to the remembrance of death and judgment. 11:1. Cast thy bread upon the running waters: for after a long time thou shalt find it again. 11:2. Give a portion to seven, and also to eight: for thou knowest not what evil shall be upon the earth. 11:3. If the clouds be full, they will pour out rain upon the earth. If the tree fall to the south, or to the north, in what place soever it shall fall, there shall it be. If the tree fall, etc... The state of the soul is unchangeable when once she comes to heaven or hell: and a soul that departs this life in the state of grace, shall never fall from grace: as on the other side, a soul that dies out of the state of grace, shall never come to it. But this does not exclude a place of temporal punishments for such souls as die in the state of grace: yet not so as to be entirely pure: and therefore they shall be saved, indeed, yet so as by fire. 1 Cor. 3.13, 14, 15. 11:4. He that observeth the wind, shall not sow: and he that considereth the clouds, shall never reap. 11:5. As thou knowest not what is the way of the spirit, nor how the bones are joined together in the womb of her that is with child: so thou knowest not the works of God, who is the maker of all. 11:6. In the morning sow thy seed, and in the evening let not thy hand cease: for thou knowest not which may rather spring up, this or that: and if both together, it shall be the better. 11:7. The light is sweet, and it is delightful for the eyes to see the sun. 11:8. If a man live many years, and have rejoiced in them all, he must remember the darksome time, and the many days: which when they shall come, the things past shall be accused of vanity. 11:9. Rejoice therefore, O young man, in thy youth, and let thy heart be in that which is good in the days of thy youth, and walk in the ways of thy heart, and in the sight of thy eyes: and know that for all these God will bring thee into judgment. 11:10. Remove anger from thy heart, and put away evil from thy flesh. For youth and pleasure are vain. Ecclesiastes Chapter 12 The Creator is to be remembered in the days of our youth: all worldly things are vain: we should fear God and keep his commandments. 12:1. Remember thy Creator in the days of thy youth, before the time of affliction come, and the years draw nigh of which thou shalt say: They please me not: 12:2. Before the sun, and the light, and the moon, and the stars be darkened, and the clouds return after the rain: Before the sun, etc... That is, before old age: the effects of which upon all the senses and faculties are described in the following verses, under a variety of figures. 12:3. When the keepers of the house shall tremble, and the strong men shall stagger, and the grinders shall be idle in a small number, and they that look through the holes shall be darkened: 12:4. And they shall shut the doors in the street, when the grinder's voice shall be low, and they shall rise up at the voice of the bird, and all the daughters of music shall grow deaf. 12:5. And they shall fear high things, and they shall be afraid in the way, the almond tree shall flourish, the locust shall be made fat, and the caper tree shall be destroyed: because man shall go into the house of his eternity, and the mourners shall go round about in the street. 12:6. Before the silver cord be broken, and the golden fillet shrink back, and the pitcher be crushed at the fountain, and the wheel be broken upon the cistern, 12:7. And the dust return into its earth, from whence it was, and the spirit return to God, who gave it. 12:8. Vanity of vanities, said Ecclesiastes, and all things are vanity. 12:9. And whereas Ecclesiastes was very wise, he taught the people, and declared the things that he had done: and seeking out, he set forth many parables. 12:10. He sought profitable words, and wrote words most right, and full of truth. 12:11. The words of the wise are as goads, and as nails deeply fastened in, which by the counsel of masters are given from one shepherd. 12:12. More than these, my son, require not. Of making many books there is no end: and much study is an affliction of the flesh. 12:13. Let us all hear together the conclusion of the discourse. Fear God, and keep his commandments: for this is all man: All man... The whole business and duty of man. 12:14. And all things that are done, God will bring into judgment for every error, whether it be good or evil. Error... Or, hidden and secret thing. SOLOMON'S CANTICLE OF CANTICLES This Book is called the Canticle of Canticles, that is to say, the most excellent of all canticles: because it is full of high mysteries, relating to the happy union of Christ and his spouse: which is here begun by love; and is to be eternal in heaven. The spouse of Christ is the church: more especially as to the happiest part of it, viz., perfect souls, every one of which is his beloved, but, above all others, the immaculate and ever blessed virgin mother. Canticle of Canticles Chapter 1 The spouse aspires to an union with Christ, their mutual love for one another. 1:1. Let him kiss me with the kiss of his mouth: for thy breasts are better than wine, Let him kiss me... The church, the spouse of Christ, prays that he may love and have peace with her, which the spouse prefers to every thing delicious: and therefore expresses (ver. 2) that young maidens, that is the souls of the faithful, have loved thee. 1:2. Smelling sweet of the best ointments. Thy name is as oil poured out: therefore young maidens have loved thee. 1:3. Draw me: we will run after thee to the odour of thy ointments. The king hath brought me into his storerooms: we will be glad and rejoice in thee, remembering thy breasts more than wine: the rightous love thee. Draw me... That is, with thy grace: otherwise I should not be able to come to thee. This metaphor shews that we cannot of ourselves come to Christ our Lord, unless he draws us by his grace, which is laid up in his storerooms: that is, in the mysteries of Faith, which God in his goodness and love for mankind hath revealed, first by his servant Moses in the Old Law in figure only, and afterwards in reality by his only begotten Son Jesus Christ. 1:4. I am black but beautiful, O ye daughters of Jerusalem, as the tents of Cedar, as the curtains of Solomon. I am black but beautiful... That is, the church of Christ founded in humility appearing outwardly afflicted, and as it were black and contemptible; but inwardly, that is, in its doctrine and morality, fair and beautiful. 1:5. Do not consider me that I am brown, because the sun hath altered my colour: the sons of my mother have fought against me, they have made me the keeper in the vineyards: my vineyard I have not kept. 1:6. Shew me, O thou whom my soul loveth, where thou feedest, where thou liest in the midday, lest I begin to wander after the flocks of thy companions. 1:7. If thou know not thyself, O fairest among women, go forth, and follow after the steps of the flocks, and feed thy kids beside the tents of the shepherds. If thou know not thyself, etc... Christ encourages his spouse to follow and watch her flock: and though she know not entirely the power at hand to assist her, he tells her, ver. 8, my company of horsemen, that is, his angels, are always watching and protecting her. And in the following verses he reminds her of the virtues and gifts with which he has endowed her. 1:8. To my company of horsemen, in Pharao's chariots, have I likened thee, O my love. 1:9. Thy cheeks are beautiful as the turtledove's, thy neck as jewels. 1:10. We will make thee chains of gold, inlaid with silver. 1:11. While the king was at his repose, my spikenard sent forth the odour thereof. 1:12. A bundle of myrrh is my beloved to me, he shall abide between my breasts. 1:13. A cluster of cypress my love is to me, in the vineyards of Engaddi. 1:14. Behold thou are fair, O my love, behold thou are fair, thy eyes are as those of doves. 1:15. Behold thou art fair, my beloved, and comely. Our bed is flourishing. 1:16. The beams of our houses are of cedar, our rafters of cypress trees. Canticle of Canticles Chapter 2 Christ caresses his spouse: he invites her to him. 2:1. I am the flower of the field, and the lily of the valleys. I am the flower of the field... Christ professes himself the flower of mankind, yea, the Lord of all creatures: and, ver. 2, declares the excellence of his spouse, the true church above all other societies, which are to be considered as thorns. 2:2. As the lily among thorns, so is my love among the daughters. 2:3. As the apple tree among the trees of the woods, so is my beloved among the sons. I sat down under his shadow, whom I desired: and his fruit was sweet to my palate. 2:4. He brought me into the cellar of wine, he set in order charity in me. 2:5. Stay me up with flowers, compass me about with apples: because I languish with love. 2:6. His left hand is under my head, and his right hand shall embrace me. 2:7. I adjure you, O ye daughters of Jerusalem, by the roes, and the harts of the field, that you stir not up, nor make the beloved to awake, till she please. 2:8. The voice of my beloved, behold he cometh leaping upon the mountains, skipping over the hills. The voice of my beloved: that is, the preaching of the gospel surmounting difficulties figuratively here expressed by mountains and little hills. 2:9. My beloved is like a roe, or a young hart. Behold he standeth behind our wall, looking through the windows, looking through the lattices. 2:10. Behold my beloved speaketh to me: Arise, make haste, my love, my dove, my beautiful one, and come. 2:11. For winter is now past, the rain is over and gone. 2:12. The flowers have appeared in our land, the time of pruning is come: the voice of the turtle is heard in our land: 2:13. The fig tree hath put forth her green figs: the vines in flower yield their sweet smell. Arise, my love, my beautiful one, and come: 2:14. My dove in the clefts of the rock, in the hollow places of the wall, shew me thy face, let thy voice sound in my ears: for thy voice is sweet, and thy face comely. 2:15. Catch us the little foxes that destroy the vines: for our vineyard hath flourished. Catch us the little foxes... Christ commands his pastors to catch false teachers, by holding forth their fallacy and erroneous doctrine, which like foxes would bite and destroy the vines. 2:16. My beloved to me, and I to him who feedeth among the lilies, 2:17. Till the day break, and the shadows retire. Return: be like, my beloved, to a roe, or to a young hart upon the mountains of Bether. Canticle of Canticles Chapter 3 The spouse seeks Christ. The glory of his humanity. 3:1. In my bed by night I sought him whom my soul loveth: I sought him, and found him not. In my bed by night, etc... The Gentiles as in the dark, and seeking in heathen delusion what they could not find, the true God, until Christ revealed his doctrine to them by his watchmen, (ver. 3,) that is, by the apostles, and teachers by whom they were converted to the true faith; and holding that faith firmly, the spouse (the Catholic Church) declares, ver. 4, That she will not let him go, till she bring him into her mother's house, etc., that is, till at last, the Jews also shall find him. 3:2. I will rise, and will go about the city: in the streets and the broad ways I will seek him whom my soul loveth: I sought him, and I found him not. 3:3. The watchmen who keep the city, found me: Have you seen him, whom my soul loveth? 3:4. When I had a little passed by them, I found him whom my soul loveth: I held him: and I will not let him go, till I bring him into my mother's house, and into the chamber of her that bore me. 3:5. I adjure you, O daughters of Jerusalem, by the roes and the harts of the fields, that you stir not up, nor awake my beloved, till she please. 3:6. Who is she that goeth up by the desert, as a pillar of smoke of aromatical spices, of myrrh, and frankincense, and of all the powders of the perfumer? 3:7. Behold threescore valiant ones of the most valiant of Israel, surrounded the bed of Solomon? 3:8. All holding swords, and most expert in war: every man's sword upon his thigh, because of fears in the night. 3:9. King Solomon hath made him a litter of the wood of Libanus: 3:10. The pillars thereof he made of silver, the seat of gold, the going up of purple: the midst he covered with charity for the daughters of Jerusalem. 3:11. Go forth, ye daughters of Sion, and see king Solomon in the diadem, wherewith his mother crowned him in the day of the joy of his heart. Canticle of Canticles Chapter 4 Christ sets forth the graces of his spouse: and declares his love for her. 4:1. How beautiful art thou, my love, how beautiful art thou! thy eyes are doves' eyes, besides what is hid within. Thy hair is as flocks of goats, which come up from mount Galaad. How beautiful art thou... Christ again praises the beauties of his church, which through the whole of this chapter are exemplified by a variety of metaphors, setting forth her purity, her simplicity, and her stability. 4:2. Thy teeth as flocks of sheep, that are shorn, which come up from the washing, all with twins, and there is none barren among them. 4:3. Thy lips are as a scarlet lace: and thy speech sweet. Thy cheeks are as a piece of a pomegranate, besides that which lieth hid within. 4:4. Thy neck, is as the tower of David, which is built with bulwarks: a thousand bucklers hang upon it, all the armour of valiant men. 4:5. Thy two breasts like two young roes that are twins, which feed among the lilies. Thy two breasts, etc... Mystically to be understood: the love of God and the love of our neighbour, which are so united as twins which feed among the lilies: that is, the love of God and our neighbour, feeds on the divine mysteries and the holy sacraments, left by Christ to his spouse to feed and nourish her children. 4:6. Till the day break, and the shadows retire, I will go to the mountain of myrrh, and to the hill of frankincense. 4:7. Thou art all fair, O my love, and there is not a spot in thee. 4:8. Come from Libanus, my spouse, come from Libanus, come: thou shalt be crowned from the top of Amana, from the top of Sanir and Hermon, from the dens of the lions, from the mountains of the leopards. 4:9. Thou hast wounded my heart, my sister, my spouse, thou hast wounded my heart with one of thy eyes, and with one hair of thy neck. 4:10. How beautiful are thy breasts, my sister, my spouse! thy breasts are more beautiful than wine, and the sweet smell of thy ointments above all aromatical spices. 4:11. Thy lips, my spouse, are as a dropping honeycomb, honey and milk are under thy tongue; and the smell of thy garments, as the smell of frankincense. 4:12. My sister, my spouse, is a garden enclosed, a garden enclosed, a fountain sealed up. My sister, etc., a garden enclosed... Figuratively the church is enclosed, containing only the faithful. A fountain sealed up... That none can drink of its waters, that is, the graces and spiritual benefits of the holy sacraments, but those who are within its walls. 4:13. Thy plants are a paradise of pomegranates with the fruits of the orchard. Cypress with spikenard. 4:14. Spikenard and saffron, sweet cane and cinnamon, with all the trees of Libanus, myrrh and aloes with all the chief perfumes. 4:15. The fountain of gardens: the well of living waters, which run with a strong stream from Libanus. 4:16. Arise, O north wind, and come, O south wind, blow through my garden, and let the aromatical spices thereof flow. Canticle of Canticles Chapter 5 Christ calls his spouse: she languishes with love: and describes him by his graces. 5:1. Let my beloved come into his garden, and eat the fruit of his apple trees. I am come into my garden, O my sister, my spouse, I have gathered my myrrh, with my aromatical spices: I have eaten the honeycomb with my honey, I have drunk my wine with my milk: eat, O friends, and drink, and be inebriated, my dearly beloved. Let my beloved come into his garden, etc... Garden, mystically the church of Christ, abounding with fruit, that is, the good works of the elect. 5:2. I sleep, and my heart watcheth: the voice of my beloved knocking: Open to me, my sister, my love, my dove, my undefiled: for my head is full of dew, and my locks of the drops of the nights. 5:3. I have put off my garment, how shall I put it on? I have washed my feet, how shall I defile them? 5:4. My beloved put his hand through the key hole, and my bowels were moved at his touch. My beloved put his hand through the key hole, etc... The spouse of Christ, his church, at times as it were penned up by its persecutors, and in fears, expecting the divine assistance, here signified by his hand: and ver. 6, but he had turned aside and was gone, that is, Christ permitting a further trial of suffering: and again, ver. 7, the keepers, etc., signifying the violent and cruel persecutors of the church taking her veil, despoiling the church of its places of worship and ornaments for the divine service. 5:5. I arose up to open to my beloved: my hands dropped with myrrh, and my fingers were full of the choicest myrrh. 5:6. I opened the bolt of my door to my beloved: but he had turned aside, and was gone. My soul melted when he spoke: I sought him, and found him not: I called, and he did not answer me. 5:7. The keepers that go about the city found me: they struck me: and wounded me: the keepers of the walls took away my veil from me. 5:8. I adjure you, O daughters of Jerusalem, if you find my beloved, that you tell him that I languish with love. 5:9. What manner of one is thy beloved of the beloved, O thou most beautiful among women? what manner of one is thy beloved of the beloved, that thou hast so adjured us? 5:10. My beloved is white and ruddy, chosen out of thousands. My beloved, etc... In this and the following verses, the church mystically describes Christ to those who know him not, that is, to infidels in order to convert them to the true faith. 5:11. His head is as the finest gold: his locks as branches of palm trees, black as a raven. 5:12. His eyes as doves upon brooks of waters, which are washed with milk, and sit beside the plentiful streams. 5:13. His cheeks are as beds of aromatical spices set by the perfumers. His lips are as lilies dropping choice myrrh. 5:14. His hands are turned and as of gold, full of hyacinths. His belly as of ivory, set with sapphires. 5:15. His legs as pillars of marble, that are set upon bases of gold. His form as of Libanus, excellent as the cedars. 5:16. His throat most sweet, and he is all lovely: such is my beloved, and he is my friend, O ye daughters of Jerusalem. 5:17. Whither is thy beloved gone, O thou most beautiful among women? whither is thy beloved turned aside, and we will seek him with thee? Canticle of Canticles Chapter 6 The spouse of Christ is but one: she is fair and terrible. 6:1. My beloved is gone down into his garden, to the bed of aromatical spices, to feed in the gardens, and to gather lilies. My beloved is gone down into his garden... Christ, pleased with the good works of his holy and devout servants labouring in his garden, is always present with them: but the words is gone down, are to be understood, that after trying his Church by permitting persecution, he comes to her assistance and she rejoices at his coming. 6:2. I to my beloved, and my beloved to me, who feedeth among the lilies. 6:3. Thou art beautiful, O my love, sweet and comely as Jerusalem terrible as an army set in array. 6:4. Turn away thy eyes from me, for they have made me flee away. Thy hair is as a flock of goats, that appear from Galaad. 6:5. Thy teeth as a flock of sheep, which come up from the washing, all with twins, and there is none barren among them. 6:6. Thy cheeks are as the bark of a pomegranate, beside what is hidden within thee. 6:7. There are threescore queens, and fourscore concubines, and young maidens without number. 6:8. One is my dove, my perfect one is but one, she is the only one of her mother, the chosen of her that bore her. The daughters saw her, and declared her most blessed: the queens and concubines, and they praised her. One is my dove, etc... That is, my church is one, and she only is perfect and blessed. 6:9. Who is she that cometh forth as the morning rising, fair as the moon, bright as the sun, terrible as an army set in array? Who is she, etc... Here is a beautiful metaphor describing the church from the beginning. As, the morning rising, signifying the church before the written law; fair as the moon, shewing her under the light of the gospel: and terrible as an army, the power of Christ's church against its enemies. 6:10. I went down into the garden of nuts, to see the fruits of the valleys, and to look if the vineyard had flourished, and the pomegranates budded. 6:11. I knew not: my soul troubled me for the chariots of Aminadab. 6:12. Return, return, O Sulamitess: return, return that we may behold thee. Canticle of Canticles Chapter 7 A further description of the graces of the church the spouse of Christ. 7:1. What shalt thou see in the Sulamitess but the companies of camps? How beautiful are thy steps in shoes, O prince's daughter! The joints of thy thighs are like jewels, that are made by the hand of a skilful workman. How beautiful are thy steps, etc... By these metaphors are signified the power and mission of the church in propagating the true faith. 7:2. Thy navel is like a round bowl never wanting cups. Thy belly is like a heap of wheat, set about with lilies. 7:3. Thy two breasts are like two young roes that are twins. 7:4. Thy neck as a tower of ivory. Thy eyes like the fishpools in Hesebon, which are in the gate of the daughter of the multitude. Thy nose is as the tower of Libanus, that looketh toward Damascus. 7:5. Thy head is like Carmel: and the hairs of thy head as the purple of the king bound in the channels. Thy head is like Carmel... Christ, the invisible head of his church, is here signified. 7:6. How beautiful art thou, and how comely, my dearest, in delights! 7:7. Thy stature is like to a palm tree, and thy breasts to clusters of grapes. 7:8. I said: I will go up into the palm tree, and will take hold of the fruit thereof: and thy breasts shall be as the clusters of the vine: and the odour of thy mouth like apples. 7:9. Thy throat like the best wine, worthy for my beloved to drink, and for his lips and his teeth to ruminate. 7:10. I to my beloved, and his turning is towards me. 7:11. Come, my beloved, let us go forth into the field, let us abide in the villages. 7:12. Let us get up early to the vineyards, let us see if the vineyard flourish, if the flowers be ready to bring forth fruits, if the pomegranates flourish: there will I give thee my breasts. 7:13. The mandrakes give a smell. In our gates are all fruits: the new and the old, my beloved, I have kept for thee. Canticle of Canticles Chapter 8 The love of the church to Christ: his love to her. 8:1. Who shall give thee to me for my brother, sucking the breasts of my mother, that I may find thee without, and kiss thee, and now no man may despise me? 8:2. I will take hold of thee, and bring thee into my mother's house: there thou shalt teach me, and I will give thee a cup of spiced wine and new wine of my pomegranates. 8:3. His left hand under my head, and his right hand shall embrace me. His left hand, etc... Words of the church to Christ. His left hand, signifying the Old Testament, and his right hand, the New. 8:4. I adjure you, O daughters of Jerusalem, that you stir not up, nor awake my love till she please. 8:5. Who is this that cometh up from the desert, flowing with delights, leaning upon her beloved? Under the apple tree I raised thee up: there thy mother was corrupted, there she was defloured that bore thee. Who is this, etc... The angels with admiration behold the Gentiles converted to the faith: coming up from the desert, that is, coming from heathenism and false worship: flowing with delights, that is, abounding with good works which are pleasing to God: leaning on her beloved, on the promise of Christ to his Church, that the gates of hell should not prevail against it; and supported by his grace conferred by the sacraments. Under the apple tree I raised thee up; that is, that Christ redeemed the Gentiles at the foot of the cross, where the synagogue of the Jews (the mother church) was corrupted by their denying him, and crucifying him. 8:6. Put me as a seal upon thy heart, as a seal upon thy arm, for love is strong as death, jealousy as hard as hell, the lamps thereof are fire and flames. 8:7. Many waters cannot quench charity, neither can the floods drown it: if a man should give all the substance of his house for love, he shall despise it as nothing. 8:8. Our sister is little, and hath no breasts. What shall we do to our sister in the day when she is to be spoken to? Our sister is little, etc... Mystically signifies the Jews, who are to be spoken to: that is, converted towards the end of the world: and then shall become a wall, that is, a part of the building, the church of Christ. 8:9. If she be a wall: let us build upon it bulwarks of silver: if she be a door, let us join it together with boards of cedar. 8:10. I am a wall: and my breasts are as a tower since I am become in his presence as one finding peace. 8:11. The peaceable had a vineyard, in that which hath people: he let out the same to keepers, every man bringeth for the fruit thereof a thousand pieces of silver. 8:12. My vineyard is before me. A thousand are for thee, the peaceable, and two hundred for them that keep the fruit thereof. 8:13. Thou that dwellest in the gardens, the friends hearken: make me hear thy voice. 8:14. Flee away, O my beloved, and be like to the roe, and to the young hart upon the mountains of aromatical spices. THE BOOK OF WISDOM This Book is so called, because it treats of the excellence of WISDOM, the means to obtain it, and the happy fruits it produces. It is written in the person of Solomon, and contains his sentiments. But it is uncertain who was the writer. It abounds with instructions and exhortations to kings and all magistrates to minister justice in the commonwealth, teaching all kinds of virtues under the general names of justice and wisdom. It contains also many prophecies of Christ's coming, passion, resurrection, and other Christian mysteries. The whole may be divided into three parts. In the first six chapters, the author admonishes all superiors to love and exercise justice and wisdom. In the next three, he teacheth that wisdom proceedeth only from God, and is procured by prayer and a good life. In the other ten chapters, he sheweth the excellent effects and utility of wisdom and justice. Wisdom Chapter 1 An exhortation to seek God sincerely, who cannot be deceived, and desireth not our death. 1:1. Love justice, you that are the judges of the earth. Think of the Lord in goodness, and seek him in simplicity of heart: 1:2. For he is found by them that tempt him not: and he sheweth himself to them that have faith in him. 1:3. For perverse thoughts separate from God: and his power, when it is tried, reproveth the unwise: 1:4. For wisdom will not enter into a malicious soul, nor dwell in a body subject to sins. 1:5. For the Holy Spirit of discipline will flee from the deceitful, and will withdraw himself from thoughts that are without understanding, and he shall not abide when iniquity cometh in. 1:6. For the spirit of wisdom is benevolent, and will not acquit the evil speaker from his lips: for God is witness of his reins, and he is a true searcher of his heart, and a hearer of his tongue. 1:7. For the Spirit of the Lord hath filled the whole world: and that which containeth all things, hath knowledge of the voice. 1:8. Therefore he that speaketh unjust things, cannot be hid, neither shall the chastising judgment pass him by. 1:9. For inquisition shall be made into the thoughts of the ungodly, and the hearing of his words shall come to God, to the chastising of his iniquities. 1:10. For the ear of jealousy heareth all things, and the tumult of murmuring shall not be hid. 1:11. Keep yourselves, therefore, from murmuring, which profiteth nothing, and refrain your tongue from detraction, for an obscure speech shall not go for nought: and the mouth that belieth, killeth the soul. 1:12. Seek not death in the error of your life, neither procure ye destruction by the works of your hands. 1:13. For God made not death, neither hath he pleasure in the destruction of the living. 1:14. For he created all things that they might be: and he made the nations of the earth for health: and there is no poison of destruction in them, nor kingdom of hell upon the earth. 1:15. For justice is perpetual and immortal. 1:16. But the wicked with works and words have called it to them: and esteeming it a friend, have fallen away and have made a covenant with it: because they are worthy to be of the part thereof. Wisdom Chapter 2 The vain reasonings of the wicked: their persecuting the just, especially the Son of God. 2:1. For they have said, reasoning with themselves, but not right: The time of our life is short and tedious, and in the end of a man there is no remedy, and no man hath been known to have returned from hell: 2:2. For we are born of nothing, and after this we shall be as if we had not been: for the breath in our nostrils is smoke: and speech a spark to move our heart, 2:3. Which being put out, our body shall be ashes, and our spirit shall be poured abroad as soft air, and our life shall pass away as the trace of a cloud, and shall be dispersed as a mist, which is driven away by the beams of the sun, and overpowered with the heat thereof: 2:4. And our name in time shall be forgotten, and no man shall have any remembrance of our works. 2:5. For our time is as the passing of a shadow, and there is no going back of our end: for it is fast sealed, and no man returneth: 2:6. Come, therefore, and let us enjoy the good things that are present, and let us speedily use the creatures as in youth. 2:7. Let us fill ourselves with costly wine, and ointments: and let not the flower of the time pass by us. 2:8. Let us crown ourselves with roses, before they be withered: let no meadow escape our riot. 2:9. Let none of us go without his part in luxury: let us every where leave tokens of joy: for this is our portion, and this our lot. 2:10. Let us oppress the poor just man, and not spare the widow, nor honour the ancient grey hairs of the aged. 2:11. But let our strength be the law of justice: for that which is feeble is found to be nothing worth. 2:12. Let us, therefore, lie in wait for the just, because he is not for our turn, and he is contrary to our doings, and upbraideth us with transgressions of the law, and divulgeth against us the sins of our way of life. 2:13. He boasteth that he hath the knowledge of God, and calleth himself the son of God. 2:14. He is become a censurer of our thoughts. 2:15. He is grievous unto us, even to behold: for his life is not like other men's, and his ways are very different. 2:16. We are esteemed by him as triflers, and he abstaineth from our ways as from filthiness, and he preferreth the latter end of the just, and glorieth that he hath God for his father. 2:17. Let us see then if his words be true, and let us prove what shall happen to him, and we shall know what his end shall be. 2:18. For if he be the true son of God, he will defend him, and will deliver him from the hands of his enemies. 2:19. Let us examine him by outrages and tortures, that we may know his meekness, and try his patience. 2:20. Let us condemn him to a most shameful death: for there shall be respect had unto him by his words. 2:21. These things they thought, and were deceived: for their own malice blinded them. 2:22. And they knew not the secrets of God, nor hoped for the wages of justice, nor esteemed the honour of holy souls. 2:23. For God created man incorruptible, and to the image of his own likeness he made him. 2:24. But by the envy of the devil, death came into the world: 2:25. And they follow him that are of his side. Wisdom Chapter 3 The happiness of the just: and the unhappiness of the wicked. 3:1. But the souls of the just are in the hand of God, and the torment of death shall not touch them. 3:2. In the sight of the unwise they seemed to die: and their departure was taken for misery: 3:3. And their going away from us, for utter destruction: but they are in peace. 3:4. And though in the sight of men they suffered torments, their hope is full of immortality. 3:5. Afflicted in few things, in many they shall be well rewarded: because God hath tried them, and found them worthy of himself. 3:6. As gold in the furnace, he hath proved them, and as a victim of a holocaust, he hath received them, and in time there shall be respect had to them. 3:7. The just shall shine, and shall run to and fro like sparks among the reeds. 3:8. They shall judge nations, and rule over people, and their Lord shall reign for ever. 3:9. They that trust in him shall understand the truth: and they that are faithful in love, shall rest in him: for grace and peace are to his elect. 3:10. But the wicked shall be punished according to their own devices: who have neglected the just, and have revolted from the Lord. 3:11. For he that rejecteth wisdom, and discipline, is unhappy: and their hope is vain, and their labours without fruit, and their works unprofitable. 3:12. Their wives are foolish, and their children wicked. 3:13. Their offspring is cursed, for happy is the barren: and the undefiled, that hath not known bed in sin, she shall have fruit in the visitation of holy souls. 3:14. And the eunuch, that hath not wrought iniquity with his hands, nor thought wicked things against God for the precious gift of faith shall be given to him, and a most acceptable lot in the temple of God. 3:15. For the fruit of good labours is glorious, and the root of wisdom never faileth. 3:16. But the children of adulterers shall not come to perfection, and the seed of the unlawful bed shall be rooted out. 3:17. And if they live long, they shall be nothing regarded, and their last old age shall be without honour. 3:18. And if they die quickly, they shall have no hope, nor speech of comfort in the day of trial. 3:19. For dreadful are the ends of a wicked race. Wisdom Chapter 4 The difference between the chaste and the adulterous generations: and between the death of the just and the wicked. 4:1. How beautiful is the chaste generation with glory: for the memory thereof is immortal: because it is known both with God and with men. 4:2. When it is present, they imitate it: and they desire it, when it hath withdrawn itself, and it triumpheth crowned for ever, winning the reward of undefiled conflicts. 4:3. But the multiplied brood of the wicked shall not thrive, and bastard slips shall not take deep root, nor any fast foundation. 4:4. And if they flourish in branches for a time, yet standing not fast, they shall be shaken with the wind, and through the force of winds they shall be rooted out. 4:5. For the branches not being perfect, shall be broken, and their fruits shall be unprofitable, and sour to eat, and fit for nothing. 4:6. For the children that are born of unlawful beds, are witnesses of wickedness against their parents in their trial. 4:7. But the just man, if he be prevented with death, shall be in rest. 4:8. For venerable old age is not that of long time, nor counted by the number of years: but the understanding of a man is grey hairs. 4:9. And a spotless life is old age. 4:10. He pleased God, and was beloved, and living among sinners, he was translated. 4:11. He was taken away, lest wickedness should alter his understanding, or deceit beguile his soul. 4:12. For the bewitching of vanity obscureth good things, and the wandering of concupiscence overturneth the innocent mind. 4:13. Being made perfect in a short space, he fulfilled a long time. 4:14. For his soul pleased God: therefore he hastened to bring him out of the midst of iniquities: but the people see this, and understand not, nor lay up such things in their hearts: 4:15. That the grace of God, and his mercy is with his saints, and that he hath respect to his chosen. 4:16. But the just that is dead, condemneth the wicked that are living, and youth soon ended, the long life of the unjust. 4:17. For they shall see the end of the wise man, and shall not understand what God hath designed for him, and why the Lord hath set him in safety. 4:18. They shall see him, and shall despise him: but the Lord shall laugh them to scorn. 4:19. And they shall fall after this without honour, and be a reproach among the dead for ever: for he shall burst them puffed up and speechless, and shall shake them from the foundations, and they shall be utterly laid waste: they shall be in sorrow, and their memory shall perish. 4:20. They shall come with fear at the thought of their sins, and their iniquities shall stand against them to convict them. Wisdom Chapter 5 The fruitless repentance of the wicked in another world: the reward of the just. 5:1. Then shall the just stand with great constancy against those that have afflicted them, and taken away their labours. 5:2. These seeing it, shall be troubled with terrible fear, and shall be amazed at the suddenness of their unexpected salvation, 5:3. Saying within themselves, repenting, and groaning for anguish of spirit: These are they, whom we had sometime in derision, and for a parable of reproach. 5:4. We fools esteemed their life madness, and their end without honour. 5:5. Behold, how they are numbered among the children of God, and their lot is among the saints. 5:6. Therefore we have erred from the way of truth, and the light of justice hath not shined unto us, and the sun of understanding hath not risen upon us. 5:7. We wearied ourselves in the way of iniquity and destruction, and have walked through hard ways, but the way of the Lord we have not known. 5:8. What hath pride profited us? or what advantage hath the boasting of riches brought us? 5:9. All those things are passed away like a shadow, and like a post that runneth on, 5:10. And as a ship that passeth through the waves: whereof when it is gone by, the trace cannot be found, nor the path of its keel in the waters: 5:11. Or as when a bird flieth through the air, of the passage of which no mark can be found, but only the sound of the wings beating the light air, and parting it by the force of her flight: she moved her wings, and hath flown through, and there is no mark found afterwards of her way: 5:12. Or as when an arrow is shot at a mark, the divided air quickly cometh together again, so that the passage thereof is not known: 5:13. So we also being born, forthwith ceased to be: and have been able to shew no mark of virtue: but are consumed in our wickedness. 5:14. Such things as these the sinners said in hell: 5:15. For the hope of the wicked is as dust, which is blown away with the wind, and as a thin froth which is dispersed by the storm: and a smoke that is scattered abroad by the wind: and as the remembrance of a guest of one day that passeth by. 5:16. But the just shall live for evermore: and their reward is with the Lord, and the care of them with the most High. 5:17. Therefore shall they receive a kingdom of glory, and a crown of beauty at the hand of the Lord: for with his right hand he will cover them, and with his holy arm he will defend them. 5:18. And his zeal will take armour, and he will arm the creature for the revenge of his enemies. 5:19. He will put on justice as a breastplate, and will take true judgment instead of a helmet: 5:20. He will take equity for an invincible shield: 5:21. And he will sharpen his severe wrath for a spear, and the whole world shall fight with him against the unwise. 5:22. Then shafts of lightning shall go directly from the clouds, as from a bow well bent, they shall be shot out, and shall fly to the mark. 5:23. And thick hail shall be cast upon them from the stone casting wrath: the water of the sea shall rage against them, and the rivers shall run together in a terrible manner. 5:24. A mighty wind shall stand up against them, and as a whirlwind shall divide them: and their iniquity shall bring all the earth to a desert, and wickedness shall overthrow the thrones of the mighty. Wisdom Chapter 6 An address to princes to seek after wisdom: she is easily found by those that seek her. 6:1. Wisdom is better than strength: and a wise man is better than a strong man. 6:2. Hear, therefore, ye kings, and understand, learn ye that are judges of the ends of the earth. 6:3. Give ear, you that rule the people, and that please yourselves in multitudes of nations: 6:4. For power is given you by the Lord, and strength by the most High, who will examine your works: and search out your thoughts: 6:5. Because being ministers of his kingdom, you have not judged rightly, nor kept the law of justice, nor walked according to the will of God. 6:6. Horribly and speedily will he appear to you: for a most severe judgment shall be for them that bear rule. 6:7. For to him that is little, mercy is granted: but the mighty shall be mightily tormented. 6:8. For God will not except any man's person, neither will he stand in awe of any man's greatness: for he made the little and the great, and he hath equally care of all. 6:9. But a greater punishment is ready for the more mighty. 6:10. To you, therefore, O kings, are these my words, that you may learn wisdom, and not fall from it. 6:11. For they that have kept just things justly, shall be justified: and they that have learned these things, shall find what to answer. 6:12. Covet ye, therefore, my words, and love them, and you shall have instruction. 6:13. Wisdom is glorious, and never fadeth away, and is easily seen by them that love her, and is found by them that seek her. 6:14. She preventeth them that covet her, so that she first sheweth herself unto them. 6:15. He that awaketh early to seek her, shall not labour: for he shall find her sitting at his door. 6:16. To think, therefore, upon her, is perfect understanding: and he that watcheth for her, shall quickly be secure. 6:17. For she goeth about seeking such as are worthy of her, and she sheweth herself to them cheerfully in the ways, and meeteth them with all providence. 6:18. For the beginning of her is the most true desire of discipline. 6:19. And the care of discipline is love: and love is the keeping of her laws: and the keeping of her laws is the firm foundation of incorruption: 6:20. And incorruption bringeth near to God. 6:21. Therefore the desire of wisdom bringeth to the everlasting kingdom. 6:22. If then your delight be in thrones, and sceptres, O ye kings of the people, love wisdom, that you may reign for ever. 6:23. Love the light of wisdom, all ye that bear rule over peoples. 6:24. Now what wisdom is, and what was her origin, I will declare: and I will not hide from you the mysteries of God, but will seek her out from the beginning of her birth, and bring the knowledge of her to light, and will not pass over the truth: 6:25. Neither will I go with consuming envy: for such a man shall not be partaker of wisdom. 6:26. Now the multitude of the wise is the welfare of the whole world: and a wise king is the upholding of the people. 6:27. Receive, therefore, instruction by my words, and it shall be profitable to you. Wisdom Chapter 7 The excellence of wisdom: how she is to be found. 7:1. I myself am a mortal man, like all others, and of the race of him, that was first made of the earth, and in the womb of my mother I was fashioned to be flesh. 7:2. In the time of ten months I was compacted in blood, of the seed of man, and the pleasure of sleep concurring. 7:3. And being born, I drew in the common air, and fell upon the earth, that is made alike, and the first voice which I uttered was crying, as all others do. 7:4. I was nursed in swaddling clothes, and with great cares. 7:5. For none of the kings had any other beginning of birth. 7:6. For all men have one entrance into life, and the like going out. 7:7. Wherefore I wished, and understanding was given me: and I called upon God, and the spirit of wisdom came upon me: 7:8. And I preferred her before kingdoms and thrones, and esteemed riches nothing in comparison of her. 7:9. Neither did I compare unto her any precious stone: for all gold, in comparison of her, is as a little sand; and silver, in respect to her, shall be counted as clay. 7:10. I loved her above health and beauty, and chose to have her instead of light: for her light cannot be put out. 7:11. Now all good things came to me together with her, and innumerable riches through her hands, 7:12. And I rejoiced in all these: for this wisdom went before me, and I knew not that she was the mother of them all. 7:13. Which I have learned without guile, and communicate without envy, and her riches I hide not. 7:14. For she is an infinite treasure to men: which they that use, become the friends of God, being commended for the gifts of discipline. 7:15. And God hath given to me to speak as I would, and to conceive thoughts worthy of those things that are given me: because he is the guide of wisdom, and the director of the wise: 7:16. For in his hand are both we, and our words, and all wisdom, and the knowledge and skill of works. 7:17. For he hath given me the true knowledge of the things that are: to know the disposition of the whole world, and the virtues of the elements, 7:18. The beginning, and ending, and midst of the times, the alterations of their courses, and the changes of seasons, 7:19. The revolutions of the year, and the dispositions of the stars, 7:20. The natures of living creatures, and rage of wild beasts, the force of winds, and reasonings of men, the diversities of plants, and the virtues of roots, 7:21. And all such things as are hid, and not foreseen, I have learned: for wisdom, which is the worker of all things, taught me. 7:22. For in her is the spirit of understanding; holy, one, manifold, subtile, eloquent, active, undefiled, sure, sweet, loving that which is good, quick, which nothing hindereth, beneficent, 7:23. Gentle, kind, steadfast, assured, secure, having all power, overseeing all things, and containing all spirits: intelligible, pure, subtile: 7:24. For wisdom is more active than all active things; and reacheth everywhere, by reason of her purity. 7:25. For she is a vapour of the power of God, and a certain pure emmanation of the glory of the Almighty God: and therefore no defiled thing cometh into her. 7:26. For she is the brightness of eternal light, and the unspotted mirror of God's majesty, and the image of his goodness. 7:27. And being but one, she can do all things: and remaining in herself the same, she reneweth all things, and through nations conveyeth herself into holy souls, she maketh the friends of God and prophets. 7:28. For God loveth none but him that dwelleth with wisdom. 7:29. For she is more beautiful than the sun, and above all the order of the stars: being compared with the light, she is found before it. 7:30. For after this cometh night, but no evil can overcome wisdom. Wisdom Chapter 8 Further praises of wisdom: and her fruits. 8:1. She reacheth, therefore, from end to end mightily, and ordereth all things sweetly. 8:2. Her have I loved, and have sought her out from my youth, and have desired to take for my spouse, and I became a lover of her beauty. 8:3. She glorifieth her nobility by being conversant with God: yea, and the Lord of all things hath loved her. 8:4. For it is she that teacheth the knowledge of God and is the chooser of his works. 8:5. And if riches be desired in life, what is richer than wisdom, which maketh all things? 8:6. And if sense do work: who is a more artful worker than she of those things that are? 8:7. And if a man love justice: her labours have great virtues: for she teacheth temperance, and prudence, and justice, and fortitude, which are such things as men can have nothing more profitable in life. 8:8. And if a man desire much knowledge: she knoweth things past, and judgeth of things to come: she knoweth the subtilties of speeches, and the solutions of arguments: she knoweth signs and wonders before they be done, and the events of times and ages. 8:9. I purposed, therefore, to take her to me to live with me: knowing that she will communicate to me of her good things, and will be a comfort in my cares and grief. 8:10. For her sake I shall have glory among the multitude, and honour with the ancients, though I be young: 8:11. And I shall be found of a quick conceit in judgment, and shall be admired in the sight of the mighty, and the faces of princes shall wonder at me. 8:12. They shall wait for me when I hold my peace, and they shall look upon me when I speak; and if I talk much, they shall lay their hands on their mouth. 8:13. Moreover, by the means of her I shall have immortality: and shall leave behind me an everlasting memory to them that come after me. 8:14. I shall set the people in order: and nations shall be subject to me. 8:15. Terrible kings hearing, shall be afraid of me: among the multitude I shall be found good, and valiant in war. 8:16. When I go into my house, I shall repose myself with her: for her conversation hath no bitterness, nor her company any tediousness, but joy and gladness. 8:17. Thinking these things with myself, and pondering them in my heart, that to be allied to wisdom is immortality, 8:18. And that there is great delight in her friendship, and inexhaustible riches in the works of her hands, and in the exercise of conference with her, wisdom, and glory in the communication of her words: I went about seeking, that I might take her to myself. 8:19. And I was a witty child, and had received a good soul. 8:20. And whereas I was more good, I came to a body undefiled. 8:21. And as I knew that I could not otherwise be continent, except God gave it, and this also was a point of wisdom, to know whose gift it was, I went to the Lord, and besought him, and said with my whole heart: Wisdom Chapter 9 Solomon's prayer for wisdom. 9:1. God of my fathers, and Lord of mercy, who hast made all things with thy word, 9:2. And by thy wisdom hast appointed man, that he should have dominion over the creature that was made by thee, 9:3. That he should order the world according to equity and justice, and execute justice with an upright heart: 9:4. Give me wisdom, that sitteth by thy throne, and cast me not off from among thy children: 9:5. For I am thy servant, and the son of thy handmaid, a weak man, and of short time, and falling short of the understanding of judgment and laws. 9:6. For if one be perfect among the children of men, yet if thy wisdom be not with him, he shall be nothing regarded. 9:7. Thou hast chosen me to be king of thy people, and a judge of thy sons and daughters: 9:8. And hast commanded me to build a temple on thy holy mount, and an altar in the city of thy dwelling place, a resemblance of thy holy tabernacle, which thou hast prepared from the beginning: 9:9. And thy wisdom with thee, which knoweth thy works, which then also was present when thou madest the world, and knew what was agreeable to thy eyes, and what was right in thy commandments. 9:10. Send her out of thy holy heaven, and from the throne of thy majesty, that she may be with me, and may labour with me, that I may know what is acceptable with thee: 9:11. For she knoweth and understandeth all things, and shall lead me soberly in my works, and shall preserve me by her power. 9:12. So shall my works be acceptable, and I shall govern thy people justly, and shall be worthy of the throne of my father. 9:13. For who among men is he that can know the counsel of God? or who can think what the will of God is? 9:14. For the thoughts of mortal men are fearful, and our counsels uncertain. 9:15. For the corruptible body is a load upon the soul, and the earthly habitation presseth down the mind that museth upon many things. 9:16. And hardly do we guess aright at things that are upon earth: and with labour do we find the things that are before us. But the things that are in heaven, who shall search out? 9:17. And who shall know thy thought, except thou give wisdom, and send thy holy Spirit from above: 9:18. And so the ways of them that are upon earth may be corrected, and men may learn the things that please thee? 9:19. For by wisdom they were healed, whosoever have pleased thee, O Lord, from the beginning. Wisdom Chapter 10 What wisdom did for Adam, Noe, Abraham, Lot, Jacob, Joseph, and the people of Israel. 10:1. She preserved him, that was first formed by God, the father of the world, when he was created alone, 10:2. And she brought him out of his sin, and gave him power to govern all things. 10:3. But when the unjust went away from her in his anger, he perished by the fury wherewith he murdered his brother. The unjust... Cain. 10:4. For whose cause, when water destroyed the earth, wisdom healed it again, directing the course of the just by contemptible wood. For whose cause... Viz., for the wickedness of the race of Cain.-Ibid. The just... Noe. 10:5. Moreover, when the nations had conspired together to consent to wickedness, she knew the just, and preserved him without blame to God, and kept him strong against the compassion for his son. She knew the just... She found out and approved Abraham. Ibid. And kept him strong, etc... Gave him strength to stand firm against the efforts of his natural tenderness, when he was ordered to sacrifice his son. 10:6. She delivered the just man, who fled from the wicked that were perishing, when the fire came down upon Pentapolis: The just man... Lot.-Ibid. Pentapolis... The land of the five cities, Sodom, Gomorrha, etc. 10:7. Whose land, for a testimony of their wickedness, is desolate, and smoketh to this day, and the trees bear fruits that ripen not, and a standing pillar of salt is a monument of an incredulous soul. 10:8. For regarding not wisdom, they did not only slip in this, that they were ignorant of good things; but they left also unto men a memorial of their folly, so that in the things in which they sinned, they could not so much as lie hid. 10:9. But wisdom hath delivered from sorrow them that attend upon her. 10:10. She conducted the just, when he fled from his brother's wrath, through the right ways, and shewed him the kingdom of God, and gave him the knowledge of the holy things, made him honourable in his labours, and accomplished his labours. The just... Jacob. 10:11. In the deceit of them that overreached him, she stood by him, and made him honourable. 10:12. She kept him safe from his enemies, and she defended him from seducers, and gave him a strong conflict, that he might overcome, and know that wisdom is mightier than all. Conflict... Viz., with the angel. 10:13. She forsook not the just when he was sold, but delivered him from sinners: she went down with him into the pit. The just when he was sold... Viz., Joseph. 10:14. And in bands she left him not, till she brought him the sceptre of the kingdom, and power against those that oppressed him: and shewed them to be liars that had accused him, and gave him everlasting glory. 10:15. She delivered the just people, and blameless seed, from the nations that oppressed them. 10:16. She entered into the soul of the servant of God and stood against dreadful kings in wonders and signs. The servant of God... Viz., Moses. 10:17. And she rendered to the just the wages of their labours, and conducted them in a wonderful way: and she was to them for a covert by day, and for the light of stars by night: 10:18. And she brought them through the Red Sea, and carried them over through a great water. 10:19. But their enemies she drowned in the sea, and from the depth of hell she brought them out. Therefore the just took the spoils of the wicked. 10:20. And they sung to thy holy name, O Lord, and they praised with one accord thy victorious hand. 10:21. For wisdom opened the mouth of the dumb, and made the tongues of infants eloquent. Wisdom Chapter 11 Other benefits of wisdom to the people of God. 11:1. She prospered their works in the hands of the holy prophet. The holy prophet... Moses. 11:2. They went through wildernesses that were not inhabited, and in desert places they pitched their tents. 11:3. They stood against their enemies, and revenged themselves of their adversaries. Their enemies... The Amalecites. 11:4. They were thirsty, and they called upon thee, and water was given them out of the high rock, and a refreshment of their thirst out of the hard stone. 11:5. For by what things their enemies were punished, when their drink failed them, while the children of Israel abounded therewith, and rejoiced: By what things, etc... The meaning is, that God, who wrought a miracle to punish the Egyptians by thirst, when he turned all their waters into blood, (at which time the Israelites, who were exempt from those plagues, had plenty of water,) wrought another miracle in favour of his own people in their thirst, by giving them water out of the rock. 11:6. By the same things they in their need were benefited. 11:7. For instead of a fountain of an ever running river, thou gavest human blood to the unjust. 11:8. And whilst they were diminished for a manifest reproof of their murdering the infants, thou gavest to thine abundant water unlooked for: 11:9. Shewing by the thirst that was then, how thou didst exalt thine, and didst kill their adversaries. 11:10. For when they were tried, and chastised with mercy, they knew how the wicked were judged with wrath, and tormented. 11:11. For thou didst admonish and try them as a father: but the others, as a severe king, thou didst examine and condemn. 11:12. For whether absent or present, they were tormented alike. 11:13. For a double affliction came upon them, and a groaning for the remembrance of things past. 11:14. For when they heard that by their punishments the others were benefited, they remembered the Lord, wondering at the end of what was come to pass. By their punishments, etc... That is, that the Israelites had been benefited and miraculously favoured in the same kind, in which they had been punished. 11:15. For whom they scorned before, when he was thrown out at the time of his being wickedly exposed to perish, him they admired in the end, when they saw the event: their thirsting being unlike to that of the just. 11:16. But for the foolish devices of their iniquity, because some being deceived worshipped dumb serpents and worthless beasts, thou didst send upon them a multitude of dumb beasts for vengeance: Dumb beasts... Viz., frogs, sciniphs, flies, and locusts. 11:17. That they might know that by what things a man sinneth, by the same also he is tormented. 11:18. For thy almighty hand, which made the world of matter without form, was not unable to send upon them a multitude of bears, or fierce lions, 11:19. Or unknown beasts of a new kind, full of rage; either breathing out a fiery vapour, or sending forth a stinking smoke, or shooting horrible sparks out of their eyes: 11:20. Whereof not only the hurt might be able to destroy them, but also the very sight might kill them through fear. 11:21. Yea, and without these, they might have been slain with one blast, persecuted by their own deeds, and scattered by the breath of thy power: but thou hast ordered all things in measure, and number, and weight. 11:22. For great power always belonged to thee alone: and who shall resist the strength of thy arm? 11:23. For the whole world before thee is as the least grain of the balance, and as a drop of the morning dew, that falleth down upon tho earth. 11:24. But thou hast mercy upon all, because thou canst do all things, and overlookest the sins of men for the sake of repentance. 11:25. For thou lovest all things that are, and hatest none of the things which thou hast made: for thou didst not appoint, or make any thing hating it. 11:26. And how could any thing endure, if thou wouldst not? or be preserved, if not called by thee? 11:27. But thou sparest all: because they are thine, O Lord, who lovest souls. Wisdom Chapter 12 God's wisdom and mercy in his proceedings with the Chanaanites. 12:1. O how good and sweet is thy Spirit, O Lord, in all things! 12:2. And therefore thou chastisest them that err, by little and little: and admonishest them, and speakest to them, concerning the things wherein they offend: that leaving their wickedness, they may believe in thee, O Lord. 12:3. For those ancient inhabitants of thy holy land, whom thou didst abhor, 12:4. Because they did works hateful to thee by their sorceries, and wicked sacrifices, 12:5. And those merciless murderers of their own children, and eaters of men's bowels, and devourers of blood from the midst of thy consecration, From the midst of thy consecration... Literally, sacrament. That is, the land sacred to thee, in which thy temple was to be established, and man's redemption to be wrought. 12:6. And those parents sacrificing with their own hands helpless souls, it was thy will to destroy by the hands of our parents, 12:7. That the land which of all is most dear to thee, might receive a worthy colony of the children of God. 12:8. Yet even those thou sparedst as men, and didst send wasps forerunners of thy host, to destroy them by little and little. 12:9. Not that thou wast unable to bring the wicked under the just by war, or by cruel beasts, or with one rough word to destroy them at once: 12:10. But executing thy judgments by degrees, thou gavest them place of repentance, not being ignorant that they were a wicked generation, and their malice natural, and that their thought could never be changed. 12:11. For it was a cursed seed from the beginning: neither didst thou for fear of any one give pardon to their sins. 12:12. For who shall say to thee: What hast thou done? or who shall withstand thy judgment? or who shall come before thee to be a revenger of wicked men? or who shall accuse thee, if the nations perish, which thou hast made? 12:13. For there is no other God but thou, who hast care of all, that thou shouldst shew that thou dost not give judgment unjustly. 12:14. Neither shall king, nor tyrant, in thy sight inquire about them whom thou hast destroyed. 12:15. For so much then, as thou art just, thou orderest all things justly: thinking it not agreeable to the power, to condemn him who deserveth not to be punished. 12:16. For thy power is the beginning of justice: and because thou art Lord of all, thou makest thyself gracious to all. 12:17. For thou shewest thy power, when men will not believe thee to be absolute in power, and thou convincest the boldness of them that know thee not. 12:18. But thou being master of power, judgest with tranquillity, and with great favour disposest of us: for thy power is at hand when thou wilt. 12:19. But thou hast taught thy people by such works, that they must be just and humane, and hast made thy children to be of a good hope: because in judging, thou givest place for repentance for sins. 12:20. For if thou didst punish the enemies of thy servants, and that deserved to die, with so great deliberation, giving them time and place whereby they might be changed from their wickedness: 12:21. With what circumspection hast thou judged thy own children, to whose parents thou hast sworn, and made covenants of good promises? 12:22. Therefore whereas thou chastisest us, thou scourgest our enemies very many ways, to the end that when we judge we may think on thy goodness: and when we are judged, we may hope for thy mercy. 12:23. Wherefore thou hast also greatly tormented them, who, in their life, have lived foolishly and unjustly, by the same things which they worshipped. 12:24. For they went astray for a long time in the ways of error, holding those things for gods which are the most worthless among beasts, living after the manner of children without understanding. 12:25. Therefore thou hast sent a judgment upon them, as senseless children, to mock them. 12:26. But they that were not amended by mockeries and reprehensions, experienced the worthy judgment of God. 12:27. For seeing, with indignation, that they suffered by those very things which they took for gods, when they were destroyed by the same, they acknowledged him the true God, whom in time past they denied that they knew: for which cause the end also of their condemnation came upon them. Wisdom Chapter 13 Idolaters are inexcusable: and those most of all that worship for gods the works of the hands of men. 13:1. But all men are vain, in whom there is not the knowledge of God: and who by these good things that are seen, could not understand him that is, neither by attending to the works have acknowledged who was the workman: 13:2. But have imagined either the fire, or the wind, or the swift air, or the circle of the stars, or the great water, or the sun and moon, to be the gods that rule the world. 13:3. With whose beauty, if they, being delighted, took them to be gods: let them know how much the Lord of them is more beautiful than they: for the first author of beauty made all those things. 13:4. Or if they admired their power, and their effects, let them understand by them, that he that made them, is mightier than they: 13:5. For by the greatness of the beauty, and of the creature, the creator of them may be seen, so as to be known thereby. 13:6. But yet as to these they are less to be blamed. For they perhaps err, seeking God, and desirous to find him. 13:7. For being conversant among his works, they search: and they are persuaded that the things are good which are seen. 13:8. But then again they are not to be pardoned. 13:9. For if they were able to know so much as to make a judgment of the world: how did they not more easily find out the Lord thereof? 13:10. But unhappy are they, and their hope is among the dead, who have called gods the works of the hand of men, gold and silver, the inventions of art, and the resemblances of beasts, or an unprofitable stone the work of an ancient hand. 13:11. Or if an artist, a carpenter, hath cut down a tree proper for his use in the wood, and skilfully taken off all the bark thereof, and with his art, diligently formeth a vessel profitable for the common uses of life, 13:12. And useth the chips of his work to dress his meat: 13:13. And taking what was left thereof, which is good for nothing, being a crooked piece of wood, and full of knots, carveth it diligently when he hath nothing else to do, and by the skill of his art fashioneth it, and maketh it like the image of a man: 13:14. Or the resemblance of some beast, laying it over with vermilion, and painting it red, and covering every spot that is in it: 13:15. And maketh a convenient dwelling place for it, and setting it in a wall, and fastening it with iron, 13:16. Providing for it, lest it should fall, knowing that it is unable to help itself: for it is an image, and hath need of help. 13:17. And then maketh prayer to it, enquiring concerning his substance, and his children, or his marriage. And he is not ashamed to speak to that which hath no life: 13:18. And for health he maketh supplication to the weak, and for life prayeth to that which is dead, and for help calleth upon that which is unprofitable: 13:19. And for a good journey he petitioneth him that cannot walk: and for getting, and for working, and for the event of all things he asketh him that is unable to do any thing. Wisdom Chapter 14 The beginning of worshipping idols: and the effects thereof. 14:1. Again, another designing to sail, and beginning to make his voyage through the raging waves, calleth upon a piece of wood more frail than the wood that carrieth him. 14:2. For this the desire of gain devised, and the workman built it by his skill. 14:3. But thy providence, O Father, governeth it: for thou hast made a way even in the sea, and a most sure path among the waves, 14:4. Shewing that thou art able to save out of all things, yea, though a man went to sea without art. 14:5. But that the works of thy wisdom might not be idle: therefore men also trust their lives even to a little wood, and passing over the sea by ship, are saved. 14:6. And from the beginning also, when the proud giants perished, the hope of the world fleeing to a vessel, which was governed by thy hand, left to the world seed of generation. 14:7. For blessed is the wood, by which justice cometh 14:8. But the idol that is made by hands, is cursed, as well it, as he that made it: he because he made it; and it because being frail it is called a god. 14:9. But to God the wicked and his wickedness are hateful alike. 14:10. For that which is made, together with him that made it, shall suffer torments. 14:11. Therefore there shall be no respect had even to the idols of the Gentiles: because the creatures of God are turned to an abomination, and a temptation to the souls of men, and a snare to the feet of the unwise. 14:12. For the beginning of fornication is the devising of idols: and the invention of them is the corruption of life. 14:13. For neither were they from the beginning, neither shall they be for ever. 14:14. For by the vanity of men they came into the world: and therefore they shall be found to come shortly to an end. 14:15. For a father being afflicted with bitter grief, made to himself the image of his son, who was quickly taken away: and him who then had died as a man, he began now to worship as a god, and appointed him rites and sacrifices among his servants. 14:16. Then, in process of time, wicked custom prevailing, this error was kept as a law, and statues were worshipped by the commandment of tyrants. 14:17. And those whom men could not honour in presence, because they dwelt far off, they brought their resemblance from afar, and made an express image of the king, whom they had a mind to honour: that by this their diligence, they might honour as present, him that was absent. 14:18. And to the worshipping of these, the singular diligence also of the artificer helped to set forward the ignorant. 14:19. For he being willing to please him that employed him, laboured with all his art to make the resemblance in the best manner. 14:20. And the multitude of men, carried away by the beauty of the work, took him now for a god, that little before was but honoured as a man. 14:21. And this was the occasion of deceiving human life: for men serving either their affection, or their kings, gave the incommunicable name to stones and wood. 14:22. And it was not enough for them to err about the knowledge of God, but whereas they lived in a great war of ignorance, they call so many and so great evils peace. 14:23. For either they sacrifice their own children, or use hidden sacrifices, or keep watches full of madness, 14:24. So that now they neither keep life, nor marriage undefiled, but one killeth another through envy, or grieveth him by adultery: 14:25. And all things are mingled together, blood, murder, theft, and dissimulation, corruption and unfaithfulness, tumults and perjury, disquieting of the good, 14:26. Forgetfulness of God, defiling of souls, changing of nature, disorder in marriage, and the irregularity of adultery and uncleanness. 14:27. For the worship of abominable idols is the cause, and the beginning and end of all evil. 14:28. For either they are mad when they are merry: or they prophesy lies, or they live unjustly, or easily forswear themselves. 14:29. For whilst they trust in idols, which are without life, though they swear amiss, they look not to be hurt. 14:30. But for both these things they shall be justly punished, because they have thought not well of God, giving heed to idols, and have sworn unjustly, in guile despising justice. 14:31. For it is not the power of them, by whom they swear, but the just vengeance of sinners always punisheth the transgression of the unjust. Wisdom Chapter 15 The servants of God praise him who hath delivered them from idolatry; condemning both the makers and the worshippers of idols. 15:1. But thou, our God, art gracious and true, patient, and ordering all things in mercy. 15:2. For if we sin, we are thine, knowing thy greatness: and if we sin not, we know that we are counted with thee. 15:3. For to know thee is perfect justice: and to know thy justice, and thy power, is the root of immortality. 15:4. For the invention of mischievous men hath not deceived us, nor the shadow of a picture, a fruitless labour, a graven figure with divers colours, 15:5. The sight whereof enticeth the fool to lust after it, and he loveth the lifeless figure of a dead image. 15:6. The lovers of evil things deserve to have no better things to trust in, both they that make them, and they that love them, and they that worship them. 15:7. The potter also tempering soft earth, with labour fashioneth every vessel for our service, and of the same clay he maketh both vessels that are for clean uses, and likewise such as serve to the contrary: but what is the use of these vessels, the potter is the judge. 15:8. And of the same clay by a vain labour he maketh a god: he who a little before was made of earth himself, and a little after returneth to the same out of which he was taken, when his life, which was lent him, shall be called for again. 15:9. But his care is, not that he shall labour, nor that his life is short, but he striveth with the goldsmiths and silversmiths: and he endeavoureth to do like the workers in brass, and counteth it a glory to make vain things. 15:10. For his heart is ashes, and his hope vain earth and his life more base than clay: 15:11. Forasmuch as he knew not his maker, and him that inspired into him the soul that worketh, and that breathed into him a living spirit. 15:12. Yea, and they have counted our life a pastime and the business of life to be gain, and that we must be getting every way, even out of evil. 15:13. For that man knoweth that he offendeth above all others, who of earthly matter maketh brittle vessels, and graven gods. 15:14. But all the enemies of thy people that hold them in subjection, are foolish, and unhappy, and proud beyond measure: 15:15. For they have esteemed all the idols of the heathens for gods, which neither have the use of eyes to see, nor noses to draw breath, nor ears to hear, nor fingers of hands to handle, and as for their feet, they are slow to walk. 15:16. For man made them: and he that borroweth his own breath, fashioned them. For no man can make a god like to himself. 15:17. For being mortal himself, he formeth a dead thing with his wicked hands. For he is better than they whom he worshippeth, because he indeed hath lived, though he were mortal, but they never. 15:18. Moreover, they worship also the vilest creatures: but things without sense, compared to these, are worse than they. 15:19. Yea, neither by sight can any man see good of these beasts. But they have fled from the praise of God, and from his blessing. Wisdom Chapter 16 God's different dealings with the Egyptians and with his own people. 16:1. For these things, and by the like things to these, they were worthily punished, and were destroyed by a multitude of beasts. 16:2. Instead of which punishment, dealing well with thy people, thou gavest them their desire of delicious food, of a new taste, preparing for them quails for their meat: 16:3. To the end, that they indeed desiring food, by means of those things that were shewn and sent among them, might loath even that which was necessary to satisfy their desire. But these, after suffering want for a short time, tasted a new meat. They indeed desiring food, etc... He means the Egyptians; who were restrained even from that food which was necessary, by the frogs and the flies that were sent amongst them, and spoiled all their meats.-Ibid. But these... Viz., the Israelites. 16:4. For it was requisite that inevitable destruction should come upon them that exercised tyranny: but to these it should only be shewn how their enemies were destroyed. 16:5. For when the fierce rage of beasts came upon these, they were destroyed by the bitings of crooked serpents. 16:6. But thy wrath endured not for ever, but they were troubled for a short time for their correction, having a sign of salvation, to put them in remembrance of the commandment of thy law. Sign of salvation... The brazen serpent, an emblem of Christ our Saviour. 16:7. For he that turned to it, was not healed by that which he saw, but by thee, the Saviour of all. 16:8. And in this thou didst shew to our enemies, that thou art he who deliverest from all evil. 16:9. For the bitings of locusts, and of flies, killed them, and there was found no remedy for their life: because they were worthy to be destroyed by such things. 16:10. But not even the teeth of venomous serpents overcame thy children: for thy mercy came and healed them. 16:11. For they were examined for the remembrance of thy words, and were quickly healed, lest falling into deep forgetfulness, they might not be able to use thy help. 16:12. For it was neither herb, nor mollifying plaster, that healed them, but thy word, O Lord, which healeth all things. 16:13. For it is thou, O Lord, that hast power of life and death, and leadest down to the gates of death, and bringest back again: 16:14. A man indeed killeth through malice, and when the spirit is gone forth, it shall not return, neither shall he call back the soul that is received: 16:15. But it is impossible to escape thy hand: 16:16. For the wicked that denied to know thee, were scourged by the strength of thy arm, being persecuted by strange waters, and hail, and rain, and consumed by fire. 16:17. And which was wonderful, in water, which extinguisheth all things, the fire had more force: for the world fighteth for the just. The fire had more force... Viz., when the fire and hail mingled together laid waste the land of Egypt. Ex. 9. 16:18. For at one time the fire was mitigated, that the beasts which were sent against the wicked might not be burnt, but that they might see, and perceive that they were persecuted by the judgment of God. 16:19. And at another time the fire, above its own power, burnt in the midst of water, to destroy the fruits of a wicked land. 16:20. Instead of which things, thou didst feed thy people with the food of angels, and gavest them bread from heaven, prepared without labour; having in it all that is delicious, and the sweetness of every taste. 16:21. For thy sustenance shewed thy sweetness to thy children, and serving every man's will, it was turned to what every man liked. 16:22. But snow and ice endured the force of fire, and melted not: that they might know that the fire, burning in the hail, and flashing in the rain, destroyed the fruits of the enemies. 16:23. But this same again, that the just might be nourished, did even forget its own strength. 16:24. For the creature serving thee, the Creator, is made fierce against the unjust for their punishment: and abateth its strength for the benefit of them that trust in thee. 16:25. Therefore even then it was transformed into all things, and was obedient to thy grace, that nourisheth all, according to the will of them that desired it of thee: 16:26. That thy children, O Lord, whom thou lovedst, might know that it is not the growing of fruits that nourisheth men, but thy word preserveth them that believe in thee. 16:27. For that which could not be destroyed by fire, being warmed with a little sunbeam, presently melted away: 16:28. That it might be known to all, that we ought to prevent the sun to bless thee, and adore thee at the dawning of the light. 16:29. For the hope of the unthankful shall melt away as the winter's ice, and shall run off as unprofitable water. Wisdom Chapter 17 The Egyptian darkness. 17:1. For thy judgments, O Lord, are great, and thy words cannot be expressed: therefore undisciplined souls have erred. 17:2. For while the wicked thought to be able to have dominion over the holy nation, they themselves being fettered with the bonds of darkness, and a long night, shut up in their houses, lay there exiled from the eternal providence. 17:3. And while they thought to lie hid in their obscure sins, they were scattered under a dark veil of forgetfullness, being horribly afraid, and troubled with exceeding great astonishment. 17:4. For neither did the den that held them, keep them from fear: for noises coming down troubled them, and sad visions appearing to them, affrighted them. 17:5. And no power of fire could give them light, neither could the bright flames of the stars enlighten that horrible night. 17:6. But there appeared to them a sudden fire, very dreadful: and being struck with the fear of that face, which was not seen, they thought the things which they saw to be worse: 17:7. And the delusions of their magic art were put down, and their boasting of wisdom was reproachfully rebuked. 17:8. For they who promised to drive away fears and troubles from a sick soul, were sick themselves of a fear worthy to be laughed at. 17:9. For though no terrible thing disturbed them: yet being scared with the passing by of beasts, and hissing of serpents, they died for fear and denying that they saw the air, which could by no means be avoided. 17:10. For whereas wickedness is fearful, it beareth witness of its condemnation: for a troubled conscience always forecasteth grievous things. 17:11. For fear is nothing else but a yielding up of the succours from thought. 17:12. And while there is less expectation from within, the greater doth it count the ignorance of that cause which bringeth the torment. 17:13. But they that during that night, in which nothing could be done, and which came upon them from the lowest and deepest hell, slept the same sleep, 17:14. Were sometimes molested with the fear of monsters, sometimes fainted away, their soul failing them: for a sudden and unlooked for fear was come upon them. 17:15. Moreover, if any of them had fallen down, he was kept shut up in prison without irons. 17:16. For if any one were a husbandman, or a shepherd, or a labourer in the field, and was suddenly overtaken, he endured a necessity from which he could not fly. 17:17. For they were all bound together with one chain of darkness. Whether it were a whistling wind, or the melodious voice of birds, among the spreading branches of trees, or a fall of water running down with violence, 17:18. Or the mighty noise of stones tumbling down, or the running that could not be seen of beasts playing together, or the roaring voice of wild beasts, or a rebounding echo from the highest mountains: these things made them to swoon for fear. 17:19. For the whole world was enlightened, with a clear light, and none were hindered in their labours. 17:20. But over them only was spread a heavy night, an image of that darkness which was to come upon them. But they were to themselves more grievous than the darkness. Wisdom Chapter 18 The slaughter of the firstborn in Egypt: the efficacy of Aaron's intercession, in the sedition on occasion of Core. 18:1. But thy saints had a very great light, and they heard their voice indeed, but did not see their shape. And because they also did not suffer the same things, they glorified thee: 18:2. And they that before had been wronged, gave thanks, because they were not hurt now: and asked this gift, that there might be a difference. 18:3. Therefore they received a burning pillar of fire for a guide of the way which they knew not, and thou gavest them a harmless sun of a good entertainment. A harmless sun... A light that should not hurt or molest them; but that should be an agreeable guest to them. 18:4. The others indeed were worthy to be deprived of light, and imprisoned in darkness, who kept thy children shut up, by whom the pure light of the law was to be given to the world. 18:5. And whereas they thought to kill the babes of the just: one child being cast forth, and saved to reprove them, thou tookest away a multitude of their children, and destroyedst them altogether in a mighty water. One child... Viz., Moses. 18:6. For that night was known before by our fathers, that assuredly knowing what oaths they had trusted to, they might be of better courage. 18:7. So thy people received the salvation of the just, and destruction of the unjust. 18:8. For as thou didst punish the adversaries so thou didst also encourage and glorify us. 18:9. For the just children of good men were offering sacrifice secretly, and they unanimously ordered a law of justice: that the just should receive both good and evil alike, singing now the praises of the fathers. Of good men... Viz., of the patriarchs. Their children, the Israelites, offered in private the sacrifice of the paschal lamb; and were regulating what they were to do in their journey, when that last and most dreadful plague was coming upon their enemies. 18:10. But on the other side there sounded an ill according cry of the enemies, and a lamentable mourning was heard for the children that were bewailed. 18:11. And the servant suffered the same punishment as the master, and a common man suffered in like manner as the king. 18:12. So all alike had innumerable dead, with one kind of death. Neither were the living sufficient to bury them: for in one moment the noblest offspring of them was destroyed. The noblest offspring... That is, the firstborn. 18:13. For whereas they would not believe any thing before by reason of the enchantments, then first upon the destruction of the firstborn, they acknowledged the people to be of God. 18:14. For while all things were in quiet silence, and the night was in the midst of her course, 18:15. Thy Almighty word leaped down from heaven from thy royal throne, as a fierce conqueror into the midst of the land of destruction, 18:16. With a sharp sword carrying thy unfeigned commandment, and he stood and filled all things with death, and standing on the earth, reached even to heaven. 18:17. Then suddenly visions of evil dreams troubled them, and fears unlooked for came upon them. 18:18. And one thrown here, another there, half dead, shewed the cause of his death. 18:19. For the visions that troubled them foreshewed these things, lest they should perish, and not know why they suffered these evils. 18:20. But the just also were afterwards touched by an assault of death, and there was a disturbance of the multitude in the wilderness: but thy wrath did not long continue; 18:21. For a blameless man made haste to pry for the people, bringing forth the shield of his ministry, prayer, and by incense making supplication, withstood the wrath, and put an end to the calamity, shewing that he was thy servant. 18:22. And he overcame the disturbance, not by strength of body nor with force of arms, but with a word he subdued him that punished them, alleging the oath and covenant made with the fathers. 18:23. For when they were now fallen down dead by heaps one upon another, he stood between and stayed the assault, and cut off the way to the living. 18:24. For in the priestly robe which he wore, was the whole world: and in the four rows of the stones, the glory of the fathers was graven, and thy majesty was written upon the diadem of his head. 18:25. And to these the destroyer gave place, and was afraid of them: for the proof only of wrath was enough. Wisdom Chapter 19 Why God shewed no mercy to the Egyptians. His favour to the Israelites. All creatures obey God's orders for the service of the good, and the punishment of the wicked. 19:1. But as to the wicked, even to the end there came upon them wrath without mercy. For he knew before also what they would do: 19:2. For when they had given them leave to depart and had sent them away with great care, they repented and pursued after them. 19:3. For whilst they were yet mourning, and lamenting at the graves of the dead, they took up another foolish device: and pursued them as fugitives whom they had pressed to be gone: 19:4. For a necessity, of which they were worthy, brought them to this end: and they lost the remembrance of those things which had happened, that their punishment might fill up what was wanting to their torments: 19:5. And that thy people might wonderfully pass through, but they might find a new death. 19:6. For every creature, according to its kind was fashioned again as from the beginning, obeying thy commandments, that thy children might be kept without hurt. 19:7. For a cloud overshadowed their camps and where water was before, dry land appeared, and in the Red Sea a way without hindrance, and out of the great deep a springing field: 19:8. Through which all the nation passed which was protected with thy hand, seeing thy miracles and wonders. 19:9. For they fed on their food like horses, and they skipped like lambs, praising thee, O Lord, who hadst delivered them. 19:10. For they were yet mindful of those things which had been done in the time of their sojourning, how the ground brought forth flies instead of cattle, and how the river cast up a multitude of frogs instead of fishes. 19:11. And at length they saw a new generation of birds, when being led by their appetite, they asked for delicate meats. 19:12. For to satisfy their desire, the quail came up to them from the sea: and punishments came upon the sinners, not without foregoing signs by the force of thunders: for they suffered justly according to their own wickedness. 19:13. For they exercised a more detestable inhospitality than any: others indeed received not strangers unknown to them, but these brought their guests into bondage that had deserved well of them. 19:14. And not only so, but in another respect also they were worse: for the others against their will received the strangers. 19:15. But these grievously afflicted them whom they had received with joy, and who lived under the same laws. 19:16. But they were struck with blindness: as those others were at the doors of the just man, when they were covered with sudden darkness, and every one sought the passage of his own door. 19:17. For while the elements are changed in themselves, as in an instrument the sound of the quality is changed, yet all keep their sound: which may clearly be perceived by the very sight. Elements are changed, etc... The meaning is, that whatever changes God wrought in the elements by miracles in favour of his people, they still kept their harmony by obeying his will. 19:18. For the things of the land were turned into things of the water: and the things that before swam in the water passed upon the land. 19:19. The fire had power in water above its own virtue, and the water forgot its quenching nature. 19:20. On the other side, the flames wasted not the flesh of corruptible animals walking therein, neither did they melt that good food, which was apt to melt as ice. For in all things thou didst magnify thy people, O Lord, and didst honour them, and didst not despise them, but didst assist them at all times, and in every place. That good food... The manna. ECCLESIASTICUS This Book is so called from a Greek word that signifies a preacher: because, like an excellent preacher, it gives admirable lessons of all virtues. The author was Jesus the son of Sirach of Jerusalem, who flourished about two hundred years before Christ. As it was written after the time of Esdras, it is not in the Jewish canon; but is received as canonical and divine by the Catholic Church, instructed by apostolical tradition, and directed by the spirit of God. It was first written in the Hebrew, but afterwards translated into Greek, by another Jesus, the grandson of the author, whose prologue to this book is the following: THE PROLOGUE The knowledge of many and great things hath been shewn us by the law, and the prophets, and others that have followed them: for which things Israel is to be commended for doctrine and wisdom, because not only they that speak must needs be skilful, but strangers also, both speaking and writing, may by their means become most learned. My grandfather Jesus, after he had much given himself to a diligent reading of the law, and the prophets, and other books, that were delivered to us from our fathers, had a mind also to write something himself, pertaining to doctrine and wisdom; that such as are desirous to learn, and are made knowing in these things, may be more and more attentive in mind, and be strengthened to live according to the law. I entreat you therefore to come with benevolence, and to read with attention, and to pardon us for those things wherein we may seem, while we follow the image of wisdom, to come short in the composition of words; for the Hebrew words have not the same force in them when translated into another tongue. And not only these, but the law also itself, and the prophets, and the rest of the books, have no small difference, when they are spoken in their own language. For in the eight and thirtieth year coming into Egypt, when Ptolemy Evergetes was king, and continuing there a long time, I found there books left, of no small nor contemptible learning. Therefore I thought it good, and necessary for me to bestow some diligence and labour to interpret this book; and with much watching and study in some space of time, I brought the book to an end, and set it forth for the service of them that are willing to apply their mind, and to learn how they ought to conduct themselves, who purpose to lead their life according to the law of the Lord. Ecclesiasticus Chapter 1 All wisdom is from God, and is given to them that fear and love God. 1:1. All wisdom is from the Lord God, and hath been always with him, and is before all time. 1:2. Who hath numbered the sand of the sea, and the drops of rain, and the days of the world? Who hath measured the height of heaven, and the breadth of the earth, and the depth of the abyss? 1:3. Who hath searched out the wisdom of God that goeth before all things? 1:4. Wisdom hath been created before all things, and the understanding of prudence from everlasting. 1:5. The word of God on high is the fountain of wisdom, and her ways are everlasting commandments. 1:6. To whom hath the root of wisdom been revealed, and who hath known her wise counsels? 1:7. To whom hath the discipline of wisdom been revealed and made manifest? and who hath understood the multiplicity of her steps? 1:8. There is one most high Creator Almighty, and a powerful king, and greatly to be feared, who sitteth upon his throne, and is the God of dominion. 1:9. He created her in the Holy Ghost, and saw her, and numbered her, and measured her. 1:10. And he poured her out upon all his works, and upon all flesh according to his gift, and hath given her to them that love him. 1:11. The fear of the Lord is honour, and glory, and gladness, and a crown of joy. 1:12. The fear of the Lord shall delight the heart, and shall give joy, and gladness, and length of days. 1:13. With him that feareth the Lord, it shall go well in the latter end, and in the day of his death he shall be blessed. 1:14. The love of God is honourable wisdom. 1:15. And they to whom she shall shew herself love her by the sight, and by the knowledge of her great works. 1:16. The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom, and was created with the faithful in the womb, it walketh with chosen women, and is known with the just and faithful. 1:17. The fear of the Lord is the religiousness of knowledge. 1:18. Religiousness shall keep and justify the heart, it shall give joy and gladness. 1:19. It shall go well with him that feareth the Lord, and in the days of his end he shall be blessed. 1:20. To fear God is the fulness of wisdom, and fulness is from the fruits thereof. 1:21. She shall fill all her house with her increase, and the storehouses with her treasures. 1:22. The fear of the Lord is a crown of wisdom, filling up peace and the fruit of salvation: 1:23. And it hath seen, and numbered her: but both are the gifts of God. 1:24. Wisdom shall distribute knowledge, and understanding of prudence: and exalteth the glory of them that hold her. 1:25. The root of wisdom is to fear the Lord: and the branches thereof are long-lived. 1:26. In the treasures of wisdom is understanding, and religiousness of knowledge: but to sinners wisdom is an abomination. 1:27. The fear of the Lord driveth out sin: 1:28. For he that is without fear, cannot be justified: for the wrath of his high spirits is his ruin. 1:29. A patient man shall bear for a time, and afterwards joy shall be restored to him. 1:30. A good understanding will hide his words for a time, and the lips of many shall declare his wisdom. 1:31. In the treasures of wisdom is the signification of discipline: 1:32. But the worship of God is an abomination to a sinner. 1:33. Son, if thou desire wisdom, keep justice, and God will give her to thee. 1:34. For the fear of the Lord is wisdom and discipline: and that which is agreeable to him, 1:35. Is faith, and meekness: and he will fill up his treasures. 1:36. Be not incredulous to the fear of the Lord: and come not to him with a double heart. 1:37. Be not a hypocrite in the sight of men, and let not thy lips be a stumblingblock to thee. 1:38. Watch over them, lest thou fall, and bring dishonour upon thy soul, 1:39. And God discover thy secrets, and cast thee down in the midst of the congregation. 1:40. Because thou camest to the Lord wickedly, and thy heart is full of guile and deceit. Ecclesiasticus Chapter 2 God's servants must look for temptations: and must arm themselves with patience and confidence in God. 2:1. Son, when thou comest to the service of God, stand in justice and in fear, and prepare thy soul for temptation. 2:2. Humble thy heart, and endure: incline thy ear, and receive the words of understanding: and make not haste in the time of clouds. 2:3. Wait on God with patience: join thyself to God, and endure, that thy life may be increased in the latter end. 2:4. Take all that shall be brought upon thee: and in thy sorrow endure, and in thy humiliation keep patience. 2:5. For gold and silver are tried in the fire, but acceptable men in the furnace of humiliation. 2:6. Believe God, and he will recover thee: and direct thy way, and trust in him. Keep his fear, and grow old therein. 2:7. Ye that fear the Lord, wait for his mercy: and go not aside from him lest ye fall. 2:8. Ye that fear the Lord, believe him: and your reward shall not be made void. 2:9. Ye that fear the Lord hope in him, and mercy shall come to you for your delight. 2:10. Ye that fear the Lord, love him, and your hearts shall be enlightened. 2:11. My children behold the generations of men: and know ye that no one hath hoped in the Lord, and hath been confounded. 2:12. For who hath continued in his commandment, and hath been forsaken? or who hath called upon him, and he despised him? 2:13. For God is compassionate and merciful, and will forgive sins in the day of tribulation: and he is a protector to all that seek him in truth. 2:14. Woe to them that are of a double heart and to wicked lips, and to the hands that do evil, and to the sinner that goeth on the earth two ways. 2:15. Woe to them that are fainthearted, who believe not God: and therefore they shall not be protected by him. 2:16. Woe to them that have lost patience, and that have forsaken the right ways, and have gone aside into crooked ways. 2:17. And what will they do, when the Lord shall begin to examine? 2:18. They that fear the Lord, will not be incredulous to his word: and they that love him, will keep his way. 2:19. They that fear the Lord, will seek after the things that are well pleasing to him: and they that love him, shall be filled with his law. 2:20. They that fear the Lord, will prepare their hearts, and in his sight will sanctify their souls, 2:21. They that fear the Lord, keep his commandments, and will have patience even until his visitation, 2:22. Saying: If we do not penance, we shall fall into the hands of the Lord, and not into the hands of men. 2:23. For according to his greatness, so also is his mercy with him. Ecclesiasticus Chapter 3 Lessons concerning the honour of parents, and humility, and avoiding curiosity. 3:1. The sons of wisdom are the church of the just: and their generation, obedience and love. 3:2. Children, hear the judgment of your father, and so do that you may be saved. 3:3. For God hath made the father honourable to the children: and seeking the judgment of the mothers, hath confirmed it upon the children. 3:4. He that loveth God, shall obtain pardon for his sins by prayer, and shall refrain himself from them, and shall be heard in the prayer of days. 3:5. And he that honoureth his mother is as one that layeth up a treasure. 3:6. He that honoureth his father shall have joy in his own children, and in the day of his prayer he shall be heard. 3:7. He that honoureth his father shall enjoy a long life: and he that obeyeth the father, shall be a comfort to his mother. 3:8. He that feareth the Lord, honoureth his parents, and will serve them as his masters that brought him into the world. 3:9. Honour thy father, in work and word, and all patience, 3:10. That a blessing may come upon thee from him, and his blessing may remain in the latter end. 3:11. The father's blessing establisheth the houses of the children: but the mother's curse rooteth up the foundation. 3:12. Glory not in the dishonour of thy father: for his shame is no glory to thee. 3:13. For the glory of a man is from the honour of his father, and a father without honour is the disgrace of the son. 3:14. Son, support the old age of thy father, and grieve him not in his life; 3:15. And if his understanding fail, have patience with him, and despise him not when thou art in thy strength: for the relieving of the father shall not be forgotten. 3:16. For good shall be repaid to thee for the sin of thy mother. 3:17. And in justice thou shalt be built up, and in the day of affliction thou shalt be remembered: and thy sins shall melt away as the ice in the fair warm weather. 3:18. Of what an evil fame is he that forsaketh his father: and he is cursed of God that angereth his mother. 3:19. My son, do thy works in meekness, and thou shalt be beloved above the glory of men. 3:20. The greater thou art, the more humble thyself in all things, and thou shalt find grace before God: 3:21. For great is the power of God alone, and he is honoured by the humble. 3:22. Seek not the things that are too high for thee, and search not into things above thy ability: but the things that God hath commanded thee, think on them always, and in many of his works be not curious. 3:23. For it is not necessary for thee to see with thy eyes those things that are hid. 3:24. In unnecessary matters be not over curious, and in many of his works thou shalt not be inquisitive. 3:25. For many things are shewn to thee above the understanding of men. 3:26. And the suspicion of them hath deceived many, and hath detained their minds in vanity. 3:27. A hard heart shall fear evil at the last: and he that loveth danger shall perish in it. 3:28. A heart that goeth two ways shall not have success, and the perverse of heart shall be scandalized therein. 3:29. A wicked heart shall be laden with sorrows, and the sinner will add sin to sin. 3:30. The congregation of the proud shall not be healed: for the plant of wickedness shall take root in them, and it shall not be perceived. 3:31. The heart of the wise is understood in wisdom, and a good ear will hear wisdom with all desire. 3:32. A wise heart, and which hath understanding, will abstain from sins, and in the works of justice shall have success. 3:33. Water quencheth a flaming fire, and alms resisteth sins: 3:34. And God provideth for him that sheweth favour: he remembereth him afterwards, and in the time of his fall he shall find a sure stay. Ecclesiasticus Chapter 4 An exhortation to works of mercy, and to the love of wisdom. 4:1. Son, defraud not the poor of alms, and turn not away thy eyes from the poor. 4:2. Despise not the hungry soul: and provoke not the poor in his want. 4:3. Afflict not the heart of the needy, and defer not to gibe to him that is in distress. 4:4. Reject not the petition of the afflicted: and turn not away thy face from the needy. 4:5. Turn not away thy eyes from the poor for fear of anger: and leave not to them that ask of thee to curse thee behind thy back. 4:6. For the prayer of him that curseth thee in the bitterness of his soul, shall be heard, for he that made him will hear him. 4:7. Make thyself affable to the congregation of the poor, and humble thy soul to the ancient, and bow thy head to a great man. 4:8. Bow down thy ear cheerfully to the poor, and pay what thou owest, and answer him peaceable words with mildness. 4:9. Deliver him that suffereth wrong out of the hand of the proud: and be not fainthearted in thy soul. 4:10. In judging be merciful to the fatherless as a father, and as a husband to their mother. 4:11. And thou shalt be as the obedient son of the most High, and he will have mercy on thee more than a mother. 4:12. Wisdom inspireth life into her children, and protecteth them that seek after her, and will go before them in the way of justice. 4:13. And he that loveth her, loveth life: and they that watch for her, shall embrace her sweetness. 4:14. They that hold her fast, shall inherit life: and whithersoever she entereth, God will give a blessing. 4:15. They that serve her, shall be servants to the holy one: and God loveth them that love her. 4:16. He that hearkeneth to her, shall judge nations: and he that looketh upon her, shall remain secure. 4:17. If he trust to her, he shall inherit her, and his generation shall be in assurance. 4:18. For she walketh with him in temptation, and at the first she chooseth him. In temptation, etc... The meaning is, that before wisdom will choose any for her favourite, she will try them by leading them through contradictions, afflictions, and temptations, the usual noviceship of the children of God. 4:19. She will bring upon him fear and dread and trial: and she will scourge him with the affliction of her discipline, till she try him by her laws, and trust his soul. 4:20. Then she will strengthen him, and make a straight way to him, and give him joy, 4:21. And will disclose her secrets to him, and will heap upon him treasures of knowledge and understanding of justice. 4:22. But if he go astray, she will forsake him, and deliver him into the hands of his enemy. 4:23. Son, observe the time, and fly from evil. 4:24. For thy soul be not ashamed to say the truth. 4:25. For there is a shame that bringeth sin, and there is a shame that bringeth glory and grace. 4:26. Accept no person against thy own person, nor against thy soul a lie. 4:27. Reverence not thy neighbour in his fall: 4:28. And refrain not to speak in the time of salvation. Hide not thy wisdom in her beauty. 4:29. For by the tongue wisdom is discerned: and understanding, and knowledge, and learning by the word of the wise, and steadfastness in the works of justice. 4:30. In nowise speak against the truth, but be ashamed of the lie of thy ignorance. 4:31. Be not ashamed to confess thy sins, but submit not thyself to every man for sin. 4:32. Resist not against the face of the mighty, and do not strive against the stream of the river. 4:33. Strive for justice for thy soul, and even unto death fight for justice, and God will overthrow thy enemies for thee. 4:34. Be not hasty in thy tongue: and slack and remiss in thy works. 4:35. Be not as a lion in thy house, terrifying them of thy household, and oppressing them that are under thee. 4:36. Let not thy hand be stretched out to receive, and shut when thou shouldst give. Ecclesiasticus Chapter 5 We must not presume of our wealth or strength: nor of the mercy of God, to go on in sin: we must be steadfast in virtue and truth. 5:1. Set not thy heart upon unjust possessions, and say not: I have enough to live on: for it shall be of no service in the time of vengeance and darkness. 5:2. Follow not in thy strength the desires of thy heart: 5:3. And say not: How mighty am I? and who shall bring me under for my deeds? for God will surely take revenge. 5:4. Say not: I have sinned, and what harm hath befallen me? for the most High is a patient rewarder. 5:5. Be not without fear about sin forgiven, and add not sin upon sin: 5:6. And say not: The mercy of the Lord is great, he will have mercy on the multitude of my sins. 5:7. For mercy and wrath quickly come from him, and his wrath looketh upon sinners. 5:8. Delay not to be converted to the Lord, and defer it not from day to day. 5:9. For his wrath shall come on a sudden, and in the time of vengeance he will destroy thee. 5:10. Be not anxious for goods unjustly gotten: for they shall not profit thee in the day of calamity and revenge. 5:11. Winnow not with every wind, and go not into every way: for so is every sinner proved by a double tongue. 5:12. Be steadfast in the way of the Lord, and in the truth of thy judgment, and in knowledge, and let the word of peace and justice keep with thee. 5:13. Be meek to hear the word, that thou mayst understand: and return a true answer with wisdom. 5:14. If thou have understanding, answer thy neighbour: but if not, let thy hand be upon thy mouth, lest thou be surprised in an unskilful word, and be confounded. 5:15. Honour and glory is in the word of the wise, but the tongue of the fool is his ruin. 5:16. Be not called a whisperer, and be not taken in thy tongue, and confounded. 5:17. For confusion and repentance is upon a thief, and an evil mark of disgrace upon the double tongued, but to the whisperer hatred, and enmity, and reproach. 5:18. Justify alike the small and the great. Ecclesiasticus Chapter 6 Of true and false friends: and of the of the fruits of wisdom. 6:1. Instead of a friend become not an enemy to thy neighbour: for an evil man shall inherit reproach and shame, so shall every sinner that is envious and double tongued. 6:2. Extol not thyself in the thoughts of thy soul like a bull: lest thy strength be quashed by folly, 6:3. And it eat up thy leaves, and destroy thy fruit, and thou be left as a dry tree in the wilderness. 6:4. For a wicked soul shall destroy him that hath it, and maketh him to be a joy to his enemies, and shall lead him into the lot of the wicked. 6:5. A sweet word multiplieth friends, and appeaseth enemies, and a gracious tongue in a good man aboundeth. 6:6. Be in peace with many, but let one of a thousand be thy counsellor. 6:7. If thou wouldst get a friend, try him before thou takest him, and do not credit him easily. 6:8. For there is a friend for his own occasion, and he will not abide in the day of thy trouble. 6:9. And there is a friend that turneth to enmity; and there is a friend that will disclose hatred and strife and reproaches. 6:10. And there is a friend a companion at the table, and he will not abide in the day of distress. 6:11. A friend if he continue steadfast, shall be to thee as thyself, and shall act with confidence among them of thy household. 6:12. If he humble himself before thee, and hide himself from thy face, thou shalt have unanimous friendship for good. 6:13. Separate thyself from thy enemies, and take heed of thy friends. 6:14. A faithful friend is a strong defence: and he that hath found him, hath found a treasure. 6:15. Nothing can be compared to a faithful friend, and no weight of gold and silver is able to countervail the goodness of his fidelity. 6:16. A faithful friend is the medicine of life and immortality: and they that fear the Lord, shall find him. 6:17. He that feareth God, shall likewise have good friendship: because according to him shall his friend be. 6:18. My son, from thy youth up receive instruction, and even to thy grey hairs thou shalt find wisdom. 6:19. Come to her as one that plougheth, and soweth, and wait for her good fruits: 6:20. For in working about her thou shalt labour a little, and shalt quickly eat of her fruits. 6:21. How very unpleasant is wisdom to the unlearned, and the unwise will not continue with her. 6:22. She shall be to them as a mighty stone of trial, and they will cast her from them before it be long. 6:23. For the wisdom of doctrine is according to her name, and she is not manifest unto many, but with them to whom she is known, she continueth even to the sight of God. 6:24. Give ear, my son, and take wise counsel, and cast not away my advice. 6:25. Put thy feet into her fetters, and thy neck into her chains: 6:26. Bow down thy shoulder, and bear her, and be not grieved with her bands. 6:27. Come to her with all thy mind, and keep her ways with all thy power. 6:28. Search for her, and she shall be made known to thee, and when thou hast gotten her, let her not go: 6:29. For in the latter end thou shalt find rest in her, and she shall be turned to thy joy. 6:30. Then shall her fetters be a strong defence for thee, and a firm foundation, and her chain a robe of glory: 6:31. For in her is the beauty of life, and her bands are a healthful binding. 6:32. Thou shalt put her on as a robe of glory, and thou shalt set her upon thee as a crown of joy. 6:33. My son, if thou wilt attend to me, thou shalt learn: and if thou wilt apply thy mind, thou shalt be wise. 6:34. If thou wilt incline thy ear, thou shalt receive instruction: and if thou love to hear, thou shalt be wise. 6:35. Stand in the multitude of ancients that are wise, and join thyself from thy heart to their wisdom, that thou mayst hear every discourse of God, and the sayings of praise may not escape thee. 6:36. And if thou see a man of understanding, go to him early in the morning, and let thy foot wear the steps of his doors. 6:37. Let thy thoughts be upon the precepts of God, and meditate continually on his commandments: and he will give thee a heart, and the desire of wisdom shall be given to thee. Ecclesiasticus Chapter 7 Religious and moral duties. 7:1. Do no evils, and no evils shall lay hold of thee. 7:2. Depart from the unjust, and evils shall depart from thee. 7:3. My son, sow not evils in the furrows of injustice, and thou shalt not reap them sevenfold. 7:4. Seek not of the Lord a preeminence, nor of the king the seat of honour. 7:5. Justify not thyself before God, for he knoweth the heart: and desire not to appear wise before the king. 7:6. Seek not to be made a judge, unless thou have strength enough to extirpate iniquities: lest thou fear the person of the powerful, and lay a stumblingblock for thy integrity. 7:7. Offend not against the multitude of a city, neither cast thyself in upon the people, 7:8. Nor bind sin to sin: for even in one thou shalt not be unpunished. 7:9. Be not fainthearted in thy mind: 7:10. Neglect not to pray, and to give alms. 7:11. Say not: God will have respect to the multitude of my gifts, and when I offer to the most high God, he will accept my offerings. 7:12. Laugh no man to scorn in the bitterness of his soul: for there is one that humbleth and exalteth, God who seeth all. 7:13. Devise not a lie against thy brother: neither do the like against thy friend. 7:14. Be not willing to make any manner of lie: for the custom thereof is not good. 7:15. Be not full of words in a multitude of ancients, and repeat not the word in thy prayer. Repeat not, etc... Make not much babbling by repetition of words: but aim more at fervour of heart. 7:16. Hate not laborious works, nor husbandry ordained by the most High. 7:17. Number not thyself among the multitude of the disorderly. 7:18. Remember wrath, for it will not tarry long. 7:19. Humble thy spirit very much: for the vengeance on the flesh of the ungodly is fire and worms. 7:20. Do not transgress against thy friend deferring money, nor despise thy dear brother for the sake of gold. 7:21. Depart not from a wise and good wife, whom thou hast gotten in the fear of the Lord: for the grace of her modesty is above gold. 7:22. Hurt not the servant that worketh faithfully, nor the hired man that giveth thee his life. 7:23. Let a wise servant be dear to thee as thy own soul, defraud him not of liberty, nor leave him needy. 7:24. Hast thou cattle? have an eye to them: and if they be for thy profit, keep them with thee. 7:25. Hast thou children? instruct them, and bow down their neck from their childhood. 7:26. Hast thou daughters? have a care of their body, and shew not thy countenance gay towards them. 7:27. Marry thy daughter well, and thou shalt do a great work, and give her to a wise man. 7:28. If thou hast a wife according to thy soul, cast her not off: and to her that is hateful, trust not thyself. With thy whole heart, 7:29. Honour thy father, and forget not the groanings of thy mother: 7:30. Remember that thou hadst not been born but through them: and make a return to them as they have done for thee. 7:31. With all thy soul fear the Lord, and reverence his priests. 7:32. With all thy strength love him that made thee: and forsake not his ministers. 7:33. Honour God with all thy soul and give honour to the priests, and purify thyself with thy arms. Thy arms... That is, with all thy power: or else by arms (brachiis) are here signified the right shoulders of the victims, which by the law fell to the priests. See ver. 35. 7:34. Give them their portion, as it is commanded thee, of the firstfruits and of purifications: and for thy negligences purify thyself with a few. 7:35. Offer to the Lord the gift of thy shoulders, and the sacrifice of sanctification, and the firstfruits of the holy things: 7:36. And stretch out thy hand to the poor, that thy expiation and thy blessing may be perfected. 7:37. A gift hath grace in the sight of all the living, and restrain not grace from the dead. And restrain not grace from the dead... That is, withhold not from them the benefit of alms, prayers, and sacrifices. Such was the doctrine and practice of the church of God even in the time of the Old Testament. And the same has always been continued from the days of the apostles in the church of the New Testament. 7:38. Be not wanting in comforting them that weep, and walk with them that mourn. 7:39. Be not slow to visit the sick: for by these things thou shalt be confirmed in love. 7:40. In all thy works remember thy last end, and thou shalt never sin. Ecclesiasticus Chapter 8 Other lessons of wisdom and virtue. 8:1. Strive not with a powerful man, lest thou fall into his hands. 8:2. Contend not with a rich man, lest he bring an action against thee. 8:3. For gold and silver hath destroyed many, and hath reached even to the heart of kings, and perverted them. 8:4. Strive not with a man that is full of tongue, and heap not wood upon his fire. 8:5. Communicate not with an ignorant man, lest he speak ill of thy family. 8:6. Despise not a man that turneth away from sin, nor reproach him therewith: remember that we are all worthy of reproof. 8:7. Despise not a man in his old age; for we also shall become old. 8:8. Rejoice not at the death of thy enemy; knowing that we all die, and are not willing that others should rejoice at our death. 8:9. Despise not the discourse of them that are ancient and wise, but acquaint thyself with their proverbs. 8:10. For of them thou shalt learn wisdom, and instruction of understanding, and to serve great men without blame. 8:11. Let not the discourse of the ancients escape thee, for they have learned of their fathers: 8:12. For of them thou shalt learn understanding, and to give an answer in time of need. 8:13. Kindle not the coals of sinners by rebuking them, lest thou be burnt with the flame of the fire of their sins. 8:14. Stand not against the face of an injurious person, lest he sit as a spy to entrap thee in thy words. 8:15. Lend not to a man that is mightier than thyself: and if thou lendest, count it as lost. 8:16. Be not surety above thy power: and if thou be surety, think as if thou wert to pay it. 8:17. Judge not against a judge: for he judgeth according to that which is just. 8:18. Go not on the way with a bold man, lest he burden thee with his evils: for he goeth according to his own will, and thou shalt perish together with his folly. 8:19. Quarrel not with a passionate man, and go not into the desert with a bold man: for blood is as nothing in his sight, and where there is no help he will overthrow thee. 8:20. Advise not with fools, for they cannot love but such things as please them. 8:21. Before a stranger do no matter of counsel: for thou knowest not what he will bring forth. 8:22. Open not thy heart to every man: lest he repay thee with an evil turn, and speak reproachfully to thee. Ecclesiasticus Chapter 9 Cautions with regard to women, and dangerous conversations. 9:1. Be not jealous over the wife of thy bosom, lest she shew in thy regard the malice of a wicked lesson. 9:2. Give not the power of thy soul to a woman, lest she enter upon thy strength, and thou be confounded. 9:3. Look not upon a woman that hath a mind for many: lest thou fall into her snares. 9:4. Use not much the company of her that is a dancer, and hearken not to her, lest thou perish by the force of her charms. 9:5. Gaze not upon a maiden, lest her beauty be a stumblingblock to thee. 9:6. Give not thy soul to harlots in any point: lest thou destroy thyself and thy inheritance. 9:7. Look not round about thee in the ways of the city, nor wander up and down in the streets thereof. 9:8. Turn away thy face from a woman dressed up, and gaze not about upon another's beauty. 9:9. For many have perished by the beauty of a woman, and hereby lust is enkindled as a fire. 9:10. Every woman that is a harlot, shall be trodden upon as dung in the way. 9:11. Many by admiring the beauty of another man's wife, have become reprobate, for her conversation burneth as fire. 9:12. Sit not at all with another man's wife, nor repose upon the bed with her: 9:13. And strive not with her over wine, lest thy heart decline towards her and by thy blood thou fall into destruction. 9:14. Forsake not an old friend, for the new will not be like to him. 9:15. A new friend is as new wine: it shall grow old, and thou shalt drink it with pleasure. 9:16. Envy not the glory and riches of a sinner: for thou knowest not what his ruin shall be. 9:17. Be not pleased with the wrong done by the unjust, knowing that even to hell the wicked shall not please. 9:18. Keep thee far from the man that hath power to kill, so thou shalt not suspect the fear of death. 9:19. And if thou come to him, commit no fault, lest he take away thy life. 9:20. Know it to be a communication with death: for thou art going in the midst of snares, and walking upon the arms of them that are grieved. 9:21. According to thy power beware of thy neighbour, and treat with the wise and prudent. 9:22. Let just men be thy guests, and let thy glory be in the fear of God. 9:23. And let the thought of God be in thy mind, and all thy discourse on the commandments of the Highest. 9:24. Works shall be praised for the hand of the artificers, and the prince of the people for the wisdom of his speech, but the word of the ancients for the sense. 9:25. A man full of tongue is terrible in his city, and he that is rash in his word shall be hateful. Ecclesiasticus Chapter 10 The virtues and vices of men in power: the great evil of pride. 10:1. A wise judge shall judge his people, and the government of a prudent man shall be steady. Judge his people... In the Greek it is, instruct his people. 10:2. As the judge of the people is himself, so also are his ministers: and what manner of man the ruler of a city is, such also are they that dwell therein. 10:3. An unwise king shall be the ruin of his people: and cities shall be inhabited through the prudence of the rulers. 10:4. The power of the earth is in the hand of God, and in his time he will raise up a profitable ruler over it. 10:5. The prosperity of man is in the hand of God, and upon the person of the scribe he shall lay his honour. The scribe... That is, the man that is wise and learned in the law. 10:6. Remember not any injury done thee by thy neighbour, and do thou nothing by deeds of injury. 10:7. Pride is hateful before God and men: and all iniquity of nations is execrable. 10:8. A kingdom is translated from one people to another, because of injustices, and wrongs, and injuries, and divers deceits. 10:9. But nothing is more wicked than the covetous man. Why is earth, and ashes proud? 10:10. There is not a more wicked thing than to love money: for such a one setteth even his own soul to sale: because while he liveth he hath cast away his bowels. 10:11. All power is of short life. A long sickness is troublesome to the physician. 10:12. The physician cutteth off a short sickness: so also a king is to day, and to morrow he shall die. 10:13. For when a man shall die, he shall inherit serpents, and beasts, and worms. 10:14. The beginning of the pride of man, is to fall off from God: 10:15. Because his heart is departed from him that made him: for pride is the beginning of all sin: he that holdeth it, shall be filled with maledictions, and it shall ruin him in the end. 10:16. Therefore hath the Lord disgraced the assemblies of the wicked, and hath utterly destroyed them. 10:17. God hath overturned the thrones of proud princes, and hath set up the meek in their stead. 10:18. God hath made the roots of proud nations to wither, and hath planted the humble of these nations. 10:19. The Lord hath overthrown the lands of the Gentiles, and hath destroyed them even to the foundation. 10:20. He hath made some of them to wither away, and hath destroyed them, and hath made the memory of them to cease from the earth. 10:21. God hath abolished the memory of the proud, and hath preserved the memory of them that are humble in mind. 10:22. Pride was not made for men: nor wrath for the race of women. 10:23. That seed of men shall be honoured, which feareth God: but that seed shall be dishonoured, which transgresseth the commandments of the Lord. 10:24. In the midst of brethren their chief is honourable: so shall they that fear the Lord, be in his eyes. 10:25. The fear of God is the glory of the rich, and of the honourable, and of the poor. 10:26. Despise not a just man that is poor, and do not magnify a sinful man that is rich. 10:27. The great man, and the judge, and the mighty is in honour: and there is none greater than he that feareth God. 10:28. They that are free shall serve a servant that is wise: and a man that is prudent and well instructed will not murmur when he is reproved; and he that is ignorant, shall not be honoured. 10:29. Extol not thyself in doing thy work, and linger not in the time of distress; 10:30. Better is he that laboureth, and aboundeth in all things, than he that boasteth himself and wanteth bread. 10:31. My son, keep thy soul in meekness, and give it honour according to its desert. 10:32. Who will justify him that sinneth against his own soul? and who will honour him that dishonoureth his own soul? 10:33. The poor man is glorified by his discipline and fear, and there is a man that is honoured for his wealth. 10:34. But he that is glorified in poverty, how much more in wealth? and he that is glorified in wealth, let him fear poverty. Ecclesiasticus Chapter 11 Lessons of humility and moderation in all things. 11:1. The wisdom of the humble shall exalt his head, and shall make him sit in the midst of great men. 11:2. Praise not a man for his beauty, neither despise a man for his look. 11:3. The bee is small among flying things but her fruit hath the chiefest sweetness. 11:4. Glory not in apparel at any time, and be not exalted in the day of thy honour: for the works of the Highest only are wonderful, and his works are glorious, and secret, and hidden. 11:5. Many tyrants have sat on the throne, and he whom no man would think on, hath worn the crown. 11:6. Many mighty men have been greatly brought down, and the glorious have been delivered into the hand of others. 11:7. Before thou inquire, blame no man: and when thou hast inquired, reprove justly. 11:8. Before thou hear, answer not a word: and interrupt not others in the midst of their discourse. 11:9. Strive not in a matter which doth not concern thee, and sit not in judgment with sinners. 11:10. My son, meddle not with many matters: and if thou be rich, thou shalt not be free from sin: for if thou pursue after thou shalt not overtake; and if thou run before thou shalt not escape. 11:11. There is an ungodly man that laboureth, and maketh haste, and is in sorrow, and is so much the more in want. 11:12. Again, there is an inactive man that wanteth help, is very weak in ability, and full of poverty: 11:13. Yet the eye of God hath looked upon him for good, and hath lifted him up from his low estate, and hath exalted his head: and many have wondered at him, and have glorified God. 11:14. Good things and evil, life and death, poverty and riches, are from God. 11:15. Wisdom and discipline, and the knowledge of the law are with God. Love and the ways of good things are with him. 11:16. Error and darkness are created with sinners: and they that glory in evil things, grow old in evil. 11:17. The gift of God abideth with the just, and his advancement shall have success for ever. 11:18. There is one that is enriched by living sparingly, and this is the portion of his reward. 11:19. In that he saith: I have found me rest, and now I will eat of my goods alone: 11:20. And he knoweth not what time shall pass, and that death approacheth, and that he must leave all to others, and shall die. 11:21. Be steadfast in thy covenant, and be conversant therein, and grow old in the work of thy commandments. 11:22. Abide not in the works of sinners. But trust in God, and stay in thy place, 11:23. For it is easy in the eyes of God on a sudden to make the poor man rich. 11:24. The blessing of God maketh haste to reward the just, and in a swift hour his blessing beareth fruit. 11:25. Say not: What need I, and what good shall I have by this? 11:26. Say not: I am sufficient for myself: and what shall I be made worse by this? 11:27. In the day of good things be not unmindful of evils: and in the day of evils be not unmindful of good things: 11:28. For it is easy before God in the day of death to reward every one according to his ways. 11:29. The affliction of an hour maketh one forget great delights, and in the end of a man is the disclosing of his works. 11:30. Praise not any man before death, for a man is known by his children. 11:31. Bring not every man into thy house: for many are the snares of the deceitful. 11:32. For as corrupted bowels send forth stinking breath, and as the partridge is brought into the cage, and as the roe into the snare: so also is the heart of the proud, and as a spy that looketh on the fall of his neighbour. 11:33. For he lieth in wait and turneth good into evil, and on the elect he will lay a blot. 11:34. Of one spark cometh a great fire, and of one deceitful man much blood: and a sinful man lieth in wait for blood. 11:35. Take heed to thyself of a mischievous man, for he worketh evils: lest he bring upon thee reproach for ever. 11:36. Receive a stranger in, and he shall overthrow thee with a whirlwind, and shall turn thee out of thy own. Ecclesiasticus Chapter 12 We are to be liberal to the just: and not to trust the wicked. 12:1. If thou do good, know to whom thou dost it, and there shall be much thanks for thy good deeds. 12:2. Do good to the just, and thou shalt find great recompense: and if not of him, assuredly of the Lord. 12:3. For there is no good for him that is always occupied in evil, and that giveth no alms: for the Highest hateth sinners, and hath mercy on the penitent. 12:4. Give to the merciful and uphold not the sinner: God will repay vengeance to the ungodly and to sinners, and keep them against the day of vengeance. 12:5. Give to the good, and receive not a sinner. 12:6. Do good to the humble, and give not to the ungodly: hold back thy bread, and give it not to him, lest thereby he overmaster thee. 12:7. For thou shalt receive twice as much evil for all the good thou shalt have done to him: for the Highest also hateth sinners, and will repay vengeance to the ungodly. 12:8. A friend shall not be known in prosperity, and an enemy shall not be hidden in adversity. 12:9. In the prosperity of a man, his enemies are grieved: and a friend is known in his adversity. 12:10. Never trust thy enemy for as a brass pot his wickedness rusteth: 12:11. Though he humble himself and go crouching, yet take good heed and beware of him. 12:12. Set him not by thee, neither let him sit on thy right hand, lest he turn into thy place, and seek to take thy seat and at the last thou acknowledge my words, and be pricked with my sayings. 12:13. Who will pity an enchanter struck by a serpent, or any that come near wild beasts? so is it with him that keepeth company with a wicked man, and is involved in his sins. 12:14. For an hour he will abide with thee: but if thou begin to decline, he will not endure it. 12:15. An enemy speaketh sweetly with his lips, but in his heart he lieth in wait, to throw thee into a pit. 12:16. An enemy weepeth with his eyes: but if he find an opportunity he will not be satisfied with blood: 12:17. And if evils come upon thee, thou shalt find him there first. 12:18. An enemy hath tears in his eyes, and while he pretendeth to help thee, will undermine thy feet. 12:19. He will shake his head, and clap his hands, and whisper much, and change his countenance. Ecclesiasticus Chapter 13 Cautions in the choice of company. 13:1. He that toucheth pitch, shall be defiled with it: and he that hath fellowship with the proud, shall put on pride. 13:2. He shall take a burden upon him that hath fellowship with one more honourable than himself. And have no fellowship with one that is richer than thyself. 13:3. What agreement shall the earthen pot have with the kettle? for if they knock one against the other, it shall be broken. 13:4. The rich man hath done wrong, and yet he will fume: but the poor is wronged and must hold his peace. 13:5. If thou give, he will make use of thee: and if thou have nothing, he will forsake thee. 13:6. If thou have any thing, he will live with thee, and will make thee bare, and he will not be sorry for thee. 13:7. If he have need of thee he will deceive thee, and smiling upon thee will put thee in hope; he will speak thee fair, and will say: What wantest thou? 13:8. And he will shame thee by his meats, till he have drawn thee dry twice or thrice, and at last he will laugh at thee: and afterward when he seeth thee, he will forsake thee, and shake his head at thee. 13:9. Humble thyself to God, and wait for his hands. 13:10. Beware that thou be not deceived into folly, and be humbled. 13:11. Be not lowly in thy wisdom, lest being humbled thou be deceived into folly. 13:12. If thou be invited by one that is mightier, withdraw thyself: for so he will invite thee the more. 13:13. Be not troublesome to him, lest thou be put back: and keep not far from him, lest thou be forgotten. 13:14. Affect not to speak with him as an equal, and believe not his many words: for by much talk he will sift thee, and smiling will examine thee concerning thy secrets. 13:15. His cruel mind will lay up thy words: and he will not spare to do thee hurt, and to cast thee into prison. 13:16. Take heed to thyself, and attend diligently to what thou hearest: for thou walkest in danger of thy ruin. 13:17. When thou hearest those things, see as it were in sleep, and thou shalt awake. 13:18. Love God all thy life, and call upon him for thy salvation. 13:19. Every beast loveth its like: so also every man him that is nearest to himself. 13:20. All flesh shall consort with the like to itself, and every man shall associate himself to his like. 13:21. If the wolf shall at any time have fellowship with the lamb, so the sinner with the just. 13:22. What fellowship hath a holy man with a dog, or what part hath the rich with the poor? 13:23. The wild ass is the lion's prey in the desert: so also the poor are devoured by the rich. 13:24. And as humility is an abomination to the proud: so also the rich man abhorreth the poor. 13:25. When a rich man is shaken, he is kept up by his friends: but when a poor man is fallen down, he is thrust away even by his acquaintance. 13:26. When a rich man hath been deceived, he hath many helpers: he hath spoken proud things, and they have justified him. 13:27. The poor man was deceived, and he is rebuked also: he hath spoken wisely, and could have no place. 13:28. The rich man spoke, and all held their peace, and what he said they extol even to the clouds. 13:29. The poor man spoke, and they say: Who is this? and if he stumble, they will overthrow him. 13:30. Riches are good to him that hath no sin in his conscience: and poverty is very wicked in the mouth of the ungodly. 13:31. The heart of a man changeth his countenance, either for good, or for evil. 13:32. The token of a good heart, and a good countenance thou shalt hardly find, and with labour. Ecclesiasticus Chapter 14 The evil of avarice: works of mercy are recommended, and the love of wisdom. 14:1. Blessed is the man that hath not slipped by a word out of his mouth, and is not pricked with the remorse of sin. 14:2. Happy is he that hath had no sadness of his mind, and who is not fallen from his hope. 14:3. Riches are not comely for a covetous man and a niggard, and what should an envious man do with gold? 14:4. He that gathereth together by wronging his own soul, gathereth for others, and another will squander away his goods in rioting. 14:5. He that is evil to himself, to whom will he be good? and he shall not take pleasure in his goods. 14:6. There is none worse than he that envieth himself, and this is the reward of his wickedness: 14:7. And if he do good, he doth it ignorantly, and unwillingly: and at the last he discovereth his wickedness. 14:8. The eye of the envious is wicked: and he turneth away his face, and despiseth his own soul. 14:9. The eye of the covetous man is insatiable in his portion of iniquity: he will not be satisfied till he consume his own soul, drying it up. 14:10. An evil eye is towards evil things: and he shall not have his fill of bread, but shall be needy and pensive at his own table. 14:11. My son, if thou have any thing, do good to thyself, and offer to God worthy offerings. 14:12. Remember that death is not slow, and that the covenant of hell hath been shewn to thee: for the covenant of this world shall surely die. Covenant of hell... The decree by which all are to go down to the regions of death. 14:13. Do good to thy friend before thou die, and according to thy ability, stretching out thy hand give to the poor. 14:14. Defraud not thyself of the good day, and let not the part of a good gift overpass thee. 14:15. Shalt thou not leave to others to divide by lot thy sorrows and labours? 14:16. Give and take, and justify thy soul. 14:17. Before thy death work justice: for in hell there is no finding food. 14:18. All flesh shall fade as grass, and as the leaf that springeth out on a green tree. 14:19. Some grow, and some fall off: so is the generation of flesh and blood, one cometh to an end, and another is born. 14:20. Every work that is corruptible shall fail in the end: and the worker thereof shall go with it. 14:21. And every excellent work shall be justified: and the worker thereof shall be honoured therein. 14:22. Blessed is the man that shall continue in wisdom, and that shall meditate in his justice, and in his mind shall think of the all seeing eye of God. 14:23. He that considereth her ways in his heart, and hath understanding in her secrets, who goeth after her as one that traceth, and stayeth in her ways. 14:24. He who looketh in at her windows, and hearkeneth at her door. 14:25. He that lodgeth near her house, and fastening a pin in her walls shall set up his tent high unto her, where good things shall rest in his lodging for ever. 14:26. He shall set his children under her shelter, and shall lodge under her branches: 14:27. He shall be protected under her covering from the heat, and shall rest in her glory. Ecclesiasticus Chapter 15 Wisdom embraceth them that fear God. God is not the author of sin. 15:1. He that feareth God, will do good: and he that possesseth justice, shall lay hold on her, 15:2. And she will meet him as an honourable mother, and will receive him as a wife married of a virgin. 15:3. With the bread of life and understanding, she shall feed him, and give him the water of wholesome wisdom to drink: and she shall be made strong in him, and he shall not be moved. 15:4. And she shall hold him fast, and he shall not be confounded: and she shall exalt him among his neighbours. 15:5. And in the midst of the church she shall open his mouth, and shall fill him with the spirit of wisdom and understanding, and shall clothe him with a robe of glory. 15:6. She shall heap upon him a treasure of joy and gladness, and shall cause him to inherit an everlasting name. 15:7. But foolish men shall not obtain her, and wise men shall meet her, foolish men shall not see her: for she is far from pride and deceit. 15:8. Lying men shall be mindful of her: but men that speak truth shall be found with her, and shall advance, even till they come to the sight of God. 15:9. Praise is not seemly in the mouth of a sinner: 15:10. For wisdom came forth from God: for praise shall be with the wisdom of God, and shall abound in a faithful mouth, and the sovereign Lord will give praise unto it. 15:11. Say not: It is through God, that she is not with me: for do not thou the things that he hateth. 15:12. Say not: He hath caused me to err: for he hath no need of wicked men. 15:13. The Lord hateth all abomination of error, and they that fear him shall not love it. 15:14. God made man from the beginning, and left him in the hand of his own counsel. 15:15. He added his commandments and precepts. 15:16. If thou wilt keep the commandments and perform acceptable fidelity for ever, they shall preserve thee. 15:17. He hath set water and fire before thee: stretch forth thy hand to which thou wilt. 15:18. Before man is life and death, good and evil, that which he shall choose shall be given him: 15:19. For the wisdom of God is great, and he is strong in power, seeing all men without ceasing. 15:20. The eyes of the Lord are towards them that fear him, and he knoweth al the work of man. 15:21. He hath commanded no man to do wickedly, and he hath given no man license to sin; 15:22. For he desireth not a multitude of faithless and unprofitable children. Ecclesiasticus Chapter 16 It is better to have none than many wicked children. Of the justice and mercy of God. His ways are unsearchable. 16:1. Rejoice not in ungodly children, if they be multiplied: neither be delighted in them, if the fear of God be not with them. 16:2. Trust not to their life, and respect not their labours. 16:3. For better is one that feareth God, than a thousand ungodly children. 16:4. And it is better to die without children, than to leave ungodly children. 16:5. By one that is wise a country shall be inhabited, the tribe of the ungodly shall become desolate. 16:6. Many such things hath my eyes seen, and greater things than these my ear hath heard. 16:7. In the congregation of sinners a fire shall be kindled, and in an unbelieving nation wrath shall flame out. 16:8. The ancient giants did not obtain pardon for their sins, who were destroyed trusting to their own strength: 16:9. And he spared not the place where Lot sojourned, but abhorred them for the pride of their word. 16:10. He had not pity on them, destroying the whole nation that extolled themselves in their sins. 16:11. So did he with the six hundred thousand footmen, who were gathered together in the hardness of their heart: and if one had been stiffnecked, it is a wonder if he had escaped unpunished: Six hundred thousand footmen, etc... Viz., the children of Israel, whom he sentenced to die in the wilderness. Num. 14. 16:12. For mercy and wrath are with him. He is mighty to forgive, and to pour out indignation: 16:13. According as his mercy is, so his correction judgeth a man according to his works. 16:14. The sinner shall not escape in his rapines, and the patience of him that sheweth mercy shall not be put off. 16:15. All mercy shall make a place for every man according to the merit of his works, and according to the wisdom of his sojournment. 16:16. Say not: I shall be hidden from God, and who shall remember me from on high? 16:17. In such a multitude I shall not be known: for what is my soul in such an immense creation? 16:18. Behold the heaven, and the heavens of heavens, the deep, and all the earth, and the things that are in them, shall be moved in his sight, 16:19. The mountains also, and the hills, and the foundations of the earth: when God shall look upon them, they shall be shaken with trembling. 16:20. And in all these things the heart is senseless: and every heart is understood by him. 16:21. And his ways who shall understand, and the storm, which no eye of man shall see? 16:22. For many of his works are hidden, but the works of his justice who shall declare? or who shall endure? for the testament is far from some, and the examination of all is in the end. 16:23. He that wanteth understanding thinketh vain things, and the foolish, and erring man, thinketh foolish things. 16:24. Hearken to me, my son, and learn the discipline of understanding, and attend to my words in thy heart. 16:25. And I will shew forth good doctrine in equity, and will seek to declare wisdom: and attend to my words in thy heart, whilst with equity of spirit I tell thee the virtues that God hath put upon his works from the beginning, and I shew forth in truth his knowledge. 16:26. The works of God are done in judgment from the beginning, and from the making of them he distinguished their parts, and their beginnings in their generations. 16:27. He beautified their works for ever, they have neither hungered, nor laboured, and they have not ceased from their works. 16:28. Nor shall any of them straiten his neighbour at any time. 16:29. Be not thou incredulous to his word. 16:30. After this God looked upon the earth, and filled it with his goods. 16:31. The soul of every living thing hath shewn forth before the face thereof, and into it they return again. Shewn forth... Viz., the glory and power of God upon the earth. Ecclesiasticus Chapter 17 The creation and favour of God to man. An exhortation to turn to God. 17:1. God created man of the earth, and made him after his own image. 17:2. And he turned him into it again, and clothed him with strength according to himself. 17:3. He gave him the number of his days and time, and gave him power over all things that are upon the earth. 17:4. He put the fear of him upon all flesh, and he had dominion over beasts and fowls. 17:5. He created of him a helpmate like to himself, he gave them counsel, and a tongue, and eyes, and ears, and a heart to devise: and he filled them with the knowledge of understanding. 17:6. He created in them the science of the spirit, he fired their heart with wisdom, and shewed them both good and evil. 17:7. He set his eye upon their hearts to shew them the greatness of his works: 17:8. That they might praise the name which he hath sanctified: and glory in his wondrous act that they might declare the glorious things of his works. 17:9. Moreover he gave them instructions, and the law of life for an inheritance. 17:10. He made an everlasting covenant with them, and he shewed them his justice and judgments. 17:11. And their eye saw the majesty of his glory, and their ears heard his glorious voice, and he said to them: Beware of all iniquity. Their eye saw, etc... Viz., when he gave the law on mount Sinai. 17:12. And he gave to every one of them commandment concerning his neighbour. 17:13. Their ways are always before him, they are not hidden from his eyes. 17:14. Over every nation he set a ruler. 17:15. And Israel was made the manifest portion of God. 17:16. And all their works are as the sun in the sight of God: and his eyes are continually upon their ways. 17:17. Their covenants were not hid by their iniquity, and all their iniquities are in the sight of God. 17:18. The alms of a man is as a signet with him, and shall preserve the grace of a man as the apple of the eye: 17:19. And afterward he shall rise up, and shall render them their reward, to every one upon their own head, and shall turn them down into the bowels of the earth. 17:20. But to the penitent he hath given the way of justice, and he hath strengthened them that were fainting in patience, and hath appointed to them the lot of truth. 17:21. Turn to the Lord, and forsake thy sins: 17:22. Make thy prayer before the face of the Lord, and offend less. Offend less... Minue offendicula. That is, remove sins and the occasions of sins. 17:23. Return to the Lord, and turn away from thy injustice, and greatly hate abomination. 17:24. And know the justices and judgments of God, and stand firm in the lot set before thee, and in prayer to the most high God. 17:25. Go to the side of the holy age, with them that live and give praise to God. Go to the side, etc... Fly from the side of Satan and sin, and join with the holy ones, that follow God and godliness. 17:26. Tarry not in the error of the ungodly, give glory before death. Praise perisheth from the dead as nothing. 17:27. Give thanks whilst thou art living, whilst thou art alive and in health thou shalt give thanks, and shalt praise God, and shalt glory in his mercies. 17:28. How great is the mercy of the Lord, and his forgiveness to them that turn to him! 17:29. For all things cannot be in men, because the son of man is not immortal, and they are delighted with the vanity of evil. 17:30. What is brighter than the sun; yet it shall be eclipsed. Or what is more wicked than that which flesh and blood hath invented? and this shall be reproved. 17:31. He beholdeth the power of the height of heaven: and all men are earth and ashes. Ecclesiasticus Chapter 18 God's works are wonderful: we must serve him, and not our lusts. 18:1. He that liveth for ever created all things together. God only shall be justified, and he remaineth an invincible king for ever. 18:2. Who is able to declare his works? 18:3. For who shall search out his glorious acts? 18:4. And who shall show forth the power of his majesty? or who shall be able to declare his mercy? 18:5. Nothing may be taken away, nor added, neither is it possible to find out the glorious works of God. 18:6. When a man hath done, then shall he begin: and when he leaveth off, he shall be at a loss. Then shall he begin... God is so great and incomprehensible, that when man has done all that he can to find out his greatness and boundless perfections, he is still to begin: for what he has found out, is but a mere nothing in comparison with his infinity. 18:7. What is man, and what is his grace? and what is his good, or what is his evil? 18:8. The number of the days of men at the most are a hundred years, as a drop of water of the sea are they esteemed: and as a pebble of the sand, so are a few years compared to eternity. 18:9. Therefore God is patient in them, and poureth forth his mercy upon them. 18:10. He hath seen the presumption of their heart that it is wicked, and hath known their end that it is evil. 18:11. Therefore hath he filled up his mercy in their favour, and hath shewn them the way of justice. 18:12. The compassion of man is toward his neighbour: but the mercy of God is upon all flesh. 18:13. He hath mercy, and teacheth, and correcteth, as a shepherd doth his flock. 18:14. He hath mercy on him that receiveth the discipline of mercy, and that maketh haste in his judgments. 18:15. My son, in thy good deeds, make no complaint, and when thou givest any thing, add not grief by an evil word. 18:16. Shall not the dew assuage the heat? so also the good word is better than the gift. 18:17. Lo, is not a word better than a gift? but both are with a justified man. 18:18. A fool will upbraid bitterly: and a gift of one ill taught consumeth the eyes. 18:19. Before judgment prepare thee justice, and learn before thou speak. 18:20. Before sickness take a medicine, and before judgment examine thyself, and thou shalt find mercy in the sight of God. 18:21. Humble thyself before thou art sick, and in the time of sickness shew thy conversation. 18:22. Let nothing hinder thee from praying always, and be not afraid to be justified even to death: for the reward of God continueth for ever. 18:23. Before prayer prepare thy soul: and be not as a man that tempteth God. 18:24. Remember the wrath that shall be at the last day, and the time of repaying when he shall turn away his face. 18:25. Remember poverty in the time of abundance, and the necessities of poverty in the day of riches. 18:26. From the morning until the evening the time shall be changed, and all these are swift in the eyes of God. 18:27. A wise man will fear in every thing, and in the days of sins will beware of sloth. 18:28. Every man of understanding knoweth wisdom, and will give praise to him that findeth her. 18:29. They that were of good understanding in words, have also done wisely themselves: and have understood truth and justice, and have poured forth proverbs and judgments. 18:30. Go not after thy lusts, but turn away from thy own will. 18:31. If thou give to thy soul her desires, she will make thee a joy to thy enemies. 18:32. Take no pleasure in riotous assemblies, be they ever so small: for their concertation is continual. 18:33. Make not thyself poor by borrowing to contribute to feasts when thou hast nothing in thy purse: for thou shalt be an enemy to thy own life. Ecclesiasticus Chapter 19 Admonition against sundry vices. 19:1. A workman that is a drunkard shall not be rich: and he that contemneth small things, shall fall by little and little. 19:2. Wine and women make wise men fall off, and shall rebuke the prudent: 19:3. And he that joineth himself to harlots, will be wicked. Rottenness and worms shall inherit him, and he shall be lifted up for a greater example, and his soul shall be taken away out of the number. 19:4. He that is hasty to give credit, is light of heart, and shall be lessened: and he that sinneth against his own soul, shall be despised. 19:5. He that rejoiceth in iniquity, shall be censured, and he that hateth chastisement, shall have less life: and he that hateth babbling, extinguisheth evil. 19:6. He that sinneth against his own soul, shall repent: and he that is delighted with wickedness, shall be condemned. 19:7. Rehearse not again a wicked and harsh word, and thou shalt not fare the worse. 19:8. Tell not thy mind to friend or foe: and if there be a sin with thee, disclose it not. 19:9. For he will hearken to thee, and will watch thee, and as it were defending thy sin he will hate thee, and so will he be with thee always. 19:10. Hast thou heard a word against thy neighbour? let it die within thee, trusting that it will not burst thee. 19:11. At the hearing of a word the fool is in travail, as a woman groaning in the bringing forth a child. 19:12. As an arrow that sticketh in a man's thigh: so is a word in the heart of a fool. 19:13. Reprove a friend, lest he may not have understood, and say: I did it not: or if he did it, that he may do it no more. 19:14. Reprove thy neighbour, for it may be he hath not said it: and if he hath said it, that he may not say it again. 19:15. Admonish thy friend: for there is often a fault committed. 19:16. And believe not every word. There is one, that slippeth with the tongue, but not from his heart. 19:17. For who is there that hath not offended with his tongue? Admonish thy neighbour before thou threaten him. 19:18. And give place to the fear of the most High: for the fear of God is all wisdom, and therein is to fear God, and the disposition of the law is in all wisdom. 19:19. But the learning of wickedness is not wisdom: and the device of sinners is not prudence. 19:20. There is a subtle wickedness, and the same is detestable: and there is a man that is foolish, wanting in wisdom. 19:21. Better is a man that hath less wisdom, and wanteth understanding, with the fear of God, than he that aboundeth in understanding, and transgresseth the law of the most High. 19:22. There is an exquisite subtilty, and the same is unjust. 19:23. And there is one that uttereth an exact word telling the truth. There is one that humbleth himself wickedly, and his interior is full of deceit: 19:24. And there is one that submitteth himself exceedingly with a great lowliness: and there is one that casteth down his countenance, and maketh as if he did not see that which is unknown: 19:25. And if he be hindered from sinning for want of power, if he shall find opportunity to do evil, he will do it. 19:26. A man is known by his look, and a wise man, when thou meetest him, is known by his countenance. 19:27. The attire of the body, and the laughter of the teeth, and the gait of the man, shew what he is. 19:28. There is a lying rebuke in the anger of an injurious man: and there is a judgment that is not allowed to be good: and there is one that holdeth his peace, he is wise. Ecclesiasticus Chapter 20 Rules with regard to correction, discretion, and avoiding lies. 20:1. How much better is it to reprove, than to be angry, and not to hinder him that confesseth in prayer. 20:2. The lust of an eunuch shall deflour a young maiden: 20:3. So is he that by violence executeth of the unwise. 20:4. How good is it, when thou art reproved, to shew repentance! for so thou shalt escape wilful sin. 20:5. There is one that holdeth his peace, that is found wise: and there is another that is hateful, that is bold in speech. 20:6. There is one that holdeth his peace, because he knoweth not what to say: and there is another that holdeth his peace, knowing the proper time. 20:7. A wise man will hold his peace till he see opportunity: but a babbler, and a fool, will regard no time. 20:8. He that useth many words shall hurt his own soul: and he that taketh authority to himself unjustly shall be hated. 20:9. There is success in evil things to a man without discipline, and there is a finding that turneth to loss. 20:10. There is a gift that is not profitable: and there is a gift, the recompense of which is double. 20:11. There is an abasement because of glory: and there is one that shall lift up his head from a low estate. 20:12. There is that buyeth much for a small price, and restoreth the same sevenfold. 20:13. A man wise in words shall make himself beloved: but the graces of fools shall be poured out. 20:14. The gift of the fool shall do thee no good: for his eyes are sevenfold. 20:15. He will give a few things, and upbraid much: and the opening of his mouth is the kindling of a fire. 20:16. To day a man lendeth, and to morrow he asketh it again: such a man as this is hateful. 20:17. A fool shall have no friend, and there shall be no thanks for his good deeds. 20:18. For they that eat his bread, are of a false tongue. How often, and how many will laugh him to scorn! 20:19. For he doth not distribute with right understanding that which was to be had: in like manner also that which was not to be had. 20:20. The slipping of a false tongue is as one that falleth on the pavement: so the fall of the wicked shall come speedily. 20:21. A man without grace is as a vain fable, it shall be continually in the mouth of the unwise. 20:22. A parable coming out of a fool's mouth shall be rejected: for he doth not speak it in due season. 20:23. There is that is hindered from sinning through want, and in his rest he shall be pricked. 20:24. There is that will destroy his own soul through shamefacedness, and by occasion of an unwise person he will destroy it: and by respect of person he will destroy himself. 20:25. There is that for bashfulness promiseth to his friend, and maketh him his enemy for nothing. 20:26. A lie is a foul blot in a man, and yet it will be continually in the mouth of men without discipline. 20:27. A thief is better than a man that is always lying: but both of them shall inherit destruction. 20:28. The manners of lying men are without honour: and their confusion is with them without ceasing. 20:29. A wise man shall advance himself with his words, and a prudent man shall please the great ones. 20:30. He that tilleth his land shall make a high heap of corn: and he that worketh justice shall be exalted: and he that pleaseth great men shall escape iniquity. 20:31. Presents and gifts blind the eyes of judges, and make them dumb in the mouth, so that they cannot correct. 20:32. O Wisdom that is hid, and treasure that is not seen: what profit is there in them both? 20:33. Better is he that hideth his folly, than the man that hideth his wisdom. Ecclesiasticus Chapter 21 Cautions against sin in general, and some sins in particular. 21:1. My son, hast thou sinned? do so no more: but for thy former sins also pray that they may be forgiven thee. 21:2. Flee from sins as from the face of a serpent: for if thou comest near them, they will take hold of thee. 21:3. The teeth thereof are the teeth of a lion, killing the souls of men. 21:4. All iniquity is like a two-edged sword, there is no remedy for the wound thereof. 21:5. Injuries and wrongs will waste riches: and the house that is very rich shall be brought to nothing by pride: so the substance of the proud shall be rooted out. 21:6. The prayer out of the mouth of the poor shall reach the ears of God, and judgment shall come for him speedily. 21:7. He that hateth to be reproved walketh in the trace of a sinner: and he that feareth God will turn to his own heart. 21:8. He that is mighty by a bold tongue is known afar off, but a wise man knoweth to slip by him. 21:9. He that buildeth his house at other men's charges, is as he that gathereth himself stones to build in the winter. 21:10. The congregation of sinners is like tow heaped together, and the end of them is a flame of fire. 21:11. The way of sinners is made plain with stones, and in their end is hell, and darkness, and pains. 21:12. He that keepeth justice shall get the understanding thereof. 21:13. The perfection of the fear of God is wisdom and understanding. 21:14. He that is not wise in good, will not be taught. 21:15. But there is a wisdom that aboundeth in evil: and there is no understanding where there is bitterness. 21:16. The knowledge of a wise man shall abound like a flood, and his counsel continueth like a fountain of life. 21:17. The heart of a fool is like a broken vessel, and no wisdom at all shall it hold. 21:18. A man of sense will praise every wise word he shall hear, and will apply it to himself: the luxurious man hath heard it, and it shall displease him, and he will cast it behind his back. 21:19. The talking of a fool is like a burden in the way: but in the lips of the wise, grace shall be found. 21:20. The mouth of the prudent is sought after in the church, and they will think upon his words in their hearts. 21:21. As a house that is destroyed, so is wisdom to a fool: and the knowledge of the unwise is as words without sense. 21:22. Doctrine to a fool is as fetters on the feet, and like manacles on the right hand. 21:23. A fool lifteth up his voice in laughter: but a wise man will scarce laugh low to himself. 21:24. Learning to the prudent is as an ornament of gold, and like a bracelet upon his right arm. 21:25. The foot of a fool is soon in his neighbour's house: but a man of experience will be abashed at the person of the mighty. 21:26. A fool will peep through the window into the house: but he that is well taught will stand without. 21:27. It is the folly of a man to hearken at the door: and a wise man will be grieved with the disgrace. 21:28. The lips of the unwise will be telling foolish things: but the words of the wise shall be weighed in a balance. 21:29. The heart of fools is in their mouth: and the mouth of wise men is in their heart. 21:30. While the ungodly curseth the devil, he curseth his own soul. While the ungodly, etc... He condemneth and curseth himself: inasmuch as by sin he takes part with the devil, and is, as it were, his member and subject. 21:31. The talebearer shall defile his own soul, and shall be hated by all: and he that shall abide with him shall be hateful: the silent and wise man shall be honoured. Ecclesiasticus Chapter 22 Wise sayings on divers subjects. 22:1. The sluggard is pelted with a dirty stone, and all men will speak of his disgrace. 22:2. The sluggard is pelted with the dung of oxen: and every one that toucheth him will shake his hands. 22:3. A son ill taught is the confusion of the father: and a foolish daughter shall be to his loss. 22:4. A wise daughter shall bring an inheritance to her husband: but she that confoundeth, becometh a disgrace to her father. 22:5. She that is bold shameth both her father and husband, and will not be inferior to the ungodly: and shall be disgraced by them both. 22:6. A tale out of time is like music in mourning: but the stripes and instruction of wisdom are never out of time. 22:7. He that teacheth a fool, is like one that glueth a potsherd together. 22:8. He that telleth a word to him that heareth not, is like one that waketh a man out of a deep sleep. 22:9. He speaketh with one that is asleep, who uttereth wisdom to a fool: and in the end of the discourse he saith: Who is this? 22:10. Weep for the dead, for his light hath failed: and weep for the fool, for his understanding faileth. For the fool... In the language of the Holy Ghost, he is styled a fool, that turns away from God to follow vanity and sin. And what is said by the wise man against fools is meant of such fools as these. 22:11. Weep but a little for the dead, for he is at rest. 22:12. For the wicked life of a wicked fool is worse than death. 22:13. The mourning for the dead is seven days: but for a fool and an ungodly man all the days of their life. 22:14. Talk not much with a fool and go not with him that hath no sense. 22:15. Keep thyself from him, that thou mayst not have trouble, and thou shalt not be defiled with his sin. 22:16. Turn away from him, and thou shalt find rest, and shalt not be wearied out with his folly. 22:17. What is heavier than lead? and what other name hath he but fool? 22:18. Sand and salt, and a mass of iron is easier to bear, than a man without sense, that is both foolish and wicked. 22:19. A frame of wood bound together in the foundation of a building, shall not be loosed: so neither shall the heart that is established by advised counsel. 22:20. The thought of him that is wise at all times, shall not be depraved by fear. 22:21. As pales set in high places, and plasterings made without cost, will not stand against the face of the wind: 22:22. So also a fearful heart in the imagination of a fool shall not resist against the violence of fear. 22:23. As a fearful heart in the thought of a fool at all times will not fear, so neither shall he that continueth always in the commandments of God. 22:24. He that pricketh the eye, bringeth out tears: and he that pricketh the heart, bringeth forth resentment. 22:25. He that flingeth a stone at birds, shall drive them away: so he that upbraideth his friend, breaketh friendship. 22:26. Although thou hast drawn a sword at a friend, despair not: for there may be a returning. To a friend, 22:27. If thou hast opened a sad mouth, fear not, for there may be a reconciliation: except upbraiding, and reproach, and pride, and disclosing of secrets, or a treacherous wound: for in all these cases a friend will flee away. 22:28. Keep fidelity with a friend in his poverty, that in his prosperity also thou mayst rejoice. 22:29. In the time of his trouble continue faithful to him, that thou mayst also be heir with him in his inheritance. 22:30. As the vapour of a chimney, and the smoke of the fire goeth up before the fire: so also injurious words, and reproaches, and threats, before blood. 22:31. I will not be ashamed to salute a friend, neither will I hide myself from his face: and if any evil happen to me by him, I will bear it. 22:32. But every one that shall hear it, will beware of him. 22:33. Who will set a guard before my mouth, and a sure seal upon my lips, that I fall not by them, and that my tongue destroy me not? Ecclesiasticus Chapter 23 A prayer for grace to flee sin: cautions against profane swearing and other vices. 23:1. O Lord, father, and sovereign ruler of my life, leave me not to their counsel: nor suffer me to fall by them. By them... Viz., the tongue and the lips, mentioned in the last verse of the foregoing chapter. 23:2. Who will set scourges over my thoughts, and the discipline of wisdom over my heart, that they spare me not in their ignorances, and that their sins may not appear: That they spare me not in their ignorances, etc... That is, that the scourges and discipline of wisdom may restrain the ignorances, that is, the slips and offences which are usually committed by the tongue and the lips. 23:3. Lest my ignorances increase, and my offences be multiplied, and my sins abound, and I fall before my adversaries, and my enemy rejoice over me? 23:4. O Lord, father, and God of my life, leave me not to their devices. 23:5. Give me not haughtiness of my eyes, and turn away from me all coveting. 23:6. Take from me the greediness of the belly, and let not the lusts of the flesh take hold of me, and give me not over to a shameless and foolish mind. 23:7. Hear, O ye children, the discipline of the mouth, and he that will keep it shall not perish by his lips, nor be brought to fall into most wicked works. 23:8. A sinner is caught in his own vanity, and the proud and the evil speakers shall fall thereby. 23:9. Let not thy mouth be accustomed to swearing: for in it there are many falls. 23:10. And let not the naming of God be usual in thy mouth, and meddle not with the names of saints, for thou shalt not escape free from them. 23:11. For as a slave daily put to the question, is never without a blue mark: so every one that sweareth, and nameth, shall not be wholly pure from sin. 23:12. A man that sweareth much, shall be filled with iniquity, and a scourge shall not depart from his house. 23:13. And if he make it void, his sin shall be upon him, and if he dissemble it, he offendeth double: 23:14. And if he swear in vain, he shall not be justified: for his house shall be filled with his punishment. 23:15. There is also another speech opposite to death, let it not be found in the inheritance of Jacob. 23:16. For from the merciful all these things shall be taken away, and they shall not wallow in sins. 23:17. Let not thy mouth be accustomed to indiscreet speech: for therein is the word of sin. 23:18. Remember thy father and thy mother, for thou sittest in the midst of great men: 23:19. Lest God forget thee in their sight, and thou, by thy daily custom be infatuated and suffer reproach: and wish that thou hadst not been born, and curse the day of thy nativity. 23:20. The man that is accustomed to opprobrious words, will never be corrected all the days of his life. 23:21. Two sorts of men multiply sins, and the third bringeth wrath and destruction. 23:22. A hot soul is a burning fire, it will never be quenched, till it devour some thing. 23:23. And a man that is wicked in the mouth of his flesh, will not leave off till he hath kindled a fire. 23:24. To a man that is a fornicator all bread is sweet, he will not be weary of sinning unto the end. 23:25. Every man that passeth beyond his own bed, despising his own soul, and saying: Who seeth me? 23:26. Darkness compasseth me about, and the walls cover me, and no man seeth me: whom do I fear? the most High will not remember my sins. 23:27. And he understandeth not that his eye seeth all things, for such a man's fear driveth him from the fear of God, and the eyes of men fearing him: 23:28. And he knoweth not that the eyes of the Lord are far brighter than the sun, beholding round about all the ways of men, and the bottom of the deep, and looking into the hearts of men, into the most hidden parts. 23:29. For all things were known to the Lord God, before they were created: so also after they were perfected he beholdeth all things. 23:30. This man shall be punished in the streets of the city, and he shall be chased as a colt: and where he suspected not, he shall be taken. 23:31. And he shall be in disgrace with all men, because he understood not the fear of the Lord. 23:32. So every woman also that leaveth her husband, and bringeth in an heir by another: 23:33. For first she hath been unfaithful to the law of the most High: and secondly, she hath offended against her husband: thirdly, she hath fornicated in adultery, and hath gotten her children of another man. 23:34. This woman shall be brought into the assembly, and inquisition shall be made of her children. 23:35. Her children shall not take root, and her branches shall bring forth no fruit. 23:36. She shall leave her memory to be cursed, and her infamy shall not be blotted out. 23:37. And they that remain shall know, that there is nothing better than the fear of God: and that there is nothing sweeter than to have regard to the commandments of the Lord. 23:38. It is great glory to follow the Lord: for length of days shall be received from him. Ecclesiasticus Chapter 24 Wisdom praiseth herself: her origin, her dwelling, her dignity, and her fruits. 24:1. Wisdom shall praise her own self, and shall be honoured in God, and shall glory in the midst of her people, 24:2. And shall open her mouth in the churches of the most High, and shall glorify herself in the sight of his power, 24:3. And in the midst of her own people she shall be exalted, and shall be admired in the holy assembly. 24:4. And in the multitude of the elect she shall have praise, and among the blessed she shall be blessed, saying: 24:5. I came out of the mouth of the most High, the firstborn before all creatures: 24:6. I made that in the heavens there should rise light that never faileth, and as a cloud I covered all the earth: 24:7. I dwelt in the highest places, and my throne is in a pillar of a cloud. 24:8. I alone have compassed the circuit of heaven, and have penetrated into the bottom of the deep, and have walked in the waves of the sea, 24:9. And have stood in all the earth: and in every people, 24:10. And in every nation I have had the chief rule: 24:11. And by my power I have trodden under my feet the hearts of all the high and low: and in all these I sought rest, and I shall abide in the inheritance of the Lord. 24:12. Then the creator of all things commanded, and said to me: and he that made me, rested in my tabernacle, 24:13. And he said to me: Let thy dwelling be in Jacob, and thy inheritance in Israel, and take root in my elect. 24:14. From the beginning, and before the world, was I created, and unto the world to come I shall not cease to be, and in the holy dwelling place I have ministered before him. 24:15. And so was I established in Sion, and in the holy city likewise I rested, and my power was in Jerusalem. 24:16. And I took root in an honourable people, and in the portion of my God his inheritance, and my abode is in the full assembly of saints. 24:17. I was exalted like a cedar in Libanus, and as a cypress tree on mount Sion. 24:18. I was exalted like a palm tree in Cades, and as a rose plant in Jericho: 24:19. As a fair olive tree in the plains, and as a plane-tree by the water in the streets, was I exalted. 24:20. I gave a sweet smell like cinnamon, and aromatical balm: I yielded a sweet odour like the best myrrh: 24:21. And I perfumed my dwelling as storax, and galbanum, and onyx, and aloes, and as the frankincense not cut, and my odour is as the purest balm. 24:22. I have stretched out my branches as the turpentine tree, and my branches are of honour and grace. 24:23. As the vine I have brought forth a pleasant odour: and my flowers are the fruit of honour and riches. 24:24. I am the mother of fair love, and of fear, and of knowledge, and of holy hope. 24:25. In me is all grace of the way and of the truth, in me is all hope of life and of virtue. 24:26. Come over to me, all ye that desire me, and be filled with my fruits. 24:27. For my spirit is sweet above honey, and my inheritance above honey and the honeycomb. 24:28. My memory is unto everlasting generations. 24:29. They that eat me, shall yet hunger: and they that drink me, shall yet thirst. 24:30. He that hearkeneth to me, shall not be confounded: and they that work by me, shall not sin. 24:31. They that explain me shall have life everlasting. 24:32. All these things are the book of life, and the covenant of the most High, and the knowledge of truth. 24:33. Moses commanded a law in the precepts of justices, and an inheritance to the house of Jacob, and the promises to Israel. 24:34. He appointed to David his servant to raise up of him a most mighty king, and sitting on the throne of glory for ever. A most mighty king... Viz., Christ, who by his gospel, like an overflowing river, has enriched the earth with heavenly wisdom. 24:35. Who filleth up wisdom as the Phison, and as the Tigris in the days of the new fruits. 24:36. Who maketh understanding to abound as the Euphrates, who multiplieth it as the Jordan in the time of harvest. 24:37. Who sendeth knowledge as the light, and riseth up as Gehon in the time of the vintage. 24:38. Who first hath perfect knowledge of her, and a weaker shall not search her out. Who first hath perfect knowledge of her... Christ was the first that had perfect knowledge of heavenly wisdom. 24:39. For her thoughts are more vast than the sea, and her counsels more deep than the great ocean. 24:40. I, wisdom, have poured out rivers. 24:41. I, like a brook out of a river of a mighty water; I, like a channel of a river, and like an aqueduct, came out of paradise. 24:42. I said: I will water my garden of plants, and I will water abundantly the fruits of my meadow. 24:43. And behold my brook became a great river, and my river came near to a sea: 24:44. For I make doctrine to shine forth to all as the morning light, and I will declare it afar off. 24:45. I will penetrate to all the lower parts of the earth, and will behold all that sleep, and will enlighten all that hope in the Lord. 24:46. I will yet pour out doctrine as prophecy, and will leave it to them that seek wisdom, and will not cease to instruct their offspring even to the holy age. 24:47. See ye that I have not laboured myself only, but for all that seek out the truth. Ecclesiasticus Chapter 25 Documents of wisdom on several subjects. 25:1. With three things my spirit is pleased, which are approved before God and men: 25:2. The concord of brethren, and the love of neighbours, and man and wife that agree well together. 25:3. Three sorts my soul hateth, and I am greatly grieved at their life: 25:4. A poor man that is proud: a rich man that is a liar: an old man that is a fool, and doting. 25:5. The things that thou hast not gathered in thy youth, how shalt thou find them in thy old age? 25:6. O how comely is judgment for a grey head, and for ancients to know counsel! 25:7. O how comely is wisdom for the aged, and understanding and counsel to men of honour! 25:8. Much experience is the crown of old men, and the fear of God is their glory. 25:9. Nine things that are not to be imagined by the heart have I magnified, and the tenth I will utter to men with my tongue. 25:10. A man that hath joy of his children: and he that liveth and seeth the fall of his enemies. 25:11. Blessed is he that dwelleth with a wise woman, and that hath not slipped with his tongue, and that hath not served such as are unworthy of him. 25:12. Blessed is he that findeth a true friend, and that declareth justice to an ear that heareth. 25:13. How great is he that findeth wisdom and knowledge! but there is none above him that feareth the Lord. 25:14. The fear of God hath set itself above all things: 25:15. Blessed is the man, to whom it is given to have the fear of God: he that holdeth it, to whom shall he be likened? 25:16. The fear of God is the beginning of his love: and the beginning of faith is to be fast joined unto it. 25:17. The sadness of the heart is every plague: and the wickedness of a woman is all evil. 25:18. And a man will choose any plague, but the plague of the heart: 25:19. And any wickedness, but the wickedness of a woman: 25:20. And any affliction, but the affliction from them that hate him: 25:21. And any revenge, but the revenge of enemies. 25:22. There is no head worse than the head of a serpent: 25:23. And there is no anger above the anger of a woman. It will be more agreeable to abide with a lion and a dragon, than to dwell with a wicked woman. 25:24. The wickedness of a woman changeth her face: and she darkeneth her countenance as a bear: and sheweth it like sackcloth. In the midst of her neighbours, 25:25. Her husband groaned, and hearing he sighed a little. 25:26. All malice is short to the malice of a woman, let the lot of sinners fall upon her. 25:27. As the climbing of a sandy way is to the feet of the aged, so is a wife full of tongue to a quiet man. 25:28. Look not upon a woman's beauty, and desire not a woman for beauty. 25:29. A woman's anger, and impudence, and confusion is great. 25:30. A woman, if she have superiority, is contrary to her husband. 25:31. A wicked woman abateth the courage, and maketh a heavy countenance, and a wounded heart. 25:32. Feeble hands, and disjointed knees, a woman that doth not make her husband happy. 25:33. From the woman came the beginning of sin, and by her we all die. 25:34. Give no issue to thy water, no, not a little: nor to a wicked woman liberty to gad abroad. 25:35. If she walk not at thy hand, she will confound thee in the sight of thy enemies. 25:36. Cut her off from thy flesh, lest she always abuse thee. Ecclesiasticus Chapter 26 Of good and bad women. 26:1. Happy is the husband of a good wife: for the number of his years is double. 26:2. A virtuous woman rejoiceth her husband, and shall fulfil the years of his life in peace. 26:3. A good wife is a good portion, she shall be given in the portion of them that fear God, to a man for his good deeds. 26:4. Rich or poor, if his heart is good, his countenance shall be cheerful at all times. 26:5. Of three things my heart hath been afraid, and at the fourth my face hath trembled: 26:6. The accusation of a city, and the gathering together of the people: 26:7. And a false calumny, all are more grievous than death. 26:8. A jealous woman is the grief and mourning of the heart. 26:9. With a jealous woman is a scourge of the tongue which communicateth with all. 26:10. As a yoke of oxen that is moved to and fro, so also is a wicked woman: he that hath hold of her, is as he that taketh hold of a scorpion. 26:11. A drunken woman is a great wrath: and her reproach and shame shall not be hid. 26:12. The fornication of a woman shall be known by the haughtiness of her eyes and by her eyelids. 26:13. On a daughter that turneth not away herself, set a strict watch: lest finding an opportunity she abuse herself. 26:14. Take heed of the impudence of her eyes, and wonder not if she slight thee. 26:15. She will open her mouth as a thirsty traveller to the fountain, and will drink of every water near her, and will sit down by every hedge, and open her quiver against every arrow, until she fail. 26:16. The grace of a diligent woman shall delight her husband, and shall fat his bones. 26:17. Her discipline is the gift of God. 26:18. Such is a wise and silent woman, and there is nothing so much worth as a well instructed soul. 26:19. A holy and shamefaced woman is grace upon grace. 26:20. And no price is worthy of a continent soul. 26:21. As the sun when it riseth to the world in the high places of God, so is the beauty of a good wife for the ornament of her house. 26:22. As the lamp shining upon the holy candlestick, so is the beauty of the face in a ripe age, 26:23. As golden pillars upon bases of silver, so are the firm feet upon the soles of a steady woman. 26:24. As everlasting foundations upon a solid rock, so the commandments of God in the heart of a holy woman. 26:25. At two things my heart is grieved, and the third bringeth anger upon me. 26:26. A man of war fainting through poverty, and a man of sense despised: 26:27. And he that passeth over from justice to sin, God hath prepared such an one for the sword. 26:28. Two sorts of callings have appeared to me hard and dangerous: a merchant is hardly free from negligence: and a huckster shall not be justified from the sins of the lips. From negligence... That is, from the neglect of the service of God: because the eager pursuit of the mammon of this world, is apt to make men of that calling forget the great duties of loving God above all things, and their neighbours as themselves.-Ibid. A huckster... Or, a retailer of wine. Men of that profession are both greatly exposed to danger of sin themselves, and are too often accessary to the sins of others. Ecclesiasticus Chapter 27 Dangers of sin from several heads: the fear of God is the best preservative. He that diggeth a pit, shall fall into it. 27:1. Through poverty many have sinned: and he that seeketh to be enriched, turneth away his eye. 27:2. As a stake sticketh fast in the midst of the joining of stones, so also in the midst of selling and buying, sin shall stick fast. 27:3. Sin shall be destroyed with the sinner. 27:4. Unless thou hold thyself diligently in the fear of the Lord, thy house shall quickly be overthrown. 27:5. As when one sifteth with a sieve, the dust will remain: so will the perplexity of a man in his thoughts. 27:6. The furnace trieth the potter's vessels, and the trial of affliction just men. 27:7. As the dressing of a tree sheweth the fruit thereof, so a word out of the thought of the heart of man. 27:8. Praise not a man before he speaketh, for this is the trial of men. 27:9. If thou followest justice, thou shalt obtain her: and shalt put her on as a long robe of honour, and thou shalt dwell with her: and she shall protect thee for ever, and in the day of acknowledgment thou shalt find a strong foundation. 27:10. Birds resort unto their like: so truth will return to them that practise her. 27:11. The lion always lieth in wait for prey: so do sins for them that work iniquities. 27:12. A holy man continueth in wisdom as the sun: but a fool is changed as the moon. 27:13. In the midst of the unwise keep in the word till its time: but be continually among men that think. 27:14. The discourse of sinners is hateful, and their laughter is at the pleasures of sin. 27:15. The speech that sweareth much shall make the hair of the head stand upright: and its irreverence shall make one stop his ears. 27:16. In the quarrels of the road is the shedding of blood: and their cursing is a grievous hearing. 27:17. He that discloseth the secret of a friend loseth his credit, and shall never find a friend to his mind. 27:18. Love thy neighbour, and be joined to him with fidelity. 27:19. But if thou discover his secrets, follow no more after him. 27:20. For as a man that destroyeth his friend, so is he that destroyeth the friendship of his neighbour. 27:21. And as one that letteth a bird go out of his hand, so hast thou let thy neighbour go, and thou shalt not get him again. 27:22. Follow after him no more, for he is gone afar off, he is fled, as a roe escaped out of the snare because his soul is wounded. 27:23. Thou canst no more bind him up. And of a curse there is reconciliation: And of a curse there is reconciliation... That is, it is easier to obtain a reconciliation after a curse, than after disclosing a secret. 27:24. But to disclose the secrets of a friend, leaveth no hope to an unhappy soul. 27:25. He that winketh with the eye forgeth wicked things, and no man will cast him off: 27:26. In the sight of thy eyes he will sweeten his mouth, and will admire thy words: but at the last he will writhe his mouth, and on thy words he will lay a stumblingblock. 27:27. I have hated many things but not like him, and the Lord will hate him. 27:28. If one cast a stone on high, it will fall upon his own head: and the deceitful stroke will wound the deceitful. 27:29. He that diggeth a pit, shall fall into it: and he that setteth a stone for his neighbour, shall stumble upon it: and he that layeth a snare for another, shall perish in it. 27:30. A mischievous counsel shall be rolled back upon the author, and he shall not know from whence it cometh to him. 27:31. Mockery and reproach are of the proud, and vengeance as a lion shall lie in wait for him. 27:32. They shall perish in a snare that are delighted with the fall of the just: and sorrow shall consume them before they die. 27:33. Anger and fury are both of them abominable, and the sinful man shall be subject to them. Ecclesiasticus Chapter 28 Lessons against revenge and quarrels. The evils of the tongue. 28:1. He that seeketh to revenge himself, shall find vengeance from the Lord, and he will surely keep his sins in remembrance. 28:2. Forgive thy neighbour if he hath hurt thee: and then shall thy sins be forgiven to thee when thou prayest. 28:3. Man to man reserveth anger, and doth he seek remedy of God? 28:4. He hath no mercy on a man like himself, and doth he entreat for his own sins? 28:5. He that is but flesh, nourisheth anger, and doth he ask forgiveness of God? who shall obtain pardon for his sins? 28:6. Remember thy last things, and let enmity cease: 28:7. For corruption and death hang over in his commandments. In his commandments... Supply the sentence out of the Greek thus: Remember corruption and death, and abide in the commandments. 28:8. Remember the fear of God, and be not angry with thy neighbour. 28:9. Remember the covenant of the most High, and overlook the ignorance of thy neighbour. 28:10. Refrain from strife, and thou shalt diminish thy sins. 28:11. For a passionate man kindleth strife, and a sinful man will trouble his friends, and bring in debate in the midst of them that are at peace. 28:12. For as the wood of the forest is, so the fire burneth, and as a man's strength is, so shall his anger be, and according to his riches he shall increase his anger. 28:13. A hasty contention kindleth a fire and a hasty quarrel sheddeth blood and a tongue that beareth witness bringeth death. 28:14. If thou blow the spark, it shall burn as a fire: and if thou spit upon it, it shall be quenched: both come out of the mouth. 28:15. The whisperer and the double tongue is accursed: for he hath troubled many that were at peace. 28:16. The tongue of a third person hath disquieted many, and scattered them from nation to nation. 28:17. It hath destroyed the strong cities of the rich, and hath overthrown the houses of great men. 28:18. It hath cut in pieces the forces of people, and undone strong nations. 28:19. The tongue of a third person hath cast out valiant women, and deprived them of their labours. 28:20. He that hearkeneth to it, shall never have rest, neither shall he have a friend in whom he may repose. 28:21. The stroke of a whip maketh a blue mark: but the stroke of the tongue will break the bones. 28:22. Many have fallen by the edge of the sword, but not so many as have perished by their own tongue. 28:23. Blessed is he that is defended from a wicked tongue, that hath not passed into the wrath thereof, and that hath not drawn the yoke thereof, and hath not been bound in its bands. 28:24. For its yoke is a yoke of iron: and its bands are bands of brass. 28:25. The death thereof is a most evil death: and hell is preferable to it. 28:26. Its continuance shall not be for a long time, but it shall possess the ways of the unjust: and the just shall not be burnt with its flame. 28:27. They that forsake God shall fall into it, and it shall burn in them, and shall not be quenched, and it shall be sent upon them as a lion, and as a leopard it shall tear them. 28:28. Hedge in thy ears with thorns, hear not a wicked tongue, and make doors and bars to thy mouth. 28:29. Melt down thy gold and silver, and make a balance for thy words, and a just bridle for thy mouth: 28:30. And take heed lest thou slip with thy tongue, and fall in the sight of thy enemies who lie in wait for thee, and thy fall be incurable unto death. Ecclesiasticus Chapter 29 Of charity in lending money, and justice in repaying. Of alms, and of being surety. 29:1. He that sheweth mercy, lendeth to his neighbour: and he that is stronger in hand, keepeth the commandments. And he that is stronger in hand... That is, he that is hearty and bountiful in lending to his neighbour in his necessity. 29:2. Lend to thy neighbour in the time of his need, and pay thou thy neighbour again in due time. 29:3. Keep thy word, and deal faithfully with him: and thou shalt always find that which is necessary for thee. 29:4. Many have looked upon a thing lent as a thing found, and have given trouble to them that helped them. 29:5. Till they receive, they kiss the hands of the lender, and in promises they humble their voice: 29:6. But when they should repay, they will ask time, and will return tedious and murmuring words, and will complain of the time: 29:7. And if he be able to pay, he will stand off, he will scarce pay one half, and will count it as if he had found it: 29:8. But if not, he will defraud him of his money, and he shall get him for an enemy without cause. 29:9. And he will pay him with reproaches and curses, and instead of honour and good turn will repay him injuries. 29:10. Many have refused to lend, not out of wickedness, but they were afraid to be defrauded without cause. 29:11. But yet towards the poor be thou more hearty, and delay not to shew him mercy. 29:12. Help the poor because of the commandment: and send him not away empty handed because of his poverty. 29:13. Lose thy money for thy brother and thy friend: and hide it not under a stone to be lost. 29:14. Place thy treasure in the commandments of the most High, and it shall bring thee more profit than gold. 29:15. Shut up alms in the heart of the poor, and it shall obtain help for thee against all evil. 29:16. Better than the shield of the mighty, and better than the spear: 29:17. It shall fight for thee against thy enemy. 29:18. A good man is surety for his neighbour: and he that hath lost shame, will leave him to himself. 29:19. Forget not the kindness of thy surety: for he hath given his life for thee. 29:20. The sinner and the unclean fleeth from his surety. 29:21. A sinner attributeth to himself the goods of his surety: and he that is of an unthankful mind will leave him that delivered him. 29:22. A man is surety for his neighbour: and when he hath lost all shame, he shall forsake him. 29:23. Evil suretyship hath undone many of good estate, and hath tossed them as a wave of the sea. 29:24. It hath made powerful men to go from place to place round about, and they have wandered in strange countries. 29:25. A sinner that transgresseth the commandment of the Lord, shall fall into an evil suretyship: and he that undertaketh many things, shall fall into judgment. 29:26. Recover thy neighbour according to thy power, and take heed to thyself that thou fall not. 29:27. The chief thing for man's life is water and bread, and clothing, and a house to cover shame. 29:28. Better is the poor man's fare under a roof of boards, than sumptuous cheer abroad in another man's house. 29:29. Be contented with little instead of much, and thou shalt not hear the reproach of going abroad. 29:30. It is a miserable life to go as a guest from house to house: for where a man is a stranger, he shall not deal confidently, nor open his mouth. 29:31. He shall entertain and feed, and give drink to the unthankful, and moreover he shall hear bitter words. 29:32. Go, stranger, and furnish the table, and give others to eat what thou hast in thy hand. 29:33. Give place to the honourable presence of my friends: for I want my house, my brother being to be lodged with me. 29:34. These things are grievous to a man of understanding: the upbraiding of houseroom, and the reproaching of the lender. Ecclesiasticus Chapter 30 Of correction of children. Health is better than wealth. Excessive grief is hurtful. 30:1. He that loveth his son, frequently chastiseth him, that he may rejoice in his latter end, and not grope after the doors of his neighbours. 30:2. He that instructeth his son shall be praised in him, and shall glory in him in the midst of them of his household. 30:3. He that teacheth his son, maketh his enemy jealous, and in the midst of his friends he shall glory in him. 30:4. His father is dead, and he is as if he were not dead: for he hath left one behind him that is like himself. 30:5. While he lived he saw and rejoiced in him: and when he died he was not sorrowful, neither was he confounded before his enemies. 30:6. For he left behind him a defender of his house against his enemies, and one that will requite kindness to his friends. 30:7. For the souls of his sons he shall bind up his wounds, and at every cry his bowels shall be troubled. 30:8. A horse not broken becometh stubborn, and a child left to himself will become headstrong. 30:9. Give thy son his way, and he shall make thee afraid: play with him, and he shall make thee sorrowful. 30:10. Laugh not with him, lest thou have sorrow, and at the last thy teeth be set on edge. 30:11. Give him not liberty in his youth, and wink not at his devices. 30:12. Bow down his neck while he is young, and beat his sides while he is a child, lest he grow stubborn, and regard thee not, and so be a sorrow of heart to thee. 30:13. Instruct thy son, and labour about him, lest his lewd behaviour be an offence to thee. 30:14. Better is a poor man who is sound, and strong of constitution, than a rich man who is weak and afflicted with evils. 30:15. Health of the soul in holiness of justice, is better than all gold and silver: and a sound body, than immense revenues. 30:16. There is no riches above the riches of the health of the body: and there is no pleasure above the joy of the heart. 30:17. Better is death than a bitter life, and everlasting rest, than continual sickness. 30:18. Good things that are hidden in a mouth that is shut, are as messes of meat set about a grave. 30:19. What good shall an offering do to an idol? for it can neither eat, nor smell: 30:20. So is he that is persecuted by the Lord, bearing the reward of his iniquity: 30:21. He seeth with his eyes, and groaneth, as an eunuch embracing a virgin, and sighing. 30:22. Give not up thy soul to sadness, and afflict not thyself in thy own counsel. 30:23. The joyfulness of the heart, is the life of a man, and a never failing treasure of holiness: and the joy of a man is length of life. 30:24. Have pity on thy own soul, pleasing God, and contain thyself: gather up thy heart in his holiness: and drive away sadness far from thee. 30:25. For sadness hath killed many, and there is no profit in it. 30:26. Envy and anger shorten a man's days, and pensiveness will bring old age before the time. 30:27. A cheerful and good heart is always feasting: for his banquets are prepared with diligence. Ecclesiasticus Chapter 31 Of the desire of riches, and of moderation in eating and drinking. 31:1. Watching for riches consumeth the flesh, and the thought thereof driveth away sleep. 31:2. The thinking beforehand turneth away the understanding, and a grievous sickness maketh the soul sober. 31:3. The rich man hath laboured in gathering riches together, and when he resteth he shall be filled with his goods. 31:4. The poor man hath laboured in his low way of life, and in the end he is still poor. 31:5. He that loveth gold, shall not be justified: and he that followeth after corruption, shall be filled with it. 31:6. Many have been brought to fall for gold, and the beauty thereof hath been their ruin. 31:7. Gold is a stumblingblock to them that sacrifice to it: woe to them that eagerly follow after it, and every fool shall perish by it. 31:8. Blessed is the rich man that is found without blemish: and that hath not gone after gold, nor put his trust in money nor in treasures. 31:9. Who is he, and we will praise him? for he hath done wonderful things in his life. 31:10. Who hath been tried thereby, and made perfect, he shall have glory everlasting. He that could have transgressed, and hath not transgressed: and could do evil things, and hath not done them: 31:11. Therefore are his goods established in the Lord, and all the church of the saints shall declare his alms. 31:12. Art thou set at a great table? be not the first to open thy mouth upon it. 31:13. Say not: There are many things which are upon it. 31:14. Remember that a wicked eye is evil. 31:15. What is created more wicked than an eye? therefore shall it weep over all the face when it shall see. 31:16. Stretch not out thy hand first, lest being disgraced with envy thou be put to confusion. 31:17. Be not hasty in a feast. 31:18. Judge of the disposition of thy neighbour by thyself. 31:19. Use as a frugal man the things that are set before thee: lest if thou eatest much, thou be hated. 31:20. Leave off first, for manners' sake: and exceed not, lest thou offend. 31:21. And if thou sittest among many, reach not thy hand out first of all, and be not the first to ask for drink. 31:22. How sufficient is a little wine for a man well taught, and in sleeping thou shalt not be uneasy with it, and thou shalt feel no pain. 31:23. Watching, and choler, and gripes, are with an intemperate man: 31:24. Sound and wholesome sleep with a moderate man: he shall sleep till morning, and his soul shall be delighted with him. 31:25. And if thou hast been forced to eat much, arise, go out, and vomit: and it shall refresh thee, and thou shalt not bring sickness upon thy body. 31:26. Hear me, my son, and despise me not: and in the end thou shalt find my words. 31:27. In all thy works be quick, and no infirmity shall come to thee. 31:28. The lips of many shall bless him that is liberal of his bread, and the testimony of his truth is faithful. 31:29. Against him that is niggardly of his bread, the city will murmur, and the testimony of his niggardliness is true. 31:30. Challenge not them that love wine: for wine hath destroyed very many. 31:31. Fire trieth hard iron: so wine drunk to excess shall rebuke the hearts of the proud. 31:32. Wine taken with sobriety is equal life to men: if thou drink it moderately, thou shalt be sober. 31:33. What is his life, who is diminished with wine? 31:34. What taketh away life? death. 31:35. Wine was created from the beginning to make men joyful, and not to make them drunk. 31:36. Wine drunken with moderation is the joy of the soul and the heart. 31:37. Sober drinking is health to soul and body. 31:38. Wine drunken with excess raiseth quarrels, and wrath, and many ruins. 31:39. Wine drunken with excess is bitterness of the soul. 31:40. The heat of drunkenness is the stumblingblock of the fool, lessening strength and causing wounds. 31:41. Rebuke not thy neighbour in a banquet of wine: and despise him not in his mirth. 31:42. Speak not to him words of reproach: and press him not in demanding again. Ecclesiasticus Chapter 32 Lessons for superiors and inferiors. Advantages of fearing God, and doing nothing without counsel. 32:1. Have they made thee ruler? be not lifted up: be among them as one of them. 32:2. Have care of them, and so sit down, and when thou hast acquitted thyself of all thy charge, take thy place: 32:3. That thou mayst rejoice for them, and receive a crown as an ornament of grace, and get the honour of the contribution. 32:4. Speak, thou that art elder: for it becometh thee, 32:5. To speak the first word with careful knowledge, and hinder not music. 32:6. Where there is no hearing, pour not out words, and be not lifted up out of season with thy wisdom. 32:7. A concert of music in a banquet of wine is as a carbuncle set in gold. 32:8. As a signet of an emerald in a work of gold: so is the melody of music with pleasant and moderate wine. 32:9. Hear in silence, and for thy reverence good grace shall come to thee. 32:10. Young man, scarcely speak in thy own cause. 32:11. If thou be asked twice, let thy answer be short. 32:12. In many things be as if thou wert ignorant, and hear in silence and withal seeking. 32:13. In the company of great men take not upon thee: and when the ancients are present, speak not much. 32:14. Before a storm goeth lightning: and before shamefacedness goeth favour: and for thy reverence good grace shall come to thee. 32:15. And at the time of rising be not slack: but be first to run home to thy house, and there withdraw thyself, and there take thy pastime. 32:16. And do what thou hast a mind, but not in sin or proud speech. 32:17. And for all these things bless the Lord, that made thee, and that replenisheth thee with all his good things. 32:18. He that feareth the Lord, will receive his discipline: and they that will seek him early, shall find a blessing. 32:19. He that seeketh the law, shall be filled with it: and he that dealeth deceitfully, shall meet with a stumblingblock therein. 32:20. They that fear the Lord, shall find just judgment, and shall kindle justice as a light. 32:21. A sinful man will flee reproof, and will find an excuse according to his will. 32:22. A man of counsel will not neglect understanding, a strange and proud man will not dread fear: 32:23. Even after he hath done with fear without counsel, he shall be controlled by the things of his own seeking. 32:24. My son, do thou nothing without counsel, and thou shalt not repent when thou hast done. 32:25. Go not in the way of ruin, and thou shalt not stumble against the stones: trust not thyself to a rugged way, lest thou set a stumblingblock to thy soul. 32:26. And beware of thy own children, and take heed of them of thy household. 32:27. In every work of thine regard thy soul in faith: for this is the keeping of the commandments. In faith... That is, follow sincerely thy soul in her faith and conscience. 32:28. He that believeth God, taketh heed to the commandments: and he that trusteth in him, shall fare never the worse. Ecclesiasticus Chapter 33 The fear of God is the best security. Times and men are in the hands of God. Take care of thyself as long as thou livest, and look to thy servants. 33:1. No evils shall happen to him that feareth the Lord, but in temptation God will keep him and deliver him from evils. 33:2. A wise man hateth not the commandments and justices, and he shall not be dashed in pieces as a ship in a storm. 33:3. A man of understanding is faithful to the law of God, and the law is faithful to him. 33:4. He that cleareth up a question, shall prepare what to say, and so having prayed he shall be heard, and shall keep discipline, and then he shall answer. 33:5. The heart of a fool is as a wheel of a cart: and his thoughts are like a rolling axletree. 33:6. A friend that is a mocker, is like a stallion horse: he neigheth under every one that sitteth upon him. 33:7. Why doth one day excel another, and one light another, and one year another year, when all come of the sun? 33:8. By the knowledge of the Lord they were distinguished, the sun being made, and keeping his commandment. 33:9. And he ordered the seasons, and holidays of them, and in them they celebrated festivals at an hour. 33:10. Some of them God made high and great days, and some of them he put in the number of ordinary days. And all men are from the ground, and out of the earth, from whence Adam was created. 33:11. With much knowledge the Lord hath divided them and diversified their ways. 33:12. Some of them hath he blessed, and exalted: and some of them hath he sanctified, and set near himself: and some of them hath he cursed and brought low, and turned them from their station. 33:13. As the potter's clay is in his hand, to fashion and order it: 33:14. All his ways are according to his ordering: so man is in the hand of him that made him, and he will render to him according to his judgment. 33:15. Good is set against evil, and life against death: so also is the sinner against a just man. And so look upon all the works of the most High. Two and two, and one against another. 33:16. And I awaked last of all, and as one that gathereth after the grapegatherers. 33:17. In the blessing of God I also have hoped: and as one that gathereth grapes, have I filled the winepress. 33:18. See that I have not laboured for myself only, but for all that seek discipline. 33:19. Hear me, ye great men, and all ye people, and hearken with your ears, ye rulers of the church. 33:20. Give not to son or wife, brother or friend, power over thee while thou livest; and give not thy estate to another, lest thou repent, and thou entreat for the same. 33:21. As long as thou livest, and hast breath in thee, let no man change thee. Change thee... That is, so as to have this power over thee. 33:22. For it is better that thy children should ask of thee, than that thou look toward the hands of thy children. 33:23. In all thy works keep the pre-eminence. The pre-eminence... That is, be master in thy own house, and part not with thy authority. 33:24. Let no stain sully thy glory. In the time when thou shalt end the days of thy life, and in the time of thy decease, distribute thy inheritance. 33:25. Fodder, and a wand, and a burden are for an ass: bread, and correction, and work for a slave. 33:26. He worketh under correction, and seeketh to rest: let his hands be idle, and he seeketh liberty. 33:27. The yoke and the thong bend a stiff neck, and continual labours bow a slave. 33:28. Torture and fetters are for a malicious slave: send him to work, that he be not idle: 33:29. For idleness hath taught much evil. 33:30. Set him to work: for so it is fit for him. And if he be not obedient, bring him down with fetters, but be not excessive towards any one, and do no grievous thing without judgment. 33:31. If thou have a faithful servant, let him be to thee as thy own soul: treat him as a brother: because in the blood of thy soul thou hast gotten him. 33:32. If thou hurt him unjustly, he will run away: 33:33. And if he rise up and depart, thou knowest not whom to ask, and in what way to seek him. Ecclesiasticus Chapter 34 The vanity of dreams. The advantage of experience, and of the fear of God. 34:1. The hopes of a man that is void of understanding are vain and deceitful: and dreams lift up fools. 34:2. The man that giveth heed to lying visions, is like to him that catcheth at a shadow, and followeth after the wind. 34:3. The vision of dreams is the resemblance of one thing to another: as when a man's likeness is before the face of a man. 34:4. What can be made clean by the unclean? and what truth can come from that which is false? 34:5. Deceitful divinations and lying omens and the dreams of evildoers, are vanity: 34:6. And the heart fancieth as that of a woman in travail: except it be a vision sent forth from the most High, set not thy heart upon them. 34:7. For dreams have deceived many, and they have failed that put their trust in them. 34:8. The word of the law shall be fulfilled without a lie, and wisdom shall be made plain in the mouth of the faithful. 34:9. What doth he know, that hath not been tried? A man that hath much experience, shall think of many things: and he that hath learned many things, shall shew forth understanding. 34:10. He that hath no experience, knoweth little: and he that hath been experienced in many things, multiplieth prudence. 34:11. He that hath not been tried, what manner of things doth he know? he that hath been surprised, shall abound with subtlety. 34:12. I have seen many things by travelling, and many customs of things. 34:13. Sometimes I have been in danger of death for these things, and I have been delivered by the grace of God. 34:14. The spirit of those that fear God, is sought after, and by his regard shall be blessed. 34:15. For their hope is on him that saveth them, and the eyes of God are upon them that love him. 34:16. He that feareth the Lord shall tremble at nothing, and shall not be afraid: for he is his hope. 34:17. The soul of him that feareth the Lord is blessed. 34:18. To whom doth he look, and who is his strength? 34:19. The eyes of the Lord are upon them that fear him, he is their powerful protector, and strong stay, a defence from the heat, and a cover from the sun at noon, 34:20. A preservation from stumbling, and a help from falling: he raiseth up the soul, and enlighteneth the eyes, and giveth health, and life, and blessing. 34:21. The offering of him that sacrificeth of a thing wrongfully gotten, is stained, and the mockeries of the unjust are not acceptable. 34:22. The Lord is only for them that wait upon him in the way of truth and justice. 34:23. The most High approveth not the gifts of the wicked: neither hath he respect to the oblations of the unjust, nor will he be pacified for sins by the multitude of their sacrifices. 34:24. He that offereth sacrifice of the goods of the poor, is as one that sacrificeth the son in the presence of his father. 34:25. The bread of the needy, is the life of the poor: he that defraudeth them thereof, is a man of blood. 34:26. He that taketh away the bread gotten by sweat, is like him that killeth his neighbour. 34:27. He that sheddeth blood, and he that defraudeth the laborer of his hire, are brothers. 34:28. When one buildeth up, and another pulleth down: what profit have they but the labour? 34:29. When one prayeth, and another curseth: whose voice will God hear? 34:30. He that washeth himself after touching the dead, if he toucheth him again, what doth his washing avail? 34:31. So a man that fasteth for his sins, and doth the same again, what doth his humbling himself profit him? who will hear his prayer? Ecclesiasticus Chapter 35 What sacrifices are pleasing to God. 35:1. He that keepeth the law, multiplieth offerings. 35:2. It is a wholesome sacrifice to take heed to the commandments, and to depart from all iniquity. 35:3. And to depart from injustice, is to offer a propitiatory sacrifice for injustices, and a begging of pardon for sins. 35:4. He shall return thanks, that offereth fine flour: and he that doth mercy, offereth sacrifice. 35:5. To depart from iniquity is that which pleaseth the Lord, and to depart from injustice, is an entreaty for sins. 35:6. Thou shalt not appear empty in the sight of the Lord. 35:7. For all these things are to be done because of the commandment of God. 35:8. The oblation of the just maketh the altar fat, and is an odour of sweetness in the sight of the most High. 35:9. The sacrifice of the just is acceptable, and the Lord will not forget the memorial thereof. 35:10. Give glory to God with a good heart: and diminish not the firstfruits of thy hands. 35:11. In every gift shew a cheerful countenance, and sanctify thy tithes with joy. 35:12. Give to the most High according to what he hath given to thee, and with a good eye do according to the ability of thy hands: 35:13. For the Lord maketh recompense, and will give thee seven times as much. 35:14. Do not offer wicked gifts, for such he will not receive. 35:15. And look not upon an unjust sacrifice, for the Lord is judge, and there is not with him respect of person. 35:16. The Lord will not accept any person against a poor man, and he will hear the prayer of him that is wronged. 35:17. He will not despise the prayers of the fatherless: nor the widow, when she poureth out her complaint. 35:18. Do not the widow's tears run down the cheek, and her cry against him that causeth them to fall? 35:19. For from the cheek they go up even to heaven, and the Lord that heareth will not be delighted with them. 35:20. He that adoreth God with joy, shall be accepted, and his prayer shall approach even to the clouds. 35:21. The prayer of him that humbleth himself, shall pierce the clouds: and till it come nigh he will not be comforted: and he will not depart till the most High behold. 35:22. And the Lord will not be slack, but will judge for the just, and will do judgment: and the Almighty will not have patience with them, that he may crush their back: 35:23. And he will repay vengeance to the Gentiles, till he have taken away the multitude of the proud, and broken the sceptres of the unjust, 35:24. Till he have rendered to men according to their deeds: and according to the works of Adam, and according to his presumption, 35:25. Till he have judged the cause of his people, and he shall delight the just with his mercy. 35:26. The mercy of God is beautiful in the time of affliction, as a cloud of rain in the time of drought. Ecclesiasticus Chapter 36 A prayer for the church of God. Of a good heart, and a good wife. 36:1. Have mercy upon us, O God of all, and behold us, and shew us the light of thy mercies: 36:2. And send thy fear upon the nations, that have not sought after thee: that they may know that there is no God beside thee, and that they may shew forth thy wonders. 36:3. Lift up thy hand over the strange nations, that they may see thy power. 36:4. For as thou hast been sanctified in us in their sight, so thou shalt be magnified among them in our presence, 36:5. That they may know thee, as we also have known thee, that there is no God beside thee, O Lord. 36:6. Renew thy signs, and work new miracles. 36:7. Glorify thy hand, and thy right arm. 36:8. Raise up indignation, and pour out wrath. 36:9. Take away the adversary, and crush the enemy. 36:10. Hasten the time, and remember the end, that they may declare thy wonderful works. 36:11. Let him that escapeth be consumed by the rage of the fire: and let them perish that oppress thy people. 36:12. Crush the head of the princes of the enemies that say: There is no other beside us. 36:13. Gather together all the tribes of Jacob: that they may know that there no God besides thee, and may declare thy great works: and thou shalt inherit them as from the beginning. 36:14. Have mercy on thy people, upon whom thy name is invoked: and upon Israel, whom thou hast raised up to be thy firstborn. 36:15. Have mercy on Jerusalem, the city which thou hast sanctified, the city of thy rest. 36:16. Fill Sion with thy unspeakable words, and thy people with thy glory. 36:17. Give testimony to them that are thy creatures from the beginning, and raise up the prophecies which the former prophets spoke in thy name. 36:18. Reward them that patiently wait for thee, that thy prophets may be found faithful: and hear the prayers of thy servants, 36:19. According to the blessing of Aaron over thy people, and direct us into the way of justice, and let all know that dwell upon the earth, that thou art God the beholder of all ages. 36:20. The belly will devour all meat, yet one is better than another. 36:21. The palate tasteth venison and the wise heart false speeches. 36:22. A perverse heart will cause grief, and a man of experience will resist it. 36:23. A woman will receive every man: yet one daughter is better than another. A woman will receive every man... That is, any man that her parents propose to her to marry, though she does not like him, but marries in obedience to her parents, who make the choice for her. 36:24. The beauty of a woman cheereth the countenance of her husband, and a man desireth nothing more. 36:25. If she have a tongue that can cure, and likewise mitigate and shew mercy: her husband is not like other men. 36:26. He that possesseth a good wife, beginneth a possession: she is a help like to himself, and a pillar of rest. 36:27. Where there is no hedge, the possession shall be spoiled: and where there is no wife, he mourneth that is in want. 36:28. Who will trust him that hath no rest, and that lodgeth wheresoever the night taketh him, as a robber well appointed, that skippeth from city to city. Ecclesiasticus Chapter 37 Of the choice of friends and counsellors. 37:1. Every friend will say: I also am his friend: but there is a friend, that is only a friend in name. Is not this a grief even to death? 37:2. But a companion and a friend shall be turned to an enemy. 37:3. O wicked presumption, whence camest thou to cover the earth with thy malice, and deceitfulness? 37:4. There is a companion who rejoiceth with his friend in his joys, but in the time of trouble, he will be against him. 37:5. There is a companion who condoleth with his friend for his belly's sake, and he will take up a shield against the enemy. 37:6. Forget not thy friend in thy mind, and be not unmindful of him in thy riches. 37:7. Consult not with him that layeth a snare for thee, and hide thy counsel from them that envy thee. 37:8. Every counsellor giveth out counsel, but there is one that is a counsellor for himself. 37:9. Beware of a counsellor. And know before what need he hath: for he will devise to his own mind: 37:10. Lest he thrust a stake into the ground, and say to thee: 37:11. Thy way is good; and then stand on the other side to see what shall befall thee. 37:12. Treat not with a man without religion concerning holiness, nor with an unjust man concerning justice, nor with a woman touching her of whom she is jealous, nor with a coward concerning war, nor with a merchant about traffic, nor with a buyer of selling, nor with an envious man of giving thanks, 37:13. Nor with the ungodly of piety, nor with the dishonest of honesty, nor with the field laborer of every work, 37:14. Nor with him that worketh by the year of the finishing of the year, nor with an idle servant of much business: give no heed to these in any matter of counsel. 37:15. But be continually with a holy man, whomsoever thou shalt know to observe the fear of God, 37:16. Whose soul is according to thy own soul: and who, when thou shalt stumble in the dark, will be sorry for thee. 37:17. And establish within thyself a heart of good counsel: for there is no other thing of more worth to thee than it. 37:18. The soul of a holy man discovereth sometimes true things, more than seven watchmen that sit in a high place to watch. 37:19. But above all these things pray to the most High, that he may direct thy way in truth. 37:20. In all thy works let the true word go before thee, and steady counsel before every action. 37:21. A wicked word shall change the heart: out of which four manner of things arise, good and evil, life and death: and the tongue is continually the ruler of them. There is a man that is subtle and a teacher of many, and yet is unprofitable to his own soul. 37:22. A skilful man hath taught many, and is sweet to his own soul. 37:23. He that speaketh sophistically, is hateful: he shall be destitute of every thing. 37:24. Grace is not given him from the Lord: for he is deprived of all wisdom. 37:25. There is a wise man that is wise to his own soul: and the fruit of his understanding is commendable. 37:26. A wise man instructeth his own people, and the fruits of his understanding are faithful. 37:27. A wise man shall be filled with blessings, and they that see shall praise him. 37:28. The life of a man is in the number of his days: but the days of Israel are innumerable. 37:29. A wise man shall inherit honour among his people, and his name shall live for ever. 37:30. My son, prove thy soul in thy life: and if it be wicked, give it no power: 37:31. For all things are not expedient for all, and every kind pleaseth not every soul. 37:32. Be not greedy in any feasting, and pour not out thyself upon any meat: 37:33. For in many meats there will be sickness, and greediness will turn to choler. 37:34. By surfeiting many have perished, but he that is temperate, shall prolong life. Ecclesiasticus Chapter 38 Of physicians and medicines: what is to be done in sickness, and how we are to mourn for the dead. Of the employments of labourers and artificers. 38:1. Honour the physician for the need thou hast of him: for the most High hath created him. 38:2. For all healing is from God, and he shall receive gifts of the king. 38:3. The skill of the physician shall lift up his head, and in the sight of great men he shall be praised. 38:4. The most High hath created medicines out of the earth, and a wise man will not abhor them. 38:5. Was not bitter water made sweet with wood? 38:6. The virtue of these things is come to the knowledge of men, and the most High hath given knowledge to men, that he may be honoured in his wonders. 38:7. By these he shall cure and shall allay their pains, and of these the apothecary shall make sweet confections, and shall make up ointments of health, and of his works there shall be no end. 38:8. For the peace of God is over all the face of the earth. 38:9. My son, in thy sickness neglect not thyself, but pray to the Lord, and he shall heal thee. 38:10. Turn away from sin and order thy hands aright, and cleanse thy heart from all offence. 38:11. Give a sweet savour, and a memorial of fine flour, and make a fat offering, and then give place to the physician. 38:12. For the Lord created him: and let him not depart from thee, for his works are necessary. 38:13. For there is a time when thou must fall into their hands: 38:14. And they shall beseech the Lord, that he would prosper what they give for ease and remedy, for their conversation. 38:15. He that sinneth in the sight of his Maker, shall fall into the hands of the physician. 38:16. My son, shed tears over the dead, and begin to lament as if thou hadst suffered some great harm, and according to judgment cover his body, and neglect not his burial. 38:17. And for fear of being ill spoken of weep bitterly for a day, and then comfort thyself in thy sadness. 38:18. And make mourning for him according to his merit for a day, or two, for fear of detraction. 38:19. For of sadness cometh death, and it overwhelmeth the strength, and the sorrow of the heart boweth down the neck. 38:20. In withdrawing aside sorrow remaineth: and the substance of the poor is according to his heart. 38:21. Give not up thy heart to sadness, but drive it from thee: and remember the latter end. 38:22. Forget it not: for there is no returning, and thou shalt do him no good, and shalt hurt thyself. 38:23. Remember my judgment: for thine also shall be so: yesterday for me, and to day for thee. 38:24. When the dead is at rest, let his remembrance rest, and comfort him in the departing of his spirit. 38:25. The wisdom of a scribe cometh by his time of leisure: and he that is less in action, shall receive wisdom. A scribe... That is, a doctor of the law, or, a learned man. 38:26. With what wisdom shall he be furnished that holdeth the plough, and that glorieth in the goad, that driveth the oxen therewith, and is occupied in their labours, and his whole talk is about the offspring of bulls? 38:27. He shall give his mind to turn up furrows, and his care is to give the kine fodder. 38:28. So every craftsman and workmaster that laboureth night and day, he who maketh graven seals, and by his continual diligence varieth the figure: he shall give his mind to the resemblance of the picture, and by his watching shall finish the work. 38:29. So doth the smith sitting by the anvil and considering the iron work. The vapour of the fire wasteth his flesh, and he fighteth with the heat of the furnace. 38:30. The noise of the hammer is always in his ears, and his eye is upon the pattern of the vessel he maketh. 38:31. He setteth his mind to finish his work, and his watching to polish them to perfection. 38:32. So doth the potter sitting at his work, turning the wheel about with his feet, who is always carefully set to his work, and maketh all his work by number: 38:33. He fashioneth the clay with his arm, and boweth down his strength before his feet: 38:34. He shall give his mind to finish the glazing, and his watching to make clean the furnace. 38:35. All these trust to their hands, and every one is wise in his own art. 38:36. Without these a city is not built. 38:37. And they shall not dwell, nor walk about therein, and they shall not go up into the assembly. 38:38. Upon the judges' seat they shall not sit, and the ordinance of judgment they shall not understand, neither shall they declare discipline and judgment, and they shall not be found where parables are spoken: 38:39. But they shall strengthen the state of the world, and their prayer shall be in the work of their craft, applying their soul, and searching in the law of the most High. Ecclesiasticus Chapter 39 The exercises of the wise man. The Lord is to be glorified for his works. 39:1. The wise man will seek out the wisdom of all the ancients, and will be occupied in the prophets. 39:2. He will keep the sayings of renowned men, and will enter withal into the subtilties of parables. 39:3. He will search out the hidden meanings of proverbs, and will be conversant in the secrets of parables. 39:4. He shall serve among great men, and appear before the governor. 39:5. He shall pass into strange countries: for he shall try good and evil among men. 39:6. He will give his heart to resort early to the Lord that made him, and he will pray in the sight of the most High. 39:7. He will open his mouth in prayer, and will make supplication for his sins. 39:8. For if it shall please the great Lord, he will fill him with the spirit of understanding: 39:9. And he will pour forth the words of his wisdom as showers, and in his prayer he will confess to the Lord. 39:10. And he shall direct his counsel, and his knowledge, and in his secrets shall he meditate. 39:11. He shall shew forth the discipline he hath learned, and shall glory in the law of the covenant of the Lord. 39:12. Many shall praise his wisdom, and it shall never be forgotten. 39:13. The memory of him shall not depart away, and his name shall be in request from generation to generation. 39:14. Nations shall declare his wisdom, and the church shall shew forth his praise. 39:15. If he continue, he shall leave a name above a thousand: and if he rest, it shall be to his advantage. 39:16. I will yet meditate that I may declare: for I am filled as with a holy transport. 39:17. By a voice he saith: Hear me, ye divine offspring, and bud forth as the rose planted by the brooks of waters. Ye divine offspring... He speaks to the children of Israel, the people of God: whom he exhorts to bud forth and flourish with virtue. 39:18. Give ye a sweet odour as frankincense. 39:19. Send forth flowers, as the lily, and yield a smell, and bring forth leaves in grace, and praise with canticles, and bless the Lord in his works. 39:20. Magnify his name, and give glory to him with the voice of your lips, and with the canticles of your mouths, and with harps, and in praising him, you shall say in this manner: 39:21. All the works of the Lord are exceeding good. 39:22. At his word the waters stood as a heap: and at the words of his mouth the receptacles of waters: 39:23. For at his commandment favour is shewn, and there is no diminishing of his salvation. 39:24. The works of all flesh are before him, and there is nothing hid from his eyes. 39:25. He seeth from eternity to eternity, and there is nothing wonderful before him. 39:26. There is no saying: What is this, or what is that? for all things shall be sought in their time. 39:27. His blessing hath overflowed like a river. 39:28. And as a flood hath watered the earth; so shall his wrath inherit the nations, that have not sought after him. 39:29. Even as he turned the waters into a dry land, and the earth was made dry: and his ways were made plain for their journey: so to sinners they are stumblingblocks in his wrath. 39:30. Good things were created for the good from the beginning, so for the wicked, good and evil things. 39:31. The principal things necessary for the life of men, are water, fire, and iron, salt, milk, and bread of flour, and honey, and the cluster of the grape, and oil, and clothing. 39:32. All these things shall be for good to the holy, so to the sinners and the ungodly they shall be turned into evil. 39:33. There are spirits that are created for vengeance, and in their fury they lay on grievous torments. 39:34. In the time of destruction they shall pour out their force: and they shall appease the wrath of him that made them. 39:35. Fire, hail, famine, and death, all these were created for vengeance. 39:36. The teeth of beasts, and scorpions, and serpents, and the sword taking vengeance upon the ungodly unto destruction. 39:37. In his commandments they shall feast, and they shall be ready upon earth when need is, and when their time is come they shall not transgress his word. 39:38. Therefore from the beginning I was resolved, and I have meditated, and thought on these things and left them in writing, 39:39. All the works of the Lord are good, and he will furnish every work in due time. 39:40. It is not to be said: This is worse than that: for all shall be well approved in their time. 39:41. Now therefore with the whole heart and mouth praise ye him, and bless the name of the Lord. Ecclesiasticus Chapter 40 The miseries of the life of man are relieved by the grace of God and his fear. 40:1. Great labour is created for all men, and a heavy yoke is upon the children of Adam from the day of their coming out of their mother's womb, until the day of their burial into the mother of all. 40:2. Their thoughts, and fears of the heart, their imagination of things to come, and the day of their end: 40:3. From him that sitteth on a glorious throne, unto him that is humbled in earth and ashes: 40:4. From him that weareth purple, and beareth the crown, even to him that is covered with rough linen: wrath, envy, trouble, unquietness, and the fear of death, continual anger, and strife, 40:5. And in the time of rest upon his bed, the sleep of the night changeth his knowledge. 40:6. A little and as nothing is his rest, and afterward in sleep, as in the day of keeping watch. 40:7. He is troubled in the vision of his heart, as if he had escaped in the day of battle. In the time of his safety he rose up, and wondereth that there is no fear. 40:8. Such things happen to all flesh, from man even to beast, and upon sinners are sevenfold more. 40:9. Moreover, death, and bloodshed, strife, and sword, oppressions, famine, and affliction, and scourges: 40:10. All these things are created for the wicked, and for their sakes came the flood. 40:11. All things that are of the earth, shall return to the earth again, and all waters shall return to the sea. 40:12. All bribery, and injustice shall be blotted out, and fidelity shall stand for ever. 40:13. The riches of the unjust shall be dried up like a river, and shall pass away with a noise like a great thunder in rain. 40:14. While he openeth his hands he shall rejoice: but transgressors shall pine away in the end. 40:15. The offspring of the ungodly shall not bring forth many branches, and make a noise as unclean roots upon the top of a rock. 40:16. The weed growing over every water, and at the bank of the river, shall be pulled up before all grass. 40:17. Grace is like a paradise in blessings, and mercy remaineth for ever. 40:18. The life of a laborer that is content with what he hath, shall be sweet, and in it thou shalt find a treasure. 40:19. Children, and the building of a city shall establish a name, but a blameless wife shall be counted above them both. 40:20. Wine and music rejoice the heart, but the love of wisdom is above them both. 40:21. The flute and the psaltery make a sweet melody, but a pleasant tongue is above them both. 40:22. Thy eye desireth favour and beauty, but more than these green sown fields. 40:23. A friend and companion meeting together in season, but above them both is a wife with her husband. 40:24. Brethren are a help in the time of trouble, but mercy shall deliver more than they. 40:25. Gold and silver make the feet stand sure: but wise counsel is above them both. 40:26. Riches and strength lift up the heart: but above these is the fear of the Lord. 40:27. There is no want in the fear of the Lord, and it needeth not to seek for help. 40:28. The fear of the Lord is like a paradise of blessing, and they have covered it above all glory. 40:29. My son, in thy lifetime be not indigent: for it is better to die than to want. 40:30. The life of him that looketh toward another man's table is not to be counted a life: for he feedeth his soul with another man's meat. 40:31. But a man, well instructed and taught, will look to himself. 40:32. Begging will be sweet in the mouth of the unwise, but in his belly there shall burn a fire. Ecclesiasticus Chapter 41 Of the remembrance of death: of an evil and of a good name: of what things we ought to be ashamed. 41:1. O death, how bitter is the remembrance of thee to a man that hath peace in his possessions! 41:2. To a man that is at rest, and whose ways are prosperous in all things, and that is yet able to take meat! 41:3. O death thy sentence is welcome to the man that is in need, and to him whose strength faileth: 41:4. Who is in a decrepit age, and that is in care about all things, and to the distrustful that loseth patience! 41:5. Fear not the sentence of death. Remember what things have been before thee, and what shall come after thee: this sentence is from the Lord upon all flesh. 41:6. And what shall come upon thee by the good pleasure of the most High? whether ten, or a hundred, or a thousand years. 41:7. For among the dead there is no accusing of life. 41:8. The children of sinners become children of abominations, and they that converse near the houses of the ungodly. 41:9. The inheritance of the children of sinners shall perish, and with their posterity shall be a perpetual reproach. 41:10. The children will complain of an ungodly father, because for his sake they are in reproach. 41:11. Woe to you, ungodly men, who have forsaken the law of the most high Lord. 41:12. And if you be born, you shall be born in malediction: and if you die, in malediction shall be your portion. 41:13. All things that are of the earth, shall return into the earth: so the ungodly shall from malediction to destruction. 41:14. The mourning of men is about their body, but the name of the ungodly shall be blotted out. 41:15. Take care of a good name: for this shall continue with thee, more than a thousand treasures precious and great. 41:16. A good life hath its number of days: but a good name shall continue for ever. 41:17. My children, keep discipline in peace: for wisdom that is hid, and a treasure that is not seen, what profit is there in them both? 41:18. Better is the man that hideth his folly, than the man that hideth his wisdom. 41:19. Wherefore have a shame of these things I am now going to speak of. Have a shame, etc... That is to say, be ashamed of doing any of these things, which I am now going to mention; for though sometimes shamefacedness is not to be indulged: yet it is often good and necessary: as in the following cases. 41:20. For it is not good to keep all shamefacedness: and all things do not please all men in opinion. 41:21. Be ashamed of fornication before father and mother: and of a lie before a governor and a man in power: 41:22. Of an offence before a prince, and a judge: of iniquity before a congregation and a people: 41:23. Of injustice before a companion and friend: and in regard to the place where thou dwellest, 41:24. Of theft, and of the truth of God, and the covenant: of leaning with thy elbow over meat, and of deceit in giving and taking: 41:25. Of silence before them that salute thee: of looking upon a harlot: and of turning away thy face from thy kinsman. 41:26. Turn not away thy face from thy neighbour, and of taking away a portion and not restoring. 41:27. Gaze not upon another man's wife, and be not inquisitive after his handmaid, and approach not her bed. 41:28. Be ashamed of upbraiding speeches before friends: and after thou hast given, upbraid not. Ecclesiasticus Chapter 42 Of what things we ought not to be ashamed. Cautions with regard to women. The works and greatness of God. 42:1. Repeat not the word which thou hast heard, and disclose not the thing that is secret; so shalt thou be truly without confusion, and shalt find favour before all men: be not ashamed of any of these things, and accept no person to sin thereby: 42:2. Of the law of the most High, and of his covenant, and of judgment to justify the ungodly: 42:3. Of the affair of companions and travellers, and of the gift of the inheritance of friends: 42:4. Of exactness of balance and weights, of getting much or little: 42:5. Of the corruption of buying, and of merchants, and of much correction of children, and to make the side of a wicked slave to bleed. 42:6. Sure keeping is good over a wicked wife. 42:7. Where there are many hands, shut up, and deliver all things in number, and weight: and put all in writing that thou givest out or receivest in. 42:8. Be not ashamed to inform the unwise and foolish, and the aged, that are judged by young men: and thou shalt be well instructed in all things, and well approved in the sight of all men living. 42:9. The father waketh for the daughter when no man knoweth, and the care for her taketh away his sleep, when she is young, lest she pass away the flower of her age, and when she is married, lest she should be hateful: 42:10. In her virginity, lest she should be corrupted, and be found with child in her father's house: and having a husband, lest she should misbehave herself, or at the least become barren. 42:11. Keep a sure watch over a shameless daughter: lest at anytime she make thee become a laughingstock to thy enemies, and a byword in the city, and a reproach among the people, and she make thee ashamed before all the multitude. 42:12. Behold not everybody's beauty: and tarry not among women. 42:13. For from garments cometh a moth, and from a woman the iniquity of a man. 42:14. For better is the iniquity of a man, than a woman doing a good turn, and a woman bringing shame and reproach. Better is the iniquity, etc... That is, there is, commonly speaking, less danger to be apprehended to the soul from the churlishness, or injuries we receive from men, than from the flattering favours and familiarity of women. 42:15. I will now remember the works of the Lord, and I will declare the things I have seen. By the words of the Lord are his works. 42:16. The sun giving light hath looked upon all things, and full of the glory of the Lord is his work. 42:17. Hath not the Lord made the saints to declare all his wonderful works, which the Lord Almighty hath firmly settled to be established for his glory? 42:18. He hath searched out the deep, and the heart of men: and considered their crafty devices. 42:19. For the Lord knoweth all knowledge, and hath beheld the signs of the world, he declareth the things that are past, and the things that are to come, and revealeth the traces of hidden things. 42:20. No thought escapeth him, and no word can hide itself from him. 42:21. He hath beautified the glorious works of his wisdom: and he is from eternity to eternity, and to him nothing may be added, 42:22. Nor can he be diminished, and he hath no need of any counsellor. 42:23. O how desirable are all his works, and what we can know is but as a spark! 42:24. All these things live, and remain for ever, and for every use all things obey him. 42:25. All things are double, one against another, and he hath made nothing defective. 42:26. He hath established the good things of every one. And who shall be filled with beholding his glory? Ecclesiasticus Chapter 43 The works of God are exceedingly glorious and wonderful: no man is able sufficiently to praise him. 43:1. The firmament on high is his beauty, the beauty of heaven with its glorious shew. 43:2. The sun when he appeareth shewing forth at his rising, an admirable instrument, the work of the most High. 43:3. At noon he burneth the earth, and who can abide his burning heat? As one keeping a furnace in the works of heat: 43:4. The sun three times as much, burneth the mountains, breathing out fiery vapours, and shining with his beams, he blindeth the eyes. 43:5. Great is the Lord that made him, and at his words he hath hastened his course. 43:6. And the moon in all in her season, is for a declaration of times and a sign of the world. 43:7. From the moon is the sign of the festival day, a light that decreaseth in her perfection. 43:8. The month is called after her name, increasing wonderfully in her perfection. 43:9. Being an instrument of the armies on high, shining gloriously in the firmament of heaven. 43:10. The glory of the stars is the beauty of heaven; the Lord enlighteneth the world on high. 43:11. By the words of the holy one they stand in judgment, and shall never fall in their watches. 43:12. Look upon the rainbow, and bless him that made it: it is very beautiful in its brightness. 43:13. It encompasseth the heaven about with the circle of its glory, the hands of the most High have displayed it. 43:14. By his commandment he maketh the snow to fall apace, and sendeth forth swiftly the lightnings of his judgment. 43:15. Through this are the treasures opened, and the clouds fly out like birds. 43:16. By his greatness he hath fixed the clouds, and the hailstones are broken. 43:17. At his sight shall the mountains be shaken, and at his will the south wind shall blow. 43:18. The noise of his thunder shall strike the earth, so doth the northern storm, and the whirlwind: 43:19. And as the birds lighting upon the earth, he scattereth snow, and the falling thereof, is as the coming down of locusts. 43:20. The eye admireth at the beauty of the whiteness thereof, and the heart is astonished at the shower thereof. 43:21. He shall pour frost as salt upon the earth: and when it freezeth, it shall become like the tops of thistles. 43:22. The cold north wind bloweth, and the water is congealed into crystal; upon every gathering together of waters it shall rest, and shall clothe the waters as a breastplate. 43:23. And it shall devour the mountains, and burn the wilderness, and consume all that is green as with fire. 43:24. A present remedy of all is the speedy coming of a cloud, and a dew that meeteth it, by the heat that cometh, shall overpower it. 43:25. At his word the wind is still, and with his thought he appeaseth the deep, and the Lord hath planted islands therein. 43:26. Let them that sail on the sea, tell the dangers thereof: and when we hear with our ears, we shall admire. 43:27. There are great and wonderful works: a variety of beasts, and of all living things, and the monstrous creatures of whales. 43:28. Through him is established the end of their journey, and by his word all things are regulated. 43:29. We shall say much, and yet shall want words: but the sum of our words is, He is all. 43:30. What shall we be able to do to glorify him? for the Almighty himself is above all his works. 43:31. The Lord is terrible, and exceeding great, and his power is admirable. 43:32. Glorify the Lord as much as ever you can, for he will yet far exceed, and his magnificence is wonderful. 43:33. Blessing the Lord, exalt him as much as you can; for he is above all praise. 43:34. When you exalt him put forth all your strength, and be not weary: for you can never go far enough. 43:35. Who shall see him, and declare him? and who shall magnify him as he is from the beginning? 43:36. There are many things hidden from us that are greater than these: for we have seen but a few of his works. 43:37. But the Lord hath made all things, and to the godly he hath given wisdom. Ecclesiasticus Chapter 44 The praises of the holy fathers, in particular of Enoch, Noe, Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. 44:1. Let us now praise men of renown and our fathers in their generation. 44:2. The Lord hath wrought great glory through his magnificence from the beginning. 44:3. Such as have borne rule in their dominions, men of great power, and endued with their wisdom, shewing forth in the prophets the dignity of prophets, 44:4. And ruling over the present people, and by the strength of wisdom instructing the people in most holy words. 44:5. Such as by their skill sought out musical tunes, and published canticles of the scriptures. 44:6. Rich men in virtue, studying beautifulness: living at peace in their houses. 44:7. All these have gained glory in their generations, and were praised in their days. 44:8. They that were born of them have left a name behind them, that their praises might be related: 44:9. And there are some, of whom there is no memorial: who are perished, as if they had never been: and are become as if they had never been born, and their children with them. 44:10. But these were men of mercy, whose godly deeds have not failed: 44:11. Good things continue with their seed, 44:12. Their posterity are a holy inheritance, and their seed hath stood in the covenants. 44:13. And their children for their sakes remain for ever: their seed and their glory shall not be forsaken. 44:14. Their bodies are buried in peace, and their name liveth unto generation and generation. 44:15. Let the people shew forth their wisdom, and the church declare their praise. 44:16. Henoch pleased God, and was translated into paradise, that he may give repentance to the nations. 44:17. Noe was found perfect, just, and in the time of wrath he was made a reconciliation. 44:18. Therefore was there a remnant left to the earth, when the flood came. 44:19. The covenants of the world were made with him, that all flesh should no more be destroyed with the flood. 44:20. Abraham was the great father of a multitude of nations, and there was not found the like to him in glory, who kept the law of the most High, and was in covenant with him. 44:21. In his flesh he established the covenant, and in temptation he was found faithful. 44:22. Therefore by an oath he gave him glory in his posterity, that he should increase as the dust of the earth, 44:23. And that he would exalt his seed as the stars, and they should inherit from sea to sea, and from the river to the ends of the earth. 44:24. And he did in like manner with Isaac for the sake of Abraham his father. 44:25. The Lord gave him the blessing of all nations, and confirmed his covenant upon the head of Jacob. 44:26. He acknowledged him in his blessings, and gave him an inheritance, and divided him his portion in twelve tribes. 44:27. And he preserved for him men of mercy, that found grace in the eyes of all flesh. Ecclesiasticus Chapter 45 The praises of Moses, of Aaron, and of Phinees. 45:1. Moses was beloved of God, and men: whose memory is in benediction. 45:2. He made him like the saints in glory, and magnified him in the fear of his enemies, and with his words he made prodigies to cease. 45:3. He glorified him in the sight of kings, and gave him commandments in the sight of his people, and shewed him his glory. 45:4. He sanctified him in his faith, and meekness, and chose him out of all flesh. 45:5. For he heard him, and his voice, and brought him into a cloud. 45:6. And he gave him commandments before his face, and a law of life and instruction, that he might teach Jacob his covenant, and Israel his judgments. 45:7. He exalted Aaron his brother, and like to himself of the tribe of Levi: 45:8. He made an everlasting covenant with him, and gave him the priesthood of the nation, and made him blessed in glory, 45:9. And he girded him about with a glorious girdle, and clothed him with a robe of glory, and crowned him with majestic attire. 45:10. He put upon him a garment to the feet, and breeches, and an ephod, and he compassed him with many little bells of gold all round about, 45:11. That as he went there might be a sound, and a noise made that might be heard in the temple, for a memorial to the children of his people. 45:12. He gave him a holy robe of gold, and blue, and purple, a woven work of a wise man, endued with judgment and truth: 45:13. Of twisted scarlet the work of an artist, with precious stones cut and set in gold, and graven by the work of a lapidary for a memorial, according to the number of the tribes of Israel. 45:14. And a crown of gold upon his mitre wherein was engraved Holiness, an ornament of honour: a work of power, and delightful to the eyes for its beauty. 45:15. Before him there were none so beautiful, even from the beginning. 45:16. No stranger was ever clothed with them, but only his children alone, and his grandchildren for ever. 45:17. His sacrifices were consumed with fire every day. 45:18. Moses filled his hands and anointed him with holy oil. 45:19. This was made to him for an everlasting testament, and to his seed as the days of heaven, to execute the office of the priesthood, and to have praise, and to glorify his people in his name. 45:20. He chose him out of all men living, to offer sacrifice to God, incense, and a good savour, for a memorial to make reconciliation for his people: 45:21. And he gave him power in his commandments, in the covenants of his judgments, that he should teach Jacob his testimonies, and give light to Israel in his law. 45:22. And strangers stood up against him, and through envy the men that were with Dathan and Abiron, compassed him about in the wilderness, and the congregation of Core in their wrath. 45:23. The Lord God saw and it pleased him not, and they were consumed in his wrathful indignation. 45:24. He wrought wonders upon them, and consumed them with a flame of fire. 45:25. And he added glory to Aaron, and gave him an inheritance, and divided unto him the firstfruits of the increase of the earth. 45:26. He prepared them bread in the first place unto fulness: for the sacrifices also of the Lord they shall eat, which he gave to him, and to his seed. 45:27. But he shall not inherit among the people in the land, and he hath no portion among the people: for he himself is his portion and inheritance. 45:28. Phinees the son of Eleazar is the third in glory, by imitating him in the fear of the Lord: 45:29. And he stood up in the shameful fall of the people: in the goodness and readiness of his soul he appeased God for Israel. 45:30. Therefore he made to him a covenant of peace, to be the prince of the sanctuary, and of his people, that the dignity of priesthood should be to him and to his seed for ever. 45:31. And a covenant to David the king, the son of Jesse of the tribe of Juda, an inheritance to him and to his seed, that he might give wisdom into our heart to judge his people in justice, that their good things might not be abolished, and he made their glory in their nation everlasting. Ecclesiasticus Chapter 46 The praise of Josue, of Caleb, and of Samuel. 46:1. Valiant in war was Jesus the son of Nave, who was successor of Moses among the prophets, who was great according to his name, Jesus the son of Nave... So Josue is named in the Greek Bibles. For Josue and Jesus signify the same thing, viz., a saviour. 46:2. Very great for the saving the elect of God, to overthrow the enemies that rose up against them, that he might get the inheritance for Israel. 46:3. How great glory did he gain when he lifted up his hands, and stretched out swords against the cities? 46:4. Who before him hath so resisted? for the Lord himself brought the enemies. 46:5. Was not the sun stopped in his anger, and one day made as two? 46:6. He called upon the most high Sovereign when the enemies assaulted him on every side, and the great and holy God heard him by hailstones of exceeding great force. 46:7. He made a violent assault against the nation of his enemies, and in the descent he destroyed the adversaries. And in the descent... Of Beth-horon (Jos. 10.). 46:8. That the nations might know his power, that it is not easy to fight against God. And he followed the mighty one: 46:9. And in the days of Moses he did a work of mercy, he and Caleb the son of Jephone, in standing against the enemy, and withholding the people from sins, and appeasing the wicked murmuring. 46:10. And they two being appointed, were delivered out of the danger from among the number of six hundred thousand men on foot, to bring them into their inheritance, into the land that floweth with milk and honey. 46:11. And the Lord gave strength also to Caleb, and his strength continued even to his old age, so that he went up to the high places of the land, and his seed obtained it for an inheritance: 46:12. That all the children of Israel might see, that it is good to obey the holy God. 46:13. Then all the judges, every one by name, whose heart was not corrupted: who turned not away from the Lord, 46:14. That their memory might be blessed, and their bones spring up out of their place, 46:15. And their name continue for ever, the glory of the holy men remaining unto their children. 46:16. Samuel the prophet of the Lord, the beloved of the Lord his God, established a new government, and anointed princes over his people. 46:17. By the law of the Lord he judged the congregation, and the God of Jacob beheld, and by his fidelity he was proved a prophet. 46:18. And he was known to be faithful in his words, because he saw the God of light: 46:19. And called upon the name of the Lord Almighty, in fighting against the enemies who beset him on every side, when he offered a lamb without blemish. 46:20. And the Lord thundered from heaven, and with a great noise made his voice to be heard. 46:21. And he crushed the princes of the Tyrians, and all the lords of the Philistines: 46:22. And before the time of the end of his life in the world, he protested before the Lord, and his anointed: money, or any thing else, even to a shoe, he had not taken of any man, and no man did accuse him. 46:23. And after this he slept, and he made known to the king, and shewed him the end of his life, and he lifted up his voice from the earth in prophecy to blot out the wickedness of the nation. Ecclesiasticus Chapter 47 The praise of Nathan, of David, and of Solomon: Of his fall and punishment. 47:1. Then Nathan the prophet arose in the days of David. 47:2. And as the fat taken away from the flesh, so was David chosen from among the children of Israel. 47:3. He played with lions as with lambs: and with bears he did in like manner as with the lambs of the flock, in his youth. 47:4. Did not he kill the giant, and take away reproach from his people? 47:5. In lifting up his hand, with the stone in the sling he beat down the boasting of Goliath: 47:6. For he called upon the Lord the Almighty, and he gave strength in his right hand, to take away the mighty warrior, and to set up the horn of his nation. 47:7. So in ten thousand did he glorify him, and praised him in the blessings of the Lord, in offering to him a crown of glory: 47:8. For he destroyed the enemies on every side, and extirpated the Philistines the adversaries unto this day: he broke their horn for ever. 47:9. In all his works he gave thanks to the holy one, and to the most High, with words of glory. 47:10. With his whole heart he praised the Lord, and loved God that made him: and he gave him power against his enemies: 47:11. And he set singers before the altar, and by their voices he made sweet melody. 47:12. And to the festivals he added beauty, and set in order the solemn times even to the end of his life, that they should praise the holy name of the Lord, and magnify the holiness of God in the morning. 47:13. The Lord took away his sins, and exalted his horn for ever: and he gave him a covenant of the kingdom, and a throne of glory in Israel. 47:14. After him arose up a wise son, and for his sake he cast down all the power of the enemies. 47:15. Solomon reigned in days of peace, and God brought all his enemies under him, that he might build a house in his name, and prepare a sanctuary for ever: O how wise wast thou in thy youth! 47:16. And thou wast filled as a river with wisdom, and thy soul covered the earth. 47:17. And thou didst multiply riddles in parables: thy name went abroad to the islands far off, and thou wast beloved in thy peace. 47:18. The countries wondered at thee for thy canticles, and proverbs, and parables, and interpretations, 47:19. And at the name of the Lord God, whose surname is, God of Israel. 47:20. Thou didst gather gold as copper, and didst multiply silver as lead, 47:21. And thou didst bow thyself to women: and by thy body thou wast brought under subjection. 47:22. Thou hast stained thy glory, and defiled thy seed so as to bring wrath upon thy children, and to have thy folly kindled, 47:23. That thou shouldst make the kingdom to be divided, and out of Ephraim a rebellious kingdom to rule. 47:24. But God will not leave off his mercy, and he will not destroy, nor abolish his own works, neither will he cut up by the roots the offspring of his elect: and he will not utterly take away the seed of him that loveth the Lord. 47:25. Wherefore he gave a remnant to Jacob, and to David of the same stock. 47:26. And Solomon had an end with his fathers. 47:27. And he left behind him of his seed, the folly of the nation, 47:28. Even Roboam that had little wisdom, who turned away the people through his counsel: 47:29. And Jeroboam the son of Nabat, who caused Israel to sin, and shewed Ephraim the way of sin, and their sins were multiplied exceedingly. 47:30. They removed them far away from their land. 47:31. And they sought out all iniquities, till vengeance came upon them, and put an end to all their sins. Ecclesiasticus Chapter 48 The praise of Elias, of Eliseus, of Ezechias, and of Isaias. 48:1. And Elias the prophet stood up, as a fire, and his word burnt like a torch. 48:2. He brought a famine upon them, and they that provoked him in their envy, were reduced to a small number, for they could not endure the commandments of the Lord. 48:3. By the word of the Lord he shut up the heaven, and he brought down fire from heaven thrice. 48:4. Thus was Elias magnified in his wondrous works. And who can glory like to thee? 48:5. Who raisedst up a dead man from below, from the lot of death, by the word of the Lord God. 48:6. Who broughtest down kings to destruction, and brokest easily their power in pieces, and the glorious from their bed. 48:7. Who heardest judgment in Sina, and in Horeb the judgments of vengeance. 48:8. Who anointedst kings to penance, and madest prophets successors after thee. 48:9. Who wast taken up in a whirlwind of fire, in a chariot of fiery horses. 48:10. Who art registered in the judgments of times to appease the wrath of the Lord, to reconcile the heart of the father to the son, and to restore the tribes of Jacob. 48:11. Blessed are they that saw thee, and were honoured with thy friendship. 48:12. For we live only in our life, but after death our name shall not be such. 48:13. Elias was indeed covered with the whirlwind, and his spirit was filled up in Eliseus: in his days he feared not the prince, and no man was more powerful than he. 48:14. No word could overcome him, and after death his body prophesied. 48:15. In his life he did great wonders, and in death he wrought miracles. 48:16. For all this the people repented not, neither did they depart from their sins till they were cast out of their land, and were scattered through all the earth. 48:17. And there was left but a small people, and a prince in the house of David. 48:18. Some of these did that which pleased God: but others committed many sins. 48:19. Ezechias fortified his city, and brought in water into the midst thereof, and he digged a rock with iron, and made a well for water. 48:20. In his days Sennacherib came up, and sent Rabsaces, and lifted up his hand against them, and he stretched out his hand against Sion, and became proud through his power. 48:21. Then their hearts and hands trembled, and they were in pain as women in travail. 48:22. And they called upon the Lord who is merciful, and spreading their hands, they lifted them up to heaven: and the holy Lord God quickly heard their voice. 48:23. He was not mindful of their sins, neither did he deliver them up to their enemies, but he purified them by the hand of Isaias, the holy prophet. 48:24. He overthrew the army of the Assyrians, and the angel of the Lord destroyed them. 48:25. For Ezechias did that which pleased God, and walked valiantly in the way of David his father, which Isaias, the great prophet, and faithful in the sight of God, had commanded him. 48:26. In his days the sun wen backward, and he lengthened the king's life. 48:27. With a great spirit he saw the things that are to come to pass at last, and comforted the mourners in Sion. 48:28. He showed what should come to pass for ever, and secret things before they came. Ecclesiasticus Chapter 49 The praise of Josias, of Jeremias, Ezechiel, and the twelve prophets. Also of Zorobabel, Jesus the son of Josedech, Nehemias, Enoch, Joseph, Seth, Sem, and Adam. 49:1. The memory of Josias is like the composition of a sweet smell made by the art of a perfumer: 49:2. His remembrance shall be sweet as honey in every mouth, and as music at a banquet of wine. 49:3. He was directed by God unto the repentance of the nation, and he took away the abominations of wickedness. 49:4. And he directed his heart towards the Lord, and in the days of sinners he strengthened godliness. 49:5. Except David, and Ezechias and Josias, all committed sin. 49:6. For the kings of Juda forsook the law of the most High, and despised the fear of God. 49:7. So they gave their kingdom to others, and their glory to a strange nation, 49:8. They burnt the chosen city of holiness, and made the streets thereof desolate according to the prediction of Jeremias. 49:9. For they treated him evil, who was consecrated a prophet from his mother's womb, to overthrow, and pluck up, and destroy, and to build again, and renew. 49:10. It was Ezechiel that saw the glorious vision, which was shewn him upon the chariot of cherubims. 49:11. For he made mention of the enemies under the figure of rain, and of doing good to them that shewed right ways. 49:12. And may the bones of the twelve prophets spring up out of their place: for they strengthened Jacob, and redeemed themselves by strong faith. 49:13. How shall we magnify Zorobabel? for he was as a signet on the right hand; 49:14. In like manner Jesus the son of Josedec who in their days built the house, and set up a holy temple to the Lord, prepared for everlasting glory. 49:15. And let Nehemias be a long time remembered, who raised up for us our walls that were cast down, and set up the gates and the bars, who rebuilt our houses. 49:16. No man was born upon earth like Henoch: for he also was taken up from the earth. 49:17. Nor as Joseph, who was a man born prince of his brethren, the support of his family, the ruler of his brethren, the stay of the people: 49:18. And his bones were visited, and after death they prophesied. They prophesied... That is, by their being carried out of Egypt they verified the prophetic prediction of Joseph. Gen. 50. 49:19. Seth and Sem obtained glory among men: and above every soul Adam in the beginning, Ecclesiasticus Chapter 50 The praises of Simon the high priest. The conclusion. 50:1. Simon the high priest, the son of Onias, who in his life propped up the house, and in his days fortified the temple. 50:2. By him also the height of the temple was founded, the double building and the high walls of the temple. 50:3. In his days the wells of water flowed out, and they were filled as the sea above measure. 50:4. He took care of his nation, and delivered it from destruction. 50:5. He prevailed to enlarge the city, and obtained glory in his conversation with the people: and enlarged the entrance of the house and the court. 50:6. He shone in his days as the morning star in the midst of a cloud, and as the moon at the full. 50:7. And as the sun when it shineth, so did he shine in the temple of God. 50:8. And as the rainbow giving light in bright clouds, and as the flower of roses in the days of the spring, and as the lilies that are on the brink of the water, and as the sweet smelling frankincense in the time of summer. 50:9. As a bright fire, and frankincense burning in the fire. 50:10. As a massy vessel of gold, adorned with every precious stone. 50:11. As an olive tree budding forth, and a cypress tree rearing itself on high, when he put on the robe of glory, and was clothed with the perfection of power. Clothed with the perfection of power... That is, with all the vestments denoting his dignity and authority. 50:12. When he went up to the holy altar, he honoured the vesture of holiness. 50:13. And when he took the portions out of the hands of the priests, he himself stood by the altar. And about him was the ring of his brethren: and as the cedar planted in mount Libanus, 50:14. And as branches of palm trees, they stood round about him, and all the sons of Aaron in their glory. 50:15. And the oblation of the Lord was in their hands, before all the congregation of Israel: and finishing his service, on the altar, to honour the offering of the most high King, 50:16. He stretched forth his hand to make a libation, and offered of the blood of the grape. 50:17. He poured out at the foot of the altar a divine odour to the most high Prince. 50:18. Then the sons of Aaron shouted, they sounded with beaten trumpets, and made a great noise to be heard for a remembrance before God. 50:19. Then all the people together made haste, and fell down to the earth upon their faces, to adore the Lord their God, and to pray to the Almighty God the most High. 50:20. And the singers lifted up their voices, and in the great house the sound of sweet melody was increased. 50:21. And the people in prayer besought the Lord the most High, until the worship of the Lord was perfected, and they had finished their office. 50:22. Then coming down, he lifted up his hands over all the congregation of the children of Israel, to give glory to God with his lips, and to glory in his name: 50:23. And he repeated his prayer, willing to shew the power of God. 50:24. And now pray ye to the God of all, who hath done great things in all the earth, who hath increased our days from our mother's womb, and hath done with us according to his mercy. 50:25. May he grant us joyfulness of heart, and that there be peace in our days in Israel for ever: 50:26. That Israel may believe that the mercy of God is with us, to deliver us in his days. 50:27. There are two nations which my soul abhorreth: and the third is no nation: which I hate: Abhorreth... Viz., with a holy indignation, as enemies of God and persecutors of his people. Such were then the Edomites who abode in mount Seir, the Philistines, and the Samaritans who dwelt in Sichem, and had their schismatical temple in that neighbourhood. 50:28. They that sit on mount Seir, and the Philistines, and the foolish people that dwell in Sichem. 50:29. Jesus the son of Sirach, of Jerusalem, hath written in this book the doctrine of wisdom and instruction, who renewed wisdom from his heart. 50:30. Blessed is he that is conversant in these good things and he that layeth them up in his heart, shall be wise always. 50:31. For if he do them, he shall be strong to do all things: because the light of God guideth his steps. Ecclesiasticus Chapter 51 A prayer of praise and thanksgiving. 51:1. A prayer of Jesus the son of Sirach. I will give glory to thee, O Lord, O King, and I will praise thee, O God my Saviour. 51:2. I will give glory to thy name: for thou hast been a helper and protector to me. 51:3. And hast preserved my body from destruction, from the snare of an unjust tongue, and from the lips of them that forge lies, and in the sight of them that stood by, thou hast been my helper. 51:4. And thou hast delivered me, according to the multitude of the mercy of thy name, from them that did roar, prepared to devour. 51:5. Out of the hands of them that sought my life, and from the gates of afflictions, which compassed me about: 51:6. From the oppression of the flame which surrounded me, and in the midst of the fire I was not burnt. 51:7. From the depth of the belly of hell, and from an unclean tongue, and from lying words, from an unjust king, and from a slanderous tongue: 51:8. My soul shall praise the Lord even to death. 51:9. And my life was drawing near to hell beneath. 51:10. They compassed me on every side, and there was no one that would help me. I looked for the succour of men, and there was none. 51:11. I remembered thy mercy, O Lord, and thy works, which are from the beginning of the world. 51:12. How thou deliverest them that wait for thee, O Lord, and savest them out of the hands of the nations. 51:13. Thou hast exalted my dwelling place upon the earth and I have prayed for death to pass away. 51:14. I called upon the Lord, the father of my Lord, that he would not leave me in the day of my trouble, and in the time of the proud without help. 51:15. I will praise thy name continually, and will praise it with thanksgiving, and my prayer was heard. 51:16. And thou hast saved me from destruction, and hast delivered me from the evil time. 51:17. Therefore I will give thanks, and praise thee, and bless the name of the Lord. 51:18. When I was yet young, before I wandered about, I sought for wisdom openly in my prayer. 51:19. I prayed for her before the temple, and unto the very end I will seek after her, and she flourished as a grape soon ripe. 51:20. My heart delighted in her, my foot walked in the right way, from my youth up I sought after her. 51:21. I bowed down my ear a little, and received her. 51:22. I found much wisdom in myself, and profited much therein. 51:23. To him that giveth me wisdom, will I give glory. 51:24. For I have determined to follow her: I have had a zeal for good, and shall not be confounded. 51:25. My soul hath wrestled for her, and in doing it I have been confirmed. 51:26. I stretched forth my hands on high, and I bewailed my ignorance of her. 51:27. I directed my soul to her, and in knowledge I found her. 51:28. I possessed my heart with her from the beginning: therefore I shall not be forsaken. 51:29. My entrails were troubled in seeking her: therefore shall I possess a good possession. 51:30. The Lord hath given me a tongue for my reward: and with it I will praise him. 51:31. Draw near to me, ye unlearned, and gather yourselves together into the hours of discipline. 51:32. Why are ye slow and what do you say of these things? your souls are exceeding thirsty. 51:33. I have opened my mouth, and have spoken: buy her for yourselves without silver, 51:34. And submit your neck to the yoke, and let your soul receive discipline: for she is near at hand to be found. 51:35. Behold with your eyes how I have laboured a little, and have found much rest to myself. 51:36. Receive ye discipline as a great sum of money, and possess abundance of gold by her. 51:37. Let your soul rejoice in his mercy and you shall not be confounded in his praise. 51:38. Work your work before the time, and he will give you your reward in his time. THE PROPHECY OF ISAIAS This inspired writer is called by the Holy Ghost, the great prophet, (Ecclesiasticus:48.25,) from the greatness of his prophetic spirit, by which he hath foretold so long before, and in so clear a manner, the coming of Christ, the mysteries of our redemption, the calling of the Gentiles, and the glorious establishment, and perpetual flourishing of the church of Christ: insomuch that he may seem to have been rather an evangelist than a prophet. His very name is not without mystery; for Isaias in Hebrew signifies the salvation of the Lord, or Jesus is the Lord. He was, according to the tradition of the Hebrews, of the blood royal of the kings of Juda: and after a most holy life, ended his days by a glorious martyrdom; being sawed in two, at the command of his wicked son-in-law, King Manasses, for reproving his evil ways. Isaias Chapter 1 The prophet complains of the sins of Juda and Jerusalem, and exhorts them to a sincere conversion. 1:1. The vision of Isaias the Son of Amos, which he saw concerning Juda and Jerusalem in the days of Ozias, Joathan, Achaz, and Ezechias, kings of Juda. 1:2. Hear, O ye heavens, and give ear, O earth, for the Lord hath spoken. I have brought up children, and exalted them: but they have despised me. 1:3. The ox knoweth his owner, and the ass his master's crib: but Israel hath not known me, and my people hath not understood. 1:4. Woe to the sinful nation, a people laden with iniquity, a wicked seed, ungracious children: they have forsaken the Lord, they have blasphemed the Holy One of Israel, they are gone away backwards. 1:5. For what shall I strike you any more, you that increase transgression? the whole head is sick, and the whole heart is sad. 1:6. From the sole of the foot unto the top of the head, there is no soundness therein: wounds and bruises and swelling sores: they are not bound up, nor dressed, nor fomented with oil. 1:7. Your land is desolate, your cities are burnt with fire: your country strangers devour before your face, and it shall be desolate as when wasted by enemies. 1:8. And the daughter of Sion shall be left as a covert in a vineyard, and as a lodge in a garden of cucumbers, and as a city that is laid waste. 1:9. Except the Lord of hosts had left us seed, we had been as Sodom, and we should have been like to Gomorrha. 1:10. Hear the word of the Lord, ye rulers of Sodom, give ear to the law of our God, ye people of Gomorrha. 1:11. To what purpose do you offer me the multitude of your victims, saith the Lord? I am full, I desire not holocausts of rams, and fat of fatlings, and blood of calves, and lambs, and buck goats. 1:12. When you came to appear before me, who required these things at your hands, that you should walk in my courts? 1:13. Offer sacrifice no more in vain: incense is an abomination to me. The new moons, and the sabbaths and other festivals I will not abide, your assemblies are wicked. 1:14. My soul hateth your new moons, and your solemnities: they are become troublesome to me, I am weary of bearing them. 1:15. And when you stretch forth your hands, I will turn away my eyes from you: and when you multiply prayer, I will not hear: for your hands are full of blood. 1:16. Wash yourselves, be clean, take away the evil of your devices from my eyes, cease to do perversely, 1:17. Learn to do well: seek judgment, relieve the oppressed, judge for the fatherless, defend the widow. 1:18. And then come, and accuse me, saith the Lord: if your sins be as scarlet, they shall be made as white as snow: and if they be red as crimson, they shall be white as wool. 1:19. If you be willing, and will hearken to me, you shall eat the good things of the land. 1:20. But if you will not, and will provoke me to wrath: the sword shall devour you because the mouth of the Lord hath spoken it. 1:21. How is the faithful city, that was full of judgment, become a harlot? justice dwelt in it, but now murderers. 1:22. Thy silver is turned into dross: thy wine is mingled with water. 1:23. Thy princes are faithless, companions of thieves: they all love bribes, they run after rewards. They judge not for the fatherless: and the widow's cause cometh not in to them. 1:24. Therefore saith the Lord the God of hosts, the mighty one of Israel: Ah! I will comfort myself over my adversaries: and I will be revenged of my enemies. 1:25. And I will turn my hand to thee, and I will clean purge away thy dross, and I will take away all thy tin. 1:26. And I will restore thy judges as they were before, and thy counsellors as of old. After this thou shalt be called the city of the just, a faithful city. 1:27. Sion shall be redeemed in judgment, and they shall bring her back in justice. 1:28. And he shall destroy the wicked, and the sinners together: and they that have forsaken the Lord, shall be consumed. 1:29. For they shall be confounded for the idols, to which they have sacrificed: and you shall be ashamed of the gardens which you have chosen. 1:30. When you shall be as an oak with the leaves falling off, and as a garden without water. 1:31. And your strength shall be as the ashes of tow, and your work as a spark: and both shall burn together, and there shall be none to quench it. Isaias Chapter 2 All nations shall flow to the church of Christ. The Jews shall be rejected for their sins. Idolatry shall be destroyed. 2:1. The word that Isaias the son of Amos saw, concerning Juda and Jerusalem. 2:2. And in the last days the mountain of the house of the Lord shall be prepared on the top of mountains, and it shall be exalted above the hills, and all nations shall flow unto it. The last days... The whole time of the new law, from the coming of Christ till the end of the world, is called in the scripture the last days; because no other age or time shall come after it, but only eternity.-Ibid. On the top of mountains, etc... This shews the perpetual visibility of the church of Christ: for a mountain upon the top of mountains cannot be hid. 2:3. And many people shall go, and say: Come and let us go up to the mountain of the Lord, and to the house of the God of Jacob, and he will teach us his ways, and we will walk in his paths: for the law shall come forth from Sion, and the word of the Lord from Jerusalem. 2:4. And he shall judge the Gentiles, and rebuke many people: and they shall turn their swords into ploughshares, and their spears into sickles: nation shall not lift up sword against nation, neither shall they be exercised any more to war. 2:5. O house of Jacob, come ye, and let us walk in the light of the Lord. 2:6. For thou hast cast off thy people, the house of Jacob: because they are filled as in times past, and have had soothsayers as the Philistines, and have adhered to strange children. 2:7. Their land is filled with silver and gold: and there is no end of their treasures. 2:8. And their land is filled with horses: and their chariots are innumerable. Their land also is full of idols: they have adored the work of their own hands, which their own fingers have made. 2:9. And man hath bowed himself down, and man hath been debased: therefore forgive them not. 2:10. Enter thou into the rock, and hide thee in the pit from the face of the fear of the Lord, and from the glory of his majesty. 2:11. The lofty eyes of man are humbled, and the haughtiness of men shall be made to stoop: and the Lord alone shall be exalted in that day. 2:12. Because the day of the Lord of hosts shall be upon every one that is proud and highminded, and upon every one that is arrogant, and he shall be humbled. 2:13. And upon all the tall and lofty cedars of Libanus, and upon all the oaks of Basan. 2:14. And upon all the high mountains and upon all the elevated hills. 2:15. And upon every high tower, and every fenced wall. 2:16. And upon all the ships of Tharsis, and upon all that is fair to behold. 2:17. And the loftiness of men shall be bowed down, and the haughtiness of men shall be humbled, and the Lord alone shall be exalted in that day. 2:18. And idols shall be utterly destroyed. Idols shall be utterly destroyed... or utterly pass away. This was verified by the establishment of Christianity. And by this and other texts of the like nature, the wild system of some modern sectaries is abundantly confuted, who charge the whole Christian church with worshipping idols, for many ages. 2:19. And they shall go into the holes of rocks, and into the caves of the earth from the face of the fear of the Lord, and from the glory of his majesty, when he shall rise up to strike the earth. 2:20. In that day a man shall cast away his idols of silver, and his idols of gold, which he had made for himself to adore, moles and bats. 2:21. And he shall go into the clefts of rocks, and into the holes of stones from the face of the fear of the Lord, and from the glory of his majesty, when he shall rise up to strike the earth. 2:22. Cease ye therefore from the man, whose breath is in his nostrils, for he is reputed high. Isaias Chapter 3 The confusion and other evils that shall come upon the Jews for their sins. The pride of their women shall be punished. 3:1. For behold the sovereign Lord of hosts shall take away from Jerusalem, and from Juda the valiant and the strong, the whole strength of bread, and the whole strength of water. 3:2. The strong man, and the man of war, the judge, and the prophet and the cunning man, and the ancient. 3:3. The captain over fifty, and the honourable in countenance, and the counsellor, and the architect, and the skilful in eloquent speech. 3:4. And I will give children to be their princes, and the effeminate shall rule over them. 3:5. And the people shall rush one upon another, and every man against his neighbour: the child shall make a tumult against the ancient, and the base against the honourable. 3:6. For a man shall take hold of his brother, one of the house of his father, saying: Thou hast a garment, be thou our ruler, and let this ruin be under thy hand. 3:7. In that day he shall answer, saying: I am no healer, and in my house there is no bread, nor clothing: make me not ruler of the people. 3:8. For Jerusalem is ruined, and Juda is fallen: because their tongue, and their devices are against the Lord, to provoke the eyes of his majesty. 3:9. The shew of their countenance hath answered them: and they have proclaimed abroad their sin as Sodom, and they have not hid it: woe to their souls, for evils are rendered to them. 3:10. Say to the just man that it is well, for he shall eat the fruit of his doings. 3:11. Woe to the wicked unto evil: for the reward of his hands shall be given him. 3:12. As for my people, their oppressors have stripped them, and women have ruled over them. O my people, they that call thee blessed, the same deceive thee, and destroy the way of thy steps. 3:13. The Lord standeth up to judge, and he standeth to judge the people. 3:14. The Lord will enter into judgment with the ancients of his people, and its princes: for you have devoured the vineyard, and the spoil of the poor is in your house. 3:15. Why do you consume my people, and grind the faces of the poor? saith the Lord the God of hosts. 3:16. And the Lord said: Because the daughters of Sion are haughty, and have walked with stretched out necks, and wanton glances of their eyes, and made a noise as they walked with their feet and moved in a set pace: 3:17. The Lord will make bald the crown of the head of the daughters of Sion, and the Lord will discover their hair. 3:18. In that day the Lord will take away the ornaments of shoes, and little moons, 3:19. And chains and necklaces, and bracelets, and bonnets, 3:20. And bodkins, and ornaments of the legs, and tablets, and sweet balls, and earrings, 3:21. And rings, and jewels hanging on the forehead, 3:22. And changes of apparel, and short cloaks, and fine linen, and crisping pins, 3:23. And lookingglasses, and lawns, and headbands, and fine veils. 3:24. And instead of a sweet smell there shall be stench, and instead of a girdle, a cord, and instead of curled hair, baldness, and instead of a stomacher, haircloth. 3:25. Thy fairest men also shall fall by the sword, and thy valiant ones in battle. 3:26. And her gates shall lament and mourn, and she shall sit desolate on the ground. Isaias Chapter 4 After an extremity of evils that shall fall upon the Jews, a remnant shall be comforted by Christ. 4:1. And in that day seven women shall take hold of one man, saying: We will eat our own bread, and wear our own apparel: only let us be called by thy name, take away our reproach. 4:2. In that day the bud of the Lord shall be in magnificence and glory, and the fruit of the earth shall be high, and a great joy to them that shall have escaped of Israel. The bud of the Lord... That is, Christ. 4:3. And it shall come to pass, that every one that shall be left in Sion, and that shall remain in Jerusalem, shall be called holy, every one that is written in life in Jerusalem. 4:4. If the Lord shall wash away the filth of the daughters of Sion, and shall wash away the blood of Jerusalem out of the midst thereof, by the spirit of judgment, and by the spirit of burning. 4:5. And the Lord will create upon every place of mount Sion, and where he is called upon, a cloud by day, and a smoke and the brightness of a flaming fire in the night: for over all the glory shall be a protection. 4:6. And there shall be a tabernacle for a shade in the daytime from the heat, and for a security and covert from the whirlwind, and from rain. Isaias Chapter 5 The reprobation of the Jews is foreshewn under the parable of a vineyard. A woe is pronounced against sinners: the army of God shall send against them. 5:1. I will sing to my beloved the canticle of my cousin concerning his vineyard. My beloved had a vineyard on a hill in a fruitful place. My cousin... So the prophet calls Christ, as being of his family and kindred, by descending from the house of David. Ibid. On a hill, etc... Literally, in the horn, the son of oil. 5:2. And he fenced it in, and picked the stones out of it, and planted it with the choicest vines, and built a tower in the midst thereof, and set up a winepress therein: and he looked that it should bring forth grapes, and it brought forth wild grapes. 5:3. And now, O ye inhabitants of Jerusalem, and ye men of Juda, judge between me and my vineyard. 5:4. What is there that I ought to do more to my vineyard, that I have not done to it? was it that I looked that it should bring forth grapes, and it hath brought forth wild grapes? 5:5. And now I will shew you what I will do to my vineyard. I will take away the hedge thereof, and it shall be wasted: I will break down the wall thereof, and it shall be trodden down. 5:6. And I will make it desolate: it shall not be pruned, and it shall not be digged: but briers and thorns shall come up: and I will command the clouds to rain no rain upon it. 5:7. For the vineyard of the Lord of hosts is the house of Israel: and the man of Juda, his pleasant plant: and I looked that he should do judgment, and behold iniquity: and do justice, and behold a cry. 5:8. Woe to you that join house to house and lay field to field, even to the end of the place: shall you alone dwell in the midst of the earth? 5:9. These things are in my ears, saith the Lord of hosts: Unless many great and fair houses shall become desolate, without an inhabitant. 5:10. For ten acres of vineyard shall yield one little measure, and thirty bushels of seed shall yield three bushels. 5:11. Woe to you that rise up early in the morning to follow drunkenness, and to drink in the evening, to be inflamed with wine. 5:12. The harp, and the lyre, and, the timbrel and the pipe, and wine are in your feasts: and the work of the Lord you regard not, nor do you consider the works of his hands. 5:13. Therefore is my people led away captive, because they had not knowledge, and their nobles have perished with famine, and their multitude were dried up with thirst. 5:14. Therefore hath hell enlarged her soul, and opened her mouth without any bounds, and their strong ones, and their people, and their high and glorious ones shall go down into it. 5:15. And man shall be brought down, and man shall be humbled, and the eyes of the lofty shall be brought low. 5:16. And the Lord of hosts shall be exalted in judgment, and the holy God shall be sanctified in justice. 5:17. And the lambs shall feed according to their order, and strangers shall eat the deserts turned into fruitfulness. 5:18. Woe to you that draw iniquity with cords of vanity, and sin as the rope of a cart. 5:19. That say: Let him make haste, and let his work come quickly, that we may see it: and let the counsel of the Holy One of Israel come, that we may know it. 5:20. Woe to you that call evil good, and good evil: that put darkness for light, and light for darkness: that put bitter for sweet, and sweet for bitter. 5:21. Woe to you that are wise in your own eyes, and prudent in your own conceits. 5:22. Woe to you that are mighty to drink wine, and stout men at drunkenness. 5:23. That justify the wicked for gifts, and take away the justice of the just from him. 5:24. Therefore as the tongue of the fire devoureth the stubble, and the heat of the flame consumeth it: so shall their root be as ashes, and their bud shall go up as dust: for they have cast away the law of the Lord of hosts, and have blasphemed the word of the Holy One of Israel. 5:25. Therefore is the wrath of the Lord kindled against his people, and he hath stretched out his hand upon them, and struck them: and the mountains were troubles, and their carcasses became as dung in the midst of the streets. For after this his anger is not turned away, but his hand is stretched out still. 5:26. And he will lift up a sign to the nations afar off, and will whistle to them from the ends of the earth: and behold they shall come with speed swiftly. 5:27. There is none that shall faint, nor labour among them: they shall not slumber nor sleep, neither shall the girdle of their loins be loosed, nor the latchet of their shoes be broken. 5:28. Their arrows are sharp, and all their bows are bent. The hoofs of their horses shall be like the flint, and their wheels like the violence of a tempest. 5:29. Their roaring like that of a lion, they shall roar like young lions: yea they shall roar, and take hold of the prey, and they shall keep fast hold of it, and there shall be none to deliver it. 5:30. And they shall make a noise against them that day, like the roaring of the sea; we shall look towards the land, and behold darkness of tribulation, and the light is darkened with the mist thereof. Isaias Chapter 6 A glorious vision, in which the prophet's lips are cleansed: he foretelleth the obstinacy of the Jews. 6:1. In the year that king Ozias died, I saw the Lord sitting upon a throne high and elevated: and his train filled the temple. 6:2. Upon it stood the seraphims: the one had six wings, and the other had six wings: with two they covered his face, and with two they covered his feet, and with two they flew. 6:3. And they cried one to another, and said: Holy, holy, holy, the Lord God of hosts, all the earth is full of his glory, 6:4. And the lintels of the doors were moved at the voice of him that cried, and the house was filled with smoke. 6:5. And I said: Woe is me, because I have held my peace; because I am a man of unclean lips, and I dwell in the midst of a people that hath unclean lips, and I have seen with my eyes the King the Lord of hosts. 6:6. And one of the seraphims flew to me, and in his hand was a live coal, which he had taken with the tongs off the altar. 6:7. And he touched my mouth, and said: Behold this hath touched thy lips, and thy iniquities shall be taken away, and thy sin shall be cleansed. 6:8. And I heard the voice of the Lord, saying: Whom shall I send? and who shall go for us? And I said: Lo, here am I, send me. 6:9. And he said: Go, and thou shalt say to this people: Hearing, hear, and understand not: and see the vision, and know it not. 6:10. Blind the heart of this people, and make their ears heavy, and shut their eyes: lest they see with their eyes, and hear with their ears, and understand with their heart, and be converted and I heal them. 6:11. And I said: How long, O Lord? And he said: Until the cities be wasted without inhabitant, and the houses without man, and the land shall be left desolate. 6:12. And the Lord shall remove men far away, and she shall be multiplied that was left in the midst of the earth. 6:13. And there shall be still a tithing therein, and she shall turn, and shall be made a show as a turpentine tree, and as an oak that spreadeth its branches: that which shall stand therein, shall be a holy seed. Isaias Chapter 7 The prophet assures king Achaz that the two kings his enemies shall not take Jerusalem. A virgin shall conceive and bear a son. 7:1. And it came to pass in the days of Achaz the son of Joathan, the son of Ozias, king of Juda, that Rasin king of Syria and Phacee the son of Romelia king of Israel, came up to Jerusalem, to fight against it: but they could not prevail over it. 7:2. And they told the house of David, saying: Syria hath rested upon Ephraim, and his heart was moved, and the heart of his people, as the trees of the woods are moved with the wind. 7:3. And the Lord said to Isaias: Go forth to meet Achaz, thou and Jasub thy son that is left, to the conduit of the upper pool in the way of the fuller's field. 7:4. And thou shalt say to him: See thou be quiet: fear not, and let not thy heart be afraid of the two tails of these firebrands, smoking with the wrath of the fury of Rasin king of Syria, and of the son of Romelia. 7:5. Because Syria hath taken counsel against thee, unto the evil of Ephraim and the son of Romelia, saying: 7:6. Let us go up to Juda, and rouse it up, and draw it away to us, and make the son of Tabeel king in the midst thereof. 7:7. Thus saith the Lord God: It shall not stand, and this shall not be. 7:8. But the head of Syria is Damascus, and the head of Damascus is Rasin: and within threescore and five years, Ephraim shall cease to be a people: 7:9. And the head of Ephraim is Samaria, and the head of Samaria is the son of Romelia. If you will not believe, you shall not continue. 7:10. And the Lord spoke again to Achaz, saying: 7:11. Ask thee a sign of the Lord thy God, either unto the depth of hell, or unto the height above. 7:12. And Achaz said: I will not ask, and I will not tempt the Lord. 7:13. And he said: Hear ye therefore, O house of David: Is it a small thing for you to be grievous to men, that you are grievous to my God also? 7:14. Therefore the Lord himself shall give you a sign. Behold a virgin shall conceive, and bear a son and his name shall be called Emmanuel. 7:15. He shall eat butter and honey, that he may know to refuse the evil, and to choose the good. 7:16. For before the child know to refuse the evil and to choose the good, the land which thou abhorrest shall be forsaken of the face of her two kings. 7:17. The Lord shall bring upon thee, and upon thy people, and upon the house of thy father, days that have not come since the time of the separation of Ephraim from Juda with the king of the Assyrians. 7:18. And it shall come to pass in that day, that the Lord shall hiss for the fly, that is in the uttermost parts of the rivers of Egypt, and for the bee that is in the land of Assyria. 7:19. And they shall come, and shall all of them rest in the torrents of the valleys, and in the holes of the rocks, and upon all places set with shrubs, and in all hollow places. 7:20. In that day the Lord shall shave with a razor that is hired by them that are beyond the river, by the king of the Assyrians, the head and the hairs of the feet, and the whole beard. 7:21. And it shall come to pass in that day, that a man shall nourish a young cow, and two sheep. 7:22. And for the abundance of milk he shall eat butter: for butter and honey shall every one eat that shall be left in the midst of the land. 7:23. And it shall come to pass in that day, that every place where there were a thousand vines, at a thousand pieces of silver, shall become thorns and briers. 7:24. With arrows and with bows they shall go in thither: for briers and thorns shall be in all the land. 7:25. And as for the hills that shall be raked with a rake, the fear of thorns and briers shall not come thither, but they shall be for the ox to feed on, and the lesser cattle to tread upon. Isaias Chapter 8 The name of a child that is to be born: many evils shall come upon the Jews for their sins. 8:1. And the Lord said to me: Take thee a great book, and write in it with a man's pen. Take away the spoils with speed, quickly take the prey. 8:2. And I took unto me faithful witnesses, Urias the priest, and Zacharias the son of Barachias. 8:3. And I went to the prophetess, and she conceived, and bore a son. And the Lord said to me: Call his name, Hasten to take away the spoils: Make hast to take away the prey. 8:4. For before the child know to call his father and his mother, the strength of Damascus, and the spoils of Samaria shall be taken away before the king of the Assyrians. 8:5. And the Lord spoke to me again, saying: 8:6. Forasmuch as this people hath cast away the waters of Siloe, that go with silence, and hath rather taken Rasin, and the son of Romelia: 8:7. Therefore behold the Lord will bring upon them the waters of the river strong and many, the king of the Assyrians, and all his glory: and he shall come up over all his channels, and shall overflow all his banks. 8:8. And shall pass through Juda, overflowing, and going over shall reach even to the neck. And the stretching out of his wings shall fill the breadth of thy, land, O Emmanuel. 8:9. Gather yourselves together, O ye people, and be overcome, and give ear, all ye lands afar off: strengthen yourselves, and be overcome, gird yourselves, and be overcome. 8:10. Take counsel together, and it shall be defeated: speak a word, and it shall not be done: because God is with us. 8:11. For thus saith the Lord to me: As he hath taught me, with a strong arm, that I should not walk in the way of this people, saying: 8:12. Say ye not: A conspiracy: for all that this people speaketh, is a conspiracy: neither fear ye their fear, nor be afraid. 8:13. Sanctify the Lord of hosts himself: and let him be your fear, and let him be your dread. 8:14. And he shall be a sanctification to you. But for a stone of stumbling, and for a rock of offence to the two houses of Israel, for a snare and a ruin to the inhabitants of Jerusalem. 8:15. And very many of them shall stumble and fall, and shall be broken in pieces, and shall be snared, and taken. 8:16. Bind up the testimony, seal the law among my disciples. 8:17. And I will wait for the Lord, who hath hid his face from the house of Jacob, and I will look for him. 8:18. Behold I and my children, whom the Lord hath given me for a sign, and for a wonder in Israel from the Lord of hosts, who dwelleth in mount Sion. 8:19. And when they shall say to you: Seek of pythons, and of diviners, who mutter in their enchantments: should not the people seek of their God, for the living of the dead? Seek of pythons... That is, people pretending to tell future things by a prophesying spirit.-Ibid. Should not the people seek of their God, for the living of the dead?... Here is signified, that it is to God we should pray to be directed, and not to seek of the dead, (that is, of fortune-tellers dead in sin,) for the health of the living. 8:20. To the law rather, and to the testimony. And if they speak not according to this word, they shall not have the morning light. 8:21. And they shall pass by it, they shall fall, and be hungry: and when they shall be hungry, they will be angry, and curse their king, and their God, and look upwards. 8:22. And they shall look to the earth, and behold trouble and darkness, weakness and distress, and a mist following them, and they cannot fly away from their distress. Isaias Chapter 9 What joy shall come after afflictions by the birth and kingdom of Christ; which shall flourish for ever. Judgments upon Israel for their sins. 9:1. At the first time the land of Zabulon, and the land of Nephtali was lightly touched: and at the last the way of the sea beyond the Jordan of the Galilee of the Gentiles was heavily loaded. 9:2. The people that walked in darkness, have seen a great light: to them that dwelt in the region of the shadow of death, light is risen. 9:3. Thou hast multiplied the nation, and hast not increased the joy. They shall rejoice before thee, as they that rejoice in the harvest, as conquerors rejoice after taking a prey, when they divide the spoils. 9:4. For the yoke of their burden, and the rod of their shoulder, and the sceptre of their oppressor thou hast overcome, as in the day of Madian. 9:5. For every violent taking of spoils, with tumult, and garment mingled with blood, shall be burnt, and be fuel for the fire. 9:6. For a CHILD IS BORN to us, and a son is given to us, and the government is upon his shoulder: and his name shall be called Wonderful, Counsellor, God the Mighty, the Father of the world to come, the Prince of Peace. 9:7. His empire shall be multiplied, and there shall be no end of peace: he shall sit upon the throne of David, and upon his kingdom; to establish it and strengthen it with judgment and with justice, from henceforth and for ever: the zeal of the Lord of hosts will perform this. 9:8. The Lord sent a word into Jacob, and it hath lighted upon Israel. 9:9. And all the people of Ephraim shall know, and the inhabitants of Samaria that say in the pride and haughtiness of their heart: 9:10. The bricks are fallen down, but we will build with square stones: they have cut down the sycamores, but we will change them for cedars. 9:11. And the Lord shall set up the enemies of Rasin over him, and shall bring on his enemies in a crowd: 9:12. The Syrians from the east, and, the Philistines from the west: and they shall devour Israel with open mouth. For all this his indignation is not turned away, but his hand is stretched out still. 9:13. And the people are not returned to him who hath struck them, and have not sought after the Lord of hosts. 9:14. And the Lord shall destroy out of Israel the head and the tail, him that bendeth down, and him that holdeth back, in one day. 9:15. The aged and honourable, he is the head: and the prophet that teacheth lies, he is the tail. 9:16. And they that call this people blessed, shall cause them to err: and they that are called blessed, shall be thrown down, headlong. 9:17. Therefore the Lord shall have no joy in their young men: neither shall he have mercy on their fatherless, and widows: for every one is a hypocrite and wicked, and every mouth hath spoken folly. For all this his indignation is not turned away, but his hand is stretched out still. 9:18. For wickedness is kindled as a fire, it shall devour the brier and the thorn: and shall kindle in the thicket of the forest, and it shall be wrapped up in smoke ascending on high. 9:19. By the wrath of the Lord of hosts the land is troubled, and the people shall be as fuel for the fire: no man shall spare his brother. 9:20. And he shall turn to the right hand, and shall be hungry: and shall eat on the left hand, and shall not be filled: every one shall eat the flesh of his own arm: Manasses Ephraim, and Ephraim Manasses, and they together shall be against Juda. 9:21. After all these things his indignation is not turned away, but his hand is stretched out still. Isaias Chapter 10 Woe to the makers of wicked laws. The Assyrian shall be a rod for punishing Israel: but for their pride they shall be destroyed: and a remnant of Israel saved. 10:1. Woe to them that make wicked laws: and when they write, write injustice: 10:2. To oppress the poor in judgment, and do violence to the cause of the humble of my people: that widows might be their prey, and that they might rob the fatherless. 10:3. What will you do in the day of visitation, and of the calamity which cometh from afar? to whom will ye flee for help? and where will ye leave your glory? 10:4. That you be not bowed down under the bond, and fall with the slain? In all these things his anger is not turned away, but his hand is stretched out still. 10:5. Woe to the Assyrian, he is the rod and the staff of my anger, and my indignation is in their hands. 10:6. I will send him to a deceitful nation, and I will give him a charge against the people of my wrath, to take away the spoils, and to lay hold on the prey, and to tread them down like the mire of the streets. 10:7. But he shall not take it so, and his heart shall not think so: but his heart shall be set to destroy, and to cut off nations not a few. 10:8. For he shall say: 10:9. Are not my princes as so many kings? is not Calano as Charcamis: and Emath as Arphad? is not Samaria as Damascus? 10:10. As my hand hath found the kingdoms of the idol, so also their idols of Jerusalem, and of Samaria. 10:11. Shall I not, as I have done to Samaria and her idols, so do to Jerusalem and her idols? 10:12. And it shall come to pass, that when the Lord shall have performed all his works in mount Sion, and in Jerusalem, I will visit the fruit of the proud heart of the king of Assyria, and the glory of the haughtiness of his eyes. 10:13. For he hath said: By the strength of my own hand I have done it, and by my own wisdom I have understood: and I have removed the bounds of the people, and have taken the spoils of the princes, and as a mighty man hath pulled down them that sat on high. 10:14. And my hand hath found the strength of the people as a nest; and as eggs are gathered, that are left, so have I gathered all the earth: and there was none that moved the wing, or opened the mouth, or made the least noise. 10:15. Shall the axe boast itself against him that cutteth with it? or shall the saw exalt itself against him by whom it is drawn? as if a rod should lift itself up against him that lifteth it up, and a staff exalt itself, which is but wood. 10:16. Therefore the sovereign Lord, the Lord of hosts, shall send leanness among his fat ones: and under his glory shall be kindled a burning, as it were the burning of a fire. 10:17. And the light of Israel shall be as a fire, and the Holy One thereof as a flame: and his thorns and his briers shall be set on fire, and shall be devoured in one day. 10:18. And the glory of his forest, and of his beautiful hill, shall be consumed from the soul even to the flesh, and he shall run away through fear. 10:19. And they that remain of the trees of his forest shall be so few, that they shall easily be numbered, and a child shall write them down. 10:20. And it shall come to pass in that day, that the remnant of Israel, and they that shall escape of the house of Jacob, shall lean no more upon him that striketh them: but they shall lean upon the Lord the Holy One of Israel, in truth. 10:21. The remnant shall be converted, the remnant, I say, of Jacob, to the mighty God. 10:22. For if thy people, O Israel, shall be as the sand of the sea, a remnant of them shall be converted, the consumption abridged shall overflow with justice. A remnant of them shall be converted... This was partly verified in the children of Israel who remained after the devastations of the Assyrians, in the time of king Ezechias: and partly in the conversion of a remnant of the Jews to the faithful of Christ.-Ibid. The consumption abridged, etc... That is, the number of them cut short, and reduced to few, shall flourish in abundance of justice. 10:23. For the Lord God of hosts shall make a consumption, and an abridgment in the midst of all the land. 10:24. Therefore, thus saith the Lord the God of hosts: O my people that dwellest in Sion, be not afraid of the Assyrian: he shall strike thee with his rod, and he shall lift up his staff over thee in the way of Egypt. 10:25. For yet a little and a very little while, and my indignation shall cease, and my wrath shall be upon their wickedness. 10:26. And the Lord of hosts shall raise up a scourge against him, according to the slaughter of Madian in the rock of Oreb, and his rod over the sea, and he shall lift it up in the way of Egypt. 10:27. And it shall come to pass in that day, that his burden shall be taken away from off thy shoulder, and his yoke from off thy neck, and the yoke shall putrefy at the presence of the oil. At the presence of the oil... That is, by the sweet unction of divine mercy. 10:28. He shall come into Aiath, he shall pass into Magron: at Machmas he shall lay up his carriages. Into Aiath, etc... Here the prophet describes the march of the Assyrians under Sennacherib; and the terror they should carry with them; and how they should suddenly be destroyed. 10:29. They have passed in haste, Gaba is our lodging: Rama was astonished, Gabaath of Saul fled away. 10:30. Lift up thy voice, O daughter of Gallim, attend, O Laisa, poor Anathoth. 10:31. Medemena is removed: ye inhabitants of Gabim, take courage. 10:32. It is yet day enough, to remain in Nobe: he shall shake his hand against the mountain of the daughter of Sion, the hill of Jerusalem. 10:33. Behold the sovereign Lord of hosts shall break the earthen vessel with terror, and the tall of stature shall be cut down, and the lofty shall be humbled. 10:34. And the thickets of the forest shall be cut down with iron, and Libanus with its high ones shall fall. Isaias Chapter 11 Of the spiritual kingdom of Christ, to which all nations shall repair. 11:1. And there shall come forth a rod out of the root of Jesse, and a flower shall rise up out of his root. 11:2. And the spirit of the Lord shall rest upon him: the spirit of wisdom, and of understanding, the spirit of counsel, and of fortitude, the spirit of knowledge, and of godliness. 11:3. And he shall be filled with the spirit of the fear of the Lord, He shall not judge according to the sight of the eyes, nor reprove according to the hearing of the ears. 11:4. But he shall judge the poor with justice, and shall reprove with equity the meek of the earth: and he shall strike the earth with the rod of his mouth, and with the breath of his lips he shall slay the wicked. 11:5. And justice shall be the girdle of his loins: and faith the girdle of his reins. 11:6. The wolf shall dwell with the lamb: and the leopard shall lie down with the kid: the calf and the lion, and the sheep shall abide together, and a little child shall lead them. 11:7. The calf and the bear shall feed: their young ones shall rest together: and the lion shall eat straw like the ox. 11:8. And the sucking child shall play on other hole of the asp: and the weaned child shall thrust his hand into the den of the basilisk. 11:9. They shall not hurt, nor shall they kill in all my holy mountain, for the earth is filled with the knowledge of the Lord, as the covering waters of the sea. 11:10. In that day the root of Jesse, who standeth for an ensign of the people, him the Gentiles shall beseech, and his sepulchre shall be glorious. 11:11. And it shall come to pass in that day, that the Lord shall set his hand the second time to possess the remnant of his people, which shall be left from the Assyrians, and from Egypt, and from Phetros, and from Ethiopia, and from Elam, and from Sennaar, and from Emath, and from the islands of the sea. 11:12. And he shall set up a standard unto the nations, and shall assemble the fugitives of Israel, and shall gather together the dispersed of Juda from the four quarters of the earth. 11:13. And the envy of Ephraim shall be taken away, and the enemies of Juda shall perish: Ephraim shall not envy Juda, and Juda shall not fight against Ephraim. 11:14. But they shall fly upon the shoulders of the Philistines by the sea, they together shall spoil the children of the east: Edom, till Moab shall be under the rule of their hand, and the children of Ammon shall be obedient. 11:15. And the Lord shall lay waste the tongue of the sea of Egypt, and shall lift up his hand over the river in the strength of his spirit: and he shall strike it in the seven streams, so that men may pass through it in their shoes. 11:16. And there shall be a highway for the remnant of my people, which shall be left from the Assyrians: as there was for Israel in the day that he came up out of the land of Egypt. Isaias Chapter 12 A canticle of thanksgiving for the benefits of Christ. 12:1. And thou shalt say in that day: I will give thanks to thee, O Lord, for thou wast angry with me: thy wrath is turned away, and thou hast comforted me. 12:2. Behold, God is my saviour, I will deal confidently, and will not fear: because the Lord is my strength, and my praise, and he is become my salvation. 12:3. Thou shall draw waters with joy out of the saviour's fountains: 12:4. And you shall say in that day: Praise ye the Lord, and call upon his name: make his works known among the people: remember that his name is high. 12:5. Sing ye to the Lord, for he hath done great things: shew this forth in all the earth. 12:6. Rejoice, and praise, O thou habitation of Sion: for great is he that is in the midst of thee, the Holy One of Israel. Isaias Chapter 13 The desolation of Babylon. 13:1. The burden of Babylon which Isaias the son of Amos saw. The burden of Babylon... That is, a prophecy against Babylon. 13:2. Upon the dark mountain lift ye up a banner, exalt the voice, lift up the hand, and let the rulers go into the gates. 13:3. I have commanded my sanctified ones, and have called my strong ones in my wrath, them that rejoice in my glory. 13:4. The noise of a multitude in the mountains, as it were of many people, the noise of the sound of kings, of nations gathered together: the Lord of hosts hath given charge to the troops of war. 13:5. To them that come from a country afar off, from the end of heaven: the Lord and the instruments of his wrath, to destroy the whole land. 13:6. Howl ye, for the day of the Lord is near: it shall come as a destruction from the Lord. 13:7. Therefore shall all hands be faint, and every heart of man shall melt, 13:8. And shall be broken. Gripings and pains, shall take hold of them, they shall be in pain as a woman in labour. Every one shall be amazed at his neighbour, their countenances shall be as faces burnt. 13:9. Behold, the day of the Lord shall come, a cruel day, and full of indignation, and of wrath, and fury, to lay the land desolate, and to destroy the sinners thereof out of it. 13:10. For the stars of heaven, and their brightness shall not display their light: the sun shall be darkened in his rising, and the moon shall not shine with her light. 13:11. And I will visit the evils of the world, and against the wicked for their iniquity: and I will make the pride of infidels to cease, and will bring down the arrogancy of the mighty. 13:12. A man shall be more precious than gold, yea a man than the finest of gold. 13:13. For this I will trouble the heaven: and the earth shall be moved out of her place, for the indignation of the Lord of hosts, and for the day of his fierce wrath. 13:14. And they shall be as a doe fleeing away, and as a sheep: and there shall be none to gather them together: every man shall turn to his own people, and every one shall flee to his own land. 13:15. Every one that shall be found, shall be slain: and every one that shall come to their aid, shall fall by the sword. 13:16. Their inhabitants shall be dashed in pieces before their eyes: their houses shall be pillaged, and their wives shall be ravished. 13:17. Behold I will stir up the Medes against them, who shall not seek silver, nor desire gold: 13:18. But with their arrows they shall kill the children, and shall have no pity upon the sucklings of the womb, and their eye shall not spare their sons. 13:19. And that Babylon, glorious among kingdoms, the famous pride of the Chaldeans, shall be even as the Lord destroyed Sodom and Gomorrha. 13:20. It shall no more be inhabited for ever, and it shall not be founded unto generation and generation: neither shall the Arabian pitch his tents there, nor shall shepherds rest there. 13:21. But wild beasts shall rest there, and their houses shall be filled with serpents, and ostriches shall dwell there, and the hairy ones shall dance there: 13:22. And owls shall answer one another there, in the houses thereof, and sirens in the temples of pleasure. Isaias Chapter 14 The restoration of Israel after their captivity. The parable or song insulting over the king of Babylon. A prophecy against the Philistines. 14:1. Her time is near at hand, and her days shall not be prolonged. For the Lord will have mercy on Jacob, and will yet choose out of Israel, and will make them rest upon their own ground: and the stranger shall be joined with them, and shall adhere to the house of Jacob. 14:2. And the people shall take them, and bring them into their place: and the house of Israel shall possess them in the land of the Lord for servants and handmaids: and they shall make them captives that had taken them, and shall subdue their oppressors. 14:3. And it shall come to pass in that day, that when God shall give thee rest from thy labour, and from thy vexation, and from the hard bondage, wherewith thou didst serve before, 14:4. Thou shalt take up this parable against the king of Babylon, and shalt say: How is the oppressor come to nothing, the tribute hath ceased? 14:5. The Lord hath broken the staff of the wicked, the rod of the rulers, 14:6. That struck the people in wrath with an incurable wound, that brought nations under in fury, that persecuted in a cruel manner. 14:7. The whole earth is quiet and still, it is glad and hath rejoiced. 14:8. The fir trees also have rejoiced over thee, and the cedars of Libanus, saying: Since thou hast slept, there hath none come up to cut us down. 14:9. Hell below was in an uproar to meet thee at thy coming, it stirred up the giants for thee. All the princes of the earth are risen up from their thrones, all the princes of nations. 14:10. All shall answer, and say to thee: Thou also art wounded as well as we, thou art become like unto us. 14:11. Thy pride is brought down to hell, thy carcass is fallen down: under thee shall the moth be strewed, and worms shall be thy covering. 14:12. How art thou fallen from heaven, O Lucifer, who didst rise in the morning? how art thou fallen to the earth, that didst wound the nations? O Lucifer... O day star. All this, according to the letter, is spoken of the king of Babylon. It may also be applied, in a spiritual sense, to Lucifer the prince of devils, who was created a bright angel, but fell by pride and rebellion against God. 14:13. And thou saidst in thy heart: I will ascend into heaven, I will exalt my throne above the stars of God, I will sit in the mountain of the covenant, in the sides of the north. 14:14. I will ascend above the height of the clouds, I will be like the most High. 14:15. But yet thou shalt be brought down to hell, into the depth of the pit. 14:16. They that shall see thee, shall turn toward thee, and behold thee. Is this the man that troubled the earth, that shook kingdoms, 14:17. That made the world a wilderness, and destroyed the cities thereof, that opened not the prison to his prisoners? 14:18. All the kings of the nations have all of them slept in glory, every one in his own house. 14:19. But thou art cast out of thy grave, as an unprofitable branch defiled, and wrapped up among them that were slain by the sword, and art gone down to the bottom of the pit, as a rotten carcass. 14:20. Thou shalt not keep company with them, even in burial: for thou hast destroyed thy land, thou hast slain thy people: the seed of the wicked shall not be named for ever. 14:21. Prepare his children for slaughter for the iniquity of their fathers: they shall not rise up, nor inherit the land, nor fill the face of the world with cities. 14:22. And I will rise up against them, saith the Lord of hosts: and I will destroy the name of Babylon, and the remains, and the bud, and the offspring, saith the Lord. 14:23. And I will make it a possession for the ericius and pools of waters, and I will sweep it and wear it out with a besom, saith the Lord of hosts. 14:24. The Lord of hosts hath sworn, saying: Surely as I have thought, so shall it be: and as I have purposed, 14:25. So shall it fall out: That I will destroy the Assyrian in my land, and upon my mountains tread him under foot: and his yoke shall be taken away from them, and his burden shall be taken off their shoulder. 14:26. This is the counsel, that I have purposed upon all the earth, and this is the hand that is stretched out upon all nations. 14:27. For the Lord of hosts hath decreed, and who can disannul it? and his hand is stretched out: and who shall turn it away? 14:28. In the year that king Achaz died, was this burden: 14:29. Rejoice not thou, whole Philistia, that the rod of him that struck thee is broken in pieces: for out of the root of the serpent shall come forth a basilisk, and his seed shall swallow the bird. 14:30. And the firstborn of the poor shall be fed, and the poor shall rest with confidence: and I will make thy root perish with famine, and I will kill thy remnant. 14:31. Howl, O gate; cry, O city: all Philistia is thrown down: for a smoke shall come from the north, and there is none that shall escape his troop. 14:32. And what shall be answered to the messengers of the nations? That the Lord hath founded Sion, and the poor of his people shall hope in him. Isaias Chapter 15 A prophecy of the desolation of the Moabites. 15:1. The burden of Moab. Because in the night Ar of Moab is laid waste, it is silent: because the wall of Moab is destroyed in the night, it is silent. 15:2. The house is gone up, and Dibon to the high places to mourn over Nabo, and over Medaba, Moab hath howled: on all their heads shall be baldness, and every beard shall be shaven. 15:3. In their streets they are girded with sackcloth: on the tops of their houses, and in their streets all shall howl and come down weeping. 15:4. Hesebon shall cry, and Eleale, their voice is heard even to Jasa. For this shall the well appointed men of Moab howl, his soul shall howl to itself. 15:5. My heart shall cry to Moab, the bars thereof shall flee unto Segor a heifer of three years old: for by the ascent of Luith they shall go up weeping: and in the way of Oronaim they shall lift up a cry of destruction. 15:6. For the waters of Nemrim shall be desolate, for the grass is withered away, the spring is faded, all the greenness is perished. 15:7. According to the greatness of their work, is their visitation also: they shall lead them to the torrent of the willows. Torrent of the willows... That is, as some say, the waters of Babylon: others render it, a valley of the Arabians. 15:8. For the cry is gone round about the border of Moab: the howling thereof unto Gallim, and unto the well of Elim the cry thereof. 15:9. For the waters of Dibon are filled with blood: for I will bring more upon Dibon: the lion upon them that shall flee of Moab, and upon the remnant of the land. Isaias Chapter 16 The prophet prayeth for Christ's coming. The affliction of the Moabites for their pride. 16:1. Send forth, O Lord, the lamb, the ruler of the earth, from Petra of the desert, to the mount of the daughter of Sion. 16:2. And it shall come to pass, that as a bird fleeing away, and as young ones flying out of the nest, so shall the daughters of Moab be in the passage of Arnon. 16:3. Take counsel, gather a council: make thy shadow as the night in the midday: hide them that flee, and betray not them that wander about. 16:4. My fugitives shall dwell with thee: O Moab, be thou a covert to them from the face of the destroyer: for the dust is at an end, the wretch is consumed: he hath failed, that trod the earth under foot. 16:5. And a throne shall be prepared in mercy, and one shall sit upon it in truth in the tabernacle of David, judging and seeking judgment and quickly rendering that which is just. 16:6. We have heard of the pride of Moab, he is exceeding proud: his pride and his arrogancy, and his indignation is more than his strength. 16:7. Therefore shall Moab howl to Moab, every one shall howl: to them that rejoice upon the brick walls, tell ye their stripes. 16:8. For the suburbs of Hesebon are desolate, and the lords of the nations have destroyed the vineyard of Sabama: the branches thereof have reached even to Jazer: they have wandered in the wilderness, the branches thereof are left, they are gone over the sea. 16:9. Therefore I will lament with the weeping of Jazer the vineyard of Sabama: I will water thee with my tears, O Hesebon, and Eleale: for the voice of the treaders hath rushed in upon thy vintage, and upon thy harvest. 16:10. And gladness and joy shall be taken away from Carmel, and there shall be no rejoicing nor shouting in the vineyards. He shall not tread out wine in the press that was wont to tread it out: the voice of the treaders I have taken away. Carmel... This name is often taken to signify a fair and fruitful hill or field, such as mount Carmel is. 16:11. Wherefore my bowels shall sound like a harp for Moab, and my inward parts for the brick wall. 16:12. And it shall come to pass, when it is seen that Moab is wearied on his high places, that he shall go in to his sanctuaries to pray, and shall not prevail. 16:13. This is the word, that the Lord spoke to Moab from that time: 16:14. And now the Lord hath spoken, saying: In three years, as the years of a hireling, the glory of Moab shall be taken away for all the multitude of the people, and it shall be left small and feeble, not many. Isaias Chapter 17 Judgments upon Damascus and Samaria. The overthrow of the Assyrians. 17:1. The burden of Damascus. Behold Damascus shall cease to be a city, and shall be as a ruinous heap of stones. 17:2. The cities of Aroer shall be left for flocks, and they shall rest there, and there shall be none to make them afraid. 17:3. And aid shall cease from Ephraim, and the kingdom from Damascus: and the remnant of Syria shall be as the glory of the children of Israel: saith the Lord of hosts. 17:4. And it shall come to pass in that day, that the glory of Jacob shall be made thin, and the fatness of his flesh shall grow lean. 17:5. And it shall be as when one gathereth in the harvest that which remaineth, and his arm shall gather the ears of corn: and it shall be as he that seeketh ears in the vale of Raphaim. 17:6. And the fruit thereof that shall be left upon it, shall be as one cluster of grapes, and as the shaking of the olive tree, two or three berries in the top of a bough, or four or five upon the top of the tree, saith the Lord the God of Israel. 17:7. In that day man shall bow down himself to his Maker, and his eyes shall look to the Holy One of Israel. 17:8. And he shall not look to the altars which his hands made; and he shall not have respect to the things that his fingers wrought, such as groves and temples. 17:9. In that day his strong cities shall be forsaken, as the ploughs, and the corn that were left before the face of the children of Israel, and thou shalt be desolate. That were left... Viz., by the Chanaanites, when the children of Israel came into their land. 17:10. Because thou hast forgotten God thy saviour, and hast not remembered thy strong helper: therefore shalt thou plant good plants, and shalt sow strange seed. 17:11. In the day of thy planting shall be the wild grape, and in the morning thy seed shall flourish: the harvest is taken away in the day of inheritance, and shall grieve thee much. 17:12. Woe to the multitude of many people, like the multitude of the roaring sea: and the tumult of crowds, like the noise of many waters. The multitude, etc... This and all that follows to the end of the chapter, relates to the Assyrian army under Sennacherib. 17:13. Nations shall make a noise like the noise of waters overflowing, but he shall rebuke him, and he shall flee far off: and he shall be carried away as the dust of the mountains before the wind, and as a whirlwind before a tempest. 17:14. In the time of the evening, behold there shall be trouble: the morning shall come, and he shall not be: this is the portion of them that have wasted us, and the lot of them that spoiled us. Isaias Chapter 18 A woe to the Ethiopians, who fed Israel with vain hopes, their future conversion. 18:1. Woe to the land, the winged cymbal, which is beyond the rivers of Ethiopia, 18:2. That sendeth ambassadors by the sea, and in vessels of bulrushes upon the waters. Go, ye swift angels, to a nation rent and torn in pieces: to a terrible people, after which there is no other: to a nation expecting and trodden underfoot, whose land the rivers have spoiled. Angels... Or messengers. 18:3. All ye inhabitants of the world, who dwell on the earth, when the sign shall be lifted up on the mountains, you shall see, and you shall hear the sound of the trumpet. 18:4. For thus saith the Lord to me: I will take my rest, and consider in my place, as the noon light is clear, and as a cloud of dew in the day of harvest. 18:5. For before the harvest it was all flourishing, and it shall bud without perfect ripeness, and the sprigs thereof shall be cut off with pruning hooks: and what is left shall be cut away and shaken out. 18:6. And they shall be left together to the birds of the mountains, and the beasts of the earth: and the fowls shall be upon them all the summer, and all the beasts of the earth shall winter upon them. 18:7. At that time shall a present be brought to the Lord of hosts, from a people rent and torn in pieces: from a terrible people, after which there hath been no other: from a nation expecting, expecting and trodden under foot, whose land the rivers have spoiled, to the place of the name of the Lord of hosts, to mount Sion. Isaias Chapter 19 The punishment of Egypt: their call to the church. 19:1. The burden of Egypt. Behold the Lord will ascend upon a swift cloud, and will enter into Egypt, and the idols of Egypt shall be moved at his presence, and the heart of Egypt shall melt in the midst thereof. 19:2. And I will set the Egyptians to fight against the Egyptians: and they shall fight brother against brother, and friend against friend, city against city, kingdom against kingdom. 19:3. And the spirit of Egypt shall be broken in the bowels thereof, and I will cast down their counsel: and they shall consult their idols, and their diviners, and their wizards, and soothsayers. 19:4. And I will deliver Egypt into the hand of cruel masters, and a strong king shall rule over them, saith the Lord the God of hosts. 19:5. And the water of the sea shall be dried up, and the river shall be wasted and dry. 19:6. And the rivers shall fail: the streams of the banks shall be diminished, and be dried up. The reed and the bulrush shall wither away. 19:7. The channel of the river shall be laid bare from its fountain, and every thing sown by the water shall be dried up, it shall wither away, and shall be no more. 19:8. The fishers also shall mourn, and all that cast a hook into the river shall lament, and they that spread nets upon the waters shall languish away. 19:9. They shall be confounded that wrought in flax, combing and weaving fine linen. 19:10. And its watery places shall be dry, all they shall mourn that made pools to take fishes. 19:11. The princes of Tanis are become fools, the wise counsellors of Pharao have given foolish counsel: how will you say to Pharao: I am the son of the wise, the son of ancient kings? 19:12. Where are now thy wise men? let them tell thee, and shew what the Lord of hosts hath purposed upon Egypt. 19:13. The princes of Tanis are become fools, the princes of Memphis are gone astray, they have deceived Egypt, the stay of the people thereof. 19:14. The Lord hath mingled in the midst thereof the spirit of giddiness: and they have caused Egypt to err in all its works, as a drunken man staggereth and vomiteth. 19:15. And there shall be no work for Egypt, to make head or tail, him that bendeth down, or that holdeth back. 19:16. In that day Egypt shall be like unto women, and they shall be amazed, and afraid, because of the moving of the hand of the Lord of hosts, which he shall move over it. 19:17. And the land of Juda shall be a terror to Egypt: everyone that shall remember it shall tremble because of the counsel of the Lord of hosts, which he hath determined concerning it. 19:18. In that day there shall be five cities in the land of Egypt, speaking the language of Chanaan, and swearing by the Lord of hosts: one shall be called the city of the sun. 19:19. In that day there shall be an altar of the Lord in the midst of the land of Egypt, and a monument of the Lord at the borders thereof: 19:20. It shall be for a sign, and for a testimony to the Lord of hosts in the land of Egypt. For they shall cry to the Lord because of the oppressor, and he shall send them a Saviour and a defender to deliver them. 19:21. And the Lord shall be known by Egypt, and the Egyptians shall know the Lord in that day, and shall worship him with sacrifices and offerings: and they shall make vows to the Lord, and perform them. 19:22. And the Lord shall strike Egypt with a scourge, and shall heal it, and they shall return to the Lord, and he shall be pacified towards them, and heal them. 19:23. In that day there shall be a way from Egypt to the Assyrians, and the Assyrian shall enter into Egypt, and the Egyptian to the Assyrians, and the Egyptians shall serve the Assyrian. 19:24. In that day shall Israel be the third to the Egyptian and the Assyrian: a blessing in the midst of the land, 19:25. Which the Lord of hosts hath blessed, saying: Blessed be my people of Egypt, and the work of my hands to the Assyrian: but Israel is my inheritance. Isaias Chapter 20 The ignominious captivity of the Egyptians, and the Ethiopians. 20:1. In the year that Tharthan entered into Azotus, when Sargon the king of the Assyrians had sent him, and he had fought against Azotus, and had taken it: 20:2. At that same time the Lord spoke by the hand of Isaias the son of Amos, saying Go, and loose the sackcloth from off thy loins, and take off thy shoes from thy feet. And he did so, and went naked, and barefoot. 20:3. And the Lord said: As my servant Isaias hath walked, naked and barefoot, it shall be a sign and a wonder of three years upon Egypt, and upon Ethiopia, 20:4. So shall the king of the Assyrians lead away the prisoners of Egypt, and the captivity of Ethiopia, young and old, naked and barefoot, with their buttocks uncovered to the shame of Egypt. 20:5. And they shall be afraid, and ashamed of Ethiopia their hope, and of Egypt their glory. 20:6. And the inhabitants of this isle shall say in that day: Lo this was our hope, to whom we fled for help, to deliver us from the face of the king of the Assyrians: and how shall we be able to escape? Isaias Chapter 21 The destruction of Babylon by the Medes and Persians: a prophecy against the Edomites and the Arabians. 21:1. The burden of the desert of the sea. As whirlwinds come from the south, it cometh from the desert from a terrible land. The desert of the sea... So Babylon is here called, because from a city as full of people as the sea is with water, it was become a desert. 21:2. A grievous vision is told me: he that is unfaithful dealeth unfaithfully: and he that is a spoiler, spoileth. Go up, O Elam, besiege, O Mede: I have made all the mourning thereof to cease. O Elam... That is, O Persia. 21:3. Therefore are my loins filled with pain, anguish hath taken hold of me, as the anguish of a woman in labour: I fell down at the hearing of it, I was troubled at the seeing of it. 21:4. My heart failed, darkness amazed me: Babylon my beloved is become a wonder to me. 21:5. Prepare the table, behold in the watchtower them that eat and drink: arise, ye princes, take up the shield. 21:6. For thus hath the Lord said to me: Go, and set a watchman: and whatsoever he shall see, let him tell. 21:7. And he saw a chariot with two horsemen, a rider upon an ass, and a rider upon a camel: and he beheld them diligently with much heed. A rider upon an ass, etc... These two riders are the kings of the Persians and Medes. 21:8. And a lion cried out: I am upon the watchtower of the Lord, standing continually by day: and I am upon my ward, standing whole nights. And a lion cried out... That is, I Isaias seeing the approaching ruin of Babylon, have cried out as a lion roaring. 21:9. Behold this man cometh, the rider upon the chariot with two horsemen, and he answered, and said: Babylon is fallen, she is fallen, and all the graven gods thereof are broken unto the ground. 21:10. O my thrashing, and the children of my floor, that which I have heard of the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel, I have declared unto you. 21:11. The burden of Duma calleth to me out of Seir: Watchman, what of the night? watchman, what of the night? Duma... That is, Idumea, or Edom. 21:12. The watchman said: The morning cometh, also the night: if you seek, seek: return, come. 21:13. The burden in Arabia. In the forest at evening you shall sleep, in the paths of Dedanim. 21:14. Meeting the thirsty bring him water, you that inhabit the land of the south, meet with bread him that fleeth. 21:15. For they are fled from before the swords, from the sword that hung over them, from the bent bow, from the face of a grievous battle. 21:16. For thus saith the Lord to me: Within a year, according to the years of a hireling, all the glory of Cedar shall be taken away. Cedar... Arabia. 21:17. And the residue of the number of strong archers of the children of Cedar shall be diminished: for the Lord the God of Israel hath spoken it. Isaias Chapter 22 The prophet laments the devastation of Juda. He foretells the deprivation of Sobna, and the substitution of Eliacim, a figure of Christ. 22:1. The burden of the valley of vision. What aileth thee also, that thou too art wholly gone up to the housetops? The valley of vision... Jerusalem. The temple of Jerusalem was built upon mount Moria, or the mountain of vision. But the city is here called the valley of vision; either because it was lower than the temple, or because of the low condition to which it was to be reduced. 22:2. Full of clamour, a populous city, a joyous city: thy slain are not slain by the sword, nor dead in battle. 22:3. All the princes are fled together, and are bound hard: all that were found, are bound together, they are fled far off. 22:4. Therefore have I said: Depart from me, I will weep bitterly: labour not to comfort me, for the devastation of the daughter of my people. 22:5. For it is a day of slaughter and of treading down, and of weeping to the Lord the God of hosts in the valley of vision, searching the wall, and magnificent upon the mountain. 22:6. And Elam took the quiver, the chariot of the horseman, and the shield was taken down from the wall. 22:7. And thy choice valleys shall be full of chariots, and the horsemen shall place themselves in the gate. 22:8. And the covering of Juda shall be discovered, and thou shalt see in that day the armoury of the house of the forest. 22:9. And you shall see the breaches of the city of David, that they are many: and you have gathered together the waters of the lower pool, 22:10. And have numbered the houses of Jerusalem, and broken down houses to fortify the wall. 22:11. And you made a ditch between the two walls for the water of the old pool: and you have not looked up to the maker thereof, nor regarded him even at a distance, that wrought it long ago. 22:12. And the Lord, the God of hosts, in that day shall call to weeping, and to mourning, to baldness, and to girding with sackcloth: 22:13. And behold joy and gladness, killing calves, and slaying rams, eating flesh, and drinking wine: Let us eat and drink; for to morrow we shall die. 22:14. And the voice of the Lord of hosts was revealed in my ears: Surely this iniquity shall not be forgiven you till you die, saith the Lord God of hosts. 22:15. Thus saith the Lord God of hosts: Go, get thee in to him that dwelleth in the tabernacle, to Sobna who is over the temple: and thou shalt say to him: 22:16. What dost thou here, or as if thou wert somebody here? for thou hast hewed thee out a sepulchre here, thou hast hewed out a monument carefully in a high place, a dwelling for thyself in a rock. 22:17. Behold the Lord will cause thee to be carried away, as a cock is carried away, and he will lift thee up as a garment. 22:18. He will crown thee with a crown of tribulation, he will toss thee like a ball into a large and spacious country: there shalt thou die, and there shall the chariot of thy glory be, the shame of the house of thy Lord. 22:19. And I will drive thee out from thy station, and depose thee from thy ministry. 22:20. And it shall come to pass in that day, that I will call my servant Eliacim the son of Helcias, 22:21. And I will clothe him with thy robe, and will strengthen him with thy girdle, and will give thy power into his hand: and he shall be as a father to the inhabitants of Jerusalem, and to the house of Juda. 22:22. And I will lay the key of the house of David upon his shoulder: and he shall open, and none shall shut: and he shall shut, and none shall open. 22:23. And I will fasten him as a peg in a sure place, and he shall be for a throne of glory to the house of his father. 22:24. And they shall hang upon him all the glory of his father's house, divers kinds of vessels, every little vessel, from the vessels of cups even to every instrument of music. 22:25. In that day, saith the Lord of hosts, shall the peg be removed, that was fastened in the sure place: and it shall be broken and shall fall: and that which hung thereon, shall perish, because the Lord hath spoken it. Isaias Chapter 23 The destruction of Tyre. It shall be repaired again after seventy years. 23:1. The burden of Tyre. Howl, ye ships of the sea, for the house is destroyed, from whence they were wont to come: from the land of Cethim it is revealed to them. 23:2. Be silent, you that dwell in the island: the merchants of Sidon passing over the sea, have filled thee. 23:3. The seed of the Nile in many waters, the harvest of the river is her revenue: and she is become the mart of the nations. 23:4. Be thou ashamed, O Sidon: for the sea speaketh, even the strength of the sea, saying: I have not been in labour, nor have I brought forth, nor have I nourished up young men, nor brought up virgins. 23:5. When it shall be heard in Egypt, they will be sorry when they shall hear of Tyre: 23:6. Pass over the seas, howl, ye inhabitants of the island. 23:7. Is not this your city, which gloried from of old in her antiquity? her feet shall carry her afar off to sojourn. 23:8. Who hath taken this counsel against Tyre, that was formerly crowned, whose merchants were princes, and her traders the nobles of the earth? 23:9. The Lord of hosts hath designed it, to pull down the pride of all glory, and bring to disgrace all the glorious ones of the earth. 23:10. Pass thy land as a river, O daughter of the sea, thou hast a girdle no more. 23:11. He stretched out his hand over the sea, he troubled kingdoms: the Lord hath given a charge against Chanaan, to destroy the strong ones thereof. 23:12. And he said: Thou shalt glory no more, O virgin daughter of Sidon, who art oppressed: arise and sail over to Cethim, there also thou shalt have no rest. 23:13. Behold the land of the Chaldeans, there was not such a people, the Assyrians founded it: they have led away the strong ones thereof into captivity, they have destroyed the houses thereof, they have, brought it to ruin. 23:14. Howl, O ye ships of the sea, for your strength is laid waste. 23:15. And it shall come to pass in that day that thou, O Tyre, shalt be forgotten, seventy years, according to the days of one king: but after seventy years, there shall be unto Tyre as the song of a harlot. 23:16. Take a harp, go about the city, harlot that hast been forgotten: sing well, sing many a song, that thou mayst be remembered. 23:17. And it shall come to pass after seventy years, that the Lord will visit Tyre, and will bring her back again to her traffic: and she shall commit fornication again with all the kingdoms of the world upon the face of the earth. 23:18. And her merchandise and her hire shall be sanctified to the Lord: they shall not be kept in store, nor laid up: for her merchandise shall be for them that shall dwell before the Lord, that they may eat unto fulness, and be clothed for a continuance. Sanctified to the Lord... This alludes to the conversion of the Gentiles. Isaias Chapter 24 The judgments of God upon all the sinners of the world. A remnant shall joyfully praise him. 24:1. Behold the Lord shall lay waste the earth, and shall strip it, and shall afflict the face thereof, and scatter abroad the inhabitants thereof. 24:2. And it shall be as with the people, so with the priest: and as with the servant so with his master: as with the handmaid, so with her mistress: as with the buyer, so with the seller: as with the lender, so with the borrower: as with him that calleth for his money, so with him that oweth. 24:3. With desolation shall the earth be laid waste, and it shall be utterly spoiled: for the Lord hath spoken this word. 24:4. The earth mourned, and faded away, and is weakened: the world faded away, the height of the people of the earth is weakened. 24:5. And the earth is infected by the inhabitants thereof: because they have transgressed the laws, they have changed the ordinance, they have broken the everlasting covenant. 24:6. Therefore shall a curse devour the earth, and the inhabitants thereof shall sin: and therefore they that dwell therein shall be mad, and few men shall be left. 24:7. The vintage hath mourned, the vine hath languished away, all the merry have sighed. 24:8. The mirth of timbrels hath ceased, the noise of them that rejoice is ended, the melody of the harp is silent. 24:9. They shall not drink wine with a song: the drink shall be bitter to them that drink it. 24:10. The city of vanity is broken down, every house is shut up, no man cometh in. 24:11. There shall be a crying for wine in the streets: all mirth is forsaken: the joy of the earth is gone away. 24:12. Desolation is left in the city, and calamity shall oppress the gates. 24:13. For it shall be thus in the midst of the earth, in the midst of the people, as if a few olives, that remain, should be shaken out of the olive tree: or grapes, when the vintage is ended. 24:14. These shall lift up their voice, and shall give praise: when the Lord shall be glorified, they shall make a joyful noise from the sea. 24:15. Therefore glorify ye the Lord in instruction: the name of the Lord God of Israel in the islands of the sea. 24:16. From the ends of the earth we have heard praises, the glory of the just one. And I said: My secret to myself, my secret to myself, woe is me: the prevaricators have prevaricated, and with the prevarication of transgressors they have prevaricated. 24:17. Fear, and the pit, and the snare are upon thee, O thou inhabitant of the earth. 24:18. And it shall come to pass, that he that shall flee from the noise of the fear, shall fall into the pit: and he that shall rid himself out of the pit, shall be taken in the snare: for the flood-gates from on high are opened, and the foundations of the earth shall be shaken. 24:19. With breaking shall the earth be broken, with crushing shall the earth be crushed, with trembling shall the earth be moved. 24:20. With shaking shall the earth be shaken as a drunken man, and shall be removed as the tent of one night: and the iniquity thereof shall be heavy upon it, and it shall fall, and not rise again. 24:21. And it shall come to pass, that in that day the Lord shall visit upon the host of heaven on high, and upon the kings of the earth, on the earth. The host of heaven on high... The stars, which in many places of the Scripture are so called. Some commentators explain that these words here signify the demons of the air. 24:22. And they shall be gathered together as in the gathering of one bundle into the pit, and they shall be shut up there in prison: and after many days they shall be visited. 24:23. And the moon shall blush, and the sun shall be ashamed, when the Lord of hosts shall reign in mount Sion, and in Jerusalem, and shall be glorified in the sight of his ancients. Isaias Chapter 25 A canticle of thanksgiving for God's judgments and benefits. 25:1. O Lord, thou art my God, I will exalt O thee, and give glory to thy name: for thou hast done wonderful things, thy designs of old faithful, amen. 25:2. For thou hast reduced the city to a heap, the strong city to ruin, the house of strangers, to be no city, and to be no more built up for ever. 25:3. Therefore shall a strong people praise thee, the city of mighty nations shall fear thee. 25:4. Because thou hast been a strength to the poor, a strength to the needy in his distress: a refuge from the whirlwind, a shadow from the heat. For the blast of the mighty is like a whirlwind beating against a wall. 25:5. Thou shalt bring down the tumult of strangers, as heat in thirst: and as with heat under a burning cloud, thou shalt make the branch of the mighty to wither away. 25:6. And the Lord of hosts shall make unto all people in this mountain, a feast of fat things, a feast of wine, of fat things full of marrow, of wine purified from the lees. 25:7. And he shall destroy in this mountain the face of the bond with which all people were tied, and the web that he began over all nations. 25:8. He shall cast death down headlong for ever: and the Lord God shall wipe away tears from every face, and the reproach of his people he shall take away from off the whole earth: for the Lord hath spoken it. 25:9. And they shall say in that day: Lo, this is our God, we have waited for him, and he will save us: this is the Lord, we have patiently waited for him, we shall rejoice and be joyful in his salvation. 25:10. For the hand of the Lord shall rest in this mountain: and Moab shall be trodden down under him, as straw is broken in pieces with the wain. Moab... That is, the reprobate, whose eternal punishment, from which they can no way escape, is described under these figures. 25:11. And he shall stretch forth his hands under him, as he that swimmeth stretcheth forth his hands to swim: and he shall bring down his glory with the dashing of his hands. 25:12. And the bulwarks of thy high walls shall fall, and be brought low, and shall be pulled down to the ground, even to the dust. Isaias Chapter 26 A canticle of thanks for the deliverance of God's people. 26:1. In that day shall this canticle be sung in the land of Juda. Sion the city of our strength a saviour, a wall and a bulwark shall be set therein. 26:2. Open ye the gates, and let the just nation, that keepeth the truth, enter in. 26:3. The old error is passed away: thou wilt keep peace: peace, because we have hoped in thee. 26:4. You have hoped in the Lord for evermore, in the Lord God mighty for ever. 26:5. For he shall bring down them that dwell on high, the high city he shall lay low. He shall bring it down even to the ground, he shall pull it down even to the dust. 26:6. The foot shall tread it down, the feet of the poor, the steps of the needy. 26:7. The way of the just is right, the path of the just is right to walk in. 26:8. And in the way of thy judgments, O Lord, we have patiently waited for thee: thy name, and thy remembrance are the desire of the soul. 26:9. My soul hath desired thee in the night: yea, and with my spirit within me in the morning early I will watch to thee. When thou shalt do thy judgments on the earth, the inhabitants of the world shall learn justice. 26:10. Let us have pity on the wicked, but he will not learn justice: in the land of the saints he hath done wicked things, and he shall not see the glory of the Lord. 26:11. Lord, let thy hand be exalted, and let them not see: let the envious people see, and be confounded: and let fire devour thy enemies. 26:12. Lord, thou wilt give us peace: for thou hast wrought all our works for us. 26:13. O Lord our God, other lords besides thee have had dominion over us, only in thee let us remember thy name. 26:14. Let not the dead live, let not the giants rise again: therefore hast visited and destroyed them, and hast destroyed all their memory. 26:15. Thou hast been favourable to the nation, O Lord, thou hast been favourable to the nation: art thou glorified? thou hast removed all the ends of the earth far off. 26:16. Lord, they have sought after thee in distress, in the tribulation of murmuring thy instruction was with them. 26:17. As a woman with child, when she draweth near the time of her delivery, is in pain, and crieth out in her pangs: so are we become in thy presence, O Lord. 26:18. We have conceived, and been as it were in labour, and have brought forth wind: we have not wrought salvation on the earth, therefore the inhabitants of the earth have not fallen. 26:19. Thy dead men shall live, my slain shall rise again: awake, and give praise, ye that dwell in the dust: for thy dew is the dew of the light: and the land of the giants thou shalt pull down into ruin. 26:20. Go, my people, enter into thy chambers, shut thy doors upon thee, hide thyself a little for a moment, until the indignation pass away. 26:21. For behold the Lord will come out of his place, to visit the iniquity of the inhabitant of the earth against him: and the earth shall disclose her blood, and shall cover her slain no more. Shall cover her slain no more... This is said with relation to the martyrs, and their happy resurrection. Isaias Chapter 27 The punishment of the oppressors of God's people. The Lord's favour to his church. 27:1. In that day the Lord with his hard, and great, and strong sword shall visit leviathan the bar serpent, and leviathan the crooked serpent, and shall slay the whale that is in the sea. Leviathan... That is, the devil, the great enemy of the people of God. He is called the bar serpent from his strength, and the crooked serpent from his wiles; and the whale of the sea, from the tyranny he exercises in the sea of this world. He was spiritually slain by the death of Christ, when his power was destroyed. 27:2. In that day there shall be singing to the vineyard of pure wine. The vineyard, etc... The church of Christ. 27:3. I am the Lord that keep it, I will suddenly give it drink: lest any hurt come to it, I keep it night and day. I will suddenly give it drink... Or, as the Hebrew may also be rendered, I will continually water it. 27:4. There is no indignation in me: who shall make me a thorn and a brier in battle: shall I march against it, shall, I set it on fire together? No indignation in me, etc... Viz., against the church: nor shall I become as a thorn or brier in its regard; or march against it, or set it on fire: but it shall always take fast hold of me, and keep an everlasting peace with me. 27:5. Or rather shall it take hold of my strength, shall it make peace with me, shall it make peace with me? 27:6. When they shall rush in unto Jacob, Israel shall blossom and bud, and they shall fill the face of the world with seed. When they shall rush in, etc... Some understand this of the enemies of the true Israel, that shall invade it in vain. Others of the spiritual invasion made by the apostles of Christ. 27:7. Hath he struck him according to the stroke of him that struck him? or is he slain, as he killed them that were slain by him? Hath he struck him, etc... Hath God punished the carnal persecuting Jews, in proportion to their doings against Christ and his saints? 27:8. In measure against measure, when it shall be cast off, thou shalt judge it. He hath meditated with his severe spirit in the day of heat. When it shall be cast off, etc... When the synagogue shall be cast off, thou shalt judge it in measure, and in proportion to its crimes.-Ibid. He hath meditated, etc... God hath designed severe punishments in the day of his wrath. 27:9. Therefore upon this shall the iniquity of the house of Jacob be forgiven: and this is all the fruit, that the sin thereof should be taken away, when he shall have made all the stones of the altar, as burnt stones broken in pieces, the groves and temples shall not stand. Of the house of Jacob... Viz., of such of them as shall be converted. 27:10. For the strong city shall be desolate, the beautiful city shall be forsaken, and shall be left as a wilderness: there the calf shall feed, and there shall he lie down, and shall consume its branches. The strong city... Jerusalem. 27:11. Its harvest shall be destroyed with drought, women shall come and teach it: for it is not a wise people, therefore he that made it, shall not have mercy on it: and he that formed it, shall not spare it. 27:12. And it shall come to pass, that in that day the Lord will strike from the channel of the river even to the torrent of Egypt, and you shall be gathered together one by one, O ye children of Israel. 27:13. And it shall come to pass, that in that day a noise shall be made with a great trumpet, and they that were lost, shall come from the land of the Assyrians, and they that were outcasts in the land of Egypt, and they shall adore the Lord in the holy mount in Jerusalem. A great trumpet... The preaching of the gospel for the conversion of the Jews. Isaias Chapter 28 The punishment of the Israelites, for their pride, intemperance, and contempt of religion. Christ the cornerstone. 28:1. Woe to the crown of pride, to the drunkards of Ephraim, and to the fading flower the glory his joy, who were on the head of the fat valley, staggering with wine. Ephraim... That is, the kingdom of the ten tribes.-Ibid. The head of the fat valley... Samaria, situate on a hill, having under it a most fertile valley. 28:2. Behold the Lord is mighty and strong, as a storm of hail: a destroying whirlwind, as the violence of many waters overflowing, and sent forth upon a spacious land. 28:3. The crown of pride of the drunkards of Ephraim shall be trodden under feet. 28:4. And the fading tower the glory of his joy, who is on the head of the fat valley, shall be as a hasty fruit before the ripeness of autumn: which when he that seeth it shall behold, as soon he taketh it in his hand, he will eat it up. 28:5. In that day the Lord of hosts shall be a crown of glory, and a garland of joy to the residue of his people: 28:6. And a spirit of judgment to him that sitteth in judgment, and strength to them that return out of the battle to the gate. 28:7. But these also have been ignorant through wine, and through drunkenness have erred: the priest and the prophet have been ignorant through drunkenness, they are swallowed up with wine, they have gone astray in drunkenness, they have not known him that seeth, they have been ignorant of judgment. These also... The kingdom of Juda. 28:8. For all the tables were full of vomit and filth, so that there was no more place. 28:9. Whom shall he teach knowledge? and whom shall he make to understand the hearing? them that are weaned from the milk, that are drawn away from the breasts. 28:10. For command, command again; command, command again; expect, expect again; a little there, a little there. Command, command again, etc... This is said in the person of the Jews, resisting the repeated commands of God, and still putting him off. 28:11. For with the speech of lips, and with another tongue he will speak to this people. 28:12. To whom he said: This is my rest, refresh the weary, and this is my refreshing: and they would not hear. 28:13. And the word of the Lord shall be to them: Command, command again; command, command again; expect, expect again; a little there, a little there: that they may go, and fall backward, and be broken, and snared, and taken. 28:14. Wherefore hear the word of the Lord, ye scornful men, who rule over my people that is in Jerusalem. 28:15. For you have said: We have entered into a league with death, and we have made a covenant with hell. When the overflowing scourge shall pass through, it shall not come upon us: for we have placed our hope in lies, and by falsehood we are protected. 28:16. Therefore thus saith the Lord God: Behold I will lay a stone in the foundations of Sion, a tried stone, a corner stone, a precious stone, founded in the foundation. He that believeth, let him not hasten. A stone in the foundations... Viz., Christ.-Ibid. Let him not hasten, etc... Let him expect his coming with patience. 28:17. And I will set judgment in weight, and justice in measure: and hail shall overturn the hope of falsehood: and waters shall overflow its protection. 28:18. And your league with death shall be abolished, and your covenant with hell shall not stand: when the overflowing scourge shall pass, you shall be trodden down by it. 28:19. Whensoever it shall pass through, it shall take you away: because in the morning early it shall pass through, in the day and in the night, and vexation alone shall make you understand what you hear. 28:20. For the bed is straitened, so that one must fall out, and a short covering cannot cover both. The bed is straitened, etc... It is too narrow to hold two: God will have the bed of our heart all to himself. 28:21. For the Lord shall stand up as in the mountain of divisions: he shall be angry as in the valley which is in Gabaon: that he may do his work, his strange work: that he may perform his work, his work is strange to him. As in the mountain, etc... As the Lord fought against the Philistines in Baal Pharasim, 2 Kings 5., and against the Chanaanites, in the valley of Gabaon, Jos. 10. 28:22. And now do not mock, lest your bonds be tied strait. For I have heard of the Lord the God of hosts a consumption and a cutting short upon all the earth. 28:23. Give ear, and hear my voice, hearken, and hear my speech. 28:24. Shall the ploughman plough all the day to sow, shall he open and harrow his ground? 28:25. Will he not, when he hath made plain the surface thereof, sow gith, and scatter cummin, and put wheat in order, and barley, and millet, and vetches in their bounds? 28:26. For he will instruct him in judgment: his God will teach him. 28:27. For gith shall not be thrashed with saws, neither shall the cart wheel turn about upon cummin: but gith shall be beaten out with a rod, and cumin with a staff. 28:28. But breadcorn shall be broken small: but the thrasher shall not thrash it for ever, neither shall the cart wheel hurt it, nor break it with its teeth. 28:29. This also is come forth from the Lord God of hosts, to make his counsel wonderful, and magnify justice. This also, etc... Such also is the proceeding of the Lord with his land, and the divers seeds he throws therein. Isaias Chapter 29 God's heavy judgments upon Jerusalem, for their obstinacy: with a prophecy of the conversion of the Gentiles. 29:1. Woe to Ariel, to Ariel the city which David took: year is added to year: the solemnities are at an end. Ariel... This word signifies, the lion of God, and here is taken for the strong city of Jerusalem. 29:2. And I will make a trench about Ariel, and it shall be in sorrow and mourning, and it shall be to me as Ariel. 29:3. And I will make a circle round about thee, and I will cast up a rampart against thee, and raise up bulwarks to besiege thee. 29:4. Thou shalt be brought down, thou shall speak out of the earth, and thy speech shall be heard out of the ground: and thy voice shall be from the earth like that of the python, and out of the earth thy speech shall mutter. 29:5. And the multitude of them that fan thee, shall be like small dust: and as ashes passing away, the multitude of them that have prevailed against thee. 29:6. And it shall be at an instant suddenly. A visitation shall come from the Lord of hosts in thunder, and with earthquake, and with a great noise of whirlwind and tempest; and with the flame of devouring fire. 29:7. And the multitude of all nations that have fought against Ariel, shall be as the dream of a vision by night, and all that have fought, and besieged and prevailed against it. 29:8. And as he that is hungry dreameth, and eateth, but when he is awake, his soul is empty: and as he that is thirsty dreameth, and drinketh and after he is awake, is yet faint with thirst, and his soul is empty: so shall be the multitude of all the Gentiles, that have fought against mount Sion. 29:9. Be astonished, and wonder, waver, and stagger: be drunk, and not with wine: stagger, and not with drunkenness. 29:10. For the Lord hath mingled for you the spirit of a deep sleep, he will shut up your eyes, he will cover your prophets and princes, that see visions. 29:11. And the vision of all shall be unto you as the words of a book that is sealed which when they shall deliver to one that is learned, they shall say: Read this: and he shall answer: I cannot, for it is sealed. 29:12. And the book shall be given to one that knoweth no letters, and it shall be said to him: Read: and he shall answer: I know no letters. 29:13. And the Lord said: Forasmuch as this people draw near me with their mouth, and with their lips glorify me, but their heart is far from me, and they have feared me with the commandment and doctrines of men: 29:14. Therefore behold I will proceed to cause an admiration in this people, by a great and wonderful miracle: for wisdom shall perish from their wise men, and the understanding of their prudent men shall be hid. 29:15. Woe to you that are deep of heart, to hide your counsel from the Lord: and their works are in the dark, and they say: Who seeth us, and who knoweth us? 29:16. This thought of yours is perverse: as if the clay should think against the potter, and the work should say to the maker thereof: Thou madest me not: or the thing framed should say to him that fashioned it: Thou understandest not. 29:17. Is it not yet a very little while, and Libanus shall be turned into charmel, and charmel shall be esteemed as a forest? Charmel... This word signifies a fruitful field. 29:18. And in that day the deaf shall hear the words of the book, and out of darkness and obscurity the eyes of the blind shall see. 29:19. And the meek shall increase their joy in the Lord, and the poor men shall rejoice in the Holy One of Israel. 29:20. For he that did prevail hath failed, the scorner is consumed, and they are all cut off that watched for iniquity: 29:21. That made men sin by word, and supplanted him that reproved them in the gate, and declined in vain from the just. 29:22. Therefore thus saith the Lord to the house of Jacob, he that redeemed Abraham: Jacob shall not now be confounded, neither shall his countenance now be ashamed: 29:23. But when he shall see his children, the work of my hands in the midst of him sanctifying my name, and they shall sanctify the Holy One of Jacob, and shall glorify the God of Israel: 29:24. And they that erred in spirit, shall know understanding, and they that murmured, shall learn the law. Isaias Chapter 30 The people are blamed for their confidence in Egypt. God's mercies towards his church. The punishment of sinners. 30:1. Woe to you, apostate children, saith the Lord, that you would take counsel, and not of me: and would begin a web, and not by my spirit, that you might add sin upon sin: 30:2. Who walk to go down into Egypt, and have not asked at my mouth, hoping for help in the strength of Pharao, and trusting in the shadow of Egypt. 30:3. And the strength of Pharao shall be to your confusion, and the confidence of the shadow of Egypt to your shame. 30:4. For thy princes were in Tanis, and thy messengers came even to Hanes. 30:5. They were all confounded at a people that could not profit them: they were no help, nor to any profit, but to confusion and to reproach. 30:6. The burden of the beasts of the south. In a land of trouble and distress, from whence come the lioness, and the lion, the viper and the flying basilisk, they carry their riches upon the shoulders of beasts, and their treasures upon the bunches of camels to a people that shall not be able to profit them. 30:7. For Egypt shall help in vain, and to no purpose: therefore have I cried concerning this: It is pride only, sit still. 30:8. Now therefore go in and write for them upon box, and note it diligently in a book, and it shall be in the latter days for a testimony for ever. 30:9. For it is a people that provoketh to wrath, and lying children that will not hear the law of God. 30:10. Who say to the seers: See not: and to them that behold: Behold not for us those things that are right: speak unto us pleasant things, see errors for us. 30:11. Take away from me the way, turn away the path from me, let the Holy One of Israel cease from before us. 30:12. Therefore thus saith the Holy One of Israel: Because you have rejected this word, and have trusted in oppression and tumult, and have leaned upon it: 30:13. Therefore shall this iniquity be to you as a breach that falleth, and is found wanting in a high wall, for the destruction thereof shall come on a sudden, when it is not looked for. 30:14. And it shall be broken small, as the potter's vessel is broken all to pieces with mighty breaking, and there shall not a sherd be found of the pieces thereof, wherein a little fire may be carried from the hearth, or a little water be drawn out of the pit. 30:15. For thus saith the Lord God the Holy One of Israel: If you return and be quiet, you shall be saved: in silence and in hope shall your strength be. And you would not: 30:16. But have said: No, but we will flee to horses: therefore shall you flee. And we will mount upon swift ones: therefore shall they be swifter that shall pursue after you. 30:17. A thousand men shall flee for fear of one: and for fear of five shall you flee, till you be left as the mast of ship on the top of a mountain, and as an ensign upon a hill. 30:18. Therefore the Lord waiteth that he may have mercy on you: and therefore shall he be exalted sparing you: because the Lord is the God of judgment: blessed are all they that wait for him. 30:19. For the people of Sion shall dwell in Jerusalem: weeping thou shalt not weep, he will surely have pity on thee: at the voice of thy cry, as soon as he shall hear, he will answer thee. 30:20. And the Lord will give you spare bread, and short water: and will not cause thy teacher to flee away from thee any more, and thy eyes shall see thy teacher. 30:21. And thy ears shall hear the word of one admonishing thee behind thy back: This is the way, walk ye in it: and go not aside neither to the right hand, nor to the left. 30:22. And thou shalt defile the plates of thy graven things of silver, and the garment of thy molten things of gold, and shalt cast them away as the uncleanness of a menstruous woman. Thou shalt say to it: Get thee hence. 30:23. And rain shall be given to thy seed, wheresoever thou shalt sow in the land: and the bread of the corn of the land shall be most plentiful, and fat. The lamb in that day shall feed at large in thy possession: 30:24. And thy oxen, and the ass colts that till the ground, shall eat mingled provender as it was winnowed in the floor. 30:25. And there shall be upon every high mountain, and upon every elevated hill rivers of running waters in the day of the slaughter of many, when the tower shall fall. 30:26. And the light of the moon shall be as the light of the sun, and the light of the sun shall be sevenfold, as the light of seven days: in the day when the Lord shall bind up the wound of his people, and shall heal the stroke of their wound. 30:27. Behold the name of the Lord cometh from afar, his wrath burneth, and is heavy to bear: his lips are filled with indignation, and his tongue as a devouring fire. 30:28. His breath as a torrent overflowing even to the midst of the neck, to destroy the nations unto nothing, and the bridle of error that was in the jaws of the people. 30:29. You shall have a song as in the night of the sanctified solemnity, and joy of heart, as where one goeth with a pipe, to come into the mountain of the Lord, to the Mighty One of Israel. 30:30. And the Lord shall make the glory of his voice to be heard, and shall shew the terror of his arm, in the threatening of wrath, and the flame of devouring fire: he shall crush to pieces with whirlwind, and hailstones. 30:31. For at the voice of the Lord the Assyrian shall fear being struck with the rod. 30:32. And the passage of the rod shall be strongly grounded, which the Lord shall make to rest upon him with timbrels and harps, and in great battles he shall overthrow them. 30:33. For Topheth is prepared from yesterday, prepared by the king, deep, and wide. The nourishment thereof is fire and much wood: the breath of the Lord as a torrent of brimstone kindling it. Topheth... It is the same as Gehenna, and is taken for hell. Isaias Chapter 31 The folly of trusting to Egypt, and forgetting God. He will fight for his people against the Assyrians. 31:1. Woe to them that go down to Egypt for help, trusting in horses, and putting their confidence in chariots, because they are many: and in horsemen, because they are very strong: and have not trusted in the Holy One of Israel, and have not sought after the Lord. 31:2. But he that is the wise one hath brought evil, and hath not removed his words: and he will rise up against the house of the wicked, and against the aid of them that work iniquity. 31:3. Egypt is man, and not God: and their horses, flesh, and not spirit: and the Lord shall put down his hand, and the helper shall fall, and he that is helped shall fall, and they shall all be confounded together. 31:4. For thus saith the Lord to me: Like as the lion roareth, and the lions whelp upon his prey, and when a multitude of shepherds shall come against him, he will not fear at their voice, nor be afraid of their multitude: so shall the Lord of hosts come down to fight upon mount Sion, and upon the hill thereof. 31:5. As birds flying, so will the Lord of hosts protect Jerusalem, protecting and delivering, passing over and saving. 31:6. Return as you had deeply revolted, O children of Israel. 31:7. For in that day a man shall cast away his idols of silver, and his idols of gold, which your hands have made for you to sin. 31:8. And the Assyrian shall fall by the sword not of a man, and the sword not of a man shall devour him, and he shall flee not at the face of the sword, and his young men shall be tributaries. 31:9. And his strength shall pass away with dread, and his princes fleeing shall be afraid: the Lord hath said it, whose fire is in Sion, and his furnace in Jerusalem. Isaias Chapter 32 The blessings of the reign of Christ. The desolation of the Jews, and prosperity of the church of Christ. 32:1. Behold a king shall reign in justice, and princes shall rule in judgment. 32:2. And a man shall be as when one is hid from the wind, and hideth himself from a storm, as rivers of waters in drought, and the shadow of a rock that standeth out in a desert land. 32:3. The eyes of them that see shall not be dim, and the ears of them that hear shall hearken diligently. 32:4. And the heart of fools shall understand knowledge, and the tongue of stammerers shall speak readily and plain. 32:5. The fool shall no more be called prince: neither shall the deceitful be called great: 32:6. For the fool will speak foolish things, and his heart will work iniquity, to practise hypocrisy, and speak to the Lord deceitfully, and to make empty the soul of the hungry, and take away drink from the thirsty. 32:7. The vessels of the deceitful are most wicked: for he hath framed devices to destroy the meek, with lying words, when the poor man speaketh judgment. 32:8. But the prince will devise such things as are worthy of a prince, and he shall stand above the rulers. 32:9. Rise up, ye rich women, and hear my voice: ye confident daughters, give ear to my speech. 32:10. For after days and a year, you that are confident shall be troubled: for the vintage is at an end, the gathering shall come no more. 32:11. Be astonished, ye rich women, be troubled, ye confident ones: strip you, and be confounded, gird your loins. 32:12. Mourn for your breasts, for the delightful country, for the fruitful vineyard. 32:13. Upon the land of my people shall thorns and briers come up: how much more upon all the houses of joy, of the city that rejoiced? 32:14. For the house is forsaken, the multitude of the city is left, darkness and obscurity are come upon its dens for ever. A joy of wild asses, the pastures of flocks. 32:15. Until the spirit be poured upon us from on high: and the desert shall be as a charmel, and charmel shall be counted for a forest. 32:16. An judgment shall dwell in the wilderness, and justice shall sit in charmel. 32:17. And the work of justice shall be peace, and the service of justice quietness, and security for ever. 32:18. And my people shall sit in the beauty of peace, and in the tabernacles of confidence, and in wealthy rest. 32:19. But hail shall be in the descent of the forest, and the city shall be made very low. 32:20. Blessed are ye that sow upon all waters, sending thither the foot of the ox and the ass. Isaias Chapter 33 God's revenge against the enemies of his church. The happiness of the heavenly Jerusalem. 33:1. Woe to thee that spoilest, shalt not thou thyself also be spoiled? and thou that despisest, shalt not thyself also be despised? when thou shalt have made an end of spoiling, thou shalt be spoiled: when being wearied thou shalt cease to despise, thou shalt be despised. That spoilest, etc... This is particularly directed to Sennacherib. 33:2. O Lord, have mercy on us: for we have waited for thee: be thou our arm in the morning, and our salvation in the time of trouble. 33:3. At the voice of the angel the people fled, and at the lifting up thyself the nations are scattered. 33:4. And your spoils shall be gathered together as the locusts are gathered, as when the ditches are full of them. 33:5. The Lord is magnified, for he hath dwelt on high: he hath filled Sion with judgment and justice. 33:6. And there shall be faith in thy times: riches of salvation, wisdom and knowledge: the fear of the Lord is his treasure. 33:7. Behold they that see shall cry without, the angels of peace shall weep bitterly. The angels of peace... The messengers or deputies sent to negotiate a peace. 33:8. The ways are made desolate, no one passeth by the road, the covenant is made void, he hath rejected the cities, he hath not regarded the men. 33:9. The land hath mourned, and languished: Libanus is confounded, and become foul, and Saron is become as a desert: and Basan and Carmel are shaken. 33:10. Now will I rise up, saith the Lord: now will I be exalted, now will I lift up myself. 33:11. You shall conceive heat, you shall bring forth stubble: your breath as fire shall devour you. 33:12. And the people shall be as ashes after a fire, as a bundle of thorns they shall be burnt with fire. 33:13. Hear, you that are far off, what I have done, and you that are near know my strength. 33:14. The sinners in Sion are afraid, trembling hath seized upon the hypocrites. Which of you can dwell with devouring fire? which of you shall dwell with everlasting burnings? 33:15. He that walketh in justices, and speaketh truth, that casteth away avarice by oppression, and shaketh his hands from all bribes, that stoppeth his ears lest he hear blood, and shutteth his eyes that he may see no evil. 33:16. He shall dwell on high, the fortifications of rocks shall be his highness: bread is given him, his waters are sure. 33:17. His eyes shall see the king in his beauty, they shall see the land far off. 33:18. Thy heart shall meditate fear: where is the learned? where is he that pondered the words of the law? where is the teacher of little ones? 33:19. The shameless people thou shalt not see, the people of profound speech: so that thou canst not understand the eloquence of his tongue, in whom there is no wisdom. 33:20. Look upon Sion the city of our solemnity: thy eyes shall see Jerusalem, a rich habitation, a tabernacle that cannot be removed: neither shall the nails thereof be taken away for ever, neither shall any of the cords thereof be broken. 33:21. Because only there our Lord is magnificent: a place of rivers, very broad and spacious streams: no ship with oars shall pass by it, neither shall the great galley pass through it. Of rivers... He speaks of the rivers of endless joys that flow from the throne of God to water the heavenly Jerusalem, where no enemy's ship can come, etc. 33:22. For the Lord is our judge, the Lord is our lawgiver, the Lord is our king: he will save us. 33:23. Thy tacklings are loosed, and they shall be of no strength: thy mast shall be in such condition, that thou shalt not be able to spread the flag. Then shall the spoils of much prey be divided: the lame shall take the spoil. Thy tacklings... He speaks of the enemies of the church, under the allegory of a ship that is disabled. 33:24. Neither shall he that is near, say: I am feeble. The people that dwell therein, shall have their iniquity taken away from them. Isaias Chapter 34 The general judgment of the wicked. 34:1. Come near, ye Gentiles, and hear, and hearken, ye people: let the earth hear, and all that is therein, the world, and every thing that cometh forth of it. 34:2. For the indignation of the Lord is upon all nations, and his fury upon all their armies: he hath killed them, and delivered them to slaughter. 34:3. Their slain shall be cast forth, and out of their carcasses shall rise a stink: the mountains shall be melted with their blood. 34:4. And all the host of the heavens shall pine away, and the heavens shall be folded together as a book: and all their host shall fall down as the leaf falleth from the vine, and from the fig tree. And all the host of the heavens... That is, the sun, moon, and stars. 34:5. For my sword is inebriated in heaven: behold it shall come down upon Idumea, and upon the people of my slaughter unto judgment. Idumea... Under the name of Idumea, or Edom a people that were enemies of the Jews, are here understood the wicked in general, the enemies of God and his church. 34:6. The sword of the Lord is filled with blood, it is made thick with the blood of lambs and buck goats, with the blood of rams full of marrow: for there is a victim of the Lord in Bosra and a great slaughter in the land of Edom. 34:7. And the unicorns shall go down with them, and the bulls with the mighty: their land shall be soaked with blood, and their ground with the fat of fat ones. The unicorns... That is, the great and mighty. 34:8. For it is the day of the vengeance of the Lord, the year of recompenses of the judgment of Sion. The year of recompenses, etc... When the persecutors of Sion, that is, of the church, shall receive their reward. 34:9. And the streams thereof shall be turned into pitch, and the ground thereof into brimstone: and the land thereof shall become burning pitch. 34:10. Night and day it shall not be quenched, the smoke thereof shall go up for ever: from generation to generation it shall lie waste, none shall pass through it for ever and ever. 34:11. The bittern and ericius shall possess it: and the ibis and the raven shall dwell in it: and a line shall be stretched out upon it, to bring it to nothing, and a plummet, unto desolation. 34:12. The nobles thereof shall not be there: they shall call rather upon the king, and all the princes thereof shall be nothing. 34:13. And thorns and nettles shall grow up in its houses, and the thistle in the fortresses thereof: and it shall be the habitation of dragons, and the pasture of ostriches. 34:14. And demons and monsters shall meet, and the hairy ones shall cry out one to another, there hath the lamia lain down, and found rest for herself. 34:15. There hath the ericius had its hole, and brought up its young ones, and hath dug round about, and cherished them in the shadow thereof: thither are the kites gathered together one to another. 34:16. Search ye diligently in the book of the Lord, and read: not one of them was wanting, one hath not sought for the other: for that which proceedeth out of my mouth, he hath commanded, and his spirit it hath gathered them. 34:17. And he hath cast the lot for them, and his hand hath divided it to them by line: they shall possess it for ever, from generation to generation they shall dwell therein. Isaias Chapter 35 The joyful flourishing of Christ's kingdom: in his church shall be a holy and secure way. 35:1. The land that was desolate and impassable shall be glad, and the wilderness shall rejoice, and shall flourish like the lily. 35:2. It shall bud forth and blossom, and shall rejoice with joy and praise: the glory of Libanus is given to it: the beauty of Carmel, and Saron, they shall see the glory of the Lord, and the beauty of our God. 35:3. Strengthen ye the feeble hands, and confirm the weak knees. 35:4. Say to the fainthearted: Take courage, and fear not: behold your God will bring the revenge of recompense: God himself will come and will save you. 35:5. Then shall the eyes of the blind be opened, and the ears of the deaf shall be unstopped. 35:6. Then shall the lame man leap as a hart, and the tongue of the dumb shall be free: for waters are broken out in the desert, and streams in the wilderness. 35:7. And that which was dry land, shall become a pool, and the thirsty land springs of water. In the dens where dragons dwelt before, shall rise up the verdure of the reed and the bulrush. 35:8. And a path and a way shall be there, and it shall be called the holy way: the unclean shall not pass over it, and this shall be unto you a straight way, so that fools shall not err therein. 35:9. No lion shall be there, nor shall any mischievous beast go up by it, nor be found there: but they shall walk there that shall be delivered. 35:10. And the redeemed of the Lord shall return, and shall come into Sion with praise, and everlasting joy shall be upon their heads: they shall obtain joy and gladness, and sorrow and mourning shall flee away. Isaias Chapter 36 Sennacherib invades Juda: his blasphemies. 36:1. And it came to pass in the fourteenth year of king Ezechias, that Sennacherib king of the Assyrians came up against all the fenced cities of Juda, and took them. 36:2. And the king of the Assyrians sent Rabsaces from Lachis to Jerusalem, to king Ezechias with a great army, and he stood by the conduit of the upper pool in the way of the fuller's field. 36:3. And there went out to him Eliacim the son of Helcias, who was over the house, and Sobna the scribe, and Joahe the son of Asaph the recorder. 36:4. And Rabsaces said to them: Tell Ezechias: Thus saith the great king, the king of the Assyrians: What is this confidence wherein thou trustest? 36:5. Or with what counsel or strength dost thou prepare for war? on whom dost thou trust, that thou art revolted from me? 36:6. Lo thou trustest upon this broken staff of a reed, upon Egypt: upon which if a man lean, it will go into his hand, and pierce it: so is Pharao king of Egypt to all that trust in him. 36:7. But if thou wilt answer me: We trust in the Lord our God: is it not he whose high places and altars Ezechias hath taken away, and hath said to Juda and Jerusalem: You shall worship before this altar? 36:8. And now deliver thyself up to my lord the king of the Assyrians, and I will give thee two thousand horses, and thou wilt not be able on thy part to find riders for them. 36:9. And how wilt thou stand against the face of the judge of one place, of the least of my master's servants? But if thou trust in Egypt, in chariots and in horsemen: 36:10. And am I now come up without the Lord against this land to destroy it? The Lord said to me: Go up against this land, and destroy it. 36:11. And Eliacim, and Sobna, and Joahe said to Rabsaces: Speak to thy servants in the Syrian tongue: for we understand it: speak not to us in the Jews' language in the hearing of the people, that are upon the wall. 36:12. And Rabsaces said to them: Hath my master sent me to thy master and to thee, to speak all these words; and not rather to the men that sit on the wall; that they may eat their own dung, and drink their urine with you? 36:13. Then Rabsaces stood, and cried out with a loud voice in the Jews' language, and said: Hear the words of the great king, the king of the Assyrians. 36:14. Thus saith the king: Let not Ezechias deceive you, for he shall not be able to deliver you. 36:15. And let not Ezechias make you trust in the Lord, saying: The Lord will surely deliver us, and this city shall not be given into the hands of the king of the Assyrians. 36:16. Do not hearken to Ezechias: for thus said the king of the Assyrians: Do with me that which is for your advantage, and come out to me, and eat ye every one of his vine, and every one of his fig tree, and drink ye every one the water of his cistern, 36:17. Till I come and take you away to a land, like to your own, a land of corn and of wine, a land of bread and vineyards. 36:18. Neither let Ezechias trouble you, saying: The Lord will deliver us. Have any of the gods of the nations delivered their land out of the hand of the king of the Assyrians? 36:19. Where is the god of Emath and of Arphad? where is the god of Sepharvaim? have they delivered Samaria out of my hand? 36:20. Who is there among all the gods of these lands, that hath delivered his country out of my hand, that the Lord may deliver Jerusalem out of my hand? 36:21. And they held their peace, and answered him not a word. For the king had commanded, saying: Answer him not. 36:22. And Eliacim the son of Helcias, that was over the house, and Sobna the scribe, and Joahe the son of Asaph the recorder, went in to Ezechias with their garments rent, and told him the words of Rabsaces. Isaias Chapter 37 Ezechias, his mourning and prayer. God's promise of protection. The Assyrian army is destroyed. Sennacherib is slain. 37:1. And it came to pass, when king Ezechias had heard it, that he rent his garments and covered himself with sackcloth, and went into the house of the Lord. 37:2. And he sent Eliacim who was over the house, and Sobna the scribe, and the ancients of the priests covered with sackcloth, to Isaias the son of Amos the prophet. 37:3. And they said to him: Thus saith Ezechias: This day is a day of tribulation, and of rebuke, and of blasphemy: for the children are come to the birth, and there is not strength to bring forth. 37:4. It may be the Lord thy God will hear the words of Rabsaces, whom the king of the Assyrians his master hath sent to blaspheme the living God, and to reproach with words which the Lord thy God hath heard: wherefore lift up by prayer for the remnant that is left. 37:5. And the servants of Ezechias came to Isaias. 37:6. And Isaias said to them: Thus shall you say to your master: Thus saith the Lord: Be not afraid of the words that thou hast heard, with which the servants of the king of the Assyrians have blasphemed me. 37:7. Behold, I will send a spirit upon him, and he shall hear a message, and shall return to his own country, and I will cause him to fall by the sword in his own country. 37:8. And Rabsaces returned, and found the king of the Assyrians besieging Lobna. For he had heard that he was departed from Lachis. 37:9. And he heard say about Tharaca the king of Ethiopia: He is come forth to fight against thee. And when he heard it, he sent messengers to Ezechias, saying: 37:10. Thus shall you speak to Ezechias the king of Juda, saying: Let not thy God deceive thee, in whom thou trustest, saying: Jerusalem shall not be given into the hands of the king of the Assyrians. 37:11. Behold thou hast heard all that the kings of the Assyrians have done to all countries which they have destroyed, and canst thou be delivered? 37:12. Have the gods of the nations delivered them whom my fathers have destroyed, Gozam, and Haram, and Reseph, and the children of Eden, that were in Thalassar? 37:13. Where is the king of Emath, and the king of Arphad, and the king of the city of Sepharvaim, of Ana, and of Ava? 37:14. And Ezechias took the letter from the hand of the messengers, and read it, and went up to the house of the Lord, and Ezechias spread it before the Lord. 37:15. And Ezechias prayed to the Lord, saying: 37:16. Lord of hosts, God of Israel who sitteth upon the cherubims, thou alone art the God of all the kingdoms of the earth, thou hast made heaven and earth. 37:17. Incline, O Lord, thy ear, and hear: open, O Lord, thy eyes, and see, and hear all the words of Sennacherib, which he hath sent to blaspheme the living God. 37:18. For of a truth, O Lord, the kings of the Assyrians have laid waste lands, and their countries. 37:19. And they have cast their gods into the fire, for they were not gods, but the works of men's hands, of wood and stone: and they broke them in pieces. 37:20. And now, O Lord our God, save us out of his hand: and let all the kingdoms of the earth know, that thou only art the Lord. 37:21. And Isaias the son of Amos sent to Ezechias, saying: Thus saith the Lord the God of Israel: For the prayer thou hast made to me concerning Sennacherib the king of the Assyrians: 37:22. This is the word which the Lord hath spoken of him: The virgin the daughter of Sion hath despised thee, and laughed thee to scorn: the daughter of Jerusalem hath wagged the head after thee. 37:23. Whom hast thou reproached, and whom hast thou blasphemed, and against whom hast thou exalted thy voice, and lifted up thy eyes on high? Against the Holy One of Israel. 37:24. 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 I will cut down its tall cedars, and its choice fir trees, and will enter to the top of its height, to the forest of its Carmel. Carmel... See these figurative expressions explained in the annotations on the nineteenth chapter of the fourth book of Kings. 37:25. I have digged, and drunk water, and have dried up with the sole of my foot, all the rivers shut up in banks. 37:26. Hast thou not heard what I have done to him of old? from the days of old I have formed it: and now I have brought it to effect: and it hath come to pass that hills fighting together, and fenced cities should be destroyed. 37:27. The inhabitants of them were weak of hand, they trembled, and were confounded: they became like the grass of the field, and the herb of the pasture, and like the grass of the housetops, which withered before it was ripe. 37:28. I know thy dwelling, and thy going out, and thy coming in, and thy rage against me. 37:29. When thou wast mad against me, thy pride came 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. 37:30. But to thee this shall be a sign: Eat this year the things that spring of themselves, and in the second year eat fruits: but in the third year sow and reap, and plant vineyards, and eat the fruit of them. 37:31. And that which shall be saved of the house of Juda, and which is left, shall take root downward, and shall bear fruit upward: 37:32. For out of Jerusalem shall go forth a remnant, and salvation from mount Sion: the zeal of the Lord of hosts shall do this. 37:33. 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. 37:34. By the way that he came, he shall return, and into this city he shall not come, saith the Lord. 37:35. And I will protect this city, and will save it for my own sake, and for the sake of David my servant. 37:36. And the angel of the Lord went out and slew in the camp of the Assyrians a hundred and eighty-five thousand. And they arose in the morning, and behold they were all dead corpses. 37:37. And Sennacherib the king of the Assyrians went out and departed, and returned, and dwelt in Ninive. 37:38. And it came to pass, as he was worshipping in the temple of Nesroch his god, that Adramelech and Sarasar his sons slew him with the sword: and they fled into the land of Ararat, and Asarhaddon his son reigned in his stead. Isaias Chapter 38 Ezechias being advertised that he shall die, obtains by prayer a prolongation of his life: in confirmation of which the sun goes back. The canticle of Ezechias. 38:1. In those days Ezechias was sick even to death, and Isaias the son of Amos the prophet cane unto him, and said to him: Thus saith the Lord: Take order with thy house, for thou shalt die, and not live. 38:2. And Ezechias turned his face toward the wall, and prayed to the Lord, 38:3. And said: 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 good in thy sight. And Ezechias wept with great weeping. 38:4. And the word of the Lord came to Isaias, saying: 38:5. Go and say to Ezechias: Thus saith the Lord the God of David thy father: I have heard thy prayer, and I have seen thy tears: behold I will add to thy days fifteen years: 38:6. And I will deliver thee and this city out of the hand of the king of the Assyrians, and I will protect it. 38:7. And this shall be a sign to thee from the Lord, that the Lord will do this word which he hath spoken: 38:8. Behold I will bring again the shadow of the lines, by which it is now gone down in the sun dial of Achaz with the sun, ten lines backward. And the sun returned ten lines by the degrees by which it was gone down. 38:9. The writing of Ezechias king of Juda, when he had been sick, and was recovered of his sickness. 38:10. I said: In the midst of my days I shall go to the gates of hell: I sought for the residue of my years. Hell... Sheol, or Hades, the region of the dead. 38:11. I said: I shall not see the Lord God in the land of the living. I shall behold man no more, nor the inhabitant of rest. 38:12. My generation is at an end, and it is rolled away from me, as a shepherd's tent. My life is cut off, as by a weaver: whilst I was yet but beginning, he cut me off: from morning even to night thou wilt make an end of me. 38:13. I hoped till morning, as a lion so hath he broken all my bones: from morning even to night thou wilt make an end of me. 38:14. I will cry like a young swallow, I will meditate like a dove: my eyes are weakened looking upward: Lord, I suffer violence, answer thou for me. 38:15. What shall I say, or what shall he answer for me, whereas he himself hath done it? I will recount to thee all my years in the bitterness of my soul. 38:16. O Lord, if man's life be such, and the life of my spirit be in such things as these, thou shalt correct me, and make me to live. 38:17. Behold in peace is my bitterness most bitter: but thou hast delivered my soul that it should not perish, thou hast cast all my sins behind thy back. 38:18. For hell shall not confess to thee, neither shall death praise thee: nor shall they that go down into the pit, look for thy truth. 38:19. The living, the living, he shall give praise to thee, as I do this day: the father shall make the truth known to the children. 38:20. O Lord, save me, and we will sing our psalms all the days of our life in the house of the Lord. 38:21. Now Isaias had ordered that they should take a lump of figs, and lay it as a plaster upon the wound, and that he should be healed. 38:22. And Ezechias had said: What shall be the sign that I shall go up to the house of the Lord? Isaias Chapter 39 Ezechias shews all his treasures to the ambassadors of Babylon: upon which Isaias foretells the Babylonish captivity. 39:1. At that time Merodach Baladan, the son of Baladan king of Babylon, sent letters and presents to Ezechias: for he had heard that he had been sick and was recovered. 39:2. And Ezechias rejoiced at their coming, and he shewed them the storehouses of his aromatical spices, and of the silver, and of the gold, and of the sweet odours, and of the precious ointment, and all the storehouses of his furniture, and all things that were found in his treasures. There was nothing in his house, nor in all his dominion that Ezechias shewed them not. 39:3. Then Isaias the prophet came to king Ezechias, and said to him: What said these men, and from whence came they to thee? And Ezechias said: From a far country they came to me, from Babylon. 39:4. And he said: What saw they in thy house? And Ezechias said: All things that are in my house have they seen, there was not any thing which I have not shewn them in my treasures. 39:5. And Isaias said to Ezechias: Hear the word of the Lord of hosts. 39:6. Behold the days shall come that all that is in thy house, and that thy fathers have laid up in store until this day, shall be carried away into Babylon: there shall not any thing be left, saith the Lord. 39:7. And of thy children, 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. 39:8. And Ezechias said to Isaias: The word of the Lord, which he hath spoken, is good. And he said: Only let peace and truth be in my days. Isaias Chapter 40 The prophet comforts the people with the promise of the coming of Christ to forgive their sins. God's almighty power and majesty. 40:1. Be comforted, be comforted, my people, saith your God. 40:2. Speak ye to the heart of Jerusalem, and call to her: for her evil is come to an end, her iniquity is forgiven: she hath received of the hand of the Lord double for all her sins. 40:3. The voice of one crying in the desert: Prepare ye the way of the Lord, make straight in the wilderness the paths of our God. 40:4. Every valley shall be exalted, and every mountain and hill shall be made low, and the crooked shall become straight, and the rough ways plain. 40:5. And the glory of the Lord shall be revealed, and all flesh together shall see, that the mouth of the Lord hath spoken. 40:6. The voice of one, saying: Cry. And I said: What shall I cry? All flesh is grass, and all the glory thereof as the flower of the field. 40:7. The grass is withered, and the flower is fallen, because the spirit of the Lord hath blown upon it. Indeed the people is grass: 40:8. The grass is withered, and the flower is fallen: but the word of our Lord endureth for ever. 40:9. Get thee up upon a high mountain, thou that bringest good tidings to Sion: lift up thy voice with strength, thou that bringest good tidings to Jerusalem: lift it up, fear not. Say to the cities of Juda: Behold your God: 40:10. Behold the Lord God shall come with strength, and his arm shall rule: Behold his reward is with him and his work is before him. 40:11. He shall feed his flock like a shepherd: he shall gather together the lambs with his arm, and shall take them up in his bosom, and he himself shall carry them that are with young. 40:12. Who hath measured the waters in the hollow of his hand, and weighed the heavens with his palm? who hath poised with three fingers the bulk of the earth, and weighed the mountains in scales, and the hills in a balance? 40:13. Who hath forwarded the spirit of the Lord? or who hath been his counsellor, and hath taught him? 40:14. With whom hath he consulted, and who hath instructed him, and taught him the path of justice, and taught him knowledge, and shewed him the way of understanding? 40:15. Behold the Gentiles are as a drop of a bucket, and are counted as the smallest grain of a balance: behold the islands are as a little dust. 40:16. And Libanus shall not be enough to burn, nor the beasts thereof sufficient for a burnt offering. 40:17. All nations are before him as if they had no being at all, and are counted to him as nothing, and vanity. 40:18. To whom then have you likened God? or what image will you make for him? 40:19. Hath the workman cast a graven statue? or hath the goldsmith formed it with gold, or the silversmith with plates of silver? 40:20. He hath chosen strong wood, and that will not rot: the skilful workman seeketh how he may set up an idol that may not be moved. 40:21. Do you not know? hath it not been heard? hath it not been told you from the beginning? have you not understood the foundations of the earth? 40:22. It is he that sitteth upon the globe of the earth, and the inhabitants thereof are as locusts: he that stretcheth out the heavens as nothing, and spreadeth them out as a tent to dwell in. 40:23. He that bringeth the searchers of secrets to nothing, that hath made the judges of the earth as vanity. 40:24. And surely their stock was neither planted, nor sown, nor rooted in the earth: suddenly he hath blown upon them, and they are withered, and a whirlwind shall take them away as stubble. 40:25. And to whom have ye likened me, or made me equal, saith the Holy One? 40:26. Lift up your eyes on high, and see who hath created these things: who bringeth out their host by number, and calleth them all by their names: by the greatness of his might, and strength, and power, not one of them was missing. 40:27. Why sayest thou, O Jacob, and speakest, O Israel: My way is hid from the Lord, and my judgment is passed over from my God? 40:28. Knowest thou not, or hast thou not heard? the Lord is the everlasting God, who hath created the ends of the earth: he shall not faint, nor labour, neither is there any searching out of his wisdom. 40:29. It is he that giveth strength to the weary, and increaseth force and might to them that are not. 40:30. You shall faint, and labour, and young men shall fall by infirmity. 40:31. But they that hope in the Lord shall renew their strength, they shall take wings as eagles, they shall run and not be weary, they shall walk and not faint. Isaias Chapter 41 The reign of the just one: the vanity of idols. 41:1. Let the islands keep silence before me, and the nations take new strength: let them come near, and then speak, let us come near to judgment together. 41:2. Who hath raised up the just one from the east, hath called him to follow him? he shall give the nations in his sight, and he shall rule over kings: he shall give them as the dust to his sword, as stubble driven by the wind, to his bow. 41:3. He shall pursue them, he shall pass in peace, no path shall appear after his feet. 41:4. Who hath wrought and done these things, calling the generations from the beginning? I the Lord, I am the first and the last. 41:5. The islands saw it, and feared, the ends of the earth were astonished, they drew near, and came. 41:6. Every one shall help his neighbour, and shall say to his brother: Be of good courage. 41:7. The coppersmith striking with the hammer encouraged him that forged at that time, saying: It is ready for soldering: and he strengthened it with nails, that it should not be moved. 41:8. But thou Israel, art my servant, Jacob whom I have chosen, the seed of Abraham my friend: 41:9. In whom I have taken thee from the ends of the earth, and from the remote parts thereof have called thee, and said to thee: Thou art my servant, I have chosen thee, and have not cast thee away. 41:10. Fear not, for I am with thee: turn not aside, for I am thy God: I have strengthened thee, and have helped thee, and the right hand of my just one hath upheld thee. 41:11. Behold all that fight against thee shall be confounded and ashamed, they shall be as nothing, and the men shall perish that strive against thee. 41:12. Thou shalt seek them, and shalt not find the men that resist thee: they shall be as nothing: and as a thing consumed the men that war against thee. 41:13. For I am the Lord thy God, who take thee by the hand, and say to thee: Fear not, I have helped thee. 41:14. Fear not, thou worm of Jacob, you that are dead of Israel: I have helped thee, saith the Lord: and thy Redeemer the Holy One of Israel. 41:15. I have made thee as a new thrashing wain, with teeth like a saw: thou shalt thrash the mountains, and break them in pieces: and shalt make the hills as chaff. 41:16. Thou shalt fan them, and the wind shall carry them away, and the whirlwind shall scatter them: and thou shalt rejoice in the Lord, in the Holy One of Israel thou shalt be joyful. 41:17. The needy and the poor seek for waters, and there are none: their tongue hath been dry with thirst. I the Lord will hear them, I the God of Israel will not forsake them. 41:18. I will open rivers in the high hills, and fountains in the midst of the plains: I will turn the desert into pools of waters, and the impassable land into streams of waters. 41:19. I will plant in the wilderness the cedar, and the thorn, and the myrtle, and the olive tree: I will set in the desert the fir tree, the elm, and the box tree together: The thorn... In Hebrew, the shitta, or setim, a tree resembling the white thorn. 41:20. That they may see and know, and consider, and understand together that the hand of the Lord hath done this, and the Holy One of Israel hath created it. 41:21. Bring your cause near, saith the Lord: bring hither, if you have any thing to allege, saith the King of Jacob. 41:22. Let them come, and tell us all things that are to come: tell us the former things what they were: and we will set our heart upon them and shall know the latter end of them, and tell us the things that are to come. 41:23. Shew the things that are to come hereafter, and we shall know that ye are gods. Do ye also good or evil, if you can: and let us speak, and see together. 41:24. Behold, you are of nothing, and your work of that which hath no being: he that hath chosen you is an abomination. 41:25. I have raised up one from the north, and he shall come from the rising of the sun: he shall call upon my name, and he shall make princes to be as dirt, and as the potter treading clay. 41:26. Who hath declared from the beginning, that we may know: and from time of old, that we may say: Thou art just. There is none that sheweth, nor that foretelleth, nor that heareth your words. 41:27. The first shall say to Sion: Behold they are here, and to Jerusalem I will give an evangelist. 41:28. And I saw, and there was no one even among them to consult, or who, when I asked, could answer a word. 41:29. Behold they are all in the wrong, and their works are vain: their idols are wind and vanity. Isaias Chapter 42 The office of Christ. The preaching of the gospel to the Gentiles. The blindness and reprobation of the Jews. 42:1. Behold my servant, I will uphold him: my elect, my soul delighteth in him: I have given my spirit upon him, he shall bring forth judgment to the Gentiles. My servant... Christ, who according to his humanity, is the servant of God. 42:2. He shall not cry, nor have respect to person, neither shall his voice be heard abroad. 42:3. The bruised reed he shall not break, and smoking flax he shall not quench, he shall bring forth judgment unto truth. 42:4. He shall not be sad, nor troublesome, till he set judgment in the earth, and the islands shall wait for his law. 42:5. Thus saith the Lord God that created the heavens, and stretched them out: that established the earth, and the things that spring out of it: that giveth breath to the people upon it, and spirit to them that tread thereon. 42:6. I the Lord have called thee in justice, and taken thee by the hand, and preserved thee. And I have given thee for a covenant of the people, for a light of the Gentiles: 42:7. That thou mightest open the eyes of the blind, and bring forth the prisoner out of prison, and them that sit in darkness out of the prison house. 42:8. I the Lord, this is my name: I will not give my glory to another, nor my praise to graven things. 42:9. The things that were first, behold they are come: and new things do I declare: before they spring forth, I will make you hear them. 42:10. Sing ye to the Lord a new song, his praise is from the ends of the earth: you that go down to the sea, and all that are therein: ye islands, and ye inhabitants of them. 42:11. Let the desert and the cities thereof be exalted: Cedar shall dwell in houses: ye inhabitants of Petra, give praise, they shall cry from the top of the mountains. Petra... A city that gives name to Arabia Petraea. 42:12. They shall give glory to the Lord, and shall declare his praise in the islands. 42:13. The Lord shall go forth as a mighty man, as a man of war shall he stir up zeal: he shall shout and cry: he shall prevail against his enemies. 42:14. I have always held my peace, I have kept silence, I have been patient, I will speak now as a woman in labour: I will destroy, and swallow up at once. 42:15. I will lay waste the mountains and hills, and will make all their grass to wither: and I will turn rivers into islands, and will dry up the standing pools. 42:16. And I will lead the blind into the way which they know not: and in the paths which they were ignorant of I will make them walk: I will make darkness light before them, and crooked things straight: these things have I done to them, and have not forsaken them. 42:17. They are turned back: let them be greatly confounded, that trust in a graven thing, that say to a molten thing: You are our god. 42:18. Hear, ye deaf, and, ye blind, behold that you may see. 42:19. Who is blind, but my servant? or deaf, but he to whom I have sent my messengers? Who is blind, but he that is sold? or who is blind, but the servant of the Lord? 42:20. Thou that seest many things, wilt thou not observe them? thou that hast ears open, wilt thou not hear? 42:21. And the Lord was willing to sanctify him, and to magnify the law, and exalt it. 42:22. But this is a people that is robbed and wasted: they are all the snare of young men, and they are hid in the houses of prisons: they are made a prey, and there is none to deliver them: a spoil, and there is none that saith: Restore. 42:23. Who is there among you that will give ear to this, that will attend and hearken for times to come? 42:24. Who hath given Jacob for a spoil, and Israel to robbers? hath not the Lord himself, against whom we have sinned? And they would not walk in his ways, and they have not hearkened to his law. 42:25. And he hath poured out upon him the indignation of his fury, and a strong battle, and hath burnt him round about, and he knew not: and set him on fire, and he understood not. Isaias Chapter 43 God comforts his church, promising to protect her for ever: he expostulates with the Jews for their ingratitude. 43:1. And now thus saith the Lord that created thee, O Jacob, and formed thee, O Israel: Fear not, for I have redeemed thee, and called thee by thy name: thou art mine. 43:2. When thou shalt pass through the waters, I will be with thee, and the rivers shall not cover thee: when thou shalt walk in the fire, thou shalt not be burnt, and the flames shall not burn in thee: 43:3. For I am the Lord thy God, the Holy One of Israel, thy Saviour: I have given Egypt for thy atonement, Ethiopia and Saba for thee. 43:4. Since thou becamest honourable in my eyes, thou art glorious: I have loved thee, and I will give men for thee, and people for thy life. 43:5. Fear not, for I am with thee: I will bring thy seed from the east, and gather thee from the west. 43:6. I will say to the north: Give up: and to the south: Keep not back: bring my sons from afar, and my daughters from the ends of the earth. 43:7. And every one that calleth upon my name, I have created him for my glory. I have formed him, and made him. 43:8. Bring forth the people that are blind, and have eyes: that are deaf, and have ears. 43:9. All the nations are assembled together, and the tribes are gathered: who among you can declare this, and shall make us hear the former things? let them bring forth their witnesses, let them be justified, and hear, and say: It is truth. 43:10. You are my witnesses, saith the Lord, and my servant whom I have chosen: that you may know, and believe me, and understand that I myself am. Before me there was no God formed, and after me there shall be none. 43:11. I am, I am the Lord: and there is no saviour besides me. 43:12. I have declared, and have saved. I have made it heard, and there was no strange one among you. You are my witnesses, saith the Lord, and I am God. 43:13. And from the beginning I am the same, and there is none that can deliver out of my hind: I will work, and who shall turn it away? 43:14. Thus saith the Lord your redeemer, the Holy One of Israel: For your sake I sent to Babylon, and have brought down all their bars, and the Chaldeans glorying in their ships. 43:15. I am the Lord your Holy One, the Creator of Israel, your King. 43:16. Thus saith the Lord, who made a way in the sea, and a path in the mighty waters. 43:17. Who brought forth the chariot and the horse, the army and the strong: they lay down to sleep together, and they shall not rise again: they are broken as flax, and are extinct. 43:18. Remember not former things, and look not on things of old. 43:19. Behold I do new things, and now they shall spring forth, verily you shall know them: I will make a way in the wilderness, and rivers in the desert. 43:20. The beast of the field shall glorify me, the dragons and the ostriches: because I have given waters in the wilderness, rivers in the desert, to give drink to my people, to my chosen. 43:21. This people have I formed for myself, they shall shew forth my praise. 43:22. But thou hast not called upon me, O Jacob, neither hast thou laboured about me, O Israel. 43:23. Thou hast not offered me the ram of thy holocaust, nor hast thou glorified me with thy victims: I have not caused thee to serve with oblations, nor wearied thee with incense. 43:24. Thou hast bought me no sweet cane with money, neither hast thou filled me with the fat of thy victims. But thou hast made me to serve with thy sins, thou hast wearied me with thy iniquities. 43:25. I am, I am he that blot out thy iniquities for my own sake, and I will not remember thy sins. 43:26. Put me in remembrance, and let us plead together: tell if thou hast any thing to justify thyself. 43:27. Thy first father sinned, and thy teachers have transgressed against me. 43:28. And I have profaned the holy princes, I have given Jacob to slaughter, and Israel to reproach. Isaias Chapter 44 God's favour to his church. The folly of idolatry. The people shall be delivered from captivity. 44:1. And now hear, O Jacob, my servant, and Israel whom I have chosen. 44:2. Thus saith the Lord that made and formed thee, thy helper from the womb: Fear not, O my servant Jacob, and thou most righteous whom I have chosen. 44:3. For I will pour out waters upon the thirsty ground, and streams upon the dry land: I will pour out my spirit upon thy seed, and my blessing upon thy stock. 44:4. And they shall spring up among the herbs, as willows beside the running waters. 44:5. One shall say: I am the Lord's, and another shall call himself by the name of Jacob, and another shall subscribe with his hand, To the Lord, and surname himself by the name of Israel. 44:6. Thus saith the Lord the king of Israel, and his redeemer the Lord of hosts: I am the first, and I am the last, and besides me there is no God. 44:7. Who is like to me? let him call and declare: and let him set before me the order, since I appointed the ancient people: and the things to come, and that shall be hereafter, let them shew unto them. 44:8. Fear ye not, neither be ye troubled from that time I have made thee to hear, and have declared: you are my witnesses. Is there a God besides me, a maker, whom I have not known? 44:9. The makers of idols are all of them nothing, and their best beloved things shall not profit them. They are their witnesses, that they do not see, nor understand, that they may be ashamed. 44:10. Who hath formed a god, and made a graven thing that is profitable for nothing? 44:11. Behold, all the partakers thereof shall be confounded: for the makers are men: they shall all assemble together, they shall stand and fear, and shall be confounded together. 44:12. The smith hath wrought with his file, with coals, and with hammers he hath formed it, and hath wrought with the strength of his arm: he shall hunger and faint, he shall drink no water, and shall be weary. 44:13. The carpenter hath stretched out his rule, he hath formed it with a plane: he hath made it with corners, and hath fashioned it round with the compass: and he hath made the image of a man as it were a beautiful man dwelling in a house. 44:14. He hath cut down cedars, taken the holm, and the oak that stood among the trees of the forest: he hath planted the pine tree, which the rain hath nourished. 44:15. And it hath served men for fuel: he took thereof, and warmed himself: and he kindled it, and baked bread: but of the rest he made a god, and adored it: he made a graven thing, and bowed down before it. 44:16. Part of it he burnt with fire, and with part of it he dressed his meat: he boiled pottage, and was filled, and was warmed, and said: Aha, I am warm, I have seen the fire. 44:17. But the residue thereof he made a god, and a graven thing for himself: he boweth down before it, and adoreth it, and prayeth unto it, saying: Deliver me, for thou art my God. 44:18. They have not known, nor understood: for their eyes are covered that they may not see, and that they may not understand with their heart. 44:19. They do not consider in their mind, nor know, nor have the thought to say: I have burnt part of it in the fire, and I have baked bread upon the coals thereof: I have broiled flesh and have eaten, and of the residue thereof shall I make an idol? shall I fall down before the stock of a tree? 44:20. Part thereof is ashes: his foolish heart adoreth it, and he will not save his soul, nor say: Perhaps there is a lie in my right hand. 44:21. Remember these things, O Jacob, and Israel, for thou art my servant. I have formed thee, thou art my servant, O Israel, forget me not. 44:22. I have blotted out thy iniquities as a cloud, and thy sins as a mist: return to me, for I have redeemed thee. 44:23. Give praise, O ye heavens, for the Lord hath shewn mercy: shout with joy, ye ends of the earth: ye mountains, resound with praise, thou, O forest, and every tree therein: for the Lord hath redeemed Jacob, and Israel shall be glorified. 44:24. Thus saith the Lord thy redeemer, and thy maker, from the womb: I am the Lord, that make all things, that alone stretch out the heavens, that established the earth, and there is none with me. 44:25. That make void the tokens of diviners, and make the soothsayers mad. That turn the wise backward, and that make their knowledge foolish. 44:26. That raise up the word of my servant and perform the counsel of my messengers, who say to Jerusalem: Thou shalt be inhabited: and to the cities of Juda: You shall be built, and I will raise up the wastes thereof. 44:27. Who say to the deep: Be thou desolate, and I will dry up thy rivers. 44:28. Who say to Cyrus: Thou art my shepherd, and thou shalt perform all my pleasure. Who say to Jerusalem: Thou shalt be built: and to the temple: Thy foundations shall be laid. Isaias Chapter 45 A prophecy of Cyrus, as a figure of Christ, the great deliverer of God's people. 45:1. Thus saith the Lord to my anointed Cyrus, whose right hand I have taken hold of, to subdue nations before his face, and to turn the backs of kings, and to open the doors before him, and the gates shall not be shut. 45:2. I will go before thee, and will humble the great ones of the earth: I will break in pieces the gates of brass, and will burst the bars of iron. 45:3. And I will give thee hidden treasures, and the concealed riches of secret places: that thou mayest know that I am the Lord who call thee by thy name, the God of Israel. 45:4. For the sake of my servant Jacob, and Israel my elect, I have even called thee by thy name: I have made a likeness of thee, and thou hast not known me. 45:5. I am the Lord, and there is none else: there is no God besides me: I girded thee, and thou hast not known me: 45:6. That they may know who are from the rising of the sun, and they who are from the west, that there is none besides me. I am the Lord, and there is none else: 45:7. I form the light, and create darkness, I make peace, and create evil: I the Lord that do all these things. Create evil, etc... The evils of afflictions and punishments, but not the evil of sin. 45:8. Drop down dew, ye heavens, from above, and let the clouds rain the just: let the earth be opened, and bud forth a saviour: and let justice spring up together: I the Lord have created him. 45:9. Woe to him that gainsayeth his maker, a sherd of the earthen pots: shall the clay say to him that fashioneth it: What art thou making, and thy work is without hands? 45:10. Woe to him that saith to his father: Why begettest thou? and to the woman: Why dost thou bring forth? 45:11. Thus saith the Lord the Holy One of Israel, his maker: Ask me of things to come, concerning my children, and concerning the work of my hands give ye charge to me. 45:12. I made the earth: and I created man upon it: my hand stretched forth the heavens, and I have commanded all their host. 45:13. I have raised him up to justice, and I will direct all his ways: he shall build my city, and let go my captives, not for ransom, nor for presents, saith the Lord the God of hosts. 45:14. Thus saith the Lord: The labour of Egypt, and the merchandise of Ethiopia, and of Sabaim, men of stature shall come over to thee, and shall be thine: they shall walk after thee, they shall go bound with manacles: and they shall worship thee, and shall make supplication to thee: only in thee is God, and there is no God besides thee. 45:15. Verily thou art a hidden God, the God of Israel the saviour. 45:16. They are all confounded and ashamed: the forgers of errors are gone together into confusion. 45:17. Israel is saved in the Lord with an eternal salvation: you shall not be confounded, and you shall not be ashamed for ever and ever. 45:18. For thus saith the Lord that created the heavens, God himself that formed the earth, and made it, the very maker thereof: he did not create it in vain: he formed it to be inhabited. I am the Lord, and there is no other. 45:19. I have not spoken in secret, in a dark place of the earth: I have not said to the seed of Jacob: Seek me in vain. I am the Lord that speak justice, that declare right things. 45:20. Assemble yourselves, and come, and draw near together, ye that are saved of the Gentiles: they have no knowledge that set up the wood of their graven work, and pray to a god that cannot save. 45:21. Tell ye, and come, and consult together: who hath declared this from the beginning, who hath foretold this from that time? Have not I the Lord, and there is no God else besides me? A just God and a saviour, there is none besides me. 45:22. Be converted to me, and you shall be saved, all ye ends of the earth: for I am God, and there is no other. 45:23. I have sworn by myself, the word of justice shall go out of my mouth, and shall not return: 45:24. For every knee shall be bowed to me, and every tongue shall swear. 45:25. Therefore shall he say: In the Lord are my justices and empire: they shall come to him, and all that resist him shall be confounded. 45:26. In the Lord shall all the seed of Israel be justified and praised. Isaias Chapter 46 The idols of Babylon shall be destroyed. Salvation is promised through Christ. 46:1. Bel is broken, Nebo is destroyed: their idols are put upon beasts and cattle, your burdens of heavy weight even unto weariness. 46:2. They are consumed, and are broken together: they could not save him that carried them, and they themselves shall go into captivity. 46:3. Hearken unto me, O house of Jacob, all the remnant of the house of Israel who are carried by my bowels, are borne up by my womb. 46:4. Even to your old age I am the same, and to your grey hairs I will carry you: I have made you, and I will bear: I will carry and will save. 46:5. To whom have you likened me, and made me equal, and compared me, and made me like? 46:6. You that contribute gold out of the bag, and weigh out silver in the scales: and hire a goldsmith to make a god: and they fall down and worship. 46:7. They bear him on their shoulders and carry him, and set him in his place, and he shall stand, and shall not stir out of his place. Yea, when they shall cry also unto him, he shall not hear: he shall not save them from tribulation. 46:8. Remember this, and be ashamed: return, ye transgressors, to the heart. 46:9. Remember the former age, for I am God, and there is no God beside, neither is there the like to me: 46:10. Who shew from the beginning the things that shall be at last, and from ancient times the things that as yet are not done, saying: My counsel shall stand, and all my will shall be done: 46:11. Who call a bird from the east, and from a far country the man of my own will, and I have spoken, and will bring it to pass: I have created, and I will do it. Hear me, O ye hardhearted, who are far from justice. 46:12. I have brought my justice near, it shall not be afar off: and my salvation shall not tarry. I will give salvation in Sion, and my glory in Israel. Isaias Chapter 47 God's judgment upon Babylon. 47:1. Come down, sit in the dust, O virgin daughter of Babylon, sit on the ground: there is no throne for the daughter of the Chaldeans, for thou shalt no more be called delicate and tender. 47:2. Take a millstone and grind meal: uncover thy shame, strip thy shoulder, make bare thy legs, pass over the rivers. 47:3. Thy nakedness shall be discovered, and thy shame shall be seen: I will take vengeance, and no man shall resist me. 47:4. Our redeemer, the Lord of hosts is his name, the Holy One of Israel. 47:5. Sit thou silent, and get thee into darkness, O daughter of the Chaldeans: for thou shalt no more be called the lady of kingdoms. 47:6. I was angry with my people, I have polluted my inheritance, and have given them into thy hand: thou hast shewn no mercy to them: upon the ancient thou hast laid thy yoke exceeding heavy. 47:7. And thou hast said: I shall be a lady for ever: thou hast not laid these things to thy heart, neither hast thou remembered thy latter end. 47:8. And now hear these things, thou that art delicate, and dwellest confidently, that sayest in thy heart: I am, and there is none else besides me: I shall not sit as a widow, and I shall not know barrenness. 47:9. These two things shall come upon thee suddenly in one day, barrenness and widowhood. All things are come upon thee, because of the multitude of thy sorceries, and for the great hardness of thy enchanters. 47:10. And thou hast trusted in thy wickedness, and hast said: There is none that seeth me. Thy wisdom, and, thy knowledge, this hath deceived thee. And thou hast said in thy heart: I am, and besides me there is no other. 47:11. Evil shall come upon thee, and thou shalt not know the rising thereof: and calamity shall fall violently upon thee, which thou canst not keep off: misery shall come upon thee suddenly, which thou shalt not know. 47:12. Stand now with thy enchanters, and with the multitude of thy sorceries, in which thou hast laboured from thy youth, if so be it may profit thee any thing, or if thou mayst become stronger. 47:13. Thou hast failed in the multitude of thy counsels: let now the astrologers stand and save thee, they that gazed at the stars, and counted the months, that from them they might tell the things that shall come to thee. 47:14. Behold they are as stubble, fire hath burnt them, they shall not deliver themselves from the power of the flames: there are no coals wherewith they may be warmed, nor fire, that they may sit thereat. 47:15. Such are all the things become to thee, in which thou hast laboured: thy merchants from thy youth, every one hath erred in his own way, there is none that can save thee. Isaias Chapter 48 He reproaches the Jews for their obstinacy: he will deliver them out of their captivity, for his own name's sake. 48:1. Hear ye these things, O house of Jacob, you that are called by the name of Israel, and are come forth out of the waters of Juda, you who swear by the name of the Lord, and make mention of the God of Israel, but not in truth, nor in justice. 48:2. For they are called of the holy city, and are established upon the God of Israel: the Lord of hosts is his name. 48:3. The former things of old, I have declared, and they went forth out of my mouth, and I have made them to be heard: I did them suddenly and they came to pass. 48:4. For I knew that thou art stubborn, and thy neck is as an iron sinew, and thy forehead as brass. 48:5. I foretold thee of old, before they came to pass I told thee, lest thou shouldst say: My idols have done these things, and my graven and molten things have commanded them. 48:6. See now all the things which thou hast heard: but have you declared them? I have shewn thee new things from that time, and things are kept which thou knowest not: 48:7. They are created now, and not of old: and before the day, when thou heardest them not, lest thou shouldst say: Behold I knew them. 48:8. Thou hast neither heard, nor known, neither was thy ear opened of old. For I know that transgressing thou wilt transgress, and I have called thee a transgressor from the womb. 48:9. For my name's sake I will remove my wrath far off: and for my praise I will bridle thee, lest thou shouldst perish. 48:10. Behold I have refined thee, but not as silver, I have chosen thee in the furnace of poverty. 48:11. For my own sake, for my own sake will I do it, that I may not be blasphemed: and I will not give my glory to another. 48:12. Hearken to me, O Jacob, and thou Israel whom I call: I am he, I am the first, and I am the last. 48:13. My hand also hath founded the earth, and my right hand hath measured the heavens: I shall call them, and they shall stand together. 48:14. Assemble yourselves together, all you, and hear: who among them hath declared these things? the Lord hath loved him, he will do his pleasure in Babylon, and his arm shall be on the Chaldeans. 48:15. I, even I have spoken and called him: I have brought him, and his way is made prosperous. 48:16. Come ye near unto me, and hear this: I have not spoken in secret from the beginning: from the time before it was done, I was there, and now the Lord God hath sent me, and his spirit. 48:17. Thus saith the Lord thy redeemer, the Holy One of Israel: I am the Lord thy God that teach thee profitable things, that govern thee in the way that thou walkest. 48:18. O that thou hadst hearkened to my commandments: thy peace had been as a river, and thy justice as the waves of the sea, 48:19. And thy seed had been as the sand, and the offspring of thy bowels like the gravel thereof: his name should not have perished, nor have been destroyed from before my face. 48:20. Come forth out of Babylon, flee ye from the Chaldeans, declare it with the voice of joy: make this to be heard, and speak it out even to the ends of the earth. Say: The Lord hath redeemed his servant Jacob. 48:21. They thirsted not in the desert, when he led them out: he brought forth water out of the rock for them, and he clove the rock, and the waters gushed out. 48:22. There is no peace to the wicked, saith the Lord. Isaias Chapter 49 Christ shall bring the Gentiles to salvation. God's love to his church is perpetual. 49:1. Give ear, ye islands, and hearken, ye people from afar. The Lord hath called me from the womb, from the bowels of my mother he hath been mindful of my name. 49:2. And he hath made my mouth like a sharp sword: in the shadow of his hand he hath protected me, and hath made me as a chosen arrow: in his quiver he hath hidden me. 49:3. And he said to me: Thou art my servant Israel, for in thee will I glory. 49:4. And I said: I have laboured in vain, I have spent my strength without cause and in vain: therefore my judgment is with the Lord, and my work with my God. 49:5. And now saith the Lord, that formed me from the womb to be his servant, that I may bring back Jacob unto him, and Israel will not be gathered together: and I am glorified in the eyes of the Lord, and my God is made my strength. 49:6. And he said: It is a small thing that thou shouldst be my servant to raise up the tribes of Jacob, and to convert the dregs of Israel. Behold, I have given thee to be the light of the Gentiles, that thou mayst be my salvation even to the farthest part of the earth. 49:7. Thus saith the Lord the redeemer of Israel, his Holy One, to the soul that is despised, to the nation that is abhorred, to the servant of rulers: Kings shall see, and princes shall rise up, and adore for the Lord's sake, because he is faithful, and for the Holy One of Israel, who hath chosen thee. 49:8. Thus saith the Lord: In an acceptable time I have heard thee, and in the day of salvation I have helped thee: and I have preserved thee, and given thee to be a covenant of the people, that thou mightest raise up the earth, and possess the inheritances that were destroyed: 49:9. That thou mightest say to them that are bound: Come forth: and to them that are in darkness: Shew yourselves. They shall feed in the ways, and their pastures shall be in every plain. 49:10. They shall not hunger, nor thirst, neither shall the heat nor the sun strike them: for he that is merciful to them, shall be their shepherd, and at the fountains of waters he shall give them drink. 49:11. And I will make all my mountains a way, and my paths shall be exalted. 49:12. Behold these shall come from afar, and behold these from the north and from the sea, and these from the south country. 49:13. Give praise, O ye heavens, and rejoice, O earth, ye mountains, give praise with jubilation: because the Lord hath comforted his people, and will have mercy on his poor ones. 49:14. And Sion said: The Lord hath forsaken me, and the Lord hath forgotten me. 49:15. Can a woman forget her infant, so as not to have pity on the son of her womb? and if she should forget, yet will not I forget thee. 49:16. Behold, I have graven thee in my hands: thy walls are always before my eyes. 49:17. Thy builders are come: they that destroy thee and make thee waste shall go out of thee. 49:18. Lift up thy eyes round about, and see all these are gathered together, they are come to thee: I live, saith the Lord, thou shalt be clothed with all these as with an ornament, and as a bride thou shalt put them about thee. 49:19. For thy deserts, and thy desolate places, and the land of thy destruction shall now be too narrow by reason of the inhabitants, and they that swallowed thee up shall be chased far away. 49:20. The children of thy barrenness shall still say in thy ears: The place is too strait for me, make me room to dwell in. 49:21. And thou shalt say in thy heart: Who hath begotten these? I was barren and brought not forth, led away, and captive: and who hath brought up these? I was destitute and alone: and these, where were they? 49:22. Thus saith the Lord God: Behold I will lift up my hand to the Gentiles, and will set up my standard to the people. And they shall bring thy sons in their arms, and carry thy daughters upon their shoulders. 49:23. And kings shall be thy nursing fathers, and queens thy nurses: they shall worship thee with their face toward the earth, and they shall lick up the dust of thy feet. And thou shalt know that I am the Lord, for they shall not be confounded that wait for him. 49:24. Shall the prey be taken from the strong? or can that which was taken by the mighty, be delivered? 49:25. For thus saith the Lord: Yea verily, even the captivity shall be taken away from the strong: and that which was taken by the mighty, shall be delivered. But I will judge those that have judged thee, and thy children I will save. 49:26. And I will feed thy enemies with their own flesh: and they shall be made drunk with their own blood, as with new wine: and all flesh shall know, that I am the Lord that save thee, and thy Redeemer the Mighty One of Jacob. Isaias Chapter 50 The synagogue shall be divorced for her iniquities. Christ for her sake will endure ignominious afflictions. 50:1. Thus saith the Lord: What is this bill of the divorce of your mother, with which I have put her away? or who is my creditor, to whom I sold you: behold you are sold for your iniquities, and for your wicked deeds have I put your mother away. 50:2. Because I came, and there was not a man: I called, and there was none that would hear. Is my hand shortened and become little, that I cannot redeem? or is there no strength in me to deliver? Behold at my rebuke I will make the sea a desert, I will turn the rivers into dry land: the fishes shall rot for want of water, and shall die for thirst. 50:3. I will clothe the heavens with darkness, and will make sackcloth their covering. 50:4. The Lord hath given me a learned tongue, that I should know how to uphold by word him that is weary: he wakeneth in the morning, in the morning he wakeneth my ear, that I may hear him as a master. 50:5. The Lord God hath opened my ear, and I do not resist: I have not gone back. 50:6. I have given my body to the strikers, and my cheeks to them that plucked them: I have not turned away my face from them that rebuked me, and spit upon me. 50:7. The Lord God is my helper, therefore am I not confounded: therefore have I set my face as a most hard rock, and I know that I shall not be confounded. 50:8. He is near that justifieth me, who will contend with me? let us stand together, who is my adversary? let him come near to me. 50:9. Behold the Lord God is my helper: who is he that shall condemn me? Lo, they shall all be destroyed as a garment, the moth shall eat them up. 50:10. Who is there among you that feareth the Lord, that heareth the voice of his servant, that hath walked in darkness, and hath no light? let him hope in the name of the Lord, and lean upon his God. 50:11. Behold all you that kindle a fire, encompassed with flames, walk in the light of your fire, and in the flames which you have kindled: this is done to you by my hand, you shall sleep in sorrows. Isaias Chapter 51 An exhortation to trust in Christ. He shall protect the children of his church. 51:1. Give ear to me, you that follow that which is just, and you that seek the Lord: look unto the rock whence you are hewn, and to the hole of the pit from which you are dug out. 51:2. Look unto Abraham your father, and to Sara that bore you: for I called him alone, and blessed him, and multiplied him. 51:3. The Lord therefore will comfort Sion, and will comfort all the ruins thereof: and he will make her desert as a place of pleasure, and her wilderness as the garden of the Lord. Joy and gladness shall be found therein, thanksgiving, and the voice of praise. 51:4. Hearken unto me, O my people, and give ear to me, O my tribes: for a law shall go forth from me, and my judgment shall rest to be a light of the nations. 51:5. My just one is near at hand, my saviour is gone forth, and my arms shall judge the people: the islands shall look for me, and shall patiently wait for my arm. 51:6. Lift up your eyes to heaven, and look down to the earth beneath: for the heavens shall vanish like smoke, and the earth shall be worn away like a garment, and the inhabitants thereof shall perish in like manner: but my salvation shall be for ever, and my justice shall not fail. 51:7. Hearken to me, you that know what is just, my people who have my law in your heart: fear ye not the reproach of men, and be not afraid of their blasphemies. 51:8. For the worm shall eat them up as a garment: and the moth shall consume them as wool: but my salvation shall be for ever, and my justice from generation to generation. 51:9. Arise, arise, put on strength, O thou arm of the Lord, arise as in the days of old, in the ancient generations. Hast not thou struck the proud one, and wounded the dragon? 51:10. Hast not thou dried up the sea, the water of the mighty deep, who madest the depth of the sea a way, that the delivered might pass over? 51:11. And now they that are redeemed by the Lord, shall return, and shall come into Sion singing praises, and joy everlasting shall be upon their heads, they shall obtain joy and gladness, sorrow and mourning shall flee away. 51:12. I myself will comfort you: who art thou, that thou shouldst be afraid of a mortal man, and of the son of man, who shall wither away like grass? 51:13. And thou hast forgotten the Lord thy maker, who stretched out the heavens, and founded the earth: and thou hast been afraid continually all the day at the presence of his fury who afflicted thee, and had prepared himself to destroy thee: where is now the fury of the oppressor? 51:14. He shall quickly come that is going to open unto you, and he shall not kill unto utter destruction, neither shall his bread fail. 51:15. But I am the Lord thy God, who trouble the sea, and the waves thereof swell: the Lord of hosts is my name. 51:16. I have put my words in thy mouth, and have protected thee in the shadow of my hand, that thou mightest plant the heavens, and found the earth: and mightest say to Sion: Thou art my people. 51:17. Arise, arise, stand up, O Jerusalem, which hast drunk at the hand of the Lord the cup of his wrath; thou hast drunk even to the bottom of the cup of dead sleep, and thou hast drunk even to the dregs. 51:18. There is none that can uphold her among all the children that she hath brought forth: and there is none that taketh her by the hand among all the children that she hath brought up. 51:19. There are two things that have happened to thee: who shall be sorry for thee? desolation, and destruction, and the famine, and the sword, who shall comfort thee? 51:20. Thy children are cast forth, they have slept at the head of all the ways, and the wild ox that is snared: full of the indignation of the Lord, of the rebuke of thy God. 51:21. Therefore hear this, thou poor little one, and thou that art drunk but not with wine. 51:22. Thus saith thy Sovereign the Lord, and thy God, who will fight for his people: Behold I have taken out of thy hand the cup of dead sleep, the dregs of the cup of my indignation, thou shalt not drink it again any more. 51:23. And I will put it in the hand of them that have oppressed thee, and have said to thy soul: Bow down, that we may go over: and thou hast laid thy body as the ground, and as a way to them that went over. Isaias Chapter 52 Under the figure of the deliverance from the Babylonish captivity, the church is invited to rejoice for her redemption from sin. Christ's kingdom shall be exalted. 52:1. Arise, arise, put on thy strength, O Sion, put on the garments of thy glory, O Jerusalem, the city of the Holy One: for henceforth the uncircumcised, and unclean shall no more pass through thee. 52:2. Shake thyself from the dust, arise, sit up, O Jerusalem: loose the bonds from off thy neck, O captive daughter of Sion. 52:3. For thus saith the Lord: You were sold gratis, and you shall be redeemed, without money. 52:4. For thus saith the Lord God: My people went down into Egypt at the beginning to sojourn there: and the Assyrian hath oppressed them without any cause at all. 52:5. And now what have I here, saith the Lord: for my people is taken away gratis. They that rule over them treat them unjustly, saith the Lord, and my name is continually blasphemed all the day long. 52:6. Therefore my people shall know my name in that day: for I myself that spoke, behold I am here. 52:7. How beautiful upon the mountains are the feet of him that bringeth good tidings, and that preacheth peace: of him that sheweth forth good, that preacheth salvation, that saith to Sion: Thy God shall reign! 52:8. The voice of thy watchmen: they have lifted up their voice, they shall praise together: for they shall see eye to eye when the Lord shall convert Sion. 52:9. Rejoice, and give praise together, O ye deserts of Jerusalem: for the Lord hath comforted his people: he hath redeemed Jerusalem. 52:10. The Lord hath prepared his holy arm in the sight of all the Gentiles: and all the ends of the earth shall see the salvation of our God. 52:11. Depart, depart, go ye out from thence, touch no unclean thing: go out of the midst of her, be ye clean, you that carry the vessels of the Lord. 52:12. For you shall not go out in a tumult, neither shall you make haste by flight: for the Lord will go before you, and the God of Israel will gather you together. 52:13. Behold my servant shall understand, he shall be exalted, and extolled, and shall be exceeding high. 52:14. As many have been astonished at thee, so shall his visage be inglorious among men, and his form among the sons of men. 52:15. He shall sprinkle many nations, kings shall shut their mouth at him: for they to whom it was not told of him, have seen: and they that heard not, have beheld. Isaias Chapter 53 A prophecy of the passion of Christ. 53:1. Who a hath believed our report? and to whom is the arm of the Lord revealed? 53:2. And he shall grow up as a tender plant before him, and as a root out of a thirsty ground: there is no beauty in him, nor comeliness: and we have seen him, and there was no sightliness, that we should be desirous of him: 53:3. Despised, and the most abject of men, a man of sorrows, and acquainted with infirmity: and his look was as it were hidden and despised, whereupon we esteemed him not. 53:4. Surely he hath borne our infirmities and carried our sorrows: and we have thought him as it were a leper, and as one struck by God and afflicted. 53:5. But he was wounded for our iniquities, he was bruised for our sins: the chastisement of our peace was upon him, and by his bruises we are healed. 53:6. All we like sheep have gone astray, every one hath turned aside into his own way: and the Lord hath laid on him the iniquity of us all. 53:7. He was offered because it was his own will, and he opened not his mouth: he shall be led as a sheep to the slaughter, and shall be dumb as a lamb before his shearer, and he shall not open his mouth. 53:8. He was taken away from distress, and from judgment: who shall declare his generation? because he is cut off out of the land of the living: for the wickedness of my people have I struck him. 53:9. And he shall give the ungodly for his burial, and the rich for his death: because he hath done no iniquity, neither was there deceit in his mouth. 53:10. And the Lord was pleased to bruise him in infirmity: if he shall lay down his life for sin, he shall see a longlived seed, and the will of the Lord shall be prosperous in his hand. 53:11. Because his soul hath laboured, he shall see and be filled: by his knowledge shall this my just servant justify many, and he shall bear their iniquities. 53:12. Therefore will I distribute to him very many, and he shall divide the spoils of the strong, because he hath delivered his soul unto death, and was reputed with the wicked: and he hath borne the sins of many, and hath prayed for the transgressors. Isaias Chapter 54 The Gentiles, who were barren before, shall multiply in the church of Christ: from which God's mercy shall never depart. 54:1. Give praise, O thou barren, that bearest not: sing forth praise, and make a joyful noise, thou that didst not travail with child: for many are the children of the desolate, more than of her that hath a husband, saith the Lord. 54:2. Enlarge the place of thy tent, and stretch out the skins of thy tabernacles, spare not: lengthen thy cords, and strengthen thy stakes. 54:3. For thou shalt pass on to the right hand, and to the left: and thy seed shall inherit the Gentiles, and shall inhabit the desolate cities. 54:4. Fear not, for thou shalt not be confounded, nor blush: for thou shalt not be put to shame, because thou shalt forget the shame of thy youth, and shalt remember no more the reproach of thy widowhood. 54:5. For he that made thee shall rule over thee, the Lord of hosts is his name: and thy Redeemer, the Holy One of Israel, shall be called the God of all the earth. 54:6. For the Lord hath called thee as a woman forsaken and mourning in spirit, and as a wife cast off from her youth, said thy God. 54:7. For a small moment have I forsaken thee, but with great mercies will I gather thee. 54:8. In a moment of indignation have I hid my face a little while from thee, but with everlasting kindness have I had mercy on thee, said the Lord thy Redeemer. 54:9. This thing is to me as in the days of Noe, to whom I swore, that I would no more bring in the waters of Noe upon the earth: so have I sworn not to be angry with thee, and not to rebuke thee. 54:10. For the mountains shall be moved, and the hills shall tremble; but my mercy shall not depart from thee, and the covenant of my peace shall not be moved: said the Lord that hath mercy on thee. 54:11. O poor little one, tossed with tempest, without all comfort, behold I will lay thy stones in order, and will lay thy foundations with sapphires, 54:12. And I will make thy bulwarks of jasper: and thy gates of graven stones, and all thy borders of desirable stones. 54:13. All thy children shall be taught of the Lord: and great shall be the peace of thy children. 54:14. And thou shalt be founded in justice: depart far from oppression, for thou shalt not fear; and from terror, for it shall not come near thee. 54:15. Behold, an inhabitant shall come, who was not with me, he that was a stranger to thee before, shall be joined to thee. 54:16. Behold, I have created the smith that bloweth the coals in the fire, and bringeth forth an instrument for his work, and I have created the killer to destroy. 54:17. No weapon that is formed against thee shall prosper: and every tongue that resisteth thee in judgment, thou shalt condemn. This is the inheritance of the servants of the Lord, and their justice with me, saith the Lord. Isaias Chapter 55 God promises abundance of spiritual graces to the faithful, that shall believe in Christ out of all nations, and sincerely serve him. 55:1. All you that thirst, come to the waters: and you that have no money make haste, buy, and eat: come ye, buy wine and milk without money, and without any price. 55:2. Why do you spend money for that which is not bread, and your labour for that which doth not satisfy you? Hearken diligently to me, and eat that which is good, and your soul shall be delighted in fatness. 55:3. Incline your ear and come to me: hear and your soul shall live, and I will make an everlasting covenant with you, the faithful mercies of David. 55:4. Behold I have given him for a witness to the people, for a leader and a master to the Gentiles. 55:5. Behold thou shalt call a nation, which thou knewest not: and the nations that knew not thee shall run to thee, because of the Lord thy God, and for the Holy One of Israel, for he hath glorified thee. 55:6. Seek ye the Lord, while he may be found: call upon him, while he is near. 55:7. Let the wicked forsake his way, and the unjust man his thoughts, and let him return to the Lord, and he will have mercy on him, and to our God: for he is bountiful to forgive. 55:8. For my thoughts are not your thoughts: nor your ways my ways, saith the Lord. 55:9. For as the heavens are exalted above the earth, so are my ways exalted above your ways, and my thoughts above your thoughts. 55:10. And as the rain and the snow come down from heaven, and return no more thither, but soak the earth, and water it, and make it to spring, and give seed to the sower, and bread to the eater: 55:11. So shall my word be, which shall go forth from my mouth: it shall not return to me void, but it shall do whatsoever I please, and shall prosper in the things for which I sent it. 55:12. For you shall go out with joy, and be led forth with peace: the mountains and the hills shall sing praise before you, and all the trees of the country shall clap their hands. 55:13. Instead of the shrub, shall come up the fir tree, and instead of the nettle, shall come up the myrtle tree: and the Lord shall be named for an everlasting sign, that shall not be taken away. Isaias Chapter 56 God invites all to keep his commandments: the Gentiles that keep them shall be the people of God: the Jewish pastors are reproved. 56:1. Thus saith the Lord: Keep ye judgment, and do justice: for my salvation is near to come, and my justice to be revealed. 56:2. Blessed is the man that doth this, and the son of man that shall lay hold on this: that keepeth the sabbath from profaning it, that keepeth his hands from doing any evil. 56:3. And let not the son of the stranger, that adhereth to the Lord, speak, saying: The Lord will divide and separate me from his people. And let not the eunuch say: Behold I am a dry tree. 56:4. For thus saith the Lord to the eunuchs, They that shall keep my sabbaths, and shall choose the things that please me, and shall hold fast my covenant: 56:5. I will give to them in my house, and within my walls, a place, and a name better than sons and daughters: I will give them an everlasting name which shall never perish. 56:6. And the children of the stranger that adhere to the Lord, to worship him, and to love his name, to be his servants: every one that keepeth the sabbath from profaning it, and that holdeth fast my covenant: 56:7. I will bring them into my holy mount, and will make them joyful in my house of prayer: their holocausts, and their victims shall please me upon my altar: for my house shall be called the house of prayer, for all nations. 56:8. The Lord God, who gathereth the scattered of Israel, saith: I will still gather unto him his congregation. 56:9. All ye beasts of the field come to devour, all ye beasts of the forest. 56:10. His watchmen are all blind, they are all ignorant: dumb dogs not able to bark, seeing vain things, sleeping and loving dreams. 56:11. And most impudent dogs, they never had enough: the shepherds themselves knew no understanding: all have turned aside into their own way, every one after his own gain, from the first even to the last. 56:12. Come, let us take wine, and be filled with drunkenness: and it shall be as to day, so also to morrow, and much more. Isaias Chapter 57 The infidelity of the Jews: their idolatry. Promises to humble penitents. 57:1. The just perisheth, and no man layeth it to heart, and men of mercy are taken away, because there is none that understandeth; for the just man is taken away from before the face of evil. 57:2. Let peace come, let him rest in his bed that hath walked in his uprightness. 57:3. But draw near hither, you sons of the sorceress, the seed of the adulterer, and of the harlot. 57:4. Upon whom have you jested? upon whom have you opened your mouth wide, and put out your tongue? are not you wicked children, a false seed, 57:5. Who seek your comfort in idols under every green tree, sacrificing children in the torrents, under the high rocks? 57:6. In the parts of the torrent is thy portion, this is thy lot: and thou hast poured out libations to them, thou hast offered sacrifice. Shall I not be angry at these things? 57:7. Upon a high and lofty mountain thou hast laid thy bed, and hast gone up thither to offer victims. 57:8. And behind the door, and behind the post thou hast set up thy remembrance: for thou hast discovered thyself near me, and hast received an adulterer: thou hast enlarged thy bed, and made a covenant with them: thou hast loved their bed with open hand. 57:9. And thou hast adorned thyself for the king with ointment, and hast multiplied thy perfumes. Thou hast sent thy messengers far off, and wast debased even to hell. 57:10. Thou hast been wearied in the multitude of thy ways: yet thou saidst not: I will rest: thou has found life of thy hand, therefore thou hast not asked. 57:11. For whom hast thou been solicitous and afraid, that thou hast lied, and hast not been mindful of me, nor thought on me in thy heart? for I am silent, and as one that seeth not, and thou hast forgotten me. 57:12. I will declare thy justice, and thy works shall not profit thee. 57:13. When thou shalt cry, let thy companies deliver thee, but the wind shall carry them all off, a breeze shall take them away, but he that putteth his trust in me, shall inherit the land, and shall possess my holy mount. 57:14. And I will say: Make a way: give free passage, turn out of the path, take away the stumblingblocks out of the way of my people. 57:15. For thus saith the High and the Eminent that inhabiteth eternity: and his name is Holy, who dwelleth in the high and holy place, and with a contrite and humble spirit, to revive the spirit of the humble, and to revive the heart of the contrite. 57:16. For I will not contend for ever, neither will I be angry unto the end: because the spirit shall go forth from my face, and breathings I will make. 57:17. For the iniquity of his covetousness I was angry, and I struck him: I hid my face from thee, and was angry: and he went away wandering in his own heart. 57:18. I saw his ways, and I healed him, and brought him back, and restored comforts to him, and to them that mourn for him. 57:19. I created the fruit of the lips, peace, peace to him that is far off, and to him that is near, said the Lord, and I healed him. 57:20. But the wicked are like the raging sea, which cannot rest, and the waves thereof cast up dirt and mire. 57:21. There is no peace to the wicked, saith the Lord God. Isaias Chapter 58 God rejects the hypocritical fasts of the Jews: recommends works of mercy, and sincere godliness. 58:1. Cry, cease not, lift up thy voice like a trumpet, and shew my people their wicked doings, and the house of Jacob their sins. 58:2. For they seek me from day to day, and desire to know my ways, as a nation that hath done justice, and hath not forsaken the judgment of their God: they ask of me the judgments of justice: they are willing to approach to God. 58:3. Why have we fasted, and thou hast not regarded: have we humbled our souls, and thou hast not taken notice? Behold in the day of your fast your own will is found, and you exact of all your debtors. 58:4. Behold you fast for debates and strife, and strike with the fist wickedly. Do not fast as you have done until this day, to make your cry to be heard on high. 58:5. Is this such a fast as I have chosen: for a man to afflict his soul for a day? is this it, to wind his head about like a circle, and to spread sackcloth and ashes? wilt thou call this a fast, and a day acceptable to the Lord? 58:6. Is not this rather the fast that I have chosen? loose the bands of wickedness, undo the bundles that oppress, let them that are broken go free, and break asunder every burden. 58:7. Deal thy bread to the hungry, and bring the needy and the harbourless into thy house: when thou shalt see one naked, cover him, and despise not thy own flesh. 58:8. Then shall thy light break forth as the morning, and thy health shall speedily arise, and thy justice shall go before thy face, and the glory of the Lord shall gather thee up. 58:9. Then shalt thou call, and the Lord shall hear: thou shalt cry, and he shall say, Here I am. If thou wilt take away the chain out of the midst of thee, and cease to stretch out the finger, and to speak that which profiteth not. 58:10. When thou shalt pour out thy soul to the hungry, and shalt satisfy the afflicted soul, then shall thy light rise up in darkness, and thy darkness shall be as the noonday. 58:11. And the Lord will give thee rest continually, and will fill thy soul with brightness, and deliver thy bones, and thou shalt be like a watered garden, and like a fountain of water whose waters shall not fail. 58:12. And the places that have been desolate for ages shall be built in thee: thou shalt raise up the foundation of generation and generation: and thou shalt be called the repairer of the fences, turning the paths into rest. 58:13. If thou turn away thy foot from the sabbath, from doing thy own will in my holy day, and call the sabbath delightful, and the holy of the Lord glorious, and glorify him, while thou dost not thy own ways, and thy own will is not found, to speak a word: 58:14. Then shalt thou be delighted in the Lord, and I will lift thee up above the high places of the earth, and will feed thee with the inheritance of Jacob thy father. For the mouth of the Lord hath spoken it. Isaias Chapter 59 The dreadful evil of sin is displayed, as the great obstacle to all good from God: yet he will send a Redeemer, and make an everlasting covenant with his church. 59:1. Behold the hand of the Lord is not shortened that it cannot save, neither is his ear heavy that it cannot hear. 59:2. But your iniquities have divided between you and your God, and your sins have hid his face from you that he should not hear. 59:3. For your hands are defiled with blood, and your fingers with iniquity: your lips have spoken lies, and your tongue uttereth iniquity. 59:4. There is none that calleth upon justice, neither is there any one that judgeth truly: but they trust in a mere nothing, and speak vanities: they have conceived labour, and brought forth iniquity. 59:5. They have broken the eggs of asps, and have woven the webs of spiders: he that shall eat of their eggs, shall die: and that which is brought out, shall be hatched into a basilisk. 59:6. Their webs shall not be for clothing, neither shall they cover themselves with their works: their works are unprofitable works, and the work of iniquity is in their hands. 59:7. Their feet run to evil, and make haste to shed innocent blood: their thoughts are unprofitable thoughts: wasting and destruction are in their ways. 59:8. They have not known the way of peace, and there is no judgment in their steps: their paths are become crooked to them, every one that treadeth in them knoweth no peace. 59:9. Therefore is judgment far from us, and justice shall not overtake us. We looked for light, and behold darkness: brightness, and we have walked in the dark. 59:10. We have groped for the wall, and like the blind we have groped as if we had no eyes: we have stumbled at noonday as in darkness, we are in dark places, as dead men. 59:11. We shall roar all of us like bears, and shall lament as mournful doves. We have looked for judgment, and there is none: for salvation, and it is far from us. 59:12. For our iniquities are multiplied before thee, and our sins have testified against us: for our wicked doings are with us, and have known our iniquities: 59:13. In sinning and lying against the Lord: and we have turned away so that we went not after our God, but spoke calumny and transgression: we have conceived, and uttered from the heart, words of falsehood. 59:14. And judgment is turned away backward, and justice hath stood far off: because truth hath fallen down in the street, and equity could not come in. 59:15. And truth hath been forgotten: and he that departed from evil, lay open to be a prey: and the Lord saw, and it appeared evil in his eyes, because there is no judgment. 59:16. And he saw that there is not a man: and he stood astonished, because there is none to oppose himself: and his own arm brought salvation to him, and his own justice supported him. 59:17. He put on justice as a breastplate, and a helmet of salvation upon his head: he put on the garments of vengeance, and was clad with zeal as with a cloak. 59:18. As unto revenge, as it were to repay wrath to his adversaries, and a reward to his enemies: he will repay the like to the islands. 59:19. And they from the west, shall fear the name of the Lord: and they from the rising of the sun, his glory when he shall come as a violent stream, which the spirit of the Lord driveth on: 59:20. And there shall come a redeemer to Sion, and to them that return from iniquity in Jacob, saith the Lord. 59:21. This is my covenant with them, saith the Lord: My spirit that is in thee, and my words that I have put in thy mouth, shall not depart out of thy mouth, nor out of the mouth of thy seed, nor out of the mouth of thy seed's seed, saith the Lord, from henceforth and for ever. This is my covenant, etc... Note here a clear promise of perpetual orthodoxy to the church of Christ. Isaias Chapter 60 The light of true faith shall shine forth in the church of Christ, and shall be spread through all nations, and continue for all ages. 60:1. Arise, be enlightened, O Jerusalem: for thy light is come, and the glory of the Lord is risen upon thee. 60:2. For behold darkness shall cover the earth, and a mist the people: but the Lord shall arise upon thee, and his glory shall be seen upon thee. 60:3. And the Gentiles shall walk in thy light, and kings in the brightness of thy rising. 60:4. Lift up thy eyes round about, and see: all these are gathered together, they are come to thee: thy sons shall come from afar, and thy daughters shall rise up at thy side. 60:5. Then shalt thou see, and abound, and thy heart shall wonder and be enlarged, when the multitude of the sea shall be converted to thee, the strength of the Gentiles shall come to thee. 60:6. The multitude of camels shall cover thee, the dromedaries of Madian and Epha: all they from Saba shall come, bringing gold and frankincense: and shewing forth praise to the Lord. 60:7. All the flocks of Cedar shall be gathered together unto thee, the rams of Nabaioth shall minister to thee: they shall be offered upon my acceptable altar, and I will glorify the house of my majesty. 60:8. Who are these, that fly as clouds, and as doves to their windows? 60:9. For, the islands wait for me, and the ships of the sea in the beginning: that I may bring thy sons from afar: their silver, and their gold with them, to the name of the Lord thy God, and to the Holy One of Israel, because he hath glorified thee. 60:10. And the children of strangers shall build up thy walls, and their kings shall minister to thee: for in my wrath have I struck thee, and in my reconciliation have I had mercy upon thee. 60:11. And thy gates shall be open continually: they shall not be shut day nor night, that the strength of the Gentiles may be brought to thee, and their kings may be brought. 60:12. For the nation and the kingdom that will not serve thee, shall perish: and the Gentiles shall be wasted with desolation. 60:13. The glory of Libanus shall come to thee, the fir tree, and the box tree, and the pine tree together, to beautify the place of my sanctuary: and I will glorify the place of my feet. 60:14. And the children of them that afflict thee, shall come bowing down to thee, and all that slandered thee shall worship the steps of thy feet, and shall call thee the city of the Lord, the Sion of the Holy One of Israel. 60:15. Because thou wast forsaken, and hated, and there was none that passed through thee, I will make thee to be an everlasting glory, a joy unto generation and generation: 60:16. And thou shalt suck the milk of the Gentiles, and thou shalt be nursed with the breasts of kings: and thou shalt know that I am the Lord thy Saviour, and thy Redeemer, the Mighty One of Jacob. 60:17. For brass I will bring gold, and for iron I will bring silver: and for wood brass, and for stones iron: and I will make thy visitation peace, and thy overseers justice. 60:18. Iniquity shall no more be heard in thy land, wasting nor destruction in thy borders, and salvation shall possess thy walls, and praise thy gates. 60:19. Thou shalt no more have the sun for thy light by day, neither shall the brightness of the moon enlighten thee: but the Lord shall be unto thee for an everlasting light, and thy God for thy glory. Thou shalt no more, etc... In this latter part of the chapter, the prophet passes from the illustrious promises made to the church militant on earth, to the glory of the church triumphant in heaven. 60:20. Thy sun shall go down no more, and thy moon shall not decrease: for the Lord shall be unto thee for an everlasting light, and the days of thy mourning shall be ended. 60:21. And thy people shall be all just, they shall inherit the land for ever, the branch of my planting, the work of my hand to glorify me. 60:22. The least shall become a thousand, and a little one a most strong nation: I the Lord will suddenly do this thing in its time. Isaias Chapter 61 The office of Christ: the mission of the Apostles; the happiness of their converts. 61:1. The spirit of the Lord is upon me, because the Lord hath anointed me: he hath sent me to preach to the meek, to heal the contrite of heart, and to preach a release to the captives, and deliverance to them that are shut up. 61:2. To proclaim the acceptable year of the Lord, and the day of vengeance of our God: to comfort all that mourn: 61:3. To appoint to the mourners of Sion, and to give them a crown for ashes, the oil of joy for mourning, a garment of praise for the spirit of grief: and they shall be called in it the mighty ones of justice, the planting of the Lord to glorify him. 61:4. And they shall build the places that have been waste from of old, and shall raise up ancient ruins, and shall repair the desolate cities, that were destroyed for generation and generation. 61:5. And strangers shall stand and shall feed your flocks: and the sons of strangers shall be your husbandman, and the dressers of your vines. 61:6. But you shall be called the priests of the Lord: to you it shall be said: Ye ministers of our God: you shall eat the riches of the Gentiles, and you shall pride yourselves in their glory. 61:7. For your double confusion and shame, they shall praise their part: therefore shall they receive double in their land, everlasting joy shall be unto them. 61:8. For I am the Lord that love judgment, and hate robbery in a holocaust: and I will make their work in truth, and I will make a perpetual covenant with them. 61:9. And they shall know their seed among the Gentiles, and their offspring in the midst of peoples: all that shall see them, shall know them, that these are the seed which the Lord hath blessed. 61:10. I will greatly rejoice in the Lord, and my soul shall be joyful in my God: for he hath clothed me with the garments of salvation: and with the robe of justice he hath covered me, as a bridegroom decked with a crown, and as a bride adorned with her jewels. 61:11. For as the earth bringeth forth her bud, and as the garden causeth her seed to shoot forth: so shall the Lord God make justice to spring forth, and praise before all the nations. Isaias Chapter 62 The prophet will not cease from preaching Christ: to whom all nations shall be converted: and whose church shall continue for ever. 62:1. For Sion's sake I will not hold my peace, and for the sake of Jerusalem, I will not rest till her just one come forth as brightness, and her saviour be lighted as a lamp. 62:2. And the Gentiles shall see thy just one, and all kings thy glorious one: and thou shalt be called by a new name, which the mouth of the Lord shall name. 62:3. And thou shalt be a crown of glory in the hand of the Lord, and a royal diadem in the hand of thy God. 62:4. Thou shalt no more be called Forsaken: and thy land shall no more be called Desolate: but thou shalt be called My pleasure in her, and thy land inhabited. Because the Lord hath been well pleased with thee: and thy land shall be inhabited. 62:5. For the young man shall dwell with the virgin, and thy children shall dwell in thee. And the bridegroom shall rejoice over the bride, and thy God shall rejoice over thee. 62:6. Upon thy walls, O Jerusalem, I have appointed watchmen all the day, and all the night, they shall never hold their peace. You that are mindful of the Lord, hold not your peace, 62:7. And give him no silence till he establish, and till he make Jerusalem a praise in the earth. 62:8. The Lord hath sworn by his right hand, and by the arm of his strength: Surely I will no more give thy corn to be meat for thy enemies: and the sons of the strangers shall not drink thy wine, for which thou hast laboured. 62:9. For they that gather it, shall eat it, and shall praise the Lord: and they that bring it together, shall drink it in my holy courts. 62:10. Go through, go through the gates, prepare the way for the people, make the road plain, pick out the stones, and lift up the standard to the people. 62:11. Behold the Lord hath made it to be heard in the ends of the earth, tell the daughter of Sion: Behold thy Saviour cometh: behold his reward is with him, and his work before him. 62:12. And they shall call them, The holy people, the redeemed of the Lord. But thou shalt be called: A city sought after, and not forsaken. Isaias Chapter 63 Christ's victory over his enemies: his mercies to his people: their complaint. 63:1. Who is this that cometh from Edom, with dyed garments from Bosra, this beautiful one in his robe, walking in the greatness of his strength. I, that speak justice, and am a defender to save. Edom... Edom and Bosra (a strong city of Edom) are here taken in a mystical sense for the enemies of Christ and his church. 63:2. Why then is thy apparel red, and thy garments like theirs that tread in the winepress? 63:3. I have trodden the winepress alone, and of the Gentiles there is not a man with me: I have trampled on them in my indignation, and have trodden them down in my wrath, and their blood is sprinkled upon my garments, and I have stained all my apparel. 63:4. For the day of vengeance is in my heart, the year of my redemption is come. 63:5. I looked about, and there was none to help: I sought, and there was none to give aid: and my own arm hath saved for me, and my indignation itself hath helped me. 63:6. And I have trodden down the people in my wrath, and have made them drunk in my indignation, and have brought down their strength to the earth. 63:7. I will remember the tender mercies of the Lord, the praise of the Lord for all the things that the Lord hath bestowed upon us, and for the multitude of his good things to the house of Israel, which he hath given them according to his kindness, and according to the multitude of his mercies. 63:8. And he said: Surely they are my people, children that will not deny: so he became their saviour. 63:9. In all their affliction he was not troubled, and the angel of his presence saved them: in his love, and in his mercy he redeemed them, and he carried them and lifted them up all the days of old. 63:10. But they provoked to wrath, and afflicted the spirit of his Holy One: and he was turned to be their enemy, and he fought against them. 63:11. And he remembered the days of old of Moses, and of his people: Where is he that brought them up out of the sea, with the shepherds of his flock? where is he that put in the midst of them the spirit of his Holy One? 63:12. He that brought out Moses by the right hand, by the arm of his majesty: that divided the waters before them, to make himself an everlasting name. 63:13. He that led them out through the deep, as a horse in the wilderness that stumbleth not. 63:14. As a beast that goeth down in the field, the spirit of the Lord was their leader: so didst thou lead thy people to make thyself a glorious name. 63:15. Look down from heaven, and behold from thy holy habitation and the place of thy glory: where is thy zeal, and thy strength, the multitude of thy bowels, and of thy mercies? they have held back themselves from me. They have held back, etc... This is spoken by the prophet in the person of the Jews at the time when, for their sins, they were given up to their enemies. 63:16. For thou art our father, and Abraham hath not known us, and Israel hath been ignorant of us: thou, O Lord, art our father, our redeemer, from everlasting is thy name. Abraham hath not know us, etc... That is, Abraham will not now acknowledge us for his children, by reason of our degeneracy; but thou, O Lord, art our true father and our redeemer, and no other can be called our parent in comparison with thee. 63:17. Why hast thou made us to err, O Lord, from thy ways: why hast thou hardened our heart, that we should not fear thee? return for the sake of thy servants, the tribes of thy inheritance. Made us to err, etc. Hardened our heart, etc... The meaning is, that God in punishment of their great and manifold crimes, and their long abuse of his mercy and grace, had withdrawn his graces from them, and so given them up to error and hardness of heart. 63:18. They have possessed thy holy people as nothing: our enemies have trodden down thy sanctuary. 63:19. We are become as in the beginning, when thou didst not rule over us, and when we were not called by thy name. Isaias Chapter 64 The prophet prays for the release of his people; and for the remission of their sins. 64:1. O that thou wouldst rend the heavens, and wouldst come down: the mountains would melt away at thy presence. 64:2. They would melt as at the burning of fire, the waters would burn with fire, that thy name might be made known to thy enemies: that the nations might tremble at thy presence. 64:3. When thou shalt do wonderful things, we shall not bear them: thou didst come down, and at thy presence the mountains melted away. 64:4. From the beginning of the world they have not heard, nor perceived with the ears: the eye hath not seen, O God, besides thee, what things thou hast prepared for them that wait for thee. 64:5. Thou hast met him that rejoiceth, and doth justice: in thy ways they shall remember thee: behold thou art angry, and we have sinned: in them we have been always, and we shall be saved. 64:6. And we are all become as one unclean, and all our justices as the rag of a menstruous woman: and we have all fallen as a leaf, and our iniquities, like the wind, have taken us away. Our justices, etc... That is, the works by which we pretended to make ourselves just. This is spoken particularly of the sacrifices, sacraments, and ceremonies of the Jews, after the death of Christ, and the promulgation of the new law. 64:7. There is none that calleth upon thy name: that riseth up, and taketh hold of thee: thou hast hid thy face from us, and hast crushed us in the hand of our iniquity. 64:8. And now, O Lord, thou art our father, and we are clay: and thou art our maker, and we all are the works of thy hands. 64:9. Be not very angry, O Lord, and remember no longer our iniquity: behold, see we are all thy people. 64:10. The city of thy sanctuary is become a desert, Sion is made a desert, Jerusalem is desolate. 64:11. The house of our holiness, and of our glory, where our fathers praised thee, is burnt with fire, and all our lovely things are turned into ruins. 64:12. Wilt thou refrain thyself, O Lord, upon these things, wilt thou hold thy peace, and afflict us vehemently? Isaias Chapter 65 The Gentiles shall seek and find Christ, but the Jews will persecute him, and be rejected, only a remnant shall be reserved. The church shall multiply, and abound with graces. 65:1. They have sought me that before asked not for me, they have found me that sought me not. I said: Behold me, behold me, to a nation that did not call upon my name. 65:2. I have spread forth my hands all the day to an unbelieving people, who walk in a way that is not good after their own thoughts. 65:3. A people that continually provoke me to anger before my face, that immolate in gardens, and sacrifice upon bricks. 65:4. That dwell in sepulchres, and sleep in the temple of idols: that eat swine's flesh, and profane broth is in their vessels. 65:5. That say: Depart from me, come not near me, because thou art unclean: these shall be smoke in my anger, a fire burning all the day. 65:6. Behold it is written before me: I will not be silent, but I will render and repay into their bosom. 65:7. Your iniquities, and the iniquities of your fathers together, saith the Lord, who have sacrificed upon the mountains, and have reproached me upon the hills; and I will measure back their first work in their bosom. 65:8. Thus saith the Lord: As if a grain be found in a cluster, and it be said: Destroy it not, because it is a blessing: so will I do for the sake of my servants, that I may not destroy the whole. 65:9. And I will bring forth a seed out of Jacob, and out of Juda a possessor of my mountains: and my elect shall inherit it, and my servants shall dwell there. 65:10. And the plains shall be turned to folds of flocks, and the valley of Achor into a place for the herds to lie down in, for my people that have sought me. 65:11. And you, that have forsaken the Lord, that have forgotten my holy mount, that set a table for fortune, and offer libations upon it, 65:12. I will number you in the sword, and you shall all fall by slaughter: because I called and you did not answer: I spoke, and you did not hear: and you did evil in my eyes, and you have chosen the things that displease me. 65:13. Therefore thus saith the Lord God: Behold my servants shall eat, and you shall be hungry: behold my servants shall drink, and you shall be thirsty. 65:14. Behold my servants shall rejoice, and you shall be confounded: behold my servants shall praise for joyfulness of heart, and you shall cry for sorrow of heart, and shall howl for grief of spirit. 65:15. And you shall leave your name for an execration to my elect: and the Lord God shall slay thee, and call his servants by another name. 65:16. In which he that is blessed upon the earth, shall be blessed in God, amen: and he that sweareth in the earth, shall swear by God, amen: because the former distresses are forgotten, and because they are hid from my eyes. 65:17. For behold I create new heavens, and a new earth: and the former things shall not be in remembrance, and they shall not come upon the heart. 65:18. But you shall be glad and rejoice for ever in these things, which I create: for behold I create Jerusalem a rejoicing, and the people thereof joy. 65:19. And I will rejoice in Jerusalem, and joy in my people, and the voice of weeping shall no more be heard in her, nor the voice of crying. 65:20. There shall no more be an infant of days there, nor an old man that shall not fill up his days: for the child shall die a hundred years old, and the sinner being a hundred years old shall be accursed. 65:21. And they shall build houses, and inhabit them; and they shall plant vineyards, and eat the fruits of them. 65:22. They shall not build, and another inhabit; they shall not plant, and another eat: for as the days of a tree, so shall be the days of my people, and the works of their hands shall be of long continuance. 65:23. My elect shall not labour in vain, nor bring forth in trouble; for they are the seed of the blessed of the Lord, and their posterity with them. 65:24. And it shall come to pass, that before they call, I will hear; as they are yet speaking, I will hear. 65:25. The wolf and the lamb shall feed together; the lion and the ox shall eat straw; and dust shall be the serpent's food: they shall not hurt nor kill in all my holy mountain, saith the Lord. Isaias Chapter 66 More of the reprobation of the Jews, and of the call of the Gentiles. 66:1. Thus saith the Lord: Heaven is my throne, and the earth my footstool: what is this house that you will build to me? and what is this place of my rest? What is this house, etc... This is a prophecy that the temple should be cast off. 66:2. My hand made all these things, and all these things were made, saith the Lord. But to whom shall I have respect, but to him that is poor and little, and of a contrite spirit, and that trembleth at my words? 66:3. He that sacrificeth an ox, is as if he slew a man: he that killeth a sheep in sacrifice, as if he should brain a dog: he that offereth an oblation, as if he should offer swine's blood; he that remembereth incense, as if he should bless an idol. All these things have they chosen in their ways, and their soul is delighted in their abominations. He that sacrificeth an ox, etc... This is a prophecy that the sacrifices which were offered in the old law should be abolished in the new; and that the offering of them should be a crime.-Ibid. Remembereth incense... Viz., to offer it in the way of a sacrifice. 66:4. Wherefore I also will choose their mockeries, and will bring upon them the things they feared: because I called, and there was none that would answer; I have spoken, and they heard not; and they have done evil in my eyes, and have chosen the things that displease me. I will choose their mockeries... I will turn their mockeries upon themselves; and will cause them to be mocked by their enemies. 66:5. Hear the word of the Lord, you that tremble at his word: Your brethren that hate you, and cast you out for my name's sake, have said: Let the Lord be glorified, and we shall see in your joy: but they shall be confounded. 66:6. A voice of the people from the city, a voice from the temple, the voice of the Lord that rendereth recompense to his enemies. 66:7. Before she was in labour, she brought forth; before her time came to be delivered, she brought forth a man child. Before she was in labour, etc... This relates to the conversion of the Gentiles, who were born, as it were, all on a sudden to the church of God. 66:8. Who hath ever heard such a thing? and who hath seen the like to this? shall the earth bring forth in one day? or shall a nation be brought forth at once, because Sion hath been in labour, and hath brought forth her children? 66:9. Shall not I that make others to bring forth children, myself bring forth, saith the Lord? shall I, that give generation to others, be barren, saith the Lord thy God? 66:10. Rejoice with Jerusalem, and be glad with her, all you that love her: rejoice for joy with her, all you that mourn for her. 66:11. That you may suck, and be filled with the breasts of her consolations: that you may milk out, and flow with delights, from the abundance of her glory. 66:12. For thus saith the Lord: Behold I will bring upon her as it were a river of peace, and as an overflowing torrent the glory of the Gentiles, which you shall suck; you shall be carried at the breasts, and upon the knees they shall caress you. 66:13. As one whom the mother caresseth, so will I comfort you, and you shall be comforted in Jerusalem. 66:14. You shall see and your heart shall rejoice, and your bones shall flourish like an herb, and the hand of the Lord shall be known to his servants, and he shall be angry with his enemies. 66:15. For behold the Lord will come with fire, and his chariots are like a whirlwind, to render his wrath in indignation, and his rebuke with flames of fire. 66:16. For the Lord shall judge by fire, and by his sword unto all flesh, and the slain of the Lord shall be many. 66:17. They that were sanctified, thought themselves clean in the gardens behind the gate within, they that did eat swine's flesh, and the abomination, and the mouse: they shall be consumed together, saith the Lord. 66:18. But I know their works, and their thoughts: I come that I may gather them together with all nations and tongues: and they shall come and shall see my glory. 66:19. And I will set a sign among them, and I will send of them that shall be saved, to the Gentiles into the sea, into Africa, and Lydia them that draw the bow: into Italy, and Greece, to the islands afar off, to them that have not heard of me, and have not seen my glory. And they shall declare my glory to the Gentiles: 66:20. And they shall bring all your brethren out of all nations for a gift to the Lord, upon horses, and in chariots, and in litters, and on mules, and in coaches, to my holy mountain Jerusalem, saith the Lord, as if the children of Israel should bring an offering in a clean vessel into the house of the Lord. 66:21. And I will take of them to be priests, and Levites, saith the Lord. 66:22. For as the new heavens, and the new earth, which I will make to stand before me, saith the Lord: so shall your seed stand, and your name. 66:23. And there shall be month after month, and sabbath after sabbath: and all flesh shall come to adore before my face, saith the Lord. 66:24. And they shall go out, and see the carcasses of the men that have transgressed against me: their worm shall not die, and their fire shall not be quenched: and they shall be a loathsome sight to all flesh. THE PROPHECY OF JEREMIAS Jeremias was a priest, a native of Anathoth, a priestly city in the tribe of Benjamin: and was sanctified from his mother's womb, to be a prophet of God; which office he began to execute when he was yet a child in age. He was in his whole life, according to the signification of his name, Great before the Lord; and a special figure of Jesus Christ, in the persecutions he underwent for discharging his duty; in his charity for his persecutors; and in the violent death he suffered at their hands: it being an ancient tradition of the Hebrews, that he was stoned to death by the remnant of the Jews who had retired into Egypt. Jeremias Chapter 1 The time, and the calling, of Jeremias: his prophetical visions. God encourages him. 1:1. The words of Jeremias the son of Helcias, of the priests that were in Anathoth, in the land of Benjamin. 1:2. The word of the Lord which came to him in the days of Josias the son of Amon king of Juda, in the thirteenth year of his reign. 1:3. And which came to him in the days of Joakim the son of Josias king of Juda, unto the end of the eleventh year of Sedecias the son of Josias king of Juda, even unto the carrying away of Jerusalem captive, in the fifth month. 1:4. And the word of the Lord came to me, saying: 1:5. Before I formed thee in the bowels of thy mother, I knew thee: and before thou camest forth out of the womb, I sanctified thee, and made thee a prophet unto the nations. 1:6. And I said: Ah, ah, ah, Lord God: behold, I cannot speak, for I am a child. 1:7. And the Lord said to me: Say not: I am a child: for thou shalt go to all that I shall send thee: and whatsoever I shall command thee, thou shalt speak. 1:8. Be not afraid at their presence: for I am with thee to deliver thee, saith the Lord. 1:9. And the Lord put forth his hand, and touched my mouth: and the Lord said to me: Behold I have given my words in thy mouth: 1:10. Lo, I have set thee this day over the nations, and over kingdoms, to root up, and to pull down, and to waste, and to destroy, and to build, and to plant. 1:11. And the word of the Lord came to me, saying: What seest thou, Jeremias? And I said: I see a rod watching. 1:12. And the Lord said to me: Thou hast seen well: for I will watch over my word to perform it. 1:13. And the word of the Lord came to me a second time saying: What seest thou? And I said: I see a boiling caldron, and the face thereof from the face of the north. 1:14. And the Lord said to me: From the north shall an evil break forth upon all the inhabitants of the land. 1:15. For behold I will call together all the families of the kingdoms of the north, saith the Lord: and they shall come, and shall set every one his throne in the entrance of the gates of Jerusalem, and upon all the walls thereof round about, and upon all the cities of Juda. 1:16. And I will pronounce my judgments against them, touching all their wickedness, who have forsaken me, and have sacrificed to strange gods, and have adored the work of their own hands. 1:17. Thou therefore gird up thy loins, and arise, and speak to them all that I command thee. Be not afraid at their presence: for I will make thee not to fear their countenance. 1:18. For behold I have made thee this day a fortified city, and a pillar of iron, and a wall of brass, over all the land, to the kings of Juda, to the princes thereof, and to the priests, and to the people of the land. 1:19. And they shall fight against them, and shall not prevail: for I am with thee, saith the Lord, to deliver thee. Jeremias Chapter 2 God expostulates with the Jews for their ingratitude and infidelity. 2:1. And the word of the Lord came to me, saying: 2:2. Go, and cry in the ears of Jerusalem, saying: Thus saith the Lord: I have remembered thee, pitying thy youth, and the love of thy espousals, when thou followedst me in the desert, in a land that is not sown. 2:3. Israel is holy to the Lord, the firstfruits of his increase: all they that devour him offend: evils shall come upon them, saith the Lord. 2:4. Hear ye the word of the Lord, O house of Jacob, and all ye families of the house of Israel: 2:5. Thus saith the Lord: What iniquity have your fathers found in me, that they are gone far from me, and have walked after vanity, and are become vain? 2:6. And they have not said: Where is the Lord, that made us come up out of the land of Egypt? that led us through the desert, through a land uninhabited and unpassable, through a land of drought, and the image of death, through a land wherein no man walked, nor any man dwelt? 2:7. And I brought you into the land of Carmel, to eat the fruit thereof, and the best things thereof: and when ye entered in, you defiled my land and made my inheritance an abomination. Carmel... That is, a fruitful, plentiful land. 2:8. The priests did not say: Where is the Lord? and they that held the law knew me not, and the pastors transgressed against me: and the prophets prophesied in Baal, and followed idols. 2:9. Therefore will I yet contend in judgment with you, saith the Lord, and I will plead with your children. 2:10. Pass over to the isles of Cethim, and see: and send into Cedar, and consider diligently: and see if there hath been done any thing like this. 2:11. If a nation hath changed their gods, and indeed they are not gods: but my people have changed their glory into an idol. 2:12. Be astonished, O ye heavens, at this, and ye gates thereof, be very desolate, saith the Lord. 2:13. For my people have done two evils. They have forsaken me, the fountain of living water, and have digged to themselves cisterns, broken cisterns, that can hold no water. 2:14. Is Israel a bondman, or a homeborn slave? why then is he become a prey? 2:15. The lions have roared upon him, and have made a noise, they have made his land a wilderness: his cities are burnt down, and there is none to dwell in them. 2:16. The children also of Memphis, and of Taphnes have defloured thee, even to the crown of the head. 2:17. Hath not this been done to thee, because thou hast forsaken the Lord thy God at that time, when he led thee by the way? 2:18. And now what hast thou to do in the way of Egypt, to drink the troubled water? And what hast thou to do with the way of the Assyrians, to drink the water of the river? 2:19. Thy own wickedness shall reprove thee, and thy apostasy shall rebuke thee. Know thou, and see that it is an evil and a bitter thing for thee, to have left the Lord thy God, and that my fear is not with thee, saith the Lord the God of hosts. 2:20. Of old time thou hast broken my yoke, thou hast burst my bands, and thou saidst: I will not serve. For on every high hill, and under every green tree thou didst prostitute thyself. 2:21. Yet, I planted thee a chosen vineyard, all true seed: how then art thou turned unto me into that which is good for nothing, O strange vineyard? 2:22. Though thou wash thyself with nitre, and multiply to thyself the herb borith, thou art stained in thy iniquity before me, saith the Lord God. Borith... An herb used to clean clothes, and take out spots and dirt. 2:23. How canst thou say: I am not polluted, I have not walked after Baalim? see thy ways in the valley, know what thou hast done: as a swift runner pursuing his course. 2:24. A wild ass accustomed to the wilderness in the desire of his heart, snuffed up the wind of his love: none shall turn her away: all that seek her shall not fail: in her monthly filth they shall find her. 2:25. Keep thy foot from being bare, and thy throat from thirst. But thou saidst: I have lost all hope, I will not do it: for I have loved strangers, and I will walk after them. 2:26. As the thief is confounded when he is taken, so is the house of Israel confounded, they and their kings, their princes and their priests, and their prophets. 2:27. Saying to a stock: Thou art my father: and to a stone: Thou hast begotten me: they have turned their back to me, and not their face: and in the time of their affliction they will say: Arise, and deliver us. 2:28. Where are the gods, whom thou hast made thee? let them arise and deliver thee in the time of thy affliction: for according to the number of thy cities were thy gods, O Juda. 2:29. Why will you contend with me in judgment? you have all forsaken me, saith the Lord. 2:30. In vain have I struck your children, they have not received correction: your sword hath devoured your prophets, your generation is like a ravaging lion. 2:31. See ye the word of the Lord: Am I become a wilderness to Israel, or a lateward springing land? why then have my people said: We are revolted, we will come to thee no more? 2:32. Will a virgin forget her ornament, or a bride her stomacher? but my people hath forgotten me days without number. 2:33. Why dost thou endeavour to shew thy way good to seek my love, thou who hast also taught thy malices to be thy ways, 2:34. And in thy skirts is found the blood of the souls of the poor and innocent? not in ditches have I found them, but in all places, which I mentioned before. 2:35. And thou hast said: I am without sin and am innocent: and therefore let thy anger be turned away from me. Behold, I will contend with thee in judgment, because thou hast said: I have not sinned. 2:36. How exceeding base art thou become, going the same ways over again! and thou shalt be ashamed of Egypt, as thou wast ashamed of Assyria. 2:37. For from thence thou shalt go, and thy hand shall be upon thy head: for the Lord hath destroyed thy trust, and thou shalt have nothing prosperous therein. Jeremias Chapter 3 God invites the rebel Jews to return to him, with a promise to receive them: he foretells the conversion of the Gentiles. 3:1. It is commonly said: If a man put away his wife, and she go from him, and marry another man, shall he return to her any more? shall not that woman be polluted, and defiled? but thou hast prostituted thyself to many lovers: nevertheless return to me, saith the Lord, and I will receive thee. 3:2. Lift up thy eyes on high: and see where thou hast not prostituted thyself: thou didst sit in the ways, waiting for them as a robber in the wilderness: and thou hast polluted the land with thy fornications, and with thy wickedness. 3:3. Therefore the showers were withholden, and there was no lateward rain: thou hadst a harlot's forehead, thou wouldst not blush. 3:4. Therefore at the least from this time call to me: Thou art my father, the guide of my virginity: 3:5. Wilt thou be angry for ever, or wilt thou continue unto the end? Behold, thou hast spoken, and hast done evil things, and hast been able. 3:6. And the Lord said to me in the days of king Josias: Hast thou seen what rebellious Israel hath done? she hath gone of herself upon every high mountain, and under every green tree, and hath played the harlot there. 3:7. And when she had done all these things, I said: Return to me, and she did not return. And her treacherous sister Juda saw, 3:8. That because the rebellious Israel had played the harlot, I had put her away, and given her a bill of divorce: yet her treacherous sister Juda was not afraid, but went and played the harlot also herself. 3:9. And by the facility of her fornication she defiled the land, and played the harlot with stones and with stocks. 3:10. And after all this, her treacherous sister Juda hath not returned to me with her whole heart, but with falsehood, saith the Lord. 3:11. And the Lord said to me: The rebellious Israel hath justified her soul, in comparison of the treacherous Juda. 3:12. Go, and proclaim these words towards the north, and thou shalt say: Return, O rebellious Israel, saith the Lord, and I will not turn away my face from you: for I am holy, saith the Lord, and I will not be angry for ever. 3:13. But yet acknowledge thy iniquity, that thou hast transgressed against the Lord thy God: and thou hast scattered thy ways to strangers under every green tree, and hast not heard my voice, saith the Lord. 3:14. Return, O ye revolting children, saith the Lord: for I am your I husband: and I will take you, one of a city, and two of a kindred, and will bring you into Sion. 3:15. And I will give you pastors according to my own heart, and they shall feed you with knowledge and doctrine. 3:16. And when you shall be multiplied, and increase in the land in those days, saith the Lord, they shall say no more: The ark of the covenant of the Lord: neither shall it come upon the heart, neither shall they remember it, neither shall it be visited, neither shall that be done any more. 3:17. At that time Jerusalem shall be called the throne of the Lord: and all the nations shall be gathered together to it, in the name of the Lord to Jerusalem, and they shall not walk after the perversity of their most wicked heart. 3:18. In those days the house of Juda shall go to the house of Israel, and they shall come together out of the land of the north to the land which I gave to your fathers. 3:19. But I said: How shall I put thee among the children, and give thee a lovely land, the goodly inheritance of the armies of the Gentiles? And I said: Thou shalt call me father and shalt not cease to walk after me. 3:20. But as a woman that despiseth her lover, so hath the house of Israel despised me, saith the Lord. 3:21. A voice was heard in the highways, weeping and howling of the children of Israel: because they have made their way wicked, they have forgotten the Lord their God. 3:22. Return, you rebellious children, and I will heal your rebellions. Behold we come to thee: for thou art the Lord our God. 3:23. In very deed the hills were liars, and the multitude of the mountains: truly in the Lord our God is the salvation of Israel. 3:24. Confusion hath devoured the labour of our fathers from our youth, their flocks and their herds, their sons and their daughters. 3:25. We shall sleep in our confusion, and our shame shall cover us, because we have sinned against the Lord our God, we and our fathers from our youth even to this day, and we have not hearkened to the voice of the Lord our God. Jeremias Chapter 4 And admonition to sincere repentance, and circumcision of the heart, with threats of grievous punishment to those that persist in sin. 4:1. If thou wilt return, O Israel, saith the Lord, return to me: if thou wilt take away thy stumblingblocks out of my sight, thou shalt not be moved. 4:2. And thou shalt swear: As the Lord liveth, in truth, and in judgment, and in justice: and the Gentiles shall bless him, and shall praise him. 4:3. For thus saith the Lord to the men of Juda and Jerusalem: Break up anew your fallow ground, and sow not upon thorns: 4:4. Be circumcised to the Lord, and take away the foreskins of your hearts, ye men of Juda, and ye inhabitants of Jerusalem: lest my indignation come forth like fire, and burn, and there be none that can quench it because of the wickedness of your thoughts. 4:5. Declare ye in Juda, and make it heard in Jerusalem: speak, and sound with the trumpet in the land: cry aloud, and say: Assemble yourselves, and let us go into strong cities. 4:6. Set up the standard in Sion. Strengthen yourselves, stay not: for I bring evil from the north, and great destruction. 4:7. The lion is come up out of his den, and the robber of nations hath roused himself: he is come forth out of his place, to make thy land desolate: thy cities shall be laid waste, remaining without an inhabitant. 4:8. For this gird yourselves with haircloth, lament and howl: for the fierce anger of the Lord is not turned away from us. 4:9. And it shall come to pass in that day, saith the Lord: That the heart of the king shall perish, and the heart of the princes: and the priests shall be astonished, and the prophets shall be amazed. 4:10. And I said: Alas, alas, alas, O Lord God, hast thou then deceived this people and Jerusalem, saying: You shall have peace: and behold the sword reacheth even to the soul? 4:11. At that time it shall be said to this people, and to Jerusalem: A burning wind is in the ways that are in the desert of the way of the daughter of my people, not to fan, nor to cleanse. 4:12. A full wind from these places shall come to me: and now I will speak my judgments with them. 4:13. Behold he shall come up as a cloud, and his chariots as a tempest: his horses are swifter than eagles: woe unto us, for we are laid waste. 4:14. Wash thy heart from wickedness, O Jerusalem, that thou mayst be saved: how long shall hurtful thoughts abide in thee? 4:15. For a voice of one declaring from Dan, and giving notice of the idol from mount Ephraim. 4:16. Say ye to the nations: Behold it is heard in Jerusalem, that guards are coming from a far country, and give out their voice against the cities of Juda. 4:17. They are set round about her, as keepers of fields: because she hath provoked me to wrath, saith the Lord. 4:18. Thy ways, and thy devices have brought these things upon thee: this is thy wickedness, because it is bitter, because it hath touched thy heart. 4:19. My bowels, my bowels are in part, the senses of my heart are troubled within me, I will not hold my peace, for my soul hath heard the sound of the trumpet, the cry of battle. 4:20. Destruction upon destruction is called for, and all the earth is laid waste: my tents are destroyed on a sudden, and my pavilions in a moment. 4:21. How long shall I see men fleeing away, how long shall I hear the sound of the trumpet? 4:22. For my foolish people have not known me: they are foolish and senseless children: they are wise to do evil, but to do good they have no knowledge. 4:23. I beheld the earth, and lo it was void, and nothing: and the heavens, and there was no light in them. 4:24. I looked upon the mountains, and behold they trembled: and all the hills were troubled. 4:25. I beheld, and lo there was no man: and all the birds of the air were gone. 4:26. I looked, and behold Carmel was a wilderness: and all its cities were destroyed at the presence of the Lord, and at the presence of the wrath of his indignation. 4:27. For thus saith the Lord: All the land shall be desolate, but yet I will not utterly destroy. 4:28. The Earth shall mourn, and the heavens shall lament from above: because I have spoken, I have purposed, and I have not repented, neither am I turned away from it. 4:29. At the voice of the horsemen, and the archers, all the city is fled away: they have entered into thickets and climbed up the rocks: all the cities are forsaken, and there dwelleth not a man in them. 4:30. But when thou art spoiled what wilt thou do? though thou clothest thyself with scarlet, though thou deckest thee with ornaments of gold, and paintest thy eyes with stibic stone, thou shalt dress thyself out in vain: thy lovers have despised thee, they will seek thy life. 4:31. For I have heard the voice as of a woman in travail, anguishes as of a woman in labour of a child. The voice of the daughter of Sion, dying away, spreading her hands: Woe is me, for my soul hath fainted because of them that are slain. Jeremias Chapter 5 The judgments of God shall fall upon the Jews for their manifold sins. 5:1. Go about through the streets of Jerusalem, and see, and consider, and seek in the broad places thereof, if you can find a man that executeth judgment, and seeketh faith: and I will be merciful unto it. 5:2. And though they say: The Lord liveth; this also they will swear falsely. 5:3. O Lord, thy eyes are upon truth: thou hast struck them, and they have not grieved: thou hast bruised them, and they have refused to receive correction: they have made their faces harder than the rock, and they have refused to return. 5:4. But I said: Perhaps these are poor and foolish, that know not the way of the Lord, the judgment of their God. 5:5. I will go therefore to the great men, and will speak to them: for they have known the way of the Lord, the judgment of their God: and behold these have altogether broken the yoke more, and have burst the bonds. 5:6. Wherefore a lion out of the wood hath slain them, a wolf in the evening hath spoiled them, a leopard watcheth for their cities: every one that shall go out thence shall be taken, because their transgressions are multiplied, their rebellions are strengthened. 5:7. How can I be merciful to thee? thy children have forsaken me, and swear by them that are not gods: I fed them to the full, and they committed adultery, and rioted in the harlot's house. 5:8. They are become as amorous horses and stallions: every one neighed after his neighbour's wife. 5:9. Shall I not visit for these things, saith the Lord? and shall not my soul take revenge on such a nation? 5:10. Scale the walls thereof, and throw them down, but do not utterly destroy: take away the branches thereof, because they are not the Lord's. 5:11. For the house of Israel, and the house of Juda have greatly transgressed against me, saith the Lord. 5:12. They have denied the Lord, and said, It is not he: and the evil shall not come upon us: we shall not see the sword and famine. 5:13. The prophets have spoken in the wind, and there was no word of God in them: these things therefore shall befall them. 5:14. Thus saith the Lord the God of hosts: because you have spoken this word, behold I will make my words in thy mouth as fire, and this people as wood, and it shall devour them. 5:15. Behold I will bring upon you a nation from afar, O house of Israel, saith the Lord: a strong nation, an ancient nation, a nation whose language thou shalt not know, nor understand what they say. 5:16. Their quiver is as an open sepulchre, they are all valiant. 5:17. And they shall eat up thy corn, and thy bread: they shall devour thy sons, and thy daughters: they shall eat up thy flocks, and thy herds: they shall eat thy vineyards, and thy figs: and with the sword they shall destroy thy strong cities, wherein thou trustest. 5:18. Nevertheless in those days, saith the Lord, I will not bring you to utter destruction. 5:19. And if you shall say: Why hath the Lord our God done all these things to us? thou shalt say to them: As you have forsaken me, and served a strange god in your own land, so shall you serve strangers in a land that is not your own. 5:20. Declare ye this to the house of Jacob, and publish it in Juda, saying: 5:21. Hear, O foolish people, and without understanding: who have eyes, and see not: and ears, and hear not. 5:22. Will not you then fear me, saith the Lord: and will you not repent at my presence? I have set the sand a bound for the sea, an everlasting ordinance, which it shall not pass over: and the waves thereof shall toss themselves, and shall not prevail: they shall swell, and shall not pass over it. 5:23. But the heart of this people is become hard of belief and provoking, they are revolted and gone away. 5:24. And they have not said in their heart: Let us fear the Lord our God, who giveth us the early and the latter rain in due season: who preserveth for us the fulness of the yearly harvest. 5:25. Your iniquities have turned these things away, and your sins have withholden good things from you. 5:26. For among my people are found wicked men, that lie in wait as fowlers, setting snares and traps to catch men. 5:27. As a net is full of birds, so their houses are full of deceit: therefore are they become great and enriched. 5:28. They are grown gross and fat: and have most wickedly transgressed my words. They have not judged the cause of the widow, they have not managed the cause of the fatherless, and they have not judged the judgment of the poor. 5:29. Shall I not visit for these things, saith the Lord? or shall not my soul take revenge on such a nation? 5:30. Astonishing and wonderful things have been done in the land. 5:31. The prophets prophesied falsehood, and the priests clapped their hands: and my people loved such things: what then shall be done in the end thereof? Jeremias Chapter 6 The evils that threaten Jerusalem. She is invited to return, and walk in the good way, and not to rely on sacrifices without obedience. 6:1. Strengthen yourselves, ye sons of Benjamin, in the midst of Jerusalem, and sound the trumpet in Thecua, and set up the standard over Bethacarem: for evil is seen out of the north, and a great destruction. 6:2. I have likened the daughter of Sion to a beautiful and delicate woman. 6:3. The shepherds shall come to her with their flocks: they have pitched their tents against her round about: every one shall feed them that are under his hand. 6:4. Prepare ye war against her: arise, and let us go up at midday: woe unto us, for the day is declined, for the shadows of the evening are grown longer. 6:5. Arise, and let us go up in the night, and destroy her houses. 6:6. For thus saith the Lord of hosts: Hew down her trees, cast up a trench about Jerusalem: this is the city to be visited, all oppression is in the midst of her. 6:7. As a cistern maketh its water cold, so hath she made her wickedness cold: violence and spoil shall be heard in her, infirmity and stripes are continually before me. 6:8. Be thou instructed, O Jerusalem, lest my soul depart from thee, lest I make thee desolate, a land uninhabited. 6:9. Thus saith the Lord of hosts: They shall gather the remains of Israel, as in a vine, even to one cluster: turn back thy hand, as a grapegatherer into the basket. 6:10. To whom shall I speak? and to whom shall I testify, that he may hear? behold, their ears are uncircumcised, and they cannot hear: behold the word of the Lord is become unto them a reproach: and they will not receive it. 6:11. Therefore am I full of the fury of the Lord, I am weary with holding in: pour it out upon the child abroad, and upon the council of the young men together: for man and woman shall be taken, the ancient and he that is full of days. 6:12. And their houses shall be turned over to others, with their lands and their wives together: for I will stretch forth my hand upon the inhabitants of the land, saith the Lord. 6:13. For from the least of them even to the greatest, all are given to covetousness: and from the prophet even to the priest, all are guilty of deceit. 6:14. And they healed the breach of the daughter of my people disgracefully, saying: Peace, peace: and there was no peace. 6:15. They were confounded, because they committed abomination: yea, rather they were not confounded with confusion, and they knew not how to blush: wherefore they shall fall among them that fall: in the time of their visitation they shall fall down, saith the Lord. 6:16. Thus saith the Lord: Stand ye on the ways, and see, and ask for the old paths, which is the good way, and walk ye in it: and you shall find refreshment for your souls. And they said: We will not walk. 6:17. And I appointed watchmen over you, saying: Hearken ye to the sound of the trumpet. And they said: We will not hearken. 6:18. Therefore hear, ye nations, and know, O congregation, what great things I will do to them. 6:19. Hear, O earth: Behold I will bring evils upon this people, the fruits of their own thoughts: because they have not heard my words, and they have cast away my law. 6:20. To what purpose do you bring me frankincense from Saba, and the sweet smelling cane from a far country? your holocausts are not acceptable, nor are your sacrifices pleasing to me. 6:21. Therefore thus saith the Lord: Behold I will bring destruction upon this people, by which fathers and sons together shall fall, neighbour and kinsman shall perish. 6:22. Thus saith the Lord: Behold a people cometh from the land of the north, and a great nation shall rise up from the ends of the earth. 6:23. They shall lay hold on arrow and shield: they are cruel, and will have no mercy. Their voice shall roar like the sea: and they shall mount upon horses, prepared as men for war, against thee, O daughter of Sion. 6:24. We have heard the fame thereof, our hands grow feeble: anguish hath taken hold of us, as a woman in labour. 6:25. Go not out into the fields, nor walk in the highway: for the sword of the enemy, and fear is on every side. 6:26. Gird thee with sackcloth, O daughter of my people, and sprinkle thee with ashes: make thee mourning as for an only son, a bitter lamentation, because the destroyer shall suddenly come upon us. 6:27. I have set thee for a strong trier among my people: and thou shalt know, and prove their way. 6:28. All these princes go out of the way, they walk deceitfully, they are brass and iron: they are all corrupted. 6:29. The bellows have failed, the lead is consumed in the fire, the founder hath melted in vain: for their wicked deeds are not consumed. 6:30. Call them reprobate silver, for the Lord hath rejected them. Jeremias Chapter 7 The temple of God shall not protect a sinful people, without a sincere conversion. The Lord will not receive the prayers of the prophet for them: because they are obstinate in their sins. 7:1. The word that came to Jeremias from the Lord, saying: 7:2. Stand in the gate of the house of the Lord, and proclaim there this word, and say: Hear ye the word of the Lord, all ye men of Juda, that enter in at these gates, to adore the Lord. 7:3. Thus saith the Lord of hosts the God of Israel: Make your ways and your doings good: and I will dwell with you in this place. 7:4. Trust not in lying words, saying: The temple of the Lord, the temple of the Lord, it is the temple of the Lord. 7:5. For if you will order well your ways, and your doings: if you will execute judgment between a man and his neighbour, 7:6. If you oppress not the stranger, the fatherless, and the widow, and shed not innocent blood in this place, and walk not after strange gods to your own hurt, 7:7. I will dwell with you in this place: in the land, which I gave to your fathers from the beginning and for evermore. 7:8. Behold you put your trust in lying words, which shall not profit you: 7:9. To steal, to murder, to commit adultery, to swear falsely, to offer to Baalim, and to go after strange gods, which you know not. 7:10. And you have come, and stood before me in this house, in which my name is called upon, and have said: We are delivered, because we have done all these abominations. 7:11. Is this house then, in which my name hath been called upon, in your eyes become a den of robbers? I, I am he: I have seen it, saith the Lord. 7:12. Go ye to my place in Silo, where my name dwelt from the beginning: and see what I did to it for the wickedness of my people Israel: 7:13. And now, because you have done all these works, saith the Lord: and I have spoken to you rising up early, and speaking, and you have not heard: and I have called you, and you have not answered: 7:14. I will do to this house, in which my name is called upon, and in which you trust, and to the place which I have given you and your fathers, as I did to Silo. 7:15. And I will cast you away from before my face, as I have cast away all your brethren, the whole seed of Ephraim. 7:16. Therefore do not thou pray for this people, nor take to thee praise and supplication for them: and do not withstand me: for I will not hear thee. 7:17. Seest thou not what they do in the cities of Juda, and in the streets of Jerusalem? 7:18. The children gather wood, and the fathers kindle the fire, and the women knead the dough, to make cakes to the queen of heaven, and to offer libations to strange gods, and to provoke me to anger. Queen of heaven... That is, the moon, which they worshipped under that name. 7:19. Do they provoke me to anger, saith the Lord? is it not themselves, to the confusion of their own countenance? 7:20. Therefore thus saith the Lord God: Behold my wrath and my indignation is enkindled against this place, upon men and upon beasts, and upon the trees of the field, and upon the fruits of the land, and it shall burn, and shall not be quenched. 7:21. Thus saith the Lord of hosts the God of Israel: Add your burnt offerings to your sacrifices, and eat ye the flesh. 7:22. For I spoke not to your fathers, and I commanded them not, in the day that I brought them out of the land of Egypt, concerning the matter of burnt offerings and sacrifices. I commanded them not... Viz., such sacrifices as the Jews at this time offered, without obedience; which was the thing principally commanded: so that in comparison with it, the offering of the holocausts and sacrifices was of small account. 7:23. But this thing I commanded them, saying: Hearken to my voice, and I will be your God, and you shall be my people: and walk ye in all the way that I have commanded you, that it may be well with you. 7:24. But they hearkened not, nor inclined their ear: but walked in their own will, and in the perversity of their wicked heart: and went backward and not forward, 7:25. From the day that their fathers came out of the land of Egypt, even to this day. And I have sent to you all my servants the prophets, from day to day, rising up early and sending. 7:26. And they have not hearkened to me: nor inclined their ear: but have hardened their neck, and have done worse than their fathers. 7:27. And thou shalt speak to them all these words, but they will not hearken to thee: and thou shalt call them, but they will not answer thee. 7:28. And thou shalt say to them: This is a nation which hath not hearkened to the voice of the Lord their God, nor received instruction: faith is lost, and is taken away out of their mouth. 7:29. Cut off thy hair, and cast it away: and take up a lamentation on high: for the Lord hath rejected, and forsaken the generation of his wrath, 7:30. Because the children of Juda have done evil in my eyes, saith the Lord. They have set their abominations in the house in which my name is called upon, to pollute it; 7:31. And they have built the high places of Topheth, which is in the valley of the son of Ennom, to burn their sons, and their daughters in the fire: which I commanded not, nor thought on in my heart. 7:32. Therefore behold the days shall come, saith the Lord, and it shall no more be called Topheth, nor the valley of the son of Ennom: but the valley of slaughter: and they shall bury in Topheth, because there is no place. 7:33. And the carcasses of this people shall be meat for the fowls of the air, and for the beasts of the earth, and there shall be none to drive them away. 7:34. And I will cause to cease out of the cities of Juda, and out of the streets of Jerusalem, the voice of joy, and the voice of gladness, the voice of the bridegroom and the voice of the bride: for the land shall be desolate. Jeremias Chapter 8 Other evils that shall fall upon the Jews for their impenitence. 8:1. At that time, saith the Lord, they shall cast out the bones of the kings of Juda, and the bones of the princes thereof, and the bones of the priests, and the bones of the prophets, and the bones of the inhabitants of Jerusalem, out of their graves. 8:2. And they shall spread them abroad to the sun, and the moon, and all the host of heaven, whom they have loved, and whom they have served, and after whom have walked, and whom they have sought, and adored: they shall not be gathered, and they shall not be buried: they shall be as dung upon the face of the earth. 8:3. And death shall be chosen rather than life by all that shall remain of this wicked kindred in all places, which are left, to which I have cast them out, saith the Lord of hosts. 8:4. And thou shalt say to them: Thus saith the Lord: Shall not he that falleth, rise again? and he that is turned away, shall he not turn again? 8:5. Why then is this people in Jerusalem turned away with a stubborn revolting? they have laid hold on lying, and have refused to return. 8:6. I attended, and hearkened; no man speaketh what is good, there is none that doth penance for his sin, saying: What have I done? They are all turned to their own course, as a horse rushing to the battle. 8:7. The kite in the air hath known her time: the turtle, and the swallow, and the stork have observed the time of their coming: but my people have not known the judgment of the Lord. 8:8. How do you say: We are wise, and the law of the Lord is with us? Indeed the lying pens of the scribes hath wrought falsehood. 8:9. The wise men are confounded, they are dismayed, and taken: for they have cast away the word of the Lord, and there is no wisdom in them. 8:10. Therefore will I give their women to strangers, their fields to others for an inheritance: because from the least even to the greatest all follow covetousness: from the prophet even to the priest all deal deceitfully. 8:11. And they healed the breach of the daughter of my people disgracefully, saying: Peace, peace: when there was no peace. 8:12. They are confounded, because they have committed abomination: yea rather they are not confounded with confusion, and they have not known how to blush: therefore shall they fall among them that fall; in the time of their visitation they shall fall, saith the Lord. 8:13. Gathering I will gather them together, saith the Lord, there is no grape on the vines, and there are no figs on the fig tree, the leaf is fallen: and I have given them the things that are passed away. 8:14. Why do we sit still? assemble yourselves, and let us enter into the fenced city, and let us be silent there: for the Lord our God hath put us to silence, and hath given us water of gall to drink: for we have sinned against the Lord. 8:15. We looked for peace and no good came: for a time of healing, and behold fear. 8:16. The snorting of his horses was heard from Dan, all the land was moved at the sound of the neighing of his warriors: and they came and devoured the land, and all that was in it: the city and its inhabitants. 8:17. For behold I will send among you serpents, basilisks, against which there is no charm: and they shall bite you, saith the Lord. 8:18. My sorrow is above sorrow, my heart mourneth within me. 8:19. Behold the voice of the daughter of my people from a far country: Is not the Lord in Sion, or is not her king in her? why then have they provoked me to wrath with their idols, and strange vanities? 8:20. The harvest is past, the summer is ended, and we are not saved. 8:21. For the affliction of the daughter of my people I am afflicted, and made sorrowful, astonishment hath taken hold on me. 8:22. Is there no balm in Galaad? or is there no physician there? Why then is not the wound of the daughter of my people closed? Jeremias Chapter 9 The prophet laments the miseries of his people: and their sins, which are the cause of them. He exhorts them to repentance. 9:1. Who will give water to my head, and a fountain of tears to my eyes? and I will weep day and night for the slain of the daughter of my people. 9:2. Who will give me in the wilderness a lodging place of wayfaring men, and I will leave my people, and depart from them? because they are all adulterers, an assembly of transgressors. 9:3. And they have bent their tongue, as a bow, for lies, and not for truth: they have strengthened themselves upon the earth, for they have proceeded from evil to evil, and me they have not known, saith the Lord. 9:4. Let every man take heed of his neighbour, and let him not trust in any brother of his: for every brother will utterly supplant, and every friend will walk deceitfully. 9:5. And a man shall mock his brother, and they will not speak the truth: for they have taught their tongue to speak lies: they have laboured to commit iniquity. 9:6. Thy habitation is in the midst of deceit: through deceit they have refused to know me, saith the Lord. 9:7. Therefore thus saith the Lord of hosts: Behold I will melt, and try them: for what else shall I do before the daughter of my people? 9:8. Their tongue is a piercing arrow, it hath spoken deceit: with his mouth one speaketh peace with his friend, and secretly he lieth in wait for him. 9:9. Shall I not visit them for these things, saith the Lord? or shall not my soul be revenged on such a nation? 9:10. For the mountains I will take up weeping and lamentation, and for the beautiful places of the desert, mourning: because they are burnt up, for that there is not a man that passeth through them: and they have not heard the voice of the owner: from the fowl of the air to the beasts they are gone away and departed. 9:11. And I will make Jerusalem to be heaps of sand, and dens of dragons: and I will make the cities of Juda desolate, for want of an inhabitant. 9:12. Who is the wise man, that may understand this, and to whom the word of the mouth of the Lord may come that he may declare this, why the land hath perished, and is burnt up like a wilderness, which none passeth through? 9:13. And the Lord said: Because they have forsaken my law, which I gave them, and have not heard my voice, and have not walked in it. 9:14. But they have gone after the perverseness of their own heart, and after Baalim, which their fathers taught them. 9:15. Therefore thus saith the Lord of hosts the God of Israel: Behold I will feed this people with wormwood, and give them water of gall to drink. 9:16. And I will scatter them among the nations, which they and their fathers have not known: and I will send the sword after them till they be consumed. 9:17. Thus saith the Lord of hosts the God of Israel: Consider ye, and call for the mourning women, and let them come: and send to them that are wise women, and let them make haste: 9:18. Let them hasten and take up a lamentation for us: let our eyes shed tears, and our eyelids run down with waters. 9:19. For a voice of wailing is heard out of Sion: How are we wasted and greatly confounded? because we have left the land, because our dwellings are cast down. 9:20. Hear therefore, ye women, the word of the Lord: and let your ears receive the word of his mouth: and teach your daughters wailing: and every one her neighbour mourning. 9:21. For death is come up through our windows, it is entered into our houses to destroy the children from without, the young men from the streets. 9:22. Speak: Thus saith the Lord: Even the carcass of man shall fall as dung upon the face of the country, and as grass behind the back of the mower, and there is none to gather it. 9:23. Thus saith the Lord: Let not the wise man glory in his wisdom, and let not the strong man glory in his strength, and let not the rich man glory in his riches: 9:24. But let him that glorieth glory in this, that he understandeth and knoweth me, for I am the Lord that exercise mercy, and judgment, and justice in the earth: for these things please me, saith the Lord. 9:25. Behold, the days come, saith the Lord, and I will visit upon every one that hath the foreskin circumcised. 9:26. Upon Egypt, and upon Juda, and upon Edom, and upon the children of Ammon, and upon Moab, and upon all that have their hair polled round, that dwell in the desert: for all the nations are uncircumcised in the flesh, but all the house of Israel are uncircumcised in the heart. Jeremias Chapter 10 Neither stars nor idols are to be feared, but the great Creator of all things. The chastisement of Jerusalem for her sins. 10:1. Hear ye the word which the Lord hath spoken concerning you, O house of Israel. 10:2. Thus saith the Lord: Learn not according to the ways of the Gentiles: and be not afraid of the signs of heaven, which the heathens fear: 10:3. For the laws of the people are vain: for the works of the hand of the workman hath cut a tree out of the forest with an axe. 10:4. He hath decked it with silver and gold: he hath put it together with nails and hammers, that it may not fall asunder. 10:5. They are framed after the likeness of a palm tree, and shall not speak: they must be carried to be removed, because they cannot go. Therefore fear them not, for they can neither do evil nor good. 10:6. There is none like to thee, O Lord: thou art great, and great is thy name in might. 10:7. Who shall not fear thee, O king of nations? for thine is the glory: among all the wise men of the nations, and in all their kingdoms there is none like unto thee. 10:8. They shall be all proved together to be senseless and foolish: the doctrine of their vanity is wood. 10:9. Silver spread into plates is brought from Tharsis, and gold from Ophaz: the work of the artificer, and of the hand of the coppersmith: violet and purple is their clothing: all these things are the work of artificers. 10:10. But the Lord is the true God: he is the living God, and the everlasting king: at his wrath the earth shall tremble, and the nations shall not be able to abide his threatening. 10:11. Thus then shall you say to them: The gods that have not made heaven and earth, let them perish from the earth, and from among those places that are under heaven. 10:12. He that maketh the earth by his power, that prepareth the world by his wisdom, and stretcheth out the heavens by his knowledge. 10:13. At his voice he giveth a multitude of waters in the heaven, and lifteth up the clouds from the ends of the earth: he maketh lightnings for rain, and bringeth forth the wind out of his treasures. 10:14. Every man is become a fool for knowledge, every artist is confounded in his graven idol: for what he hath cast is false, and there is no spirit in them. 10:15. They are vain things, and a ridiculous work: in the time of their visitation they shall perish. 10:16. The portion of Jacob is not like these: for it is he who formed all things: and Israel is the rod of his inheritance: the Lord of hosts is his name. 10:17. Gather up thy shame out of the land, thou that dwellest in a siege. 10:18. For thus saith he Lord: Behold I will cast away far off the inhabitants of the land at this time: and I will afflict them, so that they may be found. 10:19. Woe is me for my destruction, my wound is very grievous. But I said: Truly this is my own evil, and I will bear it. 10:20. My tabernacle is laid waste, all my cords are broken: my children are gone out from me, and they are not: there is none to stretch forth my tent any more, and to set up my curtains. 10:21. Because the pastors have done foolishly, and have not sought the Lord: therefore have they not understood, and all their flock is scattered. 10:22. Behold the sound of a noise cometh, a great commotion out of the land of the north: to make the cities of Juda a desert, and a dwelling for dragons. 10:23. I know, O Lord, that the way of a man is not his: neither is it in a man to walk, and to direct his steps. The way of a man is not his... The meaning is, that notwithstanding man's free will, yet he can do no good without God's help, nor evil without his permission. So that, in the present case, all the evils which Nabuchodonosor was about to bring upon Jerusalem, could not have come but by the will of God. 10:24. Correct me, O Lord, but yet with judgment: and not in thy fury, lest thou bring me to nothing. 10:25. Pour out thy indignation upon the nations that have not known thee, and upon the provinces that have not called upon thy name: because they have eaten up Jacob, and devoured him, and consumed him, and have destroyed his glory. Jeremias Chapter 11 The prophet proclaims the covenant of God: and denounces evils to the obstinate transgressors of it. The conspiracy of the Jews against him, a figure of their conspiracy against Christ. 11:1. The word that came from the Lord to Jeremias, saying: 11:2. Hear ye the words of this covenant, and speak to the men of Juda, and to the inhabitants of Jerusalem, 11:3. And thou shalt say to them: Thus saith the Lord the God of Israel: Cursed is the man that shall not hearken to the words of this covenant, 11:4. Which I commanded your fathers in the day that I brought them out of the land of Egypt, from the iron furnace, saying: Hear ye my voice, and do all things that I command you: and you shall be my people, and I will be your God: 11:5. That I may accomplish the oath which I swore to your fathers, to give them a land flowing with milk and honey, as it is this day. And I answered and said: Amen, O Lord. 11:6. And the Lord said to me: Proclaim aloud all these words in the cities of Juda, and in the streets of Jerusalem, saying: Hear ye the words of the covenant, and do them: 11:7. For protesting I conjured your fathers in the day that I brought them out of the land of Egypt even to this day: rising early I conjured them, and said: Hearken ye to my voice: 11:8. And they obeyed not, nor inclined their ear: but walked every one in the perverseness of his own wicked heart: and I brought upon them all the words of this covenant, which I commanded them to do, but they did them not. 11:9. And the Lord said to me: A conspiracy is found among the men of Juda, and among the inhabitants of Jerusalem. 11:10. They are returned to the former iniquities of their fathers, who refused to hear my words: so these likewise have gone after strange gods, to serve them: the house of Israel, and the house of Juda have made void my covenant, which I made with their fathers. 11:11. Wherefore thus saith the Lord: Behold I will bring in evils upon them, which they shall not be able to escape: and they shall cry to me, and I will not hearken to them. 11:12. And the cities of Juda, and the inhabitants of Jerusalem shall go, and cry to the gods to whom they offer sacrifice, and they shall not save them in the time of their affliction. 11:13. For according to the number of thy cities were thy gods, O Juda: and according to the number of the streets of Jerusalem thou hast set up altars of confusion, altars to offer sacrifice to Baalim. 11:14. Therefore do not thou pray for this people, and do not take up praise and prayer for them: for I will not hear them in the time of their cry to me, in the time of their affliction. 11:15. What is the meaning that my beloved hath wrought much wickedness in my house? shall the holy flesh take away from thee thy crimes, in which thou hast boasted? 11:16. The Lord called thy name, a plentiful olive tree, fair, fruitful, and beautiful: at the noise of a word, a great fire was kindled in it, and the branches thereof are burnt. 11:17. And the Lord of hosts that planted thee, hath pronounced evil against thee: for the evils of the house of Israel, and of the house of Juda, which they have done to themselves, to provoke me, offering sacrifice to Baalim. 11:18. But thou, O Lord, hast shewn me, and I have known: then thou shewedst me their doings. 11:19. And I was as a meek lamb, that is carried to be a victim: and I knew not that they had devised counsels against me, saying: Let us put wood on his bread, and cut him off from the land of the living, and let his name be remembered no more. 11:20. But thou, O Lord of Sabaoth, who judgest justly, and triest the reins and the hearts, let me see thy revenge on them: for to thee have I revealed my cause. Sabaoth... That is, of hosts or armies, a name frequently given to God in the scriptures.-Ibid. Thy revenge... This was rather a prediction of what was to happen, with an approbation of the divine justice, than an imprecation. 11:21. Therefore thus saith the Lord to the men of Anathoth, who seek thy life, and say: Thou shalt not prophesy in the name of the Lord, and thou shalt not die in our hands. 11:22. Therefore thus saith the Lord of hosts: Behold I will visit upon them: their young men shall die by the sword, their sons and their daughters shall die by famine. 11:23. And there shall be no remains of them: for I will bring in evil upon the men of Anathoth, the year of their visitation. Jeremias Chapter 12 The prosperity of the wicked shall be but for a short time. The desolation of the Jews for their sins. Their return from their captivity. 12:1. Thou indeed, O Lord, art just, if I plead with thee, but yet I will speak what is just to thee: Why doth the way of the wicked prosper: why is it well with all them that transgress, and do wickedly? 12:2. Thou hast planted them, and they have taken root: they prosper and bring forth fruit: thou art near in their mouth, and far from their reins. 12:3. And thou, O Lord, hast known me, thou hast seen me, and proved my heart with thee: gather them together as for the day of slaughter. 12:4. How long shall the land mourn, and the herb of every field wither for the wickedness of them that dwell therein? The beasts and the birds are consumed: because they have said: He shall not see our last end. 12:5. If thou hast been wearied with running with footmen, how canst thou contend with horses? and if thou hast been secure in a land of peace, what wilt thou do in the swelling of the Jordan? 12:6. For even thy brethren, and the house of thy father, even they have fought against thee, and have cried after thee with full voice: believe them not when they speak good things to thee. 12:7. I have forsaken my house, I have left my inheritance: I have given my dear soul into the hand of her enemies. 12:8. My inheritance is become to me as a lion in the wood: it hath cried out against me, therefore have I hated it. 12:9. Is my inheritance to me as a speckled bird? is it as a bird dyed throughout? come ye, assemble yourselves, all ye beasts of the earth, make haste to devour. 12:10. Many pastors have destroyed my vineyard, they have trodden my portion under foot: they have changed my delightful portion into a desolate wilderness. 12:11. They have laid it waste, and it hath mourned for me. With desolation is all the land made desolate; because there is none that considereth in the heart. 12:12. The spoilers are come upon all the ways of the wilderness, for the sword of the Lord shall devour from one end of the land to the other end thereof: there is no peace for all flesh. 12:13. They have sown wheat, and reaped thorns: they have received an inheritance, and it shall not profit them: you shall be ashamed of your fruits, because of the fierce wrath of the Lord. 12:14. Thus saith the Lord against all wicked neighbours, that touch the inheritance that I have shared out to my people Israel: Behold I will pluck them out of their land, and I will pluck the house of Juda out of the midst of them. 12:15. And when I shall have plucked them out, I will return, and have mercy on them: and will bring them back, every man to his inheritance, and every man into his land. 12:16. And it shall come to pass, if they will be taught, and will learn the ways of my people, to swear by my name: The Lord liveth, as they have taught my people to swear by Baal: that they shall be built up in the midst of my people. 12:17. But if they will not hear, I will utterly pluck out and destroy that nation, saith the Lord. Jeremias Chapter 13 Under the figure of a linen girdle is foretold the destruction of the Jews. Their obstinacy in sin brings all miseries upon them. 13:1. Thus saith the Lord to me: Go, and get thee a linen girdle, and thou shalt put it about thy loins, and shalt not put it into water. 13:2. And I got a girdle according to the word of the Lord, and put it about my loins. 13:3. And the word of the Lord came to me the second time, saying: 13:4. Take the girdle which thou hast got, which is about thy loins, and arise, go to the Euphrates, and hide it there in a hole of the rock. 13:5. And I went, and hid it by the Euphrates, as the Lord had commanded me. 13:6. And it came to pass after many days, that the Lord said to me: Arise, go to the Euphrates, and take from thence the girdle, which I commanded thee to hide there. 13:7. And I went to the Euphrates, and digged, and took the girdle out of the place where I had hid it and behold the girdle was rotten, so that it was fit for no use. 13:8. And the word of the Lord came to me, saying: 13:9. Thus saith the Lord: After this manner will I make the pride of Juda, and the great pride of Jerusalem to rot. 13:10. This wicked people, that will not hear my words, and that walk in the perverseness of their heart, and have gone after strange gods to serve them, and to adore them: and they shall be as this girdle, which is fit for no use. 13:11. For as the girdle sticketh close to the loins of a man, so have I brought close to me all the house of Israel, and all the house of Juda, saith the Lord: that they might be my people, and for a name, and for a praise, and for a glory: but they would not hear. 13:12. Thou shalt speak therefore to them this word: Thus saith the Lord the God of Israel: Every bottle shall be filled with wine. And they shall say to thee: Do we not know that every bottle shall be filled with wine? 13:13. And thou shalt say to them: Thus saith the Lord: Behold I will fill all the inhabitants of this land, and the kings of the race of David that sit upon his throne, and the priests, and the prophets, and all the inhabitants of Jerusalem, with drunkenness. 13:14. And I will scatter them every man from his brother, and fathers and sons in like manner, saith the Lord: I will not spare, and I will not pardon: nor will I have mercy, but to destroy them. 13:15. Hear ye, and give ear: Be not proud, for the Lord hath spoken. 13:16. Give ye glory to the Lord your God, before it be dark, and before your feet stumble upon the dark mountains: you shall look for light, and he will turn it into the shadow of death, and into darkness. 13:17. But if you will not hear this, my soul shall weep in secret for your pride: weeping it shall weep, and my eyes shall run down with tears, because the flock of the Lord is carried away captive. 13:18. Say to the king, and to the queen: Humble yourselves, sit down: for the crown of your glory is come down from your head. 13:19. The cities of the south are shut up, and there is none to open them: all Juda is carried away captive with an entire captivity. 13:20. Lift up your eyes, and see, you that come from the north: where is the flock that is given thee, thy beautiful cattle? 13:21. What wilt thou say when he shall visit thee? for thou hast taught them against thee, and instructed them against thy own head: shall not sorrows lay hold on thee, as a woman in labour? 13:22. And if thou shalt say in thy heart: Why are these things come upon me? For the greatness of thy iniquity, thy nakedness is discovered, the soles of thy feet are defiled. 13:23. If the Ethiopian can change his skin, or the leopard his spots: you also may do well, when you have learned evil. 13:24. And I will scatter them as stubble, which is carried away by the wind in the desert. 13:25. This is thy lot, and the portion of thy measure from me, saith the Lord, because thou hast forgotten me, and hast trusted in falsehood. 13:26. Wherefore I have also bared thy thighs against thy face, and thy shame hath appeared. 13:27. I have seen thy adulteries, and thy neighing, the wickedness of thy fornication: and thy abominations, upon the hills in the field. Woe to thee, Jerusalem, wilt thou not be made clean after me: how long yet? Jeremias Chapter 14 A grievous famine: and the prophet's prayer on that occasion. Evils denounced to false prophets. The prophet mourns for his people. 14:1. The word of the Lord that came to Jeremias concerning the words of the drought. 14:2. Judea hath mourned, and the gates thereof are fallen, and are become obscure on the ground, and the cry of Jerusalem is gone up. 14:3. The great ones sent their inferiors to the water: they came to draw, they found no water, they carried back their vessels empty: they were confounded and afflicted, and covered their heads. 14:4. For the destruction of the land, because there came no rain upon the earth, the husbandman were confounded, they covered their heads. 14:5. Yea, the hind also brought forth in the field, and left it, because there was no grass. 14:6. And the w