Title: The Bible, Douay-Rheims, Old Testament — Part 1
Author: Anonymous, - To be updated
Language: English
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THE HOLY BIBLE



Translated from the Latin Vulgate


Diligently Compared with the Hebrew, Greek,
and Other Editions in Divers Languages


THE OLD TESTAMENT
First Published by the English College at Douay

and

THE NEW TESTAMENT
First Published by the English College at Rheims
A.D. 1582


With Annotations


The Whole Revised and Diligently Compared with
the Latin Vulgate by Bishop Richard Challoner
A.D. 1749-1752



VOLUME I:  THE FIRST PART OF THE OLD TESTAMENT



CREDITS


Without the assistance of many individuals and groups, this text of the
Douay-Rheims Version of the Holy Bible would not be available for the
to those at 'Catholic Software' who have provided the electronic plain
texts of the 73 books of the Bible.  'Catholic Software' also produces a
Douay Bible program on CD-ROM that features a fully searchable Douay-
Rheims Bible, footnotes, Latin text and dictionary, topical index, maps,
Biblical art gallery, and other features.  For more information of this
and many other products contact:

Catholic Software
Box 1914
Murray, KY 42071
(502) 753-8198
http://www.catholicity.com/market/CSoftware/
waubrey@aol.com

Additional production assistance has been provided by volunteers from
the Atlanta Council of the Knights of Columbus.  Tad Book compiled and
assisted Mr. Book and transcribed selections from the first editions
included as appendices.



HISTORY


This three volume e-text set comes from multiple editions of Challoner's
revised Douay-Rheims Version of the Holy Bible.  The division of the Old
printing of the Old Testament.  In 1568 English exiles, many from
Oxford, established the English College of Douay (Douai/Doway), Flanders,
under William (later Cardinal) Allen.  In October, 1578, Gregory Martin
began the work of preparing an English translation of the Bible for
Catholic readers, the first such translation into Modern English.
Assisting were William Allen, Richard Bristow, Thomas Worthington, and
William Reynolds who revised, criticized, and corrected Dr. Martin's
work.  The college published the New Testament at Rheims (Reims/Rhemes),
France, in 1582 through John Fogny with a preface and explanatory notes,
authored chiefly by Bristol, Allen, and Worthington.  Later the Old
Kellam through the efforts of Dr. Worthington, then superior of the
seminary.  The translation had been prepared before the appearance of the
New Testament, but the publication was delayed due to financial
difficulties.  The religious and scholarly adherence to the Latin Vulgate
text led to the less elegant and idiomatic words and phrases often found
in the translation.  In some instances where no English word conveyed the
full meaning of the Latin, a Latin word was Anglicized and its meaning
defined in a glossary.  Although ridiculed by critics, many of these
words later found common usage in the English language.  Spellings of
proper names and the numbering of the Psalms are adopted from the Latin
Vulgate.

In 1749 Dr. Richard Challoner began a major revision of the Douay and
Rheims texts, the spellings and phrasing of which had become increasingly
archaic in the almost two centuries since the translations were first
produced.  He modernized the diction and introduced a more fluid style,
while faithfully maintaining the accuracy of Dr. Martin's texts.  This
revision became the 'de facto' standard text for English speaking
Catholics until the twentieth century.  It is still highly regarded by
many for its style, although it is now rarely used for liturgical
purposes.  The notes included in this electronic edition are generally
attributed to Bishop Challoner.

The 1610 printing of the second tome of the Old Testament includes an
appendix containing the non-canonical books 'Prayer of Manasses,' 'Third
Booke of Esdras,' and 'Fourth Booke of Esdras.'  While not part of
Challoner's revision, the 1610 texts are placed in the appendices of
Vol. II of this e-text set.  Also included are the original texts of two
short books, 'The Prophecie of Abdias' (Vol. II) and 'The Catholike
Epistle of Iude the Apostle' (Vol. III), to give the reader a sense of
the language of the first editions in comparison to the Challoner
revision.  Further background on the Douay-Rheims version may be found in
a selection from the preface to the 1582 edition and the original
glossary included in the appendices of Vol. III.



CONTENTS


The First Part of the Old Testament

  Book of Genesis
  Book of Exodus
  Book of Leviticus
  Book of Numbers
  Book of Deuteronomy
  Book of Josue
  Book of Judges
  Book of Ruth
  First Book of Samuel, alias 1 Kings
  Second Book of Samuel, alias 2 Kings
  Third Book of Kings
  Fourth Book of Kings
  First Book of Paralipomenon
  Second Book of Paralipomenon
  First Book of Esdras
  Book of Nehemias, alias 2 Esdras
  Book of Tobias
  Book of Judith
  Book of Esther
  Book of Job



THE BOOK OF GENESIS



This book is so called from its treating of the GENERATION, that is, of
the creation and the beginning of the world.  The Hebrews call it
BERESITH, from the Word with which it begins.  It contains not only the
history of the Creation of the world; but also an account of its
progress during the space of 2369 years, that is, until the death of
JOSEPH.



Genesis Chapter 1


God createth Heaven and Earth, and all things therein, in six days.

1:1. In the beginning God created heaven, and earth.

1:2. And the earth was void and empty, and darkness was upon the face
of the deep; and the spirit of God moved over the waters.

1:3. And God said:  Be light made.  And light was made.

1:4. And God saw the light that it was good; and he divided the light
from the darkness.

1:5. And he called the light Day, and the darkness Night; and there was
evening and morning one day.

1:6. And God said:  Let there be a firmament made amidst the waters:  and
let it divide the waters from the waters.

A firmament. . .By this name is here understood the whole space between
the earth, and the highest stars.  The lower part of which divideth the
waters that are upon the earth, from those that are above in the
clouds.

1:7. And God made a firmament, and divided the waters that were under
the firmament, from those that were above the firmament, and it was so.

1:8. And God called the firmament, Heaven; and the evening and morning
were the second day.

1:9. God also said; Let the waters that are under the heaven, be
gathered together into one place:  and let the dry land appear.  And it
was so done.

1:10. And God called the dry land, Earth; and the gathering together of
the waters, he called Seas.  And God saw that it was good.

1:11. And he said:  let the earth bring forth green herb, and such as
may seed, and the fruit tree yielding fruit after its kind, which may
have seed in itself upon the earth.  And it was so done.

1:12. And the earth brought forth the green herb, and such as yieldeth
seed according to its kind, and the tree that beareth fruit, having
seed each one according to its kind.  And God saw that it was good.

1:13. And the evening and the morning were the third day.

1:14. And God said:  Let there be lights made in the firmament of
heaven, to divide the day and the night, and let them be for signs, and
for seasons, and for days and years:

1:15. To shine in the firmament of heaven, and to give light upon the
earth, and it was so done.

1:16. And God made two great lights:  a greater light to rule the day;
and a lesser light to rule the night:  and the stars.

Two great lights. . .God created on the first day, light, which being
moved from east to west, by its rising and setting, made morning and
evening.  But on the fourth day he ordered and distributed this light,
and made the sun, moon, and stars.  The moon, though much less than the
stars, is here called a great light, from its giving a far greater
light to the earth than any of them.

1:17. And he set them in the firmament of heaven to shine upon the
earth.

1:18. And to rule the day and the night, and to divide the light and
the darkness.  And God saw that it was good.

1:19. And the evening and morning were the fourth day.

1:20. God also said:  let the waters bring forth the creeping creature
having life, and the fowl that may fly over the earth under the
firmament of heaven.

1:21. And God created the great whales, and every living and moving
creature, which the waters brought forth, according to their kinds, and
every winged fowl according to its kind.  And God saw that it was good.

1:22. And he blessed them, saying:  Increase and multiply, and fill the
waters of the sea:  and let the birds be multiplied upon the earth.

1:23. And the evening and morning were the fifth day.

1:24. And God said:  Let the earth bring forth the living creature in
its kind, cattle and creeping things, and beasts of the earth,
according to their kinds.  And it was so done.

1:25. And God made the beasts of the earth according to their kinds,
and cattle, and every thing that creepeth on the earth after its kind.
And God saw that it was good.

1:26. And he said:  Let us make man to our image and likeness:  and let
him have dominion over the fishes of the sea, and the fowls of the air,
and the beasts, and the whole earth, and every creeping creature that
moveth upon the earth.

Let us make man to our image. . .This image of God in man, is not in the
body, but in the soul; which is a spiritual substance, endued with
understanding and free will.  God speaketh here in the plural number, to
insinuate the plurality of persons in the Deity.

1:27. And God created man to his own image:  to the image of God he
created him:  male and female he created them.

1:28. And God blessed them, saying:  Increase and multiply, and fill the
earth, and subdue it, and rule over the fishes of the sea, and the
fowls of the air, and all living creatures that move upon the earth.

Increase and multiply. . .This is not a precept, as some Protestant
controvertists would have it, but a blessing, rendering them fruitful;
for God had said the same words to the fishes, and birds, (ver. 22) who
were incapable of receiving a precept.

1:29. And God said:  Behold I have given you every herb bearing seed
upon the earth, and all trees that have in themselves seed of their own
kind, to be your meat:

1:30. And to all beasts of the earth, and to every fowl of the air, and
to all that move upon the earth, and wherein there is life, that they
may have to feed upon.  And it was so done.

1:31. And God saw all the things that he had made, and they were very
good.  And the evening and morning were the sixth day.



Genesis Chapter 2


God resteth on the seventh day and blesseth it.  The earthly paradise,
in which God placeth man.  He commandeth him not to eat of the tree of
knowledge.  And formeth a woman of his rib.

2:1. So the heavens and the earth were finished, and all the furniture
of them.

2:2. And on the seventh day God ended his work which he had made:  and
he rested on the seventh day from all his work which he had done.

He rested, etc. . .That is, he ceased to make or create any new kinds of
things.  Though, as our Lord tells us, John 5.17, "He still worketh",
viz., by conserving and governing all things, and creating souls.

2:3. And he blessed the seventh day, and sanctified it:  because in it
he had rested from all his work which God created and made.

2:4. These are the generations of the heaven and the earth, when they
were created, in the day that the Lord God made the heaven and the
earth:

2:5. And every plant of the field before it sprung up in the earth, and
every herb of the ground before it grew:  for the Lord God had not
rained upon the earth; and there was not a man to till the earth.

2:6. But a spring rose out of the earth, watering all the surface of
the earth.

2:7. And the Lord God formed man of the slime of the earth:  and
breathed into his face the breath of life, and man became a living
soul.

2:8. And the Lord God had planted a paradise of pleasure from the
beginning:  wherein he placed man whom he had formed.

2:9. And the Lord God brought forth of the ground all manner of trees,
fair to behold, and pleasant to eat of:  the tree of life also in the
midst of paradise:  and the tree of knowledge of good and evil.

The tree of life. . .So called because it had that quality, that by
eating of the fruit of it, man would have been preserved in a constant
state of health, vigour, and strength, and would not have died at all.
The tree of knowledge. . .To which the deceitful serpent falsely
attributed the power of imparting a superior kind of knowledge, beyond
that which God was pleased to give.

2:10. And a river went out of the place of pleasure to water paradise,
which from thence is divided into four heads.

2:11. The name of the one is Phison:  that is it which compasseth all
the land of Hevilath, where gold groweth.

2:12. And the gold of that land is very good:  there is found bdellium,
and the onyx stone.

2:13. And the name of the second river is Gehon:  the same is it that
compasseth all the land of Ethiopia.

2:14. And the name of the third river is Tigris:  the same passeth along
by the Assyrians.  And the fourth river is Euphrates.

2:15. And the Lord God took man, and put him into the paradise of
pleasure, to dress it, and to keep it.

2:16. And he commanded him, saying:  Of every tree of paradise thou
shalt eat:

2:17. But of the tree of knowledge of good and evil, thou shalt not
eat.  For in what day soever thou shalt eat of it, thou shalt die the
death.

2:18. And the Lord God said:  It is not good for man to be alone:  let us
make him a help like unto himself.

2:19. And the Lord God having formed out of the ground all the beasts
of the earth, and all the fowls of the air, brought them to Adam to see
what he would call them:  for whatsoever Adam called any living creature
the same is its name.

2:20. And Adam called all the beasts by their names, and all the fowls
of the air, and all the cattle of the field:  but for Adam there was not
found a helper like himself.

2:21. Then the Lord God cast a deep sleep upon Adam:  and when he was
fast asleep, he took one of his ribs, and filled up flesh for it.

2:22. And the Lord God built the rib which he took from Adam into a
woman:  and brought her to Adam.

2:23. And Adam said:  This now is bone of my bones, and flesh of my
flesh; she shall be called woman, because she was taken out of man.

2:24. Wherefore a man shall leave father and mother, and shall cleave
to his wife:  and they shall be two in one flesh.

2:25. And they were both naked:  to wit, Adam and his wife:  and were not
ashamed.



Genesis Chapter 3


The serpent's craft.  The fall of our first parents.  Their punishment.
The promise of a Redeemer.

3:1. Now the serpent was more subtle than any of the beasts of the
earth which the Lord God had made.  And he said to the woman:  Why hath
God commanded you, that you should not eat of every tree of paradise?

3:2. And the woman answered him, saying:  Of the fruit of the trees that
are in paradise we do eat:

3:3. But of the fruit of the tree which is in the midst of paradise,
God hath commanded us that we should not eat; and that we should not
touch it, lest perhaps we die.

3:4. And the serpent said to the woman:  No, you shall not die the
death.

3:5. For God doth know that in what day soever you shall eat thereof,
your eyes shall be opened:  and you shall be as Gods, knowing good and
evil.

3:6. And the woman saw that the tree was good to eat, and fair to the
eyes, and delightful to behold:  and she took of the fruit thereof, and
did eat, and gave to her husband, who did eat.

3:7. And the eyes of them both were opened:  and when they perceived
themselves to be naked, they sewed together fig leaves, and made
themselves aprons.

And the eyes, etc. . .Not that they were blind before, (for the woman
saw that the tree was fair to the eyes, ver. 6.) nor yet that their
eyes were opened to any more perfect knowledge of good; but only to the
unhappy experience of having lost the good of original grace and
innocence, and incurred the dreadful evil of sin.  From whence followed
a shame of their being naked; which they minded not before; because
being now stript of original grace, they quickly began to be subject to
the shameful rebellions of the flesh.

3:8. And when they heard the voice of the Lord God walking in paradise
at the afternoon air, Adam and his wife hid themselves from the face of
the Lord God, amidst the trees of paradise.

3:9. And the Lord God called Adam, and said to him:  Where art thou?

3:10. And he said:  I heard thy voice in paradise; and I was afraid,
because I was naked, and I hid myself.

3:11. And he said to him:  And who hath told thee that thou wast naked,
but that thou hast eaten of the tree whereof I commanded thee that thou
shouldst not eat?

3:12. And Adam said:  The woman, whom thou gavest me to be my companion,
gave me of the tree, and I did eat.

3:13. And the Lord God said to the woman:  Why hast thou done this?  And
she answered:  The serpent deceived me, and I did eat.

3:14. And the Lord God said to the serpent:  Because thou hast done this
thing, thou art cursed among all cattle, and beasts of the earth:  upon
thy breast shalt thou go, and earth shalt thou eat all the days of thy
life.

3:15. I will put enmities between thee and the woman, and thy seed and
her seed:  she shall crush thy head, and thou shalt lie in wait for her
heel.

She shall crush. . .Ipsa, the woman; so divers of the fathers read this
place, conformably to the Latin:  others read it ipsum, viz., the seed.
The sense is the same:  for it is by her seed, Jesus Christ, that the
woman crushes the serpent's head.

3:16. To the woman also he said:  I will multiply thy sorrows, and thy
conceptions:  in sorrow shalt thou bring forth children, and thou shalt
be under thy husband's power, and he shall have dominion over thee.

3:17. And to Adam he said:  Because thou hast hearkened to the voice of
thy wife, and hast eaten of the tree, whereof I commanded thee, that
thou shouldst not eat, cursed is the earth in thy work:  with labour and
toil shalt thou eat thereof all the days of thy life.

3:18. Thorns and thistles shall it bring forth to thee, and thou shalt
eat the herbs of the earth.

3:19. In the sweat of thy face shalt thou eat bread till thou return to
the earth out of which thou wast taken:  for dust thou art, and into
dust thou shalt return.

3:20. And Adam called the name of his wife Eve:  because she was the
mother of all the living.

3:21. And the Lord God made for Adam and his wife garments of skins,
and clothed them.

3:22. And he said:  Behold Adam is become as one of us, knowing good and
evil:  now therefore lest perhaps he put forth his hand and take also of
the tree of life, and eat, and live for ever.

Behold Adam, etc. . .This was spoken by way of reproaching him with his
pride, in affecting a knowledge that might make him like to God.

3:23. And the Lord God sent him out of the paradise of pleasure, to
till the earth from which he was taken.

3:24. And he cast out Adam:  and placed before the paradise of pleasure
Cherubims, and a flaming sword, turning every way, to keep the way of
the tree of life.



Genesis Chapter 4


The history of Cain and Abel.

4:1. And Adam knew Eve his wife; who conceived and brought forth Cain,
saying:  I have gotten a man through God.

4:2. And again she brought forth his brother Abel.  And Abel was a
shepherd, and Cain a husbandman.

4:3. And it came to pass after many days, that Cain offered, of the
fruits of the earth, gifts to the Lord.

4:4. Abel also offered of the firstlings of his flock, and of their
fat:  and the Lord had respect to Abel, and to his offerings.

Had respect. . .That is, shewed his acceptance of his sacrifice (as
coming from a heart full of devotion):  and that, as we may suppose, by
some visible token, such as sending fire from heaven upon his
offerings.

4:5. But to Cain and his offerings he had no respect:  and Cain was
exceeding angry, and his countenance fell.

4:6. And the Lord said to him:  Why art thou angry?  and why is thy
countenance fallen?

4:7. If thou do well, shalt thou not receive?  but if ill, shall not sin
forthwith be present at the door?  but the lust thereof shall be under
thee, and thou shalt have dominion over it.

4:8. And Cain said to Abel his brother:  Let us go forth abroad.  And
when they were in the field, Cain rose up against his brother Abel, and
slew him.

4:9. And the Lord said to Cain:  Where is thy brother Abel?  And he
answered:  I know not:  am I my brother's keeper?

4:10. And he said to him:  What hast thou done?  the voice of thy
brother's blood crieth to me from the earth.

4:11. Now therefore cursed shalt thou be upon the earth, which hath
opened her mouth and received the blood of thy brother at thy hand.

4:12. When thou shalt till it, it shall not yield to thee its fruit:  a
fugitive and a vagabond shalt thou be upon the earth.

4:13. And Cain said to the Lord:  My iniquity is greater than that I may
deserve pardon.

4:14. Behold thou dost cast me out this day from the face of the earth,
and from thy face I shall be hid, and I shall be a vagabond and a
fugitive on the earth:  every one therefore that findeth me, shall kill
me.

Every one that findeth me shall kill me. . .His guilty conscience made
him fear his own brothers and nephews; of whom, by this time, there
might be a good number upon the earth; which had now endured near 130
years; as may be gathered from Gen. 5.3, compared with chap. 4.25,
though in the compendious account given in the scriptures, only Cain
and Abel are mentioned.

4:15. And the Lord said to him:  No, it shall not so be:  but whosoever
shall kill Cain, shall be punished sevenfold.  And the Lord set a mark
upon Cain, that whosoever found him should not kill him.

Set a mark, etc. . .The more common opinion of the interpreters of holy
writ supposes this mark to have been a trembling of the body; or a
horror and consternation in his countenance.

4:16. And Cain went out from the face of the Lord, and dwelt as a
fugitive on the earth at the east side of Eden.

4:17. And Cain knew his wife, and she conceived, and brought forth
Henoch:  and he built a city, and called the name thereof by the name of
his son Henoch.

His wife. . .She was a daughter of Adam, and Cain's own sister; God
dispensing with such marriages in the beginning of the world, as
mankind could not otherwise be propagated.  He built a city, viz. . .In
process of time, when his race was multiplied, so as to be numerous
enough to people it.  For in the many hundred years he lived, his race
might be multiplied even to millions.

4:18. And Henoch begot Irad, and Irad begot Maviael, and Maviael begot
Mathusael, and Mathusael begot Lamech,

4:19. Who took two wives:  the name of the one was Ada, and the name of
the other Sella.

4:20. And Ada brought forth Jabel:  who was the father of such as dwell
in tents, and of herdsmen.

4:21. And his brother's name was Jubal:  he was the father of them that
play upon the harp and the organs.

4:22. Sella also brought forth Tubalcain, who was a hammerer and
artificer in every work of brass and iron.  And the sister of Tubalcain
was Noema.

4:23. And Lamech said to his wives Ada and Sella:  Hear my voice, ye
wives of Lamech, hearken to my speech:  for I have slain a man to the
wounding of myself, and a stripling to my own bruising.

I have slain a man, etc. . .It is the tradition of the Hebrews, that
Lamech in hunting slew Cain, mistaking him for a wild beast; and that
having discovered what he had done, he beat so unmercifully the youth,
by whom he was led into that mistake, that he died of the blows.

4:24. Sevenfold vengeance shall be taken for Cain:  but for Lamech
seventy times sevenfold.

4:25. Adam also knew his wife again:  and she brought forth a son, and
called his name Seth, saying:  God hath given me another seed for Abel,
whom Cain slew.

4:26. But to Seth also was born a son, whom he called Enos:  this man
began to call upon the name of the Lord.

Began to call upon, etc. . .Not that Adam and Seth had not called upon
God, before the birth of Enos; but that Enos used more solemnity in the
worship and invocation of God.



Genesis Chapter 5


The genealogy, age, and death of the Patriarchs, from Adam to Noe.  The
translation of Henoch.

5:1. This is the book of the generation of Adam.  In the day that God
created man, he made him to the likeness of God.

5:2. He created them male and female; and blessed them:  and called
their name Adam, in the day when they were created.

5:3. And Adam lived a hundred and thirty years, and begot a son to his
own image and likeness, and called his name Seth.

5:4. And the days of Adam, after he begot Seth, were eight hundred
years:  and he begot sons and daughters.

5:5. And all the time that Adam lived, came to nine hundred and thirty
years, and he died.

5:6. Seth also lived a hundred and five years, and begot Enos.

5:7. And Seth lived after he begot Enos, eight hundred and seven years,
and begot sons and daughters.

5:8. And all the days of Seth were nine hundred and twelve years, and
he died.

5:9. And Enos lived ninety years, and begot Cainan.

5:10. After whose birth he lived eight hundred and fifteen years, and
begot sons and daughters.

5:11. And all the days of Enos were nine hundred and five years, and he
died.

5:12. And Cainan lived seventy years, and begot Malaleel.

5:13. And Cainan lived after he begot Malaleel, eight hundred and forty
years, and begot sons and daughters.

5:14. And all the days of Cainan were nine hundred and ten years, and
he died.

5:15. And Malaleel lived sixty-five years and begot Jared.

5:16. And Malaleel lived after he begot Jared, eight hundred and thirty
years, and begot sons and daughters.

5:17. And all the days of Malaleel were eight hundred and ninety-five
years, and he died.

5:18. And Jared lived a hundred and sixty-two years, and begot Henoch.

5:19. And Jared lived after he begot Henoch, eight hundred years, and
begot sons and daughters.

5:20. And all the days of Jared were nine hundred and sixty-two years,
and he died.

5:21. And Henoch lived sixty-five years, and begot Mathusala.

5:22. And Henoch walked with God:  and lived after he begot Mathusala,
three hundred years, and begot sons and daughters.

5:23. And all the days of Henoch were three hundred and sixty-five
years.

5:24. And he walked with God, and was seen no more:  because God took
him.

5:25. And Mathusala lived a hundred and eighty-seven years, and begot
Lamech.

5:26. And Mathlusala lived after he begot Lamech, seven hundred and
eighty-two years, and begot sons and daughters.

5:27. And all the days of Mathusala were nine hundred and sixty-nine
years, and he died.

5:28. And Lamech lived a hundred and eighty-two years, and begot a son.

5:29. And he called his name Noe, saying:  This same shall comfort us
from the works and labours of our hands on the earth, which the Lord
hath cursed.

5:30. And Lamech lived after he begot Noe, five hundred and ninety-five
years, and begot sons and daughters.

5:31. And all the days of Lamech came to seven hundred and
seventy-seven years, and he died.  And Noe, when he was five hundred
years old, begot Sem, Cham, and Japheth.



Genesis Chapter 6


Man's sin is the cause of the deluge.  Noe is commanded to build the
ark.

6:1. And after that men began to be multiplied upon the earth, and
daughters were born to them,

6:2. The sons of God seeing the daughters of men, that they were fair,
took to themselves wives of all which they chose.

The sons of God. . .The descendants of Seth and Enos are here called
sons of God from their religion and piety:  whereas the ungodly race of
Cain, who by their carnal affections lay grovelling upon the earth, are
called the children of men.  The unhappy consequence of the former
marrying with the latter, ought to be a warning to Christians to be
very circumspect in their marriages; and not to suffer themselves to be
determined in their choice by their carnal passion, to the prejudice of
virtue or religion.

6:3. And God said:  My spirit shall not remain in man for ever, because
he is flesh, and his days shall be a hundred and twenty years.

His days shall be, etc. . .The meaning is, that man's days, which before
the flood were usually 900 years, should now be reduced to 120 years.
Or rather, that God would allow men this term of 120 years, for their
repentance and conversion, before he would send the deluge.

6:4. Now giants were upon the earth in those days.  For after the sons
of God went in to the daughters of men, and they brought forth
children, these are the mighty men of old, men of renown.

Giants. . .It is likely the generality of men before the flood were of a
gigantic stature in comparison with what men now are.  But these here
spoken of are called giants, as being not only tall in stature, but
violent and savage in their dispositions, and mere monsters of cruelty
and lust.

6:5. And God seeing that the wickedness of men was great on the earth,
and that all the thought of their heart was bent upon evil at all
times,

6:6. It repented him that he had made man on the earth.  And being
touched inwardly with sorrow of heart,

It repented him, etc. . .God, who is unchangeable, is not capable of
repentance, grief, or any other passion.  But these expressions are used
to declare the enormity of the sins of men, which was so provoking as
to determine their Creator to destroy these his creatures, whom before
he had so much favoured.

6:7. He said:  I will destroy man, whom I have created, from the face of
the earth, from man even to beasts, from the creeping thing even to the
fowls of the air, for it repenteth me that I have made them.

6:8. But Noe found grace before the Lord.

6:9. These are the generations of Noe:  Noe was a just and perfect man
in his generations, he walked with God.

6:10. And he begot three sons, Sem, Cham, and Japheth.

6:11. And the earth was corrupted before God, and was filled with
iniquity.

6:12. And when God had seen that the earth was corrupted (for all flesh
had corrupted its way upon the earth),

6:13. He said to Noe:  The end of all flesh is come before me, the earth
is filled with iniquity through them, and I will destroy them with the
earth.

6:14. Make thee an ark of timber planks:  thou shalt make little rooms
in the ark, and thou shalt pitch it within and without.

6:15. And thus shalt thou make it.  The length of the ark shall be three
hundred cubits:  the breadth of it fifty cubits, and the height of it
thirty cubits.

Three hundred cubits, etc. . .The ark, according to the dimensions here
set down, contained four hundred and fifty thousand square cubits;
which was more than enough to contain all the kinds of living
creatures, with all necessary provisions:  even supposing the cubits
here spoken of to have been only a foot and a half each, which was the
least kind of cubits.

6:16. Thou shalt make a window in the ark, and in a cubit shalt thou
finish the top of it:  and the door of the ark thou shalt set in the
side:  with lower, middle chambers, and third stories shalt thou make
it.

6:17. Behold, I will bring the waters of a great flood upon the earth,
to destroy all flesh, wherein is the breath of life under heaven.  All
things that are in the earth shall be consumed.

6:18. And I will establish my covenant with thee, and thou shalt enter
into the ark, thou and thy sons, and thy wife, and the wives of thy
sons with thee.

6:19. And of every living creature of all flesh, thou shalt bring two
of a sort into the ark, that they may live with thee:  of the male sex,
and the female.

6:20. Of fowls according to their kind, and of beasts in their kind,
and of every thing that creepeth on the earth according to its kind:
two of every sort shall go in with thee, that they may live.

6:21. Thou shalt take unto thee of all food that may be eaten, and thou
shalt lay it up with thee:  and it shall be food for thee and them.

6:22. And Noe did all things which God commanded him.



Genesis Chapter 7


Noe with his family go into the ark.  The deluge overflows the earth.

7:1. And the Lord said to him:  Go in, thou and all thy house, into the
ark:  for thee I have seen just before me in this generation.

7:2. Of all clean beasts take seven and seven, the male and the female.

Of all clean. . .The distinction of clean and unclean beasts appears to
have been made before the law of Moses, which was not promulgated till
the year of the world 2514.

7:3. But of the beasts that are unclean two and two, the male and the
female.  Of the fowls also of the air seven and seven, the male and the
female:  that seed may be saved upon the face of the whole earth.

7:4. For yet a while, and after seven days, I will rain upon the earth
forty days and forty nights:  and I will destroy every substance that I
have made, from the face of the earth.

7:5. And Noe did all things which the Lord had commanded him.

7:6. And he was six hundred years old, when the waters of the flood
overflowed the earth.

7:7. And Noe went in and his sons, his wife and the wives of his sons
with him into the ark, because of the waters of the flood.

7:8. And of beasts clean and unclean, and of fowls, and of every thing
that moveth upon the earth,

7:9. Two and two went in to Noe into the ark, male and female, as the
Lord had commanded Noe.

7:10. And after the seven days were passed, the waters of the flood
overflowed the earth.

7:11. In the six hundredth year of the life of Noe, in the second
month, in the seventeenth day of the month, all the fountains of the
great deep were broken up, and the floodgates of heaven were opened:

7:12. And the rain fell upon the earth forty days and forty nights.

7:13. In the selfsame day Noe, and Sem, and Cham, and Japheth, his
sons:  his wife, and the three wives of his sons with them, went into
the ark.

7:14. They and every beast according to its kind, and all the cattle in
their kind, and every thing that moveth upon the earth, according to
its kind, and every fowl according to its kind, all birds, and all that
fly,

7:15. Went in to Noe into the ark, two and two of all flesh, wherein
was the breath of life.

7:16. And they that went in, went in male and female of all flesh, as
God had commanded him:  and the Lord shut him in on the outside.

7:17. And the flood was forty days upon the earth:  and the waters
increased, and lifted up the ark on high from the earth.

7:18. For they overflowed exceedingly:  and filled all on the face of
the earth:  and the ark was carried upon the waters.

7:19. And the waters prevailed beyond measure upon the earth:  and all
the high mountains under the whole heaven were covered.

7:20. The water was fifteen cubits higher than the mountains which it
covered.

7:21. And all flesh was destroyed that moved upon the earth, both of
fowl and of cattle, and of beasts, and of all creeping things that
creep upon the earth:  and all men.

7:22. And all things wherein there is the breath of life on the earth,
died.

7:23. And he destroyed all the substance that was upon the earth, from
man even to beast, and the creeping things and fowls of the air:  and
they were destroyed from the earth:  and Noe only remained, and they
that were with him in the ark.

7:24. And the waters prevailed upon the earth a hundred and fifty days.



Genesis Chapter 8


The deluge ceaseth.  Noe goeth out of the ark, and offereth a sacrifice.
God's covenant to him.

8:1. And God remembered Noe, and all the living creatures, and all the
cattle which were with him in the ark, and brought a wind upon the
earth, and the waters were abated:

8:2. The fountains also of the deep, and the floodgates of heaven, were
shut up, and the rain from heaven was restrained.

8:3. And the waters returned from off the earth going and coming:  and
they began to be abated after a hundred and fifty days.

8:4. And the ark rested in the seventh month, the seven and twentieth
day of the month, upon the mountains of Armenia.

8:5. And the waters were going and decreasing until the tenth month:
for in the tenth month, the first day of the month, the tops of the
mountains appeared.

8:6. And after that forty days were passed, Noe opening the window of
the ark, which he had made, sent forth a raven:

8:7. Which went forth and did not return, till the waters were dried up
upon the earth.

Did not return. . .The raven did not return into the ark; but (as it may
be gathered from the Hebrew) went to and fro; sometimes going to the
mountains, where it found carcasses to feed on:  and other times
returning, to rest upon the top of the ark.

8:8. He sent forth also a dove after him, to see if the waters had now
ceased upon the face of the earth.

8:9. But she not finding where her foot might rest, returned to him
into the ark:  for the waters were upon the whole earth:  and he put
forth his hand, and caught her, and brought her into the ark.

8:10. And having waited yet seven other days, he again sent forth the
dove out of the ark.

8:11. And she came to him in the evening carrying a bough of an olive
tree, with green leaves, in her mouth.  Noe therefore understood that
the waters were ceased upon the earth.

8:12. And he stayed yet other seven days:  and he sent forth the dove,
which returned not any more unto him.

8:13. Therefore in the six hundredth and first year, the first month,
the first day of the month, the waters were lessened upon the earth,
and Noe opening the covering of the ark, looked, and saw that the face
of the earth was dried.

8:14. In the second month, the seven and twentieth day of the month,
the earth was dried.

8:15. And God spoke to Noe, saying:

8:16. Go out of the ark, thou and thy wife, thy sons and the wives of
thy sons with thee.

8:17. All living things that are with thee of all flesh, as well in
fowls as in beasts, and all creeping things that creep upon the earth,
bring out with thee, and go ye upon the earth:  increase and multiply
upon it.

8:18. So Noe went out, he and his sons:  his wife, and the wives of his
sons with him.

8:19. And all living things, and cattle, and creeping things that creep
upon the earth, according to their kinds went out of the ark.

8:20. And Noe built an altar unto the Lord:  and taking of all cattle
and fowls that were clean, offered holocausts upon the altar.

Holocausts,. . .or whole burnt offerings.  In which the whole victim was
consumed by fire upon God's altar, and no part was reserved for the use
of priest or people.

8:21. And the Lord smelled a sweet savour, and said:  I will no more
curse the earth for the sake of man:  for the imagination and thought of
man's heart are prone to evil from his youth:  therefore I will no more
destroy every living soul as I have done.

Smelled, etc. . .A figurative expression, denoting that God was well
pleased with the sacrifices which his servant offered.

8:22. All the days of the earth, seedtime and harvest, cold and heat,
summer and winter, night and day, shall not cease.



Genesis Chapter 9


God blesseth Noe:  forbiddeth blood, and promiseth never more to destroy
the world by water.  The blessing of Sem and Japheth.

9:1. And God blessed Noe and his sons.  And he said to them:  Increase,
and multiply, and fill the earth.

9:2. And let the fear and dread of you be upon all the beasts of the
earth, and upon all the fowls of the air, and all that move upon the
earth:  all the fishes of the sea are delivered into your hand.

9:3. And every thing that moveth, and liveth shall be meat for you:
even as the green herbs have I delivered them all to you:

9:4. Saving that flesh with blood you shall not eat.

9:5. For I will require the blood of your lives at the hand of every
beast, and at the hand of man, at the hand of every man, and of his
brother, will I require the life of man.

9:6. Whosoever shall shed man's blood, his blood shall be shed:  for man
was made to the image of God.

9:7. But increase you and multiply, and go upon the earth and fill it.

9:8. Thus also said God to Noe, and to his sons with him:

9:9. Behold I will establish my covenant with you, and with your seed
after you:

9:10. And with every living soul that is with you, as well in all
birds, as in cattle and beasts of the earth, that are come forth out of
the ark, and in all the beasts of the earth.

9:11. I will establish my covenant with you, and all flesh shall be no
more destroyed with the waters of a flood, neither shall there be from
henceforth a flood to waste the earth.

9:12. And God said:  This is the sign of the covenant which I give
between me and you, and to every living soul that is with you, for
perpetual generations.

9:13. I will set my bow in the clouds, and it shall be the sign of a
covenant between me and between the earth.

9:14. And when I shall cover the sky with clouds, my bow shall appear
in the clouds:

9:15. And I will remember my covenant with you, and with every living
soul that beareth flesh:  and there shall no more be waters of a flood
to destroy all flesh.

9:16. And the bow shall be in the clouds, and I shall see it, and shall
remember the everlasting covenant, that was made between God and every
living soul of all flesh which is upon the earth.

9:17. And God said to Noe:  This shall be the sign of the covenant,
which I have established, between me and all flesh upon the earth.

9:18. And the sons of Noe, who came out of the ark, were Sem, Cham, and
Japheth:  and Cham is the father of Chanaan.

9:19. These three are the sons of Noe:  and from these was all mankind
spread over the whole earth.

9:20. And Noe a husbandman began to till the ground, and planted a
vineyard.

9:21. And drinking of the wine was made drunk, and was uncovered in his
tent.

Drunk. . .Noe by the judgment of the fathers was not guilty of sin, in
being overcome by wine:  because he knew not the strength of it.

9:22. Which when Cham the father of Chanaan had seen, to wit, that his
father's nakedness was uncovered, he told it to his two brethren
without.

9:23. But Sem and Japheth put a cloak upon their shoulders, and going
backward, covered the nakedness of their father:  and their faces were
turned away, and they saw not their father's nakedness.

Covered the nakedness. . .Thus, as St. Gregory takes notice L. 35;
Moral. c. 22, we ought to cover the nakedness, that is, the sins, of
our spiritual parents and superiors.

9:24. And Noe awaking from the wine, when he had learned what his
younger son had done to him,

9:25. He said:  Cursed be Chanaan, a servant of servants shall he be
unto his brethren.

Cursed be Chanaan. . .The curses, as well as the blessings, of the
patriarchs, were prophetical:  And this in particular is here recorded
by Moses, for the children of Israel, who were to possess the land of
Chanaan.  But why should Chanaan be cursed for his father's faults?  The
Hebrews answer, that he being then a boy, was the first that saw his
grandfather's nakedness, and told his father Cham of it; and joined
with him in laughing at it:  which drew upon him, rather than upon the
rest of the children of Cham, this prophetical curse.

9:26. And he said:  Blessed be the Lord God of Sem, be Chanaan his
servant.

9:27. May God enlarge Japheth, and may he dwell in the tents of Sem,
and Chanaan be his servant.

9:28. And Noe lived after the flood three hundred and fifty years.

9:29. And all his days were in the whole nine hundred and fifty years:
and he died.



Genesis Chapter 10


The genealogy of the children of Noe, by whom the world was peopled
after the flood.

10:1. These are the generations of the sons of Noe:  Sem, Cham, and
Japheth:  and unto them sons were born after the flood.

10:2. The sons of Japheth:  Gomer, and Magog, and Madai, and Javan, and
Thubal, and Mosoch, and Thiras.

10:3. And the sons of Gomer:  Ascenez and Riphath and Thogorma.

10:4. And the sons of Javan:  Elisa and Tharsis, Cetthim and Dodanim.

10:5. By these were divided the islands of the Gentiles in their lands,
every one according to his tongue and their families in their nations.

The islands. . .So the Hebrews called all the remote countries, to which
they went by ships from Judea, to Greece, Italy, Spain, etc.

10:6. And the Sons of Cham:  Chus, and Mesram, and Phuth, and Chanaan.

10:7. And the sons of Chus:  Saba, and Hevila, and Sabatha, and Regma,
and Sabatacha.  The sons of Regma:  Saba, and Dadan.

10:8. Now Chus begot Nemrod:  he began to be mighty on the earth.

10:9. And he was a stout hunter before the Lord.  Hence came a proverb:
Even as Nemrod the stout hunter before the Lord.

A stout hunter. . .Not of beasts but of men:  whom by violence and
tyranny he brought under his dominion.  And such he was, not only in the
opinion of men, but before the Lord, that is, in his sight who cannot
be deceived.

10:10. And the beginning of his kingdom was Babylon, and Arach, and
Achad, and Chalanne in the land of Sennaar.

10:11. Out of that land came forth Assur, and built Ninive, and the
streets of the city, and Chale.

10:12. Resen also between Ninive and Chale:  this is the great city.

10:13. And Mesraim begot Ludim, and Anamim and Laabim, Nephthuim.

10:14. And Phetrusim, and Chasluim; of whom came forth the Philistines,
and the Capthorim.

10:15. And Chanaan begot Sidon his firstborn, the Hethite,

10:16. And the Jebusite, and the Amorrhite, and the Gergesite.

10:17. The Hevite and Aracite:  the Sinite,

10:18. And the Aradian, the Samarite, and the Hamathite:  and afterwards
the families of the Chanaanites were spread abroad.

10:19. And the limits of Chanaan were from Sidon as one comes to Gerara
even to Gaza, until thou enter Sodom and Gomorrha, and Adama, and
Seboim even to Lesa.

10:20. These are the children of Cham in their kindreds and tongues,
and generations, and lands, and nations.

10:21. Of Sem also the father of all the children of Heber, the elder
brother of Japheth, sons were born.

10:22. The sons of Sem:  Elam and Assur, and Arphaxad, and Lud, and
Aram.

10:23. The sons of Aram:  Us, and Hull, and Gether; and Mes.

10:24. But Arphaxad begot Sale, of whom was born Heber.

10:25. And to Heber were born two sons:  the name of the one was Phaleg,
because in his days was the earth divided:  and his brother's name
Jectan.

10:26. Which Jectan begot Elmodad, and Saleph, and Asarmoth, Jare,

10:27. And Aduram, and Uzal, and Decla,

10:28. And Ebal, and Abimael, Saba,

10:29. And Ophir, and Hevila, and Jobab.  All these were the sons of
Jectan.

10:30. And their dwelling was from Messa as we go on as far as Sephar,
a mountain in the east.

10:31. These are the children of Sem according to their kindreds and
tongues, and countries in their nations.

10:32. These are the families of Noe, according to their people and
nations.  By these were the nations divided on the earth after the
flood.



Genesis Chapter 11


The tower of Babel.  The confusion of tongues.  The genealogy of Sem down
to Abram.

11:1. And the earth was of one tongue, and of the same speech.

11:2. And when they removed from the east, they found a plain in the
land of Sennaar, and dwelt in it.

11:3. And each one said to his neighbour:  Come let us make brick, and
bake them with fire.  And they had brick instead of stones, and slime
instead of mortar:

11:4. And they said:  Come, let us make a city and a tower, the top
whereof may reach to heaven; and let us make our name famous before we
be scattered abroad into all lands.

11:5. And the Lord came down to see the city and the tower, which the
children of Adam were building.

11:6. And he said:  Behold, it is one people, and all have one tongue:
and they have begun to do this, neither will they leave off from their
designs, till they accomplish them in deed.

11:7. Come ye, therefore, let us go down, and there confound their
tongue, that they may not understand one another's speech.

11:8. And so the Lord scattered them from that place into all lands,
and they ceased to build the city.

11:9. And therefore the name thereof was called Babel, because there
the language of the whole earth was confounded:  and from thence the
Lord scattered them abroad upon the face of all countries.

Babel. . .That is, confusion.

11:10. These are the generations of Sem:  Sem was a hundred years old
when he begot Arphaxad, two years after the flood.

11:11. And Sem lived after he begot Arphaxad, five hundred years, and
begot sons and daughters.

11:12. And Arphaxad lived thirty-five years, and begot Sale.

11:13. And Arphaxad lived after he begot Sale, three hundred and three
years, and begot sons and daughters.

11:14. Sale also lived thirty years, and begot Heber.

11:15. And Sale lived after he begot Heber, four hundred and three
years:  and begot sons and daughters.

11:16. And Heber lived thirty-four years, and begot Phaleg.

11:17. And Heber lived after he begot Phaleg, four hundred and thirty
years:  and begot sons and daughters.

11:18. Phaleg also lived thirty years, and begot Reu.

11:19. And Phaleg lived after he begot Reu, two hundred and nine years,
and begot sons and daughters.

11:20. And Reu lived thirty-two years, and begot Sarug.

11:21. And Reu lived after he begot Sarug, two hundred and seven years,
and begot sons and daughters.

11:22. And Sarug lived thirty years, and begot Nachor.

11:23. And Sarug lived after he begot Nachor, two hundred years, and
begot sons and daughters.

11:24. And Nachor lived nine and twenty years, and begot Thare.

11:25. And Nachor lived after he begot Thare, a hundred and nineteen
years, and begot sons and daughters.

11:26. And Thare lived seventy years, and begot Abram, and Nachor, and
Aran.

11:27. And these are the generations of Thare:  Thare begot Abram,
Nachor, and Aran.  And Aran begot Lot.

11:28. And Aran died before Thare his father, in the land of his
nativity in Ur of the Chaldees.

11:29. And Abram and Nachor married wives:  the name of Abram's wife was
Sarai:  and the name of Nachor's wife, Melcha, the daughter of Aran,
father of Melcha and father of Jescha.

11:30. And Sarai was barren, and had no children.

11:31. And Thare took Abram his son, and Lot the son of Aran, his son's
son, and Sarai his daughter in law, the wife of Abram his son, and
brought them out of Ur of the Chaldees, to go into the land of Chanaan:
and they came as far as Haran, and dwelt there.

11:32. And the days of Thare were two hundred and five years, and he
died in Haran.



Genesis Chapter 12


The call of Abram, and the promise made to him.  He sojourneth in
Chanaan, and then by occasion of a famine, goeth down to Egypt.

12:1. And the Lord said to Abram:  Go forth out of thy country, and from
thy kindred, and out of thy father's house, and come into the land
which I shall shew thee.

12:2. And I will make of thee a great nation, and I will bless thee,
and magnify thy name, and thou shalt be blessed.

12:3. I will bless them that bless thee, and curse them that curse
thee, and IN THEE shall all the kindreds of the earth be blessed.

12:4. So Abram went out as the Lord had commanded him, and Lot went
with him:  Abram was seventy-five years old when he went forth from
Haran.

12:5. And he took Sarai his wife, and Lot his brother's son, and all
the substance which they had gathered, and the souls which they had
gotten in Haran:  and they went out to go into the land of Chanaan.  And
when they were come into it,

12:6. Abram passed through the country unto the place of Sichem, as far
as the noble vale:  now the Chanaanite was at that time in the land.

12:7. And the Lord appeared to Abram, and said to him:  To thy seed will
I give this land.  And he built there an altar to the Lord, who had
appeared to him.

12:8. And passing on from thence to a mountain, that was on the east
side of Bethel, he there pitched his tent, having Bethel on the west,
and Hai on the east:  he built there also an altar to the Lord, and
called upon his name.

12:9. And Abram went forward, going and proceeding on to the south.

12:10. And there came a famine in the country:  and Abram went down into
Egypt, to sojourn there:  for the famine was very grievous in the land.

12:11. And when he was near to enter into Egypt, he said to Sarai his
wife:  I know that thou art a beautiful woman:

12:12. And that when the Egyptians shall see thee, they will say:  She
is his wife:  and they will kill me, and keep thee.

12:13. Say, therefore, I pray thee, that thou art my sister:  that I may
be well used for thee, and that my soul may live for thy sake.

My sister. . .This was no lie; because she was his niece, being daughter
to his brother Aran, and therefore, in the style of the Hebrews, she
might truly be called his sister, as Lot is called Abram's brother,
Gen. 14.14.  See Gen. 20.12.

12:14. And when Abram was come into Egypt, the Egyptians saw the woman
that she was very beautiful.

12:15. And the princes told Pharao, and praised her before him:  and the
woman was taken into the house of Pharao.

12:16. And they used Abram well for her sake.  And he had sheep and oxen
and he asses, and men servants, and maid servants, and she asses, and
camels.

12:17. But the Lord scourged Pharao and his house with most grievous
stripes for Sarai, Abram's wife.

12:18. And Pharao called Abram, and said to him:  What is this that thou
hast done to me?  Why didst thou not tell me that she was thy wife?

12:19. For what cause didst thou say, she was thy sister, that I might
take her to my wife?  Now therefore there is thy wife, take her, and go
thy way.

12:20. And Pharao gave his men orders concerning Abram:  and they led
him away and his wife, and all that he had.



Genesis Chapter 13


Abram and Lot part from each other.  God's promise to Abram.

13:1. And Abram went up out of Egypt, he and his wife, and all that he
had, and Lot with him into the south.

13:2. And he was very rich in possession of gold and silver.

13:3. And he returned by the way, that he came, from the south to
Bethel, to the place where before he had pitched his tent between
Bethel and Hai,

13:4. In the place of the altar which he had made before, and there he
called upon the name of the Lord.

13:5. But Lot also, who was with Abram, had flocks of sheep, and herds
of beasts, and tents.

13:6. Neither was the land able to bear them, that they might dwell
together:  for their substance was great, and they could not dwell
together.

13:7. Whereupon also there arose a strife between the herdsmen of Abram
and of Lot.  And at that time the Chanaanite and the Pherezite dwelled
in that country.

13:8. Abram therefore said to Lot:  Let there be no quarrel, I beseech
thee, between me and thee, and between my herdsmen and thy herdsmen:
for we are brethren.

13:9. Behold the whole land is before thee:  depart from me, I pray
thee:  if thou wilt go to the left hand, I will take the right:  if thou
choose the right hand, I will pass to the left.

13:10. And Lot lifting up his eyes, saw all the country about the
Jordan, which was watered throughout, before the Lord destroyed Sodom
and Gomorrha, as the paradise of the Lord, and like Egypt as one comes
to Segor.

13:11. And Lot chose to himself the country about the Jordan, and he
departed from the east:  and they were separated one brother from the
other.

13:12. Abram dwelt in the land of Chanaan:  and Lot abode in the towns,
that were about the Jordan, and dwelt in Sodom.

13:13. And the men of Sodom were very wicked, and sinners before the
face of the Lord beyond measure.

13:14. And the Lord said to Abram, after Lot was separated from him:
Lift up thy eyes, and look from the place wherein thou now art, to the
north and to the south, to the east and to the west.

13:15. All the land which thou seest, I will give to thee, and to thy
seed for ever.

13:16. And I will make thy seed as the dust of the earth:  if any man be
able to number the dust of the earth, he shall be able to number thy
seed also.

13:17. Arise and walk through the land in the length, and the breadth
thereof:  for I will give it to thee.

13:18. So Abram removing his tent, came, and dwelt by the vale of
Mambre, which is in Hebron:  and he built there an altar to the Lord.



Genesis Chapter 14


The expedition of the four kings; the victory of Abram; he is blessed
by Melchisedech.

14:1. And it came to pass at that time, that Amraphel, king of Sennaar,
and Arioch, king of Pontus, and Chodorlahomor, king of the Elamites,
and Thadal, king of nations,

14:2. Made war against Bara, king of Sodom, and against Bersa, king of
Gomorrha, and against Sennaab, king of Adama, and against Semeber, king
of Seboim, and against the king of Bala, which is Segor.

14:3. All these came together into the woodland vale, which now is the
salt sea.

14:4. For they had served Chodorlahomor twelve years, and in the
thirteenth year they revolted from him.

14:5. And in the fourteenth year came Chodorlahomor, and the kings that
were with him:  and they smote the Raphaim in Astarothcarnaim, and the
Zuzim with them, and the Emim in Save of Cariathaim.

14:6. And the Chorreans in the mountains of Seir, even to the plains of
Pharan, which is in the wilderness.

14:7. And they returned, and came to the fountain of Misphat, the same
is Cades:  and they smote all the country of the Amalecites, and the
Amorrhean that dwelt in Asasonthamar.

14:8. And the king of Sodom, and the king of Gomorrha, and the king of
Adama, and the king of Seboim, and the king of Bala, which is Segor,
went out:  and they set themselves against them in battle array, in the
woodland vale:

14:9. To wit, against Chodorlahomor king of the Elamites, and Thadal
king of nations, and Amraphel king of Sennaar, and Arioch king of
Pontus:  four kings against five.

14:10. Now the woodland vale had many pits of slime.  And the king of
Sodom, and the king of Gomorrha turned their backs, and were overthrown
there:  and they that remained, fled to the mountain.

Of slime.  Bituminis. . .This was a kind of pitch, which served for
mortar in the building of Babel, Gen. 11.3, and was used by Noe in
pitching the ark.

14:11. And they took all the substance of the Sodomites, and
Gomorrhites, and all their victuals, and went their way:

14:12. And Lot also, the son of Abram's brother, who dwelt in Sodom,
and his substance.

14:13. And behold one, that had escaped, told Abram the Hebrew, who
dwelt in the vale of Mambre the Amorrhite, the brother of Escol, and
the brother of Aner:  for these had made a league with Abram.

14:14. Which when Abram had heard, to wit, that his brother Lot was
taken, he numbered of the servants born in his house, three hundred and
eighteen, well appointed:  and pursued them to Dan.

14:15. And dividing his company, he rushed upon them in the night, and
defeated them:  and pursued them as far as Hoba, which is on the left
hand of Damascus.

14:16. And he brought back all the substance, and Lot his brother, with
his substance, the women also, and the people.

14:17. And the king of Sodom went out to meet him, after he returned
from the slaughter of Chodorlahomor, and of the kings that were with
him in the vale of Save, which is the king's vale.

14:18. But Melchisedech, the king of Salem, bringing forth bread and
wine, for he was the priest of the most high God,

14:19. Blessed him, and said:  Blessed be Abram by the most high God,
who created heaven and earth.

14:20. And blessed be the most high God, by whose protection, the
enemies are in thy hands.  And he gave him the tithes of all.

14:21. And the king of Sodom said to Abram:  Give me the persons, and
the rest take to thyself.

14:22. And he answered him:  I lift up my hand to the Lord God the most
high, the possessor of heaven and earth,

14:23. That from the very woof thread unto the shoe latchet, I will not
take of any things that are thine, lest thou say:  I have enriched
Abram.

14:24. Except such things as the young men have eaten, and the shares
of the men that came with me, Aner, Escol, and Mambre:  these shall take
their shares.



Genesis Chapter 15


God promiseth seed to Abram.  His faith, sacrifice and vision.

15:1. Now when these things were done, the word of the Lord came to
Abram by a vision, saying:  Fear not, Abram, I am thy protector, and thy
reward exceeding great.

15:2. And Abram said:  Lord God, what wilt thou give me?  I shall go
without children:  and the son of the steward of my house is this
Damascus Eliezer.

15:3. And Abram added:  But to me thou hast not given seed:  and lo my
servant born in my house, shall be my heir.

15:4. And immediately the word of the Lord came to him, saying :  He
shall not be thy heir:  but he that shall come out of thy bowels, him
shalt thou have for thy heir.

15:5. And he brought him forth abroad, and said to him:  Look up to
heaven and number the stars if thou canst.  And he said to him:  So shall
thy seed be.

15:6. Abram believed God, and it was reputed to him unto justice.

15:7. And he said to him:  I am the Lord who brought thee out from Ur of
the Chaldees, to give thee this land, and that thou mightest possess
it.

15:8. But he said:  Lord God, whereby may I know that I shall possess
it?

15:9. And the Lord answered, and said:  Take me a cow of three years
old, and a she-goat of three years.  and a ram of three years, a turtle
also, and a pigeon.

15:10. And he took all these, and divided them in the midst, and laid
the two pieces of each one against the other:  but the birds he divided
not.

15:11. And the fowls came down upon the carcasses, and Abram drove them
away.

15:12. And when the sun was setting, a deep sleep fell upon Abram, and
a great and darksome horror seized upon him.

15:13. And it was said unto him:  Know thou beforehand that thy seed
shall be a stranger in a land not their own, and they shall bring them
under bondage, and afflict them four hundred years.

15:14. But I will judge the nation which they shall serve, and after
this they shall come out with great substance.

15:15. And thou shalt go to thy fathers in peace, and be buried in a
good old age.

15:16. But in the fourth generation they shall return hither:  for as
yet the iniquities of the Amorrhites are not at the full until this
present time.

15:17. And when the sun was set, there arose a dark mist, and there
appeared a smoking furnace, and a lamp of fire passing between those
divisions.

15:18. That day God made a covenant with Abram, saying:  To thy seed
will I give this land, from the river to Egypt even to the great river
Euphrates.

15:19. The Cineans, and Cenezites, the Cedmonites,

15:20. And the Hethites, and the Pherezites, the Raphaim also,

15:21. And the Amorrhites, and the Chanaanites, and the Gergesites, and
the Jebusites.



Genesis Chapter 16


Abram marrieth Agar, who bringeth forth Ismael.

16:1. Now Sarai, the wife of Abram, had brought forth no children:  but
having a handmaid, an Egyptian, named Agar,

16:2. She said to her husband:  Behold, the Lord hath restrained me from
bearing:  go in unto my handmaid, it may be I may have children of her
at least.  And when he agreed to her request,

16:3. She took Agar the Egyptian her handmaid, ten years after they
first dwelt in the land of Chanaan, and gave her to her husband to
wife.

To wife. . .Plurality of wives, though contrary to the primitive
institution of marriage, Gen. 2.24, was by divine dispensation allowed
to the patriarchs:  which allowance seems to have continued during the
time of the law of Moses.  But Christ our Lord reduced marriage to its
primitive institution.  Matt. 19.

16:4. And he went in to her.  But she perceiving that she was with
child, despised her mistress.

16:5. And Sarai said to Abram:  Thou dost unjustly with me:  I gave my
handmaid into thy bosom, and she perceiving herself to be with child,
despiseth me.  The Lord judge between me and thee.

16:6. And Abram made answer, and said to her:  Behold thy handmaid is in
thy own hand, use her as it pleaseth thee.  And when Sarai afflicted
her, she ran away.

16:7. And the angel of the Lord having found her, by a fountain of
water in the wilderness, which is in the way to Sur in the desert,

16:8. He said to her:  Agar, handmaid of Sarai, whence comest thou?  and
whither goest thou?  And she answered:  I flee from the face of Sarai, my
mistress.

16:9. And the angel of the Lord said to her:  Return to thy mistress,
and humble thyself under her hand.

16:10. And again he said:  I will multiply thy seed exceedingly, and it
shall not be numbered for multitude.

16:11. And again:  Behold, said he, thou art with child, and thou shalt
bring forth a son:  and thou shalt call his name Ismael, because the
Lord hath heard thy affliction.

16:12. He shall be a wild man:  his hand will be against all men, and
all men's hands against him:  and he shall pitch his tents over against
all his brethren.

16:13. And she called the name of the Lord that spoke unto her:  Thou
the God who hast seen me.  For she said:  Verily, here have I seen the
hinder parts of him that seeth me.

16:14. Therefore she called that well, the well of him that liveth and
seeth me.  The same is between Cades and Barad.

16:15. And Agar brought forth a son to Abram:  who called his name
Ismael.

16:16. Abram was four score and six years old when Agar brought him
forth Ismael.



Genesis Chapter 17


The Covenant of circumcision.

17:1. And after he began to be ninety and nine years old, the Lord
appeared to him:  and said unto him:  I am the Almighty God:  walk before
me, and be perfect.

17:2. And I will make my covenant between me and thee:  and I will
multiply thee exceedingly.

17:3. Abram fell flat on his face.

17:4. And God said to him:  I am, and my covenant is with thee, and thou
shalt be a father of many nations.

17:5. Neither shall thy name be called any more Abram:  but thou shalt
be called Abraham:  because I have made thee a father of many nations.

Abram. . .in the Hebrew, signifies a high father:  but Abraham, the
father of the multitude; Sarai signifies my Lady, but Sara absolutely
Lady.

17:6. And I will make thee increase exceedingly, and I will make
nations of thee, and kings shall come out of thee.

17:7. And I will establish my covenant between me and thee, and between
thy seed after thee in their generations, by a perpetual covenant:  to
be a God to thee, and to thy seed after thee.

17:8. And I will give to thee, and to thy seed, the land of thy
sojournment, all the land of Chanaan, for a perpetual possession, and I
will be their God.

17:9. Again God said to Abraham:  And thou therefore shalt keep my
covenant, and thy seed after thee in their generations.

17:10. This is my covenant which you shall observe between me and you,
and thy seed after thee:  All the male-kind of you shall be circumcised.

17:11. And you shall circumcise the flesh of your foreskin, that it may
be for a sign of the covenant between me and you.

17:12. An infant of eight days old shall be circumcised among you,
every manchild in your generations:  he that is born in the house, as
well as the bought servant, shall be circumcised, and whosoever is not
of your stock:

17:13. And my covenant shall be in your flesh for a perpetual covenant.

17:14. The male whose flesh of his foreskin shall not be circumcised,
that soul shall be destroyed out of his people:  because he hath broken
my covenant.

17:15. God said also to Abraham:  Sarai thy wife thou shalt not call
Sarai, but Sara.

17:16. And I will bless her, and of her I will give thee a son, whom I
will bless, and he shall become nations, and kings of people shall
spring from him.

17:17. Abraham fell upon his face, and laughed, saying in his heart:
Shall a son, thinkest thou, be born to him that is a hundred years old?
and shall Sara that is ninety years old bring forth?

17:18. And he said to God:  O that Ismael may live before thee.

17:19. And God said to Abraham:  Sara thy wife shall bear thee a son,
and thou shalt call his name Isaac, and I will establish my covenant
with him for a perpetual covenant, and with his seed after him.

17:20. And as for Ismael I have also heard thee.  Behold, I will bless
him, and increase, and multiply him exceedingly:  he shall beget twelve
chiefs, and I will make him a great nation.

17:21. But my covenant I will establish with Isaac, whom Sara shall
bring forth to thee at this time in the next year.

17:22. And when he had left off speaking with him, God went up from
Abraham.

17:23. And Abraham took Ismael his son, and all that were born in his
house:  and all whom he had bought, every male among the men of his
house:  and he circumcised the flesh of their foreskin forthwith the
very same day, as God had commanded him.

17:24. Abraham was ninety and nine years old, when he circumcised the
flesh of his foreskin.

17:25. And Ismael his son was full thirteen years old at the time of
his circumcision.

17:26. The self-same day was Abraham circumcised and Ismael his son.

17:27. And all the men of his house, as well they that were born in his
house, as the bought servants and strangers, were circumcised with him.



Genesis Chapter 18


Angels are entertained by Abraham.  They foretell the birth of Isaac.
Abraham's prayer for the men of Sodom.

18:1. And the Lord appeared to him in the vale of Mambre as he was
sitting at the door of his tent, in the very heat of the day.

18:2. And when he had lifted up his eyes, there appeared to him three
men standing near to him:  and as soon as he saw them, he ran to meet
them from the door of his tent, and adored down to the ground.

18:3. And he said:  Lord, if I have found favour in thy sight, pass not
away from thy servant.

18:4. But I will fetch a little water, and wash ye your feet, and rest
ye under the tree.

18:5. And I will set a morsel of bread, and strengthen ye your heart,
afterwards you shall pass on:  for therefore are you come aside to your
servant.  And they said:  Do as thou hast spoken.

18:6. Abraham made haste into the tent to Sara, and said to her:  Make
haste, temper together three measures of flour, and make cakes upon the
hearth.

18:7. And he himself ran to the herd, and took from thence a calf, very
tender and very good, and gave it to a young man, who made haste and
boiled it.

18:8. He took also butter and milk, and the calf which he had boiled,
and set before them:  but he stood by them under the tree.

18:9. And when they had eaten, they said to him:  Where is Sara thy
wife?  He answered:  Lo she is in the tent.

18:10. And he said to him:  I will return and come to thee at this time,
life accompanying, and Sara, thy wife, shall have a son.  Which when
Sara heard, she laughed behind the door of the tent.

18:11. Now they were both old, and far advanced in years, and it had
ceased to be with Sara after the manner of women.

18:12. And she laughed secretly, saying:  After I am grown old, and my
lord is an old man, shall I give myself to pleasure?

18:13. And the Lord said to Abraham:  Why did Sara laugh, saying:  Shall
I, who am an old woman, bear a child indeed?

18:14. Is there any thing hard to God?  According to appointment I will
return to thee at this same time, life accompanying, and Sara shall
have a son.

18:15. Sara denied, saying:  I did not laugh:  for she was afraid.  But
the Lord said:  Nay; but thou didst laugh.

18:16. And when the men rose up from thence, they turned their eyes
towards Sodom:  and Abraham walked with them, bringing them on the way.

18:17. And the Lord said:  Can I hide from Abraham what I am about to
do:

18:18. Seeing he shall become a great and mighty nation, and in him all
the nations of the earth shall be blessed?

18:19. For I know that he will command his children, and his household
after him, to keep the way of the Lord, and do judgment and justice:
that for Abraham's sake, the Lord may bring to effect all the things he
hath spoken unto him.

18:20. And the Lord said:  The cry of Sodom and Gomorrha is multiplied,
and their sin is become exceedingly grievous.

18:21. I will go down and see whether they have done according to the
cry that is come to me; or whether it be not so, that I may know.

I will go down, etc. . .The Lord here accommodates his discourse to the
way of speaking and acting amongst men; for he knoweth all things, and
needeth not to go anywhere for information.  Note here, that two of the
three angels went away immediately for Sodom; whilst the third, who
represented the Lord, remained with Abraham.

18:22. And they turned themselves from thence, and went their way to
Sodom:  but Abraham as yet stood before the Lord.

18:23. And drawing nigh, he said:  Wilt thou destroy the just with the
wicked?

18:24. If there be fifty just men in the city, shall they perish
withal?  and wilt thou not spare that place for the sake of the fifty
just, if they be therein?

18:25. Far be it from thee to do this thing, and to slay the just with
the wicked, and for the just to be in like case as the wicked; this is
not beseeming thee:  thou who judgest all the earth, wilt not make this
judgment.

18:26. And the Lord said to him:  If I find in Sodom fifty just within
the city, I will spare the whole place for their sake.

18:27. And Abraham answered, and said:  Seeing I have once begun, I will
speak to my Lord, whereas I am dust and ashes.

18:28. What if there be five less than fifty just persons?  wilt thou
for five and forty destroy the whole city:  And he said:  I will not
destroy it, if I find five and forty.

18:29. And again he said to him:  But if forty be found there, what wilt
thou do?  He said:  I will not destroy it for the sake of forty.

18:30. Lord, saith he, be not angry, I beseech thee, if I speak:  What
if thirty shall be found there?  He answered:  I will not do it, if I
find thirty there.

18:31. Seeing, saith he, I have once begun, I will speak to my Lord:
What if twenty be found there?  He said:  I will not destroy it for the
sake of twenty.

18:32. I beseech thee, saith he, be not angry, Lord, if I speak yet
once more:  What if ten shall be found there?  And he said:  I will not
destroy it for the sake of ten.

18:33. And the Lord departed, after he had left speaking to Abraham:
and Abraham returned to his place.



Genesis Chapter 19


Lot, entertaining Angels in his house, is delivered from Sodom, which
is destroyed:  his wife for looking back is turned into a statue of
salt.

19:1. And the two angels came to Sodom in the evening, and Lot was
sitting in the gate of the city.  And seeing them, he rose up and went
to meet them:  and worshipped prostrate to the ground.

19:2. And said:  I beseech you, my lords, turn in to the house of your
servant, and lodge there:  wash your feet, and in the morning you shall
go on your way.  And they said:  No, but we will abide in the street.

19:3. He pressed them very much to turn in unto him:  and when they were
come into his house, he made them a feast, and baked unleavened bread,
and they ate:

19:4. But before they went to bed, the men of the city beset the house,
both young and old, all the people together.

19:5. And they called Lot, and said to him:  Where are the men that came
in to thee at night?  bring them out hither, that we may know them:

19:6. Lot went out to them, and shut the door after him, and said:

19:7. Do not so, I beseech you, my brethren, do not commit this evil.

19:8. I have two daughters who, as yet, have not known man; I will
bring them out to you, and abuse you them as it shall please you, so
that you do no evil to these men, because they are come in under the
shadow of my roof.

19:9. But they said:  Get thee back thither.  And again:  Thou camest in,
said they, as a stranger, was it to be a judge?  therefore we will
afflict thee more than them.  And they pressed very violently upon Lot:
and they were even at the point of breaking open the doors.

19:10. And behold the men put out their hand, and drew in Lot unto
them, and shut the door.

19:11. And them, that were without, they struck with blindness from the
least to the greatest, so that they could not find the door.

19:12. And they said to Lot:  Hast thou here any of thine?  son in law,
or sons, or daughters, all that are thine bring them out of this city:

19:13. For we will destroy this place, because their cry is grown loud
before the Lord, who hath sent us to destroy them.

19:14. So Lot went out, and spoke to his sons in law that were to have
his daughters, and said:  Arise:  get you out of this place, because the
Lord will destroy this city.  And he seemed to them to speak as it were
in jest.

19:15. And when it was morning, the angels pressed him, saying:  Arise,
take thy wife, and the two daughters that thou hast:  lest thou also
perish in the wickedness of the city.

19:16. And as he lingered, they took his hand, and the hand of his
wife, and of his two daughters, because the Lord spared him.

19:17. And they brought him forth, and set him without the city:  and
there they spoke to him, saying:  Save thy life:  look not back, neither
stay thou in all the country about:  but save thy self in the mountain,
lest thou be also consumed.

19:18. And Lot said to them:  I beseech thee, my Lord,

19:19. Because thy servant hath found grace before thee, and thou hast
magnified thy mercy, which thou hast shewn to me, in saving my life,
and I cannot escape to the mountain, lest some evil seize me, and I
die.

19:20. There is this city here at hand, to which I may flee, it is a
little one, and I shall be saved in it:  is it not a little one, and my
soul shall live?

19:21. And he said to him:  Behold also in this, I have heard thy
prayers, not to destroy the city for which thou hast spoken.

19:22. Make haste, and be saved there:  because I cannot do any thing
till thou go in thither.  Therefore the name of that city was called
Segor.

Segor. . .That is, a little one.

19:23. The sun was risen upon the earth, and Lot entered into Segor.

19:24. And the Lord rained upon Sodom and Gomorrha brimstone and fire
from the Lord out of heaven.

19:25. And he destroyed these cities, and all the country about, all
the inhabitants of the cities, and all things that spring from the
earth.

19:26. And his wife looking behind her, was turned into a statue of
salt.

And his wife. . .As a standing memorial to the servants of God to
proceed in virtue, and not to look back to vice or its allurements.

19:27. And Abraham got up early in the morning, and in the place where
he had stood before with the Lord:

19:28. He looked towards Sodom and Gomorrha, and the whole land of that
country:  and he saw the ashes rise up from the earth as the smoke of a
furnace.

19:29. Now when God destroyed the cities of that country, remembering
Abraham, he delivered Lot out of the destruction of the cities wherein
he had dwelt.

19:30. And Lot went up out of Segor, and abode in the mountain, and his
two daughters with him (for he was afraid to stay in Segor) and he
dwelt in a cave, he and his two daughters with him.

19:31. And the elder said to the younger:  Our father is old, and there
is no man left on the earth, to come in unto us after the manner of the
whole earth.

19:32. Come, let us make him drunk with wine, and let us lie with him,
that we may preserve seed of our father.

19:33. And they made their father drink wine that night:  and the elder
went in, and lay with her father:  but he perceived not, neither when
his daughter lay down, nor when she rose up.

19:34. And the next day the elder said to the younger:  Behold I lay
last night with my father, let us make him drink wine also to night,
and thou shalt lie with him, that we may save seed of our father.

19:35. They made their father drink wine that night also, and the
younger daughter went in, and lay with him:  and neither then did he
perceive when she lay down, nor when she rose up.

19:36. So the two daughters of Lot were with child by their father.

19:37. And the elder bore a son, and she called his name Moab:  he is
the father of the Moabites unto this day.

19:38. The younger also bore a son, and she called his name Ammon; that
is, the son of my people:  he is the father of the Ammonites unto this
day.



Genesis Chapter 20


Abraham sojourned in Gerara:  Sara is taken into king Abimelech's house,
but by God's commandment is restored untouched.

20:1. Abraham removed from thence to the south country, and dwelt
between Cades and Sur, and sojourned in Gerara.

20:2. And he said of Sara his wife:  She is my sister.  So Abimelech the
king of Gerara sent, and took her.

20:3. And God came to Abimelech in a dream by night, and he said to
him:  Lo thou shalt die for the woman that thou hast taken:  for she hath
a husband.

20:4. Now Abimelech had not touched her, and he said:  Lord, wilt thou
slay a nation that is ignorant and just?

20:5. Did not he say to me:  She is my sister:  and she say, He is my
brother?  in the simplicity of my heart, and cleanness of my hands have
I done this.

20:6. And God said to him:  And I know that thou didst it with a sincere
heart:  and therefore I withheld thee from sinning against me, and I
suffered thee not to touch her.

20:7. Now therefore restore the man his wife, for he is a prophet:  and
he shall pray for thee, and thou shalt live:  but if thou wilt not
restore her, know that thou shalt surely die, thou and all that are
thine.

20:8. And Abimelech forthwith rising up in the night, called all his
servants:  and spoke all these words in their hearing, and all the men
were exceedingly afraid.

20:9. And Abimelech called also for Abraham, and said to him:  What hast
thou done to us?  what have we offended thee in, that thou hast brought
upon me and upon my kingdom a great sin?  thou hast done to us what thou
oughtest not to do.

20:10. And again he expostulated with him, and said:  What sawest thou,
that thou hast done this?

20:11. Abraham answered:  I thought with myself, saying:  Perhaps there
is not the fear of God in this place:  and they will kill me for the
sake of my wife:

20:12. Howbeit, otherwise also she is truly my sister, the daughter of
my father, and not the daughter of my mother, and I took her to wife.

20:13. And after God brought me out of my father's house, I said to
her:  Thou shalt do me this kindness:  In every place, to which we shall
come, thou shalt say that I am thy brother.

20:14. And Abimelech took sheep and oxen, and servants and handmaids,
and gave to Abraham:  and restored to him Sara his wife,

20:15. And said:  The land is before you, dwell wheresoever it shall
please thee.

20:16. And to Sara he said:  Behold I have given thy brother a thousand
pieces of silver, this shall serve thee for a covering of thy eyes to
all that are with thee, and whithersoever thou shalt go:  and remember
thou wast taken.

20:17. And when Abraham prayed, God healed Abimelech and his wife, and
his handmaids, and they bore children:

20:18. For the Lord had closed up every womb of the house of Abimelech,
on account of Sara, Abraham's wife.



Genesis Chapter 21


Isaac is born.  Agar and Ismael are cast forth.

21:1. And the Lord visited Sara, as he had promised:  and fulfilled what
he had spoken.

21:2. And she conceived and bore a son in her old age, at the time that
God had foretold her.

21:3. And Abraham called the name of his son, whom Sara bore him,
Isaac.

Isaac. . .This word signifies laughter.

21:4. And he circumcised him the eighth day, as God had commanded him,

21:5. When he was a hundred years old:  for at this age of his father,
was Isaac born.

21:6. And Sara said:  God hath made a laughter for me:  whosoever shall
hear of it will laugh with me.

21:7. And again she said:  Who would believe that Abraham should hear
that Sara gave suck to a son, whom she bore to him in his old age?

21:8. And the child grew, and was weaned:  and Abraham made a great
feast on the day of his weaning.

21:9. And when Sara had seen the son of Agar, the Egyptian, playing
with Isaac, her son, she said to Abraham:

21:10. Cast out this bondwoman and her son; for the son of the
bondwoman shall not be heir with my son Isaac.

21:11. Abraham took this grievously for his son.

21:12. And God said to him:  Let it not seem grievous to thee for the
boy, and for thy bondwoman:  in all that Sara hath said to thee, hearken
to her voice:  for in Isaac shall thy seed be called.

21:13. But I will make the son also of the bondwoman a great nation,
because he is thy seed.

21:14. So Abraham rose up in the morning, and taking bread and a bottle
of water, put it upon her shoulder, and delivered the boy, and sent her
away.  And she departed, and wandered in the wilderness of Bersabee.

21:15. And when the water in the bottle was spent, she cast the boy
under one of the trees that were there.

21:16. And she went her way, and sat over against him a great way off,
as far as a bow can carry, for she said:  I will not see the boy die:
and sitting over against, she lifted up her voice and wept.

21:17. And God heard the voice of the boy:  and an angel of God called
to Agar from heaven, saying:  What art thou doing, Agar?  fear not; for
God hath heard the voice of the boy, from the place wherein he is.

21:18. Arise, take up the boy, and hold him by the hand, for I will
make him a great nation.

21:19. And God opened her eyes:  and she saw a well of water, and went
and filled the bottle, and gave the boy to drink.

21:20. And God was with him:  and he grew, and dwelt in the wilderness,
and became a young man, an archer.

21:21. And he dwelt in the wilderness of Pharan, and his mother took a
wife for him out of the land of Egypt.

21:22. At the same time Abimelech, and Phicol the general of his army,
said to Abraham:  God is with thee in all that thou dost.

21:23. Swear therefore by God, that thou wilt not hurt me, nor my
posterity, nor my stock:  but according to the kindness that I have done
to thee, thou shalt do to me, and to the land wherein thou hast lived a
stranger.

21:24. And Abraham said:  I will swear.

21:25. And he reproved Abimelech for a well of water, which his
servants had taken away by force.

21:26. And Abimelech answered:  I knew not who did this thing:  and thou
didst not tell me, and I heard not of it till today.

21:27. Then Abraham took sheep and oxen, and gave them to Abimelech:
and both of them made a league.

21:28. And Abraham set apart seven ewelambs of the flock.

21:29. And Abimelech said to him:  What mean these seven ewelambs which
thou hast set apart?

21:30. But he said:  Thou shalt take seven ewelambs at my hand:  that
they may be a testimony for me, that I dug this well.

21:31. Therefore that place was called Bersabee; because there both of
them did swear.

Bersabee. . .That is, the well of oath.

21:32. And they made a league for the well of oath.

21:33. And Abimelech and Phicol, the general of his army, arose and
returned to the land of the Palestines.  But Abraham planted a grove in
Bersabee, and there called upon the name of the Lord God eternal.

21:34. And he was a sojourner in the land of the Palestines many days.



Genesis Chapter 22


The faith and obedience of Abraham is proved in his readiness to
sacrifice his son Isaac.  He is stayed from the act by an angel.  Former
promises are renewed to him.  His brother Nachor's issue.

22:1. After these things, God tempted Abraham, and said to him:
Abraham, Abraham.  And he answered:  Here I am.

God tempted, etc. . .God tempteth no man to evil, James 1.13; but by
trial and experiment maketh known to the world, and to ourselves, what
we are, as here by this trial the singular faith and obedience of
Abraham was made manifest.

22:2. He said to him:  Take thy only begotten son Isaac, whom thou
lovest, and go into the land of vision; and there thou shalt offer him
for an holocaust upon one of the mountains which I will shew thee.

22:3. So Abraham rising up in the night, saddled his ass, and took with
him two young men, and Isaac his son:  and when he had cut wood for the
holocaust, he went his way to the place which God had commanded him.

22:4. And on the third day, lifting up his eyes, he saw the place afar
off.

22:5. And he said to his young men:  Stay you here with the ass; I and
the boy will go with speed as far as yonder, and after we have
worshipped, will return to you.

22:6. And he took the wood for the holocaust, and laid it upon Isaac
his son; and he himself carried in his hands fire and a sword.  And as
they two went on together,

22:7. Isaac said to his father:  My father.  And he answered:  What wilt
thou, son?  Behold, saith he, fire and wood:  where is the victim for the
holocaust?

22:8. And Abraham said:  God will provide himself a victim for an
holocaust, my son.  So they went on together.

22:9. And they came to the place which God had shewn him, where he
built an altar, and laid the wood in order upon it; and when he had
bound Isaac his son, he laid him on the altar upon the pile of wood.

22:10. And he put forth his hand, and took the sword, to sacrifice his
son.

22:11. And behold, an angel of the Lord from heaven called to him,
saying:  Abraham, Abraham.  And he answered:  Here I am.

22:12. And he said to him:  Lay not thy hand upon the boy, neither do
thou any thing to him:  now I know that thou fearest God, and hast not
spared thy only begotten son for my sake.

22:13. Abraham lifted up his eyes, and saw behind his back a ram,
amongst the briers, sticking fast by the horns, which he took and
offered for a holocaust instead of his son.

22:14. And he called the name of that place, The Lord seeth.  Whereupon,
even to this day, it is said:  In the mountain the Lord will see.

22:15. And the angel of the Lord called to Abraham a second time from
heaven, saying:

22:16. By my own self have I sworn, saith the Lord:  because thou hast
done this thing, and hast not spared thy only begotten son for my sake:

22:17. I will bless thee, and I will multiply thy seed as the stars of
heaven, and as the sand that is by the sea shore; thy seed shall
possess the gates of their enemies.

22:18. And in thy seed shall all the nations of the earth be blessed,
because thou hast obeyed my voice.

22:19. Abraham returned to his young men, and they went to Bersabee
together, and he dwelt there.

22:20. After these things, it was told Abraham, that Melcha also had
borne children to Nachor his brother.

22:21. Hus, the firstborn, and Buz, his brother, and Camuel the father
of the Syrians,

22:22. And Cased, and Azau, and Pheldas, and Jedlaph,

22:23. And Bathuel, of whom was born Rebecca:  these eight did Melcha
bear to Nachor, Abraham's brother.

22:24. And his concubine, named Roma, bore Tabee, and Gaham, and Tahas,
and Maacha.



Genesis Chapter 23


Sara's death and burial in the field bought of Ephron.

23:1. And Sara lived a hundred and twenty-seven years.

23:2. And she died in the city of Arbee which is Hebron, in the land of
Chanaan:  and Abraham came to mourn and weep for her.

23:3. And after he rose up from the funeral obsequies, he spoke to the
children of Heth, saying:

23:4. I am a stranger and sojourner among you:  give me the right of a
burying place with you, that I may bury my dead.

23:5. The children of Heth answered, saying:

23:6. My lord, hear us, thou art a prince of God among us:  bury thy
dead in our principal sepulchres:  and no man shall have power to hinder
thee from burying thy dead in his sepulchre.

23:7. Abraham rose up, and bowed down to the people of the land, to
wit, the children of Heth:

Bowed down to the people. . .Adoravit, literally adored.  But this word
here, as well as in many other places in the Latin scriptures, is used
to signify only an inferior honour and reverence paid to men, expressed
by a bowing down of the body.

23:8. And said to them:  If it please your soul that I should bury my
dead, hear me, and intercede for me to Ephron the son of Seor.

23:9. That he may give me the double cave, which he hath in the end of
his field:  For as much money as it is worth he shall give it me before
you, for a possession of a burying place.

23:10. Now Ephron dwelt in the midst of the children of Heth.  And
Ephron made answer to Abraham in the hearing of all that went in at the
gate of the city, saying:

23:11. Let it not be so, my lord, but do thou rather hearken to what I
say:  The field I deliver to thee, and the cave that is therein; in the
presence of the children of my people, bury thy dead.

23:12. Abraham bowed down before the people of the land.

23:13. And he spoke to Ephron, in the presence of the people:  I beseech
thee to hear me:  I will give money for the field; take it, and so will
I bury my dead in it.

23:14. And Ephron answered:

23:15. My lord, hear me.  The ground which thou desirest, is worth four
hundred sicles of silver:  this is the price between me and thee:  but
what is this?  bury thy dead.

23:16. And when Abraham had heard this, he weighed out the money that
Ephron had asked, in the hearing of the children of Heth, four hundred
sicles of silver, of common current money.

23:17. And the field that before was Ephron's, wherein was the double
cave, looking towards Mambre, both it and the cave, and all the trees
thereof, in all its limits round about,

23:18. Was made sure to Abraham for a possession, in the sight of the
children of Heth, and of all that went in at the gate of his city.

23:19. And so Abraham buried Sara, his wife, in the double cave of the
field, that looked towards Mambre, this is Hebron in the land of
Chanaan.

23:20. And the field was made sure to Abraham, and the cave that was in
it, for a possession to bury in, by the children of Heth.



Genesis Chapter 24


Abraham's servant, sent by him into Mesopotamia, bringeth from thence
Rebecca, who is married to Isaac.

24:1. Now Abraham was old, and advanced in age; and the Lord had
blessed him in all things.

24:2. And he said to the elder servant of his house, who was ruler over
all he had:  Put thy hand under my thigh,

24:3. That I may make thee swear by the Lord, the God of heaven and
earth, that thou take not a wife for my son, of the daughters of the
Chanaanites, among whom I dwell:

24:4. But that thou go to my own country and kindred, and take a wife
from thence for my son Isaac.

24:5. The servant answered:  If the woman will not come with me into
this land, must I bring thy son back again to the place from whence
thou camest out?

24:6. And Abraham said:  Beware thou never bring my son back again
thither.

24:7. The Lord God of heaven, who took me out of my father's house, and
out of my native country, who spoke to me, and swore to me, saying:  To
thy seed will I give this land:  he will send his angel before thee, and
thou shalt take from thence a wife for my son.

He will send his angel before thee. . .This shows that the Hebrews
believed that God gave them guardian angels for their protection.

24:8. But if the woman will not follow thee, thou shalt not be bound by
the oath:  only bring not my son back thither again.

24:9. The servant, therefore, put his hand under the thigh of Abraham,
his lord, and swore to him upon his word.

24:10. And he took ten camels of his master's herd, and departed,
carrying something of all his goods with him, and he set forward and
went on to Mesopotamia, to the city of Nachor.

24:11. And when he had made the camels lie down without the town, near
a well of water, in the evening, at the time when women are wont to
come out to draw water, he said:

24:12. O Lord, the God of my master, Abraham, meet me today, I beseech
thee, and shew kindness to my master, Abraham.

24:13. Behold, I stand nigh the spring of water, and the daughters of
the inhabitants of this city will come out to draw water:

24:14. Now, therefore, the maid to whom I shall say:  Let down thy
pitcher that I may drink:  and she shall answer, Drink, and I will give
thy camels drink also:  let it be the same whom thou hast provided for
thy servant Isaac:  and by this, I shall understand that thou hast shewn
kindness to my master.

24:15. He had not yet ended these words within himself, and behold
Rebecca came out, the daughter of Bathuel, son of Melcha, wife to
Nachor the brother of Abraham, having a pitcher on her shoulder:

24:16. An exceeding comely maid, and a most beautiful virgin, and not
known to man:  and she went down to the spring, and filled her pitcher,
and was coming back.

24:17. And the servant ran to meet her, and said:  Give me a little
water to drink of thy pitcher.

24:18. And she answered:  Drink, my lord.  And quickly she let down the
pitcher upon her arm, and gave him drink.

24:19. And when he had drunk, she said:  I will draw water for thy
camels also, till they all drink.

24:20. And pouring out the pitcher into the troughs, she ran back to
the well to draw water; and having drawn, she gave to all the camels.

24:21. But he musing, beheld her with silence, desirous to know whether
the Lord had made his journey prosperous or not.

24:22. And after that the camels had drunk, the man took out golden
earrings, weighing two sicles; and as many bracelets, of ten sicles
weight.

24:23. And he said to her:  Whose daughter art thou?  tell me:  is there
any place in thy father's house to lodge?

24:24. And she answered:  I am the daughter of Bathuel, the son of
Melcha, whom she bore to Nachor.

24:25. And she said, moreover, to him:  We have good store of both straw
and hay, and a large place to lodge in.

24:26. The man bowed himself down, and adored the Lord,

24:27. Saying:  Blessed be the Lord God of my master Abraham, who hath
not taken away his mercy and truth from my master, and hath brought me
the straight way into the house of my master's brother.

24:28. Then the maid ran, and told in her mother's house all that she
had heard.

24:29. And Rebecca had a brother, named Laban, who went out in haste to
the man, to the well.

24:30. And when he had seen the earrings and bracelets in his sister's
hands, and had heard all that she related, saying, Thus and thus the
man spoke to me:  he came to the man who stood by the camels, and near
to the spring of water,

24:31. And said to him:  Come in, thou blessed of the Lord; why standest
thou without?  I have prepared the house, and a place for the camels.

24:32. And he brought him into his lodging; and he unharnessed the
camels, and gave straw and hay, and water to wash his feet, and the
feet of the men that were come with him.

24:33. And bread was set before him.  But he said:  I will not eat, till
I tell my message.  He answered him:  Speak.

24:34. And he said:  I am the servant of Abraham:

24:35. And the Lord hath blessed my master wonderfully, and he is
become great:  and he hath given him sheep and oxen, silver and gold,
men servants and women servants, camels and asses.

24:36. And Sara, my master's wife, hath borne my master a son in her
old age, and he hath given him all that he had.

24:37. And my master made me swear, saying:  Thou shalt not take a wife
for my son of the Chanaanites, in whose land I dwell:

24:38. But thou shalt go to my father's house, and shalt take a wife of
my own kindred for my son:

24:39. But I answered my master:  What if the woman will not come with
me?

24:40. The Lord, said he, in whose sight I walk, will send his angel
with thee, and will direct thy way:  and thou shalt take a wife for my
son of my own kindred, and of my father's house.

24:41. But thou shalt be clear from my curse, when thou shalt come to
my kindred, if they will not give thee one.

24:42. And I came today to the well of water, and said:  O Lord God of
my master, Abraham, if thou hast prospered my way, wherein I now walk,

24:43. Behold, I stand by the well of water, and the virgin, that shall
come out to draw water, who shall hear me say:  Give me a little water
to drink of thy pitcher:

24:44. And shall say to me:  Both drink thou, and I will also draw for
thy camels:  let the same be the woman, whom the Lord hath prepared for
my master's son.

24:45. And whilst I pondered these things secretly with myself, Rebecca
appeared, coming with a pitcher, which she carried on her shoulder:  and
she went down to the well and drew water.  And I said to her:  Give me a
little to drink.

24:46. And she speedily let down the pitcher from her shoulder, and
said to me:  Both drink thou, and to thy camels I will give drink.  I
drank, and she watered the camels.

24:47. And I asked her, and said:  Whose daughter art thou?  And she
answered:  I am the daughter of Bathuel, the son of Nachor, whom Melcha
bore to him.  So I put earrings on her to adorn her face, and I put
bracelets on her hands.

24:48. And falling down, I adored the Lord, blessing the Lord God of my
master, Abraham, who hath brought me the straight way to take the
daughter of my master's brother for his son.

24:49. Wherefore, if you do according to mercy and truth with my
master, tell me:  but if it please you otherwise, tell me that also,
that I may go to the right hand, or to the left.

24:50. And Laban and Bathuel answered:  The word hath proceeded from the
Lord:  we cannot speak any other thing to thee but his pleasure.

24:51. Behold, Rebecca is before thee, take her and go thy way, and let
her be the wife of thy master's son, as the Lord hath spoken.

24:52. Which when Abraham's servant heard, falling down to the ground,
he adored the Lord.

24:53. And bringing forth vessels of silver and gold, and garments, he
gave them to Rebecca, for a present.  He offered gifts also to her
brothers, and to her mother.

24:54. And a banquet was made, and they ate and drank together, and
lodged there.  And in the morning, the servant arose, and said:  Let me
depart, that I may go to my master.

24:55. And her brother and mother answered:  Let the maid stay, at
least, ten days with us, and afterwards she shall depart.

24:56. Stay me not, said he, because the Lord hath prospered my way:
send me away, that I may go to my master.

24:57. And they said:  Let us call the maid, and ask her will.

Let us call the maid, and ask her will. . .Not as to her marriage, as
she had already consented, but of her quitting her parents and going to
her husband.

24:58. And they called her, and when she was come, they asked:  Wilt
thou go with this man?  She said:  I will go.

24:59. So they sent her away, and her nurse, and Abraham's servant, and
his company.

24:60. Wishing prosperity to their sister, and saying:  Thou art our
sister, mayst thou increase to thousands of thousands; and may thy seed
possess the gates of their enemies.

24:61. So Rebecca and her maids, being set upon camels, followed the
man:  who with speed returned to his master.

24:62. At the same time, Isaac was walking along the way to the well
which is called Of the living and the seeing:  for he dwelt in the south
country:

24:63. And he was gone forth to meditate in the field, the day being
now well spent:  and when he had lifted up his eyes, he saw camels
coming afar off.

24:64. Rebecca also, when she saw Isaac, lighted off the camel,

24:65. And said to the servant:  Who is that man who cometh towards us
along the field?  And he said to her:  That man is my master.  But she
quickly took her cloak, and covered herself.

24:66. And the servant told Isaac all that he had done.

24:67. Who brought her into the tent of Sara his mother, and took her
to wife:  and he loved her so much, that it moderated the sorrow which
was occasioned by his mother's death.



Genesis Chapter 25


Abraham's children by Cetura; his death and that of Ismael.  Isaac hath
Esau and Jacob twins.  Esau selleth his first birthright to Jacob.

25:1. And Abraham married another wife named Cetura:

25:2. Who bore him Zamram, and Jecsan, and Madan, and Madian, and
Jesboc, and Sue.

25:3. Jecsan also begot Saba, and Dadan.  The children of Dadan were
Assurim, and Latusim, and Loomim.

25:4. But of Madian was born Epha, and Opher, and Henoch, and Abida,
and Eldaa:  all these were the children of Cetura.

25:5. And Abraham gave all his possessions to Isaac:

25:6. And to the children of the concubines he gave gifts, and
separated them from Isaac his son, while he yet lived, to the east
country.

Concubines. . .Agar and Cetura are here called concubines, (though they
were lawful wives, and in other places are so called,) because they
were of an inferior degree, and such in scripture are usually called
concubines.

25:7. And the days of Abraham's life were a hundred and seventy-five
years.

25:8. And decaying he died in a good old age, and having lived a long
time, and being full of days:  and was gathered to his people.

25:9. And Isaac and Ismael his sons buried him in the double cave,
which was situated in the field of Ephron the son of Seor the Hethite,
over against Mambre,

25:10. Which he had bought of the children of Heth:  there was he
buried, and Sara his wife.

25:11. And after his death, God blessed Isaac his son, who dwelt by the
well named Of the living and seeing.

25:12. These are the generations of Ismael the son of Abraham, whom
Agar the Egyptian, Sara's servant, bore unto him:

25:13. And these are the names of his children according to their
calling and generations.  The firstborn of Ismael was Nabajoth, then
Cedar, and Adbeel, and Mabsam,

25:14. And Masma, and Duma, and Massa,

25:15. Hadar, and Thema, and Jethur, and Naphis, and Cedma.

25:16. These are the sons of Ismael:  and these are their names by their
castles and towns, twelve princes of their tribes.

25:17. And the years of Ismael's life were a hundred and thirty-seven,
and decaying he died, and was gathered unto his people.

25:18. And he dwelt from Hevila as far as Sur, which looketh towards
Egypt, to them that go towards the Assyrians.  He died in the presence
of all his brethren.

25:19. These also are the generations of Isaac the son of Abraham:
Abraham begot Isaac:

25:20. Who when he was forty years old, took to wife Rebecca the
daughter of Bathuel the Syrian of Mesopotamia, sister to Laban.

25:21. And Isaac besought the Lord for his wife, because she was
barren:  and he heard him, and made Rebecca to conceive.

25:22. But the children struggled in her womb, and she said:  If it were
to be so with me, what need was there to conceive?  And she went to
consult the Lord.

25:23. And he answering, said:  Two nations are in thy womb, and two
peoples shall be divided out of thy womb, and one people shall overcome
the other, and the elder shall serve the younger.

25:24. And when her time was come to be delivered, behold twins were
found in her womb.

25:25. He that came forth first was red, and hairy like a skin:  and his
name was called Esau.  Immediately the other coming forth, held his
brother's foot in his hand:  and therefore he was called Jacob.

25:26. Isaac was threescore years old when the children were born unto
him.

25:27. And when they were grown up, Esau became a skilful hunter, and a
husbandman:  but Jacob, a plain man, dwelt in tents.

25:28. Isaac loved Esau, because he ate of his hunting:  and Rebecca
loved Jacob.

25:29. And Jacob boiled pottage:  to whom Esau, coming faint out of the
field,

25:30. Said:  Give me of this red pottage, for I am exceeding faint.  For
which reason his name was called Edom.

25:31. And Jacob said to him:  Sell me thy first birthright.

25:32. He answered:  Lo I die, what will the first birthright avail me?

25:33. Jacob said:  Swear therefore to me.  Esau swore to him, and sold
his first birthright.

25:34. And so taking bread and the pottage of lentils, he ate, and
drank, and went on his way; making little account of having sold his
first birthright.



Genesis Chapter 26


Isaac sojourneth in Gerara, where God reneweth to him the promise made
to Abraham.  King Abimelech maketh league with him.

26:1. And when a famine came in the land, after that barrenness which
had happened in the days of Abraham, Isaac went to Abimelech, king of
the Palestines, to Gerara.

26:2. And the Lord appeared to him, and said:  Go not down into Egypt,
but stay in the land that I shall tell thee.

26:3. And sojourn in it, and I will be with thee, and will bless thee:
for to thee and to thy seed I will give all these countries, to fulfil
the oath which I swore to Abraham thy father.

26:4. And I will multiply thy seed like the stars of heaven:  and I will
give to thy posterity all these countries:  and in thy seed shall all
the nations of the earth be blessed.

26:5. Because Abraham obeyed my voice, and kept my precepts and
commandments, and observed my ceremonies and laws.

26:6. So Isaac abode in Gerara.

26:7. And when he was asked by the men of that place, concerning his
wife, he answered:  She is my sister:  for he was afraid to confess that
she was his wife, thinking lest perhaps they would kill him because of
her beauty.

26:8. And when very many days were passed, and he abode there,
Abimelech, king of the Palestines, looking out through a window, saw
him playing with Rebecca, his wife.

26:9. And calling for him, he said:  It is evident she is thy wife:  why
didst thou feign her to be thy sister?  He answered:  I feared lest I
should die for her sake.

26:10. And Abimelech said:  Why hast thou deceived us?  Some man of the
people might have lain with thy wife, and thou hadst brought upon us a
great sin.  And he commanded all the people, saying:

26:11. He that shall touch this man's wife, shall surely be put to
death.

26:12. And Isaac sowed in that land, and he found that same year a
hundredfold:  and the Lord blessed him.

26:13. And the man was enriched, and he went on prospering and
increasing, till he became exceeding great.

26:14. And he had possessions of sheep and of herds, and a very great
family.  Wherefore the Palestines envying him,

26:15. Stopped up at that time all the wells, that the servants of his
father, Abraham, had digged, filling them up with earth:

26:16. Insomuch that Abimelech himself said to Isaac:  Depart from us,
for thou art become much mightier than we.

26:17. So he departed, and came to the torrent of Gerara, to dwell
there:

26:18. And he digged again other wells, which the servants of his
father, Abraham, had digged, and which, after his death, the
Philistines had of old stopped up:  and he called them by the same
names, by which his father before had called them.

26:19. And they digged in the torrent, and found living water:

Torrent. . .That is, a channel where sometimes a torrent or violent
stream had run.

26:20. But there also the herdsmen of Gerara strove against the
herdsmen of Isaac, saying:  It is our water.  Wherefore he called the
name of the well, on occasion of that which had happened, Calumny.

26:21. And they digged also another; and for that they quarrelled
likewise, and he called the name of it, Enmity.

26:22. Going forward from thence, he digged another well, for which
they contended not; therefore he called the name thereof, Latitude,
saying:  Now hath the Lord given us room, and made us to increase upon
the earth.

Latitude. . .That is, wideness, or room.

26:23. And he went up from that place to Bersabee,

26:24. Where the Lord appeared to him that same night, saying:  I am the
God of Abraham thy father, do not fear, for I am with thee:  I will
bless thee, and multiply thy seed for my servant Abraham's sake.

26:25. And he built there an altar:  and called upon the name of the
Lord, and pitched his tent; and commanded his servants to dig a well.

26:26. To which place when Abimelech, and Ochozath his friend, and
Phicol chief captain of his soldiers, came from Gerara,

26:27. Isaac said to them:  Why are ye come to me, a man whom you hate,
and have thrust out from you?

26:28. And they answered:  We saw that the Lord is with thee, and
therefore we said:  Let there be an oath between us, and let us make a
covenant,

26:29. That thou do us no harm, as we on our part have touched nothing
of thine, nor have done any thing to hurt thee; but with peace have
sent thee away, increased with the blessing of the Lord.

26:30. And he made them a feast, and after they had eaten and drunk:

26:31. Arising in the morning, they swore one to another:  and Isaac
sent them away peaceably to their own home.

26:32. And behold, the same day the servants of Isaac came, telling him
of a well which they had digged, and saying:  We have found water.

26:33. Whereupon he called it Abundance:  and the name of the city was
called Bersabee, even to this day.

26:34. And Esau being forty years old, married wives, Judith, the
daughter of Beeri, the Hethite, and Basemath, the daughter of Elon, of
the same place.

26:35. And they both offended the mind of Isaac and Rebecca.



Genesis Chapter 27


Jacob, by him mother's counsel, obtaineth his father's blessing instead
of Esau.  And by her is advised to fly to his uncle Laban.

27:1. Now Isaac was old, and his eyes were dim, and he could not see:
and he called Esau, his elder son, and said to him:  My son?  And he
answered:  Here I am.

27:2. And his father said to him, Thou seest that I am old, and know
not the day of my death.

27:3. Take thy arms, thy quiver, and bow, and go abroad; and when thou
hast taken something by hunting,

27:4. Make me a savoury meat thereof, as thou knowest I like, and bring
it that I may eat:  and my soul may bless thee, before I die.

27:5. And when Rebecca had heard this, and he was gone into the field
to fulfil his father's commandment,

27:6. She said to her son Jacob:  I heard thy father talking with Esau,
thy brother, and saying to him:

27:7. Bring me of thy hunting, and make me meats that I may eat, and
bless thee in the sight of the Lord, before I die.

27:8. Now therefore, my son, follow my counsel:

27:9. And go thy way to the flock, bring me two kids of the best, that
I may make of them meat for thy father, such as he gladly eateth.

27:10. Which when thou hast brought in, and he hath eaten, he may bless
thee before he die.

27:11. And he answered her:  Thou knowest that Esau, my brother, is a
hairy man, and I am smooth:

27:12. If my father should feel me, and perceive it, I fear lest he
will think I would have mocked him, and I shall bring upon me a curse
instead of a blessing.

27:13. And his mother said to him:  Upon me be this curse, my son:  only
hear thou my voice, and go, fetch me the things which I have said.

27:14. He went, and brought, and gave them to his mother.  She dressed
meats, such as she knew his father liked.

27:15. And she put on him very good garments of Esau, which she had at
home with her:

27:16. And the little skins of the kids she put about his hands, and
covered the bare of his neck.

27:17. And she gave him the savoury meat, and delivered him bread that
she had baked.

27:18. Which when he had carried in, he said:  My father?  But he
answered:  I hear.  Who art thou, my son?

27:19. And Jacob said:  I am Esau, thy firstborn:  I have done as thou
didst command me:  arise, sit and eat of my venison, that thy soul may
bless me.

I am Esau thy firstborn. . .St. Augustine (L. Contra mendacium, c. 10),
treating at large upon this place, excuseth Jacob from a lie, because
this whole passage was mysterious, as relating to the preference which
was afterwards to be given to the Gentiles before the carnal Jews,
which Jacob by prophetic light might understand.  So far is certain,
that the first birthright, both by divine election and by Esau's free
cession belonged to Jacob:  so that if there were any lie in the case,
it could be no more than an officious and venial one.

27:20. And Isaac said to his son:  How couldst thou find it so quickly,
my son?  He answered:  It was the will of God, that what I sought came
quickly in my way:

27:21. And Isaac said:  Come hither, that I may feel thee, my son, and
may prove whether thou be my son Esau, or no.

27:22. He came near to his father, and when he had felt him, Isaac
said:  The voice indeed is the voice of Jacob; but the hands, are the
hands of Esau.

27:23. And he knew him not, because his hairy hands made him like to
the elder.  Then blessing him,

27:24. He said:  Art thou my son Esau?  He answered:  I am.

27:25. Then he said:  Bring me the meats of thy hunting, my son, that my
soul may bless thee.  And when they were brought, and he had eaten, he
offered him wine also, which after he had drunk,

27:26. He said to him:  Come near me, and give me a kiss, my son.

27:27. He came near, and kissed him.  And immediately as he smelled the
fragrant smell of his garments, blessing him, he said:  Behold, the
smell of my son is as the smell of a plentiful field, which the Lord
hath blessed.

27:28. God give thee of the dew of heaven, and of the fatness of the
earth, abundance of corn and wine.

27:29. And let peoples serve thee, and tribes worship thee:  be thou
lord of thy brethren, and let thy mother's children bow down before
thee.  Cursed be he that curseth thee:  and let him that blesseth thee be
filled with blessings.

27:30. Isaac had scarce ended his words, when, Jacob being now gone out
abroad, Esau came,

27:31. And brought in to his father meats, made of what he had taken in
hunting, saying:  Arise, my father, and eat of thy son's venison; that
thy soul may bless me.

27:32. And Isaac said to him:  Why! who art thou?  He answered:  I am thy
firstborn son, Esau.

27:33. Isaac was struck with fear, and astonished exceedingly; and
wondering beyond what can be believed, said:  Who is he then that even
now brought me venison that he had taken, and I ate of all before thou
camest?  and I have blessed him, and he shall be blessed.

27:34. Esau having heard his father's words, roared out with a great
cry; and, being in a consternation, said:  Bless me also, my father.

27:35. And he said:  Thy brother came deceitfully and got thy blessing.

27:36. But he said again:  Rightly is his name called Jacob; for he hath
supplanted me lo this second time:  My birthright he took away before,
and now this second time he hath stolen away my blessing.  And again he
said to his father:  Hast thou not reserved me also a blessing?

Jacob. . .That is, a supplanter.

27:37. Isaac answered:  I have appointed him thy lord, and have made all
his brethren his servants:  I have established him with corn and wine,
and after this, what shall I do more for thee, my son?

27:38. And Esau said to him:  Hast thou only one blessing, father?  I
beseech thee bless me also.  And when he wept with a loud cry,

27:39. Isaac being moved, said to him:  In the fat of the earth, and in
the dew of heaven from above,

27:40. Shall thy blessing be.  Thou shalt live by the sword, and shalt
serve thy brother:  and the time shall come, when thou shalt shake off
and loose his yoke from thy neck.

27:41. Esau therefore always hated Jacob, for the blessing wherewith
his father had blessed him; and he said in his heart:  The days will
come of the mourning for my father, and I will kill my brother Jacob.

27:42. These things were told to Rebecca:  and she sent and called
Jacob, her son, and said to him:  Behold Esau, thy brother, threateneth
to kill thee.

27:43. Now therefore, my son, hear my voice, arise and flee to Laban,
my brother, to Haran:

27:44. And thou shalt dwell with him a few days, till the wrath of thy
brother be assuaged,

27:45. And his indignation cease, and he forget the things thou hast
done to him:  afterwards I will send, and bring thee from thence hither.
Why shall I be deprived of both my sons in one day?

27:46. And Rebecca said to Isaac:  I am weary of my life, because of the
daughters of Heth:  if Jacob take a wife of the stock of this land, I
choose not to live.



Genesis Chapter 28


Jacob's journey to Mesopotamia:  his vision and vow.

28:1. And Isaac called Jacob, and blessed him, and charged him, saying:
Take not a wife of the stock of Chanaan:

28:2. But go, and take a journey to Mesopotamia of Syria, to the house
of Bathuel, thy mother's father, and take thee a wife thence of the
daughters of Laban, thy uncle.

28:3. And God almighty bless thee, and make thee to increase and
multiply thee:  that thou mayst be a multitude of people.

28:4. And give the blessings of Araham to thee, and to thy seed after
thee:  that thou mayst possess the land of thy sojournment, which he
promised to thy grandfather.

28:5. And when Isaac had sent him away, he took his journey and went to
Mesopotamia of Syria, to Laban, the son of Bathuel, the Syrian, brother
to Rebecca, his mother.

28:6. And Esau seeing that his father had blessed Jacob, and had sent
him into Mesopotamia of Syria, to marry a wife thence; and that after
the blessing he had charged him, saying:  Thou shalt not take a wife of
the daughters of Chanaan:

28:7. And that Jacob obeying his parents, was gone into Syria:

28:8. Experiencing also, that his father was not well pleased with the
daughters of Chanaan:

28:9. He went to Ismael, and took to wife, besides them he had before,
Maheleth, the daughter of Ismael, Abraham's son, the sister of
Nabajoth.

28:10. But Jacob being departed from Bersabee, went on to Haran.

28:11. And when he was come to a certain place, and would rest in it
after sunset, he took of the stones that lay there, and putting under
his head, slept in the same place.

28:12. And he saw in his sleep a ladder standing upon the earth, and
the top thereof touching heaven:  the angels also of God ascending and
descending by it.

28:13. And the Lord leaning upon the ladder saying to him:  I am the
Lord God of Abraham thy father, and the God of Isaac:  The land, wherein
thou sleepest, I will give to thee and to thy seed.

28:14. And thy seed shall be as the dust of the earth:  thou shalt
spread abroad to the west, and to the east, and to the north, and to
the south:  and IN THEE and thy seed, all the tribes of the earth SHALL
BE BLESSED.

28:15. And I will be thy keeper whithersoever thou goest, and will
bring thee back into this land:  neither will I leave thee, till I shall
have accomplished all that I have said.

28:16. And when Jacob awaked out of sleep, he said:  Indeed the Lord is
in this place, and I knew it not.

28:17. And trembling, he said:  How terrible is this place?  this is no
other but the house of God, and the gate of heaven.

28:18. And Jacob arising in the morning, took the stone which he had
laid under his head, and set it up for a title, pouring oil upon the
top of it.

28:19. And he called the name of the city Bethel, which before was
called Luza.

Bethel. . .This name signifies the house of God.

28:20. And he made a vow, saying:  If God shall be with me, and shall
keep me in the way, by which I walk, and shall give me bread to eat,
and raiment to put on,

28:21. And I shall return prosperously to my father's house:  the Lord
shall be my God:

28:22. And this stone, which I have set up for a title, shall be called
the house of God:  and of all things that thou shalt give to me, I will
offer tithes to thee.



Genesis Chapter 29


Jacob serveth Laban seven years for Rachel:  but is deceived with Lia:
he afterwards marrieth Rachel.  Lia bears him four sons.

29:1. Then Jacob went on in his journey, and came into the east
country.

29:2. And he saw a well in the field, and three flocks of sheep lying
by it:  for the beasts were watered out of it, and the mouth thereof was
closed with a great stone.

29:3. And the custom was, when all the sheep were gathered together, to
roll away the stone, and after the sheep were watered, to put it on the
mouth of the well again.

29:4. And he said to the shepherds:  Brethren, whence are you?  They
answered:  Of Haran.

29:5. And he asked them, saying:  Know you Laban, the son of Nachor?
They said:  We know him.

29:6. He said:  Is he in health?  He is in health, say they:  and behold,
Rachel, his daughter, cometh with his flock.

29:7. And Jacob said:  There is yet much day remaining, neither is it
time to bring the flocks into the folds again:  first give the sheep
drink, and so lead them back to feed.

29:8. They answered:  We cannot, till all the cattle be gathered
together, and we remove the stone from the well's mouth, that we may
water the flocks.

29:9. They were yet speaking, and behold Rachel came with her father's
sheep; for she fed the flock.

29:10. And when Jacob saw her, and knew her to be his cousin german,
and that they were the sheep of Laban, his uncle:  he removed the stone
wherewith the well was closed.

29:11. And having watered the flock, he kissed her:  and lifting up his
voice wept.

29:12. And he told her that he was her father's brother, and the son of
Rebecca:  but she went in haste and told her father.

29:13. Who, when he heard that Jacob his sister's son was come, ran
forth to meet him:  and embracing him, and heartily kissing him, brought
him into his house.  And when he had heard the causes of his journey,

29:14. He answered:  Thou art my bone and my flesh.  And after the days
of one month were expired,

29:15. He said to him:  Because thou art my brother, shalt thou serve me
without wages?  Tell me what wages thou wilt have.

29:16. Now he had two daughters, the name of the elder was Lia; and the
younger was called Rachel.

29:17. But Lia was blear-eyed:  Rachel was well favoured, and of a
beautiful countenance.

29:18. And Jacob being in love with her, said:  I will serve thee seven
years for Rachel, thy younger daughter.

29:19. Laban answered:  It is better that I give her to thee than to
another man; stay with me.

29:20. So Jacob served seven years for Rachel:  and they seemed but a
few days, because of the greatness of his love.

29:21. And he said to Laban:  Give me my wife; for now the time is
fulfilled, that I may go in unto her.

29:22. And he, having invited a great number of his friends to the
feast, made the marriage.

29:23. And at night he brought in Lia, his daughter, to him,

29:24. Giving his daughter a handmaid, named Zelpha.  Now when Jacob had
gone in to her according to custom, when morning was come he saw it was
Lia.

29:25. And he said to his father-in-law:  What is it that thou didst
mean to do?  did not I serve thee for Rachel?  why hast thou deceived me?

29:26. Laban answered:  It is not the custom in this place, to give the
younger in marriage first.

29:27. Make up the week of days of this match:  and I will give thee her
also, for the service that thou shalt render me other seven years.

29:28. He yielded to his pleasure:  and after the week was past, he
married Rachel:

29:29. To whom her father gave Bala, for her servant.

29:30. And having at length obtained the marriage he wished for, he
preferred the love of the latter before the former, and served with him
other seven years.

29:31. And the Lord seeing that he despised Lia, opened her womb, but
her sister remained barren.

29:32. And she conceived and bore a son, and called his name Ruben,
saying:  The Lord saw my affliction:  now my husband will love me.

29:33. And again she conceived and bore a son, and said:  Because the
Lord heard that I was despised, he hath given this also to me:  and she
called his name Simeon.

29:34. And she conceived the third time, and bore another son, and
said:  Now also my husband will be joined to me, because I have borne
him three sons:  and therefore she called his name Levi.

29:35. The fourth time she conceived and bore a son, and said:  Now will
I praise the Lord:  and for this she called him Juda.  And she left
bearing.



Genesis Chapter 30


Rachel, being barren, delivereth her handmaid to Jacob; she beareth two
sons.  Lia ceasing to bear, giveth also her handmaid, and she beareth
two more.  Then Lia beareth other two sons and one daughter.  Rachel
beareth Joseph.  Jacob, desirous to return home, is hired to stay for a
certain part of the flock's increase, whereby he becometh exceeding
rich.

30:1. And Rachel seeing herself without children, envied her sister,
and said to her husband:  Give me children, otherwise I shall die.

30:2. And Jacob being angry with her, answered:  Am I as God, who hath
deprived thee of the fruit of thy womb?

30:3. But she said:  I have here my servant Bala:  go in unto her, that
she may bear upon my knees, and I may have children by her.

30:4. And she gave him Bala in marriage:  who,

30:5. When her husband had gone in unto her, conceived and bore a son.

30:6. And Rachel said:  The Lord hath judged for me, and hath heard my
voice, giving me a son; and therefore she called his name Dan.

30:7. And again Bala conceived, and bore another,

30:8. For whom Rachel said:  God hath compared me with my sister, and I
have prevailed:  and she called him Nephthali.

30:9. Lia perceiving that she had left of bearing, gave Zelpha, her
handmaid, to her husband.

30:10. And when she had conceived, and brought forth a son,

30:11. She said:  Happily.  And therefore called his name Gad.

30:12. Zelpha also bore another.

30:13. And Lia said:  This is for my happiness:  for women will call me
blessed.  Therefore she called him Aser.

30:14. And Ruben going out in the time of the wheat harvest into the
field, found mandrakes:  which he brought to his mother Lia.  And Rachel
said:  Give me part of thy son's mandrakes.

30:15. She answered:  Dost thou think it a small matter, that thou hast
taken my husband from me, unless thou take also my son's mandrakes?
Rachel said:  He shall sleep with thee this night, for thy son's
mandrakes.

30:16. And when Jacob returned at even from the field, Lia went out to
meet him, and said:  Thou shalt come in unto me, because I have hired
thee for my son's mandrakes.  And he slept with her that night.

30:17. And God heard her prayers; and she conceived:  and bore a fifth
son:

30:18. And said:  God hath given me a reward, because I gave my handmaid
to my husband.  And she called his name Issachar.

30:19. And Lia conceived again, and bore the sixth son,

30:20. And said:  God hath endowed me with a good dowry; this turn also
my husband will be with me, because I have borne him six sons:  and
therefore she called his name Zabulon.

30:21. After whom she bore a daughter, named Dina.

30:22. The Lord also remembering Rachel, heard her, and opened her
womb.

30:23. And she conceived, and bore a son, saying:  God hath taken away
my reproach.

30:24. And she called his name Joseph:  saying:  The Lord give me also
another son.

30:25. And when Joseph was born, Jacob said to his father-in-law:  Send
me away, that I may return into my country, and to my land.

30:26. Give me my wives, and my children, for whom I have served thee,
that I may depart:  thou knowest the service that I have rendered thee.

30:27. Laban said to him:  Let me find favour in thy sight:  I have
learned, by experience, that God hath blessed me for thy sake.

30:28. Appoint thy wages which I shall give thee.

30:29. But he answered:  Thou knowest how I have served thee, and how
great thy possession hath been in my hands.

30:30. Thou hadst but little before I came to thee, and now thou art
become rich:  and the Lord hath blessed thee at my coming.  It is
reasonable, therefore, that I should now provide also for my own house.

30:31. And Laban said:  What shall I give thee?  But he said:  I require
nothing; but if thou wilt do what I demand, I will feed and keep thy
sheep again.

30:32. Go round through all thy flocks, and separate all the sheep of
divers colours, and speckled; and all that is brown and spotted, and of
divers colours, as well among the sheep as among the goats, shall be my
wages.

30:33. And my justice shall answer for me tomorrow before thee, when
the time of the bargain shall come; and all that is not of divers
colours, and spotted, and brown, as well among the sheep as among the
goats, shall accuse me of theft.

30:34. And Laban said:  I like well what thou demandest.

30:35. And he separated the same day the she-goats, and the sheep, and
the he-goats, and the rams of divers colours, and spotted; and all the
flock of one colour, that is, of white and black fleece, he delivered
into the hands of his sons.

30:36. And he set the space of three days journey betwixt himself and
his son-in-law, who fed the rest of his flock.

30:37. And Jacob took green rods of poplar, and of almond, and of
plane-trees, and pilled them in part:  so when the bark was taken off,
in the parts that were pilled, there appeared whiteness:  but the parts
that were whole, remained green:  and by this means the colour was
divers.

30:38. And he put them in the troughs, where the water was poured out;
that when the flocks should come to drink, they might have the rods
before their eyes, and in the sight of them might conceive.

30:39. And it came to pass, that in the very heat of coition, the sheep
beheld the rods, and brought forth spotted, and of divers colours, and
speckled.

30:40. And Jacob separated the flock, and put the rods in the troughs
before the eyes of the rams; and all the white and the black were
Laban's, and the rest were Jacob's, when the flocks were separated one
from the other.

30:41. So when the ewes went first to ram, Jacob put the rods in the
troughs of water before the eyes of the rams, and of the ewes, that
they might conceive while they were looking upon them.

30:42. But when the later coming was, and the last conceiving, he did
not put them.  And those that were lateward, became Laban's; and they of
the first time, Jacob's.

30:43. And the man was enriched exceedingly, and he had many flocks,
maid-servants and men-servants, camels and asses.



Genesis Chapter 31


Jacob's departure:  he is pursued and overtaken by Laban.  They make a
covenant.

31:1. But after that he had heard the words of the sons of Laban,
saying:  Jacob hath taken away all that was our father's, and being
enriched by his substance is become great.

31:2. And perceiving also, that Laban's countenance was not towards him
as yesterday and the other day.

31:3. Especially the Lord saying to him:  Return into the land of thy
fathers and to thy kindred, and I will be with thee.

31:4. He sent, and called Rachel and Lia into the field, where he fed
the flocks,

31:5. And said to them:  I see your father's countenance is not towards
me as yesterday and the other day:  but the God of my father hath been
with me.

31:6. And you know that I have served your father to the uttermost of
my power.

31:7. Yea your father hath also overreached me, and hath changed my
wages ten times:  and yet God hath not suffered him to hurt me.

31:8. If at any time, he said:  The speckled shall be thy wages:  all the
sheep brought forth speckled:  but when he said on the contrary:  Thou
shalt take all the white one for thy wages:  all the flocks brought
forth white ones.

31:9. And God hath taken your father's substance, and given it to me.

31:10. For after the time came of the ewes conceiving, I lifted up my
eyes, and saw in my sleep, that the males which leaped upon the females
were of divers colours, and spotted, and speckled.

31:11. And the angel of God said to me in my sleep:  Jacob.  And I
answered:  Here I am.

31:12. And he said:  Lift up thy eyes, and see that all the males
leaping upon the females, are of divers colours, spotted and speckled.
For I have seen all that Laban hath done to thee.

31:13. I am the God of Bethel, where thou didst anoint the stone, and
make a vow to me.  Now therefore arise, and go out of this land, and
return into thy native country.

31:14. And Rachel and Lia answered:  Have we any thing left among the
goods and inheritance of our father's house?

31:15. Hath he not counted us as strangers, and sold us, and eaten up
the price of us?

31:16. But God hath taken our father's riches, and delivered them to
us, and to our children:  wherefore, do all that God hath commanded
thee.

31:17. Then Jacob rose up, and having set his children and wives upon
camels, went his way.

31:18. And he took all his substance, and flocks, and whatsoever he had
gotten in Mesopotamia, and went forward to Isaac, his father, to the
land of Chanaan.

31:19. At that time Laban was gone to shear his sheep, and Rachel stole
away her father's idols.

Her father's idols. . .By this it appears that Laban was an idolater;
and some of the fathers are of opinion that Rachel stole away these
idols to withdraw him from idolatry, removing the occasion of his sin.

31:20. And Jacob would not confess to his father-in-law that he was
flying away.

31:21. And when he was gone, together with all that belonged to him,
and having passed the river, was going on towards mount Galaad,

31:22. It was told Laban on the third day, that Jacob fled.

31:23. And he took his brethren with him, and pursued after him seven
days; and overtook him in the mount of Galaad.

31:24. And he saw in a dream God, saying to him:  Take heed thou speak
not any thing harshly against Jacob.

31:25. Now Jacob had pitched his tent in the mountain:  and when he,
with his brethren, had overtaken him, he pitched his tent in the same
mount of Galaad.

31:26. And he said to Jacob:  Why hast thou done thus, to carry away,
without my knowledge, my daughters as captives taken with the sword?

31:27. Why wouldst thou run away privately, and not acquaint me, that I
might have brought thee on the way with joy, and with songs, and with
timbrels, and with harps?

31:28. Thou hast not suffered me to kiss my sons and daughters; thou
hast done foolishly; and now indeed,

31:29. It is in my power to return thee evil; but the God of your
father said to me yesterday:  Take heed thou speak not any thing harshly
against Jacob.

31:30. Suppose thou didst desire to go to thy friends, and hadst a
longing after thy father's house:  why hast thou stolen away my gods?

31:31. Jacob answered:  That I departed unknown to thee, it was for fear
lest thou wouldst take away thy daughters by force.

31:32. But, whereas, thou chargest me with theft:  with whomsoever thou
shalt find thy gods, let him be slain before our brethren.  Search, and
if thou find any of thy things with me, take them away.  Now when he
said this, he knew not that Rachel had stolen the idols.

31:33. So Laban went into the tent of Jacob, and of Lia, and of both
the handmaids, and found them not.  And when he was entered into
Rachel's tent,

31:34. She, in haste, hid the idols under the camel's furniture, and
sat upon them:  and when he had searched all the tent, and found
nothing,

31:35. She said:  Let not my lord be angry that I cannot rise up before
thee, because it has now happened to me according to the custom of
women.  So his careful search was in vain.

31:36. And Jacob being angry, said in a chiding manner:  For what fault
of mine, and for what offence on my part hast thou so hotly pursued me,

31:37. And searched all my household stuff?  What hast thou found of all
the substance of thy house?  lay it here before my brethren, and thy
brethren, and let them judge between me and thee.

31:38. Have I, therefore, been with thee twenty years?  thy ewes and
goats were not barren, the rams of thy flocks I did not eat:

31:39. Neither did I shew thee that which the beast had torn; I made
good all the damage:  whatsoever was lost by theft, thou didst exact it
of me:

31:40. Day and night was I parched with heat, and with frost, and sleep
departed from my eyes.

31:41. And in this manner have I served thee in thy house twenty years,
fourteen for thy daughters, and six for thy flocks:  thou hast changed
also my wages ten times.

31:42. Unless the God of my father, Abraham, and the fear of Isaac, had
stood by me, peradventure now thou hadst sent me away naked:  God beheld
my affliction and the labour of my hands, and rebuked thee yesterday.

31:43. Laban answered him:  The daughters are mine, and the children,
and thy flocks, and all things that thou seest are mine:  what can I do
to my children, and grandchildren?

31:44. Come, therefore, let us enter into a league; that it may be for
a testimony between me and thee.

31:45. And Jacob took a stone, and set it up for a title.

31:46. And he said to his brethren:  Bring hither stones.  And they,
gathering stones together, made a heap, and they ate upon it.

31:47. And Laban called it, The witness heap; and Jacob, The hillock of
testimony:  each of them according to the propriety of his language.

31:48. And Laban said:  This heap shall be a witness between me and thee
this day, and therefore the name thereof was called Galaad, that is,
The witness heap.

31:49. The Lord behold and judge between us, when we shall be gone one
from the other.

31:50. If thou afflict my daughters, and if thou bring in other wives
over them:  none is witness of our speech but God, who is present and
beholdeth.

31:51. And he said again to Jacob:  Behold this heap, and the stone
which I have set up between me and thee,

31:52. Shall be a witness:  this heap, I say, and the stone, be they for
a testimony, if either I shall pass beyond it going towards thee, or
thou shalt pass beyond it thinking harm to me.

31:53. The God of Abraham, and the God of Nachor, the God of their
father, judge between us.  And Jacob swore by the fear of his father
Isaac:

31:54. And after he had offered sacrifices in the mountain, he called
his brethren to eat bread.  And when they had eaten, they lodged there:

31:55. But Laban arose in the night, and kissed his sons and daughters,
and blessed them:  and returned to his place.



Genesis Chapter 32


Jacob's vision of angels; his message and presents to Esau; his
wrestling with an angel.

32:1. Jacob also went on the journey he had begun:  and the angels of
God met him.

32:2. And when he saw them, he said:  These are the camps of God, and he
called the name of that place Mahanaim, that is, Camps.

32:3. And he sent messengers before him to Esau, his brother, to the
land of Seir, to the country of Edom:

32:4. And he commanded them, saying:  Thus shall ye speak to my lord
Esau:  Thus saith thy brother Jacob:  I have sojourned with Laban, and
have been with him until this day:

32:5. I have oxen, and asses, and sheep, and menservants, and
womenservants:  and now I send a message to my lord, that I may find
favour in thy sight.

32:6. And the messengers returned to Jacob, saying:  We came to Esau,
thy brother, and behold he cometh with speed to meet thee with four
hundred men.

32:7. Then Jacob was greatly afraid; and in his fear divided the people
that was with him, and the flocks, and the sheep, and the oxen, and the
camels, into two companies,

32:8. Saying:  If Esau come to one company, and destroy it, the other
company that is left, shall escape.

32:9. And Jacob said:  O God of my father Abraham, and God of my father
Isaac:  O Lord who saidst to me, Return to thy land, and to the place of
thy birth, and I will do well for thee.

32:10. I am not worthy of the least of all thy mercies, and of thy
truth which thou hast fulfilled to thy servant.  With my staff I passed
over this Jordan; and now I return with two companies.

32:11. Deliver me from the hand of my brother Esau, for I am greatly
afraid of him; lest perhaps he come, and kill the mother with the
children.

32:12. Thou didst say, that thou wouldst do well by me, and multiply my
seed like the sand of the sea, which cannot be numbered for multitude.

32:13. And when he had slept there that night, he set apart, of the
things which he had, presents for his brother Esau,

32:14. Two hundred she-goats, twenty he-goats, two hundred ewes, and
twenty rams,

32:15. Thirty milch camels with their colts, forty kine, and twenty
bulls, twenty she-asses, and ten of their foals.

32:16. And he sent them by the hands of his servants, every drove by
itself, and he said to his servants:  Go before me, and let there be a
space between drove and drove.

32:17. And he commanded the first, saying:  If thou meet my brother
Esau, and he ask thee:  Whose art thou?  or whither goest thou?  or whose
are these before thee?

32:18. Thou shalt answer:  Thy servant Jacob's:  he hath sent them as a
present to my lord Esau; and he cometh after us.

32:19. In like manner he commanded the second, and the third, and all
that followed the droves, saying:  Speak ye the same words to Esau, when
ye find him.

32:20. And ye shall add:  Thy servant Jacob himself also followeth after
us; for he said:  I will appease him with the presents that go before,
and afterwards I will see him, perhaps he will be gracious to me.

32:21. So the presents went before him, but himself lodged that night
in the camp.

32:22. And rising early, he took his two wives and his two handmaids,
with his eleven sons, and passed over the ford of Jaboc.

32:23. And when all things were brought over that belonged to him,

32:24. He remained alone; and behold, a man wrestled with him till
morning.

A man, etc. . .This was an angel in human shape, as we learn from Osee
12.4. He is called God, ver. 28 and 30, because he represented the
person of the Son of God.  This wrestling, in which Jacob, assisted by
God, was a match for an angel, was so ordered (ver. 28,) that he might
learn by this experiment of the divine assistance, that neither Esau,
nor any other man, should have power to hurt him.--It was also
spiritual, as appeareth by his earnest prayer, urging and at last
obtaining the angel's blessing.

32:25. And when he saw that he could not overcome him, he touched the
sinew of his thigh, and forthwith it shrank.

32:26. And he said to him:  Let me go, for it is break of day.  He
answered:  I will not let thee go, except thou bless me.

32:27. And he said:  What is thy name?  He answered:  Jacob.

32:28. But he said:  Thy name shall not be called Jacob, but Israel; for
if thou hast been strong against God, how much more shalt thou prevail
against men?

32:29. Jacob asked him:  Tell me by what name art thou called?  He
answered:  Why dost thou ask my name?  And he blessed him in the same
place.

32:30. And Jacob called the name of the place Phanuel, saying:  I have
seen God face to face, and my soul has been saved.

Phanuel. . .This word signifies the face of God, or the sight, or seeing
of God.

32:31. And immediately the sun rose upon him, after he was past
Phanuel; but he halted on his foot.

32:32. Therefore the children of Israel, unto this day, eat not the
sinew, that shrank in Jacob's thigh:  because he touched the sinew of
his thigh and it shrank.



Genesis Chapter 33


Jacob and Esau meet:  Jacob goeth to Salem, where he raiseth an altar.

33:1. And Jacob lifting up his eyes, saw Esau coming, and with him four
hundred men:  and he divided the children of Lia and of Rachel, and of
the two handmaids.

33:2. And he put both the handmaids and their children foremost:  and
Lia and her children in the second place:  and Rachel and Joseph last.

33:3. And he went forward and bowed down with his face to the ground
seven times, until his brother came near.

33:4. Then Esau ran to meet his brother, and embraced him:  and clasping
him fast about the neck, and kissing him, wept.

33:5. And lifting up his eyes, he saw the women and their children, and
said:  What mean these?  And do they belong to thee?  He answered:  They
are the children which God hath given to me, thy servant.

33:6. Then the handmaids and their children came near and bowed
themselves.

33:7. Lia also, with her children, came near and bowed down in like
manner; and last of all, Joseph and Rachel bowed down.

33:8. And Esau said:  What are the droves that I met?  He answered:  That
I might find favour before my lord.

33:9. But he said:  I have plenty, my brother, keep what is thine for
thyself.

33:10. And Jacob said:  Do not so I beseech thee, but if I have found
favour in thy eyes, receive a little present at my hands:  for I have
seen thy face, as if I should have seen the countenance of God:  be
gracious to me,

33:11. And take the blessing which I have brought thee, and which God
hath given me, who giveth all things.  He took it with much ado at his
brother's earnest pressing him,

33:12. And said:  Let us go on together, and I will accompany thee in
thy journey.

33:13. And Jacob said:  My lord, thou knowest that I have with me tender
children, and sheep, and kine with young:  which if I should cause to be
overdriven, in one day all the flocks will die.

33:14. May it please my lord to go before his servant:  and I will
follow softly after him, as I shall see my children to be able, until I
come to my lord in Seir.

33:15. Esau answered:  I beseech thee, that some of the people, at
least, who are with me, may stay to accompany thee in the way.  And he
said:  There is no necessity:  I want nothing else but only to find
favour, my lord, in thy sight.

33:16. So Esau returned that day, the way that he came, to Seir.

33:17. And Jacob came to Socoth:  where having built a house, and
pitched tents, he called the name of the place Socoth, that is, Tents.

33:18. And he passed over to Salem, a city of the Sichemites, which is
in the land of Chanaan, after he returned from Mesopotamia of Syria:
and he dwelt by the town.

33:19. And he bought that part of the field, in which he pitched his
tents, of the children of Hemor, the father of Sichem, for a hundred
lambs.

33:20. And raising an altar there, he invoked upon it the most mighty
God of Israel.



Genesis Chapter 34


Dina is ravished, for which the Sichemites are destroyed.

34:1. And Dina the daughter of Lia went out to see the women of that
country.

34:2. And when Sichem the son of Hemor the Hevite, the prince of that
land, saw her, he was in love with her:  and took her away, and lay with
her, ravishing the virgin.

34:3. And his soul was fast knit unto her; and whereas she was sad, he
comforted her with sweet words.

34:4. And going to Hemor his father, he said:  Get me this damsel to
wife.

34:5. But when Jacob had heard this, his sons being absent, and
employed in feeding the cattle, he held his peace till they came back.

34:6. And when Hemor the father of Sichem was come out to speak to
Jacob,

34:7. Behold his sons came from the field:  and hearing what had passed,
they were exceeding angry, because he had done a foul thing in Israel,
and committed an unlawful act, in ravishing Jacob's daughter.

34:8. And Hemor spoke to them:  The soul of my son Sichem has a longing
for your daughter:  give her him to wife:

34:9. And let us contract marriages one with another:  give us your
daughters, and take you our daughters.

34:10. And dwell with us:  the land is at your command, till, trade, and
possess it.

34:11. Sichem also said to her father and to her brethren:  Let me find
favour in your sight, and whatsoever you shall appoint I will give:

34:12. Raise the dowry, and ask gifts, and I will gladly give what you
shall demand:  only give me this damsel to wife.

34:13. The sons of Jacob answered Sichem and his father deceitfully,
being enraged at the deflowering of their sister:

Deceitfully. . .The sons of Jacob, on this occasion, were guilty of a
grievous sin, as well by falsely pretending religion, as by excess of
revenge:  though otherwise their zeal against so foul a crime was
commendable.

34:14. We cannot do what you demand, nor give our sister to one that is
uncircumcised; which with us is unlawful and abominable.

34:15. But in this we may be allied with you, if you will be like us,
and all the male sex among you be circumcised:

34:16. Then will we mutually give and take your daughters, and ours;
and we will dwell with you, and will be one people:

34:17. But if you will not be circumcised, we will take our daughter
and depart.

34:18. Their offer pleased Hemor, and Sichem, his son:

34:19. And the young man made no delay, but forthwith fulfilled what
was required:  for he loved the damsel exceedingly, and he was the
greatest man in all his father's house.

34:20. And going into the gate of the city, they spoke to the people:

34:21. These men are peaceable, and are willing to dwell with us:  let
them trade in the land, and till it, which being large and wide wanteth
men to till it:  we shall take their daughters for wives, and we will
give them ours.

34:22. One thing there is for which so great a good is deferred:  We
must circumcise every male among us, following the manner of the
nation.

34:23. And their substance, and cattle, and all that they possess,
shall be ours; only in this let us condescend, and by dwelling
together, we shall make one people.

34:24. And they all agreed, and circumcised all the males.

34:25. And behold the third day, when the pain of the wound was
greatest:  two of the sons of Jacob, Simeon and Levi, the brothers of
Dina, taking their swords, entered boldly into the city and slew all
the men.

34:26. And they killed also Hemor and Sichem, and took away their
sister Dina out of Sichem's house.

34:27. And when they were gone out, the other sons of Jacob came upon
the slain; and plundered the city in revenge of the rape.

34:28. And they took their sheep, and their herds, and their asses,
wasting all they had in their houses and in their fields.

34:29. And their children and wives they took captive.

34:30. And when they had boldly perpetrated these things, Jacob said to
Simeon and Levi:  You have troubled me, and made me hateful to the
Chanaanites and Pherezites, the inhabitants of this land.  We are few:
they will gather themselves together and kill me; and both I, and my
house shall be destroyed.

34:31. They answered:  Should they abuse our sister as a strumpet?



Genesis Chapter 35


Jacob purgeth his family from idols:  goeth by God's commandment to
Bethel, and there buildeth an altar.  God appearing again to Jacob
blesseth him, and changeth his name into Israel.  Rachel dieth in
childbirth.  Isaac also dieth.

35:1. In the mean time God said to Jacob:  Arise and go up to Bethel,
and dwell there, and make there an altar to God, who appeared to thee
when thou didst flee from Esau, thy brother.

35:2. And Jacob having called together all his household, said:  Cast
away the strange gods that are among you, and be cleansed, and change
your garments.

35:3. Arise, and let us go up to Bethel, that we may make there an
altar to God; who heard me in the day of my affliction, and accompained
me in my journey.

35:4. So they gave him all the strange gods they had, and the earrings
which were in their ears:  and he buried them under the turpentine tree,
that is behind the city of Sichem.

35:5. And when they were departed, the terror of God fell upon all the
cities round about, and they durst not pursue after them as they went
away.

35:6. And Jacob came to Luza, which is in the land of Chanaan, surnamed
Bethel:  he and all the people that were with him.

35:7. And he built there an altar, and called the name of that place,
The house of God:  for there God appeared to him when he fled from his
brother.

35:8. At the same time Debora, the nurse of Rebecca, died, and was
buried at the foot of Bethel, under an oak, and the name of that place
was called, The oak of weeping.

35:9. And God appeared again to Jacob, after he returned from
Mesopotamia of Syria, and he blessed him,

35:10. Saying:  Thou shalt not be called any more Jacob, but Israel
shall be thy name.  And he called him Israel.

Israel. . .This name signifieth one that prevaileth with God.

35:11. And said to him:  I am God almighty, increase thou and be
multiplied.  Nations and peoples of nations shall be from thee, and
kings shall come out of thy loins.

35:12. And the land which I gave to Abraham and Isaac, I will give to
thee, and to thy seed after thee.

35:13. And he departed from him.

35:14. But he set up a monument of stone, in the place where God had
spoken to him:  pouring drink-offerings upon it, and pouring oil
thereon:

35:15. And calling the name of that place Bethel.

35:16. And going forth from thence, he came in the spring time to the
land which leadeth to Ephrata:  wherein when Rachel was in travail,

35:17. By reason of her hard labour, she began to be in danger, and the
midwife said to her:  Fear not, for thou shalt have this son also.

35:18. And when her soul was departing for pain, and death was now at
hand, she called the name of her son Benoni, that is, the son of my
pain:  but his father called him Benjamin, that is, the son of the right
hand.

35:19. So Rachel died, and was buried in the highway that leadeth to
Ephrata, this is Bethlehem.

35:20. And Jacob erected a pillar over her sepulchre:  this is the
pillar of Rachel's monument, to this day.

35:21. Departing thence, he pitched his tent beyond the Flock tower.

35:22. And when he dwelt in that country, Ruben went, and slept with
Bala the concubine of his father:  which he was not ignorant of.  Now the
sons of Jacob were twelve.

The concubine. . .She was his lawful wife; but, according to the style
of the Hebrews, is called concubine, because of her servile extraction.

35:23. The sons of Lia:  Ruben the first born, and Simeon, and Levi, and
Juda, and Issachar, and Zabulon.

35:24. The sons of Rachel:  Joseph and Benjamin.

35:25. The sons of Bala, Rachel's handmaid:  Dan and Nephthali.

35:26. The sons of Zelpha, Lia's handmaid:  Gad and Aser:  these are the
sons of Jacob, that were born to him in Mesopotamia of Syria.

35:27. And he came to Isaac his father in Mambre, the city of Arbee,
this is Hebron:  wherein Abraham and Isaac sojourned.

35:28. And the days of Isaac were a hundred and eighty years.

35:29. And being spent with age he died, and was gathered to his
people, being old and full of days:  and his sons Esau and Jacob buried
him.



Genesis Chapter 36


Esau with his wives and children parteth from Jacob.  An account of his
descendants, and of the first kings of Edom.

36:1. And these are the generations of Esau, the same is Edom.

36:2. Esau took wives of the daughters of Chanaan:  Ada the daughter of
Elon the Hethite, and Oolibama the daughter of Ana, the daughter of
Sebeon the Hevite:

Ada. . .These wives of Esau are called by other names, Gen. 26.  But it
was very common amongst the ancients for the same persons to have two
names, as Esau himself was also called Edom.

36:3. And Basemath, the daughter of Ismael, sister of Nabajoth.

36:4. And Ada bore Eliphaz:  Basemath bore Rahuel.

36:5. Oolibama bore Jehus, and Ihelon, and Core.  These are the sons of
Esau, that were born to him in the land of Chanaan.

36:6. And Esau took his wives, and his sons and daughters, and every
soul of his house, and his substance, and cattle, and all that he was
able to acquire in the land of Chanaan:  and went into another country,
and departed from his brother Jacob.

36:7. For they were exceeding rich, and could not dwell together:
neither was the land in which they sojourned able to bear them, for the
multitude of their flocks.

36:8. And Esau dwelt in mount Seir:  he is Edom.

36:9. And these are the generations of Esau, the father of Edom, in
mount Seir.

36:10. And these the names of his sons:  Eliphaz the son of Ada, the
wife of Esau:  and Rahuel, the son of Basemath, his wife.

36:11. And Eliphaz had sons:  Theman, Omar, Sepho, and Gatham and Cenez.

36:12. And Thamna was the concubine of Eliphaz, the son of Esau:  and
she bore him Amalech.  These are the sons of Ada, the wife of Esau.

36:13. And the sons of Rahuel were Nahath and Zara, Samma and Meza.
These were the sons of Basemath, the wife of Esau.

36:14. And these were the sons of Oolibama, the daughter of Ana, the
daughter of Sebeon, the wife of Esau, whom she bore to him, Jehus, and
Ihelon, and Core.

36:15. These were dukes of the sons of Esau:  the sons of Eliphaz, the
firstborn of Esau:  duke Theman, duke Omar, duke Sepho, duke Cenez,

36:16. Duke Core, duke Gatham, duke Amalech:  these are the sons of
Eliphaz, in the land of Edom, and these the sons of Ada.

36:17. And these were the sons of Rahuel, the son of Esau:  duke Nahath,
duke Zara, duke Samma, duke Meza.  And these are the dukes of Rahuel, in
the land of Edom:  these the sons of Basemath, the wife of Esau.

36:18. And these the sons of Oolibama, the wife of Esau:  duke Jehus,
duke Ihelon, duke Core.  These are the dukes of Oolibama, the daughter
of Ana, and wife of Esau.

36:19. These are the sons of Esau, and these the dukes of them:  the
same is Edom.

36:20. These are the sons of Seir, the Horrite, the inhabitants of the
land:  Lotan, and Sobal, and Sebeon, and Ana,

36:21. And Dison, and Eser, and Disan.  These are dukes of the Horrites,
the sons of Seir, in the land of Edom.

36:22. And Lotan had sons:  Hori and Heman.  And the sister of Lotan was
Thamna.

36:23. And these the sons of Sobal:  Alvan, and Manahat, and Ebal, and
Sepho, and Onam.

36:24. And these the sons of Sebeon:  Aia and Ana.  This is Ana that
found the hot waters in the wilderness, when he fed the asses of
Sebeon, his father:

36:25. And he had a son Dison, and a daughter Oolibama.

36:26. And these were the sons of Dison:  Hamdan, and Eseban, and
Jethram, and Charan.

36:27. These also were the sons of Eser:  Balaan, and Zavan, and Acan.

36:28. And Dison had sons:  Hus and Aram.

36:29. These were dukes of the Horrites:  duke Lotan, duke Sobal, duke
Sebeon, duke Ana,

36:30. Duke Dison, duke Eser, duke Disan:  these were dukes of the
Horrites that ruled in the land of Seir.

36:31. And the kings that ruled in the land of Edom, before the
children of Israel had a king, were these:

36:32. Bela the son of Beor, and the name of his city Denaba.

36:33. And Bela died, and Jobab, the son of Zara, of Bosra, reigned in
his stead.

36:34. And when Jobab was dead, Husam, of the land of the Themanites,
reigned in his stead.

36:35. And after his death, Adad, the son of Badad, reigned in his
stead, who defeated the Madianites in the country of Boab; and the name
of his city was Avith.

36:36. And when Adad was dead, there reigned in his stead, Semla, of
Masreca.

36:37. And he being dead, Saul, of the river Rohoboth, reigned in his
stead.

36:38. And when he also was dead, Balanan, the son of Achobor,
succeeded to the kingdom.

36:39. This man also being dead, Adar reigned in his place; and the
name of his city was Phau:  and his wife was called Meetabel, the
daughter of Matred, daughter of Mezaab.

36:40. And these are the names of the dukes of Esau in their kindreds,
and places, and callings:  duke Thamna, duke Alva, duke Jetheth,

36:41. Duke Oolibama, duke Ela, duke Phinon,

36:42. Duke Cenez, duke Theman, duke Mabsar,

36:43. Duke Magdiel, duke Hiram:  these are the dukes of Edom dwelling
in the land of their government; the same is Esau, the father of the
Edomites.



Genesis Chapter 37


Joseph's dreams:  he is sold by his brethren, and carried into Egypt.

37:1. And Jacob dwelt in the land of Chanaan, wherein his father
sojourned.

37:2. And these are his generations:  Joseph, when he was sixteen years
old, was feeding the flock with his brethren, being but a boy:  and he
was with the sons of Bala and of Zelpha his father's wives:  and he
accused his brethren to his father of a most wicked crime.

37:3. Now Israel loved Joseph above all his sons, because he had him in
his old age:  and he made him a coat of divers colours.

37:4. And his brethren seeing that he was loved by his father, more
than all his sons, hated hem, and could not speak peaceably to him.

37:5. Now it fell out also that he told his brethren a dream, that he
had dreamed:  which occasioned them to hate him the more.

A dream. . .These dreams of Joseph were prophetical, and sent from God;
as were also those which he interpreted, Gen. 40. and 41.; otherwise
generally speaking, the observing of dreams is condemned in the
Scripture, as superstitious and sinful.  See Deut. 18.10; Eccli. 34.2,3.

37:6. And he said to them:  Hear my dream which I dreamed.

37:7. I thought we were binding sheaves in the field:  and my sheaf
arose as it were, and stood, and your sheaves standing about bowed down
before my sheaf.

37:8. His brethren answered:  Shalt thou be our king?  or shall we be
subject to thy dominion?  Therefore this matter of his dreams and words
ministered nourishment to their envy and hatred.

37:9. He dreamed also another dream, which he told his brethren,
saying:  I saw in a dream, as it were the sun, and the moon, and eleven
stars worshipping me.

37:10. And when he had told this to his father, and brethren, his
father rebuked him and said:  What meaneth this dream that thou hast
dreamed?  shall I and thy mother, and thy brethren worship thee upon the
earth?

Worship. . .This word is not used here to signify divine worship, but an
inferior veneration, expressed by the bowing of the body, and that,
according to the manner of the eastern nations, down to the ground.

37:11. His brethren therefore envied him:  but his father considered the
thing with himself.

37:12. And when his brethren abode in Sechem, feeding their father's
flocks,

37:13. Israel said to him:  Thy brethren feed the sheep in Sichem:  come,
I will send thee to them.  And when he answered:

37:14. I am ready:  he said to him:  Go, and see if all things be well
with thy brethren, and the cattle:  and bring me word again what is
doing.  So being sent from the vale of Hebron, he came to Sichem:

37:15. And a man found him there wandering in the field, and asked what
he sought.

37:16. But he answered:  I seek my brethren, tell me where they feed the
flocks.

37:17. And the man said to him:  They are departed from this place:  for
I heard them say:  Let us go to Dothain.  And Joseph went forward after
his brethren, and found them in Dothain.

37:18. And when they saw him afar off, before he came nigh them, they
thought to kill him:

37:19. And said one to another:  Behold the dreamer cometh.

37:20. Come, let us kill him, and cast him into some old pit:  and we
will say:  Some evil beast hath devoured him:  and then it shall appear
what his dreams avail him:

37:21. And Ruben hearing this, endeavoured to deliver him out of their
hands, and said:

37:22. Do not take away his life, nor shed his blood:  but cast him into
this pit, that is in the wilderness, and keep your hands harmless:  now
he said this, being desirous to deliver him out of their hands and to
restore him to his father.

37:23. And as soon as he came to his brethren, they forthwith stript
him of his outside coat, that was of divers colours:

37:24. And cast him into an old pit where there was not water.

37:25. And sitting down to eat bread, they saw some Ismaelites on their
way coming from Galaad, with their camels, carrying spices, and balm,
and myrrh to Egypt.

37:26. And Juda said to his brethren:  What will it profit us to kill
our brother, and conceal his blood?

37:27. It is better that he be sold to the Ismaelites, and that our
hands be not defiled:  for he is our brother and our flesh.  His brethren
agreed to his words.

37:28. And when the Madianite merchants passed by, they drew him out of
the pit, and sold him to the Ismaelites, for twenty pieces of silver:
and they led him into Egypt.

37:29. And Ruben returning to the pit, found not the boy:

37:30. And rending his garments he went to his brethren, and said:  The
boy doth not appear, and whither shall I go?

37:31. And they took his coat, and dipped it in the blood of a kid,
which they had killed:

37:32. Sending some to carry it to their father, and to say:  This we
have found:  see whether it be thy son's coat, or not.

37:33. And the father acknowledging it, said:  It is my son's coat, an
evil wild beast hath eaten him, a beast hath devoured Joseph.

37:34. And tearing his garments, he put on sackcloth, mourning for his
son a long time.

37:35. And all his children being gathered together to comfort their
father in his sorrow, he would not receive comfort, but said:  I will go
down to my son into hell, mourning.  And whilst he continued weeping,

Into hell. . .That is, into limbo, the place where the souls of the just
were received before the death of our Redeemer.  For allowing that the
word hell sometimes is taken for the grave, it cannot be so taken in
this place; since Jacob did not believe his son to be in the grave,
(whom he supposed to be devoured by a wild beast,) and therefore could
not mean to go down to him thither:  but certainly meant the place of
rest where he believed his soul to be.

37:36. The Madianites sold Joseph in Egypt to Putiphar, an eunuch of
Pharao, captain of the soldiers.

An eunuch. . .This word sometimes signifies a chamberlain, courtier, or
officer of the king:  and so it is taken in this place.



Genesis Chapter 38


The sons of Juda:  the death of Her and Onan:  the birth of Phares and
Zara.

38:1. At that time Juda went down from his brethren, and turned in to a
certain Odollamite, named Hiras.

38:2. And he saw there the daughter of a man of Chanaan, called Sue:
and taking her to wife, he went in unto her.

38:3. And she conceived, and bore a son, and called his name Her.

38:4. And conceiving again, she bore a son, and called him Onan.

38:5. She bore also a third:  whom she called Sela.  After whose birth,
she ceased to bear any more.

38:6. And Juda took a wife for Her, his first born, whose name was
Thamar.

38:7. And Her, the first born of Juda, was wicked in the sight of the
Lord:  and was slain by him.

38:8. Juda, therefore, said to Onan his son:  Go in to thy brother's
wife and marry her, that thou mayst raise seed to thy brother.

38:9. He knowing that the children should not be his, when he went in
to his brother's wife, he spilled his seed upon the ground, lest
children should be born in his brother's name.

38:10. And therefore the Lord slew him, because he did a detestable
thing:

38:11. Wherefore Juda said to Thamar his daughter-in-law:  Remain a
widow in thy father's house, till Sela my son grow up:  for he was
afraid lest he also might die, as his brethren did.  She went her way,
and dwelt in her father's house.

38:12. And after many days were past:  the daughter of Sue the wife of
Juda died:  and when he had taken comfort after his mourning, he went up
to Thamnas, to the shearers of his sheep, he and Hiras the Odollamite,
the shepherd of his flock.

38:13. And it was told Thamar that her father-in-law was come up to
Thamnas to shear his sheep.

38:14. And she put off the garments of her widowhood, and took a veil:
and changing her dress, sat in the cross way, that leadeth to Thamnas:
because Sela was grown up, and she had not been married to him.

38:15. When Juda saw her, he thought she was a harlot:  for she had
covered her face, lest she should be known.

38:16. And going to her, he said:  Suffer me to lie with thee:  for he
knew her not to be his daughter-in-law.  And she answered:  What wilt
thou give me to enjoy my company?

38:17. He said:  I will send thee a kid out of the flock.  And when she
said again:  I will suffer what thou wilt, if thou give me a pledge,
till thou send what thou promisest.

38:18. Juda said:  What wilt thou have for a pledge?  She answered:  Thy
ring and bracelet, and the staff which thou holdest in thy hand.  The
woman therefore at one copulation conceived.

38:19. And she arose and went her way:  and putting off the apparel
which she had taken, put on the garments of her widowhood.

38:20. And Juda sent a kid by his shepherd, the Odollamite, that he
might receive the pledge again, which he had given to the woman:  but
he, not finding her,

38:21. Asked the men of that place:  Where is the woman that sat in the
cross way?  And when they all made answer:  There was no harlot in this
place,

38:22. He returned to Juda, and said to him:  I have not found her;
moreover, the men of that place said to me, that there never sat a
harlot there.

38:23. Juda said:  Let her take it to herself, surely she cannot charge
us with a lie, I sent the kid which I promised:  and thou didst not find
her.

38:24. And behold, after three months, they told Juda, saying:  Thamar,
thy daughter-in-law, hath played the harlot, and she appeareth to have
a big belly.  And Juda said:  Bring her out that she may be burnt.

38:25. But when she was led to execution, she sent to her father in
law, saying:  By the man, to whom these things belong, I am with child.
See whose ring, and bracelet, and staff this is.

38:26. But he acknowledging the gifts, said:  She is juster than I:
because I did not give her to Sela, my son.  However he knew her no
more.

38:27. And when she was ready to be brought to bed, there appeared
twins in her womb:  and in the very delivery of the infants, one put
forth a hand, whereon the midwife tied a scarlet thread, saying:

38:28. This shall come forth the first.

38:29. But he drawing back his hand, the other came forth:  and the
woman said:  Why is the partition divided for thee?  and therefore called
his name Phares.

Phares. . .That is, a breach or division.

38:30. Afterwards his brother came out, on whose hand was the scarlet
thread:  and she called his name Zara.



Genesis Chapter 39


Joseph hath charge of his master's house:  rejecteth his mistress's
solicitations:  is falsely accused by her, and cast into prison, where
he hath the charge of all the prisoners.

39:1. And Joseph was brought into Egypt, and Putiphar, an eunuch of
Pharao, chief captain of the army, an Egyptian, bought him of the
Ismaelites, by whom he was brought.

39:2. And the Lord was with him, and he was a prosperous man in all
things:  and he dwelt in his master's house:

39:3. Who knew very well that the Lord was with him, and made all that
he did to prosper in his hand.

39:4. And Joseph found favour in the sight of his master, and
ministered to him:  and being set over all by him, he governed the house
committed to him, and all things that were delivered to him:

39:5. And the Lord blessed the house of the Egyptian for Joseph's sake,
and multiplied all his substance, both at home and in the fields.

39:6. Neither knew he any other thing, but the bread which he ate.  And
Joseph was of a beautiful countenance, and comely to behold.

39:7. And after many days, his mistress cast her eyes on Joseph, and
said:  Lie with me.

39:8. But he in no wise consenting to that wicked act said to her:
Behold, my master hath delivered all things to me, and knoweth not what
he hath in his own house:

39:9. Neither is there any thing which is not in my power, or that he
hath not delivered to me, but thee, who art his wife; how then can I do
this wicked thing, and sin against my God?

39:10. With such words as these day by day, both the woman was
importunate with the young man, and he refused the adultery.

39:11. Now it happened on a certain day, that Joseph went into the
house, and was doing some business, without any man with him:

39:12. And she catching the skirt of his garment, said:  Lie with me.
But he leaving the garment in her hand, fled, and went out.

39:13. And when the woman saw the garment in her hands, and herself
disregarded,

39:14. She called to her the men of her house, and said to them:  See,
he hath brought in a Hebrew, to abuse us:  he came in to me, to lie with
me; and when I cried out,

39:15. And he heard my voice, he left the garment that I held, and got
him out.

39:16. For a proof therefore of her fidelity, she kept the garment, and
shewed it to her husband when he returned home:

A proof of her fidelity. . .or an argument to gain credit, argumentum
fidei.

39:17. And said:  The Hebrew servant, whom thou hast brought, came to me
to abuse me.

39:18. And when he heard me cry, he left the garment which I held, and
fled out.

39:19. His master hearing these things, and giving too much credit to
his wife's words, was very angry,

39:20. And cast Joseph into the prison, where the king's prisoners were
kept, and he was there shut up.

39:21. But the Lord was with Joseph, and having mercy upon him gave him
favour in the sight of the chief keeper of the prison:

39:22. Who delivered into his hand all the prisoners that were kept in
custody:  and whatsoever was done, was under him.

39:23. Neither did he himself know any thing, having committed all
things to him:  for the Lord was with him, and made all that he did to
prosper.



Genesis Chapter 40


Joseph interpreteth the dreams of two of Pharao's servants in prison:
the event declareth the interpretations to be true, but Joseph is
forgotten.

40:1. After this, it came to pass, that two eunuchs, the butler and the
baker of the king of Egypt, offended their lord.

40:2. And Pharao being angry with them, (now the one was chief butler,
the other chief baker,)

40:3. He sent them to the prison of the commander of the soldiers, in
which Joseph also was prisoner.

40:4. But the keeper of the prison delivered them to Joseph, and he
served them.  Some little time passed, and they were kept in custody.

40:5. And they both dreamed a dream the same night, according to the
interpretation agreeing to themselves:

40:6. And when Joseph was come into them in the morning, and saw them
sad,

40:7. He asked them, saying:  Why is your countenance sadder today than
usual?

40:8. They answered:  We have dreamed a dream, and there is nobody to
interpret it to us.  And Joseph said to them:  Doth not interpretation
belong to God?  Tell me what you have dreamed:

Doth not interpretation belong to God?. . .When dreams are from God, as
these were, the interpretation of them is a gift of God.  But the
generality of dreams are not of this sort; but either proceed from the
natural complexions and dispositions of persons, or the roving of their
imaginations in the day on such objects as they are much affected with,
or from their mind being disturbed with cares and troubles, and
oppressed with bodily infirmities:  or they are suggested by evil
spirits, to flatter, or to terrify weak minds, in order to gain belief,
and so draw them into error or superstition; or at least to trouble
them in their sleep, whom they cannot move when they are awake:  so that
the general rule, with regard to dreams, is not to observe them, nor to
give any credit to them.

40:9. The chief butler first told his dream:  I saw before me a vine,

40:10. On which were three branches, which by little and little sent
out buds, and after the blossoms brought forth ripe grapes:

40:11. And the cup of Pharao was in my hand:  and I took the grapes, and
pressed them into the cup which I held, and I gave the cup to Pharao.

40:12. Joseph answered:  This is the interpretation of the dream:  The
three branches, are yet three days:

40:13. After which Pharao will remember thy service, and will restore
thee to thy former place:  and thou shalt present him the cup according
to thy office, as before thou was wont to do.

40:14. Only remember me when it shall be well with thee, and do me this
kindness:  to put Pharao in mind to take me out of this prison:

40:15. For I was stolen away out of the land of the Hebrews, and here
without any fault was cast into the dungeon.

40:16. The chief baker seeing that he had wisely interpreted the dream,
said:  I also dreamed a dream, That I had three baskets of meal upon my
head:

40:17. And that in one basket which was uppermost, I carried all meats
that are made by the art of baking, and that the birds ate out of it.

40:18. Joseph answered:  This is the interpretation of the dream:  The
three baskets, are yet three days:

40:19. After which Pharao will take thy head from thee, and hang thee
on a cross, and the birds shall tear thy flesh.

40:20. The third day after this was the birthday of Pharao:  and he made
a great feast for his servants, and at the banquet remembered the chief
butler, and the chief baker.

40:21. And he restored the one to his place, to present him the cup:

40:22. The other he hanged on a gibbet, that the truth of the
interpreter might be shewn.

40:23. But the chief butler, when things prospered with him, forgot his
interpreter.



Genesis Chapter 41


Joseph interpreteth the two dreams of Pharao:  he is made ruler over all
Egypt.

41:1. After two years Pharao had a dream.  He thought he stood by the
river,

41:2. Out of which came up seven kine, very beautiful and fat:  and they
fed in marshy places.

41:3. Other seven also came up out of the river, ill-favoured, and lean
fleshed:  and they fed on the very bank of the river, in green places:

41:4. And they devoured them, whose bodies were very beautiful and well
conditioned.  So Pharao awoke.

41:5. He slept again, and dreamed another dream:  Seven ears of corn
came up upon one stalk full and fair:

41:6. Then seven other ears sprung up thin and blasted,

41:7. And devoured all the beauty of the former.  Pharao awaked after
his rest:

41:8. And when morning was come, being struck with fear, he sent to all
the interpreters of Egypt, and to all the wise men:  and they being
called for, he told them his dream, and there was not any one that
could interpret it.

41:9. Then at length the chief butler remembering, said:  I confess my
sin:

41:10. The king being angry with his servants, commanded me and the
chief baker to be cast into the prison of the captain of the soldiers.

41:11. Where in one night both of us dreamed a dream foreboding things
to come.

41:12. There was there a young man a Hebrew, servant to the same
captain of the soldiers:  to whom we told our dreams,

41:13. And we heard what afterwards the event of the thing proved to be
so.  For I was restored to my office:  and he was hanged upon a gibbet.

41:14. Forthwith at the king's command Joseph was brought out of the
prison, and they shaved him:  and changing his apparel brought him in to
him.

41:15. And he said to him:  I have dreamed dreams, and there is no one
that can expound them:  Now I have heard that thou art very wise at
interpreting them:

41:16. Joseph answered:  Without me, God shall give Pharao a prosperous
answer.

41:17. So Pharao told what he had dreamed:  Methought I stood upon the
bank of the river,

41:18. And seven kine came up out of the river, exceeding beautiful and
full of flesh:  and they grazed on green places in a marshy pasture.

41:19. And behold, there followed these, other seven kine, so very
ill-favoured and lean, that I never saw the like in the land of Egypt:

41:20. And they devoured and consumed the former,

41:21. And yet gave no mark of their being full:  but were as lean and
ill-favoured as before.  I awoke, and then fell asleep again,

41:22. And dreamed a dream:  Seven ears of corn grew up upon one stalk,
full and very fair.

41:23. Other seven also thin and blasted, sprung of the stalk:

41:24. And they devoured the beauty of the former:  I told this dream to
the conjecturers, and there is no man that can expound it.

41:25. Joseph answered:  The king's dream is one:  God hath shewn to
Pharao what he is about to do.

41:26. The seven beautiful kine, and the seven full ears, are seven
years of plenty:  and both contain the same meaning of the dream.

41:27. And the seven lean and thin kine that came up after them, and
the seven thin ears that were blasted with the burning wind, are seven
years of famine to come:

41:28. Which shall be fulfilled in this order.

41:29. Behold, there shall come seven years of great plenty in the
whole land of Egypt:

41:30. After which shall follow other seven years of so great scarcity,
that all the abundance before shall be forgotten:  for the famine shall
consume all the land,

41:31. And the greatness of the scarcity shall destroy the greatness of
the plenty.

41:32. And for that thou didst see the second time a dream pertaining
to the same thing:  it is a token of the certainty, and that the word of
God cometh to pass, and is fulfilled speedily.

41:33. Now therefore let the king provide a wise and industrious man,
and make him ruler over the land of Egypt:

41:34. That he may appoint overseers over all the countries:  and gather
into barns the fifth part of the fruits, during the seven fruitful
years,

41:35. That shall now presently ensue:  and let all the corn be laid up,
under Pharao's hands, and be reserved in the cities.

41:36. And let it be in readiness, against the famine of seven years to
come, which shall oppress Egypt, and the land shall not be consumed
with scarcity.

41:37. The counsel pleased Pharao, and all his servants.

41:38. And he said to them:  Can we find such another man, that is full
of the spirit of God?

41:39. He said therefore to Joseph:  Seeing God hath shewn thee all that
thou hast said, can I find one wiser and one like unto thee?

41:40. Thou shalt be over my house, and at the commandment of thy mouth
all the people shall obey:  only in the kingly throne will I be above
thee.

41:41. And again Pharao said to Joseph:  Behold, I have appointed thee
over the whole land of Egypt.

41:42. And he took his ring from his own hand, and gave it into his
hand:  and he put upon him a robe of silk, and put a chain of gold about
his neck.

41:43. And he made him go up into his second chariot, the crier
proclaiming that all should bow their knee before him, and that they
should know he was made governor over the whole land of Egypt.

41:44. And the king said to Joseph:  I am Pharao:  without thy
commandment no man shall move hand or foot in all the land of Egypt.

41:45. And he turned his name, and called him in the Egyptian tongue
the saviour of the world.  And he gave him to wife Aseneth, the daughter
of Putiphare, priest of Heliopolis.  Then Joseph went out to the land of
Egypt.

The saviour of the world. . .Zaphnah paaneah.

41:46. (Now he was thirty years old when he stood before king Pharao),
and he went round all the countries of Egypt.

41:47. And the fruitfulness of the seven years came:  and the corn being
bound up into sheaves, was gathered together into the barns of Egypt.

41:48. And all the abundance of grain was laid up in every city.

41:49. And there was so great abundance of wheat, that it was equal to
the sand of the sea, and the plenty exceeded measure.

41:50. And before the famine came, Joseph had two sons born:  whom
Aseneth, the daughter of Putiphare, priest of Heliopolis, bore unto
him.

41:51. And he called the name of the firstborn Manasses, saying:  God
hath made me to forget all my labours, and my father's house.

Manasses. . .That is, oblivion, or forgetting.

41:52. And he named the second Ephraim, saying:  God hath made me to
grow in the land of my poverty.

Ephraim. . .That is, fruitful, or growing.

41:53. Now when the seven years of plenty that had been in Egypt were
passed:

41:54. The seven years of scarcity, which Joseph had foretold, began to
come:  and the famine prevailed in the whole world, but there was bread
in all the land of Egypt.

41:55. And when there also they began to be famished, the people cried
to Pharao, for food.  And he said to them:  Go to Joseph:  and do all
that he shall say to you.

41:56. And the famine increased daily in all the land:  and Joseph
opened all the barns, and sold to the Egyptians:  for the famine had
oppressed them also.

41:57. And all provinces came into Egypt, to buy food, and to seek some
relief of their want.



Genesis Chapter 42


Jacob sendeth his ten sons to buy corn in Egypt.  Their treatment by
Joseph.

42:1. And Jacob hearing that food was sold in Egypt, said to his sons:
Why are ye careless?

42:2. I have heard that wheat is sold in Egypt:  Go ye down, and buy us
necessaries, that we may live, and not be consumed with want.

42:3. So the ten brethren of Joseph went down, to buy corn in Egypt:

42:4. Whilst Benjamin was kept at home by Jacob, who said to his
brethren:  Lest perhaps he take any harm in the journey.

42:5. And they entered into the land of Egypt with others that went to
buy.  For the famine was in the land of Chanaan.

42:6. And Joseph was governor in the land of Egypt, and corn was sold
by his direction to the people.  And when his brethren had bowed down to
him,

42:7. And he knew them, he spoke as it were to strangers, somewhat
roughly, asking them:  Whence came you?  They answered:  From the land of
Chanaan, to buy necessaries of life.

42:8. And though he knew his brethren, he was not known by them.

42:9. And remembering the dreams, which formerly he had dreamed, he
said to them:  You are spies.  You are come to view the weaker parts of
the land.

You are spies. . .This he said by way of examining them, to see what
they would answer.

42:10. But they said:  It is not so, my lord; but thy servants are come
to buy food.

42:11. We are all the sons of one man:  we are come as peaceable men,
neither do thy servants go about any evil.

42:12. And he answered them:  It is otherwise:  you are come to consider
the unfenced parts of this land.

42:13. But they said:  We thy servants are twelve brethren, the sons of
one man in the land of Chanaan:  the youngest is with our father, the
other is not living.

42:14. He saith, This is it that I said:  You are spies.

42:15. I shall now presently try what you are:  by the health of Pharao,
you shall not depart hence, until your youngest brother come.

42:16. Send one of you to fetch him:  and you shall be in prison, till
what you have said be proved, whether it be true or false:  or else by
the health of Pharao you are spies.

Or else by the health of Pharao you are spies. . .That is, if these
things you say be proved false, you are to be held for spies for your
lying, and shall be treated as such.  Joseph dealt in this manner with
his brethren, to bring them by the means of affliction to a sense of
their former sin, and a sincere repentance for it.

42:17. So he put them in prison three days.

42:18. And the third day he brought them out of prison, and said:  Do as
I have said, and you shall live:  for I fear God.

42:19. If you be peaceable men, let one of your brethren be bound in
prison:  and go ye your ways, and carry the corn that you have bought,
unto your houses.

42:20. And bring your youngest brother to me, that I may find your
words to be true, and you may not die.  They did as he had said.

42:21. And they talked one to another:  We deserve to suffer these
things, because we have sinned against our brother, seeing the anguish
of his soul, when he besought us, and we would not hear:  therefore is
this affliction come upon us.

42:22. And Ruben, one of them, said:  Did not I say to you:  Do not sin
against the boy; and you would not hear me?  Behold his blood is
required.

42:23. And they knew not that Joseph understood, because he spoke to
them by an interpreter.

42:24. And he turned himself away a little while, and wept:  and
returning, he spoke to them.

42:25. And taking Simeon, and binding him in their presence, he
commanded his servants to fill their sacks with wheat, and to put every
man's money again in their sacks, and to give them besides provisions
for the way:  and they did so.

42:26. But they having loaded their asses with the corn went their way.

42:27. And one of them opening his sack, to give his beast provender in
the inn, saw the money in the sack's mouth,

42:28. And said to his brethren:  My money is given me again; behold it
is in the sack.  And they were astonished, and troubled, and said to one
another:  What is this that God hath done unto us?

42:29. And they came to Jacob their father in the land of Chanaan, and
they told him all things that had befallen them, saying:

42:30. The lord of the land spoke roughly to us, and took us to be
spies of the country.

42:31. And we answered him:  We are peaceable men, and we mean no plot.

42:32. We are twelve brethren born of one father:  one is not living,
the youngest is with our father in the land of Chanaan.

42:33. And he said to us:  Hereby shall I know that you are peaceable
men:  Leave one of your brethren with me, and take ye necessary
provision for your houses, and go your ways,

42:34. And bring your youngest brother to me, that I may know you are
not spies:  and you may receive this man again, that is kept in prison:
and afterwards may have leave to buy what you will.

42:35. When they had told this, they poured out their corn, and every
man found his money tied in the mouth of his sack:  and all being
astonished together,

42:36. Their father Jacob said:  You have made me to be without
children:  Joseph is not living, Simeon is kept in bonds, and Benjamin
you will take away:  all these evils are fallen upon me.

42:37. And Ruben answered him:  Kill my two sons, if I bring him not
again to thee:  deliver him into my hand, and I will restore him to
thee.

42:38. But he said:  My son shall not go down with you:  his brother is
dead, and he is left alone:  if any mischief befall him in the land to
which you go, you will bring down my grey hairs with sorrow to hell.

To hell. . .That is, to that place, where the souls then remained, as
above, chapter 37. ver. 35.



Genesis Chapter 43


The sons of Jacob go again into Egypt with Benjamin.  They are
entertained by Joseph.

43:1. In the mean time the famine was heavy upon all the land.

43:2. And when they had eaten up all the corn, which they had brought
out of Egypt, Jacob said to his sons:  Go again, and buy us a little
food.

43:3. Juda answered:  The man declared unto us with the attestation of
an oath, saying:  You shall not see my face, unless you bring your
youngest brother with you.

43:4. If therefore thou wilt send him with us, we will set out
together, and will buy necessaries for thee.

43:5. But if thou wilt not, we will not go:  for the man, as we have
often said, declared unto us, saying:  You shall not see my face without
your youngest brother.

43:6. Israel said to them:  You have done this for my misery, in that
you told him you had also another brother.

43:7. But they answered:  The man asked us in order concerning our
kindred:  if our father lived:  if we had a brother:  and we answered him
regularly, according to what he demanded:  could we know that he would
say:  Bring hither your brother with you?

43:8. And Juda said to his father:  Send the boy with me, that we may
set forward, and may live:  lest both we and our children perish.

43:9. I take the boy upon me, require him at my hand:  unless I bring
him again, and restore him to thee, I will be guilty of sin against
thee for ever.

43:10. If delay had not been made, we had been here again the second
time.

43:11. Then Israel said to them:  If it must needs be so, do what you
will:  take of the best fruits of the land in your vessels, and carry
down presents to the man, a little balm, and honey, and storax, myrrh,
turpentine, and almonds.

Balm. . .Literally rosin, resinae; but here by that name is meant balm.

43:12. And take with you double money, and carry back what you found in
your sacks, lest perhaps it was done by mistake.

43:13. And take also your brother, and go to the man.

43:14. And may my almighty God make him favourable to you:  and send
back with you your brother, whom he keepeth, and this Benjamin:  and as
for me I shall be desolate without children.

43:15. So the men took the presents, and double money, and Benjamin:
and went down into Egypt, and stood before Joseph.

43:16. And when he had seen them, and Benjamin with them, he commanded
the steward of his house, saying:  Bring in the men into the house, and
kill victims, and prepare a feast:  because they shall eat with me at
noon.

43:17. He did as he was commanded, and brought the men into the house.

43:18. And they being much afraid, said there one to another:  Because
of the money, which we carried back the first time in our sacks, we are
brought in:  that he may bring upon us a false accusation, and by
violence make slaves of us and our asses.

43:19. Wherefore, going up to the steward of the house, at the door,

43:20. They said:  Sir, we desire thee to hear us.  We came down once
before to buy food:

43:21. And when we had bought, and were come to the inn, we opened our
sacks, and found our money in the mouths of the sacks:  which we have
now brought again in the same weight.

43:22. And we have brought other money besides, to buy what we want:  we
cannot tell who put it in our bags.

43:23. But he answered:  Peace be with you, fear not:  your God, and the
God of your father, hath given you treasure in your sacks.  For the
money, which you gave me, I have for good.  And he brought Simeon out to
them.

43:24. And having brought them into the house, he fetched water, and
they washed their feet, and he gave provender to their asses.

43:25. But they made ready the presents, against Joseph came at noon:
for they had heard that they should eat bread there.

43:26. Then Joseph came in to his house, and they offered him the
presents, holding them in their hands; and they bowed down with their
face to the ground.

43:27. But he courteously saluting them again, asked them, saying:  Is
the old man your father in health, of whom you told me?  Is he yet
living?

43:28. And they answered:  Thy servant our father, is in health; he is
yet living.  And bowing themselves, they made obeisance to him.

43:29. And Joseph lifting up his eyes, saw Benjamin, his brother by the
same mother, and said:  Is this your young brother, of whom you told me?
And he said:  God be gracious to thee, my son.

43:30. And he made haste, because his heart was moved upon his brother,
and tears gushed out:  and going into his chamber, he wept.

43:31. And when he had washed his face, coming out again, he refrained
himself, and said:  Set bread on the table.

43:32. And when it was set on, for Joseph apart, and for his brethren
apart, for the Egyptians also that ate with him apart, (for it is
unlawful for the Egyptians to eat with the Hebrews, and they think such
a feast profane):

43:33. They sat before him, the firstborn according to his birthright,
and the youngest according to his age.  And they wondered very much;

43:34. Taking the messes which they received of him:  and the greater
mess came to Benjamin, so that it exceeded by five parts.  And they
drank, and were merry with him.



Genesis Chapter 44


Joseph's contrivance to stop his brethren.  The humble supplication of
Juda.

44:1. And Joseph commanded the steward of his house, saying:  Fill their
sacks with corn, as much as they can hold:  and put the money of every
one in the top of his sack.

44:2. And in the mouth of the younger's sack put my silver cup, and the
price which he gave for the wheat.  And it was so done.

44:3. And when the morning arose, they were sent away with their asses.

44:4. And when they were now departed out of the city, and had gone
forward a little way:  Joseph sending for the steward of his house,
said:  Arise, and pursue after the men:  and when thou hast overtaken
them, say to them:  Why have you returned evil for good?

44:5. The cup which you have stolen, is that in which my lord drinketh,
and in which he is wont to divine:  you have done a very evil thing.

44:6. He did as he had commanded him.  And having overtaken them, he
spoke to them the same words.

44:7. And they answered:  Why doth our lord speak so, as though thy
servants had committed so heinous a fact?

44:8. The money, that we found in the top of our sacks, we brought back
to thee from the land of Chanaan:  how then should it be that we should
steal out of thy lord's house, gold or silver?

44:9. With whomsoever of thy servants shall be found that which thou
seekest, let him die, and we will be the bondmen of my lord.

44:10. And he said to them:  Let it be according to your sentence:  with
whomsoever it shall be found, let him be my servant, and you shall be
blameless.

44:11. Then they speedily took down their sacks to the ground, and
every man opened his sack.

44:12. Which when he had searched, beginning at the eldest, and ending
at the youngest, he found the cup in Benjamin's sack.

44:13. Then they rent their garments, and loading their asses again,
returned into the town.

44:14. And Juda at the head of his brethren went in to Joseph (for he
was not yet gone out of the place) and they all together fell down
before him on the ground.

44:15. And he said to them:  Why would you do so?  know you not that
there is no one like me in the science of divining.

The science of divining. . .He speaks of himself according to what he
was esteemed in that kingdom.  And indeed, he being truly a prophet,
knew more without comparison than any of the Egyptian sorcerers.

44:16. And Juda said to him:  What shall we answer my lord?  or what
shall we say, or be able justly to allege?  God hath found out the
iniquity of thy servants:  behold, we are all bondmen to my lord, both
we, and he with whom the cup was found.

44:17. Joseph answered:  God forbid that I should do so:  he that stole
the cup, he shall be my bondman:  and go you away free to your father.

44:18. Then Juda coming nearer, said boldly:  I beseech thee, my lord,
let thy servant speak a word in thy ears, and be not angry with thy
servant:  for after Pharao thou art.

44:19. My lord.  Thou didst ask thy servants the first time:  Have you a
father or a brother.

44:20. And we answered thee, my lord:  We have a father an old man, and
a young boy, that was born in his old age; whose brother by the mother
is dead; and he alone is left of his mother, and his father loveth him
tenderly.

44:21. And thou saidst to thy servants:  Bring him hither to me, and I
will set my eyes on him.

44:22. We suggested to my lord:  The boy cannot leave his father:  for if
he leave him, he will die.

44:23. And thou saidst to thy servants:  Except your youngest brother
come with you, you shall see my face no more.

44:24. Therefore when we were gone up to thy servant our father, we
told him all that my lord had said.

44:25. And our father said:  Go again, and buy us a little wheat.

44:26. And we said to him:  We cannot go:  if our youngest brother go
down with us, we will set out together:  otherwise, without him we dare
not see the man's face.

44:27. Whereunto he answered:  You know that my wife bore me two.

44:28. One went out, and you said:  A beast devoured him; and hitherto
he appeareth not.

44:29. If you take this also, and any thing befall him in the way, you
will bring down my grey hairs with sorrow unto hell.

44:30. Therefore, if I shall go to thy servant, our father, and the boy
be wanting, (whereas his life dependeth upon the life of him,)

44:31. And he shall see that he is not with us, he will die, and thy
servants shall bring down his grey hairs with sorrow unto hell.

His gray hairs. . .That is, his person, now far advanced in years.--With
sorrow unto hell. . .The Hebrew word for hell is here sheol, the Greek
hades:  it is not taken for the hell of the damned; but for that place
of souls below where the servants of God were kept before the coming of
Christ.  Which place, both in the Scripture and in the creed, is named
hell.

44:32. Let me be thy proper servant, who took him into my trust, and
promised, saying:  If I bring him not again, I will be guilty of sin
against my father for ever.

44:33. Therefore I, thy servant, will stay instead of the boy in the
service of my lord, and let the boy go up with his brethren.

44:34. For I cannot return to my father without the boy, lest I be a
witness of the calamity that will oppress my father.



Genesis Chapter 45


Joseph maketh himself known to his brethren:  and sendeth for his
father.

45:1. Joseph could no longer refrain himself before many that stood by:
whereupon he commanded that all should go out, and no stranger be
present at their knowing one another.

45:2. And he lifted up his voice with weeping, which the Egyptians, and
all the house of Pharao heard.

45:3. And he said to his brethren:  I am Joseph:  Is my father yet
living?  His brethren could not answer him, being struck with exceeding
great fear.

45:4. And he said mildly to them:  Come nearer to me.  And when they were
come near him, he said:  I am Joseph, your brother, whom you sold into
Egypt.

45:5. Be not afraid, and let it not seem to you a hard case that you
sold me into these countries:  for God sent me before you into Egypt for
your preservation.

45:6. For it is two years since the famine began to be upon the land,
and five years more remain, wherein there can be neither ploughing nor
reaping.

45:7. And God sent me before, that you may be preserved upon the earth,
and may have food to live.

45:8. Not by your counsel was I sent hither, but by the will of God:
who hath made me as it were a father to Pharao, and lord of his whole
house, and governor in all the land of Egypt.

45:9. Make haste, and go ye up to my father, and say to him:  Thus saith
thy son Joseph:  God hath made me lord of the whole land of Egypt; come
down to me, linger not.

45:10. And thou shalt dwell in the land of Gessen:  and thou shalt be
near me, thou and thy sons, and thy sons' sons, thy sheep, and thy
herds, and all things that thou hast.

45:11. And there I will feed thee, (for there are yet five years of
famine remaining) lest both thou perish, and thy house, and all things
that thou hast.

45:12. Behold, your eyes, and the eyes of my brother Benjamin, see that
it is my mouth that speaketh to you.

45:13. You shall tell my father of all my glory, and all things that
you have seen in Egypt:  make haste and bring him to me.

45:14. And falling upon the neck of his brother Benjamin, he embraced
him and wept:  and Benjamin in like manner wept also on his neck.

45:15. And Joseph kissed all his brethren, and wept upon every one of
them:  after which they were emboldened to speak to him.

45:16. And it was heard, and the fame was spread abroad in the king's
court:  The brethren of Joseph are come; and Pharao with all his family
was glad.

45:17. And he spoke to Joseph that he should give orders to his
brethren, saying:  Load your beasts, and go into the land of Chanaan,

45:18. And bring away from thence your father and kindred, and come to
me; and I will give you all the good things of Egypt, that you may eat
the marrow of the land.

45:19. Give orders also that they take wagons out of the land of Egypt,
for the carriage of their children and their wives; and say:  Take up
your father, and make haste to come with all speed:

45:20. And leave nothing of your household stuff; for all the riches of
Egypt shall be yours.

45:21. And the sons of Israel did as they were bid.  And Joseph gave
them wagons according to Pharao's commandment:  and provisions for the
way.

45:22. He ordered also to be brought out for every one of them two
robes:  but to Benjamin he gave three hundred pieces of silver, with
five robes of the best:

45:23. Sending to his father as much money and raiment; adding besides,
ten he-asses, to carry off all the riches of Egypt, and as many
she-asses, carrying wheat and bread for the journey.

45:24. So he sent away his brethren, and at their departing said to
them:  Be not angry in the way.

45:25. And they went up out of Egypt, and came into the land of
Chanaan, to their father Jacob.

45:26. And they told him, saying:  Joseph, thy son, is living; and he is
ruler in all the land of Egypt.  Which when Jacob heard, he awaked as it
were out of a deep sleep, yet did not believe them.

45:27. They, on the other side, told the whole order of the thing.  And
when he saw the wagons, and all that he had sent, his spirit revived,

45:28. And he said:  It is enough for me if Joseph, my son, be yet
living:  I will go and see him before I die.



Genesis Chapter 46


Israel, warranted by a vision from God, goeth down into Egypt with all
his family.

46:1. And Israel taking his journey, with all that he had, came to the
well of the oath, and killing victims there to the God of his father
Isaac,

The well of the oath. . .Bersabee.

46:2. He heard him, by a vision in the night, calling him, and saying
to him:  Jacob, Jacob.  And he answered him:  Lo, here I am.

46:3. God said to him:  I am the most mighty God of thy father; fear
not, go down into Egypt, for I will make a great nation of thee there.

46:4. I will go down with thee thither, and will bring thee back again
from thence:  Joseph also shall put his hands upon thy eyes.

46:5. And Jacob rose up from the well of the oath:  and his sons took
him up, with their children and wives in the wagons, which Pharao had
sent to carry the old man,

46:6. And all that he had in the land of Chanaan:  and he came into
Egypt with all his seed;

46:7. His sons, and grandsons, daughters, and all his offspring
together.

46:8. And these are the names of the children of Israel, that entered
into Egypt, he and his children.  His firstborn Ruben,

46:9. The sons of Ruben:  Henoch and Phallu, and Hesron and Charmi.

46:10. The sons of Simeon:  Jamuel and Jamin and Ahod, and Jachin and
Sohar, and Saul, the son of a woman of Chanaan.

46:11. The sons of Levi:  Gerson and Caath, and Merari.

46:12. The sons of Juda:  Her and Onan, and Sela, and Phares and Zara.
And Her and Onan died in the land of Chanaan.  And sons were born to
Phares:  Hesron and Hamul.

46:13. The sons of Issachar:  Thola and Phua, and Job and Semron.

46:14. The sons of Zabulon:  Sared, and Elon, and Jahelel.

46:15. These are the sons of Lia, whom she bore in Mesopotamia of
Syria, with Dina, his daughter.  All the souls of her sons and
daughters, thirty-three.

46:16. The sons of Gad:  Sephion and Haggi, and Suni and Esebon, and
Heri and Arodi, and Areli.

46:17. The sons of Aser:  Jamne and Jesua, and Jessuri and Beria, and
Sara their sister.  The sons of Beria:  Heber and Melchiel.

46:18. These are the sons of Zelpha, whom Laban gave to Lia, his
daughter.  And these she bore to Jacob, sixteen souls.

46:19. The sons of Rachel, Jacob's wife:  Joseph and Benjamin.

46:20. And sons were born to Joseph, in the land of Egypt, whom
Aseneth, the daughter of Putiphare, priest of Heliopolis, bore him:
Manasses and Ephraim.

46:21. The sons of Benjamin:  Bela and Bechor, and Asbel and Gera, and
Naaman and Echi, and Ross and Mophim, and Ophim and Ared.

46:22. These are the sons of Rachel, whom she bore to Jacob:  all the
souls, fourteen.

46:23. The sons of Dan:  Husim.

46:24. The sons of Nephthali:  Jaziel and Guni, and Jeser and Sallem.

46:25. These are the sons of Bala, whom Laban gave to Rachel, his
daughter:  and these she bore to Jacob:  all the souls, seven.

46:26. All the souls that went with Jacob into Egypt, and that came out
of his thigh, besides his sons' wives, sixty-six.

46:27. And the sons of Joseph, that were born to him in the land of
Egypt, two souls.  All the souls of the house of Jacob, that entered
into Egypt, were seventy.

46:28. And he sent Juda before him to Joseph, to tell him; and that he
should meet him in Gessen.

46:29. And when he was come thither, Joseph made ready his chariot, and
went up to meet his father in the same place:  and seeing him, he fell
upon his neck, and embracing him, wept.

46:30. And the father said to Joseph:  Now shall I die with joy, because
I have seen thy face, and leave thee alive.

46:31. And Joseph said to his brethren, and to all his father's house:
I will go up, and will tell Pharao, and will say to him:  My brethren,
and my father's house, that were in the land of Chanaan, are come to
me:

46:32. And the men are shepherds, and their occupation is to feed
cattle; their flocks, and herds, and all they have, they have brought
with them.

46:33. And when he shall call you, and shall say:  What is your
occupation?

46:34. You shall answer:  We, thy servants, are shepherds, from our
infancy until now, both we and our fathers.  And this you shall say,
that you may dwell in the land of Gessen, because the Egyptians have
all shepherds in abomination.



Genesis Chapter 47


Jacob and his sons are presented before Pharao:  he giveth them the land
of Gessen.  The famine forceth the Egyptians to sell all their
possessions to the king.

47:1. Then Joseph went in and told Pharao, saying:  My father and
brethren, their sheep and their herds, and all that they possess, are
come out of the land of Chanaan:  and behold they stay in the land of
Gessen.

47:2. Five men also, the last of his brethren, he presented before the
king:

The last. . .xtremos.  Some interpret this word of the chiefest, and most
rightly:  but Joseph seems rather to have chosen out such as had the
meanest appearance, that Pharao might not think of employing them at
court, with danger of their morals and religion.

47:3. And he asked them:  What is your occupation?  They answered:  We,
thy servants, are shepherds, both we and our fathers.

47:4. We are come to sojourn in thy land, because there is no grass for
the flocks of thy servants, the famine being very grievous in the land
of Chanaan:  and we pray thee to give orders that we thy servants may be
in the land of Gessen.

47:5. The king therefore said to Joseph:  Thy father and thy brethren
are come to thee.

47:6. The land of Egypt is before thee:  and make them dwell in the best
place, and give them the land of Gessen.  And if thou knowest that there
are industrious men among them, make them rulers over my cattle.

47:7. After this Joseph brought in his father to the king, and
presented him before him:  and he blessed him.

47:8. And being asked by him:  How many are the days of the years of thy
life?

47:9. He answered:  The days of my pilgrimage are a hundred and thirty
years, few, and evil, and they are not come up to the days of the
pilgrimage of my fathers.

47:10. And blessing the king, he went out.

47:11. But Joseph gave a possession to his father and his brethren in
Egypt, in the best place of the land, in Ramesses, as Pharao had
commanded.

47:12. And he nourished them, and all his father's house, allowing food
to every one.

47:13. For in the whole world there was want of bread, and a famine had
oppressed the land, more especially of Egypt and Chanaan;

47:14. Out of which he gathered up all the money for the corn which
they bought, and brought it in to the king's treasure.

47:15. And when the buyers wanted money, all Egypt came to Joseph,
saying:  Give us bread:  why should we die in thy presence, having now no
money?

47:16. And he answered them:  Bring me your cattle, and for them I will
give you food, if you have no money.

47:17. And when they had brought them, he gave them food in exchange
for their horses, and sheep, and oxen, and asses:  and he maintained
them that year for the exchange of their cattle.

47:18. And they came the second year, and said to him:  We will not hide
from our lord, how that our money is spent, and our cattle also are
gone:  neither art thou ignorant that we have nothing now left but our
bodies and our lands.

47:19. Why therefore shall we die before thy eyes?  we will be thine,
both we and our lands:  buy us to be the king's servants, and give us
seed, lest for want of tillers the land be turned into a wilderness.

47:20. So Joseph bought all the land of Egypt, every man selling his
possessions, because of the greatness of the famine.  And he brought it
into Pharao's hands:

47:21. And all its people from one end of the borders of Egypt, even to
the other end thereof,

47:22. Except the land of the priests, which had been given them by the
king:  to whom also a certain allowance of food was given out of the
public stores, and therefore they were not forced to sell their
possessions.

47:23. Then Joseph said to the people:  Behold, as you see, both you and
your lands belong to Pharao; take seed and sow the fields,

47:24. That you may have corn.  The fifth part you shall give to the
king; the other four you shall have for seed, and for food for your
families and children.

47:25. And they answered:  our life is in thy hand; only let my lord
look favourably upon us, and we will gladly serve the king.

47:26. From that time unto this day, in the whole land of Egypt, the
fifth part is paid to the kings, and it is become as a law, except the
land of the priests, which was free from this covenant.

47:27. So Israel dwelt in Egypt, that is, in the land of Gessen, and
possessed it; and grew, and was multiplied exceedingly.

47:28. And he lived in it seventeen years:  and all the days of his life
came to a hundred and forty-seven years.

47:29. And when he saw that the day of his death drew nigh, he called
his son Joseph, and said to him:  If I have found favour in thy sight,
put thy hand under my thigh; and thou shalt shew me this kindness and
truth, not to bury me in Egypt.

47:30. But I will sleep with my fathers, and thou shalt take me away
out of this land, and bury me in the burying place of my ancestors.  And
Joseph answered him:  I will do what thou hast commanded.

47:31. And he said:  Swear then to me.  And as he was swearing, Israel
adored God, turning to the bed's head.

To the bed's head. . .St. Paul, Heb. 11.21, following the Greek
translation of the Septuagint, reads adored the top of his rod.  Where
note, that the same word in the Hebrew, according to the different
pointing of it, signifies both a bed and a rod.  And to verify both
these sentences, we must understand that Jacob leaning on Joseph's rod
adored, turning towards the head of his bed:  which adoration, inasmuch
as it was referred to God, was an absolute and sovereign worship:  but
inasmuch as it was referred to the rod of Joseph, as a figure of the
sceptre, that is, of the royal dignity of Christ, was only an inferior
and relative honour.



Genesis Chapter 48


Joseph visiteth his father in his sickness, who adopteth his two sons
Manasses and Ephraim, and blesseth them, preferring the younger before
the elder.

48:1. After these things, it was told Joseph that his father was sick;
and he set out to go to him, taking his two sons Manasses and Ephraim.

48:2. And it was told the old man:  Behold thy son Joseph cometh to
thee.  And being strengthened, he sat on his bed.

48:3. And when Joseph was come in to him, he said:  God almighty
appeared to me at Luza, which is in the land of Chanaan, and he blessed
me,

48:4. And said:  I will cause thee to increase and multiply, and I will
make of thee a multitude of people:  and I will give this land to thee,
and to thy seed after thee for an everlasting possession.

48:5. So thy two sons, who were born to thee in the land of Egypt
before I came hither to thee, shall be mine:  Ephraim and Manasses shall
be reputed to me as Ruben and Simeon.

48:6. But the rest whom thou shalt have after them, shall be thine, and
shall be called by the name of their brethren in their possessions.

48:7. For, when I came out of Mesopotamia, Rachel died from me in the
land of Chanaan in the very journey, and it was spring time:  and I was
going to Ephrata, and I buried her near the way of Ephrata, which by
another name is called Bethlehem.

48:8. Then seeing his sons, he said to him:  Who are these?

48:9. He answered:  They are my sons, whom God hath given me in this
place.  And he said:  Bring them to me, that I may bless them.

48:10. For Israel's eyes were dim by reason of his great age, and he
could not see clearly.  And when they were brought to him, he kissed and
embraced them,

48:11. And said to his son:  I am not deprived of seeing thee; moreover
God hath shewn me thy seed.

48:12. And when Joseph had taken them from his father's lap, he bowed
down with his face to the ground.

48:13. And he set Ephraim on his right hand, that is, towards the left
hand of Israel; but Manasses on his left hand, to wit, towards his
father's right hand, and brought them near to him.

48:14. But he, stretching forth his right hand, put it upon the head of
Ephraim, the younger brother; and the left upon the head of Manasses,
who was the elder, changing his hands.

48:15. And Jacob blessed the sons of Joseph, and said:  God, in whose
sight my fathers Abraham and Isaac walked, God that feedeth me from my
youth until this day:

48:16. The angel that delivereth me from all evils, bless these boys:
and let my name be called upon them, and the names of my fathers
Abraham and Isaac; and may they grow into a multitude upon the earth.

48:17. And Joseph seeing that his father had put his right hand upon
the head of Ephraim, was much displeased:  and taking his father's hand,
he tried to lift it from Ephraim's head, and to remove it to the head
of Manasses.

48:18. And he said to his father:  It should not be so, my father; for
this is the firstborn, put thy right hand upon his head.

48:19. But he refusing, said:  I know, my son, I know:  and this also
shall become a people, and shall be multiplied; but his younger brother
shall be greater than he; and his seed shall grow into nations.

48:20. And he blessed them at that time, saying:  In thee shall Israel
be blessed, and it shall be said:  God do to thee as to Ephraim, and as
to Manasses.  And he set Ephraim before Manasses.

48:21. And he said to Joseph, his son:  Behold I die, and God will be
with you, and will bring you back into the land of your fathers.

48:22. I give thee a portion above thy brethren, which I took out of
the hand of the Amorrhite with my sword and bow.



Genesis Chapter 49


Jacob's prophetical blessings of his twelve sons:  his death.

49:1. And Jacob called his sons, and said to them:  Gather yourselves
together, that I may tell you the things that shall befall you in the
last days.

49:2. Gather yourselves together, and hear, O ye sons of Jacob, hearken
to Israel, your father:

49:3. Ruben, my firstborn, thou art my strength, and the beginning of
my sorrow; excelling in gifts, greater in command.

My strength, etc. . .He calls him his strength, as being born whilst his
father was in his full strength and vigour:  he calls him the beginning
of his sorrow, because cares and sorrows usually come on with the birth
of children.  Excelling in gifts, etc., because the firstborn had a
title to a double portion, and to have the command over his brethren,
which Ruben forfeited by his sin; being poured out as water, that is,
spilt and lost.

49:4. Thou art poured out as water, grow thou not; because thou wentest
up to thy father's bed, and didst defile his couch.

Grow thou not. . .This was not meant by way of a curse or imprecation;
but by way of a prophecy foretelling that the tribe of Ruben should not
inherit the pre-eminences usually annexed to the first birthright,
viz., the double portion, the being prince or lord over the other
brethren, and the priesthood:  of which the double portion was given to
Joseph, the princely office to Juda, and the priesthood to Levi.

49:5. Simeon and Levi brethren:  vessels of iniquity waging war.

49:6. Let not my soul go into their counsel, nor my glory be in their
assembly:  because in their fury they slew a man, and in their self-will
they undermined a wall.

Slew a man,. . .viz., Sichem the son of Hemor, with all his people, Gen.
34.; mystically and prophetically it alludes to Christ, whom their
posterity, viz., the priests and the scribes, put to death.

49:7. Cursed be their fury, because it was stubborn:  and their wrath,
because it was cruel:  I will divide them in Jacob, and will scatter
them in Israel.

49:8. Juda, thee shall thy brethren praise:  thy hand shall be on the
necks of thy enemies; the sons of thy father shall bow down to thee.

49:9. Juda is a lion's whelp:  to the prey, my son, thou art gone up:
resting thou hast couched as a lion, and as a lioness, who shall rouse
him?

A lion's whelp, etc. . .This blessing of Juda foretelleth the strength
of his tribe, the fertility of his inheritance; and principally that
the sceptre and legislative power should not be utterly taken away from
his race till about the time of the coming of Christ:  as in effect it
never was:  which is a demonstration against the modern Jews, that the
Messiah is long since come; for the sceptre has long since been utterly
taken away from Juda.

49:10. The sceptre shall not be taken away from Juda, nor a ruler from
his thigh, till he come that is to be sent, and he shall be the
expectation of nations.

49:11. Tying his foal to the vineyard, and his ass, O my son, to the
vine.  He shall wash his robe in wine, and his garment in the blood of
the grape.

49:12. His eyes are more beautiful than wine, and his teeth whiter than
milk.

49:13. Zabulon shall dwell on the seashore, and in the road of ships,
reaching as far as Sidon.

49:14. Issachar shall be a strong ass, lying down between the borders.

49:15. He saw rest that it was good:  and the land that it was
excellent:  and he bowed his shoulder to carry, and became a servant
under tribute.

49:16. Dan shall judge his people like another tribe in Israel.

Dan shall judge, etc. . .This was verified in Samson, who was of the
tribe of Dan, and began to deliver Israel.  Judges 13.5.  But as this
deliverance was but temporal and very imperfect, the holy patriarch
(ver. 18) aspires after another kind of deliverer, saying:  I will look
for thy salvation, O Lord.

49:17. Let Dan be a snake in the way, a serpent in the path, that
biteth the horse's heels, that his rider may fall backward.

49:18. I will look for thy salvation, O Lord.

49:19. Gad, being girded, shall fight before him:  and he himself shall
be girded backward.

Gad being girded, etc. . .It seems to allude to the tribe of Gad; when
after they had received for their lot the land of Galaad, they marched
in arms before the rest of the Israelites, to the conquest of the land
of Chanaan:  from whence they afterwards returned loaded with spoils.
See Jos. 4. and 12.

49:20. Aser, his bread shall be fat, and he shall yield dainties to
kings.

49:21. Nephthali, a hart let loose, and giving words of beauty.

49:22. Joseph is a growing son, a growing son and comely to behold:  the
daughters run to and fro upon the wall;

Run to and fro, etc. . .To behold his beauty; whilst his envious
brethren turned their darts against him, etc.

49:23. But they that held darts, provoked him, and quarrelled with him,
and envied him.

49:24. His bow rested upon the strong, and the bands of his arms and
his hands were loosed, by the hands of the mighty one of Jacob:  thence
he came forth a pastor, the stone of Israel.

His bow rested upon the strong, etc. . .That is, upon God, who was his
strength:  who also loosed his bands, and brought him out of prison to
be the pastor, that is, the feeder and ruler of Egypt, and the stone,
that is, the rock and support of Israel.

49:25. The God of thy father shall be thy helper, and the Almighty
shall bless thee with the blessings of heaven above, with the blessings
of the deep that lieth beneath, with the blessings of the breasts and
of the womb.

49:26. The blessings of thy father are strengthened with the blessings
of his fathers:  until the desire of the everlasting hills should come:
may they be upon the head of Joseph, and upon the crown of the Nazarite
among his brethren.

The blessings of thy father, etc. . .That is, thy father's blessings are
made more prevalent and effectual in thy regard, by the additional
strength they receive from his inheriting the blessings of his
progenitors Abraham and Isaac.  The desire of the everlasting hills,
etc. . .These blessings all looked forward towards Christ, called the
desire of the everlasting hills, as being longed for, as it were, by
the whole creation.  Mystically, the patriarchs and prophets are called
the everlasting hills, by reason of the eminence of their wisdom and
holiness.  The Nazarite. . .This word signifies one separated; and agrees
to Joseph, as being separated from, and more eminent than, his
brethren.  As the ancient Nazarites were so called from their being set
aside for God, and vowed to him.

49:27. Benjamin a ravenous wolf, in the morning shall eat the prey, and
in the evening shall divide the spoil.

49:28. All these are the twelve tribes of Israel:  these things their
father spoke to them, and he blessed every one with their proper
blessings.

49:29. And he charged them, saying:  I am now going to be gathered to my
people:  bury me with my fathers in the double cave, which is in the
field of Ephron the Hethite,

To be gathered to my people. . .That is, I am going to die, and so to
follow my ancestors that are gone before me, and to join their company
in another world.

49:30. Over against Mambre, in the land of Chanaan, which Abraham
bought together with the field, of Ephron the Hethite, for a possession
to bury in.

49:31. There they buried him, and Sara his wife:  there was Isaac buried
with Rebecca, his wife:  there also Lia doth lie buried.

49:32. And when he had ended the commandments, wherewith he instructed
his sons, he drew up his feet upon the bed, and died:  and he was
gathered to his people.



Genesis Chapter 50


The mourning for Jacob, and his interment.  Joseph's kindness towards
his brethren.  His death.

50:1. And when Joseph saw this, he fell upon his father's face, weeping
and kissing him.

50:2. And he commanded his servants, the physicians, to embalm his
father.

50:3. And while they were fulfilling his commands, there passed forty
days:  for this was the manner with bodies that were embalmed, and Egypt
mourned for him seventy days.

50:4. And the time of the mourning being expired, Joseph spoke to the
family of Pharao:  If I have found favour in your sight, speak in the
ears of Pharao:

50:5. For my father made me swear to him, saying:  Behold I die; thou
shalt bury me in my sepulchre which I have digged for myself in the
land of Chanaan.  So I will go up and bury my father, and return.

50:6. And Pharao said to him:  Go up and bury thy father according as he
made thee swear.

50:7. So he went up, and there went with him all the ancients of
Pharao's house, and all the elders of the land of Egypt.

50:8. And the house of Joseph with his brethren, except their children,
and their flocks and herds, which they left in the land of Gessen.

50:9. He had also in his train chariots and horsemen:  and it was a
great company.

50:10. And they came to the threshing floor of Atad, which is situated
beyond the Jordan:  where celebrating the exequies with a great and
vehement lamentation, they spent full seven days.

50:11. And when the inhabitants of Chanaan saw this, they said:  This is
a great mourning to the Egyptians.  And therefore the name of that place
was called, The mourning of Egypt.

50:12. So the sons of Jacob did as he had commanded them.

50:13. And carrying him into the land of Chanaan, they buried him in
the double cave, which Abraham had bought together with the field for a
possession of a burying place, of Ehpron, the Hethite, over against
Mambre.

50:14. And Joseph returned into Egypt with his brethren, and all that
were in his company, after he had buried his father.

50:15. Now he being dead, his brethren were afraid, and talked one with
another:  Lest perhaps he should remember the wrong he suffered, and
requite us all the evil that we did to him.

50:16. And they sent a message to him, saying:  Thy father commanded us
before he died,

50:17. That we should say thus much to thee from him:  I beseech thee to
forget the wickedness of thy brethren, and the sin and malice they
practised against thee:  we also pray thee, to forgive the servants of
the God of thy father this wickedness.  And when Joseph heard this, he
wept.

50:18. And his brethren came to him; and worshipping prostrate on the
ground, they said:  We are thy servants.

50:19. And he answered them:  Fear not:  can we resist the will of God?

50:20. You thought evil against me:  but God turned it into good, that
he might exalt me, as at present you see, and might save many people.

50:21. Fear not:  I will feed you and your children.  And he comforted
them, and spoke gently and mildly.

50:22. And he dwelt in Egypt with all his father's house; and lived a
hundred and ten years.  And he saw the children of Ephraim to the third
generation.  The children also of Machir, the sons of Manasses, were
born on Joseph's knees.

50:23. After which he told his brethren:  God will visit you after my
death, and will make you go up out of this land, to the land which he
swore to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.

50:24. And he made them swear to him, saying:  God will visit you, carry
my bones with you out of this place:

50:25. And he died, being a hundred and ten years old.  And being
embalmed, he was laid in a coffin in Egypt.



THE BOOK OF EXODUS



The Second Book of Moses is called EXODUS, from the Greek word EXODOS,
which signifies going out:  because it contains the history of the going
out of the children of Israel out of Egypt.  The Hebrews, from the words
with which it begins, call it VEELLE SEMOTH:  These are the names.  It
contains transactions for 145 years; that is, from the death of Joseph
to the erecting of the tabernacle.



Exodus Chapter 1


The Israelites are multiplied in Egypt.  They are oppressed by a new
king, who commandeth all their male children to be killed.

1:1. These are the names of the children of Israel, that went into
Egypt with Jacob:  they went in every man with his household:

1:2. Ruben, Simeon, Levi, Juda,

1:3. Issachar, Zabulon, and Benjamin,

1:4. Dan, and Nephthali, Gad and Aser.

1:5. And all the souls that came out of Jacob's thigh, were seventy:
but Joseph was in Egypt.

1:6. After he was dead, and all his brethren, and all that generation,

1:7. The children of Israel increased, and sprung up into multitudes,
and growing exceedingly strong they filled the land.

1:8. In the mean time there arose a new king over Egypt, that knew not
Joseph:

1:9. And he said to his people:  Behold the people of the children of
Israel are numerous and stronger than we.

1:10. Come let us wisely oppress them, lest they multiply:  and if any
war shall rise against us, join with our enemies, and having overcome
us, depart out of the land.

1:11. Therefore he set over them masters of the works, to afflict them
with burdens:  and they built for Pharao cities of tabernacles, Phithom,
and Ramesses.

Of tabernacles. . .Or, of storehouses.

1:12. But the more they oppressed them, the more they were multiplied
and increased.

1:13. And the Egyptians hated the children of Israel, and afflicted
them and mocked them:

1:14. And they made their life bitter with hard works in clay and
brick, and with all manner of service, wherewith they were overcharged
in the works of the earth.

1:15. And the king of Egypt spoke to the midwives of the Hebrews:  of
whom one was called Sephora, the other Phua,

1:16. Commanding them:  When you shall do the office of midwives to the
Hebrew women, and the time of delivery is come:  if it be a man child,
kill it:  if a woman, keep it alive.

1:17. But the midwives feared God, and did not do as the king of Egypt
had commanded, but saved the men children.

1:18:  And the king called for them and said:  What is it that you meant
to do, that you would save the men children?

1:19. They answered:  The Hebrew women are not as the Egyptian women:
for they themselves are skilful in the office of a midwife; and they
are delivered before we come to them.

1:20. Therefore God dealt well with the midwives:  and the people
multiplied and grew exceedingly strong.

1:21. And because the midwives feared God, he built them houses.

Because the midwives feared God, etc. . .The midwives were rewarded, not
for their lie, which was a venial sin; but for their fear of God, and
their humanity:  but this reward was only temporal, in building them
houses, that is, in establishing and enriching their families.

1:22. Pharao therefore charged all his people, saying:  Whatsoever shall
be born of the male sex, ye shall cast into the river:  whatsoever of
the female, ye shall save alive.



Exodus Chapter 2


Moses is born and exposed on the bank of the river; where he is taken
up by the daughter of Pharao, and adopted for her son.  He killeth an
Egyptian, and fleeth into Madian; where he marrieth a wife.

2:1. After this there went a man of the house of Levi; and took a wife
of his own kindred.

2:2. And she conceived, and bore a son:  and seeing him a goodly child,
hid him three months.

2:3. And when she could hide him no longer, she took a basket made of
bulrushes, and daubed it with slime and pitch:  and put the little babe
therein, and laid him in the sedges by the river's brink,

2:4. His sister standing afar off, and taking notice what would be
done.

2:5. And behold the daughter of Pharao came down to wash herself in the
river:  and her maids walked by the river's brink.  And when she saw the
basket in the sedges she sent one of her maids for it:  and when it was
brought,

2:6. She opened it, and seeing within it an infant crying, having
compassion on it, she said:  This is one of the babes of the Hebrews.

2:7. And the child's sister said to her:  Shall I go, and call to thee a
Hebrew woman, to nurse the babe?

2:8. She answered:  Go.  The maid went and called her mother.

2:9. And Pharao's daughter said to her:  Take this child, and nurse him
for me:  I will give thee thy wages.  The woman took and nursed the
child:  and when he was grown up, she delivered him to Pharao's
daughter.

2:10. And she adopted him for a son, and called him Moses, saying:
Because I took him out of the water.

Moses. . .Or Moyses, in the Egyptian tongue, signifies one taken or
saved out of the water.

2:11. In those days, after Moses was grown up, he went out to his
brethren:  and saw their affliction, and an Egyptian striking one of the
Hebrews, his brethren.

2:12. And when he had looked about this way and that way, and saw no
one there, he slew the Egyptian and hid him in the sand.

He slew the Egyptian. . .This he did by a particular inspiration of God;
as a prelude to his delivering the people from their oppression and
bondage.  He thought, says St. Stephen, Acts 7.25, that his brethren
understood that God by his hand would save them.  But such particular
and extraordinary examples are not to be imitated.

2:13. And going out the next day, he saw two Hebrews quarrelling:  and
he said to him that did the wrong:  Why strikest thou thy neighbour?

2:14. But he answered:  Who hath appointed thee prince and judge over
us?  wilt thou kill me, as thou didst yesterday kill the Egyptian?  Moses
feared, and said:  How is this come to be known?

2:15. And Pharao heard of this word, and sought to kill Moses:  but he
fled from his sight, and abode in the land of Madian, and he sat down
by a well.

Madian. . .A city and country of Arabia, which took its name from Madian
the son of Abraham, by Cetura, and was peopled by his posterity.

2:16. And the priest of Madian had seven daughters, who came to draw
water:  and when the troughs were filled, desired to water their
father's flocks.

2:17. And the shepherds came and drove them away:  and Moses arose, and
defending the maids, watered their sheep.

2:18:  And when they returned to Raguel their father, he said to them:
Why are ye come sooner than usual?

Raguel. . .He had two names, being also called Jethro, as appears from
the first verse of the following chapter.

2:19. They answered:  A man of Egypt delivered us from the hands of the
shepherds:  and he drew water also with us, and gave the sheep to drink.

2:20. But he said:  Where is he?  why have you let the man go?  call him
that he may eat bread.

2:21. And Moses swore that he would dwell with him.  And he took Sephora
his daughter to wife:

2:22. And she bore him a son, whom he called Gersam, saying:  I have
been a stranger in a foreign country.  And she bore another, whom he
called Eliezer, saying:  For the God of my father, my helper, hath
delivered me out of the hand of Pharao.

Gersam. . .Or Gershom.  This name signifies a stranger there:  as Eliezer
signifies the help of God.

2:23. Now after a long time the king of Egypt died:  and the children of
Israel groaning, cried out because of the works:  and their cry went up
unto God from the works.

2:24. And he heard their groaning, and remembered the covenant which he
made with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.

2:25. And the Lord looked upon the children of Israel, and he knew
them.

Knew them. . .That is, he had respect to them, he cast a merciful eye
upon them.



Exodus Chapter 3


God appeareth to Moses in a bush, and sendeth him to deliver Israel.

3:1. Now Moses fed the sheep of Jethro, his father in law, the priest
of Madian:  and he drove the flock to the inner parts of the desert, and
came to the mountain of God, Horeb.

3:2. And the Lord appeared to him in a flame of fire out of the midst
of a bush:  and he saw that the bush was on fire, and was not burnt.

The Lord appeared. . .That is, an angel representing God, and speaking
in his name.

3:3. And Moses said:  I will go, and see this great sight, why the bush
is not burnt.

3:4. And when the Lord saw that he went forward to see, he called to
him out of the midst of the bush.  and said:  Moses, Moses.  And he
answered:  Here I am.

3:5. And he said:  Come not nigh hither, put off the shoes from thy
feet; for the place, whereon thou standest, is holy ground.

3:6. And he said:  I am the God of thy father, the God of Abraham, the
God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob.  Moses hid his face:  for he durst
not look at God.

3:7. And the Lord said to him:  I have seen the affliction of my people
in Egypt, and I have heard their cry because of the rigour of them that
are over the works;

3:8. And knowing their sorrow, I am come down to deliver them out of
the hands of the Egyptians, and to bring them out of that land into a
good and spacious land, into a land that floweth with milk and honey,
to the places of the Chanaanite, and Hethite, and Amorrhite, and
Pherezite, and Hevite, and Jebusite.

3:9. For the cry of the children of Israel is come unto me:  and I have
seen their affliction, wherewith they are oppressed by the Egyptians.

3:10. But come, and I will send thee to Pharao, that thou mayst bring
forth my people, the children of Israel, out of Egypt.

3:11. And Moses said to God:  Who am I that I should go to Pharao, and
should bring forth the children of Israel out of Egypt?

3:12. And he said to him:  I will be with thee; and this thou shalt have
for a sign that I have sent thee:  When thou shalt have brought my
people out of Egypt, thou shalt offer sacrifice to God upon this
mountain.

3:13. Moses said to God:  Lo, I shall go to the children of Israel, and
say to them:  The God of your fathers hath sent me to you.  If they shall
say to me:  What is his name?  What shall I say to them?

3:14. God said to Moses:  I AM WHO AM.  He said:  Thus shalt thou say to
the children of Israel:  HE WHO IS, hath sent me to you.

I am who am. . .That is, I am being itself, eternal, self-existent,
independent, infinite; without beginning, end, or change; and the
source of all other beings.

3:15. And God said again to Moses:  Thus shalt thou say to the children
of Israel:  The Lord God of your fathers the God of Abraham, the God of
Isaac, and the God of Jacob hath sent me to you; this is my name for
ever, and this is my memorial unto all generations.

3:16. Go and gather together the ancients of Israel, and thou shalt say
to them:  The Lord God of your fathers, the God of Abraham, the God of
Isaac, and the God of Jacob, hath appeared to me, saying:  Visiting I
have visited you; and I have seen all that hath befallen you in Egypt.

3:17. And I have said the word to bring you forth out of the affliction
of Egypt, into the land of the Chanaanite, and Hethite, and Amorrhite,
and Pherezite, and Hevite, and Jebusite, to a land that floweth with
milk and honey.

3:18:  And they shall hear thy voice; and thou shalt go in, thou and the
ancients of Israel, to the king of Egypt, and thou shalt say to him:
The Lord God of the Hebrews hath called us; we will go three days'
journey into the wilderness, to sacrifice unto the Lord our God.

3:19. But I know that the king of Egypt will not let you go, but by a
mighty hand.

3:20. For I will stretch forth my hand, and will strike Egypt with all
my wonders which I will do in the midst of them:  after these he will
let you go.

3:21. And I will give favour to this people, in the sight of the
Egyptians:  and when you go forth, you shall not depart empty:

3:22. But every woman shall ask of her neighbour, and of her that is in
her house, vessels of silver and of gold, and raiment:  and you shall
put them on your sons and daughters, and shall spoil Egypt.

Shall spoil, etc. . .That is, you shall strip, and take away the goods
of the Egyptians.  This was not authorizing theft or injustice; but was
a just disposal made by Him, who is the great lord and master of all
things, in order to pay the children of Israel some part of what was
due to them from the Egyptians for their labours.



Exodus Chapter 4


Moses is empowered to confirm his mission with miracles:  his brother
Aaron is appointed to assist him.

4:1. Moses answered, and said:  They will not believe me, nor hear my
voice, but they will say:  The Lord hath not appeared to thee.

4:2. Then he said to him:  What is that thou holdest in thy hand?  He
answered:  A rod.

4:3. And the Lord said:  Cast it down upon the ground.  He cast it down,
and it was turned into a serpent, so that Moses fled from it.

4:4. And the Lord said:  Put out thy hand, and take it by the tail.  He
put forth his hand, and took hold of it, and it was turned into a rod.

4:5. That they may believe, saith he, that the Lord God of their
fathers, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob,
hath appeared to thee.

4:6. And the Lord said again:  Put thy hand into thy bosom.  And when he
had put it into his bosom, he brought it forth leprous as snow.

4:7. And he said:  Put back thy hand into thy bosom.  He put it back, and
brought it out again, and it was like the other flesh.

4:8. If they will not believe thee, saith he, nor hear the voice of the
former sign, they will believe the word of the latter sign.

4:9. But if they will not even believe these two signs, nor hear thy
voice:  take of the river water, and pour it out upon the dry land, and
whatsoever thou drawest out of the river, shall be turned into blood.

4:10. Moses said:  I beseech thee, Lord, I am not eloquent from
yesterday and the day before; and since thou hast spoken to thy
servant, I have more impediment and slowness of tongue.

4:11. The Lord said to him:  Who made man's mouth?  or who made the dumb
and the deaf, the seeing and the blind?  did not I?

4:12. Go therefore, and I will be in thy mouth; and I will teach thee
what thou shalt speak.

4:13. But he said:  I beseech thee, Lord, send whom thou wilt send.

4:14. The Lord being angry at Moses, said:  Aaron the Levite is thy
brother, I know that he is eloquent:  behold he cometh forth to meet
thee, and seeing thee, shall be glad at heart.

4:15. Speak to him, and put my words in his mouth:  and I will be in thy
mouth, and in his month, and will shew you what you must do.

4:16. He shall speak in thy stead to the people, and shall be thy
mouth:  but thou shalt be to him in those things that pertain to God.

4:17. And take this rod in thy hand.  wherewith thou shalt do the signs.

4:18:  Moses went his way, and returned to Jethro his father in law, and
said to him; I will go and return to my brethren into Egypt, that I may
see if they be yet alive.  And Jethro said to him:  Go in peace.

4:19. And the Lord said to Moses, in Madian:  Go, and return into Egypt;
for they are all dead that sought thy life.

4:20. Moses therefore took his wife, and his sons, and set them upon an
ass; and returned into Egypt, carrying the rod of God in his hand.

4:21. And the Lord said to him as he was returning into Egypt:  See that
thou do all the wonders before Pharao, which I have put in thy hand:  I
shall harden his heart, and he will not let the people go.

I shall harden, etc. . .Not by being the efficient cause of his sin; but
by withdrawing from him, for his just punishment, the dew of grace that
might have softened his heart; and so suffering him to grow harder and
harder.

4:22. And thou shalt say to him:  Thus saith the Lord:  Israel is my son,
my firstborn.

4:23. I have said to thee:  Let my son go, that he may serve me, and
thou wouldst not let him go:  behold I will kill thy son, thy firstborn.

4:24. And when he was in his journey, in the inn, the Lord met him, and
would have killed him.

The Lord met him, and would have killed him. . .This was an angel
representing the Lord, who treated Moses in this manner, for having
neglected the circumcision of his younger son; which his wife
understanding, circumcised her child upon the spot, upon which the
angel let Moses go.

4:25. Immediately Sephora took a very sharp stone, and circumcised the
foreskin of her son, and touched his feet, and said:  A bloody spouse
art thou to me.

4:26. And he let him go after she had said:  A bloody spouse art thou to
me, because of the circumcision.

4:27. And the Lord said to Aaron:  Go into the desert to meet Moses.  And
he went forth to meet him in the mountain of God, and kissed him.

4:28. And Moses told Aaron all the words of the Lord, by which he had
sent him, and the signs that he had commanded.

4:29. And they came together, and they assembled all the ancients of
the children of Israel.

4:30. And Aaron spoke all the words which the Lord had said to Moses:
and he wrought the signs before the people.

4:31. And the people believed.  And they heard that the Lord had visited
the children of Israel, and that he had looked upon their affliction:
and falling down they adored.



Exodus Chapter 5


Pharao refuseth to let the people go.  They are more oppressed.

5:1. After these things, Moses and Aaron went in, and said to Pharao:
Thus saith the Lord God of Israel:  Let my people go, that they may
sacrifice to me in the desert.

5:2. But he answered:  Who is the Lord, that I should hear his voice,
and let Israel go?  I know not the Lord, neither will I let Israel go.

5:3. And they said:  The God of the Hebrews hath called us, to go three
days' journey into the wilderness, and to sacrifice to the Lord our
God; lest a pestilence or the sword fall upon us.

5:4. The king of Egypt said to them:  Why do you Moses and Aaron draw
off the people from their works?  Get you gone to your burdens.

5:5. And Pharao said:  The people of the land are numerous; you see that
the multitude is increased; how much more if you give them rest from
their works?

5:6. Therefore he commanded the same day the overseers of the works,
and the task-masters of the people, saying:

5:7. You shall give straw no more to the people to make brick, as
before; but let them go and gather straw.

5:8. And you shall lay upon them the task of bricks, which they did
before; neither shall you diminish any thing thereof, for they are
idle, and therefore they cry.  saying:  Let us go and sacrifice to our
God.

5:9. Let them be oppressed with works, and let them fulfil them; that
they may not regard lying words.

5:10. And the overseers of the works, and the taskmasters, went out and
said to the people:  Thus saith Pharao:  I allow you no straw;

5:11. Go, and gather it where you can find it; neither shall any thing
of your work be diminished.

5:12. And the people was scattered through all the land of Egypt to
gather straw.

5:13. And the overseers of the works pressed them, saying:  Fulfil your
work every day, as before ye were wont to do, when straw was given you.

5:14. And they that were over the works of the children of Israel, were
scourged by Pharao's taskmasters, saying:  Why have you not made up the
task of bricks, both yesterday and to day, as before?

5:15. And the officers of the children of Israel came, and cried out to
Pharao, saying:  Why dealest thou so with thy servants?

5:16. Straw is not given us, and bricks are required of us as before;
behold we, thy servants, are beaten with whips, and thy people is
unjustly dealt withal.

5:17. And he said:  You are idle, and therefore you say:  Let us go and
sacrifice to the Lord.

5:18:  Go therefore and work:  straw shall not be given you, and you
shall deliver the accustomed number of bricks.

5:19. And the officers of the children of Israel saw that they were in
evil case, because it was said to them:  There shall not a whit be
diminished of the bricks for every day.

5:20. And they met Moses and Aaron, who stood over against them as they
came out from Pharao:

5:21. And they said to them:  The Lord see and judge, because you have,
made our savour to stink before Pharao and his servants, and you have
given him a sword, to kill us.

5:22. And Moses returned to the Lord, and said:  Lord, why hast thou
afflicted this people?  wherefore hast thou sent me?

5:23. For since the time that I went in to Pharao to speak in thy name,
he hath afflicted thy people:  and thou hast not delivered them.



Exodus Chapter 6


God reneweth his promise.  The genealogies of Ruben, Simon and Levi,
down to Moses and Aaron.

6;1. And the Lord said to Moses:  Now thou shalt see what I will do to
Pharao:  for by a mighty hand shall he let them go, and with a strong
hand shall he cast them out of his land.

6:2. And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying:  I am the Lord

6:3. That appeared to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob, by the name of
God Almighty:  and my name ADONAI I did not shew them.

My name Adonai. . .The name, which is in the Hebrew text, is that most
proper name of God, which signifieth his eternal, self-existent being,
Ex. 3.14, which the Jews out of reverence never pronounce; but, instead
of it, whenever it occurs in the Bible, they read Adonai, which
signifies the Lord; and, therefore, they put the points or vowels,
which belong to the name Adonai, to the four letters of that other
ineffable name Jod, He, Vau, He.  Hence some moderns have framed the
name Jehovah, unknown to all the ancients, whether Jews or Christians;
for the true pronunciation of the name, which is in the Hebrew text, by
long disuse, is now quite lost.

6:4. And I made a covenant with them, to give them the land of Chanaan,
the land of their pilgrimage wherein they were strangers.

6:5. I have heard the groaning of the children of Israel, wherewith the
Egyptians have oppressed them:  and I have remembered my covenant.

6:6. Therefore say to the children of Israel:  I am the Lord who will
bring you out from the work-prison of the Egyptians, and will deliver
you from bondage:  and redeem you with a high arm, and great judgments.

6:7. And I will take you to myself for my people, I will be your God:
and you shall know that I am the Lord your God, who brought you out
from the work-prison of the Egyptians:

6:8. And brought you into the land, concerning which I lifted up my
hand to give it to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob:  and I will give it you to
possess:  I am the Lord.

6:9. And Moses told all this to the children of Israel:  but they did
not hearken to him, for anguish of spirit, and most painful work.

6:10. And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying:

6:11. Go in, and speak to Pharao king of Egypt, that he let the
children of Israel go out of his land.

6:12. Moses answered before the Lord:  Behold the children of Israel do
not hearken to me:  and how will Pharao hear me, especially as I am of
uncircumcised lips?

Uncircumcised lips. . .So he calls the defect he had in his words, or
utterance.

6:13. And the Lord spoke to Moses and Aaron, and he gave them a charge
unto the children of Israel, and unto Pharao the king of Egypt, that
they should bring forth the children of Israel out of the land of
Egypt.

6:14. These are the heads of their houses by their families.  The sons
of Ruben the firstborn of Israel:  Henoch and Phallu, Hesron and Charmi.

6:15. These are the kindreds of Ruben.  The sons of Simeon, Jamuel and
Jamin, and Ahod, and Jachin, and Soar, and Saul the son of a
Chanaanitess:  these are the families of Simeon.

6:16. And these are the names of the sons of Levi by their kindreds:
Gerson, and Caath, and Merari.  And the years of the life of Levi were a
hundred and thirty-seven.

6:17. The sons of Gerson:  Lobni and Semei, by their kindreds.

6:18:  The sons of Caath:  Amram, and Isaar, and Hebron and Oziel.  And
the years of Caath's life, were a hundred and thirty-three.

6:19. The sons of Merari:  Moholi and Musi.  These are the kindreds of
Levi by their families.

6:20. And Amram took to wife Jochabed his aunt by the father's side:
and she bore him Aaron and Moses.  And the years of Amram's life, were a
hundred and thirty-seven.

6:21. The sons also of Isaar:  Core, and Nepheg, and Zechri.

6:22. The sons also of Oziel:  Mizael, and Elizaphan, and Sethri.

6:23. And Aaron took to wife Elizabeth the daughter of Aminadab, sister
of Nahason, who bore him Nadab, and Abiu, and Eleazar, and Ithamar.

6:24. The sons also of Core:  Aser, and Elcana, and Abiasaph.  These are
the kindreds of the Corites.

6:25. But Eleazar the son of Aaron took a wife of the daughters of
Phutiel:  and she bore him Phinees.  These are the heads of the Levitical
families by their kindreds.

6:26. These are Aaron and Moses, whom the Lord commanded to bring forth
the children of Israel out of the land of Egypt by their companies.

6:27. These are they that speak to Pharao, king of Egypt, in order to
bring out the children of Israel from Egypt:  these are that Moses and
Aaron,

6:28. In the day when the Lord spoke to Moses in the land of Egypt.

6:29. And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying:  I am the Lord; speak thou to
Pharao, king of Egypt, all that I say to thee.

6:30. And Moses said before the Lord:  Lo I am of uncircumcised lips,
how will Pharao hear me?



Exodus Chapter 7


Moses and Aaron go into Pharao:  they turn the rod into a serpent; and
the waters of Egypt into blood, which was the first plague.  The
magicians do the like, and Pharao's heart is hardened.

7:1. And the Lord said to Moses:  Behold, I have appointed thee the god
of Pharao; and Aaron, thy brother, shall be thy prophet.

The god of Pharao. . .Viz., to be his judge; and to exercise a divine
power, as God's instrument, over him and his people.

7:2. Thou shalt speak to him all that I command thee; and he shall
speak to Pharao, that he let the children of Israel go out of his land.

7:3. But I shall harden his heart, and shall multiply my signs and
wonders in the land of Egypt.

I shall harden, etc. . .not by being the efficient cause of his hardness
of heart, but by permitting it; and by withdrawing grace from him, in
punishment of his malice; which alone was the proper cause of his being
hardened.

7:4. And he will not hear you:  and I will lay my hand upon Egypt, and
will bring forth my army and my people, the children of Israel, out of
the land of Egypt, by very great judgments.

7:5. And the Egyptians shall know that I am the Lord, who have
stretched forth my hand upon Egypt, and have brought forth the children
of Israel out of the midst of them.

7:6. And Moses and Aaron did as the Lord had commanded; so did they.

7:7. And Moses was eighty years old, and Aaron eighty-three, when they
spoke to Pharao.

7:8. And the Lord said to Moses and Aaron:

7:9. When Pharao shall say to you, Shew signs; thou shalt say to Aaron:
Take thy rod, and cast it down before Pharao, and it shall be turned
into a serpent.

7:10. So Moses and Aaron went in unto Pharao, and did as the Lord had
commanded.  And Aaron took the rod before Pharao and his servants, and
it was turned into a serpent.

7:11. And Pharao called the wise men and the magicians; and they also
by Egyptian enchantments and certain secrets, did in like manner.

Magicians. . .Jannes, and Mambres, or Jambres, 2 Tim. 3.8.

7:12. And they every one cast down their rods, and they were turned
into serpents:  but Aaron's rod devoured their rods.

7:13. And Pharao's heart was hardened, and he did not hearken to them,
as the Lord had commanded.

7:14. And the Lord said to Moses:  Pharao's heart is hardened, he will
not let the people go.

7:15. Go to him in the morning, behold he will go out to the waters:
and thou shalt stand to meet him on the ' bank of the river:  and thou
shalt take in thy hand the rod that was turned into a serpent.

7:16. And thou shalt say to him:  The Lord God of the Hebrews sent me to
thee, saying:  Let my people go to sacrifice to me in the desert:  and
hitherto thou wouldst not hear.

7:17. Thus therefore saith the Lord:  In this thou shalt know that I am
the Lord:  behold I will strike with the rod, that is in my hand, the
water of the river, and it shall be turned into blood.

7:18:  And the fishes that are in the river, shall die, and the waters
shall be corrupted, and the Egyptians shall be afflicted when they
drink the water of the river.

7:19. The Lord also said to Moses:  Say to Aaron, Take thy rod; and
stretch forth thy hand upon the waters of Egypt, and upon their rivers,
and streams and pools, and all the ponds of waters, that they may be
turned into blood:  and let blood be in all the land of Egypt, both in
vessels of wood and of stone.

7:20. And Moses and Aaron did as the Lord had commanded:  and lifting up
the rod, he struck the water of the river before Pharao and his
servants:  and it was turned into blood.

7:21. And the fishes that were in the river died; and the river
corrupted, and the Egyptians could not drink the water of the river,
and there was blood in all the land of Egypt.

7:22. And the magicians of the Egyptians with their enchantments did in
like manner; and Pharao's heart was hardened, neither did he hear them,
as the Lord had commanded.

7:23. And he turned himself away, and went into his house, neither did
he set his heart to it this time also.

7:24. And all the Egyptians dug round about the river for water to
drink; for they could not drink of the water of the river.

7:25. And seven days were fully ended, after that the Lord struck the
river.



Exodus Chapter 8


The second plague is of frogs:  Pharao promiseth to let the Israelites
go, but breaketh his promise.  The third plague is of sciniphs.  The
fourth is of flies.  Pharao again promiseth to dismiss the people, but
doth it not.

8:1. And the Lord said to Moses:  Go in to Pharao, and thou shalt say to
him:  Thus saith the Lord:  Let my people go to sacrifice to me.

8:2. But if thou wilt not let them go, behold I will strike all thy
coasts with frogs.

8:3. And the river shall bring forth an abundance of frogs; which shall
come up and enter into thy house, and thy bedchamber, and upon thy bed,
and into the houses of thy servants, and to thy people, and into thy
ovens, and into the remains of thy meats:

8:4. And the frogs shall come in to thee, and to thy people, and to all
thy servants.

8:5. And the Lord said to Moses:  Say to Aaron:  Stretch forth thy hand
upon the streams, and upon the rivers and the pools, and bring forth
frogs upon the land of Egypt.

8:6. And Aaron stretched forth his hand upon the waters of Egypt, and
the frogs came up, and covered the land of Egypt.

8:7. And the magicians also, by their enchantments, did in like manner,
and they brought forth frogs upon the land of Egypt.

8:8. But Pharao called Moses and Aaron, and said to them:  Pray ye to
the Lord to take away the frogs from me and from my people; and I will
let the people go to sacrifice to the Lord.

Pray ye to the Lord, etc. . .By this it appears, that though the
magicians, by the help of the devil, could bring frogs, yet they could
not take them away:  God being pleased to abridge in this the power of
Satan.  So we see they could not afterwards produce the lesser insects;
and in this restraint of the power of the devil, were forced to
acknowledge the finger of God.

8:9. And Moses said to Pharao:  Set me a time when I shall pray for
thee, and for thy servants, and for thy people, that the frogs may be
driven away from thee and from thy house, and from thy servants, and
from thy people; and may remain only in the river.

8:10. And he answered:  To morrow.  But he said:  I will do according to
thy word; that thou mayest know that there is none like to the Lord our
God.

8:11. And the frogs shall depart from thee, and from thy house, and
from thy servants, and from thy people; and shall remain only in the
river.

8:12. And Moses and Aaron went forth from Pharao:  and Moses cried to
the Lord for the promise, which he had made to Pharao concerning the
frogs.

8:13. And the Lord did according to the word of Moses:  and the frogs
died out of the houses, and out of the villages, and out of the fields:

8:14. And they gathered them together into immense heaps, and the land
was corrupted.

8:15. And Pharao seeing that rest was given, hardened his own heart,
and did not hear them, as the Lord had commanded.

Pharao hardened his own heart. . .By this we see that Pharao was himself
the efficient cause of his heart being hardened, and not God.--See the
same repeated in ver. 32.  Pharao hardened his heart at this time also:
likewise chap. 9.7, 35, and chap. 13.15.

8:16. And the Lord said to Moses:  Say to Aaron:  Stretch forth thy rod,
and strike the dust of the earth; and may there be sciniphs in all the
land of Egypt.

Sciniphs. . .Or Cinifs, Hebrew Chinnim, small flying insects, very
troublesome both to men and beast.

8:17. And they did so.  And Aaron stretched forth his hand, holding the
rod; and he struck the dust of the earth, and there came sciniphs on
men and on beasts:  all the dust of the earth was turned into sciniphs
through all the land of Egypt.

8:18:  And the magicians with their enchantments practised in like
manner, to bring forth sciniphs, and they could not:  and there were
sciniphs as well on men as on beasts.

8:19. And the magicians said to Pharao:  This is the finger of God.  And
Pharao's heart was hardened, and he hearkened not unto them, as the
Lord had commanded.

8:20. The Lord also said to Moses:  Arise early, and stand before
Pharao; for he will go forth to the waters:  and thou shalt say to him:
Thus saith the Lord:  Let my people go to sacrifice to me.

8:21. But if thou wilt not let them go, behold I will send in upon
thee, and upon thy servants, and upon thy houses, all kind of flies:
and the houses of the Egyptians shall be filled with flies of divers
kinds, and the whole land wherein they shall be.

8:22. And I will make the land of Gessen wonderful in that day, so that
flies shall not be there:  and thou shalt know that I am the Lord in the
midst of the earth.

8:23. And I will put a division between my people and thy people:  to
morrow shall this sign be.

8:24. And the Lord did so.  And there came a very grievous swarm of
flies into the houses of Pharao and of his servants, and into all the
land of Egypt:  and the land was corrupted by this kind of flies.

8:25. And Pharao called Moses and Aaron, and said to them:  Go and
sacrifice to your God in this land.

8:26. And Moses said:  It cannot be so:  for we shall sacrifice the
abominations of the Egyptians to the Lord our God:  now if we kill those
things which the Egyptians worship, in their presence, they will stone
us.

The abominations, etc. . .That is, the things they worship for Gods:
oxen, rams, etc.  It is the usual style of the scriptures to call all
idols and false gods, abominations, to signify how much the people of
God ought to detest and abhor them.

8:27. We will go three days' journey into the wilderness; and we will
sacrifice to the Lord our God, as he hath commanded us.

8:28. And Pharao said:  I will let you go to sacrifice to the Lord your
God in the wilderness, but go no farther:  pray for me.

8:29. And Moses said:  I will go out from thee, and will pray to the
Lord:  and the flies shall depart from Pharao, and from his servants,
and from his people to morrow:  but do not deceive any more, in not
letting the people go to sacrifice to the Lord.

8:30. So Moses went out from Pharao, and prayed to the Lord.

8:31. And he did according to his word:  and he took away the flies from
Pharao, and from his servants, and from his people:  there was not left
so much as one.

8:32. And Pharao's heart was hardened, so that neither this time would
he let the people go.



Exodus Chapter 9


The fifth plague is a murrain among the cattle.  The sixth, of boils in
men and beasts.  The seventh, of hail.  Pharao promiseth again to let the
people go, and breaketh his word.

9:1. And the Lord said to Moses:  Go in to Pharao, and speak to him:
Thus saith the Lord God of the Hebrews:  Let my people go to sacrifice
to me.

9:2. But if thou refuse, and withhold them still:

9:3. Behold my hand shall be upon thy fields; and a very grievous
murrain upon thy horses, and asses, and camels, and oxen, and sheep.

9:4. And the Lord will make a wonderful difference between the
possessions of Israel and the possessions of the Egyptians, that
nothing at all shall die of those things that belong to the children of
Israel.

9:5. And the Lord appointed a time, saying:  To morrow will the Lord do
this thing in the land.

9:6. The Lord therefore did this thing the next day:  and all the beasts
of the Egyptians died, but of the beasts of the children of Israel
there died not one.

All the beasts. . .That is, many of all kinds.

9:7. And Pharao sent to see; and there was not any thing dead of that
which Israel possessed.  And Pharao's heart was hardened, and he did not
let the people go.

9:8. And the Lord said to Moses and Aaron:  Take to you handfuls of
ashes out of the chimney, and let Moses sprinkle it in the air in the
presence of Pharao.

9:9. And be there dust upon all the land of Egypt:  for there shall be
boils and swelling blains both in men and beasts, in the whole land of
Egypt.

9:10. And they took ashes out of the chimney, and stood before Pharao,
and Moses sprinkled it in the air; and there came boils with swelling
blains in men and beasts.

9:11. Neither could the magicians stand before Moses, for the boils
that were upon them, and in all the land of Egypt.

9:12. And the Lord hardened Pharao's heart, and he hearkened not unto
them, as the Lord had spoken to Moses.

Hardened, etc. . .See the annotations above, chap. 4.21, chap. 7.3, and
chap. 8.15.

9:13. And the Lord said to Moses:  Arise in the morning, and stand
before Pharao, and thou shalt say to him:  Thus saith the Lord, the God
of the Hebrews:  Let my people go to sacrifice to me.

9:14. For I will at this time send all my plagues upon thy heart, and
upon thy servants, and upon thy people; that thou mayst know that there
is none like me in all the earth.

9:15. For now I will stretch out my hand to strike thee, and thy
people, with pestilence, and thou shalt perish from the earth.

9:16. And therefore have I raised thee, that I may shew my power in
thee, and my name may be spoken of throughout all the earth.

9:17. Dost thou yet hold back my people; and wilt thou not let them go?

9:18:  Behold I will cause it to rain to morrow at this same hour, an
exceeding great hail; such as hath not been in Egypt from the day that
it was founded, until this present time.

9:19. Send therefore now presently, and gather together thy cattle, and
all that thou hast in the field; for men and beasts, and all things
that shall be found abroad, and not gathered together out of the fields
which the hail shall fall upon, shall die.

9:20. He that feared the word of the Lord among Pharao's servants, made
his servants and his cattle flee into houses:

9:21. But he that regarded not the word of the Lord, left his servants,
and his cattle in the fields.

9:22. And the Lord said to Moses:  Stretch forth thy hand towards
heaven, that there may be hail in the whole land of Egypt upon men, and
upon beasts, and upon every herb of the field in the land of Egypt.

9:23. And Moses stretched forth his rod towards heaven, and the Lord
sent thunder and hail, and lightnings running along the ground:  and the
Lord rained hail upon the land of Egypt.

9:24. And the hail and fire mixt with it drove on together:  and it was
of so great bigness, as never before was seen in the whole land of
Egypt since that nation was founded.

9:25. And the hail destroyed through all the land of Egypt all things
that were in the fields, both man and beast:  and the hail smote every
herb of the field, and it broke every tree of the country.

9:26. Only in the land of Gessen, where the children of Israel were,
the hail fell not.

9:27. And Pharao sent and called Moses and Aaron, saying to them:  I
have sinned this time also, the Lord is just:  I and my people, are
wicked.

9:28. Pray ye to the Lord that the thunderings of God and the hail may
cease:  that I may let you go, and that ye may stay here no longer.

9:29. Moses said:  As soon as I am gone out of the city, I will stretch
forth my hands to the Lord, and the thunders shall cease, and the hail
shall be no more:  that thou mayst know that the earth is the Lord's:

9:30. But I know that neither thou, nor thy servants do yet fear the
Lord God.

9:31. The flax therefore, and the barley were hurt, because the barley
was green, and the flax was now bolled;

9:32. But the wheat, and other winter corn were not hurt, because they
were lateward.

9:33. And when Moses was gone from Pharao out of the city, he stretched
forth his hands to the Lord:  and the thunders and the hail ceased,
neither did there drop any more rain upon the earth.

9:34. And Pharao seeing that the rain, and the hail, and the thunders
were ceased, increased his sin:

9:35. And his heart was hardened, and the heart of his servants, and it
was made exceeding hard:  neither did he let the children of Israel go,
as the Lord had commanded by the hand of Moses.



Exodus Chapter 10


The eighth plague of the locusts.  The ninth, of darkness:  Pharao is
still hardened.

10:1. And the Lord said to Moses:  Go in to Pharao; for I have hardened
his heart, and the heart of his servants:  that I may work these my
signs in him,

10:2. And thou mayst tell in the ears of thy sons, and of thy
grandsons, how often I have plagued the Egyptians, and wrought my signs
amongst them:  and you may know that I am the Lord.

10:3. Therefore Moses and Aaron went in to Pharao, and said to him:
Thus saith the Lord God of the Hebrews:  How long refusest thou to
submit to me?  let my people go, to sacrifice to me.

10:4. But if thou resist, and wilt not let them go, behold I will bring
in to-morrow the locusts into thy coasts;

10:5. To cover the face of the earth, that nothing thereof may appear,
but that which the hail hath left may be eaten:  for they shall feed
upon all the trees that spring in the fields.

10:6. And they shall fill thy houses, and the houses of thy servants,
and of all the Egyptians:  such a number as thy fathers have not seen,
nor thy grandfathers, from the time they were first upon the earth,
until this present day.  And he turned himself away, and went forth from
Pharao.

10:7. And Pharao's servants said to him:  How long shall we endure this
scandal?  Iet the men go to sacrifice to the Lord their God.  Dost thou
not see that Egypt is undone?

10:8. And they called back Moses, and Aaron, to Pharao; and he said to
them:  Go, sacrifice to the Lord your God:  who are they that shall go?

10:9. Moses said:  We will go with our young and old, with our sons and
daughters, with our sheep and herds:  for it is the solemnity of the
Lord our God.

10:10. And Pharao answered:  So be the Lord with you, as I shall let you
and your children go:  who can doubt but that you intend some great
evil?

10:11. It shall not be so.  but go ye men only, and sacrifice to the
Lord:  for this yourselves also desired.  And immediately they were cast
out from Pharao's presence.

10:12. And the Lord said to Moses:  Stretch forth thy hand upon the land
of Egypt unto the locust, that it come upon it, and devour every herb
that is left after the hail.

10:13. And Moses stretched forth his rod upon the land of Egypt:  and
the Lord brought a burning wind all that day, and night; and when it
was morning, the burning wind raised the locusts.

10:14. And they came up over the whole land of Egypt; and rested in all
the coasts of the Egyptians, innumerable, the like as had not been
before that time, nor shall be hereafter.

10:15. And they covered the whole face of the earth, wasting all
things.  And the grass of the earth was devoured, and what fruits soever
were on the trees, which the hail had left; and there remained not any
thing that was green on the trees, or in the herbs of the earth, in all
Egypt.

10:16. Wherefore Pharao in haste called Moses and Aaron, and said to
them:  I have sinned against the Lord your God, and against you.

10:17. But now forgive me my sin this time also, and pray to the Lord
your God, that he take away from me this death.

10:18:  And Moses going forth from the presence of Pharao, prayed to the
Lord:

10:19. And he made a very strong wind to blow from the west, and it
took the locusts and cast them into the Red Sea:  there remained not so
much as one in all the coasts of Egypt.

10:20. And the Lord hardened Pharao's heart, neither did he let the
children of Israel go.

10:21. And the Lord said to Moses:  Stretch out thy hand towards heaven:
and may there be darkness upon the land of Egypt so thick that it may
be felt.

Darkness upon the land of Egypt, so thick that it may be felt. . .By
means of the gross exhalations, which were to cause and accompany the
darkness.

10:22. And Moses stretched forth his hand towards heaven:  and there
came horrible darkness in all the land of Egypt for three days.

10:23. No man saw his brother, nor moved himself out of the place where
he was:  but wheresoever the children of Israel dwelt, there was light.

10:24. And Pharao called Moses and Aaron, and said to them:  Go,
sacrifice to the Lord:  let your sheep only, and herds remain, let your
children go with you.

10:25. Moses said:  Thou shalt give us also sacrifices and
burnt-offerings, to the Lord our God.

10:26. All the flocks shall go with us; there shall not a hoof remain
of them:  for they are necessary for the service of the Lord our God:
especially as we know not what must be offered, till we come to the
very place.

10:27. And the Lord hardened Pharao's heart, and he would not let them
go.

10:28. And Pharao said to Moses:  Get thee from me, and beware thou see
not my face any more:  in what day soever thou shalt come in my sight,
thou shalt die.

10:29. Moses answered:  So shall it be as thou hast spoken, I will not
see thy face anymore.



Exodus Chapter 11


Pharao and his people are threatened with the death of their firstborn.

11:1. And the Lord said to Moses:  Yet one plague more will I bring upon
Pharao and Egypt, and after that he shall let you go, and thrust you
out.

11:2. Therefore thou shalt tell all the people, that every man ask of
his friend, and every woman of her neighbour, vessels of silver and of
gold.

11:3. And the Lord will give favour to his people in the sight of the
Egyptians.  And Moses was a very great man in the land of Egypt, in the
sight of Pharao's servants, and of all the people.

11:4. And he said:  Thus saith the Lord:  At midnight I will enter into
Egypt:

11:5. And every firstborn in the land of the Egyptians shall die, from
the firstborn of Pharao who sitteth on his throne, even to the
firstborn of the handmaid that is at the mill, and all the firstborn of
beasts.

11:6. And there shall be a great cry in all the land of Egypt, such as
neither hath been before, nor shall be hereafter.

11:7. But with all the children of Israel there shall not a dog make
the least noise, from man even to beast; that you may know how
wonderful a difference the Lord maketh between the Egyptians and
Israel.

11:8. And all these thy servants shall come down to me, and shall
worship me, saying:  Go forth thou, and all the people that is under
thee:  after that we will go out.

11:9. And he went out from Pharao exceeding angry.  But the Lord said to
Moses:  Pharao will not hear you, that many signs may be done in the
land of Egypt.

11:10. And Moses and Aaron did all the wonders that are written, before
Pharao.  And the Lord hardened Pharao's heart, neither did he let the
children of Israel go out of his land.

The Lord hardened, etc. . .See the annotations above, chap. 4.21, and
chap. 7.3.



Exodus Chapter 12


The manner of preparing, and eating the paschal lamb:  the firstborn of
Egypt are all slain:  the Israelites depart.

12:1. And the Lord said to Moses and Aaron in the land of Egypt:

12:2. This month shall be to you the beginning of months; it shall be
the first in the months of the year.

12:3. Speak ye to the whole assembly of the children of Israel, and say
to them:  On the tenth day of this month let every man take a lamb by
their families and houses.

12:4. But if the number be less than may suffice to eat the lamb, he
shall take unto him his neighbour that joineth to his house, according
to the number of souls which may be enough to eat the lamb.

12:5. And it shall be a lamb without blemish, a male, of one year;
according to which rite also you shall take a kid.

A kid. . .The phase might be performed, either with a lamb or with a
kid:  and all the same rites and ceremonies were to be used with the one
as with the other.

12:6. And you shall keep it until the fourteenth day of this month; and
the whole multitude of the children of Israel shall sacrifice it in the
evening.

12:7. And they shall take of the blood thereof, and put it upon both
the side posts, and on the upper door posts of the houses, wherein they
shall eat it.

12:8. And they shall eat the flesh that night roasted at the fire, and
unleavened bread with wild lettuce.

12:9. You shall not eat thereof any thing raw, nor boiled in water, but
only roasted at the fire; you shall eat the head with the feet and
entrails thereof.

12:10. Neither shall there remain any thing of it until morning.  If
there be any thing left, you shall burn it with fire.

12:11. And thus you shall eat it:  you shall gird your reins, and you
shall have shoes on your feet, holding staves in your hands, and you
shall eat in haste; for it is the Phase (that is the Passage) of the
Lord.

12:12. And I will pass through the land of Egypt that night, and will
kill every firstborn in the land of Egypt, both man and beast:  and
against all the gods of Egypt I will execute judgments; I am the Lord.

12:13. And the blood shall be unto you for a sign in the houses where
you shall be; and I shall see the blood, and shall pass over you; and
the plague shall not be upon you to destroy you, when I shall strike
the land of Egypt.

12:14. And this day shall be for a memorial to you; and you shall keep
it a feast to the Lord in your generations, with an everlasting
observance.

12:15. Seven days shall you eat unleavened bread:  in the first day
there shall be no leaven in your houses; whosoever shall eat any thing
leavened, from the first day until the seventh day, that soul shall
perish out of Israel.

12:16. The first day shall be holy and solemn, and the seventh day
shall be kept with the like solemnity:  you shall do no work in them,
except those things that belong to eating.

12:17. And you shall observe the feast of the unleavened bread:  for in
this same day I will bring forth your army out of the land of Egypt,
and you shall keep this day in your generations by a perpetual
observance.

12:18:  The first month, the fourteenth day of the month, in the
evening, you shall eat unleavened bread, until the one and twentieth
day of the same month, in the evening.

Unleavened bread. . .By this it appears, that our Saviour made use of
unleavened bread, in the institution of the blessed sacrament, which
was on the evening of the paschal solemnity, at which time there was no
leavened bread to be found in Israel.

12:19. Seven days there shall not be found any leaven in your houses:
he that shall eat leavened bread, his soul shall perish out of the
assembly of Israel, whether he be a stranger or born in the land.

12:20. You shall not eat any thing leavened:  in all your habitations
you shall eat unleavened bread.

12:21. And Moses called all the ancients of the children of Israel, and
said to them:  Go take a lamb by your families, and sacrifice the Phase.

12:22. And dip a bunch of hyssop in the blood that is at the door, and
sprinkle the transom of the door therewith, and both the door cheeks:
let none of you go out of the door of his house till morning.

Sprinkle, etc. . .This sprinkling the doors of the Israelites with the
blood of the paschal lamb, in order to their being delivered from the
sword of the destroying angel, was a lively figure of our redemption by
the blood of Christ.

12:23. For the Lord will pass through striking the Egyptians:  and when
he shall see the blood on the transom, and on both the posts, he will
pass over the door of the house, and not suffer the destroyer to come
into your houses and to hurt you.

12:24. Thou shalt keep this thing as a law for thee and thy children
for ever.

12:25. And when you have entered into the land which the Lord will give
you, as he hath promised, you shall observe these ceremonies.

12:26. And when your children shall say to you:  What is the meaning of
this service?

12:27. You shall say to them:  It is the victim of the passage of the
Lord, when he passed over the houses of the children of Israel in
Egypt, striking the Egyptians, and saving our houses.  And the people
bowing themselves, adored.

12:28. And the children of Israel going forth, did as the Lord had
commanded Moses and Aaron.

12:29. And it came to pass at midnight, the Lord slew every firstborn
in the land of Egypt, from the firstborn of Pharao, who sat on his
throne, unto the firstborn of the captive woman that was in the prison,
and all the firstborn of cattle.

12:30. And Pharao arose in the night, and all his servants, and all
Egypt:  and there arose a great cry in Egypt; for there was not a house
wherein there lay not one dead.

12:31. And Pharao calling Moses and Aaron, in the night, said:  Arise
and go forth from among my people, you and the children of Israel:  go,
sacrifice to the Lord as you say.

12:32. Your sheep and herds take along with you, as you demanded, and
departing bless me.

12:33. And the Egyptians pressed the people to go forth out of the land
speedily, saying:  We shall all die.

12:34. The people therefore took dough before it was leavened; and
tying it in their cloaks, put it on their shoulders.

12:35. And the children of Israel did as Moses had commanded:  and they
asked of the Egyptians vessels of silver and gold, and very much
raiment.

12:36. And the Lord gave favour to the people in the sight of the
Egyptians, so that they lent unto them:  and they stripped the
Egyptians.

12:37. And the children of Israel set forward from Ramesse to Socoth,
being about six hundred thousand men on foot, beside children.

12:38. And a mixed multitude, without number, went up also with them,
sheep and herds, and beasts of divers kinds, exceeding many.

12:39. And they baked the meal, which a little before they had brought
out of Egypt in dough:  and they made hearth cakes unleavened:  for it
could not be leavened, the Egyptians pressing them to depart, and not
suffering them to make any stay; neither did they think of preparing
any meat.

12:40. And the abode of the children of Israel that they made in Egypt,
was four hundred and thirty years.

12:41. Which being expired, the same day all the army of the Lord went
forth out of the land of Egypt.

12:42. This is the observable night of the Lord, when he brought them
forth out of the land of Egypt:  this night all the children of Israel
must observe in their generations.

12:43. And the Lord said to Moses and Aaron:  This is the service of the
Phase; no foreigner shall eat of it.

12:44. But every bought servant shall be circumcised, and so shall eat.

12:45. The stranger and the hireling shall not eat thereof.

12:46. In one house shall it be eaten, neither shall you carry forth of
the flesh thereof out of the house, neither shall you break a bone
thereof.

12:47. All the assembly of the children of Israel shall keep it.

12:48. And if any stranger be willing to dwell among you, and to keep
the Phase of the Lord, all his males shall first be circumcised, and
then shall he celebrate it according to the manner:  and he shall be as
he that is born in the land:  but if any man be uncircumcised, he shall
not eat thereof.

12:49. The same law shall be to him that is born in the land, and to
the proselyte that sojourneth with you.

12:50. And all the children of Israel did as the Lord had commanded
Moses and Aaron.

12:51. And the same day the Lord brought forth the children of Israel
out of the land of Egypt by their companies.



Exodus Chapter 13


The paschal solemnity is to be observed; and the firstborn are to be
consecrated to God.  The people are conducted through the desert by a
pillar of fire in the night, and a cloud in the day.

13:1. And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying:

13:2. Sanctify unto me every firstborn that openeth the womb among the
children of Israel, as well of men as of beasts:  for they are all mine.

Sanctify unto me every firstborn. . .Sanctification in this place means
that the firstborn males of the Hebrews should be deputed to the
ministry in the divine worship; and the firstborn of beasts to be given
for a sacrifice.

13:3. And Moses said to the people:  Remember this day in which you came
forth out of Egypt, and out of the house of bondage, for with a strong
hand hath the Lord brought you forth out of this place:  that you eat no
leavened bread.

13:4. This day you go forth in the month of new corn.

13:5. And when the Lord shall have brought thee into the land of the
Chanaanite, and the Hethite, and the Amorrhite, and the Hevite, and the
Jebusite, which he swore to thy fathers that he would give thee, a land
that floweth with milk and honey, thou shalt celebrate this manner of
sacred rites in this month.

13:6. Seven days shalt thou eat unleavened bread:  and on the seventh
day shall be the solemnity of the Lord.

13:7. Unleavened bread shall you eat seven days:  there shall not be
seen any thing leavened with thee, nor in all thy coasts.

13:8. And thou shalt tell thy son in that day, saying:  This is what the
Lord did to me when I came forth out of Egypt.

13:9. And it shall be as a sign in thy hand, and as a memorial before
thy eyes; and that the law of the Lord be always in thy mouth, for with
a strong hand the Lord hath brought thee out of the land of Egypt.

13:10. Thou shalt keep this observance at the set time from days to
days.

13:11. And when the Lord shall have brought thee into the land of the
Chanaanite, as he swore to thee and thy fathers, and shall give it
thee:

13:12. Thou shalt set apart all that openeth the womb for the Lord, and
all that is first brought forth of thy cattle:  whatsoever thou shalt
have of the male sex, thou shalt consecrate to the Lord.

13:13. The firstborn of an ass thou shalt change for a sheep:  and if
thou do not redeem it, thou shalt kill it.  And every firstborn of men
thou shalt redeem with a price.

13:14. And when thy son shall ask thee to morrow, saying:  What is this?
thou shalt answer him:  With a strong hand did the Lord bring us forth
out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage.

13:15. For when Pharao was hardened, and would not let us go, the Lord
slew every firstborn in the land of Egypt, from the firstborn of man to
the firstborn of beasts:  therefore I sacrifice to the Lord all that
openeth the womb of the male sex, and all the firstborn of my sons I
redeem.

13:16. And it shall be as a sign in thy hand, and as a thing hung
between thy eyes, for a remembrance:  because the Lord hath brought us
forth out of Egypt by a strong hand.

13:17. And when Pharao had sent out the people, the Lord led them not
by the way of the land of the Philistines, which is near; thinking lest
perhaps they would repent, if they should see wars arise against them,
and would return into Egypt.

13:18:  But he led them about by the way of the desert, which is by the
Red Sea:  and the children of Israel went up armed out of the land of
Egypt.

13:19. And Moses took Joseph's bones with him:  because he had adjured
the children of Israel, saying:  God shall visit you, carry out my bones
from hence with you.

13:20. And marching from Socoth, they encamped in Etham, in the utmost
coasts of the wilderness.

13:21. And the Lord went before them to shew the way, by day in a
pillar of a cloud, and by night in a pillar of fire; that he might be
the guide of their journey at both times.

13:22. There never failed the pillar of the cloud by day, nor the
pillar of fire by night, before the people.



Exodus Chapter 14


Pharao pursueth the children of Israel.  They murmur against Moses, but
are encouraged by him, and pass through the Red Sea.  Pharao and his
army following them are drowned.

14:1. And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying:

14:2. Speak to the children of Israel:  Let them turn and encamp over
against Phihahiroth, which is between Magdal and the sea over against
Beelsephon:  you shall encamp before it upon the sea.

14:3. And Pharao will say of the children of Israel:  They are
straitened in the land, the desert hath shut them in.

14:4. And I shall harden his heart and he will pursue you:  and I shall
be glorified in Pharao, and in all his army:  and the Egyptians shall
know that I am the Lord.  And they did so.

14:5. And it was told the king of the Egyptians that the people was
fled:  and the heart of Pharao and of his servants was changed with
regard to the people, and they said:  What meant we to do, that we let
Israel go from serving us?

14:6. So he made ready his chariot, and took all his people with him.

14:7. And he took six hundred chosen chariots, and all the chariots
that were in Egypt:  and the captains of the whole army.

14:8. And the Lord hardened the heart of Pharao, king of Egypt, and he
pursued the children of Israel; but they were gone forth in a mighty
hand.

14:9. And when the Egyptians followed the steps of them who were gone
before, they found them encamped at the sea side:  all Pharao's horse
and chariots and the whole army were in Phihahiroth, before Beelsephon.

14:10. And when Pharao drew near, the children of Israel lifting up
their eyes, saw the Egyptians behind them:  and they feared exceedingly,
and cried to the Lord.

14:11. And they said to Moses:  Perhaps there were no graves in Egypt,
therefore thou hast brought us to die in the wilderness:  why wouldst
thou do this, to lead us out of Egypt?

14:12. Is not this the word that we spoke to thee in Egypt, saying:
Depart from us, that we may serve the Egyptians?  for it was much better
to serve them, than to die in the wilderness.

14:13. And Moses said to the people:  Fear not:  stand, and see the great
wonders of the Lord, which he will do this day; for the Egyptians, whom
you see now, you shall see no more for ever.

14:14. The Lord will fight for you, and you shall hold your peace.

14:15. And the Lord said to Moses:  Why criest thou to me?  Speak to the
children of Israel to go forward.

14:16. But lift thou up thy rod, and stretch forth thy hand over the
sea, and divide it:  that the children of Israel may go through the
midst of the sea on dry ground.

14:17. And I will harden the heart of the Egyptians to pursue you:  and
I will be glorified in Pharao, and in all his host, and in his chariots
and in his horsemen.

14:18:  And the Egyptians shall know that I am the Lord, when I shall be
glorified in Pharao, and in his chariots, and in his horsemen.

14:19. And the angel of God, who went before the camp of Israel,
removing, went behind them:  and together with him the pillar of the
cloud, leaving the forepart,

14:20. Stood behind, between the Egyptians' camp and the camp of
Israel:  and it was a dark cloud, and enlightening the night, so that
they could not come at one another all the night.

A dark cloud, and enlightening the night. . .It was a dark cloud to the
Egyptians; but enlightened the night to the Israelites by giving them a
great light.

14:21. And when Moses had stretched forth his hand over the sea, the
Lord took it away by a strong and burning wind blowing all the night,
and turned it into dry ground:  and the water was divided.

14:22. And the children of Israel went in through the midst of the sea
dried up; for the water was as a wall on their right hand and on their
left.

14:23. And the Egyptians pursuing went in after them, and all Pharao's
horses, his chariots and horsemen, through the midst of the sea.

14:24. And now the morning watch was come, and behold the Lord looking
upon the Egyptian army through the pillar of fire and of the cloud,
slew their host.

14:25. And overthrew the wheels of the chariots, and they were carried
into the deep.  And the Egyptians said:  Let us flee from Israel; for the
Lord fighteth for them against us.

14:26. And the Lord said to Moses:  Stretch forth thy hand over the sea,
that the waters may come again upon the Egyptians, upon their chariots
and horsemen.

14:27. And when Moses had stretched forth his hand towards the sea, it
returned at the first break of day to the former place:  and as the
Egyptians were fleeing away, the waters came upon them, and the Lord
shut them up in the middle of the waves.

14:28. And the waters returned, and covered the chariots and the
horsemen of all the army of Pharao, who had come into the sea after
them, neither did there so much as one of them remain.

14:29. But the children of Israel marched through the midst of the sea
upon dry land, and the waters were to them as a wall on the right hand
and on the left:

14:30. And the Lord delivered Israel in that day out of the hands of
the Egyptians.

14:31. And they saw the Egyptians dead upon the sea shore, and the
mighty hand that the Lord had used against them:  and the people feared
the Lord, and they believed the Lord, and Moses his servant.



Exodus Chapter 15


The canticle of Moses.  The bitter waters of Mara are made sweet.

15:1. Then Moses and the children of Israel sung this canticle to the
Lord, and said:  Let us sing to the Lord:  for he is gloriously
magnified, the horse and the rider he hath thrown into the sea.

15:2. The Lord is my strength and my praise, and he is become salvation
to me:  he is my God, and I will glorify him:  the God of my father, and
I will exalt him.

15:3. The Lord is as a man of war, Almighty is his name.

15:4. Pharao's chariots and his army he hath cast into the sea:  his
chosen captains are drowned in the Red Sea.

15:5. The depths have covered them, they are sunk to the bottom like a
stone.

15:6. Thy right hand, O Lord, is magnified in strength:  thy right hand,
O Lord, hath slain the enemy.

15:7. And in the multitude of thy glory thou hast put down thy
adversaries:  thou hast sent thy wrath, which hath devoured them like
stubble.

15:8. And with the blast of thy anger the waters were gathered
together:  the flowing water stood, the depths were gathered together in
the midst of the sea.

15:9. The enemy said:  I will pursue and overtake, I will divide the
spoils, my soul shall have its fill:  I will draw my sword, my hand
shall slay them.

15:10. Thy wind blew and the sea covered them:  they sunk as lead in the
mighty waters.

15:11. Who is like to thee, among the strong, O Lord?  who is like to
thee, glorious in holiness, terrible and praise-worthy, doing wonders?

15:12. Thou stretchedst forth thy hand, and the earth swallowed them.

15:13. In thy mercy thou hast been a leader to the people which thou
hast redeemed:  and in thy strength thou hast carried them to thy holy
habitation.

15:14. Nations rose up, and were angry:  sorrows took hold on the
inhabitants of Philisthiim.

15:15. Then were the princes of Edom troubled, trembling seized on the
stout men of Moab:  all the inhabitants of Chanaan became stiff.

15:16. Let fear and dread fall upon them, in the greatness of thy arm:
let them become immoveable as a stone, until thy people, O Lord, pass
by:  until this thy people pass by, which thou hast possessed.

15:17. Thou shalt bring them in, and plant them in the mountain of thy
inheritance, in thy most firm habitation, which thou hast made, O Lord;
thy sanctuary, O Lord, which thy hands have established.

15:18:  The Lord shall reign for ever and ever.

15:19. For Pharao went in on horseback with his chariots and horsemen
into the sea:  and the Lord brought back upon them the waters of the
sea:  but the children of Israel walked on dry ground in the midst
thereof.

15:20. So Mary the prophetess, the sister of Aaron, took a timbrel in
her hand:  and all the women went forth after her with timbrels and with
dances.

15:21. And she began the song to them, saying:  Let us sing to the Lord,
for he is gloriously magnified, the horse and his rider he hath thrown
into the sea.

15:22. And Moses brought Israel from the Red Sea, and they went forth
into the wilderness of Sur:  and they marched three days through the
wilderness, and found no water.

15:23. And they came into Mara, and they could not drink the waters of
Mara because they were bitter:  whereupon he gave a name also agreeable
to the place, calling it Mara, that is, bitterness.

15:24. And the people murmured against Moses, saying:  What shall we
drink?

15:25. But he cried to the Lord, and he shewed him a tree, which when
he had cast into the waters, they were turned into sweetness.  There he
appointed him ordinances, and judgments, and there he proved him,

15:26. Saying:  If thou wilt hear the voice of the Lord thy God, and do
what is right before him, and obey his commandments, and keep all his
precepts, none of the evils that I laid upon Egypt, will I bring upon
thee:  for I am the Lord thy healer.

15:27. And the children of Israel came into Elim, where there were
twelve fountains of water, and seventy palm trees:  and they encamped by
the waters.



Exodus Chapter 16


The people murmur for want of meat:  God giveth them quails and manna.

16:1. And they set forward from Elim, and all the multitude of the
children of Israel came into the desert of Sin, which is between Elim
and Sinai:  the fifteenth day of the second month, after they came out
of the land of Egypt.

16:2. And all the congregation of the children of Israel murmured
against Moses and Aaron in the wilderness.

16:3. And the children of Israel said to them:  Would to God we had died
by the hand of the Lord in the land of Egypt, when we sat over the
fleshpots, and ate bread to the full:  Why have you brought us into this
desert, that you might destroy all the multitude with famine?

16:4. And the Lord said to Moses:  Behold I will rain bread from heaven
for you; let the people go forth, and gather what is sufficient for
every day:  that I may prove them whether they will walk in my law, or
not.

16:5. But the sixth day let them provide for to bring in:  and let it be
double to that they were wont to gather every day.

16:6. And Moses and Aaron said to the children of Israel In the evening
you shall know that the Lord hath brought you forth out of the land of
Egypt:

16:7. And in the morning you shall see the glory of the Lord:  for he
hath heard your murmuring against the Lord:  but as for us, what are we,
that you mutter against us?

16:8. And Moses said:  In the evening the Lord will give you flesh to
eat, and in the morning bread to the full:  for he hath heard your
murmurings, with which you have murmured against him, for what are we?
your murmuring is not against us, but against the Lord.

16:9. Moses also said to Aaron:  Say to the whole congregation of the
children of Israel:  Come before the Lord; for he hath heard your
murmuring.

16:10. And when Aaron spoke to all the assembly of the children of
Israel, they looked towards the wilderness; and behold the glory of the
Lord appeared in a cloud.

16:11. And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying:

16:12. I have heard the murmuring of the children of Israel, say to
them:  In the evening you shall eat flesh, and in the morning you shall
have your fill of bread; and you shall know that I am the Lord your
God.

16:13. So it came to pass in the evening, that quails coming up,
covered the camp:  and in the morning a dew lay round about the camp.

16:14. And when it had covered the face of the earth, it appeared in
the wilderness small, and as it were beaten with a pestle, like unto
the hoar frost on the ground.

16:15. And when the children of Israel saw it, they said one to
another:  Manhu! which signifieth:  What is this! for they knew not what
it was.  And Moses said to them:  This is the bread which the Lord hath
given you to eat.

16:16. This is the word that the Lord hath commanded:  Let every one
gather of it as much as is enough to eat; a gomor for every man,
according to the number of your souls that dwell in a tent, so shall
you take of it.

16:17. And the children of Israel did so:  and they gathered, one more,
another less.

16:18:  And they measured by the measure of a gomor:  neither had he more
that had gathered more; nor did he find less that had provided less:
but every one had gathered, according to what they were able to eat.

16:19. And Moses said to them:  Let no man leave thereof till the
morning.

16:20. And they hearkened not to him, but some of them left until the
morning, and it began to be full of worms, and it putrified, and Moses
was angry with them.

16:21. Now every one of them gathered in the morning, as much as might
suffice to eat:  and after the sun grew hot, it melted.

16:22. But on the sixth day they gathered twice as much, that is, two
gomors every man:  and all the rulers of the multitude came, and told
Moses.

16:23. And he said to them:  This is what the Lord hath spoken:  To
morrow is the rest of the sabbath sanctified to the Lord.  Whatsoever
work is to be done, do it; and the meats that are to be dressed, dress
them; and whatsoever shall remain, lay it up until the morning.

16:24. And they did so as Moses had commanded, and it did not putrify,
neither was there worm found in it.

16:25. And Moses said:  Eat it to day, because it is the sabbath of the
Lord:  to day it shall not be found in the field.

16:26. Gather it six days; but on the seventh day is the sabbath of the
Lord, therefore it shall not be found.

16:27. And the seventh day came; and some of the people going forth to
gather, found none.

16:28. And the Lord said to Moses:  How long will you refuse to keep my
commandments, and my law?

16:29. See that the Lord hath given you the sabbath, and for this
reason on the sixth day he giveth you a double provision:  let each man
stay at home, and let none go forth out of his place the seventh day.

16:30. And the people kept the sabbath on the seventh day.

16:31. And the house of Israel called the name thereof Manna:  and it
was like coriander seed, white, and the taste thereof like to flour
with honey.

16:32. And Moses said:  This is the word which the Lord hath commanded:
Fill a gomor of it, and let it be kept unto generations to come
hereafter; that they may know the bread, wherewith I fed you in the
wilderness when you were brought forth out of the land of Egypt.

16:33. And Moses said to Aaron:  Take a vessel, and put manna into it,
as much as a gomor can hold; and lay it up before the Lord, to keep
unto your generations,

16:34. As the Lord commanded Moses.  And Aaron put it in the tabernacle
to be kept.

16:35. And the children of Israel ate manna forty years, till they came
to a habitable land:  with this meat were they fed, until they reached
the borders of the land of Chanaan.

16:36. Now a gomor is the tenth part of an ephi.



Exodus Chapter 17


The people murmur again for want of drink; the Lord giveth them water
out of a rock.  Moses lifting up his hand in prayer, Amalec is overcome.

17:1. Then all the multitude of the children of Israel setting forward
from the desert of Sin, by their mansions, according to the word of the
Lord, encamped in Raphidim, where there was no water for the people to
drink.

17:2. And they chode with Moses, and said:  Give us water, that we may
drink.  And Moses answered them:  Why chide you with me?  Wherefore do
you tempt the Lord?

17:3. So the people were thirsty there for want of water, and murmured
against Moses, saying:  Why didst thou make us go forth out of Egypt, to
kill us and our children, and our beasts with thirst?

17:4. And Moses cried to the Lord, saying:  What shall I do to this
people?  Yet a little more and they will stone me.

17:5. And the Lord said to Moses:  Go before the people, and take with
thee of the ancients of Israel:  and take in thy hand the rod wherewith
thou didst strike the river, and go.

17:6. Behold I will stand there before thee, upon the rock Horeb, and
thou shalt strike the rock, and water shall come out of it that the
people may drink.  Moses did so before the ancients of Israel:

17:7. And he called the name of that place Temptation, because of the
chiding of the children of Israel, and for that they tempted the Lord,
saying:  Is the Lord amongst us or not?

17:8. And Amalec came, and fought against Israel in Raphidim.

17:9. And Moses said to Josue:  Choose out men; and go out and fight
against Amalec:  tomorrow I will stand on the top of the hill, having
the rod of God in my hand.

17:10. Josue did as Moses had spoken, and he fought against Amalec; but
Moses, and Aaron, and Hur, went up upon the top of the hill.

17:11. And when Moses lifted up his hands, Israel overcame; but if he
let them down a little, Amalec overcame.

17:12. And Moses's hands were heavy:  so they took a stone, and put
under him, and he sat on it:  and Aaron and Hur stayed up his hands on
both sides.  And it came to pass, that his hands were not weary until
sunset.

17:13. And Josue put Amalec and his people to flight, by the edge of
the sword.

17:14. And the Lord said to Moses:  Write this for a memorial in a book,
and deliver it to the ears of Josue; for I will destroy the memory of
Amalec from under heaven.

17:15. And Moses built an altar; and called the name thereof, The Lord,
my exaltation, saying:

17:16. Because the hand of the throne of the Lord, and the war of the
Lord shall be against Amalec, from generation to generation.



Exodus Chapter 18


Jethro bringeth to Moses his wife and children.  His counsel.

18:1. And when Jethro the priest of Madian, the kinsman of Moses, had
heard all the things that God had done to Moses, and to Israel his
people, and that the Lord had brought forth Israel out of Egypt:

18:2. He took Sephora, the wife of Moses, whom he had sent back:

18:3. And her two sons, of whom one was called Gersam:  his father
saying, I have been a stranger in a foreign country.

18:4. And the other Eliezer:  For the God of my father, said he, is my
helper, and hath delivered me from the sword of Pharao.

18:5. And Jethro, the kinsman of Moses, came with his sons, and his
wife to Moses into the desert, where he was camped by the mountain of
God.

18:6. And he sent word to Moses, saying:  I Jethro, thy kinsman, come to
thee, and thy wife, and thy two sons with her.

18:7. And he went out to meet his kinsman, and worshipped and kissed
him:  and they saluted one another with words of peace.  And when he was
come into the tent,

18:8. Moses told his kinsman all that the Lord had done to Pharao, and
the Egyptians in favour of Israel:  and all the labour which had
befallen them in the journey, and that the Lord had delivered them.

18:9. And Jethro rejoiced for all the good things that the Lord had
done to Israel, because he had delivered them out of the hands of the
Egyptians.

18:10. And he said:  Blessed is the Lord, who hath delivered his people
out of the hand of Egypt.

18:11. Now I know, that the Lord is great above all gods; because they
dealt proudly against them.

18:12. So Jethro, the kinsman of Moses, offered holocausts and
sacrifices to God:  and Aaron and all the ancients of Israel came, to
eat bread with him before God.

18:13. And the next day Moses sat to judge the people, who stood by
Moses from morning until night.

18:14. And when his kinsman had seen all things that he did among the
people, he said:  What is it that thou dost among the people?  Why
sittest thou alone, and all the people wait from morning till night?

18:15. And Moses answered him:  The people come to me to seek the
judgment of God?

18:16. And when any controversy falleth out among them, they come to me
to judge between them, and to shew the precepts of God, and his laws.

18:17. But he said:  The thing thou dost is not good.

18:18:  Thou art spent with foolish labour, both thou, and this people
that is with thee; the business is above thy strength, thou alone canst
not bear it.

18:19. But hear my words and counsels, and God shall be with thee.  Be
thou to the people in those things that pertain to God, to bring their
words to him:

18:20. And to shew the people the ceremonies, and the manner of
worshipping; and the way wherein they ought to walk, and the work that
they ought to do.

18:21. And provide out of all the people able men, such as fear God, in
whom there is truth, and that hate avarice, and appoint of them rulers
of thousands, and of hundreds, and of fifties, and of tens,

18:22. Who may judge the people at all times:  and when any great matter
soever shall fall out, let them refer it to thee, and let them judge
the lesser matters only:  that so it may be lighter for thee, the burden
being shared out unto others.

18:23. If thou dost this, thou shalt fulfil the commandment of God, and
shalt be able to bear his precepts:  and all this people shall return to
their places with peace.

18:24. And when Moses heard this, he did all things that he had
suggested unto him.

18:25. And choosing able men out of all Israel, he appointed them
rulers of the people, rulers over thousands, and over hundreds, and
over fifties, and over tens.

18:26. And they judged the people at all times:  and whatsoever was of
greater difficulty they referred to him, and they judged the easier
cases only.

18:27. And he let his kinsman depart:  and he returned and went into his
own country.



Exodus Chapter 19


They come to Sinai:  the people are commanded to be sanctified.  The
Lord, coming in thunder and lightning, speaketh with Moses.

19:1. In the third month of the departure of Israel out of the land of
Egypt, on this day they came into the wilderness of Sinai:

19:2. For departing out of Raphidim, and coming to the desert of Sinai,
they camped in the same place, and there Israel pitched their tents
over against the mountain.

19:3. And Moses went up to God; and the Lord called unto him from the
mountain, and said:  Thus shalt thou say to the house of Jacob, and tell
the children of Israel:

And Moses went up to God. . .Moses went up to mount Sinai, where God
spoke to him.

19:4. You have seen what I have done to the Egyptians, how I have
carried you upon the wings of eagles, and have taken you to myself.

19:5. If therefore you will hear my voice, and keep my covenant, you
shall be my peculiar possession above all people:  for all the earth is
mine.

19:6. And you shall be to me a priestly kingdom, and a holy nation.
These are the words thou shalt speak to the children of Israel.

19:7. Moses came; and calling together the elders of the people, he
declared all the words which the Lord had commanded.

19:8. And all the people answered together:  All that the Lord hath
spoken, we will do.  And when Moses had related the people's words to
the Lord,

19:9. The Lord said to him:  Lo, now will I come to thee in the darkness
of a cloud, that the people may hear me speaking to thee, and may
believe thee for ever.  And Moses told the words of the people to the
Lord.

19:10. And he said to him:  Go to the people, and sanctify them to day,
and to morrow, and let them wash their garments.

19:11. And let them be ready against the third day; for on the third
day the Lord will come down in the sight of all the people, upon Mount
Sinai.

19:12. And thou shalt appoint certain limits to the people round about,
and thou shalt say to them:  Take heed ye go not up into the mount, and
that ye touch not the borders thereof:  every one that toucheth the
mount, dying he shall die.

19:13. No hands shall touch him, but he shall be stoned to death, or he
shall be shot through with arrows:  whether it be beast, or man, he
shall not live.  When the trumpet shall begin to sound, then let them go
up into the mount.

19:14. And Moses came down from the mount to the people, and sanctified
them.  And when they had washed their garments,

19:15. He said to them:  Be ready against the third day, and come not
near your wives.

19:16. And now the third day was come, and the morning appeared:  and
behold thunders began to be heard, and lightning to flash, and a very
thick cloud to cover the mount, and the noise of the trumpet sounded
exceeding loud; and the people that was in the camp, feared.

19:17. And when Moses had brought them forth to meet God, from the
place of the camp, they stood at the bottom of the mount.

19:18. And all Mount Sinai was on a smoke:  because the Lord was come
down upon it in fire, and the smoke arose from it as out of a furnace:
and all the mount was terrible.

19:19. And the sound of the trumpet grew by degrees louder and louder,
and was drawn out to a greater length:  Moses spoke, and God answered
him.

19:20. And the Lord came down upon Mount Sinai, in the very top of the
mount, and he called Moses unto the top thereof.  And when he was gone
up thither,

19:21. He said unto him:  Go down, and charge the people; lest they
should have a mind to pass the limits to see the Lord, and a very great
multitude of them should perish.

19:22. The priests also that come to the Lord, let them be sanctified,
lest he strike them.

19:23. And Moses said to the Lord:  The people cannot come up to Mount
Sinai:  for thou didst charge, and command, saying:  Set limits about the
mount, and sanctify it.

19:24. And the Lord said to him:  Go, get thee down; and thou shalt come
up, thou and Aaron with thee:  but let not the priests and the people
pass the limits, nor come up to the Lord, lest he kill them.

19:25. And Moses went down to the people and told them all.



Exodus Chapter 20


The ten commandments.

20:1. And the Lord spoke all these words:

20:2. I am the Lord thy God, who brought thee out of the land of Egypt,
out of the house of bondage.

20:3. Thou shalt not have strange gods before me.

20:4. Thou shalt not make to thyself a graven thing, nor the likeness
of any thing that is in heaven above, or in the earth beneath, nor of
those things that are in the waters under the earth.

A graven thing, nor the likeness of any thing, etc. . .All such images,
or likenesses, are forbidden by this commandment, as are made to be
adored and served; according to that which immediately follows, thou
shalt not adore them, nor serve them.  That is, all such as are designed
for idols or image-gods, or are worshipped with divine honour.  But
otherwise images, pictures, or representations, even in the house of
God, and in the very sanctuary so far from being forbidden, are
expressly authorized by the word of God.  See Ex. 25.15, and etc.; chap.
38.7; Num. 21.8, 9; 1 Chron. or Paralip. 28.18, 19; 2 Chron. or
Paralip. 3.10.

20:5. Thou shalt not adore them, nor serve them:  I am the Lord thy God,
mighty, jealous, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the
children, unto the third and fourth generation of them that hate me:

20:6. And shewing mercy unto thousands to them that love me, and keep
my commandments.

20:7. Thou shalt not take the name of the Lord thy God in vain:  for the
Lord will not hold him guiltless that shall take the name of the Lord
his God in vain.

20:8. Remember that thou keep holy the sabbath day.

20:9. Six days shalt thou labour, and shalt do all thy works.

20:10. But on the seventh day is the sabbath of the Lord thy God:  thou
shalt do no work on it, thou nor thy son, nor thy daughter, nor thy
manservant, nor thy maidservant, nor thy beast, nor the stranger that
is within thy gates.

20:11. For in six days the Lord made heaven and earth, and the sea, and
all things that are in them, and rested on the seventh day:  therefore
the Lord blessed the seventh day, and sanctified it.

20:12. Honour thy father and thy mother, that thou mayst be longlived
upon the land which the Lord thy God will give thee.

20:13. Thou shalt not kill.

20:14. Thou shalt not commit adultery.

20:15. Thou shalt not steal.

20:16. Thou shalt not bear false witness against thy neighbour.

20:17. Thou shalt not covet thy neighbour's house; neither shalt thou
desire his wife, nor his servant, nor his handmaid, nor his ox, nor his
ass, nor any thing that is his.

20:18. And all the people saw the voices and the flames, and the sound
of the trumpet, and the mount smoking; and being terrified and struck
with fear, they stood afar off,

20:19. Saying to Moses:  Speak thou to us, and we will hear:  let not the
Lord speak to us, lest we die.

20:20. And Moses said to the people:  Fear not; for God is come to prove
you, and that the dread of him might be in you, and you should not sin.

20:21. And the people stood afar off.  But Moses went to the dark cloud
wherein God was.

20:22. And the Lord said to Moses:  Thus shalt thou say to the children
of Israel:  You have seen that I have spoken to you from heaven.

20:23. You shall not make gods of silver, nor shall you make to
yourselves gods of gold.

20:24. You shall make an altar of earth unto me, and you shall offer
upon it your holocausts and peace offerings, your sheep and oxen, in
every place where the memory of my name shall be:  I will come to thee,
and will bless thee.

20:25. And if thou make an altar of stone unto me, thou shalt not build
it of hewn stones; for if thou lift up a tool upon it, it shall be
defiled.

20:26. Thou shalt not go up by steps unto my altar, lest thy nakedness
be discovered.



Exodus Chapter 21


Laws relating to Justice.

21:1. These are the judgments which thou shalt set before them.

21:2. If thou buy a Hebrew servant, six years shall he serve thee; in
the seventh he shall go out free for nothing.

21:3. With what raiment he came in, with the like let him go out:  if
having a wife, his wife also shall go out with him.

21:4. But if his master gave him a wife, and she hath borne sons and
daughters; the woman and her children shall be her master's:  but he
himself shall go out with his raiment.

21:5. And if the servant shall say:  I love my master and my wife and
children, I will not go out free:

21:6. His master shall bring him to the gods, and he shall be set to
the door and the posts, and he shall bore his ear through with an awl:
and he shall be his servant for ever.

To the gods. . .Elohim.  That is, to the judges, or magistrates,
authorized by God.

21:7. If any man sell his daughter to be a servant, she shall not go
out as bondwomen are wont to go out.

21:8. If she displease the eyes of her master to whom she was
delivered, he shall let her go:  but he shall have no power to sell her
to a foreign nation, if he despise her.

21:9. But if he have betrothed her to his son, he shall deal with her
after the manner of daughters.

21:10. And if he take another wife for him, he shall provide her a
marriage, and raiment, neither shall he refuse the price of her
chastity.

21:11. If he do not these three things, she shall go out free without
money.

21:12. He that striketh a man with a will to kill him, shall be put to
death.

21:13. But he that did not lie in wait for him, but God delivered him
into his hands:  I will appoint thee a place to which he must flee.

21:14. If a man kill his neighbour on set purpose, and by lying in wait
for him:  thou shalt take him away from my altar that he may die.

21:15. He that striketh his father or mother, shall be put to death.

21:16. He that shall steal a man, and sell him, being convicted of the
guilt, shall be put to death.

21:17. He that curseth his father or mother, shall die the death.

21:18. If men quarrel, and the one strike his neighbour with a stone,
or with his fist, and he die not, but keepeth his bed:

21:19. If he rise again and walk abroad upon his staff, he that struck
him shall be quit, yet so that he make restitution for his work, and
for his expenses upon the physicians.

21:20. He that striketh his bondman, or bondwoman, with a rod, and they
die under his hands, shall be guilty of the crime.

21:21. But if the party remain alive a day or two, he shall not be
subject to the punishment, because it is his money.

21:22. If men quarrel, and one strike a woman with child and she
miscarry indeed, but live herself:  he shall be answerable for so much
damage as the woman's husband shall require, and as arbiters shall
award.

21:23. But if her death ensue thereupon, he shall render life for life,

21:24. Eye for eye, tooth for tooth, hand for hand, foot for foot,

21:25. Burning for burning, wound for wound, stripe for stripe.

21:26. If any man strike the eye of his manservant or maidservant, and
leave them but one eye, he shall let them go free for the eye which he
put out.

21:27. Also if he strike out a tooth of his manservant or maidservant,
he shall in like manner make them free.

21:28. If an ox gore a man or a woman, and they die, he shall be
stoned:  and his flesh shall not be eaten, but the owner of the ox shall
be quit.

21:29. But if the ox was wont to push with his horn yesterday, and the
day before, and they warned his master, and he did not shut him up, and
he shall kill a man or a woman:  then the ox shall be stoned, and his
owner also shall be put to death.

21:30. And if they set a price upon him, he shall give for his life
whatsoever is laid upon him.

21:31. If he have gored a son, or a daughter, he shall fall under the
like sentence.

21:32. If he assault a bondman or bondwoman, he shall give thirty
sicles of silver to their master, and the ox shall be stoned.

21:33. If a man open a pit, and dig one, and cover it not, and an ox or
an ass fall into it,

21:34. The owner of the pit shall pay the price of the beasts:  and that
which is dead shall be his own.

21:35. If one man's ox gore another man's ox, and he die:  they shall
sell the live ox, and shall divide the price, and the carcass of that
which died they shall part between them:

21:36. But if he knew that his ox was wont to push yesterday, and the
day before, and his master did not keep him in; he shall pay ox for ox,
and shall take the whole carcass.



Exodus Chapter 22


The punishment of theft, and other trespasses.  The law of lending
without usury, of taking pledges of reverences to superiors, and of
paying tithes.

22:1. If any man steal an ox or a sheep, and kill or sell it:  he shall
restore five oxen for one ox, and four sheep for one sheep.

22:2. If a thief be found breaking open a house or undermining it, and
be wounded so as to die:  he that slew him shall not be guilty of blood.

22:3. But if he did this when the sun is risen, he hath committed
murder, and he shall die.  If he have not wherewith to make restitution
for the theft, he shall be sold.

22:4. If that which he stole be found with him, alive, either ox, or
ass, or sheep:  he shall restore double.

22:5. If any man hurt a field or a vineyard, and put in his beast to
feed upon that which is other men's:  he shall restore the best of
whatsoever he hath in his own field, or in his vineyard, according to
the estimation of the damage.

22:6. If a fire breaking out light upon thorns, and catch stacks of
corn, or corn standing in the fields, he that kindled the fire shall
make good the loss.

22:7. If a man deliver money, or any vessel unto his friend to keep,
and they be stolen away from him that received them:  if the thief be
found, he shall restore double:

22:8. If the thief be not known, the master of the house shall be
brought to the gods, and shall swear that he did not lay his hand upon
his neighbour's goods,

22:9. To do any fraud, either in ox, or in ass, or sheep, or raiment,
or any thing that may bring damage:  the cause of both parties shall
come to the gods:  and if they give judgment, he shall restore double to
his neighbour.

22:10. If a man deliver ass, ox, sheep, or any beast, to his
neighbour's custody, and it die, or be hurt, or be taken by enemies,
and no man saw it:

22:11. There shall be an oath between them, that he did not put forth
his hand to his neighbour's goods:  and the owner shall accept of the
oath, and he shall not be compelled to make restitution.

22:12. But if it were taken away by stealth, he shall make the loss
good to the owner.

22:13. If it were eaten by a beast, let him bring to him that which was
slain, and he shall not make restitution.

22:14. If a man borrow of his neighbour any of these things, and it be
hurt or die, the owner not being present, he shall be obliged to make
restitution.

22:15. But if the owner be present, he shall not make restitution,
especially if it were hired, and came for the hire of his work.

22:16. If a man seduce a virgin not yet espoused, and lie with her:  he
shall endow her, and have her to wife.

22:17. If the maid's father will not give her to him, he shall give
money according to the dowry, which virgins are wont to receive.

22:18. Wizards thou shalt not suffer to live.

22:19. Whosoever copulateth with a beast; shall be put to death.

22:20. He that sacrificeth to gods, shall be put to death, save only to
the Lord.

22:21. Thou shalt not molest a stranger, nor afflict him:  for
yourselves also were strangers in the land of Egypt.

22:22. You shall not hurt a widow or an orphan.

22:23. If you hurt them, they will cry out to me, and I will hear their
cry:

22:24. And my rage shall be enkindled, and I will strike you with the
sword, and your wives shall be widows, and your children fatherless.

22:25. If thou lend money to any of my people that is poor, that
dwelleth with thee, thou shalt not be hard upon them as an extortioner,
nor oppress them with usuries.

22:26. If thou take of thy neighbour a garment in pledge, thou shalt
give it him again before sunset.

22:27. For that same is the only thing, wherewith he is covered, the
clothing of his body, neither hath he any other to sleep in:  if he cry
to me, I will hear him, because I am compassionate.

22:28. Thou shalt not speak ill of the gods, and the prince of thy
people thou shalt not curse.

22:29. Thou shalt not delay to pay thy tithes and thy firstfruits:  thou
shalt give the firstborn of thy sons to me.

22:30. Thou shalt do the same with the firstborn of thy oxen also and
sheep:  seven days let it be with its dam:  the eighth day thou shalt
give it to me.

22:31. You shall be holy men to me:  the flesh that beasts have tasted
of before, you shall not eat, but shall cast it to the dogs.



Exodus Chapter 23


Laws for judges; the rest of the seventh year, and day:  three principal
feasts to be solemnized every year; the promise of an angel, to conduct
and protect them:  idols are to be destroyed.

23:1. Thou shalt not receive the voice of a lie:  neither shalt thou
join thy hand to bear false witness for a wicked person.

23:2. Thou shalt not follow the multitude to do evil:  neither shalt
thou yield in judgment, to the opinion of the most part, to stray from
the truth.

23:3. Neither shalt thou favour a poor man in judgment.

23:4. If thou meet thy enemy's ox or ass going astray, bring it back to
him.

23:5. If thou see the ass of him that hateth thee lie underneath his
burden, thou shalt not pass by, but shalt lift him up with him.

23:6. Thou shalt not go aside in the poor man's judgment.

23:7. Thou shalt fly lying.  The innocent and just person thou shalt not
put to death:  because I abhor the wicked.

23:8. Neither shalt thou take bribes, which even blind the wise, and
pervert the words of the just.

23:9. Thou shalt not molest a stranger, for you know the hearts of
strangers:  for you also were strangers in the land of Egypt.

23:10. Six years thou shalt sow thy ground, and shalt gather the corn
thereof.

23:11. But the seventh year thou shalt let it alone, and suffer it to
rest, that the poor of thy people may eat, and whatsoever shall be
left, let the beasts of the field eat it:  so shalt thou do with thy
vineyard and thy oliveyard.

23:12. Six days thou shalt work:  the seventh day thou shalt cease, that
thy ox and thy ass may rest:  and the son of thy handmaid and the
stranger may be refreshed.

23:13. Keep all things that I have said to you.  And by the name of
strange gods you shall not swear, neither shall it be heard out of your
mouth.

23:14. Three times every year you shall celebrate feasts to me.

23:15. Thou shalt keep the feast of unleavened bread.  Seven days shalt
thou eat unleavened bread, as I commanded thee, in the time of the
month of new corn, when thou didst come forth out of Egypt:  thou shalt
not appear empty before me.

23:16. And the feast of the harvest of the firstfruits of thy work,
whatsoever thou hast sown in the field.  The feast also in the end of
the year, when thou hast gathered in all thy corn out of the field.

23:17. Thrice a year shall all thy males appear before the Lord thy
God.

23:18. Thou shalt not sacrifice the blood of my victim upon leaven,
neither shall the fat of my solemnity remain until the morning.

23:19. Thou shalt carry the first-fruits of the corn of thy ground to
the house of the Lord thy God.  Thou shalt not boil a kid in the milk of
his dam.

23:20. Behold I will send my angel, who shall go before thee, and keep
thee in thy journey, and bring thee into the place that I have
prepared.

23:21. Take notice of him, and hear his voice, and do not think him one
to be contemned:  for he will not forgive when thou hast sinned, and my
name is in him.

23:22. But if thou wilt hear hi voice, and do all that I speak, I will
be an enemy to thy enemies, and will afflict them that afflict thee.

23:23. And my angel shall go before thee, and shall bring thee in unto
the Amorrhite, and the Hethite, and the Pherexite, and the Chanaanite,
and the Hevite, and the Jebuzite, whom I will destroy.

23:24. Thou shalt not adore their gods, nor serve them.  Thou shalt not
do their works, but shalt destroy them, and break their statues.

23:25. And you shall serve the Lord your God, that I may bless your
bread and your waters, and may take away sickness from the midst of
thee.

23:26. There shall not be one fruitless nor barren in thy land:  I will
fill the number of thy days.

23:27. I will send my fear before thee, and will destroy all the people
to whom thou shalt come:  and will turn the backs of all thy enemies
before thee:

23:28. Sending out hornets before, that shall drive away the Hevite,
and the Chanaanite, and the Hethite, before thou come in.

23:29. I will not cast them out from thy face in one year; lest the
land be brought into a wilderness, and the beasts multiply against
thee.

23:30. By little and little I will drive them out from before thee,
till thou be increased, and dost possess the land.

23:31. And I will set thy bounds from the Red Sea to the sea of the
Palestines, and from the desert to the river:  I will deliver the
inhabitants of the land into your hands, and will drive them out from
before you.

23:32. Thou shalt not enter into league with them, nor with their gods.

23:33. Let them not dwell in thy land, lest perhaps they make thee sin
against me, if thou serve their gods; which, undoubtedly, will be a
scandal to thee.



Exodus Chapter 24


Moses writeth his law; and after offering sacrifices, sprinkleth the
blood of the testament upon the people:  then goeth up the mountain
which God covereth with a fiery cloud.

24:1. And he said to Moses:  Come up to the Lord, thou, and Aaron, Nadab
and Abiu, and seventy of the ancients of Israel, and you shall adore
afar off.

24:2. And Moses alone shall come up to the Lord, but they shall not
come nigh; neither shall the people come up with him.

24:3. So Moses came and told the people all the words of the Lord, and
all the judgments:  and all the people answered with one voice:  We will
do all the words of the Lord, which he hath spoken.

24:4. And Moses wrote all the words of the Lord:  and rising in the
morning, he built an altar at the foot of the mount, and twelve titles
according to the twelve tribes of Israel.

Titles. . .That is, pillars.

24:5. And he sent young men of the children of Israel, and they offered
holocausts, and sacrificed pacific victims of calves to the Lord.

Holocausts. . .Whole burnt offerings, in which the whole sacrifice was
consumed with fire upon the altar.

24:6. Then Moses took half of the blood, and put it into bowls; and the
rest he poured upon the altar.

24:7. And taking the book of the covenant, he read it in the hearing of
the people:  and they said:  All things that the Lord hath spoken, we
will do, we will be obedient.

24:8. And he took the blood and sprinkled it upon the people, and he
said:  This is the blood of the covenant, which the Lord hath made with
you concerning all these words.

24:9. Then Moses and Aaron, Nadab and Abiu, and seventy of the ancients
of Israel went up:

24:10. And they saw the God of Israel:  and under his feet as it were a
work of sapphire stone, and as the heaven, when clear.

24:11. Neither did he lay his hand upon those of the children of
Israel, that retired afar off, and they saw God, and they did eat and
drink.

24:12. And the Lord said to Moses:  Come up to me into the mount, and be
there; and I will give thee tables of stone, and the law, and the
commandments which I have written; that thou mayest teach them.

24:13. Moses rose up, and his minister Josue:  and Moses going up into
the mount of God,

24:14. Said to the ancients:  Wait ye here till we return to you.  You
have Aaron and Hur with you:  if any question shall arise, you shall
refer it to them.

24:15. And when Moses was gone up, a cloud covered the mount.

24:16. And the glory of the Lord dwelt upon Sinai, covering it with a
cloud six days:  and the seventh day he called him out of the midst of
the cloud.

24:17. And the sight of the glory of the Lord, was like a burning fire
upon the top of the mount, in the eyes of the children of Israel.

24:18. And Moses entering into the midst of the cloud, went up into the
mountain:  And he was there forty days and forty nights.



Exodus Chapter 25


Offerings prescribed for making the tabernacle, the ark, the
candlestick, etc.

25:1. And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying:

25:2. Speak to the children of Israel, that they bring firstfruits to
me:  of every man that offereth of his own accord, you shall take them.

Firstfruits. . .Offerings of some of the best and choicest of their
goods.

25:3. And these are the things you must take:  Gold, and silver, and
brass,

25:4. Violet and purple, and scarlet twice dyed, and fine linen, and
goats' hair,

25:5. And rams' skins dyed red, and violet skins, and setim wood:

Setim wood. . .The wood of a tree that grows in the wilderness, which is
said to be incorruptible.

25:6. Oil to make lights:  spices for ointment, and for sweetsmelling
incense:

25:7. Onyx stones, and precious stones to adorn the ephod and the
rational.

The ephod and the rational. . .The ephod was the high priest's upper
vestment; and the rational his breastplate, in which were twelve gems,
etc.

25:8. And they shall make me a sanctuary, and I will dwell in the midst
of them:

25:9. According to all the likeness of the tabernacle which I will shew
thee, and of all the vessels for the service thereof:  and thus you
shall make it:

25:10. Frame an ark of setim wood, the length whereof shall be of two
cubits and a half; the breadth, a cubit and a half; the height,
likewise, a cubit and a half.

25:11. And thou shalt overlay it with the purest gold, within and
without; and over it thou shalt make a golden crown round about:

25:12. And four golden rings, which thou shalt put at the four corners
of the ark:  let two rings be on the one side, and two on the other.

25:13. Thou shalt make bars also of setim wood, and shalt overlay them
with gold.

25:14. And thou shalt put them in through the rings that are in the
sides of the ark, that it may be carried on them:

25:15. And they shall be always in the rings, neither shall they at any
time be drawn out of them.

25:16. And thou shalt put in the ark the testimony which I will give
thee.

25:17. Thou shalt make also a propitiatory of the purest gold:  the
length thereof shall be two cubits and a half, and the breadth a cubit
and a half.

A propitiatory. . .a covering for the ark:  called a propitiatory, or
mercy seat, because the Lord, who was supposed to sit there upon the
wings of the cherubims, with the ark for his footstool, from thence
shewed mercy.  It is also called the oracle, ver. 18 and 20; because
from thence God gave his orders and his answers.

25:18. Thou shalt make also two cherubims of beaten gold, on the two
sides of the oracle.

25:19. Let one cherub be on the one side, and the other on the other.

25:20. Let them cover both sides of the propitiatory, spreading their
wings, and covering the oracle, and let them look one towards the
other, their faces being turned towards the propitiatory wherewith the
ark is to be covered.

25:21. In which thou shalt put the testimony that I will give thee.

25:22. Thence will I give orders, and will speak to thee over the
propitiatory, and from the midst of the two cherubims, which shall be
upon the ark of the testimony, all things which I will command the
children of Israel by thee.

25:23. Thou shalt make a table also of setim wood, of two cubits in
length, and a cubit in breadth, and a cubit and a half in height.

A table. . .On which were to be placed the twelve loaves of proposition:
or, as they are called in the Hebrew, the face bread, because they were
always to stand before the face of the Lord in his temple:  as a figure
of the eucharistic sacrifice and sacrament, in the church of Christ.

25:24. And thou shalt overlay it with the purest gold:  and thou shalt
make to it a golden ledge round about.

25:25. And to the ledge itself a polished crown, four inches high; and
over the same another little golden crown.

25:26. Thou shalt prepare also four golden rings, and shalt put them in
the four corners of the same table, over each foot.

25:27. Under the crown shall the golden rings be, that the bars may be
put through them, and the table may be carried.

25:28. The bars also themselves thou shalt make of setim wood, and
shalt overlay them with gold, to bear up the table.

25:29. Thou shalt prepare also dishes, and bowls, censers, and cups,
wherein the libations are to be offered, of the purest gold.

Libations. . .That is, drink offerings.

25:30. And thou shalt set upon the table loaves of proposition in my
sight always.

25:31. Thou shalt make also a candlestick of beaten work, of the finest
gold, the shaft thereof, and the branches, the cups, and the bowls, and
the lilies going forth from it.

A candlestick. . .This candlestick, with its seven lamps, which was
always to give light in the house of God, was a figure of the light of
the Holy Ghost, and his sevenfold grace, in the sanctuary of the church
of Christ.

25:32. Six branches shall come out of the sides, three out of one side,
and three out of the other.

25:33. Three cups as it were nuts to every branch, and a bowl withal,
and a lily:  and three cups likewise of the fashion of nuts in the other
branch, and a bowl withal, and a lily.  Such shall be the work of the
six branches, that are to come out from the shaft:

25:34. And in the candlestick itself shall be four cups in the manner
of a nut, and at every one bowls and lilies.

25:35. Bowls under two branches in three places, which together make
six, coming forth out of one shaft.

25:36. And both the bowls and the branches shall be of the same beaten
work of the purest gold.

25:37. Thou shalt make also seven lamps, and shalt set them upon the
candlestick, to give light over against.

25:38. The snuffers also, and where the snuffings shall be put out,
shall be made of the purest gold.

25:39. The whole weight of the candlestick, with all the furniture
thereof, shall be a talent of the purest gold.

25:40. Look, and make it according to the pattern that was shewn thee
in the mount.



Exodus Chapter 26


The form of the tabernacle with its appurtenances.

26:1. And thou shalt make the tabernacle in this manner:  Thou shalt
make ten curtains of fine twisted linen, and violet and purple, and
scarlet twice dyed, diversified with embroidery.

26:2. The length of one curtain shall be twenty-eight cubits; the
breadth shall be four cubits.  All the curtains shall be of one measure.

26:3. Five curtains shall be joined one to another, and the other five
shall be coupled together in like manner.

26:4. Thou shalt make loops of violet in the sides and tops of the
curtains, that they may be joined one to another.

26:5. Every curtain shall have fifty loops on both sides, so set on,
that one loop may be against another loop, and one may be fitted to the
other.

26:6. Thou shalt make also fifty rings of gold, wherewith the veils of
the curtains are to be joined, that it may be made one tabernacle.

26:7. Thou shalt make also eleven curtains of goats' hair, to cover the
top of the tabernacle.

26:8. The length of one hair-curtain shall be thirty cubits; and the
breadth, four:  the measure of all the curtains shall be equal.

26:9. Five of which thou shalt couple by themselves, and the six others
thou shalt couple one to another, so as to double the sixth curtain in
the front of the roof.

26:10. Thou shalt make also fifty loops in the edge of one curtain,
that it may be joined with the other:  and fifty loops in the edge of
the other curtain, that it may be coupled with its fellow.

26:11. Thou shalt make also fifty buckles of brass, wherewith the loops
may be joined, that of all there may be made one covering.

26:12. And that which shall remain of the curtains, that are prepared
for the roof, to wit, one curtain that is over and above, with the half
thereof thou shalt cover the back parts of the tabernacle.

26:13. And there shall hang down a cubit on the one side, and another
on the other side, which is over and above in the length of the
curtains, fencing both sides of the tabernacle.

26:14. Thou shalt make also another cover to the roof of rams' skins
dyed red:  and over that again another cover of violet coloured skins.

26:15. Thou shalt make also the boards of the tabernacle standing
upright of setim wood.

26:16. Let every one of them be ten cubits in length, and in breadth
one cubit and a half.

26:17. In the sides of the boards shall be made two mortises, whereby
one board may be joined to another board:  and after this manner shall
all the boards be prepared.

26:18. Of which twenty shall be in the south side southward.

26:19. For which thou shalt cast forty sockets of silver, that under
every board may be put two sockets at the two corners.

26:20. In the second side also of the tabernacle that looketh to the
north, there shall be twenty boards,

26:21. Having forty sockets of silver, two sockets shall be put under
each board.

26:22. But on the west side of the tabernacle thou shalt make six
boards.

26:23. And again other two which shall be erected in the corners at the
back of the tabernacle.

26:24. And they shall be joined together from beneath unto the top, and
one joint shall hold them all.  The like joining shall be observed for
the two boards also that are to be put in the corners.

26:25. And they shall be in all eight boards, and their silver sockets
sixteen, reckoning two sockets for each board.

26:26. Thou shalt make also five bars of setim wood, to hold together
the boards on one side of the tabernacle.

26:27. And five others on the other side, and as many at the west side:

26:28. And they shall be put along by the midst of the boards, from one
end to the other.

26:29. The boards also themselves thou shalt overlay with gold, and
shalt cast rings of gold to be set upon them, for places for the bars
to hold together the boardwork:  which bars thou shalt cover with plates
of gold.

26:30. And thou shalt rear up the tabernacle according to the pattern
that was shewn thee in the mount.

26:31. Thou shalt make also a veil of violet, and purple, and scarlet
twice dyed, and fine twisted linen, wrought with embroidered work and
goodly variety:

26:32. And thou shalt hang it up before four pillars of setim wood,
which themselves also shall be overlaid with gold, and shall have heads
of gold, but sockets of silver.

26:33. And the veil shall be hanged on with rings, and within it thou
shalt put the ark of the testimony, and the sanctuary and the holy of
the holies shall be divided with it.

The sanctuary, etc. . .That part of the tabernacle, which was without
the veil, into which the priests daily entered, is here called the
sanctuary, or holy place; that part which was within the veil, into
which no one but the high priest ever went, and he but once a year, is
called the holy of holies, (literally, the sanctuary of the
sanctuaries,) as being the most holy of all holy places.

26:34. And thou shalt set the propitiatory upon the ark of the
testimony, in the holy of holies.

26:35. And the table without the veil, and over against the table the
candlestick in the south side of the tabernacle:  for the table shall
stand in the north side.

26:36. Thou shalt make also a hanging in the entrance of the tabernacle
of violet, and purple, and scarlet twice dyed, and fine twisted linen
with embroidered work.

26:37. And thou shalt overlay with gold five pillars of setim wood,
before which the hanging shall be drawn:  their heads shall be of gold,
and the sockets of brass.



Exodus Chapter 27


The altar; and the court of the tabernacle with its hangings and
pillars.  Provision of oil for lamps.

27:1. Thou shalt make also an altar of setim wood, which shall be five
cubits long, and as many broad, that is four square, and three cubits
high.

27:2. And there shall be horns at the four corners of the same:  and
thou shalt cover it with brass.

27:3. And thou shalt make for the uses thereof pans to receive the
ashes, and tongs and fleshhooks, and firepans:  all its vessels thou
shalt make of brass.

27:4. And a grate of brass in manner of a net; at the four corners of
which, shall be four rings of brass,

27:5. Which thou shalt put under the hearth of the altar:  and the grate
shall be even to the midst of the altar.

27:6. Thou shalt make also two bars for the altar, of setim wood, which
thou shalt cover with plates of brass:

27:7. And thou shalt draw them through rings, and they shall be on both
sides of the altar to carry it.

27:8. Thou shalt not make it solid, but empty and hollow in the inside,
as it was shewn thee in the mount.

27:9. Thou shalt make also the court of the tabernacle, in the south
side whereof southward there shall be hangings of fine twisted linen of
a hundred cubits long for one side.

27:10. And twenty pillars with as many sockets of brass, the heads of
which, with their engraving, shall be of silver.

27:11. In like manner also on the north side there shall be hangings of
a hundred cubits long, twenty pillars, and as many sockets of brass,
and their heads with their engraving of silver.

27:12. But in the breadth of the court, that looketh to the west, there
shall be hangings of fifty cubits, and ten pillars, and as many
sockets.

27:13. In that breadth also of the court, which looketh to the east,
there shall be fifty cubits.

27:14. In which there shall be for one side, hangings of fifteen
cubits, and three pillars, and as many sockets.

27:15. And in the other side, there shall be hangings of fifteen
cubits, with three pillars, and as many sockets.

27:16. And in the entrance of the court there shall be made a hanging
of twenty cubits of violet and purple, and scarlet twice dyed, and fine
twisted linen, with embroidered work:  it shall have four pillars, with
as many sockets.

27:17. All the pillars of the court round about shall be garnished with
plates of silver, silver heads, and sockets of brass.

27:18. In length the court shall take up a hundred cubits, in breadth
fifty, the height shall be of five cubits, and it shall be made of fine
twisted linen, and shall have sockets of brass.

27:19. All the vessels of the tabernacle for all uses and ceremonies,
and the pins both of it and of the court, thou shalt make of brass.

27:20. Command the children of Israel that they bring thee the purest
oil of the olives, and beaten with a pestle:  that a lamp may burn
always,

27:21. In the tabernacle of the testimony, without the veil that hangs
before the testimony.  And Aaron and his sons shall order it, that it
may give light before the Lord until the morning.  It shall be a
perpetual observance throughout their successions among the children of
Israel.



Exodus Chapter 28


The holy vestments for Aaron and his sons.

28:1. Take unto thee also Aaron thy brother with his sons, from among
the children of Israel, that they may minister to me in the priest's
office:  Aaron, Nadab, and Abiu, Eleazar, and Ithamar.

28:2. And thou shalt make a holy vesture for Aaron, thy brother, for
glory and for beauty.

28:3. And thou shalt speak to all the wise of heart, whom I have filled
with the spirit of wisdom, that they may make Aaron's vestments, in
which he being consecrated, may minister to me.

28:4. And these shall be the vestments that they shall make:  A rational
and an ephod, a tunic and a strait linen garment, a mitre and a girdle.
They shall make the holy vestments for thy brother Aaron and his sons,
that they may do the office of priesthood unto me.

28:5. And they shall take gold, and violet, and purple, and scarlet
twice dyed, and fine linen.

28:6. And they shall make the ephod of gold, and violet, and purple,
and scarlet twice dyed, and fine twisted linen, embroidered with divers
colours.

28:7. It shall have the two edges joined in the top on both sides, that
they may be closed together.

28:8. The very workmanship also, and all the variety of the work, shall
be of gold, and violet, and purple, and scarlet twice dyed, and fine
twisted linen.

28:9. And thou shalt take two onyx stones, and shalt grave on them the
names of the children of Israel:

28:10. Six names on one stone, and the other six on the other,
according to the order of their birth.

28:11. With the work of an engraver, and the graving of a jeweller,
thou shalt engrave them with the names of the children of Israel, set
in gold and compassed about:

28:12. And thou shalt put them in both sides of the ephod, a memorial
for the children of Israel.  And Aaron shall bear their names before the
Lord upon both shoulders, for a remembrance.

28:13. Thou shalt make also hooks of gold.

28:14. And two little chains of the purest gold, linked one to another,
which thou shalt put into the hooks.

28:15. And thou shalt make the rational of judgment with embroidered
work of divers colours, according to the workmanship of the ephod, of
gold, violet, and purple, and scarlet twice dyed, and fine twisted
linen.

The rational of judgment. . .This part of the priest's attire, which he
wore at his breast, was called the rational of judgment; partly because
it admonished both priest and people of their duty to God, by carrying
the names of all their tribes in his presence; and by the Urim and the
Thummim, that is, doctrine and truth, which were written upon it; and
partly because it gave divine answers and oracles, as if it were
rational and endowed with judgment.

28:16. It shall be four square and doubled:  it shall be the measure of
a span both in length and in breadth.

28:17. And thou shalt set in it four rows of stones .  In the first row
shall be a sardius stone, and a topaz, and an emerald:

28:18. In the second a carbuncle, a sapphire, and a jasper:

28:19. In the third a ligurius, an agate, and an amethyst:

28:20. In the fourth a chrysolite, an onyx, and a beryl.  They shall be
set in gold by their rows.

28:21. And they shall have the names of the children of Israel:  with
twelve names shall they be engraved, each stone with the name of one
according to the twelve tribes.

28:22. And thou shalt make on the rational chains, linked one to
another, of the purest gold:

28:23. And two rings of gold, which thou shalt put in the two ends at
the top of the rational.

28:24. And the golden chains thou shalt join to the rings, that are in
the ends thereof.

28:25. And the ends of the chains themselves, thou shalt join together
with two hooks, on both sides of the ephod, which is towards the
rational.

28:26. Thou shalt make also two rings of gold, which thou shalt put in
the top parts of the rational, in the borders that are over against the
ephod, and look towards the back parts thereof.

28:27. Moreover also other two rings of gold, which are to be set on
each side of the ephod beneath, that looketh towards the nether
joining, that the rational may be fitted with the ephod,

28:28. And may be fastened by the rings thereof unto the rings of the
ephod with a violet fillet, that the joining artificially wrought may
continue, and the rational and the ephod may not be loosed one from the
other.

28:29. And Aaron shall bear the names of the children of Israel in the
rational of judgment upon his breast, when he shall enter into the
sanctuary, a memorial before the Lord for ever.

28:30. And thou shalt put in the rational of judgment doctrine and
truth, which shall be on Aaron's breast, when he shall go in before the
Lord:  and he shall bear the judgment of the children of Israel on his
breast, in the sight of the Lord always.

Doctrine and Truth. . .Hebrew, Urim and Thummim:  illuminations and
perfections.  These words, written on the rational, seem to signify the
light of doctrine and the integrity of life, with which the priests of
God ought to approach him.

28:31. And thou shalt make the tunic of the ephod all of violet,

28:32. In the midst whereof above shall be a hole for the head, and a
border round about it woven, as is wont to be made in the outmost parts
of garments, that it may not easily be broken.

28:33. And beneath at the feet of the same tunic, round about, thou
shalt make as it were pomegranates, of violet, and purple, and scarlet
twice dyed, with little bells set between:

28:34. So that there shall be a golden bell and a pomegranate, and
again another golden bell and a pomegranate.

28:35. And Aaron shall be vested with it in the office of his ministry,
that the sound may be heard, when he goeth in and cometh out of the
sanctuary, in the sight of the Lord, and that he may not die.

28:36. Thou shalt make also a plate of the purest gold:  wherein thou
shalt grave with engraver's work, Holy to the Lord.

28:37. And thou shalt tie it with a violet fillet, and it shall be upon
the mitre,

28:38. Hanging over the forehead of the high priest.  And Aaron shall
bear the iniquities of those things, which the children of Israel have
offered and sanctified, in all their gifts and offerings.  And the plate
shall be always on his forehead, that the Lord may be well pleased with
them.

28:39. And thou shalt gird the tunic with fine linen, and thou shalt
make a fine linen mitre, and a girdle of embroidered work.

28:40. Moreover, for the sons of Aaron thou shalt prepare linen tunics,
and girdles and mitres for glory and beauty:

28:41. And with all these things thou shalt vest Aaron thy brother, and
his sons with him.  And thou shalt consecrate the hands of them all, and
shalt sanctify them, that they may do the office of priesthood unto me.

28:42. Thou shalt make also linen breeches, to cover the flesh of their
nakedness, from the reins to the thighs:

28:43. And Aaron and his sons shall use them when they shall go into
the tabernacle of the testimony, or when they approach to the altar to
minister in the sanctuary.  lest being guilty of iniquity they die.  It
shall be a law for ever to Aaron, and to his seed after him.



Exodus Chapter 29


The manner of consecrating Aaron and other priests; the institution of
the daily sacrifice of two lambs, one in the morning, the other at
evening.

29:1. And thou shalt also do this, that they may be consecrated to me
in priesthood.  Take a calf from the herd, and two rams without blemish,

29:2. And unleavened bread, and a cake without leaven, tempered with
oil, wafers also unleavened, anointed with oil:  thou shalt make them
all of wheaten flour.

29:3. And thou shalt put them in a basket, and offer them:  and the calf
and the two rams.

29:4. And thou shalt bring Aaron and his sons to the door of the
tabernacle of the testimony.  And when thou hast washed the father and
his sons with water,

29:5. Thou shalt clothe Aaron with his vestments, that is, with the
linen garment and the tunic, and the ephod and the rational, which thou
shalt gird with the girdle.

29:6. And thou shalt put the mitre upon his head, and the holy plate
upon the mitre,

29:7. And thou shalt pour the oil of unction upon his head:  and by this
rite shall he be consecrated.

29:8. Thou shalt bring his sons also, and shalt put on them the linen
tunics, and gird them with a girdle:

29:9. To wit, Aaron and his children, and thou shalt put mitres upon
them; and they shall be priests to me by a perpetual ordinance.  After
thou shalt have consecrated their hands,

29:10. Thou shalt present also the calf before the tabernacle of the
testimony.  And Aaron and his sons shall lay their hands upon his head,

29:11. And thou shalt kill him in the sight of the Lord, beside the
door of the tabernacle of the testimony.

29:12. And taking some of the blood of the calf, thou shalt put it upon
the horns of the altar with thy finger, and the rest of the blood thou
shalt pour at the bottom thereof.

29:13. Thou shalt take also all the fat that covereth the entrails, and
the caul of the liver, and the two kidneys, and the fat that is upon
them, and shalt offer a burn offering upon the altar:

29:14. But the flesh of the calf, and the hide and the dung, thou shalt
burn abroad, without the camp, because it is for sin.

29:15. Thou shalt take also one ram, upon the head whereof Aaron and
his sons shall lay their hands.

29:16. And when thou hast killed him, thou shalt take of the blood
thereof, and pour round about the altar.

29:17. And thou shalt cut the ram in pieces, and having washed his
entrails and feet, thou shalt put them upon the flesh that is cut in
pieces, and upon his head.

29:18. And thou shalt offer the whole ram for a burnt offering upon the
altar:  it is an oblation to the Lord, a most sweet savour of the victim
of the Lord.

29:19. Thou shalt take also the other ram, upon whose head Aaron and
his sons shall lay their hands.

29:20. And when thou hast sacrificed him, thou shalt take of his blood,
and put upon the tip of the right ear of Aaron and of his sons, and
upon the thumbs and great toes of their right hand and foot, and thou
shalt pour the blood upon the altar round about.

29:21. And when thou hast taken of the blood that is upon the altar,
and of the oil of unction, thou shalt sprinkle Aaron and his vesture,
his sons and their vestments.  And after they and their vestments are
consecrated,

29:22. Thou shalt take the fat of the ram, and the rump, and the fat
that covereth the lungs, and the caul of the liver, and the two
kidneys, and the fat that is upon them, and the right shoulder, because
it is the ram of consecration:

29:23. And one roll of bread, a cake tempered with oil, a wafer out of
the basket of unleavened bread, which is set in the sight of the Lord:

29:24. And thou shalt put all upon the hands of Aaron and of his sons,
and shalt sanctify them elevating before the Lord.

29:25. And thou shalt take all from their hands; and shalt burn them
upon the altar for a holocaust, a most sweet savour in the sight of the
Lord, because it is his oblation.

29:26. Thou shalt take also the breast of the ram, wherewith Aaron was
consecrated, and elevating it thou shalt sanctify it before the Lord,
and it shall fall to thy share.

29:27. And thou shalt sanctify both the consecrated breast, and the
shoulder that thou didst separate of the ram,

29:28. Wherewith Aaron was consecrated and his sons, and they shall
fall to Aaron's share, and his sons', by a perpetual right from the
children of Israel:  because they are the choicest and the beginnings of
their peace victims which they offer to the Lord.

29:29. And the holy vesture, which Aaron shall use, his sons shall have
after him, that they may be anointed, and their hands consecrated in
it.

29:30. He of his sons that shall be appointed high priest in his stead,
and that shall enter into the tabernacle of the testimony to minister
in the sanctuary, shall wear it seven days.

29:31. And thou shalt take the ram of the consecration, and shalt boil
the flesh thereof in the holy place:

29:32. And Aaron and his sons shall eat it.  The loaves also, that are
in the basket, they shall eat in the entry of the tabernacle of the
testimony,

29:33. That it may be an atoning sacrifice, and the hands of the
offerers may be sanctified.  A stranger shall not eat of them, because
they are holy.

29:34. And if there remain of the consecrated flesh, or of the bread,
till the morning, thou shalt burn the remainder with fire:  they shall
not be eaten, because they are sanctified.

29:35. All that I have commanded thee, thou shalt do unto Aaron and his
sons.  Seven days shalt thou consecrate their hands:

29:36. And thou shalt offer a calf for sin every day for expiation.  And
thou shalt cleanse the altar when thou hast offered the victim of
expiation, and shalt anoint it to sanctify it.

29:37. Seven days shalt thou expiate the altar and sanctify it, and it
shall be most holy.  Every one, that shall touch it, shall be holy.

29:38. This is what thou shalt sacrifice upon the altar:  Two lambs of a
year old every day continually,

29:39. One lamb in the morning, and another in the evening.

29:40. With one lamb a tenth part of flour tempered with beaten oil, of
the fourth part of a hin, and wine for libation of the same measure.

29:41. And the other lamb thou shalt offer in the evening, according to
the rite of the morning oblation, and according to what we have said,
for a savour of sweetness:

29:42. It is a sacrifice to the Lord, by perpetual oblation unto your
generations, at the door of the tabernacle of the testimony before the
Lord, where I will appoint to speak unto thee.

29:43. And there will I command the children of Israel, and the altar
shall be sanctified by my glory.

29:44. I will sanctify also the tabernacle of the testimony with the
altar, and Aaron with his sons, to do the office of priesthood unto me.

29:45. And I will dwell in the midst of the children of Israel, and
will be their God:

29:46. And they shall know that I am the Lord their God, who have
brought them out of the land of Egypt, that I might abide among them, I
the Lord their God.



Exodus Chapter 30


The altar of incense:  money to be gathered for the use of the
tabernacle:  the brazen laver:  the holy oil of unction, and the
composition of the perfume.

30:1. Thou shalt make also an altar to burn incense, of setim wood.

An altar to burn incense. . .This burning of incense was an emblem of
prayer, ascending to God from an inflamed heart.  See Ps. 140.2; Apoc.
5.8, and 8.4.

30:2. It shall be a cubit in length, and another in breadth, that is,
four square, and two in height.  Horns shall go out of the same.

30:3. And thou shalt overlay it with the purest gold, as well the grate
thereof, as the walls round about, and the horns.  And thou shalt make
to it a crown of gold round about,

30:4. And two golden rings under the crown on either side, that the
bars may be put into them, and the altar be carried.

30:5. And thou shalt make the bars also of setim wood, and shalt
overlay them with gold.

30:6. And thou shalt set the altar over against the veil, that hangeth
before the ark of the testimony before the propitiatory wherewith the
testimony is covered, where I will speak to thee.

30:7. And Aaron shall burn sweet smelling incense upon it in the
morning.  When he shall dress the lamps, he shall burn it:

30:8. And when he shall place them in the evening, he shall burn an
everlasting incense before the Lord throughout your generations.

30:9. You shall not offer upon it incense of another composition, nor
oblation, and victim, neither shall you offer libations.

30:10. And Aaron shall pray upon the horns thereof once a year, with
the blood of that which was offered for sin; and shall make atonement
upon it in your generations.  It shall be most holy to the Lord.

30:11. And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying:

30:12. When thou shalt take the sum of the children of Israel,
according to their number, every one of them shall give a price for
their souls to the Lord, and there shall be no scourge among them, when
they shall be reckoned.

30:13. And this shall every one give that passeth at the naming, half a
sicle according to the standard of the temple.  A sicle hath twenty
obols.  Half a sicle shall be offered to the Lord.

Half a sicle. . .A sicle or shekel of silver, (which was also called a
stater,) according to the standard or weight of the sanctuary, which
was the most just and exact, was half an ounce of silver, that is,
about half a crown of English money.  The obol, or gerah, was about
three halfpence.

30:14. He that is counted in the number from twenty years and upwards,
shall give the price.

30:15. The rich man shall not add to half a sicle, and the poor man
shall diminish nothing.

30:16. And the money received, which was contributed by the children of
Israel, thou shalt deliver unto the uses of the tabernacle of the
testimony, that it may be a memorial of them before the Lord, and he
may be merciful to their souls.

30:17. And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying:

30:18. Thou shalt make also a brazen laver with its foot to wash in:
and thou shalt set it between the tabernacle of the testimony and the
altar.  And water being put into it:

30:19. Aaron and his sons shall wash their hands and feet in it:

30:20. When they are going into the tabernacle of the testimony, and
when they are to come to the altar, to offer on it incense to the Lord,

30:21. Lest perhaps they die.  It shall be an everlasting law to him,
and to his seed by successions.

30:22. And the Lord spoke to Moses,

30:23. Saying:  Take spices, of principal and chosen myrrh five hundred
sicles, and of cinnamon half so much; that is, two hundred and fifty
sicles, of calamus in like manner two hundred and fifty,

30:24. And of cassia five hundred sicles by the weight of the
sanctuary, of oil of olives the measure hin:

30:25. And thou shalt make the holy oil of unction, an ointment
compounded after the art of the perfumer,

30:26. And therewith thou shalt anoint the tabernacle of the testimony,
and the ark of the testament,

30:27. And the table with the vessels thereof, the candlestick and
furniture thereof, the altars of incense,

30:28. And of holocaust, and all the furniture that belongeth to the
service of them.

30:29. And thou shalt sanctify all, and they shall be most holy:  he
that shall touch them shall be sanctified.

30:30. Thou shalt anoint Aaron and his sons, and shalt sanctify them,
that they may do the office of priesthood unto me.

30:31. And thou shalt say to the children of Israel:  This oil of
unction shall be holy unto me throughout your generations.

30:32. The flesh of man shall not be anointed therewith, and you shall
make none other of the same composition, because it is sanctified, and
shall be holy unto you.

30:33. What man soever shall compound such, and shall give thereof to a
stranger, he shall be cut off from his people.

30:34. And the Lord said to Moses:  Take unto thee spices, stacte, and
onycha, galbanum of sweet savour, and the clearest frankincense, all
shall be of equal weight.

30:35. And thou shalt make incense compounded by the work of the
perfumer, well tempered together, and pure, and most worthy of
sanctification.

30:36. And when thou hast beaten all into very small powder, thou shalt
set of it before the tabernacle of the testimony, in the place where I
will appear to thee.  Most holy shall this incense be unto you.

30:37. You shall not make such a composition for your own uses, because
it is holy to the Lord.

30:38. What man soever shall make the like, to enjoy the smell thereof,
he shall perish out of his people.



Exodus Chapter 31


Beseleel and Ooliab are appointed by the Lord to make the tabernacle,
and the things belonging thereto.  The observation of the sabbath day is
again commanded.  And the Lord delivereth to Moses two tables written
with the finger of God.

31:1. And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying:

31:2. Behold, I have called by name Beseleel the son of Uri, the son of
Hur, of the tribe of Juda,

31:3. And I have filled him with the spirit of God, with wisdom and
understanding, and knowledge in all manner of work,

31:4. To devise whatsoever may be artificially made of gold, and
silver, and brass,

31:5. Of marble, and precious stones, and variety of wood.

31:6. And I have given him for his companion Ooliab, the son of
Achisamech, of the tribe of Dan.  And I have put wisdom in the heart of
every skilful man, that they may make all things which I have commanded
thee,

31:7. The tabernacle of the covenant, and the ark of the testimony, and
the propitiatory, that is over it, and all the vessels of the
tabernacle,

31:8. And the table and the vessels thereof, the most pure candlestick
with the vessels thereof, and the altars of incense,

31:9. And of holocaust, and all their vessels, the laver with its foot,

31:10. The holy vestments in the ministry for Aaron the priest, and for
his sons, that they may execute their office, about the sacred things:

31:11. The oil of unction, and the incense of spices in the sanctuary,
all things which I have commanded thee, shall they make.

31:12. And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying:

31:13. Speak to the children of Israel, and thou shalt say to them:  See
that you keep my sabbath; because it is a sign between me and you in
your generations that you may know that I am the Lord, who sanctify
you.

31:14. keep you my sabbath:  for it is holy unto you:  he that shall
profane it, shall be put to death:  he that shall do any work in it, his
soul shall perish out of the midst of his people.

31:15. Six days shall you do work:  in the seventh day is the sabbath,
the rest holy to the Lord.  Every one that shall do any work on this
day, shall die.

31:16. Let the children of Israel keep the sabbath, and celebrate it in
their generations.  It is an everlasting covenant

31:17. Between me and the children of Israel, and a perpetual sign.  For
in six days the Lord made heaven and earth, and in the seventh he
ceased from work.

31:18. And the Lord, when he had ended these words in Mount Sinai, gave
to Moses two stone tables of testimony, written with the finger of God.



Exodus Chapter 32


The people fall into idolatry.  Moses prayeth for them.  He breaketh the
tables:  destroyeth the idol:  blameth Aaron, and causeth many of the
idolaters to be slain.

32:1. And the people seeing that Moses delayed to come down from the
mount, gathering together against Aaron, said:  Arise, make us gods,
that may go before us:  For as to this Moses, the man that brought us
out of the land of Egypt, we know not what has befallen him.

32:2. And Aaron said to them:  Take the golden earrings from the ears of
your wives, and your sons and daughters, and bring them to me.

32:3. And the people did what he had commanded, bringing the earrings
to Aaron.

32:4. And when he had received them, he fashioned them by founders'
work, and made of them a molten calf.  And they said:  These are thy
gods, O Israel, that have brought thee out of the land of Egypt.

32:5. And when Aaron saw this, he built an altar before it, and made
proclamation by a crier's voice, saying To morrow is the solemnity of
the Lord.

32:6. And rising in the morning, they offered holocausts, and peace
victims, and the people sat down to eat and drink, and they rose up to
play.

32:7. And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying:  Go, get thee down:  thy
people, which thou hast brought out of the land of Egypt, hath sinned.

32:8. They have quickly strayed from the way which thou didst shew
them:  and they have made to themselves a molten calf, and have adored
it, and sacrificing victims to it, have said:  These are thy gods, O
Israel, that have brought thee out of the land of Egypt.

32:9. And again the Lord said to Moses:  I see that this people is
stiffnecked:

32:10. Let me alone, that my wrath may be kindled against them, and
that I may destroy them, and I will make of thee a great nation.

32:11. But Moses besought the Lord his God, saying:  Why, O Lord, is thy
indignation enkindled against thy people, whom thou hast brought out of
the land of Egypt, with great power, and with a mighty hand?

32:12. Let not the Egyptians say, I beseech thee:  He craftily brought
them out, that he might kill them in the mountains, and destroy them
from the earth:  let thy anger cease, and be appeased upon the
wickedness of thy people.

32:13. Remember Abraham, Isaac, and Israel, thy servants, to whom thou
sworest by thy own self, saying:  I will multiply your seed as the stars
of heaven:  and this whole land that I have spoken of, I will give to
your seed, and you shall possess it for ever:

32:14. And the Lord was appeased from doing the evil which he had
spoken against his people.

32:15. And Moses returned from the mount, carrying the two tables of
the testimony in his hand, written on both sides,

32:16. And made by the work of God; the writing also of God was graven
in the tables.

32:17. And Josue hearing the noise of the people shouting, said to
Moses:  The noise of battle is heard in the camp.

32:18. But he answered:  It is not the cry of men encouraging to fight,
nor the shout of men compelling to flee:  but I hear the voice of
singers.

32:19. And when he came nigh to the camp, he saw the calf, and the
dances:  and being very angry, he threw the tables out of his hand, and
broke them at the foot of the mount:

32:20. And laying hold of the calf which they had made, he burnt it,
and beat it to powder, which he strewed into water, and gave thereof to
the children of Israel to drink.

32:21. And he said to Aaron:  What has this people done to thee, that
thou shouldst bring upon them a most heinous sin?

32:22. And he answered him:  Let not my lord be offended; for thou
knowest this people, that they are prone to evil.

32:23. They said to me:  make us gods, that may go before us; for as to
this Moses, who brought us forth out of the land of Egypt, we know not
what is befallen him.

32:24. And I said to them:  Which of you hath any gold?  and they took
and brought it to me; and I cast it into the fire, and this calf came
out.

32:25. And when Moses saw that the people were naked, (for Aaron had
stripped them by occasion of the shame of the filth, and had set them
naked among their enemies)

Naked. . .Having lost not only their gold, and their honour, but what
was worst of all, being stripped also of the grace of God, and having
lost him.--The shame of the filth. . .That is, of the idol, which they
had taken for their god.  It is the usual phrase of the scripture to
call idols filth and abominations.

32:26. Then standing in the gate of the camp, he said:  If any man be on
the Lord's side, let him join with me.  And all the sons of Levi
gathered themselves together unto him:

32:27. And he said to them:  Thus saith the Lord God of Israel:  Put
every man his sword upon his thigh:  go, and return from gate to gate
through the midst of the camp, and let every man kill his brother, and
friend, and neighbour.

32:28. And the sons of Levi did according to the words of Moses, and
there were slain that day about three and twenty thousand men.

32:29. And Moses said:  You have consecrated your hands this day to the
Lord, every man in his son and in his brother, that a blessing may be
given to you.

32:30. And when the next day was come, Moses spoke to the people:  You
have sinned a very great sin:  I will go up to the Lord, if by any means
I may be able to entreat him for your crime.

32:31. And returning to the Lord, he said:  I beseech thee:  this people
hath sinned a heinous sin, and they have made to themselves gods of
gold:  either forgive them this trespass,

32:32. Or if thou do not, strike me out of the book that thou hast
written.

32:33. And the Lord answered him:  He that hath sinned against me, him
will I strike out of my book:

32:34. But go thou, and lead this people whither I have told thee:  my
angel shall go before thee.  And I in the day of revenge will visit this
sin also of theirs.

32:35. The Lord therefore struck the people for the guilt, on occasion
of the calf which Aaron had made.



Exodus Chapter 33


The people mourn for their sin.  Moses pitcheth the tabernacle without
the camp.  He converseth familiarly with God.  Desireth to see his glory.

33:1. And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying:  Go, get thee up from this
place, thou and thy people which thou hast brought out of the land of
Egypt, into the land concerning which I swore to Abraham, Isaac, and
Jacob, saying:  To thy seed I will give it:

33:2. And I will send an angel before thee, that I may cast out the
Chanaanite, and the Amorrhite, and the Hethite, and the Pherezite, and
the Hevite, and the Jebusite,

33:3. That thou mayst enter into the land that floweth with milk and
honey.  For I will not go up with thee, because thou art a stiffnecked
people; lest I destroy thee in the way.

33:4. And the people hearing these very bad tidings, mourned:  and no
man put on his ornaments according to custom.

33:5. And the Lord said to Moses:  Say to the children of Israel:  Thou
art a stiffnecked people, once I shall come up in the midst of thee,
and shall destroy thee.  Now presently lay aside thy ornaments, that I
may know what to do to thee.

33:6. So the children of Israel laid aside their ornaments by Mount
Horeb.

33:7. Moses also taking the tabernacle, pitched it without the camp
afar off, and called the name thereof, The tabernacle of the covenant.
And all the people, that had any question, went forth to the tabernacle
of the covenant, without the camp.

33:8. And when Moses went forth to the tabernacle, all the people rose
up, and every one stood in the door of his pavilion, and they beheld
the back of Moses, till he went into the tabernacle.

33:9. And when he was gone into the tabernacle of the covenant, the
pillar of the cloud came down, and stood at the door, and he spoke with
Moses.

33:10. And all saw that the pillar of the cloud stood at the door of
the tabernacle.  And they stood and worshipped at the doors of their
tent.

33:11. And the Lord spoke to Moses face to face, as a man is wont to
speak to his friend.  And when he returned into the camp, his servant
Josue, the son of Nun, a young man, departed not from the tabernacle.

Face to face. . .That is, in a most familiar manner.  Though as we learn
from this very chapter, Moses could not see the face of the Lord.

33:12. And Moses said to the Lord:  Thou commandest me to lead forth
this people; and thou dost not let me know whom thou wilt send with me,
especially whereas thou hast said:  I know thee by name, and thou hast
found favour in my sight.

I know thee by name. . .In the language of the scriptures, God is said
to know such as he approves and loves:  and to know by name, those whom
he favours in a most singular manner, as he did his servant Moses.

33:13. If therefore I have found favour in thy sight, shew me thy face,
that I may know thee, and may find grace before thy eyes:  look upon thy
people this nation.

33:14. And the Lord said:  My face shall go before thee, and I will give
thee rest.

33:15. And Moses said:  If thou thyself dost not go before, bring us not
out of this place.

33:16. For how shall we be able to know, I and thy people, that we have
found grace in thy sight, unless thou walk with us, that we may be
glorified by all people that dwell upon the earth?

33:17. And the Lord said to Moses:  This word also, which thou hast
spoken, will I do; for thou hast found grace before me, and thee I have
known by name.

33:18. And he said:  Shew me thy glory.

33:19. He answered:  I will shew thee all good, and I will proclaim in
the name of the Lord before thee:  and I will have mercy on whom I will,
and I will be merciful to whom it shall please me.

33:20. And again he said:  Thou canst not see my face:  for man shall not
see me, and live.

33:21. And again he said:  Behold there is a place with me, and thou
shalt stand upon the rock.

33:22. And when my glory shall pass, I will set thee in a hole of the
rock, and protect thee with my righthand till I pass:

33:23. And I will take away my hand, and thou shalt see my back parts:
but my face thou canst not see.

See my back parts. . .The Lord by his angel, usually spoke to Moses in
the pillar of the cloud; so that he could not see the glory of him that
spoke familiarly with him.  In the vision here mentioned he was allowed
to see something of him, in an assumed corporeal form:  not in the face,
the rays of which were too bright for mortal eye to bear, but to view
him as it were behind, when his face was turned from him.



Exodus Chapter 34


The tables are renewed:  all society with the Chanaanites is forbid:
some precepts concerning the firstborn, the sabbath, and other feasts:
after forty days' fast, Moses returneth to the people with the
commandments, and his face appearing horned with rays of light, he
covereth it, whensoever he speaketh to the people.

34:1. And after this he said:  Hew thee two tables of stone like unto
the former, and I will write upon them the words, which were in the
tables, which thou brokest.

34:2. Be ready in the morning, that thou mayst forthwith go up into
Mount Sinai, and thou shalt stand with me upon the top of the mount.

34:3. Let no man go up with thee, and let not any man be seen
throughout all the mount; neither let the oxen nor the sheep feed over
against it.

34:4. Then he cut out two tables of stone, such as had been before; and
rising very early he went up into the Mount Sinai, as the Lord had
commanded him, carrying with him the tables.

34:5. And when the Lord was come down in a cloud, Moses stood with him,
calling upon the name of the Lord.

34:6. And when he passed before him, he said:  O the Lord, the Lord God,
merciful and gracious, patient and of much compassion, and true,

34:7. Who keepest mercy unto thousands:  who takest away iniquity, and
wickedness, and sin, and no man of himself is innocent before thee.  Who
renderest the iniquity of the fathers to the children, and to the
grandchildren unto the third and fourth generation.

34:8. And Moses making haste, bowed down prostrate unto the earth, and
adoring,

34:9. Said:  If I have found grace in thy sight, O Lord, I beseech thee
that thou wilt go with us, (for it is a stiffnecked people) and take
away our iniquities and sin, and possess us.

34:10. The Lord answered:  I will make a covenant in the sight of all, I
will do signs such as were never seen upon the earth, nor in any
nations; that this people, in the midst of whom thou art, may see the
terrible work of the Lord which I will do.

34:11. Observe all things which this day I command thee:  I myself will
drive out before thy face the Amorrhite, and the Chanaanite, and the
Hethite, and the Pherezite, and the Hevite, and the Jebusite.

34:12. Beware thou never join in friendship with the inhabitants of
that land, which may be thy ruin:

34:13. But destroy their altars, break their statues and cut down their
groves:

34:14. Adore not any strange god.  The Lord his name is jealous, he is a
jealous God.

34:15. Make no covenant with the men of those countries; lest, when
they have committed fornication with their gods, and have adored their
idols, some one call thee to eat of the things sacrificed.

34:16. Neither shalt thou take of their daughters a wife for thy son,
lest after they themselves have committed fornication, they make thy
sons also to commit fornication with their gods.

34:17. Thou shalt not make to thyself any molten gods.

34:18:  Thou shalt keep the feast of the unleavened bread.  Seven days
shalt thou eat unleavened bread, as I commanded thee in the time of the
month of the new corn:  for in the month of the spring time thou camest
out from Egypt.

34:19. All of the male kind that openeth the womb, shall be mine.  Of
all beasts; both of oxen and of sheep, it shall be mine.

34:20. The firstling of an ass thou shalt redeem with a sheep:  but if
thou wilt not give a price for it, it shall be slain.  The firstborn of
thy sons thou shalt redeem:  neither shalt thou appear before me empty.

34:21. Six days shalt thou work, the seventh day thou shalt cease to
plough and to reap.

34:22. Thou shalt keep the feast of weeks with the firstfruits of the
corn of thy wheat harvest, and the feast when the time of the year
returneth that all things are laid in.

34:23. Three times in the year all thy males shall appear in the sight
of the almighty Lord the God of Israel.

34:24. For when I shall have taken away the nations from thy face, and
shall have enlarged thy borders, no man shall lie in wait against thy
land when thou shalt go up, and appear in the sight of the Lord thy God
thrice in a year.

34:25. Thou shalt not offer the blood of my sacrifice upon leaven;
neither shall there remain in the morning any thing of the victim of
the solemnity of the Phase.

34:26. The first of the fruits of thy ground thou shalt offer in the
house of the Lord thy God.  Thou shalt not boil a kid in the milk of his
dam.

34:27. And the Lord said to Moses:  Write thee these words, by which I
have made a covenant both with thee and with Israel.

34:28. And he was there with the Lord forty days and forty nights:  he
neither ate bread nor drank water, and he wrote upon the tables the ten
words of the covenant.

34:29. And when Moses came down from the Mount Sinai, he held the two
tables of the testimony, and he knew not that his face was horned from
the conversation of the Lord.

Horned. . .That is, shining, and sending forth rays of light like horns.

34:30. And Aaron and the children of Israel seeing the face of Moses
horned, were afraid to come near.

34:31. And being called by him, they returned, both Aaron and the
rulers of the congregation.  And after that he spoke to them,

34:32. And all the children of Israel came to him:  and he gave them in
commandment all that he had heard of the Lord on Mount Sinai.

34:33. And having done speaking, he put a veil upon his face.

34:34. But when he went in to the Lord, and spoke with him, he took it
away until he came forth, and then he spoke to the children of Israel
all things that had been commanded him.

34:35. And they saw that the face of Moses when he came out was horned,
but he covered his face again, if at any time he spoke to them.



Exodus Chapter 35


The sabbath.  Offerings for making the tabernacle.  Beseleel and Ooliab
are called to the work.

35:1. And all the multitude of the children of Israel being gathered
together, he said to them:  These are the things which the Lord hath
commanded to be done:

35:2. Six days you shall do work; the seventh day shall be holy unto
you, the sabbath and the rest of the Lord:  he that shall do any work on
it, shall be put to death.

35:3. You shall kindle no fire in any of your habitations on the
sabbath day.

35:4. And Moses said to all the assembly of the children of Israel:
This is the word the Lord hath commanded, saying:

35:5. Set aside with you firstfruits to the Lord.  Let every one that is
willing and hath a ready heart, offer them to the Lord:  gold, and
silver, and brass,

35:6. Violet and purple, and scarlet twice dyed, and fine linen, goats'
hair,

35:7. And rams' skins dyed red, and violet coloured skins, setim wood,

35:8. And oil to maintain lights, and to make ointment, and most sweet
incense,

35:9. Onyx stones, and precious stones, for the adorning of the ephod
and the rational.

35:10. Whosoever of you is wise, let him come, and make that which the
Lord hath commanded:

35:11. To wit, the tabernacle, and the roof thereof, and the cover, the
rings, and the board-work with the bars, the pillars and the sockets:

35:12. The ark and the staves, the propitiatory, and the veil that is
drawn before it:

35:13. The table with the bars and the vessels, and the loaves of
proposition:

35:14. The candlestick to bear up the lights, the vessels thereof and
the lamps, and the oil for the nourishing of fires:

35:15. The altar of incense, and the bars, and the oil of unction, and
the incense of spices:  the hanging at the door of the tabernacle:

35:16. The altar of holocaust, and its grate of brass, with the bars
and vessels thereof:  the laver and its foot:

35:17. The curtains of the court, with the pillars and the sockets, the
hanging in the doors of the entry.

35:18. The pins of the tabernacle, and of the court, with their little
cords:

35:19. The vestments that are to be used in the ministry of the
sanctuary, the vesture of Aaron the high priest, and of his sons, to do
the office of priesthood to me.

35:20. And all the multitude of the children of Israel going out from
the presence of Moses,

35:21. Offered firstfruits to the Lord with a most ready and devout
mind, to make the work of the tabernacle of the testimony.  Whatever was
necessary to the service and to the holy vestments,

35:22. Both men and women gave bracelets and earrings, rings and
tablets:  every vessel of gold was set aside to be offered to the Lord.

35:23. If any man had violet, and purple, and scarlet twice dyed, fine
linen and goats' hair, ramskins dyed red, and violet coloured skins,

35:24. Metal of silver and brass, they offered it to the Lord, and
setim wood for divers uses.

35:25. The skilful women also gave such things as they had spun,
violet, purple, and scarlet, and fine linen,

35:26. And goats' hair, giving all of their own accord.

35:27. But the princes offered onyx stones, and precious stones, for
the ephod and the rational,

35:28. And spices and oil for the lights, and for the preparing of
ointment, and to make the incense of most sweet savour.

35:29. All, both men and women, with devout mind offered gifts, that
the works might be done which the Lord had commanded by the hand of
Moses.  All the children of Israel dedicated voluntary offerings to the
Lord.

35:30. And Moses said to the children of Israel:  Behold, the Lord hath
called by name Beseleel, the son of Uri, the son of Hur, of the tribe
of Juda,

35:31. And hath filled him with the spirit of God, with wisdom and
understanding, and knowledge, and all learning,

35:32. To devise and to work in gold and silver and brass,

35:33. And in engraving stones, and in carpenters' work.  Whatsoever can
be devised artificially,

35:34. He hath given in his heart:  Ooliab also, the son of Achisamech,
of the tribe of Dan:

35:35. Both of them hath he instructed with wisdom, to do carpenters'
work, and tapestry, and embroidery in blue and purple, and scarlet
twice dyed, and fine linen, and to weave all things, and to invent all
new things.



Exodus Chapter 36


The offerings are delivered to the workmen, the curtains, coverings,
boards, bars, veil, pillars, and hanging are made.

36:1. Beseleel therefore, and Ooliab, and every wise man, to whom the
Lord gave wisdom and understanding, to know how to work artificially,
made the things that are necessary for the uses of the sanctuary, and
which the Lord commanded.

36:2. And when Moses had called them, and every skilful man, to whom
the Lord had given wisdom, and such as of their own accord had offered
themselves to the making of the work,

36:3. He delivered all the offerings of the children of Israel unto
them.  And while they were earnest about the work, the people daily in
the morning offered their vows.

36:4. Whereupon the workmen being constrained to come,

36:5. Said to Moses:  The people offereth more than is necessary.

36:6. Moses therefore commanded proclamation to be made by the crier's
voice:  Let neither man nor woman offer any more for the work of the
sanctuary.  And so they ceased from offering gifts,

36:7. Because the things that were offered did suffice, and were too
much.

36:8. And all the men that were wise of heart, to accomplish the work
of the tabernacle, made ten curtains of twisted fine linen, and violet,
and purple, and scarlet twice dyed, with varied work, and the art of
embroidering:

36:9. The length of one curtain was twenty-eight cubits, and the
breadth four:  all the curtains were of the same size.

36:10. And he joined five curtains, one to another, and the other five
he coupled one to another.

36:11. He made also loops of violet in the edge of one curtain on both
sides, and in the edge of the other curtain in like manner,

36:12. That the loops might meet one against another, and might be
joined each with the other.

36:13. Whereupon also he cast fifty rings of gold, that might catch the
loops of the curtains, and they might be made one tabernacle.

36:14. He made also eleven curtains of goats' hair, to cover the roof
of the tabernacle:

36:15. One curtain was thirty cubits long, and four cubits broad:  all
the curtains were of one measure.

36:16. Five of which he joined apart, and the other six apart.

36:17. And he made fifty loops in the edge of one curtain, and fifty in
the edge of another curtain, that they might be joined one to another.

36:18. And fifty buckles of brass wherewith the roof might be knit
together, that of all the curtains there might be made one covering.

36:19. He made also a cover for the tabernacle of rams' skins dyed red;
and another cover over that of violet skins.

36:20. He made also the boards of the tabernacle of setim wood
standing.

36:21. The length of one board was ten cubits; and the breadth was one
cubit and a half.

36:22. There were two mortises throughout every board, that one might
be joined to the other.  And in this manner he made for all the boards
of the tabernacle.

36:23. Of which twenty were at the south side southward,

36:24. With forty sockets of silver, two sockets were put under one
board on the two sides of the corners, where the mortises of the sides
end in the corners.

36:25. At that side also of the tabernacle, that looketh towards the
north, he made twenty boards,

36:26. With forty sockets of silver, two sockets for every board.

36:27. But against the west, to wit, at that side of the tabernacle,
which looketh to the sea, he made six boards,

36:28. And two others at each corner of the tabernacle behind:

36:29. Which were also joined from beneath unto the top, and went
together into one joint.  Thus he did on both sides at the corners:

36:30. So there were in all eight boards, and they had sixteen sockets
of silver, to wit, two sockets under every board.

36:31. He made also bars of setim wood, five to hold together the
boards of one side of the tabernacle,

36:32. And five others to join together the boards of the other side;
and besides these, five other bars at the west side of the tabernacle
towards the sea.

36:33. He made also another bar, that might come by the midst of the
boards from corner to corner.

36:34. And the boards themselves he overlaid with gold casting for them
sockets of silver.  And their rings he made of gold, through which the
bars might be drawn:  and he covered the bars themselves with plates of
gold.

36:35. He made also a veil of violet, and purple, scarlet and fine
twisted linen, varied and distinguished with embroidery:

36:36. And four pillars of setim wood, which with their heads he
overlaid with gold, casting for them sockets of silver.

36:37. He made also a hanging in the entry of the tabernacle of violet,
purple, scarlet, and fine twisted linen, with the work of an
embroiderer.

36:38. And five pillars with their heads, which he covered with gold,
and their sockets he cast of brass.



Exodus Chapter 37


Beseleel maketh the ark:  the propitiatory, and cherubims, the table,
the candlestick, the lamps, and the altar of incense, and compoundeth
the incense.

37:1. And Beseleel made also, the ark of setim wood:  it was two cubits
and a half in length, and a cubit and a half in breadth, and the height
was of one cubit and a half:  and he overlaid it with the purest gold
within and without.

37:2. And he made to it a crown of gold round about,

37:3. Casting four rings of gold at the four corners thereof:  two rings
in one side, and two in the other.

37:4. And he made bars of setim wood, which he overlaid with gold,

37:5. And he put them into the rings that were at the sides of the ark
to carry it.

37:6. He made also the propitiatory, that is, the oracle, of the purest
gold, two cubits and a half in length, and a cubit and a half in
breadth.

37:7. Two cherubims also of beaten gold, which he set on the two sides
of the propitiatory:

37:8. One cherub in the top of one side, and the other cherub in the
top of the other side:  two cherubims at the two ends of the
propitiatory,

37:9. Spreading their wings, and covering the propitiatory, and looking
one towards the other, and towards it.

37:10. He made also the table of setim wood, in length two cubits, and
in breadth one cubit, and in height it was a cubit and a half.

37:11. And he overlaid it with the finest gold, and he made to it a
golden ledge round about,

37:12. And to the ledge itself he made a polished crown of gold, of
four fingers breadth, and upon the same another golden crown.

37:13. And he cast four rings of gold, which he put in the four corners
at each foot of the table,

37:14. Over against the crown:  and he put the bars into them, that the
table might be carried.

37:15. The bars also themselves he made of setim wood, and overlaid
them with gold.

37:16. And the vessels for the divers uses of the table, dishes, bowls,
and cups, and censers of pure gold, wherein the libations are to be
offered.

37:17. He made also the candlestick of beaten work of the finest gold.
from the shaft whereof its branches, its cups, and bowls, and lilies
came out:

37:18:  Six on the two sides:  three branches on one side, and three on
the other.

37:19. Three cups in manner of a nut on each branch, and bowls withal
and lilies:  and three cups of the fashion of a nut in another branch,
and bowls withal and lilies.  The work of the six branches, that went
out from the shaft of the candlestick was equal.

37:20. And in the shaft itself were four cups after the manner of a
nut, and bowls withal at every one, and lilies:

37:21. And bowls under two branches in three places, which together
made six branches going out from one shaft.

37:22. So both the bowls, and the branches were of the same, all beaten
work of the purest gold.

37:23. He made also the seven lamps with their snuffers, and the
vessels where the snuffings were to be put out, of the purest gold.

37:24. The candlestick with all the vessels thereof weighed a talent of
gold.

37:25. He made also the alter of incense of setim wood, being a cubit
on every side foursquare, and in height two cubits:  from the corners of
which went out horns.

37:26. And he overlaid it with the purest gold, with its grate, and the
sides, and the horns.

37:27. And he made to it a crown of gold round about, and two golden
rings under the crown at each side, that the bars might be put into
them, and the altar be carried.

37:28. And the bars themselves he made also of setim wood, and overlaid
them with plates of gold.

37:29. He compounded also the oil for the ointment of sanctification,
and incense of the purest spices, according to the work of a perfumer.



Exodus Chapter 38


He maketh the altar of holocaust.  The brazen laver.  The court with its
pillars and hangings.  The sum of what the people offered.

38:1. He made also the altar of holocaust of setim wood, five cubits
square, and three in height:

38:2. The horns whereof went out from the corners, and he overlaid it
with plates of brass.

38:3. And for the uses thereof, he prepared divers vessels of brass,
cauldrons, tongs, fleshhooks, pothooks and firepans.

38:4. And he made the grate thereof of brass, in manner of a net, and
under it in the midst of the altar a hearth,

38:5. Casting four rings at the four ends of the net at the top, to put
in bars to carry it:

38:6. And he made the bars of setim wood, and overlaid them with plates
of brass:

38:7. And he drew them through the rings that stood out in the sides of
the altar.  And the altar itself was not solid, but hollow, of boards,
and empty within.

38:8. He made also the laver of brass, with the foot thereof, of the
mirrors of the women that watched at the door of the tabernacle.

38:9. He made also the court, in the south side whereof were hangings
of fine twisted linen of a hundred cubits.

38:10. Twenty pillars of brass with their sockets, the beads of the
pillars, and the whole graving of the work, of silver.

38:11. In like manner at the north side the hangings, the pillars, and
the sockets and heads of the pillars were of the same measure, and work
and metal.

38:12. But on that side that looketh to the west, there were hangings
of fifty cubits, ten pillars of brass with their sockets, and the heads
of the pillars, and all the graving of the work, of silver.

38:13. Moreover, towards the east he prepared hangings of fifty cubits:

38:14. Fifteen cubits of which, were on one side with three pillars,
and their sockets:

38:15. And on the other side (for between the two he made the entry of
the tabernacle) there were hangings equally of fifteen cubits, and
three pillars, and as many sockets.

38:16. All the hangings of the court were woven with twisted linen.

38:17. The sockets of the pillars were of brass, and their heads with
all their gravings of silver:  and he overlaid the pillars of the court
also with silver.

38:18. And he made in the entry thereof an embroidered hanging of
violet, purple, scarlet, and fine twisted linen, that was twenty cubits
long, and five cubits high, according to the measure of all the
hangings of the court.

38:19. And the pillars in the entry were four, with sockets of brass,
and their heads and gravings of silver.

38:20. The pins also of the tabernacle and of the court round about he
made of brass.

38:21. These are the instruments of the tabernacle of the testimony,
which were counted according to the commandment of Moses, in the
ceremonies of the Levites, by the hand of Ithamar, son of Aaron the
priest:

38:22. Which Beseleel, the son of Uri, the son of Hur of the tribe of
Juda, had made, as the Lord commanded by Moses.

38:23. Having for his companion Ooliab, the son of Achisamech, of the
tribe of Dan:  who also was an excellent artificer in wood, and worker
in tapestry and embroidery in violet, purple, scarlet, and fine linen.

38:24. All the gold that was spent in the work of the sanctuary, and
that was offered in gifts, was nine and twenty talents, and seven
hundred and thirty sicles according to the standard of the sanctuary.

38:25. And it was offered by them that went to be numbered, from twenty
years old and upwards, of six hundred and three thousand five hundred
and fifty men able to bear arms.

38:26. There were moreover a hundred talents of silver, whereof were
cast the sockets of the sanctuary, and of the entry where the veil
hangeth.

38:27. A hundred sockets were made of a hundred talents, one talent
being reckoned for every socket.

38:28. And of the thousand seven hundred and seventy-five he made the
heads of the pillars, which also he overlaid with silver.

38:29. And there were offered of brass also seventy-two thousand
talents, and four hundred sicles besides,

38:30. Of which were cast the sockets in the entry of the tabernacle of
the testimony, and the altar of brass with the grate thereof, and also
the vessels that belong to the use thereof.

38:31. And the sockets of the court as well round about as in the entry
thereof, and the pins of the tabernacle, and of the court round about.



Exodus Chapter 39


All the ornaments of Aaron and his sons are made.  And the whole work of
the tabernacle is finished.

39:1. And he made, of violet and purple, scarlet and fine linen, the
vestments for Aaron to wear when he ministered in the holy places, as
the Lord commanded Moses.

39:2. So he made an ephod of gold, violet, and purple, and scarlet
twice dyed, and fine twisted linen,

39:3. With embroidered work, and he cut thin plates of gold, and drew
them small into threads, that they might be twisted with the woof of
the foresaid colours,

39:4. And two borders coupled one to the other in the top on either
side,

39:5. And a girdle of the same colours, as the Lord had commanded
Moses.

39:6. He prepared also two onyx stones, fast set and closed in gold,
and graven, by the art of a lapidary, with the names of the children of
Israel:

39:7. And he set them in the sides of the ephod, for a memorial of the
children of Israel, as the Lord had commanded Moses.

39:8. He made also a rational with embroidered work, according to the
work of the ephod, of gold, violet, purple, and scarlet twice dyed, and
fine twisted linen:

39:9. Foursquare, double, of the measure of a span.

39:10. And he set four rows of precious stones in it.  In the first row
was a sardius, a topaz, an emerald.

39:11. In the second, a carbuncle, a sapphire, and a jasper.

39:12. In the third, a ligurius, an agate, and an amethyst.

39:13. In the fourth, a chrysolite, an onyx, and a beryl, set and
enclosed in gold by their rows.

39:14. And the twelve stones, were engraved with the names of the
twelve tribes of Israel, each one with its several name.

39:15. They made also in the rational little chains, linked one to
another, of the purest gold,

39:16. And two hooks, and as many rings of gold.  And they set the rings
on either side of the rational,

39:17. On which rings the two golden chains should hang, which they put
into the hooks that stood out in the corners of the ephod.

39:18. These both before and behind so answered one another, that the
ephod and the rational were bound together,

39:19. Being fastened to the girdle, and strongly coupled with rings,
which a violet fillet joined, lest they should flag loose, and be moved
one from the other, as the Lord commanded Moses.

39:20. They made also the tunic of the ephod all of violet,

39:21. And a hole for the head in the upper part at the middle, and a
woven border round about the hole:

39:22. And beneath at the feet pomegranates of violet, purple, scarlet,
and fine twisted linen:

39:23. And little bells of the purest gold, which they put between the
pomegranates at the bottom of the tunic round about:

39:24. To wit, a bell of gold, and a pomegranate, wherewith the high
priest went adorned, when he discharged his ministry, as the Lord had
commanded Moses.

39:25. They made also fine linen tunics with woven work for Aaron and
his sons:

39:26. And mitres with their little crowns of fine linen:

39:27. And linen breeches of fine linen:

39:28. And a girdle of fine twisted linen, violet, purple, and scarlet
twice dyed, of embroidery work, as the Lord had commanded Moses.

39:29. They made also the plate of sacred veneration of the purest
gold, and they wrote on it with the engraving of a lapidary:  The Holy
of the Lord:

39:30. And they fastened it to the mitre with a violet fillet, as the
Lord had commanded Moses.

39:31. So all the work of the tabernacle and of the roof of the
testimony was finished:  and the children of Israel did all things which
the Lord had commanded Moses.

39:32. And they offered the tabernacle, and the roof, and the whole
furniture, the rings, the boards, the bars, the pillars and their
sockets,

39:33. The cover of rams' skins dyed red, and the other cover of violet
skins,

39:34. The veil, the ark, the bars, the propitiatory,

39:35. The table, with the vessels thereof, and the loaves of
proposition:

39:36. The candlestick, the lamps, and the furniture of them, with the
oil:

39:37. The altar of gold, and the ointment, and the incense of spices:

39:38. And the hanging in the entry of the tabernacle:

39:39. The altar of brass, the grate, the bars, and all the vessels
thereof:  the laver, with the foot thereof:  the hangings of the court,
and the pillars, with their sockets:

39:40. The hanging in the entry of the court, and the little cords, and
the pins thereof.  Nothing was wanting of the vessels, that were
commanded to be made for the ministry of the tabernacle, and for the
roof of the covenant.

39:41. The vestments also, which the priests, to wit, Aaron and his
sons, use in the sanctuary,

39:42. The children of Israel offered, as the Lord had commanded.

39:43. And when Moses saw all things finished, he blessed them.



Exodus Chapter 40


The tabernacle is commanded to be set up and anointed.  God filleth it
with his majesty.

40:1. And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying:

40:2. The first month, the first day of the month, thou shalt set up
the tabernacle of the testimony,

40:3. And shalt put the ark in it, and shalt let down the veil before
it:

40:4. And thou shalt bring in the table, and set upon it the things
that are commanded according to the rite.  The candlestick shall stand
with its lamps,

40:5. And the altar of gold, whereon the incense is burnt before the
ark of the testimony.  Thou shalt put the hanging in the entry of the
tabernacle,

40:6. And before it the altar of holocaust.

40:7. The laver between the altar and the tabernacle, and thou shalt
fill it with water.

40:8. And thou shalt encompass the court with hangings, and the entry
thereof.

40:9. And thou shalt take the oil of unction and anoint the tabernacle
with its vessels, that they may be sanctified:

40:10. The altar of holocaust and all its vessels:

40:11. The laver with its foot:  thou shalt consecrate all with the oil
of unction, that they may be most holy.

40:12. And thou shalt bring Aaron and his sons to the door of the
tabernacle of the testimony, and having washed them with water,

40:13. Thou shalt put on them the holy vestments, that they may
minister to me, and that the unction of them may prosper to an
everlasting priesthood.

40:14. And Moses did all that the Lord had commanded.

40:15. So in the first month of the second year, the first day of the
month, the tabernacle was set up.

40:16. And Moses reared it up, and placed the boards and the sockets
and the bars, and set up the pillars,

40:17. And spread the roof over the tabernacle, putting over it a
cover, as the Lord had commanded.

40:18. And he put the testimony in the ark, thrusting bars underneath,
and the oracle above.

40:19. And when he had brought the ark into the tabernacle, he drew the
veil before it to fulfil the commandment of the Lord.

40:20. And he set the table in the tabernacle of the testimony, at the
north side, without the veil,

40:21. Setting there in order the loaves of proposition, as the Lord
had commanded Moses.

40:22. He set the candlestick also in the tabernacle of the testimony,
over against the table on the south side,

40:23. Placing the lamps in order, according to the precept of the
Lord.

40:24. He set also the altar of gold under the roof of the testimony,
over against the veil,

40:25. And burnt upon it the incense of spices, as the Lord had
commanded Moses.

40:26. And he put also the hanging in the entry of the tabernacle of
the testimony,

40:27. And the altar of holocaust in the entry of the testimony,
offering the holocaust, and the sacrifices upon it, as the Lord had
commanded.

40:28. And he set the laver between the tabernacle of the testimony and
the altar, filling it with water.

40:29. And Moses and Aaron, and his sons, washed their hands and feet,

40:30. When they went into the tabernacle of the covenant, and went to
the altar, as the Lord had commanded Moses.

40:31. He set up also the court round about the tabernacle and the
altar, drawing the hanging in the entry thereof.  After all things were
perfected,

40:32. The cloud covered the tabernacle of the testimony, and the glory
of the Lord filled it.

40:33. Neither could Moses go into the tabernacle of the covenant, the
cloud covering all things, and the majesty of the Lord shining, for the
cloud had covered all.

40:34. If at any time the cloud removed from the tabernacle, the
children of Israel went forward by their troops:

40:35. If it hung over, they remained in the same place.

40:36. For the cloud of the Lord hung over the tabernacle by day, and a
fire by night, in the sight of all the children of Israel throughout
all their mansions.



THE BOOK OF LEVITICUS



This Book is called LEVITICUS, because it treats of the Offices,
Ministries, Rites and Ceremonies of the Priests and Levites.  The
Hebrews call it VAICRA, from the word with which it begins.



Leviticus Chapter 1


Of holocausts or burnt offerings.

1:1. And the Lord called Moses, and spoke to him from the tabernacle of
the testimony, saying:

1:2. Speak to the children of Israel, and thou shalt say to them:  The
man among you that shall offer to the Lord a sacrifice of the cattle,
that is, offering victims of oxen and sheep:

1:3. If his offering be a holocaust, and of the herd, he shall offer a
male without blemish, at the door of the testimony, to make the Lord
favourable to him.

A holocaust. . .That is, a whole burnt offering (olokauston), so called,
because the whole victim was consumed with fire; and given in such
manner to God as wholly to evaporate, as it were, for his honour and
glory; without having any part of it reserved for the use of man.  The
other sacrifices in the Old Testament were either offerings for sin, or
peace offerings:  and these latter again were either offered in
thanksgiving for blessings received; or by way of prayer for new
favours or graces.  So that sacrifices were then offered to God for four
different ends or intentions, answerable to the different obligations
which man has to God:  1. By way of adoration, homage, praise, and glory
due to his divine majesty.  2. By way of thanksgiving for all benefits
received from him.  3. By way of confessing and craving pardon for sins.
4. By way of prayer and petition for grace and relief in all
necessities.  In the New Law we have but one sacrifice, viz., that of
the body and blood of Christ:  but this one sacrifice of the New
Testament perfectly answers all these four ends; and both priest and
people, as often as it is celebrated, ought to join in offering it up
for these four ends.

1:4. And he shall put his hand upon the head of the victim:  and it
shall be acceptable, and help to its expiation.

1:5. And he shall immolate the calf before the Lord:  and the priests
the sons of Aaron shall offer the blood thereof, pouring it round about
the altar, which is before the door of the tabernacle.

1:6. And when they have flayed the victim, they shall cut the joints
into pieces:

1:7. And shall put fire on the altar, having before laid in order a
pile of wood.

1:8. And they shall lay the parts that are cut out in order thereupon:
to wit, the head, and all things that cleave to the liver;

1:9. The entrails and feet being washed with water.  And the priest
shall burn them upon the altar for a holocaust, and a sweet savour to
the Lord.

1:10. And if the offering be of the flocks, a holocaust of sheep or of
goats, he shall offer a male without blemish.

1:11. And he shall immolate it at the side of the altar that looketh to
the north, before the Lord:  but the sons of Aaron shall pour the blood
thereof upon the altar round about.

1:12. And they shall divide the joints, the head, and all that cleave
to the liver:  and shall lay them upon the wood, under which the fire is
to be put.

1:13. But the entrails and the feet they shall wash with water.  And the
priest shall offer it all and burn it all upon the altar for a
holocaust, and most sweet savour to the Lord.

1:14. But if the oblation of a holocaust to the Lord be of birds, of
turtles, or of young pigeons:

1:15. The priest shall offer it at the altar:  and twisting back the
neck, and breaking the place of the wound, he shall make the blood run
down upon the brim of the altar.

1:16. But the crop of the throat, and the feathers he shall cast beside
the altar at the east side, in the place where the ashes are wont to be
poured out.

1:17. And he shall break the pinions thereof, and shall not cut, nor
divide it with a knife:  and shall burn it upon the altar, putting fire
under the wood.  It is a holocaust and oblation of most sweet savour to
the Lord.



Leviticus Chapter 2


Of offerings of flour, and firstfruits.

2:1. When any one shall offer an oblation of sacrifice to the Lord, his
offering shall be of fine flour:  and he shall pour oil upon it, and put
frankincense,

2:2. And shall bring it to the sons of Aaron the priests.  And one of
them shall take a handful of the flour and oil, and all the
frankincense; and shall put it a memorial upon the altar for a most
sweet savour to the Lord.

2:3. And the remnant of the sacrifice shall be Aaron's, and his sons',
holy of holies of the offerings of the Lord.

Holy of holies. . .That is, most holy, as being dedicated to God, and
set aside by his ordinance for the use of his priests.

2:4. But when thou offerest a sacrifice baked in the oven of flour, to
wit, loaves without leaven, tempered with oil, and unleavened wafers,
anointed with oil:

2:5. If thy oblation be from the fryingpan, of flour tempered with oil,
and without leaven:

2:6. Thou shalt divide it into little pieces, and
shalt pour oil upon it.

2:7. And if the sacrifice be from the gridiron, in like manner the
flour shall be tempered with oil.

2:8. And when thou offerest it to the Lord, thou shalt deliver it to
the hands of the priest.

2:9. And when he hath offered it, he shall take a memorial out of the
sacrifice, and burn it upon the altar for a sweet savour to the Lord.

2:10. And whatsoever is left, shall be Aaron's, and his sons':  holy of
holies of the offerings of the Lord.

2:11. Every oblation that is offered to the Lord shall be made without
leaven:  neither shall any leaven or honey be burnt in the sacrifice to
the Lord.

Without leaven or honey. . .No leaven nor honey was to be used in the
sacrifice offered to God; to signify that we are to exclude from the
pure worship of the gospel, all double dealing and affection to carnal
pleasures.

2:12. You shall offer only the firstfruits of them and gifts:  but they
shall not be put upon the altar, for a savour of sweetness.

2:13. Whatsoever sacrifice thou offerest, thou shalt season it with
salt:  neither shalt thou take away the salt of the covenant of thy God
from thy sacrifice.  In all thy oblations thou shalt offer salt.

Salt. . .In every sacrifice salt was to be used, which is an emblem of
wisdom and discretion, without which none of our performances are
agreeable to God.

2:14. But if thou offer a gift of the firstfruits of thy corn to the
Lord, of the ears yet green, thou shalt dry it at the fire, and break
it small like meal; and so shalt thou offer thy firstfruits to the
Lord:

2:15. Pouring oil upon it and putting on frankincense, because it is
the oblation of the Lord.

2:16. Whereof the priest shall burn for a memorial of the gift, part of
the corn broken small and of the oil, and all the frankincense.



Leviticus Chapter 3


Of peace offerings.

3:1. And if his oblation be a sacrifice of peace offerings, and he will
offer of the herd, whether male or female:  he shall offer them without
blemish before the Lord.

Peace offerings. . .Peace, in the scripture language, signifies
happiness, welfare or prosperity; in a word, all kind of
blessings.--Such sacrifices, therefore, as were offered either on
occasion of blessings received, or to obtain new favours, were called
pacific or peace offerings.  In these, some part of the victim was
consumed with fire on the altar of God; other parts were eaten by the
priests and by the persons for whom the sacrifice was offered.

3:2. And he shall lay his hand upon the head of his victim, which shall
be slain in the entry of the tabernacle of the testimony:  and the sons
of Aaron the priests shall pour the blood round about upon the altar.

3:3. And they shall offer of the sacrifice of peace offerings, for an
oblation to the Lord:  the fat that covereth the entrails, and all the
fat that is within,

3:4. The two kidneys with the fat wherewith the flanks are covered, and
the caul of the liver with the two little kidneys.

3:5. And they shall burn them upon the altar, for a holocaust, putting
fire under the wood:  for an oblation of most sweet savour to the Lord.

3:6. But if his oblation and the sacrifice of peace offering be of the
flock, whether he offer male or female, they shall be without blemish.

3:7. If he offer a lamb before the Lord:

3:8. He shall put his hand upon the head of the victim.  And it shall be
slain in the entry of the tabernacle of the testimony:  and the sons of
Aaron shall pour the blood thereof round about upon the altar.

3:9. And they shall offer of the victim of peace offerings, a sacrifice
to the Lord:  the fat and the whole rump,

3:10. With the kidneys, and the fat that covereth the belly and all the
vitals and both the little kidneys, with the fat that is about the
flanks, and the caul of the liver with the little kidneys.

3:11. And the priest shall burn them upon the altar, for the food of
the fire, and of the oblation of the Lord.

3:12. If his offering be a goat, and he offer it to the Lord:

3:13. He shall put his hand upon the head thereof:  and shall immolate
it in the entry of the tabernacle of the testimony.  And the sons of
Aaron shall pour the blood thereof round about upon the altar.

3:14. And they shall take of it for the food of the Lord's fire, the
fat that covereth the belly, and that covereth all the vital parts:

3:15. The two little kidneys with the caul that is upon them which is
by the flanks, and the fat of the liver with the little kidneys.

3:16. And the priest shall burn them upon the altar, for the food of
the fire, and of a most sweet savour.  All the fat shall be the Lord's.

3:17. By a perpetual law for your generations, and in all your
habitations:  neither blood nor fat shall you eat at all.

Fat. . .It is meant of the fat, which by the prescription of the law was
to be offered on God's altar; not of the fat of meat, such as we
commonly eat.



Leviticus Chapter 4


Of offerings for sins of ignorance.

4:1. And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying:

4:2. Say to the children of Israel:  The soul that sinneth through
ignorance, and doth any thing concerning any of the commandments of the
Lord, which he commanded not to be done:

Ignorance. . .To be ignorant of what we are bound to know is sinful; and
for such culpable ignorance, these sacrifices, prescribed in this and
the following chapter, were appointed.

4:3. If the priest that is anointed shall sin, making the people to
offend, he shall offer to the Lord for his sin a calf without blemish.

4:4. And he shall bring it to the door of the testimony before the
Lord:  and shall put his hand upon the head thereof, and shall sacrifice
it to the Lord.

4:5. He shall take also of the blood of the calf:  and carry it into the
tabernacle of the testimony.

The blood. . .As the figure of the blood of Christ shed for the
remission of our sins, and carried by him into the sanctuary of heaven.

4:6. And having dipped his finger in the blood, he shall sprinkle with
it seven times before the Lord, before the veil of the sanctuary.

4:7. And he shall put some of the same blood upon the horns of the
altar of the sweet incense most acceptable to the Lord, which is in the
tabernacle of the testimony.  And he shall pour all the rest of the
blood at the foot of the altar of holocaust in the entry of the
tabernacle.

4:8. And he shall take off the fat of the calf for the sin offering, as
well that which covereth the entrails, as all the inwards:

4:9. The two little kidneys, and the caul that is upon them, which is
by the flanks, and the fat of the liver with the little kidneys:

4:10. As it is taken off from the calf of the sacrifice of peace
offerings.  And he shall burn them upon the altar of holocaust.

4:11. But the skin and all the flesh with the head and the feet and the
bowels and the dung:

4:12. And the rest of the body, he shall carry forth without the camp
into a clean place where the ashes are wont to be poured out:  and he
shall burn them upon a pile of wood.  They shall be burnt in the place
where the ashes are poured out.

4:13. And if all the multitude of Israel shall be ignorant, and through
ignorance shall do that which is against the commandment of the Lord,

4:14. And afterwards shall understand their sin:  they shall offer for
their sin a calf, and shall bring it to the door of the tabernacle.

4:15. And the ancients of the people shall put their hands upon the
head thereof before the Lord.  And the calf being immolated in the sight
of the Lord:

4:16. The priest that is anointed shall carry of the blood into the
tabernacle of the testimony.

4:17. And shall dip his finger in it and sprinkle it seven times before
the veil.

4:18. And he shall put of the same blood on the horns of the altar that
is before the Lord, in the tabernacle of the testimony.  And the rest of
the blood he shall pour at the foot of the altar of holocaust, which is
at the door of the tabernacle of the testimony.

4:19. And all the fat thereof he shall take off, and shall burn it upon
the altar:

4:20. Doing so with this calf, as he did also with that before.  And the
priest praying for them, the Lord will be merciful unto them.

4:21. But the calf itself he shall carry forth without the camp, and
shall burn it as he did the former calf:  because it is for the sin of
the multitude.

4:22. If a prince shall sin, and through ignorance do any one of the
things that the law of the Lord forbiddeth,

4:23. And afterwards shall come to know his sin:  he shall offer a buck
goat without blemish, a sacrifice to the Lord.

4:24. And he shall put his hand upon the head thereof:  and when he hath
immolated it in the place where the holocaust is wont to be slain
before the Lord, because it is for sin,

4:25. The priest shall dip his finger in the blood of the victim for
sin, touching therewith the horns of the altar of holocaust, and
pouring out the rest at the foot thereof.

4:26. But the fat he shall burn upon it, as is wont to be done with the
victims of peace offerings.  And the priest shall pray for him, and for
his sin:  and it shall be forgiven him.

4:27. And if any one of the people of the land shall sin through
ignorance, doing any of those things that by the law of the Lord are
forbidden, and offending,

4:28. And shall come to know his sin:  he shall offer a she goat without
blemish.

4:29. And he shall put his hand upon the head of the victim that is for
sin:  and shall immolate it in the place of the holocaust.

4:30. And the priest shall take of the blood with his finger, and shall
touch the horns of the altar of holocaust:  and shall pour out the rest
at the foot thereof.

4:31. But taking off all the fat, as is wont to be taken away of the
victims of peace offerings, he shall burn it upon the altar, for a
sweet savour to the Lord:  and he shall pray for him, and it shall be
forgiven him.

4:32. But if he offer of the flock a victim for his sin, to wit, an ewe
without blemish:

4:33. He shall put his hand upon the head thereof, and shall immolate
it in the place where the victims of holocausts are wont to be slain.

4:34. And the priest shall take of the blood thereof with his finger,
and shall touch the horns of the altar of holocaust:  and the rest he
shall pour out at the foot thereof.

4:35. All the fat also he shall take off, as the fat of the ram that is
offered for peace offerings is wont to be taken away:  and shall burn it
upon the altar, for a burnt sacrifice of the Lord.  And he shall pray
for him and his sin, and it shall be forgiven him.



Leviticus Chapter 5


Of other sacrifices for sins.

5:1. If any one sin, and hear the voice of one swearing, and is a
witness either because he himself hath seen, or is privy to it:  if he
do not utter it, he shall bear his iniquity.

5:2. Whosoever toucheth any unclean thing, either that which hath been
killed by a beast, or died of itself, or any other creeping thing:  and
forgetteth his uncleanness, he is guilty, and hath offended.

5:3. And if he touch any thing of the uncleanness of man, according to
any uncleanness wherewith he is wont to be defiled:  and having
forgotten it, come afterwards to know it, he shall be guilty of an
offence.

5:4. The person that sweareth, and uttereth with his lips, that he
would do either evil or good, and bindeth the same with an oath, and
his word:  and having forgotten it afterwards understandeth his offence,

5:5. Let him do penance for his sin:

5:6. And offer of the flocks an ewe lamb, or a she goat, and the priest
shall pray for him and for his sin.

5:7. But if he be not able to offer a beast, let him offer two turtles,
or two young pigeons to the Lord, one for sin, and the other for a
holocaust,

5:8. And he shall give them to the priest:  who shall offer the first
for sin, and twist back the head of it to the little pinions, so that
it stick to the neck, and be not altogether broken off.

5:9. And of its blood he shall sprinkle the side of the altar:  and
whatever is left, he shall let it drop at the bottom thereof, because
it is for sin.

5:10. And the other he shall burn for a holocaust, as is wont to be
done.  And the priest shall pray for him, and for his sin, and it shall
be forgiven him.

5:11. And if his hand be not able to offer two turtles, or two young
pigeons, he shall offer for his sin the tenth part of an ephi of flour.
He shall not put oil upon it, nor put any frankincense thereon, because
it is for sin.

5:12. And he shall deliver it to the priest, who shall take a handful
thereof, and shall burn it upon the altar for a memorial of him that
offered it:

5:13. Praying for him and making atonement.  But the part that is left,
he himself shall have for a gift.

5:14. And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying:

5:15. If any one shall sin through mistake, transgressing the
ceremonies in those things that are sacrificed to the Lord, he shall
offer for his offence a ram without blemish out of the flocks, that may
be bought for two sicles, according to the weight of the sanctuary.

5:16. And he shall make good the damage itself which he hath done, and
shall add the fifth part besides, delivering it to the priest, who
shall pray for him, offering the ram:  and it shall be forgiven him.

5:17. If any one sin through ignorance, and do one of those things
which by the law of the Lord are forbidden, and being guilty of sin,
understand his iniquity:

5:18. He shall offer of the flocks a ram without blemish to the priest,
according to the measure and estimation of the sin.  And the priest
shall pray for him, because he did it ignorantly:  And it shall be
forgiven him,

5:19. Because by mistake he trespassed against the Lord.



Leviticus Chapter 6


Oblation for sins of injustice:  ordinances concerning the holocausts
and the perpetual fire:  the sacrifices of the priests, and the sin
offerings.

6:1. The Lord spoke to Moses, saying:

6:2. Whosoever shall sin, and despising the Lord, shall deny to his
neighbour the thing delivered to his keeping, which was committed to
his trust; or shall by force extort any thing, or commit oppression;

6:3. Or shall find a thing lost, and denying it, shall also swear
falsely, or shall do any other of the many things, wherein men are wont
to sin:

6:4. Being convicted of the offence, he shall restore

6:5. All that he would have gotten by fraud, in the principal, and the
fifth part besides, to the owner, whom he wronged.

6:6. Moreover for his sin he shall offer a ram without blemish out of
the flock:  and shall give it to the priest, according to the estimation
and measure of the offence.

6:7. And he shall pray for him before the Lord:  and he shall have
forgiveness for every thing in doing of which he bath sinned.

6:8. And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying:

6:9. Command Aaron and his sons:  This is the law of a holocaust.  It
shall be burnt upon the altar, all night until morning:  the fire shall
be of the same altar.

6:10. The priest shall be vested with the tunick and the linen
breeches; and he shall take up the ashes of that which the devouring
fire hath burnt:  and putting them beside the altar,

6:11. Shall put off his former vestments, and being clothed with
others, shall carry them forth without the camp, and shall cause them
to be consumed to dust in a very clean place.

6:12. And the fire on the altar shall always burn, and the priest shall
feed it, putting wood on it every day in the morning:  and laying on the
holocaust, shall burn thereupon the fat of the peace offerings.

6:13. This is the perpetual fire which shall never go out on the altar.

The perpetual fire. . .This fire came from heaven, (infra. chap. 9.24,)
and was always kept burning on the altar, as a figure of the heavenly
fire of divine love, which ought to be always burning in the heart of a
Christian.

6:14. This is the law of the sacrifice and libations, which the
children of Aaron shall offer before the Lord, and before the altar.

6:15. The priest shall take a handful of the flour that is tempered
with oil, and all the frankincense that is put upon the flour:  and he
shall burn on the altar for a memorial of most sweet odour to the Lord.

6:16. And the part of the flour that is left, Aaron and his sons shall
eat, without leaven:  and he shall eat it in the holy place of the court
of the tabernacle.

6:17. And therefore it shall not be leavened, because part thereof is
offered for the burnt sacrifice of the Lord.  It shall be most holy, as
that which is offered for sin and for trespass.

6:18. The males only of the race of Aaron shall eat it.  It shall be an
ordinance everlasting in your generations concerning the sacrifices of
the Lord:  Every one that toucheth them shall be sanctified.

6:19. And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying:

6:20. This is the oblation of Aaron, and of his sons, which they must
offer to the Lord, in the day of their anointing.  They shall offer the
tenth part of an ephi of flour for a perpetual sacrifice, half of it in
the morning, and half of it in the evening.

6:21. It shall be tempered with oil, and shall be fried in a fryingpan.

6:22. And the priest that rightfully succeedeth his father, shall offer
it hot, for a most sweet odour to the Lord:  and it shall he wholly
burnt on the altar.

6:23. For every sacrifice of the priest shall be consumed with fire:
neither shall any man eat thereof.

6:24. And the Lord spoke to Moses.  saying:

6:25. Say to Aaron and his sons:  This is the law of the victim for sin.
In the place where the holocaust is offered, it shall be immolated
before the Lord.  It is holy of holies.

6:26. The priest that offereth it, shall eat it in a holy place, in the
court of the tabernacle.

6:27. Whatsoever shall touch the flesh thereof, shall be sanctified.  If
a garment be sprinkled with the blood thereof, it shall be washed in a
holy place.

6:28. And the earthen vessel, wherein it was sodden, shall be broken:
but if the vessel be of brass, it shall be scoured, and washed with
water.

6:29. Every male of the priestly race shall eat of the flesh thereof,
because it is holy of holies.

6:30. For the victim that is slain for sin, the blood of which is
carried into the tabernacle of the testimony to make atonement in the
sanctuary, shall not be eaten, but shall be burnt with fire.



Leviticus Chapter 7


Of sacrifices for trespasses and thanks offerings.  No fat nor blood is
to be eaten.

7:1. This also is the law of the sacrifice for a trespass:  it is most
holy.

Trespass. . .Trespasses, for which these offerings were to be made, were
lesser offences than those for which the sin offerings were appointed.

7:2. Therefore where the holocaust is immolated, the victim also for a
trespass shall be slain:  the blood thereof shall be poured round about
the altar.

7:3. They shall offer thereof the rump and the fat that covereth the
entrails:

7:4. The two little kidneys, and the fat which is by the flanks, and
the caul of the liver with the little kidneys.

7:5. And the priest shall burn them upon the altar:  it is the burnt
sacrifice of the Lord for a trespass.

7:6. Every male of the priestly race, shall eat this flesh in a holy
place, because it is most holy.

7:7. As the sacrifice for sin is offered, so is also that for a
trespass:  the same shall be the law of both these sacrifices.  It shall
belong to the priest that offereth it.

7:8. The priest that offereth the victim of holocaust, shall have the
skin thereof.

7:9. And every sacrifice of flour that is baked in the oven, and
whatsoever is dressed on the gridiron, or in the fryingpan, shall be
the priest's that offereth it.

7:10. Whether they be tempered with oil, or dry, all the sons of Aaron
shall have one as much as another.

7:11. This is the law of the sacrifice of peace offerings that is
offered to the Lord.

7:12. If the oblation be for thanksgiving, they shall offer loaves
without leaven tempered with oil, and unleavened wafers anointed with
oil, and fine flour fried, and cakes tempered and mingled with oil.

7:13. Moreover loaves of leavened bread with the sacrifice of thanks,
which is offered for peace offerings:

7:14. Of which one shall be offered to the Lord for firstfruits, and
shall be the priest's that shall pour out the blood of the victim.

7:15. And the flesh of it shall be eaten the same day:  neither shall
any of it remain until the morning.

7:16. If any man by vow, or of his own accord offer a sacrifice, it
shall in like manner be eaten the same day.  And if any of it remain
until the morrow, it is lawful to eat it.

7:17. But whatsoever shall be found on the third day shall be consumed
with fire.

7:18. If any man eat of the flesh of the victim of peace offerings on
the third day, the oblation shall be of no effect:  neither shall it
profit the offerer.  Yea rather, whatsoever soul shall defile itself
with such meat, shall be guilty of transgression.

7:19. The flesh that hath touched any unclean thing, shall not be
eaten:  but shall be burnt with fire.  He that is clean shall eat of it.

7:20. If any one that is defiled shall eat of the flesh of the
sacrifice of peace offerings, which is offered to the Lord, he shall be
cut off from his people.

7:21. And he that hath touched the uncleanness of man, or of beast, or
of any thing that can defile, and shall eat of such kind of flesh:
shall be cut off from his people.

7:22. And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying:

7:23. Say to the children of Israel:  The fat of a sheep, and of an ox,
and of a goat you shall not eat.

7:24. The fat of a carcass that hath died of itself, and of a beast
that was caught by another beast, you shall have for divers uses.

7:25. If any man eat the fat that should be offered for the burnt
sacrifice of the Lord, he shall perish out of his people.

7:26. Moreover you shall not eat the blood of any creature whatsoever,
whether of birds or beasts.

7:27. Every one that eateth blood, shall perish from among the people.

7:28. And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying:

7:29. Speak to the children of Israel, saying:  He that offereth a
victim of peace offerings to the Lord, let him offer therewith a
sacrifice also, that is, the libations thereof.

7:30. He shall hold in his hands the fat of the victim, and the breast.
And when he hath offered and consecrated both to the Lord, he shall
deliver them to the priest,

7:31. Who shall burn the fat upon the altar.  But the breast shall be
Aaron's and his sons'.

7:32. The right shoulder also of the victim, of peace offerings shall
fall to the priest for firstfruits.

7:33. He among the sons of Aaron, that offereth the blood, and the fat:
he shall have the right shoulder also for his portion.

7:34. For the breast that is elevated and the shoulder that is
separated I have taken of the children of Israel, from off their
victims of peace offerings:  and have given them to Aaron the priest,
and to his sons, by a law for ever, from all the people of Israel.

7:35. This is the anointing of Aaron and his sons, in the ceremonies of
the Lord, in the day when Moses offered them, that they might do the
office of priesthood,

7:36. And the things that the Lord commanded to be given them by the
children of Israel, by a perpetual observance in their generations.

7:37. This is the law of holocaust, and of the sacrifice for sin, and
for trespass, and for consecration, and the victims of peace offerings:

7:38. Which the Lord appointed to Moses in mount Sinai, when he
commanded the children of Israel, that they should offer their
oblations to the Lord in the desert of Sinai.



Leviticus Chapter 8


Moses consecrateth Aaron and his sons.

8:1. And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying:

8:2. Take Aaron with his sons, their vestments, and the oil of unction:
a calf for sin, two rams, a basket with unleavened bread.

8:3. And thou shalt gather together all the congregation to the door of
the tabernacle.

8:4. And Moses did as the Lord had commanded.  And all the multitude
being gathered together before the door of the tabernacle:

8:5. He said:  This is the word that the Lord hath commanded to be done.

8:6. And immediately, he offered Aaron and his sons.  And when he had
washed them,

8:7. He vested the high priest with the strait linen garment, girding
him with the girdle, and putting on him the violet tunick:  and over it
he put the ephod.

8:8. And binding it with the girdle, he fitted it to the rational, on
which was Doctrine and Truth.

8:9. He put also the mitre upon his head:  and upon the mitre over the
forehead, he put the plate of gold, consecrated with sanctification, as
the Lord had commanded him.

8:10. He took also the oil of unction, with which he anointed the
tabernacle, with all the furniture thereof.

8:11. And when he had sanctified and sprinkled the altar seven times,
he anointed it, and all the vessels thereof:  and the laver with the
foot thereof, he sanctified with the oil.

8:12. And he poured it upon Aaron's head:  and he anointed and
consecrated him.

8:13. And after he had offered his sons, he vested them with linen
tunicks, and girded them with girdles:  and put mitres on them as the
Lord had commanded.

8:14. He offered also the calf for sin:  and when Aaron and his sons had
put their hands upon the head thereof,

8:15. He immolated it:  and took the blood, and dipping his finger in
it, he touched the horns of the altar round about.  Which being
expiated, and sanctified, he poured the rest of the blood at the bottom
thereof.

8:16. But the fat that was upon the entrails, and the caul of the
liver, and the two little kidneys, with their fat, he burnt upon the
altar.

8:17. And the calf with the skin, and the flesh and the dung, he burnt
without the camp, as the Lord had commanded.

8:18. He offered also a ram for holocaust.  And when Aaron and his sons
had put their hands upon its head:

8:19. He immolated it, and poured the blood thereof round about the
altar.

8:20. And cutting the ram into pieces, the head thereof, and the
joints, and the fat he burnt in the fire.

8:21. Having first washed the entrails, and the feet, and the whole ram
together he burnt upon the altar:  because it was a holocaust of most
sweet odour to the Lord, as he had commanded him.

8:22. He offered also the second ram, in the consecration of priests:
and Aaron, and his sons put their hands upon the head thereof.

8:23. And when Moses had immolated it, he took of the blood thereof,
and touched the tip of Aaron's right ear, and the thumb of his right
hand, and in like manner also the great toe of his right foot.

8:24. He offered also the sons of Aaron:  and when with the blood of the
ram that was immolated, he had touched the tip of the right ear of
every one of them, and the thumbs of their right hands, and the great
toes of their right feet, the rest he poured on the altar round about.

8:25. But the fat, and the rump, and all the fat that covereth the
entrails, and the caul of the liver, and the two kidneys with their
fat, and with the right shoulder, he separated.

8:26. And taking out of the basket of unleavened bread, which was
before the Lord, a loaf without leaven, and a cake tempered with oil
and a wafer, he put them upon the fat, and the right shoulder:

8:27. Delivering all to Aaron, and to his sons.  Who having lifted them
up before the Lord,

8:28. He took them again from their hands, and burnt them upon the
altar of holocaust:  because it was the oblation of consecration, for a
sweet odour of sacrifice to the Lord.

8:29. And he took of the ram of consecration, the breast for his
portion, elevating it before the Lord, as the Lord had commanded him.

8:30. And taking the ointment, and the blood that was upon the altar,
he sprinkled Aaron, and his vestments, and his sons, and their
vestments with it.

8:31. And when he had sanctified them in their vestments, he commanded
them, saying:  Boil the flesh before the door of the tabernacle, and
there eat it.  Eat ye also the loaves of consecration, that are laid in
the basket, as the Lord commanded me, saying:  Aaron and his sons shall
eat them.

8:32. And whatsoever shall be left of the flesh and the loaves, shall
be consumed with fire.

8:33. And you shall not go out of the door of the tabernacle for seven
days, until the day wherein the time of your consecration shall be
expired.  For in seven days the consecration is finished:

8:34. As at this present it hath been done, that the rite of the
sacrifice might be accomplished.

8:35. Day and night shall you remain in the tabernacle observing the
watches of the Lord, lest you die.  For so it hath been commanded me.

8:36. And Aaron and his sons did all things which the Lord spoke by the
hand of Moses.



Leviticus Chapter 9


Aaron offereth sacrifice for himself and the people.  Fire cometh from
the Lord upon the altar.

9:1. And when the eighth day was come, Moses called Aaron and his sons,
and the ancients of Israel, and said to Aaron:

9:2. Take of the herd a calf for sin, and a ram for a holocaust, both
without blemish, and offer them before the Lord.

9:3. And to the children of Israel thou shalt say:  Take ye a he goat
for sin, and a calf, and a lamb, both of a year old, and without
blemish for a holocaust.

9:4. Also a bullock and a ram for peace offerings.  And immolate them
before the Lord, offering for the sacrifice of every one of them flour
tempered with oil:  for to day the Lord will appear to you.

9:5. They brought therefore all things that Moses had commanded before
the door of the tabernacle:  where when all the multitude stood,

9:6. Moses said:  This is the word, which the Lord hath commanded.  Do
it, and his glory will appear to you.

9:7. And he said to Aaron:  Approach to the altar, and offer sacrifice
for thy sin.  Offer the holocaust, and pray for thyself and for the
people:  and when thou hast slain the people's victim, pray for them, as
the Lord hath commanded.

9:8. And forthwith Aaron, approaching to the altar, immolated the calf
for his sin.

9:9. And his sons brought him the blood of it:  and he dipped his finger
therein, and touched the horns of the altar, and poured the rest at the
foot thereof.

9:10. And the fat, and the little kidneys, and the caul of the liver,
which are for sin, he burnt upon the altar, as the Lord had commanded
Moses.

9:11. But the flesh and skins thereof he burnt with fire without the
camp.

9:12. He immolated also the victim of holocaust:  and his sons brought
him the blood thereof, which he poured round about on the altar.

9:13. And the victim being cut into pieces, they brought to him the
head and all the members:  all which he burnt with fire upon the altar.

9:14. Having first washed the entrails and the feet with water.

9:15. Then offering for the sin of the people, he slew the he goat:  and
expiating the altar,

9:16. He offered the holocaust.

9:17. Adding in the sacrifice the libations, which are offered withal,
and burning them upon the altar, besides the ceremonies of the morning
holocaust.

9:18. He immolated also the bullock and the ram, and peace offerings of
the people:  and his sons brought him the blood, which he poured upon
the altar round about.

9:19. The fat also of the bullock, and the rump of the ram, and the two
little kidneys with their fat, and the caul of the liver,

9:20. They put upon the breasts.  And after the fat was burnt upon the
altar,

9:21. Aaron separated their breasts, and the right shoulders, elevating
them before the Lord, as Moses had commanded.

9:22. And stretching forth his hands to the people, he blessed them.
And so the victims for sin, and the holocausts, and the peace offerings
being finished, he came down.

9:23. And Moses and Aaron went into the tabernacle of the testimony,
and afterwards came forth and blessed the people.  And the glory of the
Lord appeared to all the multitude.

9:24. And, behold, a fire, coming forth from the Lord, devoured the
holocaust, and the fat that was upon the altar:  which when the
multitude saw, they praised the Lord, falling on their faces.



Leviticus Chapter 10


Nadab and Abiu for offering strange fire, are burnt by fire.  Priests
are forbidden to drink wine, when they enter into the tabernacle.  The
law of eating the holy things.

10:1. And Nadab and Abiu, the sons of Aaron, taking their censers, put
fire therein, and incense on it, offering before the Lord strange fire:
which was not commanded them.

10:2. And fire coming out from the Lord destroyed them:  and they died
before the Lord.

10:3. And Moses said to Aaron:  This is what the Lord hath spoken.  I
will be sanctified in them that approach to me:  and I will be glorified
in the sight of all the people.  And when Aaron heard this, he held his
peace.

10:4. And Moses called Misael and Elisaphan, the sons of Oziel, the
uncle of Aaron, and said to them:  Go and take away your brethren from
before the sanctuary, and carry them without the camp.

10:5. And they went forthwith and took them as they lay, vested with
linen tunicks, and cast them forth, as had been commanded them.

10:6. And Moses said to Aaron, and to Eleazar and Ithamar, his sons:
Uncover not your heads, and rend not your garments, lest perhaps you
die, and indignation come upon all the congregation.  Let your brethren,
and all the house of Israel, bewail the burning which the Lord has
kindled.

10:7. But you shall not go out of the door of the tabernacle:  otherwise
you shall perish, for the oil of the holy unction is on you.  And they
did all things according to the precept of Moses.

10:8. The Lord also said to Aaron:

10:9. You shall not drink wine nor any thing that may make drunk, thou
nor thy sons, when you enter into the tabernacle of the testimony, lest
you die.  Because it is an everlasting precept; through your
generations:

10:10. And that you may have knowledge to discern between holy and
unholy, between unclean and clean:

10:11. And may teach the children of Israel all my ordinances which the
Lord hath spoken to them by the hand of Moses.

10:12. And Moses spoke to Aaron, and to Eleazar and Ithamar, his sons
that were left:  Take the sacrifice that is remaining of the oblation of
the Lord, and eat it without leaven beside the altar, because it is
holy of holies.

10:13. And you shall eat it in a holy place:  which is given to thee and
thy sons of the oblations of the Lord, as it hath been commanded me.

10:14. The breast also that is offered, and the shoulder that is
separated, you shall eat in a most clean place, thou and thy sons, and
thy daughters with thee.  For they are set aside for thee and thy
children, of the victims of peace offerings of the children of Israel.

10:15. Because they have elevated before the Lord the shoulder and the
breast, and the fat that is burnt on the altar:  and they belong to thee
and to thy sons by a perpetual law, as the Lord hath commanded.

10:16. While these things were a doing, when Moses sought for the buck
goat, that had been offered for sin, he found it burnt.  And being angry
with Eleazar and Ithamar, the sons of Aaron that were left, he said:

10:17. Why did you not eat in the holy place the sacrifice for sin,
which is most holy, and given to you, that you may bear the iniquity of
the people, and may pray for them in the sight of the Lord.

10:18. Especially, whereas none of the blood thereof hath been carried
within the holy places:  and you ought to have eaten it in the
sanctuary, as was commanded me?

10:19. Aaron answered:  This day hath been offered the victim for sin,
and the holocaust before the Lord:  and to me what thou seest has
happened.  How could I eat it, or please the Lord in the ceremonies,
having a sorrowful heart?

10:20. Which when Moses had heard he was satisfied.



Leviticus Chapter 11


The distinction of clean and unclean animals.

11:1. And the Lord spoke to Moses and Aaron, saying:

11:2. Say to the children of Israel:  These are the animals which you
are to eat of all the living things of the earth.

Animals which you are to eat, etc. . .The prohibition of so many kinds
of beasts, birds, and fishes, in the law, was ordered, 1st, to exercise
the people in obedience, and temperance; 2ndly, to restrain them from
the vices of which these animals were symbols; 3rdly, because the
things here forbidden were for the most part unwholesome, and not
proper to be eaten; 4thly, that the people of God, by being obliged to
abstain from things corporally unclean, might be trained up to seek a
spiritual cleanness.

11:3. Whatsoever hath the hoof divided, and cheweth the cud among the
beasts, you shall eat.

Hoof divided, and cheweth the cud. . .The dividing of the hoof and
chewing of the cud, signify discretion between good and evil, and
meditating on the law of God; and where either of these is wanting a
man is unclean.  In like manner fishes were reputed unclean that had not
fins and scales:  that is, souls that did not raise themselves up by
prayer and cover themselves with the scales of virtue.

11:4. But whatsoever cheweth indeed the cud, and hath a hoof, but
divideth it not, as the camel, and others:  that you shall not eat, but
shall reckon it among the unclean.

11:5. The cherogrillus which cheweth the cud, but divideth not the
hoof, is unclean.

The cherogrillus. . .Some suppose it to be the rabbit, others the
hedgehog.  St. Jerome intimates that it is another kind of animal common
in Palestine, which lives in the holes of rocks or in the earth.  We
choose here, as also in the names of several other creatures that
follow (which are little known in this part of the world,) to keep the
Greek or Latin names.

11:6. The hare also:  for that too cheweth the cud, but divideth not the
hoof.

11:7. And the swine, which, though it divideth the hoof, cheweth not
the cud.

11:8. The flesh of these you shall not eat, nor shall you touch their
carcasses, because they are unclean to you.

11:9. These are the things that breed in the waters, and which it is
lawful to eat.  All that hath fins, and scales, as well in the sea, as
in the rivers, and the pools, you shall eat.

11:10. But whatsoever hath not fins and scales, of those things that
move and live in the waters, shall be an abomination to you,

11:11. And detestable.  Their flesh you shall not eat:  and their
carcasses you shall avoid.

11:12. All that have not fins and scales, in the waters, shall be
unclean.

11:13. Of birds these are they which you must not eat, and which are to
be avoided by you:  The eagle, and the griffon, and the osprey.

The griffon. . .Not the monster which the painter represent, which hath
no being upon earth; but a bird of the eagle kind, larger than the
common.

11:14. And the kite, and the vulture, according to their kind.

11:15. And all that is of the raven kind, according to their likeness.

11:16. The ostrich, and the owl, and the larus, and the hawk according
to its kind.

11:17. The screech owl, and the cormorant, and the ibis.

11:18. And the swan, and the bittern, and the porphyrion.

11:19. The heron, and the charadroin according to its kind, the houp
also, and the bat.

11:20. Of things that fly, whatsoever goeth upon four feet, shall be
abominable to you.

11:21. But whatsoever walketh upon four feet, but hath the legs behind
longer, wherewith it hoppeth upon the earth,

11:22. That you shall eat:  as the bruchus in its kind, the attacus, and
ophimachus, and the locust, every, one according to their kind.

11:23. But of flying things whatsoever hath four feet only, shall be an
abomination to you.

11:24. And whosoever shall touch the carcasses of them, shall be
defiled:  and shall be unclean until the evening:

11:25. And if it be necessary that he carry any of these things when
they are dead:  he shall wash his clothes, and shall be unclean until
the sun set.

11:26. Every beast that hath a hoof, but divideth it not, nor cheweth
the cud shall be unclean:  and he that toucheth it, shall be defiled.

11:27. That which walketh upon hands of all animals which go on all
four, shall be unclean:  he that shall touch their carcasses shall be
defiled until evening.

11:28. And he that shall carry such carcasses, shall wash his clothes,
and shall be unclean until evening:  because all these things are
unclean to you.

11:29. These also shall be reckoned among unclean things, of all that
move upon the earth.  The weasel, and the mouse, and the crocodile,
every one according to their kind:

11:30. The shrew, and the chameleon, and the stellio, and the lizard,
and the mole.

11:31. All these are unclean.  He that toucheth their carcasses shall be
unclean until the evening.

11:32. And upon what thing soever any of their carcasses shall fall, it
shall be defiled, whether it be a vessel of wood, or a garment, or
skins or haircloths:  or any thing in which work is done.  They shall be
dipped in water, and shall be unclean until the evening, and so
afterwards shall be clean.

11:33. But an earthen vessel, into which any of these shall fall, shall
be defiled:  and therefore is to be broken.

11:34. Any meat which you eat, if water from such a vessel be poured
upon it, shall be unclean; and every liquor that is drunk out of any
such vessel, shall be unclean.

11:35. And upon whatsoever thing any of these dead beasts shall fall,
it shall be unclean.  Whether it be oven, or pots with feet, they shall
be destroyed, and shall be unclean.

11:36. But fountains and cisterns, and all gatherings together of
waters shall be clean.  He that toucheth their carcasses shall be
defiled.

11:37. If it fall upon seed corn, it shall not defile it.

11:38. But if any man pour water upon the seed, and afterwards it be
touched by the carcasses, it shall be forthwith defiled.

11:39. If any beast die, of which it is lawful for you to eat, he that
toucheth the carcass thereof, shall be unclean until the evening.

11:40. And he that eateth or carrieth any thing thereof, shall wash his
clothes, and shall be unclean until the evening.

11:41. All that creepeth upon the earth shall be abominable:  neither
shall it be taken for meat.

11:42. Whatsoever goeth upon the breast on four feet, or hath many
feet, or traileth on the earth, you shall not eat, because it is
abominable.

11:43. Do not defile your souls, nor touch aught thereof, lest you be
unclean,

11:44. For I am the Lord your God.  Be holy because I am holy.  Defile
not your souls by any creeping thing, that moveth upon the earth.

11:45. For I am the Lord, who brought you out of the land of Egypt,
that I might be your God.

11:46. You shall be holy, because I am holy.  This is the law of beasts
and fowls, and of every living creature that moveth in the waters, and
creepeth on the earth:

11:47. That you may know the differences of the clean, and unclean, and
know what you ought to eat, and what to refuse.



Leviticus Chapter 12


The purification of women after childbirth.

12:1. And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying:

12:2. Speak to the children of Israel, and thou shalt say to them:  If a
woman having received seed shall bear a man child, she shall be unclean
seven days, according to the days of separation of her flowers.

12:3. And on the eighth day the infant shall be circumcised:

12:4. But she shall remain three and thirty days in the blood of her
purification.  She shall touch no holy thing:  neither shall she enter
into the sanctuary, until the days of her purification, be fulfilled.

12:5. But if she shall bear a maid child, she shall be unclean two
weeks, according to the custom of her monthly courses.  And she shall
remain in the blood of her purification sixty-six days.

12:6. And when the days of her purification are expired, for a son, or
for a daughter, she shall bring to the door of the tabernacle of the
testimony, a lamb of a year old for a holocaust, and a young pigeon or
a turtle for sin:  and shall deliver them to the priest.

12:7. Who shall offer them before the Lord, and shall pray for her:  and
so she shall be cleansed from the issue of her blood.  This is the law
for her that beareth a man child or a maid child.

12:8. And if her hand find not sufficiency, and she is not able to
offer a lamb, she shall take two turtles, or two young pigeons, one for
a holocaust, and another for sin:  and the priest shall pray for her,
and so she shall be cleansed.



Leviticus Chapter 13


The law concerning leprosy in men, and in garments.

13:1. And the Lord spoke to Moses and Aaron, saying:

13:2. The man in whose skin or flesh shall arise a different colour or
a blister, or as it were something shining, that is the stroke of the
leprosy, shall be brought to Aaron the priest, or any or of his sons.

13:3. And if he see the leprosy in his skin, and the hair turned white
and the place where the leprosy appears lower than the skin and the
rest of the flesh:  it is the stroke of the leprosy, and upon his
judgment he shall be separated.

13:4. But if there be a shining whiteness in the skin, and not lower
than the other flesh, and the hair be of the former colour, the priest
shall shut him up seven days.

13:5. And the seventh day he shall look on him:  and if the leprosy be
grown no farther, and hath not spread itself in the skin, he shall shut
him up again other seven days.

13:6. And on the seventh day, he shall look on him.  If the leprosy be
somewhat obscure, and not spread in the skin, he shall declare him
clean, because it is but a scab:  and the man shall wash his clothes,
and shall be clean.

13:7. But, if the leprosy grow again, after he was seen by the priest
and restored to cleanness, he shall be brought to him:

13:8. And shall be condemned of uncleanness.

13:9. If the stroke of the leprosy be in a man, he shall be brought to
the priest:

13:10. And he shall view him.  And when there shall be a white colour in
the skin, and it shall have changed the look of the hair, and the
living flesh itself shall appear:

13:11. It shall be judged an inveterate leprosy, and grown into the
skin.  The priest therefore shall declare him unclean:  and shall not
shut him up, because he is evidently unclean.

13:12. But if the leprosy spring out running about in the skin, and
cover all the skin from the head to the feet, whatsoever falleth under
the sight of the eyes:

13:13. The priest shall view him, and shall judge that the leprosy
which he has is very clean:  because it is all turned into whiteness,
and therefore the man shall be clean.

13:14. But when the live flesh shall appear in him:

13:15. Then by the judgment of the priest he shall be defiled, and
shall be reckoned among the unclean.  For live flesh, if it be spotted
with leprosy, is unclean.

13:16. And if again it be turned into whiteness, and cover all the man:

13:17. The priest shall view him, and shall judge him to be clean.

13:18. When also there has been an ulcer in the flesh and the skin, and
it has been healed:

13:19. And in the place of the ulcer, there appeareth a white scar, or
somewhat red, the man shall be brought to the priest.

13:20. And when he shall see the place of the leprosy lower than the
other flesh, and the hair turned white:  he shall declare him unclean,
for the plague of leprosy is broken out in the ulcer.

13:21. But if the hair be of the former colour, and the scar somewhat
obscure, and be not lower than the flesh that is near it:  he shall shut
him up seven days.

13:22. And if it spread, he shall judge him to have the leprosy:

13:23. But if it stay in its place, it is but the scar of an ulcer:  and
the man shall be clean.

13:24. The flesh also and skin that hath been burnt, and after it is
healed hath a white or a red scar:

13:25. The priest shall view it, and if he see it turned white, and the
place thereof is lower than the other skin:  he shall declare him
unclean, because the evil of leprosy is broken out in the scar.

13:26. But if the colour of the hair be not changed, nor the blemish
lower than the other flesh, and the appearance of the leprosy be
somewhat obscure:  he shall shut him up seven days,

13:27. And on the seventh day he shall view him.  If the leprosy be
grown farther in the skin, he shall declare him unclean.

13:28. But if the whiteness stay in its place, and be not very clear,
it is the sore of a burning:  and therefore he shall be cleansed,
because it is only the scar of a burning.

13:29. If the leprosy break out in the head or the beard of a man or
woman, the priest shall see them,

13:30. And if the place be lower than the other flesh, and the hair
yellow, and thinner than usual:  he shall declare them unclean, because
it is the leprosy of the head and the beard;

13:31. But if he perceive the place of the spot is equal with the flesh
that is near it, and the hair black:  he shall shut him up seven days,

13:32. And on the seventh day he shall look upon it.  If the spot be not
grown, and the hair keep its colour, and the place of the blemish be
even with the other flesh:

13:33. The man shall be shaven all but the place of the spot:  and he
shall be shut up other seven days.

13:34. If on the seventh day the evil seem to have stayed in its place,
and not lower than the other flesh, he shall cleanse him:  and his
clothes being washed he shall be clean.

13:35. But if after his cleansing the spot spread again in the skin:

13:36. He shall seek no more whether the hair be turned yellow, because
he is evidently unclean.

13:37. But if the spot be stayed, and the hair be black, let him know
that the man is healed:  and let him confidently pronounce him clean.

13:38. If a whiteness appear in the skin of a man or a woman,

13:39. The priest shall view them.  If he find that a darkish whiteness
shineth in the skin, let him know that it is not the leprosy, but a
white blemish, and that the man is clean.

13:40. The man whose hair falleth off from his head, he is bald and
clean:

13:41. And if the hair fall from his forehead, he is bald before and
clean.

13:42. But if in the bald head or in the bald forehead there be risen a
white or reddish colour:

13:43. And the priest perceive this, he shall condemn him undoubtedly
of leprosy which is risen in the bald part.

13:44. Now whosoever shall be defiled with the leprosy, and is
separated by the judgment of the priest:

13:45. Shall have his clothes hanging loose, his head bare, his mouth
covered with a cloth:  and he shall cry out that he is defiled and
unclean.

13:46. All the time that he is a leper and unclean he shall dwell alone
without the camp.

13:47. A woollen or linen garment that shall have the leprosy

13:48. In the warp, and the woof:  or skin, or whatsoever is made of a
skin:

13:49. If it be infected with a white or red spot, it shall be
accounted the leprosy, and shall be shewn to the priest.

13:50. And he shall look upon it and shall shut it up seven days.

13:51. And on the seventh day when he looketh on it again, if he find
that it is grown, it is a fixed leprosy.  He shall judge the garment
unclean, and every thing wherein it shall be found.

13:52. And therefore it shall be burnt with fire.

13:53. But if he see that it is not grown,

13:54. He shall give orders, and they shall wash that part wherein the
leprosy is:  and he shall shut it up other seven days.

13:55. And when he shall see that the former colour is not returned,
nor yet the leprosy spread, he shall judge it unclean:  and shall burn
it with fire, for the leprosy has taken hold of the outside of the
garment, or through the whole.

13:56. But if the place of the leprosy be somewhat dark, after the
garment is washed, he shall tear it off, and divide it from that which
is sound.

13:57. And if after this there appear in those places that before were
without spot, a flying and wandering leprosy:  it must be burnt with
fire.

13:58. If it cease, he shall wash with water the parts that are pure,
the second time:  and they shall be clean.

13:59. This is the law touching the leprosy of any woollen or linen
garment, either in the warp or woof, or any thing of skins:  how it
ought to be cleaned, or pronounced unclean.



Leviticus Chapter 14


The rites of sacrifices in cleansing the leprosy.  Leprosy in houses.

14:1. And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying:

14:2. This is the rite of a leper, when he is to be cleansed.  He shall
be brought to the priest:

14:3. Who going out of the camp, when he shall find that the leprosy is
cleansed,

14:4. Shall command him that is to be purified, to offer for himself
two living sparrows, which it is lawful to eat, and cedar wood, and
scarlet, and hyssop.

14:5. And he shall command one of the sparrows to be immolated in an
earthen vessel over living waters.

Living waters. . .That is, waters taken from a spring, brook, or river.

14:6. But the other that is alive, he shall dip, with the cedar wood,
and the scarlet and the hyssop, in the blood of the sparrow that is
immolated:

14:7. Wherewith he shall sprinkle him that is to be cleansed seven
times, that he may be rightly purified.  And he shall let go the living
sparrow, that it may fly into the field.

14:8. And when the man hath washed his clothes, he shall shave all the
hair of his body, and shall be washed with water:  and being purified he
shall enter into the camp, yet so that he tarry without his own tent
seven days.

14:9. And on the seventh day he shall shave the hair of his head, and
his beard and his eyebrows, and the hair of all his body.  And having
washed again his clothes, and his body,

14:10. On the eighth day, he shall take two lambs without blemish, and
an ewe of a year old without blemish, and three tenths of flour
tempered with oil for a sacrifice, and a sextary of oil apart.

A sextary. . .Heb. log:  a measure of liquids, which was the twelfth part
of a hin; and held about as much as six eggs.

14:11. And when the priest that purifieth the man, hath presented him,
and all these things before the Lord, at the door of the tabernacle of
the testimony:

14:12. He shall take a lamb, and offer it for a trespass offering with
the sextary of oil.  And having offered all before the Lord,

14:13. He shall immolate the lamb, where the victim for sin is wont to
be immolated, and the holocaust, that is, in the holy place.  For as
that which is for sin, so also the victim for a trespass offering
pertaineth to the priest:  it is holy of holies.

14:14. And the priest taking of the blood of the victim that was
immolated for trespass, shall put it upon the tip of the right ear of
him that is cleansed, and upon the thumb of his right hand and the
great toe of his right foot.

Taking of the blood, etc. . .These ceremonies used in the cleansing of a
leper, were mysterious and very significative.  The sprinkling seven
times with the blood of the little bird, the washing himself and his
clothes, the shaving his hair and his beard, signify the means which
are to be used in the reconciliation of a sinner, and the steps by
which he is to return to God, viz., by the repeated application of the
blood of Christ:  the washing his conscience with the waters of
compunction:  and retrenching all vanities and superfluities, by
employing all that is over and above what is necessary in alms deeds.
The sin offering, and the holocaust or burnt offering, which he was to
offer at his cleansing, signify the sacrifice of a contrite and humble
heart, and that of adoration in spirit and truth, with gratitude and
thankfulness, for the forgiveness of sins, with which we are ever to
appear before the Almighty.  The touching the right ear, the thumb of
the right hand, and the great toe of the right foot, first with the
blood of the victim, and then with the remainder of the oil, which had
been sprinkled seven times before the Lord, signify the application of
the blood of Christ, and the unction of the sevenfold grace of the Holy
Ghost; to the sinner's right ear, that he may duly hearken to and obey
the law of God; and to his right hand and foot, that the works of his
hands, and all the steps or affections of his soul, signified by the
feet, may be rightly directed to God.

14:15. And he shall pour of the sextary of oil into his own left hand,

14:16. And shall dip his right finger in it, and sprinkle it before the
Lord seven times.

14:17. And the rest of the oil in his left hand, he shall pour upon the
tip of the right ear of him that is cleansed, and upon the thumb of his
right hand and the great toe of his right foot, and upon the blood that
was shed for trespass:

14:18. And upon his head.

14:19. And he shall pray for him before the Lord, and shall offer the
sacrifice for sin.  Then shall he immolate the holocaust.

14:20. And put it on the altar with the libations thereof:  and the man
shall be rightly cleansed.

14:21. But if he be poor, and his hand cannot find the things
aforesaid:  he shall take a lamb for an offering for trespass, that the
priest may pray for him, and a tenth part of flour tempered with oil
for a sacrifice, and a sextary of oil:

14:22. And two turtles or two young pigeons, of which one may be for
sin, and the other for a holocaust.

14:23. And he shall offer them on the eighth day of his purification to
the priest, at the door of the tabernacle of the testimony before the
Lord.

14:24. And the priest receiving the lamb for trespass, and the sextary
of oil, shall elevate them together.

14:25. And the lamb being immolated, he shall put of the blood thereof
upon the tip of the right ear of him that is cleansed, and upon the
thumb of his right hand, and the great toe of his right foot.

14:26. But he shall pour part of the oil into his own left hand,

14:27. And dipping the finger of his right hand in it, he shall
sprinkle it seven times before the Lord.

14:28. And he shall touch the tip of the right ear of him that is
cleansed, and the thumb of his right hand and the great toe of his
right foot, in the place of the blood that was shed for trespass.

14:29. And the other part of the oil that is in his left hand, he shall
pour upon the head of the purified person, that he may appease the Lord
for him.

14:30. And he shall offer a turtle, or young pigeon:

14:31. One for trespass, and the other for a holocaust, with their
libations.

14:32. This is the sacrifice of a leper, that is not able to have all
things that appertain to his cleansing.

14:33. And the Lord spoke to Moses and Aaron, saying:

14:34. When you shall come into the land of Chanaan, which I will give
you for a possession, if there be the plague or leprosy in a house:

14:35. He whose house it is, shall go and tell the priest, saying:  It
seemeth to me, that there is the plague of leprosy in my house,

14:36. And he shall command, that they carry forth all things out of
the house, before he go into it, and see whether it have the leprosy,
let all things become unclean that are in the house.  And afterwards he
shall go in to view the leprosy of the house.

14:37. And if he see in the walls thereof as it were little dints,
disfigured with paleness or redness, and lower than all he rest:

14:38. He shall go out of the door of the house, and forthwith shut it
up seven days,

14:39. And returning on the seventh day, he shall look upon it.  If he
find that the leprosy is spread,

14:40. He shall command, that the stones wherein the leprosy is, be
taken out, and cast without the city into an unclean place:

14:41. And that the house be scraped on the inside round about, and the
dust of the scrapings be scattered without the city into an unclean
place:

14:42. And that other stones be laid in the place of them that were
taken away, and the house be plastered with other mortar.

14:43. But if after the stones be taken out, and the dust scraped off,
and it be plastered with other earth.

14:44. The priest going in perceive that the leprosy is returned, and
the walls full of spots, it is a lasting leprosy, and the house is
unclean.

14:45. And they shall destroy it forthwith, and shall cast the stones
and timber thereof, and all the dust without the town into an unclean
place.

14:46. He that entereth into the house when it is shut, shall be
unclean until evening,

14:47. And he that sleepeth in it, and eateth any thing, shall wash his
clothes.

14:48. But if the priest going in perceive that the leprosy is not
spread in the house, after it was plastered again, he shall purify it,
it being cured.

14:49. And for the purification thereof he shall take two sparrows, and
cedar wood, and scarlet, and hyssop.

14:50. And having immolated one sparrow in an earthen vessel, over
living waters,

14:51. He shall take the cedar wood, and the hyssop, and the scarlet,
and the living sparrow, and shall dip all in the blood of the sparrow
that is immolated, and in the living water:  and he shall sprinkle the
house seven times.

14:52. And shall purify it as well with the blood of the sparrow, as
with the living water, and with the living sparrow, and with the cedar
wood, and the hyssop, and the scarlet.

14:53. And when he hath let go the sparrow to fly freely away into the
field, he shall pray for the house:  and it shall be rightly cleansed.

14:54. This is the law of every kind of leprosy and stroke.

14:55. Of the leprosy of garments and houses,

14:56. Of a scar and of blisters breaking out of a shining spot, and
when the colours are diversely changed:

14:57. That it may be known when a thing is clean or unclean.



Leviticus Chapter 15


Other legal uncleannesses.

15:1. And the Lord spoke to Moses and Aaron, saying:

15:2. Speak to the children of Israel, and say to them:  The man that
hath an issue of seed, shall be unclean.

Issue of seed shall be unclean. . .These legal uncleannesses were
instituted in order to give the people a horror of carnal impurities.

15:3. And then shall he be judged subject to this evil, when a filthy
humour, at every moment, cleaveth to his flesh, and gathereth there.

15:4. Every bed on which he sleepeth, shall be unclean, and every place
on which he sitteth.

15:5. If any man touch his bed, he shall wash his clothes and being
washed with water, he shall be unclean until the evening.

15:6. If a man sit where that man hath sitten, he also shall wash his
clothes:  and being washed with water, shall be unclean until the
evening.

15:7. He that toucheth his flesh, shall wash his clothes:  and being
himself washed with water shall be unclean until the evening.

15:8. If such a man cast his spittle upon him that is clean, he shall
wash his clothes:  and being washed with water, he shall be unclean
until the evening.

15:9. The saddle on which he hath sitten shall be unclean.

15:10. And whatsoever has been under him that hath the issue of seed,
shall be unclean until the evening.  He that carrieth any of these
things, shall wash his clothes:  and being washed with water, he shall
be unclean until the evening.

15:11. Every person whom such a one shall touch, not having washed his
hands before, shall wash his clothes:  and being washed with water,
shall be unclean until the evening.

15:12. If he touch a vessel of earth, it shall be broken:  but if a
vessel of wood, it shall be washed with water.

15:13. If he who suffereth this disease be healed, he shall number
seven days after his cleansing:  and having washed his clothes, and all
his body in living water, he shall be clean.

15:14. And on the eighth day he shall take two turtles, or two young
pigeons, and he shall come before the Lord, to the door of the
tabernacle of the testimony, and shall give them to the priest.

15:15. Who shall offer one for sin, and the other for a holocaust:  and
he shall pray for him before the Lord, that he may be cleansed of the
issue of his seed.

15:16. The man from whom the seed of copulation goeth out, shall wash
all his body with water:  and he shall be unclean until the evening.

15:17. The garment or skin that he weareth, he shall wash with water:
and it shall be unclean until the evening.

15:18. The woman, with whom he copulateth, shall be washed with water:
and shall be unclean until the evening.

15:19. The woman, who at the return of the month, hath her issue of
blood, shall be separated seven days.

15:20. Every one that toucheth her, shall be unclean until the evening.

15:21. And every thing that she sleepeth on, or that she sitteth on in
the days of her separation, shall be defiled.

15:22. He that toucheth her bed shall wash his clothes:  and being
himself washed with water, shall be unclean until the evening.

15:23. Whosoever shall touch any vessel on which she sitteth, shall
wash his clothes:  and himself being washed with water, shall be defiled
until the evening.

15:24. If a man copulateth with her in the time of her flowers, he
shall be unclean seven days:  and every bed on which he shall sleep,
shall be defiled.

15:25. The woman that hath still issue of blood many days out of her
ordinary time, or that ceaseth not to flow after the monthly courses,
as long as she is subject to this disease, shall be unclean, in the
same manner as if she were in her flowers.

15:26. Every bed on which she sleepeth, and every vessel on which she
sitteth, shall be defiled.

15:27. Whosoever toucheth them shall wash his clothes:  and himself
being washed with water, shall be unclean until the evening.

15:28. If the blood stop and cease to run, she shall count seven days
of her purification:

15:29. And on the eighth day she shall offer for herself to the priest,
two turtles, or two young pigeons, at the door of the tabernacle of the
testimony:

15:30. And he shall offer one for sin, and the other for a holocaust,
and he shall pray for her before the Lord, and for the issue of her
uncleanness.

15:31. You shall teach therefore the children of Israel to take heed of
uncleanness, that they may not die in their filth, when they shall have
defiled my tabernacle that is among them.

15:32. This is the law of him that hath the issue of seed, and that is
defiled by copulation.

15:33. And of the woman that is separated in her monthly times, or that
hath a continual issue of blood, and of the man that sleepeth with her.



Leviticus Chapter 16


When and how the high priest must enter into the sanctuary.  The feast
of expiation.

16:1. And the Lord spoke to Moses, after the death of the two sons of
Aaron when they were slain upon their offering strange fire:

16:2. And he commanded him, saying:  Speak to Aaron thy brother, that he
enter not at all into the sanctuary, which is within the veil before
the propitiatory, with which the ark is covered, lest he die, (for I
will appear in a cloud over the oracle),

Enter not. . .No one but the high priest, and he but once a year, could
enter into the sanctuary; to signify that no one could enter into the
sanctuary of heaven, till Christ our high priest opened it by his
passion.  Heb. 10.8.

16:3. Unless he first do these things.  He shall offer a calf for sin,
and a ram for a holocaust.

16:4. He shall be vested with a linen tunick:  he shall cover his
nakedness with linen breeches:  he shall be girded with a linen girdle,
and he shall put a linen mitre upon his head.  For these are holy
vestments:  all which he shall put on, after he is washed.

16:5. And he shall receive from the whole multitude of the children of
Israel two buck goats for sin, and one ram for a holocaust.

16:6. And when he hath offered the cattle and prayed for himself and
for his own house:

16:7. He shall make the two buck goats to stand before the Lord in the
door of the tabernacle of the testimony.

16:8. And casting lots upon them both, one to be offered to the Lord,
and the other to be the emissary goat:

16:9. That whose lot fell to be offered to the Lord, he shall offer for
sin.

16:10. But that whose lot was to be the emissary goat, he shall present
before the Lord, that he may pour prayers upon him, and let him go into
the wilderness.

16:11. After these things are duly celebrated, he shall offer the calf:
and praying for himself and for his own house, he shall immolate it.

16:12. And taking the censer, which he hath filled with the burning
coals of the altar, and taking up with his hands the compounded perfume
for incense, he shall go in within the veil into the holy place:

16:13. That when the perfumes are put upon the fire, the cloud and
vapour thereof may cover the oracle, which is over the testimony, and
he may not die.

16:14. He shall take also of the blood of the calf, and sprinkle with
his finger seven times towards the propitiatory to the east.

16:15. And when he hath killed the buck goat for the sin of the people,
he shall carry in the blood thereof within the veil, as he was
commanded to do with the blood of the calf, that he may sprinkle it
over against the oracle:

16:16. And may expiate the sanctuary from the uncleanness of the
children of Israel, and from their transgressions, and all their sins.
According to this rite shall he do to the tabernacle of the testimony,
which is fixed among them in the midst of the filth of their
habitation.

16:17. Let no man be in the tabernacle when the high priest goeth into
the sanctuary, to pray for himself and his house, and for the whole
congregation of Israel, until he come out.

16:18. And when he is come out to the altar that is before the Lord,
let him pray for himself:  and taking the blood of the calf, and of the
buck goat, let him pour it upon the horns thereof round about.

16:19. And sprinkling with his finger seven times, let him expiate, and
sanctify it from the uncleanness of the children of Israel.

16:20. After he hath cleaned the sanctuary, and the tabernacle, and the
altar, then let him offer the living goat.

16:21. And putting both hands upon his head, let him confess all the
iniquities of the children of Israel, and all their offences and sins.
And praying that they may light on its head, he shall turn him out by a
man ready for it, into the desert.

16:22. And when the goat hath carried all their iniquities into an
uninhabited land, and shall be let go into the desert:

16:23. Aaron shall return into the tabernacle of the testimony, and
putting off the vestments, which he had on him before when he entered
into the sanctuary, and leaving them there,

16:24. He shall wash his flesh in the holy place, and shall put on his
own garments.  And after that he is come out and hath offered his own
holocaust, and that of the people, he shall pray both for himself, and
for the people.

16:25. And the fat that is offered for sins, he shall burn on the
altar.

16:26. But he that hath let go the emissary goat, shall wash his
clothes, and his body with water, and so shall enter into the camp.

16:27. But the calf and the buck goat, that were sacrificed for sin,
and whose blood was carried into the sanctuary, to accomplish the
atonement, they shall carry forth without the camp, and shall burn with
fire:  their skins and their flesh, and their dung.

16:28. And whosoever burneth them shall wash his clothes, and flesh
with water:  and so shall enter into the camp.

16:29. And this shall be to you an everlasting ordinance.  The seventh
month, the tenth day of the month, you shall afflict your souls, and
shall do no work, whether it be one of your own country, or a stranger
that sojourneth among you.

16:30. Upon this day shall be the expiation for you, and the cleansing
from all your sins.  You shall be cleansed before the Lord.

16:31. For it is a sabbath of rest:  and you shall afflict your souls by
a perpetual religion.

16:32. And the priest that is anointed, and whose hands are consecrated
to do the office of the priesthood in his father's stead, shall make
atonement.  And he shall be vested with the linen robe and the holy
vestments.

16:33. And he shall expiate the sanctuary and the tabernacle of the
testimony and the altar:  the priest also and all the people.

16:34. And this shall be an ordinance for ever, that you pray for the
children of Israel, and for all their sins once a year.  He did
therefore as the Lord had commanded Moses.



Leviticus Chapter 17


No sacrifices to be offered but at the door of the tabernacle:  a
prohibition of blood.

17:1. And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying:

17:2. Speak to Aaron and his sons, and to all the children of Israel,
saying to them:  This is the word, which the Lord hath commanded,
saying:

17:3. Any man whosoever of the house of Israel, if he kill an ox, or a
sheep, or a goat in the camp, or without the camp,

If he kill, etc. . .That is, in order to sacrifice.  The law of God
forbids sacrifices to be offered in any other place but at the
tabernacle or temple of the Lord; to signify that no sacrifice would be
acceptable to God, out of his true temple, the one holy, catholic,
apostolic church.

17:4. And offer it not at the door of the tabernacle an oblation to the
Lord, shall be guilty of blood.  As if he had shed blood, so shall he
perish from the midst of his people.

17:5. Therefore the children of Israel shall bring to the priest their
victims, which they kill in the field, that they may be sanctified to
the Lord before the door of the tabernacle of the testimony:  and they
may sacrifice them for peace offerings to the Lord.

17:6. And the priest shall pour the blood upon the altar of the Lord,
at the door of the tabernacle of the testimony:  and shall burn the fat
for a sweet odour to the Lord.

17:7. And they shall no more sacrifice their victims to devils, with
whom they have committed fornication.  It shall be an ordinance for ever
to them and to their posterity.

17:8. And thou shalt say to them:  The man of the house of Israel, and
of the strangers who sojourn among you, that offereth a holocaust or a
victim,

17:9. And bringeth it not to the door of the tabernacle of the
testimony, that it may be offered to the Lord, shall perish from among
his people.

17:10. If any man whosoever of the house of Israel, and of the
strangers that sojourn among them, eat blood, I will set my face
against his soul, and will cut him off from among his people.

Eat blood. . .To eat blood was forbidden in the law; partly, because God
reserved it to himself, to be offered in sacrifices on the altar, as to
the Lord of life and death; and as a figure of the blood of Christ; and
partly, to give men a horror of shedding blood.  Gen. 9.4, 5, 6.

17:11. Because the life of the flesh is in the blood:  and I have given
it to you, that you may make atonement with it upon the altar for your
souls, and the blood may be for an expiation of the soul.

17:12. Therefore I have said to the children of Israel:  No soul of you,
nor of the strangers that sojourn among you, shall eat blood.

17:13. Any man whosoever of the children of Israel, and of the
strangers that sojourn among you, if by hunting or fowling, he take a
wild beast or a bird, which is lawful to eat, let him pour out its
blood, and cover it with earth.

17:14. For the life of all flesh is in the blood.  Therefore I said to
the children of Israel:  you shall not eat the blood of any flesh at
all, because the life of the flesh is in the blood, and whosoever
eateth it, shall be cut off.

17:15. The soul that eateth that which died of itself, or has been
caught by a beast, whether he be one of your own country or a stranger,
shall wash his clothes and himself with water, and shall be defiled
until the evening:  and in this manner he shall be made clean.

17:16. But if he do not wash his clothes, and his body, he shall bear
his iniquity.



Leviticus Chapter 18


Marriage is prohibited in certain degrees of kindred:  Anda all
unnatural lusts.

18:1. And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying:

18:2. Speak to the children of Israel, and thou shalt say to them:  I am
the Lord your God.

18:3. You shall not do according to the custom of the land of Egypt, in
which you dwelt:  neither shall you act according to the manner of the
country of Chanaan, into which I will bring you.  Nor shall you walk in
their ordinances.

18:4. You shall do my judgments, and shall observe my precepts, and
shall walk in them.  I am the Lord your God.

18:5. Keep my laws and my judgments:  which if a man do, he shall live
in them, I am the Lord.

18:6. No man shall approach to her that is near of kin to him, to
uncover her nakedness.  I am the Lord.

18:7. Thou shalt not uncover the nakedness of thy father, or the
nakedness of thy mother:  she is thy mother, thou shalt not uncover her
nakedness.

18:8. Thou shalt not uncover the nakedness of thy father's wife:  for it
is the nakedness of thy father.

18:9. Thou shalt not uncover the nakedness of thy sister by father or
by mother:  whether born at home or abroad.

18:10. Thou shalt not uncover the nakedness of thy son's daughter, or
thy daughter's daughter:  because it is thy own nakedness.

18:11. Thou shalt not uncover the nakedness of thy father's wife's
daughter, whom she bore to thy father:  and who is thy sister.

18:12. Thou shalt not uncover the nakedness of thy father's sister:
because she is the flesh of thy father.

18:13. Thou shalt not uncover the nakedness of thy mother's sister:
because she is thy mother's flesh.

18:14. Thou shalt not uncover the nakedness of thy father's brother:
neither shalt thou approach to his wife, who is joined to thee by
affinity.

18:15. Thou shalt not uncover the nakedness of thy daughter in law:
because she is thy son's wife, neither shalt thou discover her shame.

18:16. Thou shalt not uncover the nakedness of thy brother's wife:
because it is the nakedness of thy brother.

18:17. Thou shalt not uncover the nakedness of thy wife and her
daughter.  Thou shalt not take her son's daughter or her daughter's
daughter, to discover her shame:  because they are her flesh, and such
copulation is incest.

18:18. Thou shalt not take thy wife's sister for a harlot, to rival
her:  neither shalt thou discover her nakedness, while she is yet
living.

18:19. Thou shalt not approach to a woman having her flowers:  neither
shalt thou uncover her nakedness.

18:20. Thou shalt not lie with thy neighbour's wife:  nor be defiled
with mingling of seed.

18:21. Thou shalt not give any of thy seed to be consecrated to the
idol Moloch, nor defile the name of thy God.  I am the Lord.

18:22. Thou shalt not lie with mankind as with womankind:  because it is
an abomination.

18:23. Thou shalt not copulate with any beast:  neither shalt thou be
defiled with it.  A woman shall not lie down to a beast, nor copulate
with it:  because it is a heinous crime.

Because it is a heinous crime. . .In Hebrew, this word heinous crime is
expressed by the word confusion, signifying the shamefulness and
baseness of this abominable sin.

18:24. Defile not yourselves with any of these things with which all
the nations have been defiled, which I will cast out before you,

18:25. And with which the land is defiled:  the abominations of which I
will visit, that it may vomit out its inhabitants.

18:26. Keep ye my ordinances and my judgments:  and do not any of these
abominations.  Neither any of your own nation, nor any stranger that
sojourneth among you.

18:27. For all these detestable things the inhabitants of the land have
done, that were before you, and have defiled it.

18:28. Beware then, lest in like manner, it vomit you also out, if you
do the like things:  as it vomited out the nation that was before you.

18:29. Every soul that shall commit any of these abominations, shall
perish from the midst of his people.

18:30. Keep my commandments.  Do not the things which they have done,
that have been before you:  and be not defiled therein.  I am the Lord
your God.



Leviticus Chapter 19


Divers ordinances, partly moral, partly ceremonial or judicial.

19:1. The Lord spoke to Moses, saying:

19:2. Speak to all the congregation of the children of Israel.  And thou
shalt say to them:  Be ye holy, because I the Lord your God am holy.

19:3. Let every one fear his father, and his mother.  Keep my sabbaths.
I am the Lord your God.

19:4. Turn ye not to idols:  nor make to yourselves molten gods.  I am
the Lord your God.

19:5. If ye offer in sacrifice a peace offering to the Lord, that he
may be favourable:

19:6. You shall eat it on the same day it was offered, and the next
day.  And whatsoever shall be left until the third day, you shall burn
with fire.

19:7. If after two days any man eat thereof, he shall be profane and
guilty of impiety:

19:8. And shall bear his iniquity, because he hath defiled the holy
thing of the Lord.  And that soul shall perish from among his people.

19:9. When thou reapest the corn of thy land, thou shalt not cut down
all that is on the face of the earth to the very ground:  nor shalt thou
gather the ears that remain.

19:10. Neither shalt thou gather the bunches and grapes that fall down
in thy vineyard:  but shalt leave them to the poor and the strangers to
take.  I am the Lord your God.

19:11. You shall not steal.  You shall not lie:  neither shall any man
deceive his neighbour.

19:12. Thou shalt not swear falsely by my name, nor profane the name of
thy God.  I am the Lord.

19:13. Thou shalt not calumniate thy neighbour, nor oppress him by
violence.  The wages of him that hath been hired by thee shall not abide
with thee until the morning.

19:14. Thou shalt not speak evil of the deaf, nor put a stumbling block
before the blind:  but thou shalt fear the Lord thy God, because I am
the Lord.

19:15. Thou shalt not do that which is unjust, nor judge unjustly.
Respect not the person of the poor:  nor honour the countenance of the
mighty.  But judge thy neighbour according to justice.

19:16. Thou shalt not be a detractor nor a whisperer among the people.
Thou shalt not stand against the blood of thy neighbour.  I am the Lord.

19:17. Thou shalt not hate thy brother in thy heart:  But reprove him
openly, lest thou incur sin through him.

19:18. Seek not revenge, nor be mindful of the injury of thy citizens.
Thou shalt love thy friend as thyself.  I am the Lord.

19:19. Keep ye my laws.  Thou shalt not make thy cattle to gender with
beasts of any other kind.  Thou shalt not sow thy field with different
seeds.  Thou shalt not wear a garment that is woven of two sorts.

Different seeds, etc. . .This law tends to recommend simplicity and
plain dealing in all things, and to teach the people not to join any
false worship or heresy with the worship of the true God.

19:20. If a man carnally lie with a woman that is a bondservant and
marriageable, and yet not redeemed with a price, nor made free:  they
both shall be scourged:  and they shall not be put to death, because she
was not a free woman.

19:21. And for his trespass he shall offer a ram to the Lord, at the
door of the tabernacle of the testimony.

19:22. And the priest shall pray for him:  and for his sin before the
Lord:  and he shall have mercy on him, and the sin shall be forgiven.

19:23. When you shall be come into the land, and shall have planted in
it fruit trees, you shall take away the firstfruits of them.  The fruit
that comes forth shall be unclean to you:  neither shall you eat of
them.

Firstfruits. . .Proeputia, literally, their foreskins; it alludes to
circumcision, and signifies that for the first three years the trees
were to be as uncircumcised, and their fruit unclean:  till in the
fourth year their increase was sanctified and given to the Lord, that
is, to the priests.

19:24. But in the fourth year, all their fruit shall be sanctified, to
the praise of the Lord.

19:25. And in the fifth year you shall eat the fruits thereof,
gathering the increase thereof.  I am the Lord your God.

19:26. You shall not eat with blood.  You shall not divine nor observe
dreams.

19:27. Nor shall you cut your hair roundwise:  nor shave your beard.

19:28. You shall not make any cuttings in your flesh, for the dead:
neither shall you make in yourselves any figures or marks.  I am the
Lord.

19:29. Make not thy daughter a common strumpet, lest the land be
defiled, and filled with wickedness.

19:30. Keep ye my sabbaths, and reverence my sanctuary.  I am the Lord.

19:31. Go not aside after wizards:  neither ask any thing of
soothsayers, to be defiled by them.  I am the Lord your God.

19:32. Rise up before the hoary head, and honour the person of the aged
man:  and fear the Lord thy God.  I am the Lord.

19:33. If a stranger dwell in your land, and abide among you, do not
upbraid hin:

19:34. But let him be among you as one of the same country.  And you
shall love him as yourselves:  for you were strangers in the land of
Egypt.  I am the Lord your God.

19:35. Do not any unjust thing in judgment, in rule, in weight, or in
measure.

19:36. Let the balance be just and the weights equal, the bushel just,
and the sextary equal.  I am the Lord your God, that brought you out of
the land of Egypt.

19:37. Keep all my precepts, and all my judgments:  and do them.  I am
the Lord.



Leviticus Chapter 20


Divers crimes to be punished with death.

20:1. And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying:

20:2. Thus shalt thou say to the children of Israel:  If any man of the
children Israel, or of the strangers that dwell in Israel, give of his
seed to the idol Moloch, dying let him die.  The people of the land
shall stone him.

20:3. And I will set my face against him:  and I will cut him off from
the midst of his people, because he hath given of his seed to Moloch,
and hath defiled my sanctuary, and profaned my holy name.

20:4. And if the people of the land neglecting, and as it were little
regarding my commandment, let alone the man that hath given of his seed
to Moloch, and will not kill him:

20:5. I will set my face against that man, and his kindred, and will
cut off both him and all that consented with him, to commit fornication
with Moloch, out of the midst of their people.

20:6. The soul that shall go aside after magicians, and soothsayers,
and shall commit fornication with them:  I will set my face against that
soul, and destroy it out of the midst of its people.

20:7. Sanctify yourselves, and be ye holy:  because I am the Lord your
God.

20:8. Keep my precepts, and do them.  I am the Lord that sanctify you.

20:9. He that curseth his father, or mother, dying let him die.  He hath
cursed his father, and mother:  let his blood be upon him.

20:10. If any man commit adultery with the wife of another, and defile
his neighbour's wife:  let them be put to death, both the adulterer and
the adulteress.

20:11. If a man lie with his stepmother, and discover the nakedness of
his father, let them both be put to death:  their blood be upon them.

20:12. If any man lie with his daughter in law:  let both die, because
they have done a heinous crime.  Their blood be upon them.

20:13. If any one lie with a man as with a woman, both have committed
an abomination:  let them be put to death.  Their blood be upon them.

20:14. If any man after marrying the daughter, marry her mother, he
hath done a heinous crime.  He shall be burnt alive with them:  neither
shall so great an abomination remain in the midst of you.

20:15. He that shall copulate with any beast or cattle, dying let him
die:  the beast also ye shall kill.

The beast also ye shall kill. . .The killing of the beast was for the
greater horror of the crime, and to prevent the remembrance of such
abomination.

20:16. The woman that shall lie under any beast, shall be killed
together with the same.  Their blood be upon them.

20:17. If any man take his sister, the daughter of his father, or the
daughter of his mother, and see her nakedness, and she behold her
brother's shame:  they have committed a crime.  They shall be slain, in
the sight of their people, because they have discovered one another's
nakedness.  And they shall bear their iniquity.

20:18. If any man lie with a woman in her flowers, and uncover her
nakedness, and she open the fountain of her blood:  both shall be
destroyed out of the midst of their people.

20:19. Thou shalt not uncover the nakedness of thy aunt by thy mother,
and of thy aunt by thy father.  He that doth this, hath uncovered the
shame of his own flesh:  both shall bear their iniquity.

20:20. If any man lie with the wife of his uncle by the father, or of
his uncle by the mother, and uncover the shame of his near akin, both
shall bear their sin.  They shall die without children.

20:21. He that marrieth his brother's wife, doth an unlawful thing:  he
hath uncovered his brother's nakedness.  They shall be without children.

20:22. Keep my laws and my judgments, and do them:  lest the land into
which you are to enter to dwell therein, vomit you also out.

20:23. Walk not after the laws of the nations, which I will cast out
before you.  For they have done all these things:  and therefore I
abhorred them.

20:24. But to you I say:  Possess their land which I will give you for
an inheritance, a land flowing with milk and honey.  I am the Lord your
God, who have separated you from other people.

20:25. Therefore do you also separate the clean beast from the unclean,
and the clean fowl from the unclean.  Defile not your souls with beasts,
or birds, or any things that move on the earth, and which I have shewn
you to be unclean:

20:26. You shall be holy unto me, because I the Lord am holy:  and I
have separated you from other people, that you should be mine.

20:27. A man, or woman, in whom there is a pythonical or divining
spirit, dying let them die.  They shall stone them.  Their blood be upon
them.



Leviticus Chapter 21


Ordinances relating to the priests.

21:1. The Lord said also to Moses:  Speak to the priests the sons of
Aaron, and thou shalt say for them:  Let not a priest incur an
uncleanness at the death of his citizens.

An uncleanness. . .Viz., such as was contracted in laying out the dead
body, or touching it; or in going into the house, or assisting at the
funeral, etc.

21:2. But only for his kin, such as are near in blood:  that is to say,
for his father and for his mother, and for his son, and for his
daughter, for his brother also:

21:3. And for a maiden sister, who hath had no husband.

21:4. But not even for the prince of his people shall he do any thing
that may make him unclean.

21:5. Neither shall they shave their head, nor their beard, nor make
incisions in their flesh.

21:6. They shall be holy to their God, and shall not profane his name.
For they offer the burnt offering of the Lord, and the bread of their
God:  and therefore they shall be holy.

21:7. They shall not take to wife a harlot or a vile prostitute, nor
one that has been put away from her husband:  because they are
consecrated to their God,

21:8. And offer the loaves of proposition.  Let them therefore be holy
because I also am holy:  the Lord, who sanctify them.

21:9. If the daughter of a priest be taken in whoredom and dishonour
the name of her father, she shall be burnt with fire.

21:10. The high priest, that is to say, the priest who is the greatest
among his brethren, upon whose head the oil of unction hath been
poured; and whose hands have been consecrated for the priesthood; and
who hath been vested with the holy vestments.  He shall not uncover his
head:  he shall not rend his garments.

21:11. Nor shall he go in at all to any dead person:  not even for his
father, or his mother, shall he be defiled.

21:12. Neither shall he go out of the holy places, lest he defile the
sanctuary of the Lord:  because the oil of the holy unction of his God
is upon him.  I am the Lord.

21:13. He shall take a virgin unto his wife.

21:14. But a widow or one that is divorced, or defied, or a harlot, he
shall not take:  but a maid of his own people.

21:15. He shall not mingle the stock of his kindred with the common
people of this nation:  for I am the Lord who sanctify him.

21:16. And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying:

21:17. Say to Aaron:  Whosoever of thy seed throughout their families,
hath a blemish, he shall not offer bread to his God.

21:18. Neither shall he approach to minister to him:  If he be blind; if
he be lame; if he have a little, or a great, or a crooked nose;

21:19. If his foot, or if his hand be broken;

21:20. If he be crookbacked; or blear eyed; or have a pearl in his eye,
or a continual scab, or a dry scurf in his body, or a rupture.

21:21. Whosoever of the seed of Aaron the priest hath a blemish:  he
shall not approach to offer sacrifices to the Lord, nor bread to his
God.

21:22. He shall eat nevertheless of the loaves that are offered in the
sanctuary.

21:23. Yet so that he enter not within the veil, nor approach to the
altar:  because he hath a blemish, and he must not defile my sanctuary.
I am the Lord who sanctify them.

21:24. Moses, therefore spoke to Aaron, and to his sons and to all
Israel, all the things that had been commanded him.



Leviticus Chapter 22


Who may eat the holy things:  and what things may be offered.

22:1. And the Lord spoke to Moses saying:

22:2. Speak to Aaron and to his sons, that they beware of those things
that are consecrated of the children of Israel:  and defile not the name
of the things sanctified to me, which they offer.  I am the Lord.

22:3. Say to them and to their posterity:  Every man of your race, that
approacheth to those things that are consecrated, and which the
children of Israel have offered to the Lord, in whom there is
uncleanness, shall perish before the Lord.  I am the Lord.

Approacheth, etc. . .This is to give us to understand, with what purity
of soul we are to approach to the blessed sacrament of which these
meats that had been offered in sacrifice were a figure.

22:4. The man of the seed of Aaron, that is a leper, or that suffereth
a running of the seed, shall not eat of those things that are
sanctified to me, until he be healed.  He that toucheth any thing
unclean by occasion of the dead:  and he whose seed goeth from him as in
generation:

22:5. And he that toucheth a creeping thing, or any unclean thing, the
touching of which is defiling:

22:6. Shall be unclean until the evening, and shall not eat those
things that are sanctified.  But when he hath washed his flesh with
water,

22:7. And the sun is down, then being purified, he shall eat of the
sanctified things, because it is his meat.

22:8. That which dieth of itself, and that which was taken by a beast,
they shall not eat, nor be defiled therewith.  I am the Lord.

22:9. Let them keep my precepts, that they may not fall into sin, and
die in the sanctuary, when they shall have defiled it.  I am the Lord
who sanctify them.

22:10. No stranger shall eat of the sanctified things:  a sojourner of
the priests, or a hired servant, shall not eat of them.

22:11. But he whom the priest hath bought, and he that is his servant,
born in his house, these shall eat of them.

22:12. If the daughter of a priest be married to any of the people, she
shall not eat of those things that are sanctified nor of the
firstfruits.

22:13. But if she be a widow, or divorced, and having no children
return to her father's house, she shall eat of her father's meats, as
she was wont to do when she was a maid.  No stranger hath leave to eat
of them.

22:14. He that eateth of the sanctified things through ignorance, shall
add the fifth part with that which he ate, and shall give it to the
priest into the sanctuary.

22:15. And they shall not profane the sanctified things of the children
of Israel, which they offer to the Lord:

22:16. Lest perhaps they bear the iniquity of their trespass, when they
shall have eaten the sanctified things.  I am the Lord who sanctify
them.

22:17. And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying:

22:18. Speak to Aaron, and to his sons, and to all the children of
Israel, and thou shalt say to them:  The man of the house of Israel, and
of the strangers who dwell with you, that offereth his oblation, either
paying his vows, or offering of his own accord, whatsoever it be which
he presenteth for a holocaust of the Lord,

22:19. To be offered by you:  it shall be a male without blemish of the
beeves, or of the sheep, or of the goats.

22:20. If it have a blemish you shall not offer it:  neither shall it be
acceptable.

22:21. The man that offereth a victim of peace offerings to the Lord,
either paying his vows, or offering of his own accord, whether of
beeves or of sheep, shall offer it without blemish, that it may be
acceptable.  There shall be no blemish in it.

22:22. If it be blind, or broken, or have a scar or blisters, or a
scab, or a dry scurf:  you shall not offer them to the Lord, nor burn
any thing of them upon the Lord's altar.

22:23. An ox or a sheep, that hath the ear and the tail cut off, thou
mayst offer voluntarily:  but a vow may not be paid with them.

22:24. you shall not offer to the Lord any beast that hath the
testicles bruised, or crushed, or cut and taken away:  neither shall you
do any such things in your land.

22:25. you shall not offer bread to your God, from the hand of a
stranger, nor any other thing that he would give:  because they are all
corrupted, and defiled.  You shall not receive them.

22:26. And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying:

22:27. When a bullock, or a sheep, or a goat, is brought forth, they
shall be seven days under the udder of their dam:  but the eighth day,
and thenceforth, they may be offered to the Lord.

22:28. Whether it be a cow, or a sheep, they shall not be sacrificed
the same day with their young ones.

22:29. If you immolate a victim for thanksgiving to the Lord, that he
may be favourable,

22:30. You shall eat it the same day.  There shall not any of it remain
until the morning of the next day.  I am the Lord.

22:31. Keep my commandments, and do them.  I am the Lord.

22:32. Profane not my holy name, that I may be sanctified in the midst
of the children of Israel.  I am the Lord who sanctify you:

22:33. And who brought you out of the land of Egypt, that I might be
your God.  I am the Lord.



Leviticus Chapter 23


Holy days to be kept.

23:1. And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying:

23:2. Speak to the children of Israel, and thou shalt say to them:
These are the feasts of the Lord, which you shall call holy.

23:3. Six days shall ye do work:  the seventh day, because it is the
rest of the sabbath, shall be called holy.  You shall do no work on that
day:  it is the sabbath of the Lord in all your habitations.

23:4. These also are the holy days of the Lord, which you must
celebrate in their seasons.

23:5. The first month, the fourteenth day of the month at evening, is
the phase of the Lord.

23:6. And the fifteenth day of the same month is the solemnity of the
unleavened bread of the Lord.  Seven days shall you eat unleavened
bread.

23:7. The first day shall be most solemn unto you, and holy:  you shall
do no servile work therein.

23:8. But you shall offer sacrifice in fire to the Lord seven days.  And
the seventh day shall be more solemn, and more holy:  and you shall do
no servile work therein.

23:9. And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying:

23:10. Speak to the children of Israel, and thou shalt say to them:
When you shall have entered into the land which I will give you, and
shall reap your corn, you shall bring sheaves of ears, the firstfruits
of your harvest to the priest.

23:11. Who shall lift up the sheaf before the Lord, the next day after
the sabbath, that it may be acceptable for you, and shall sanctify it.

23:12. And on the same day that the sheaf is consecrated, a lamb
without blemish of the first year shall be killed for a holocaust of
the Lord.

23:13. And the libations shall be offered with it:  two tenths of flour
tempered with oil, for a burnt offering of the Lord, and a most sweet
odour.  Libations also of wine, the fourth part of a hin.

23:14. You shall not eat either bread, or parched corn, or frumenty or
the harvest, until the day that you shall offer thereof to your God.  It
is a precept for ever throughout your generations, and all your
dwellings.

23:15. You shall count therefore from the morrow after the sabbath,
wherein you offered the sheaf of firstfruits, seven full weeks.

23:16. Even unto the morrow after the seventh week be expired, that is
to say, fifty days:  and so you shall offer a new sacrifice to the Lord.

23:17. Out of all your dwellings, two loaves of the firstfruits, of two
tenths of flour leavened, which you shall bake for the firstfruits of
the Lord.

23:18. And you shall offer with the loaves seven lambs without blemish
of the first year, and one calf from the herd, and they shall be for a
holocaust with their two rams:  and they shall be for a holocaust with
their libations for a most sweet odour to the Lord.

23:19. You shall offer also a buck goat for sin, and two lambs of the
first year for sacrifices of peace offerings.

23:20. And when the priest hath lifted them up with the loaves of the
firstfruits before the Lord, they shall fall to his use.

23:21. And you shall call this day most solemn, and most holy.  You
shall do no servile work therein.  It shall be an everlasting ordinance
in all your dwellings and generations.

23:22. And when you reap the corn of your land, you shall not cut it to
the very ground:  neither shall you gather the ears that remain.  But you
shall leave them for the poor and for the strangers.  I am the Lord your
God.

23:23. And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying:

23:24. Say to the children of Israel:  The seventh month, on the first
day of the month, you shall keep a sabbath, a memorial, with the sound
of trumpets, and it shall be called holy.

23:25. You shall do no servile work therein, and you shall offer a
holocaust to the Lord.

23:26. And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying:

23:27. Upon the tenth day of this seventh month shall be the day of
atonement.  It shall be most solemn, and shall be called holy:  and you
shall await your souls on that day, and shall offer a holocaust to the
Lord.

23:28. You shall do no servile work in the time of this day:  because it
is a day of propitiation, that the Lord your God may be merciful unto
you.

23:29. Every soul that is not afflicted on this day, shall perish from
among his people.

23:30. And every soul that shall do any work, the same will I destroy
from among his people.

23:31. You shall do no work therefore on that day:  it shall be an
everlasting ordinance unto you in all your generations, and dwellings.

23:32. It is a sabbath of rest, and you shall afflict your souls
beginning on the ninth day of the month.  From evening until evening you
shall celebrate your sabbaths.

23:33. And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying:

23:34. Say to the children of Israel:  From the fifteenth day of this
same seventh month, shall be kept the feast of tabernacles, seven days
to the Lord.

23:35. The first day shall be called most solemn and most holy:  you
shall do no servile work therein.  And seven days you shall offer
holocausts to the Lord.

23:36. The eighth day also shall be most solemn and most holy:  and you
shall offer holocausts to the Lord.  For it is the day of assembly and
congregation.  You shall do no servile work therein.

23:37. These are the feasts of the Lord which you shall call most
solemn and most holy, and shall offer on them oblations to the Lord:
holocausts and libations according to the rite of every day.

23:38. Besides the sabbaths of the Lord, and your gifts, and those
things that you offer by vow, or which you shall give to the Lord
voluntarily.

23:39. So from the fifteenth day of the seventh month, when you shall
have gathered in all the fruits of your land, you shall celebrate the
feast of the Lord seven days.  On the first day and the eighth shall be
a sabbath:  that is a day of rest.

23:40. And you shall take to you on the first day the fruits of the
fairest tree, and branches of palm trees, and boughs of thick trees,
and willows of the brook:  And you shall rejoice before the Lord your
God.

23:41. And you shall keep the solemnity thereof seven days in the year.
It shall be an everlasting ordinance in your generations.  In the
seventh month shall you celebrate this feast.

23:42. And you shall dwell in bowers seven days.  Every one that is of
the race of Israel, shall dwell in tabernacles:

23:43. That your posterity may know, that I made the children of Israel
to dwell in tabernacles, when I brought them out of the land of Egypt.
I am the Lord your God.

23:44. And Moses spoke concerning the feasts of the Lord to the
children of Israel.



Leviticus Chapter 24


The oil for the lamps.  The loaves of proposition.  The punishment of
blasphemy.

24:1. And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying:

24:2. Command the children of Israel, that they bring unto thee the
finest and clearest oil of olives, to furnish the lamps continually,

24:3. Without the veil of the testimony in the tabernacle of the
covenant.  And Aaron shall set them from evening until morning before
the Lord, by a perpetual service and rite in your generations.

24:4. They shall be set upon the most pure candlestick before the Lord
continually.

24:5. Thou shalt take also fine flour, and shalt bake twelve loaves
thereof, two tenths shall be in every loaf.

24:6. And thou shalt set them six and six, one against another, upon
the most clean table before the Lord.

24:7. And thou shalt put upon them the clearest frankincense, that the
bread may be for a memorial of the oblation of the Lord.

24:8. Every sabbath they shall be changed before the Lord:  being
received of the children of Israel by an everlasting covenant.

24:9. And they shall be Aaron's and his sons', that they may eat them
in the holy place:  because it is most holy of the sacrifices of the
Lord by a perpetual right.

24:10. And behold there went out the son of a woman of Israel, whom she
had of an Egyptian, among the children of Israel:  and fell at words in
the camp with a man of Israel.

24:11. And when he had blasphemed the name, and had cursed it, he was
brought to Moses.  (Now his mother was called Salumith, the daughter of
Dabri, of the tribe of Dan.)

24:12. And they put him into prison, till they might know what the Lord
would command.

24:13. And the Lord spoke to Moses,

24:14. Saying:  Bring forth the blasphemer without the camp:  and let
them that heard him, put their hands upon his head:  and let all the
people stone him.

24:15. And thou shalt speak to the children of Israel:  The man that
curseth his God, shall bear his sin:

24:16. And he that blasphemeth the name of the Lord, dying let him die.
All the multitude shall stone him, whether he be a native or a
stranger.  He that blasphemeth the name of the Lord, dying let him die.

24:17. He that striketh and killeth a man:  dying let him die.

24:18. He that killeth a beast, shall make it good that is to say,
shall give beast for beast.

24:19. He that giveth a blemish to any of his neighbours:  as he hath
done, so shall it be done to him:

24:20. Breach for breach, eye for ere, tooth for tooth, shall he
restore.  What blemish he gave, the like shall he be compelled to
suffer.

24:21. He that striketh a beast, shall render another.  He that striketh
a man shall be punished.

24:22. Let there be equal judgment among you, whether he be a stranger,
or a native that offends:  because I am the Lord your God.

24:23. And Moses spoke to the children of Israel.  And they brought
forth him that had blasphemed, without the camp:  and they stoned him.
And the children of Israel did as the Lord had commanded Moses.



Leviticus Chapter 25


The law of the seventh and of the fiftieth year of jubilee.

25:1. And the Lord spoke to Moses in mount Sinai, saying:

25:2. Speak to the children of Israel, and thou shalt say to them:  When
you shall have entered into the land which I will give you, observe the
rest of the sabbath of the Lord.

25:3. Six years thou shalt sow thy field and six years thou shalt prune
thy vineyard, and shalt gather the fruits thereof.

25:4. But in the seventh year there shall be a sabbath to the land, of
the resting of the Lord.  Thou shalt not sow thy field, nor prune thy
vineyard.

25:5. What the ground shall bring forth of itself, thou shalt not reap:
neither shalt thou gather the grapes or the firstfruits as a vintage.
For it is a year of rest to the land.

25:6. But they shall be unto you for meat, to thee and to thy
manservant, to thy maidservant and thy hireling, and to the strangers
that sojourn with thee.

25:7. All things that grow shall be meat to thy beasts and to thy
cattle.

25:8. Thou shalt also number to thee seven weeks of years:  that is to
say, seven times seven, which together make forty-nine years.

25:9. And thou shalt sound the trumpet in the seventh month, the tenth
day of the month, in the time of the expiation in all your land.

25:10. And thou shalt sanctify the fiftieth year, and shalt proclaim
remission to all the inhabitants of thy land:  for it is the year of
jubilee.  Every man shall return to his possession, and every one shall
go back to his former family:

Remission. . .That is, a general release and discharge from debts and
bondage, and a reinstating of every man in his former possessions.

25:11. Because it is the jubilee and the fiftieth year.  You shall not
sow, nor reap the things that grow in the field of their own accord,
neither shall you gather the firstfruits of the vines,

25:12. Because of the sanctification of the jubilee.  But as they grow
you shall presently eat them.

25:13. In the year of the jubilee all shall return to their
possessions.

25:14. When thou shalt sell any thing to thy neighbour, or shalt buy of
him:  grieve not thy brother.  But thou shalt buy of him according to the
number of years from the jubilee.

25:15. And he shall sell to thee according to the computation of the
fruits.

25:16. The more years remain after the jubilee, the more shall the
price increase:  and the less time is counted, so much the less shall
the purchase cost.  For he shall sell to thee the time of the fruits.

25:17. Do not afflict your countrymen:  but let every one fear his God.
Because I am the Lord your God.

25:18. Do my precepts, and keep my judgments, and fulfil them:  that you
may dwell in the land without any fear.

25:19. And the ground may yield you its fruits, of which you may eat
your fill, fearing no man's invasion.

25:20. But if you say:  What shall we eat the seventh year, if we sow
not, nor gather our fruits?

25:21. I will give you my blessing the sixth year:  and it shall yield
the fruits of three years.

25:22. And the eighth year you shall sow, and shall eat of the old
fruits, until the ninth year:  till new grow up, you shall eat the old
store.

25:23. The land also shall not be sold for ever:  because it is mine,
and you are strangers and sojourners with me.

25:24. For which cause all the country of your possession shall be
under the condition of redemption.

25:25. If thy brother being impoverished sell his little possession,
and his kinsman will:  he may redeem what he had sold.

25:26. But if he have no kinsman, and he himself can find the price to
redeem it:

25:27. The value of the fruits shall be counted from that time when he
sold it.  And the overplus he shall restore to the buyer, and so shall
receive his possession again.

25:28. But if his hands find not the means to repay the price, the
buyer shall have what he bought, until the year of the jubilee.  For in
that year all that is sold shall return to the owner, and to the
ancient possessor.

25:29. He that selleth a house within the walls of a city, shall have
the liberty to redeem it, until one year be expired.

25:30. If he redeem it not, and the whole year be fully out, the buyer
shall possess it, and his posterity for ever, and it cannot be
redeemed, not even in the jubilee.

25:31. But if the house be in a village, that hath no walls, it shall
be sold according to the same law as the fields.  If it be not redeemed
before, in the jubilee it shall return to the owner.

25:32. The houses of Levites, which are in cities, may always be
redeemed.

25:33. If they be not redeemed, in the jubilee they shall all return to
the owners:  because the houses of the cities of the Levites are for
their possessions among the children of Israel.

25:34. But let not their suburbs be sold, because it is a perpetual
possession.

25:35. If thy brother be impoverished, and weak of hand, and thou
receive him as a stranger and sojourner, and he live with thee:

25:36. Take not usury of him nor more than thou gavest.  Fear thy God,
that thy brother may live with thee.

25:37. Thou shalt not give him thy money upon usury:  nor exact of him
any increase of fruits.

25:38. I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of the land of
Egypt, that I might give you the land of Chanaan, and might be your
God.

25:39. If thy brother constrained by poverty, sell himself to thee:
thou shalt not oppress him with the service of bondservants.

25:40. But he shall be as a hireling, and a sojourner:  he shall work
with thee until the year of the jubilee.

25:41. And afterwards he shall go out with his children:  and shall
return to his kindred and to the possession of his fathers.

25:42. For they are my servants, and I brought them out of the land of
Egypt:  let them not be sold as bondmen.

25:43. Afflict him not by might:  but fear thy God.

25:44. Let your bondmen, and your bondwomen, be of the nations that are
round about you:

25:45. And of the strangers that sojourn among you, or that were born
of them in your land.  These you shall have for servants:

25:46. And by right of inheritance shall leave them to your posterity,
and shall possess them for ever.  But oppress not your brethren the
children of Israel by might.

25:47. If the hand of a stranger or a sojourner grow strong among you,
and thy brother being impoverished sell himself to him, or to any of
his race:

25:48. After the sale he may be redeemed.  He that will of his brethren
shall redeem him:

25:49. Either his uncle, or his uncle's son, or his kinsman, by blood,
or by affinity.  But if he himself be able also, he shall redeem
himself:

25:50. Counting only the years from the time of his selling unto the
year of the jubilee:  and counting the money that he was sold for,
according to the number of the years and the reckoning of a hired
servant.

25:51. If there be many years that remain until the jubilee, according
to them shall he also repay the price.

25:52. If few, he shall make the reckoning with him according to the
number of the years:  and shall repay to the buyer of what remaineth of
the years.

25:53. His wages being allowed for which he served before:  he shall not
afflict him violently in thy sight.

25:54. And if by these means he cannot be redeemed, in the year of the
jubilee he shall go out with his children.

25:55. For the children of Israel are my servants, whom I brought forth
out of the land of Egypt.



Leviticus Chapter 26


God's promises to them that keep his commandments.  And the many
punishments with which he threatens transgressors.

26:1. I am the Lord your God.  You shall not make to yourselves any idol
or graven thing:  neither shall you erect pillars, nor set up a
remarkable stone in your land, to adore it.  For I am the Lord your God.

26:2. Keep my sabbaths, and reverence my sanctuary.  I am the Lord.

26:3. If you walk in my precepts, and keep my commandments, and do
them, I will give you rain in due seasons.

26:4. And the ground shall bring forth its increase:  and the trees
shall be filled with fruit.

26:5. The threshing of your harvest shall reach unto the vintage, and
the vintage shall reach unto the sowing time:  and you shall eat your
bread to the full, and dwell in your land without fear.

26:6. I will give peace in your coasts:  you shall sleep, and there
shall be none to make you afraid.  I will take away evil beasts:  and the
sword shall not pass through your quarters.

26:7. You shall pursue your enemies:  and they shall fall before you.

26:8. Five of yours shall pursue a hundred others:  and a hundred of you
ten thousand.  Your enemies shall fall before you by the sword.

26:9. I will look on you, and make you increase:  you shall be
multiplied, and I will establish my covenant with you.

26:10. You shall eat the oldest of the old store:  and, new coming on,
you shall cast away the old.

26:11. I will set my tabernacle in the midst of you:  and my soul shall
not cast you off.

26:12. I will walk among you, and will be your God:  and you shall be my
people.

26:13. I am the Lord your God:  who have brought you out of the land of
the Egyptians, that you should not serve them:  and who have broken the
chains of your necks, that you might go upright.

26:14. But if you will not hear me, nor do all my commandments:

26:15. If you despise my laws, and contemn my judgments so as not to do
those things which are appointed by me, and to make void my covenant:

26:16. I also will do these things to you.  I will quickly visit you
with poverty, and burning heat, which shall waste your eyes, and
consume your lives.  You shall sow your seed in vain, which shall be
devoured by your enemies.

26:17. I will set my face against you, and you shall fall down before
your enemies:  and shall be made subject to them that hate you.  You
shall flee when no man pursueth you.

26:18. But if you will not yet for all this obey me:  I will chastise
you seven times more for your sins.

26:19. And I will break the pride of your stubbornness:  and I will make
to you the heaven above as iron, and the earth as brass.

26:20. Your labour shall be spent in vain:  the ground shall not bring
forth her increase:  nor the trees yield their fruit.

26:21. If you walk contrary to me, and will not hearken to me, I will
bring seven times more plagues upon you for your sins.

26:22. And I will send in upon you the beasts of the field, to destroy
you and your cattle, and make you few in number:  and that your highways
may be desolate.

26:23. And if even so you will not amend, but will walk contrary to me:

26:24. I also will walk contrary to you, and will strike you seven
times for your sins.

26:25. And I will bring in upon you the sword that shall avenge my
covenant.  And when you shall flee into the cities, I will send the
pestilence in the midst of you.  And you shall be delivered into the
hands of your enemies,

26:26. After I shall have broken the staff of your bread:  so that ten
women shall bake your bread in one oven, and give it out by weight:  and
you shall eat, and shall not be filled,

26:27. But if you will not for all this hearken to me, but will walk
against me

26:28. I will also go against you with opposite fury:  and I will
chastise you with seven plagues for your sins,

26:29. So that you shall eat the flesh of your sons and of your
daughters.

26:30. I will destroy your high places, and break your idols.  You shall
fall among the ruins of your idols, and my soul shall abhor you.

26:31. Insomuch that I will bring your cities to be a wilderness:  and I
will make your sanctuaries desolate:  and will receive no more your
sweet odours.

26:32. And I will destroy your land:  and your enemies shall be
astonished at it, when they shall be the inhabitants thereof.

26:33. And I will scatter you among the Gentiles:  and I will draw out
the sword after you.  And your land shall be desert, and your cities
destroyed.

26:34. Then shall the land enjoy her sabbaths all the days of her
desolation.  When you shall be

26:35. In the enemy's land, she shall keep a sabbath, and rest in the
sabbaths of her desolation:  because she did not rest in your sabbaths,
when you dwelt therein.

26:36. And as to them that shall remain of you I will send fear in
their hearts in the countries of their enemies.  The sound of a flying
leaf shall terrify them:  and they shall flee as it were from the sword.
They shall fall, when no man pursueth them.

26:37. And they shall every one fall upon their brethren as fleeing
from wars:  none of you shall dare to resist your enemies.

26:38. You shall perish among the Gentiles:  and an enemy's land shall
consume you.

26:39. And if of them also some remain, they shall pine away in their
iniquities, in the land of their enemies:  and they shall be afflicted
for the sins of their fathers, and their own.

26:40. Until they confess their iniquities, and the iniquities of their
ancestors, whereby they have transgressed against me, and walked
contrary unto me.

26:41. Therefore I also will walk against them, and bring them into
their enemies' land until their uncircumcised mind be ashamed.  Then
shall they pray for their sins.

26:42. And I will remember my covenant, that I made with Jacob, and
Isaac, and Abraham.  I will remember also the land:

26:43. Which when she shall be left by them, shall enjoy her sabbaths,
being desolate for them.  But they shall pray for their sins, because
they rejected my judgments, and despised my laws.

26:44. And yet for all that when they were in the land of their
enemies, I did not cast them off altogether.  Neither did I so despise
them that they should be quite consumed:  and I should make void my
covenant with them.  For I am the Lord their God.

26:45. And I will remember my former covenant, when I brought them out
of the land of Egypt, in the sight of the Gentiles, to be their God.  I
am the Lord.  These are the judgments, and precepts, and laws, which the
Lord gave between him and the children of Israel, in mount Sinai, by
the hand of Moses.



Leviticus Chapter 27


Of vows and tithes.

27:1. And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying:

27:2. Speak to the children of Israel, and thou shalt say to them:  The
man that shall have made a vow, and promised his soul to God, shall
give the price according to estimation.

27:3. If it be a man from twenty years old unto sixty years old, he
shall give fifty sicles of silver, after the weight of the sanctuary:

27:4. If a woman, thirty.

27:5. But from the fifth year until the twentieth, a man shall give
twenty sicles:  a woman ten.

27:6. From one month until the fifth year, for a male shall be given
five sicles:  for a female three.

27:7. A man that is sixty years old or upward, shall give fifteen
sicles:  a woman ten.

27:8. If he be poor, and not able to pay the estimation, he shall stand
before the priest:  and as much as he shall value him at, and see him
able to pay, so much shall he give.

27:9. But a beast that may be sacrificed to the Lord, if any one shall
vow, shall be holy,

27:10. And cannot be changed:  that is to say, neither a better for a
worse, nor a worse for a better.  And if he shall change it:  both that
which was changed, and that for which it was changed, shall be
consecrated to the Lord.

27:11. An unclean beast, which cannot be sacrificed to the Lord, if any
man shall vow, shall be brought before the priest:

27:12. Who judging whether it be good or bad, shall set the price.

27:13. Which, if he that offereth it will give, he shall add above the
estimation the fifth part.

27:14. If a man shall vow his house, and sanctify it to the Lord, the
priest shall consider it, whether it be good or bad:  and it shall be
sold according to the price, which he shall appoint.

27:15. But if he that vowed, will redeem it, he shall give the fifth
part of the estimation over and above:  and shall have the house.

27:16. And if he vow the field of his possession, and consecrate it to
the Lord, the price shall be rated according to the measure of the
seed.  If the ground be sown with thirty bushels of barley, let it be
sold for fifty sicles of silver.

27:17. If he vow his field immediately from the year of jubilee that is
beginning:  as much as it may be worth, at so much it shall be rated.

27:18. But if some time after, the priest shall reckon the money
according to the number of years that remain until the jubilee, and the
price shall be abated.

27:19. And if he that had vowed, will redeem his field, he shall add
the fifth part of the money of the estimation, and shall possess it.

27:20. And if he will not redeem it, but it be sold to any other man,
he that vowed it, may not redeem it any more.

27:21. For when the day of jubilee cometh, it shall be sanctified to
the Lord, and as a possession consecrated, pertaineth to the right of
the priest.

27:22. If a field that was bought, and not of a man's ancestors'
possession, be sanctified to the Lord:

27:23. The priest shall reckon the price according to the number of
years, unto the jubilee.  And he that had vowed, shall give that to the
Lord.

27:24. But in the jubilee, it shall return to the former owner, who had
sold it, and had it in the lot of his possession.

27:25. All estimation shall be made according to the sicle of the
sanctuary.  A sicle hath twenty obols.

27:26. The firstborn, which belong to the Lord, no man may sanctify and
vow:  whether it be bullock, or sheep, they are the Lord's.

27:27. And if it be an unclean beast, he that offereth it shall redeem
it, according to thy estimation, and shall add the fifth part of the
price.  If he will not redeem it, it shall be sold to another for how
much soever it was estimated by thee.

27:28. Any thing that is devoted to the Lord, whether it be man, or
beast, or field, shall not be sold:  neither may it be redeemed.
Whatsoever is once consecrated shall be holy of holies to the Lord.

27:29. And any consecration that is offered by man, shall not be
redeemed, but dying shall die.

27:30. All tithes of the land, whether of corn, or of the fruits of
trees, are the Lord's, and are sanctified to him.

27:31. And if any man will redeem his tithes, he shall add the fifth
part of them.

27:32. Of all the tithes of oxen, and sheep, and goats, that pass under
the shepherd's rod, every tenth that cometh shall be sanctified to the
Lord.

27:33. It shall not be chosen neither good nor bad, neither shall it be
changed for another.  If any man change it:  both that which was changed,
and that for which it was changed, shall be sanctified to the Lord, and
shall not be redeemed.

27:34. These are the precepts which the Lord commanded Moses for the
children of Israel in mount Sinai.



THE BOOK OF NUMBERS



This fourth Book of Moses is called NUMBERS, because it begins with the
numbering of the people.  The Hebrews, from its first words, call it
VAIEDABBER.  It contains the transactions of the Israelites from the
second month of the second year after their going out of Egypt, until
the beginning of the eleventh month of the fortieth year; that is, a
history almost of thirty-nine years.



Numbers Chapter 1


The children of Israel are numbered:  the Levites are designed to serve
the tabernacle.

1:1. And the Lord spoke to Moses in the desert of Sinai in the
tabernacle of the covenant, the first day of the second month, the
second year of their going out of Egypt, saying:

1:2. Take the sum of all the congregation of the children of Israel by
their families, and houses, and the names of every one, as many as are
of the male sex,

1:3. From twenty years old and upwards, of all the men of Israel fit
for war, and you shall number them by their troops, thou and Aaron.

1:4. And there shall be with you the princes of the tribes, and of the
houses in their kindreds,

1:5. Whose names are these:  Of Ruben, Elisur the son of Sedeur.

1:6. Of Simeon, Salamiel the son of Surisaddai.

1:7. Of Juda, Nahasson the son of Aminadab.

1:8. Of Issachar, Nathanael the son of Suar.

1:9. Of Zabulon, Eliab the son of Helon.

1:10. And of the sons of Joseph:  of Ephraim, Elisama the son of Ammiud:
of Manasses, Gamaliel the son of Phadassur.

1:11. Of Benjamin, Abidan the son of Gedeon.

1:12. Of Dan, Ahiezer the son of Ammisaddai.

1:13. Of Aser, Phegiel the son of Ochran.

1:14. Of Gad, Eliasaph the son of Duel.

1:15. Of Nephtali, Ahira the son of Enan.

1:16. These are the most noble princes of the multitude by their tribes
and kindreds, and the chiefs of the army of Israel:

1:17. Whom Moses and Aaron took with all the multitude of the common
people:

1:18. And assembled them on the first day of the second month,
reckoning them up by the kindreds, and houses, and families, and heads,
and names of every one from twenty years old and upward,

1:19. As the Lord had commanded Moses.  And they were numbered in the
desert of Sinai.

1:20. Of Ruben the eldest son of Israel, by their generations and
families and houses and names of every head, all that were of the male
sex, from twenty years old and upward, that were able to go forth to
war,

1:21. Were forty-six thousand five hundred.

1:22. Of the sons of Simeon by their generations and families, and
houses of their kindreds, were reckoned up by the names and heads of
every one, all that were of the male sex, from twenty years old and
upward, that were able to go forth to war,

1:23. Fifty-nine thousand three hundred.

1:24. Of the sons of Gad, by their generations and families and houses
of their kindreds were reckoned up by the names of every one from
twenty years old and upward, all that were able to go forth to war,

1:25. Forty-five thousand six hundred and fifty.

1:26. Of the sons of Juda, by their generations and families and houses
of their kindreds, by the names of every one from twenty years old and
upward, all that were able to go forth to war,

1:27. Were reckoned up seventy-four thousand six hundred.

1:28. Of the sons of Issachar, by their generations and families and
houses of their kindreds, by the names of every one from twenty years
old and upward, all that could go forth to war,

1:29. Were reckoned up fifty-four thousand four hundred.

1:30. Of the sons of Zabulon, by the generations and families and
houses of their kindreds, were reckoned up by the names of every one
from twenty years old and upward, all that were able to go forth to
war,

1:31. Fifty-seven thousand four hundred.

1:32. Of the sons of Joseph, namely, of the sons of Ephraim, by the
generations and families and houses of their kindreds, were reckoned up
by the names of every one, from twenty years old and upward, all that
were able to go forth to war,

1:33. Forty thousand five hundred.

1:34. Moreover of the sons of Manasses, by the generations and families
and houses of their kindreds, were reckoned up by the names of every
one from twenty years old and upward, all that could go forth to war,

1:35. Thirty-two thousand two hundred.

1:36. Of the sons of Benjamin, by their generations and families and
houses of their kindreds, were reckoned up by the names of every one
from twenty years old and upward, all that were able to go forth to
war,

1:37. Thirty-five thousand four hundred.

1:38. Of the sons of Dan, by their generations and families and houses
of their kindreds, were reckoned up by the names of every one from
twenty years old and upward, all that were able to go forth to war,

1:39. Sixty-two thousand seven hundred.

1:40. Of the sons of Aser, by their generations and families and houses
of their kindreds, were reckoned up by the names of every one from
twenty years old and upward, all that were able to go forth to war,

1:41. Forty-one thousand and five hundred.

1:42. Of the sons of Nephtali, by their generations and families and
houses of their kindreds, were reckoned up by the names of every one
from twenty years old and upward, were able to go forth to war,

1:43. Fifty-three thousand four hundred.

1:44. These are they who were numbered by Moses and Aaron, and the
twelve princes of Israel, every one by the houses of their kindreds.

1:45. And the whole number of the children of Israel by their houses
and families, from twenty years old and upward, that were able to go to
war,

1:46. Were six hundred and three thousand five hundred and fifty men.

1:47. But the Levites in the tribes of their families were not numbered
with them.

1:48. And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying:

1:49. Number not the tribe of Levi, neither shalt thou put down the sum
of them with the children of Israel:

1:50. But appoint them over the tabernacle of the testimony, and all
the vessels thereof, and whatsoever pertaineth to the ceremonies.  They
shall carry the tabernacle and all the furniture thereof:  and they
shall minister, and shall encamp round about the tabernacle.

1:51. When you are to go forward, the Levites shall take down the
tabernacle:  when you are to camp, they shall set it up.  What stranger
soever cometh to it, shall be slain.

1:52. And the children of Israel shall camp every man by his troops and
bands and army.

1:53. But the Levites shall pitch their tents round about the
tabernacle, lest there come indignation upon the multitude of the
children of Israel, and they shall keep watch, and guard the tabernacle
of the testimony.

1:54. And the children of Israel did according to all things which the
Lord had commanded Moses.



Numbers Chapter 2


The order of the tribes in their camp.

2:1. And the Lord spoke to Moses and Aaron, saying:

2:2. All the children of Israel shall camp by their troops, ensigns,
and standards, and the houses of their kindreds, round about the
tabernacle of the covenant.

2:3. On the east Juda shall pitch his tents by the bands of his army:
and the prince of his sons; shall be Nahasson the son of Aminadab.

2:4. And the whole sum of the fighting men of his stock, were
seventy-four thousand six hundred.

2:5. Next unto him they of the tribe of Issachar encamped, whose prince
was Nathanael, the son of Suar.

2:6. And the whole number of his fighting men were fifty-four thousand
four hundred.

2:7. In the tribe of Zabulon the prince was Eliab the son of Helon.

2:8. And all the army of fighting men of his stock, were fifty-seven
thousand four hundred.

2:9. All that were numbered in the camp of Juda, were a hundred and
eighty-six thousand four hundred:  and they by their troops shall march
first.

2:10. In the camp of the sons of Ruben, on the south side, the prince
shall be Elisur the son of Sedeur:

2:11. And the whole army of his fighting men, that were numbered, were
forty-six thousand five hundred.

2:12. Beside him camped they of the tribe of Simeon:  whose prince was
Salamiel the son of Surisaddai.

2:13. And the whole army of his fighting men, that were numbered, were
fifty-nine thousand three hundred.

2:14. In the tribe of Gad the prince was Eliasaph the son of Duel.

2:15. And the whole army of his righting men that were numbered, were
forty-five thousand six hundred and fifty.

2:16. All that were reckoned up in the camp of Ruben, were a hundred
and fifty-one thousand four hundred and fifty, by their troops:  they
shall march in the second place.

2:17. And the tabernacle of the testimony shall be carried by the
officers of the Levites and their troops.  As it shall be set up, so
shall it be taken down.  Every one shall march according to their
places, and ranks.

2:18. On the west side shall be the camp of the sons of Ephraim, whose
prince was Elisama the son of Ammiud.

2:19. The whole army of his fighting men, that were numbered, were
forty thousand five hundred.

2:20. And with them the tribe of the sons of Manasses, whose prince was
Gamaliel the son of Phadassur.

2:21. And the whole army of his fighting men, that were numbered, were
thirty-two thousand two hundred.

2:22. In the tribe of the sons of Benjamin the prince was Abidan the
son of Gedeon.

2:23. And the whole army of fighting men, that were reckoned up, were
thirty-five thousand four hundred.

2:24. All that were numbered in the camp of Ephraim, were a hundred and
eight-thousand one hundred by their troops:  they shall march in the
third place.

2:25. On the north side camped the sons of Dan:  whose prince was
Ahiezar the son of Ammisaddai.

2:26. The whole army of his fighting men, that were numbered, were
sixty-two thousand seven hundred.

2:27. Beside him they of the tribe of Aser pitched their tents:  whose
prince was Phegiel the son of Ochran.

2:28. The whole army of his fighting men, that were numbered, were
forty-one thousand five hundred.

2:29. Of the tribe of the sons of Nephtali the prince was Ahira the son
of Enan.

2:30. The whole army of his fighting men, were fifty-three thousand
four hundred.

2:31. All that were numbered in the camp of Dan, were a hundred and
fifty-seven thousand six hundred:  and they shall march last.

2:32. This is the number of the children of Israel, of their army
divided according to the houses of their kindreds and their troops, six
hundred and three thousand five hundred and fifty.

2:33. And the Levites were not numbered among the children of Israel:
for so the Lord had commanded Moses.

2:34. And the children of Israel did according to all things that the
Lord had commanded.  They camped by their troops, and marched by the
families and houses of their fathers.



Numbers Chapter 3


The Levites are numbered and their offices distinguished.  They are
taken in the place of the firstborn of the children of Israel.

3:1. These are the generations of Aaron and Moses in the day that the
Lord spoke to Moses in mount Sinai.

3:2. And these the names of the sons of Aaron:  his firstborn Nadab,
then Abiu, and Eleazar, and Ithamar.

3:3. These the names of the sons of Aaron the priests that were
anointed, and whose hands were filled and consecrated, to do the
functions of priesthood.

3:4. Now Nadab and Abiu died, without children, when they offered
strange fire before the Lord, in the desert of Sinai:  and Eleazar and
Ithamar performed the priestly office in the presence of Aaron their
father.

3:5. And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying:

3:6. Bring the tribe of Levi, and make them stand in the sight of Aaron
the priest to minister to him, and let them watch,

3:7. And observe whatsoever appertaineth to the service of the
multitude before the tabernacle of the testimony,

3:8. And let them keep the vessels of the tabernacle, serving in the
ministry thereof.

3:9. And thou shalt give the Levites for a gift,

3:10. To Aaron and to his sons, to whom they are delivered by the
children of Israel.  But thou shalt appoint Aaron and his sons over the
service of priesthood.  The stranger that approacheth to minister, shall
be put to death.

3:11. And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying:

3:12. I have taken the Levites from the children of Israel, for every
firstborn that openeth the womb among the children of Israel, and the
Levites shall be mine.

3:13. For every firstborn is mine:  since I struck the firstborn in the
land of Egypt:  I have sanctified to myself whatsoever is firstborn in
Israel both of man and beast, they are mine:  I am the Lord.

3:14. And the Lord spoke to Moses in the desert of Sinai, saying:

3:15. Number the sons of Levi by the houses of their fathers and their
families, every male from one month and upward.

3:16. Moses numbered them as the Lord had commanded.

3:17. And there were found sons of Levi by their names, Gerson and
Caath Merari.

3:18. The sons of Gerson:  Lebni and Semei.

3:19. The sons of Caath:  Amram, and Jesaar, Hebron and Oziel:

3:20. The sons of Merari, Moholi and Musi.

3:21. Of Gerson were two families, the Lebnites, and the Semeites:

3:22. Of which were numbered, people of the male sex from one month and
upward, seven thousand five hundred.

3:23. These shall pitch behind the tabernacle on the west,

3:24. Under their prince Eliasaph the son of Lael.

3:25. And their charge shall be in the tabernacle of the covenant:

3:26. The tabernacle itself and the cover thereof, the hanging that is
drawn before the doors of the tabernacle of the covenant, and the
curtains of the court:  the hanging also that is hanged in the entry of
the court of the tabernacle, and whatsoever belongeth to the rite of
the altar, the cords of the tabernacle, and all the furniture thereof.

3:27. Of the kindred of Caath come the families of the Amramites and
Jesaarites and Hebronites and Ozielites.  These are the families of the
Caathites reckoned up by their names:

3:28. All of the male sex from one month and upward, eight thousand six
hundred:  they shall have the guard of the sanctuary,

3:29. And shall camp on the south side.

3:30. And their prince shall be Elisaphan the son of Oziel:

3:31. And they shall keep the ark, and the table and the candlestick,
the altars, and the vessels of the sanctuary, wherewith they minister,
and the veil, and all the furniture of this kind.

3:32. And the prince of the princes of the Levites, Eleazar, the son of
Aaron the priest, shall be over them that watch for the guard of the
sanctuary.

3:33. And of Merari are the families of the Moholites, and Musites,
reckoned up by their names:

3:34. All of the male kind from one month and upward, six thousand two
hundred.

3:35. Their prince Suriel the son of Abihaiel:  their shall camp on the
north side.

3:36. Under their custody shall be the boards of the tabernacle, and
the bars, and the pillars and their sockets, and all things that
pertain to this kind of service:

3:37. And the pillars of the court round about with their sockets, and
the pins with their cords.

3:38. Before the tabernacle of the covenant, that is to say on the east
side shall Moses and Aaron camp, with their sons, having the custody of
the sanctuary, in the midst of the children of Israel.  What stranger
soever cometh unto it, shall be put to death.

3:39. All the Levites, that I Moses and Aaron numbered according to the
precept of the Lord, by their f families, of the male kind from one
month and upward, were twenty-two thousand.

3:40. And the Lord said to Moses:  Number the firstborn of the male sex
of the children of Israel, from one month and upward, and thou shalt
take the sum of them.

3:41. And thou shalt take the Levites to me for all the firstborn of
the children of Israel, I am the Lord:  and their cattle for all the
firstborn of the cattle of the children of Israel:

3:42. Moses reckoned up, as the Lord had commanded, the firstborn of
the children of Israel:

3:43. And the males by their names, from one month and upward, were
twenty-two thousand two hundred and seventy-three.

3:44. And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying:

3:45. Take the Levites for the firstborn of the children of Israel, and
the cattle of the Levites for their cattle, and the Levites shall be
mine.  I am the Lord.

3:46. But for the price of the two hundred and seventy-three, of the
firstborn of the children of Israel, that exceed the number of the
Levites,

3:47. Thou shalt take five sicles for every bead, according to the
weight of the sanctuary.  A sicle hath twenty obols.

3:48. And thou shalt give the money to Aaron and his sons, the price of
them that are above.

3:49. Moses therefore took the money of them that were above, and whom
they had redeemed from the Levites,

3:50. For the firstborn of the children of Israel, one thousand three
hundred and sixty-five sicles, according to the weight of the
sanctuary,

3:51. And gave it to Aaron and his sons according to the word that the
Lord had commanded him.



Numbers Chapter 4


The age and time of the Levites' service:  their offices and burdens.

4:1. And the Lord spoke to Moses, and Aaron, saying:

4:2. Take the sum of the sons of Caath from the midst of the Levites,
by their houses and families.

4:3. From thirty years old and upward, to fifty years old, of all that
go in to stand and to minister in the tabernacle of the covenant.

4:4. This is the service of the sons of Caath:

4:5. When the camp is; to set forward, Aaron and his sons shall go into
the tabernacle of the covenant, and the holy of holies, and shall take
down the veil that hangeth before the door, and shall wrap up the ark
of the testimony in it,

4:6. And shall cover it again with a cover of violet skins, and shall
spread over it a cloth all of violet, and shall put in the bars.

4:7. They shall wrap up also the table of proposition in a cloth of
violet, and shall put with it the censers and little mortars, the cups
and bowls to pour out the libations:  the loaves shall be always on it:

4:8. And they shall spread over it a cloth of scarlet, which again they
shall cover with a covering of violet skins, and shall put in the bars.

4:9. They shall take also a cloth of violet wherewith they shall cover
the candlestick with the lamps and tongs thereof and the snuffers and
all the oil vessels, which are necessary for the dressing of the lamps:

4:10. And over all they shall put a cover of violet skins and put in
the bars.

4:11. And they shall wrap up the golden altar also in a cloth of
violet, and shall spread over it a cover of violet skins, and put in
the bars.

4:12. All the vessels wherewith they minister in the sanctuary, they
shall wrap up in a cloth of violet, and shall spread over it a cover of
violet skins, and put in the bars.

4:13. They shall cleanse the altar also from the ashes, and shall wrap
it up in a purple cloth,

4:14. And shall put it with all the vessels that they use in the
ministry thereof, that is to say, firepans, fleshhooks and forks,
pothooks and shovels.  They shall cover all the vessels of the altar
together with a covering of violet skins, and shall put in the bars.

4:15. And when Aaron and his sons have wrapped up the sanctuary and the
vessels thereof at the removing of the camp, then shall the sons of
Caath enter in to carry the things wrapped up:  and they shall not touch
the vessels of the sanctuary, lest they die.  These are the burdens of
the sons of Caath:  in the tabernacle of the covenant:

4:16. And over them shall be Eleazar the son of Aaron the priest, to
whose charge pertaineth the oil to dress the lamps, and the sweet
incense, and the sacrifice, that is always offered, and the oil of
unction, and whatsoever pertaineth to the service of the tabernacle,
and of all the vessels that are in the sanctuary.

4:17. And the Lord spoke to Moses and Aaron, saying:

4:18. Destroy not the people of Caath from the midst of the Levites:

4:19. But do this to them, that they may live, and not die, by touching
the holies of holies.  Aaron and his sons shall go in, and they shall
appoint every man his work, and shall divide the burdens that every man
is to carry.

4:20. Let not others by any curiosity see the things that are in the
sanctuary before they be wrapped up, otherwise they shall die.

4:21. And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying:

4:22. Take the sum of the sons of Gerson also by their houses and
families and kindreds.

4:23. From thirty years old and upward, unto fifty years old.  Number
them all that go in and minister in the tabernacle of the covenant.

4:24. This is the office of the family of the Gersonites:

4:25. To carry the curtains of the tabernacle and the roof of the
covenant, the other covering, and the violet covering over all, and the
hanging that hangeth in the entry of the tabernacle of the covenant,

4:26. The curtains of the court, and the veil in the entry that is
before tabernacle.  All things that pertain to the altar, the cords and
the vessels of the ministry,

4:27. The sons of Gerson shall carry, by the commandment of Aaron and
his sons:  and each man shall know to what burden he must be assigned.

4:28. This is the service of the family of the Gersonites in the
tabernacle of the covenant, and they shall be under the hand of Ithamar
the son of Aaron the priest.

4:29. Thou shalt reckon up the sons of Merari also by the families and
houses of their fathers,

4:30. From thirty years old and upward, unto fifty years old, all that
go in to the office of their ministry, and to the service of the
covenant of the testimony.

4:31. These are their burdens:  They shall carry the boards of the
tabernacle and the bars thereof, the pillars and their sockets,

4:32. The pillars also of the court round about, with their sockets and
pins and cords.  They shall receive by account all the vessels and
furniture, and so shall carry them.

4:33. This is the office of the family of the Merarites, and their
ministry in the tabernacle of the covenant:  and they shall be under the
hand of Ithamar the son of Aaron the priest.

4:34. So Moses and Aaron and the princes of the synagogue reckoned up
the sons of Caath, by their kindreds and the houses of their fathers,

4:35. From thirty years old and upward, unto fifty years old, all that
go in to the ministry of the tabernacle of the covenant:

4:36. And they were found two thousand seven hundred and fifty.

4:37. This is the number of the people of Caath that go in to the
tabernacle of the covenant:  these did Moses and Aaron number according
to the word of the Lord by the hand of Moses.

4:38. The sons of Gerson also were numbered by the kindreds and houses
of their fathers,

4:39. From thirty years old and upward, unto fifty years old, all that
go in to minister in the tabernacle of the covenant:

4:40. And they were found two thousand six hundred and thirty.

4:41. This is the people of the Gersonites, whom Moses and Aaron
numbered according to the word of the Lord.

4:42. The sons of Merari also were numbered by the kindreds and houses
of their fathers,

4:43. From thirty years old and upward, unto fifty years old, all that
go in to fulfil the rites of the tabernacle of the covenant:

4:44. And they were found three thousand two hundred.

4:45. This is the number of the sons of Merari, whom Moses and Aaron
reckoned up according to the commandment of the Lord by the hand of
Moses.

4:46. All that were reckoned up of the Levites, and whom Moses and
Aaron and the princes of Israel took by name, by the kindreds and
houses of their fathers,

4:47. From thirty years old and upward, until fifty years old, that go
into the ministry of the tabernacle, and to carry the burdens,

4:48. Were in all eight thousand five hundred and eighty.

4:49. Moses reckoned them up according to the word of the Lord, every
one according to their office and burdens, as the Lord had commanded
him.



Numbers Chapter 5


The unclean are removed out of the camp:  confession of sins, and
satisfaction:  firstfruits and oblations belonging to the priests:  trial
of jealousy.

5:1. And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying:

5:2. Command the children of Israel, that they cast out of the camp
every leper, and whosoever hath an issue of seed, or is defiled by the
dead:

5:3. Whether it be man or woman, cast ye them out of the camp, lest
they defile it when I shall dwell with you,

5:4. And the children of Israel did so, and they cast them forth
without the camp, as the Lord had spoken to Moses.

5:5. And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying:

5:6. Say to the children of Israel:  When a man or woman shall have
committed any of all the sins that men are wont to commit, and by
negligence shall have transgressed the commandment of the Lord, and
offended,

5:7. They shall confess their sin, and restore the principal itself,
and the fifth part over and above, to him against whom they have
sinned.

Shall confess. . .This confession and satisfaction, ordained in the Old
Law, was a figure of the sacrament of penance.

5:8. But if there be no one to receive it, they shall give it to the
Lord, and it shall be the priest's, besides the ram that is offered for
expiation, to be an atoning sacrifice.

5:9. All the firstfruits also, which the children of Israel offer,
belong to the priest:

5:10. And whatsoever is offered into the sanctuary by every one, and is
delivered into the hands of the priest, it shall be his.

5:11. And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying:

5:12. Speak to the children of Israel, and thou shalt say to them:  The
man whose wife shall have gone astray, and contemning her husband,

5:13. Shall have slept with another man, and her husband cannot
discover it, but the adultery is secret, and cannot be proved by
witnesses, because she was not found in the adultery:

5:14. If the spirit of jealousy stir up the husband against his wife,
who either is defiled, or is charged with false suspicion,

The spirit of jealousy, etc. . .This ordinance was designed to clear the
innocent, and to prevent jealous husbands from doing mischief to their
wives:  as likewise to give all a horror of adultery, by punishing it in
so remarkable a manner.

5:15. He shall bring her to the priest, and shall offer an oblation for
her, the tenth part of a measure of barley meal:  he shall not pour oil
thereon, nor put frankincense upon it:  because it is a sacrifice of
jealousy, and an oblation searching out adultery.

5:16. The priest therefore shall offer it, and set it before the Lord.

5:17. And he shall take holy water in an earthen vessel, and he shall
cast a little earth of the pavement of the tabernacle into it.

5:18. And when the woman shall stand before the Lord, he shall uncover
her head, and shall put on her hands the sacrifice of remembrance, and
the oblation of jealousy:  and he himself shall hold the most bitter
waters, whereon he hath heaped curses with execration.

5:19. And he shall adjure her, and shall say:  If another man hath not
slept with thee, and if thou be not defiled by forsaking thy husband's
bed, these most bitter waters, on which I have heaped curses, shall not
hurt thee.

5:20. But if thou hast gone aside from thy husband, and art defiled,
and hast lain with another man:

5:21. These curses shall light upon thee:  The Lord make thee a curse,
and an example for all among his people:  may he make thy thigh to rot,
and may thy belly swell and burst asunder.

5:22. Let the cursed waters enter into thy belly, and may thy womb
swell and thy thigh rot.  And the woman shall answer, Amen, amen.

5:23. And the priest shall write these curses in a book, and shall wash
them out with the most bitter waters, upon which he hath heaped the
curses,

5:24. And he shall give them her to drink.  And when she hath drunk them
up,

5:25. The priest shall take from her hand the sacrifice of jealousy,
and shall elevate it before the Lord, and shall put it upon the altar:
yet so as first,

5:26. To take a handful of the sacrifice of that which is offered, and
burn it upon the altar:  and so give the most bitter waters to the woman
to drink.

5:27. And when she hath drunk them, if she be defiled, and having
despised her husband be guilty of adultery, the malediction shall go
through her, and her belly swelling, her thigh shall rot:  and the woman
shall be a curse, and an example to all the people.

5:28. But if she be not defiled, she shall not be hurt, and shall bear
children.

5:29. This is the law of jealousy.  If a woman hath gone aside from her
husband, and be defiled,

5:30. And the husband stirred up by the spirit of jealousy bring her
before the Lord, and the priest do to her according to all things that
are here written:

5:31. The husband shall be blameless, and she shall bear her iniquity.



Numbers Chapter 6


The law of the Nazarites:  the form of blessing the people.

6:1. And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying:

6:2. Speak to the children of Israel, and thou shalt say to them:  When
a man, or woman, shall make a vow to be sanctified, and will consecrate
themselves to the Lord:

6:3. They shall abstain from wine, and from every thing that may make a
man drunk.  They shall not drink vinegar of wine, or of any other drink,
nor any thing that is pressed out of the grape:  nor shall they eat
grapes either fresh or dried.

6:4. All the days that they are consecrated to the Lord by vow:  they
shall eat nothing that cometh of the vineyard, from the raisin even to
the kernel.

6:5. All the time of his separation no razor shall pass over his head,
until the day be fulfilled of his consecration to the Lord.  He shall be
holy, and shall let the hair of his head grow.

6:6. All the time of his consecration he shall not go in to any dead,

6:7. Neither shall he make himself unclean, even for his father, or for
his mother, or for his brother, or for his sister, when they die,
because the consecration of his God is upon his head.

6:8. All the days of his separation he shall be holy to the Lord.

6:9. But if any man die suddenly before him:  the head of his
consecration shall be defiled:  and he shall shave it forthwith on the
same day of his purification, and again on the seventh day.

6:10. And on the eighth day he shall bring two turtles, or two young
pigeons to the priest in the entry of the covenant of the testimony.

6:11. And the priest shall offer one for sin, and the other for a
holocaust, and shall pray for him, for that he hath sinned by the dead:
and he shall sanctify his head that day:

6:12. And shall consecrate to the Lord the days of his separation,
offering a lamb of one year for sin:  yet so that the former days be
made void, because his sanctification was profaned.

6:13. This is the law of consecration.  When the days which he had
determined by vow shall be expired, he shall bring him to the door of
the tabernacle of the covenant,

6:14. And shall offer his oblation to the Lord:  one he lamb of a year
old without blemish for a holocaust, and one ewe lamb of a year old
without blemish for a sin offering, and one ram without blemish for a
victim of peace offering,

6:15. A basket also of unleavened bread, tempered with oil, and wafers
without leaven anointed with oil, and the libations of each:

6:16. And the priest shall present them before the Lord, and shall
offer both the sin offering and the holocaust.

6:17. But the ram he shall immolate for a sacrifice of peace offering
to the Lord, offering at the same time the basket of unleavened bread,
and the libations that are due by custom.

6:18. Then shall the hair of the consecration of the Nazarite, be
shaved off before the door of the tabernacle of the covenant:  and he
shall take his hair, and lay it upon the fire, which is under the
sacrifice of the peace offerings.

6:19. And shall take the boiled shoulder of the ram, and one unleavened
cake out of the basket, and one unleavened wafer, and he shall deliver
them into the hands of the Nazarite, after his head is shaven.

6:20. And receiving them again from him, he shall elevate them in the
sight of the Lord:  and they being sanctified shall belong to the
priest, as the breast, which was commanded to be separated, and the
shoulder.  After this the Nazarite may drink wine.

6:21. This is the law of the Nazarite, when he hath vowed his oblation
to the Lord in the time of his consecration, besides those things which
his hand shall find, according to that which he had vowed in his mind,
so shall he do for the fulfilling of his sanctification.

6:22. And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying:

6:23. Say to Aaron and his sons:  Thus shall you bless the children of
Israel, and you shall say to them:

6:24. The Lord bless thee, and keep thee.

6:25. The Lord shew his face to thee, and have mercy on thee.

6:26. The Lord turn his countenance to thee, and give thee peace.

6:27. And they shall invoke my name upon the children of Israel, and I
will bless them.



Numbers Chapter 7


The offerings of the princes at the dedication of the tabernacle.  God
speaketh to Moses from the propitiatory.

7:1. And it came to pass in the day that Moses had finished the
tabernacle, and set it up, and had anointed and sanctified it with all
its vessels, the altar likewise and all the vessels thereof,

7:2. The princes of Israel and the heads of the families, in every
tribe, who were the rulers of them who had been numbered, offered

7:3. Their gifts before the Lord, six wagons covered, and twelve oxen.
Two princes offered one wagon, and each one an ox, and they offered
them before the tabernacle.

7:4. And the Lord said to Moses:

7:5. Receive them from them to serve in the ministry of the tabernacle,
and thou shalt deliver them to the Levites according to the order of
their ministry.

7:6. Moses therefore receiving the wagons and the oxen, delivered them
to the Levites.

7:7. Two wagons and four oxen he gave to the sons of Gerson, according
to their necessity.

7:8. The other four wagons, and eight oxen he gave to the sons of
Merari, according to their offices and service, under the hand of
Ithamar the son of Aaron the priest.

7:9. But to the sons of Caath he gave no wagons or oxen:  because they
serve in the sanctuary and carry their burdens upon their own
shoulders.

7:10. And the princes offered for the dedication of the altar on the
day when it was anointed, their oblation before the altar.

7:11. And the Lord said to Moses:  Let each of the princes one day after
another offer their gifts for the dedication of the altar.

7:12. The first day Nahasson the son of Aminadab of the tribe of Juda
offered his offering:

7:13. And his offering was a silver dish weighing one hundred and
thirty sicles, a silver bowl of seventy sicles according to the weight
of the sanctuary, both full of flour tempered with oil for a sacrifice:

7:14. A little mortar of ten sicles of gold full of incense:

7:15. An ox of the herd, and a ram, and lamb of a year old for a
holocaust:

7:16. And a buck goat for sin:

7:17. And for the sacrifice of peace offerings, two oxen, five rams,
five he goats, five lambs of a year old.  This was the offering of
Nahasson the son of Aminadab.

7:18. The second day Nathanael the son of Suar, prince of the tribe of
Issachar, made his offering,

7:19. A silver dish weighing one hundred and thirty sicles, a silver
bowl of seventy sicles, according to the weight of the sanctuary, both
full of flour tempered with oil for a sacrifice:

7:20. A little mortar of gold weighing ten sicles full of incense:

7:21. An ox of the herd, and a ram, and a lamb of a year old for a
holocaust:

7:22. And a buck goat for sin:

7:23. And for the sacrifice of peace offerings, two oxen, five rams,
five buck goats, five lambs of a year old.  This was the offering of
Nathanael the son of Suar.

7:24. The third day the prince of the sons of Zabulon, Eliab the son of
Helon,

7:25. Offered a silver dish weighing one hundred and thirty sicles, a
silver bowl of seventy sicles by the weight of the sanctuary, both full
of flour tempered with oil for a sacrifice:

7:26. A little mortar of gold weighing ten sicles full of incense:

7:27. An ox of the herd, and a ram, and a lamb of a year old for a
holocaust:

7:28. And a buck goat for sin:

7:29. And for the sacrifice of peace offerings, two oxen, five rams,
five buck goats, five lambs of a year old.  This is the oblation of
Eliab the son of Helon.

7:30. The fourth day the prince of the sons of Ruben, Elisur the son of
Sedeur,

7:31. Offered a silver dish weighing one hundred and thirty sicles, a
silver bowl of seventy sicles according to the weight of the sanctuary,
both full of flour tempered with oil for a sacrifice:

7:32. A little mortar of gold weighing ten sicles full of incense:

7:33. An ox of the herd, and a ram, and a lamb of a year old, for a
holocaust:

7:34. And a buck goat for sin:

7:35. And for victims of peace offerings two oxen, five rams, five buck
goats, five lambs of a year old.  This was the offering of Elisur the
son of Sedeur.

7:36. The fifth day the prince of the sons of Simeon, Salamiel the son
of Surisaddai,

7:37. Offered a silver dish weighing one hundred and thirty sicles, a
silver bowl of seventy sicles after the weight of the sanctuary, both
full of flour tempered with oil for a sacrifice:

7:38. A little mortar of gold weighing ten sicles full of incense:

7:39. An ox of the herd, and a ram, and a lamb of a year old for a
holocaust:

7:40. And a buck goat for sin:

7:41. And for sacrifices of peace offerings, two oxen, five rams, five
buck goats, five lambs of a year old.  This was the offering of Salamiel
the son of Surisaddai.

7:42. The sixth day the prince of the sons of Gad, Eliasaph the son of
Duel,

7:43. Offered a silver dish weighing a hundred and thirty sicles, a
silver bowl of seventy sicles by the weight of the sanctuary, both full
of flour tempered with oil for a sacrifice:

7:44. A little mortar of gold weighing ten sicles full of incense:

7:45. An ox of the herd, and a ram, and a lamb of a year old for a
holocaust:

7:46. And a buck goat for sin:

7:47. And for sacrifices of peace offerings, two oxen, five rams, five
buck goats, five lambs of a year old.  This was the offering of Eliasaph
the son of Duel.

7:48. The seventh day the prince of the sons of Ephraim, Elisama the
son of Ammiud,

7:49. Offered a silver dish weighing a hundred and thirty sicles, a
silver bowl of seventy sicles according to the weight of the sanctuary,
both full of flour tempered with oil for a sacrifice:

7:50. A little mortar of gold weighing ten sicles full of incense:

7:51. An ox of the herd, and a ram, and a lamb of a year old for a
holocaust:

7:52. And a buck goat for sin:

7:53. And for sacrifices of peace offerings, two oxen, five rams, five
buck goats, five lambs of a year old.  This was the offering of Elisama
the son of Ammiud.

7:54. The eighth day the prince of the sons of Manasses, Gamaliel the
son of Phadassur,

7:55. Offered a silver dish, weighing a hundred and thirty sicles, a
silver bowl of seventy sicles, according to the weight of the
sanctuary, both full of flour tempered with oil for a sacrifice:

7:56. A little mortar of gold weighing ten sicles full of incense:

7:57. An ox of the herd, and a ram, and a lamb of a year old for a
holocaust:

7:58. And a buck goat for sin:

7:59. And for sacrifices of peace offerings, two oxen, five rams, five
buck goats, five lambs of a year old.  This was the offering of Gamaliel
the son of Phadassur.

7:60. The ninth day the prince of the sons of Benjamin, Abidan the son
of Gedeon,

7:61. Offered a silver dish weighing a hundred and thirty sicles, a
silver bowl of seventy sicles by the weight of the sanctuary, both full
of flour tempered with oil for a sacrifice:

7:62. A little mortar of gold weighing ten sicles full of incense:

7:63. An ox of the herd, and a ram, and a lamb of a year old for a
holocaust:

7:64. And a buck goat for sin:

7:65. And for sacrifices of peace offerings, two oxen, five rams, five
buck goats, five lambs of a year old.  This was the offering of Abidan
the son of Gedeon.

7:66. The tenth day the princes of the sons of Dan, Ahiezer the son of
Ammisaddai,

7:67. Offered a silver dish weighing a hundred and thirty sicles, a
silver bowl of seventy sicles, according to the weight of the
sanctuary, both full of flour tempered with oil for a sacrifice:

7:68. A little mortar of gold weighing ten sicles full of incense:

7:69. An ox of the herd, and a ram, and a lamb of a year old for a
holocaust:

7:70. And a buck goat for sin:

7:71. And for sacrifices of peace offerings, two oxen, five rams, five
buck goats, five lambs of a year old.  This was the offering of Ahiezer
the son of Ammisaddai.

7:72. The eleventh day the prince of the sons of Aser, Phegiel the son
of Ochran,

7:73. Offered a silver dish weighing a hundred and thirty sicles, a
silver bowl of seventy sicles, according to the weight of the
sanctuary, both full of flour tempered with oil for a sacrifice:

7:74. A little mortar of gold weighing ten sicles full of incense:

7:75. An ox of the herd, and a ram, and a lamb of a year old for a
holocaust:

7:76. And a buck goat for sin:

7:77. And for sacrifices of peace offerings, two oxen, five rams, five
buck goats, five lambs of a year old.  This was the offering of Phegiel
the son of Ochran.

7:78. The twelfth day the prince of the sons of Nephtali, Ahira the son
of Enan,

7:79. Offered a silver dish weighing a hundred and thirty sicles, a
silver bowl of seventy sicles, according to the weight of the
sanctuary, both full of flour tempered with oil for a sacrifice:

7:80. A little mortar of gold weighing ten sicles full of incense:

7:81. An ox of the herd, and a ram, and a lamb of a year old for a
holocaust:

7:82. And a buck goat for sin:

7:83. And for sacrifices of peace offerings, two oxen, five rams, five
buck goats, five lambs of a year old.  This was the offering of Ahira
the son of Enan.

7:84. These were the offerings made by the princes of Israel in the
dedication of the altar, in the day wherein it was consecrated.  Twelve
dishes of silver:  twelve silver bowls:  twelve little mortars of gold:

7:85. Each dish weighing a hundred and thirty sicles of silver, and
each bowl seventy sicles:  that is, putting all the vessels of silver
together, two thousand four hundred sicles, by the weight of the
sanctuary.

7:86. Twelve little mortars of gold full of incense, weighing ten
sicles apiece, by the weight of the sanctuary:  that is, in all a
hundred and twenty sicles of gold.

7:87. Twelve oxen out of the herd for a holocaust, twelve rams, twelve
lambs of a year old, and their libations:  twelve buck goats for sin.

7:88. And for sacrifices of peace offerings, oxen twenty-four, rams
sixty, buck goats sixty, lambs of a year old sixty.  These things were
offered in the dedication of the altar, when it was anointed.

7:89. And when Moses entered into the tabernacle of the covenant, to
consult the oracle, he heard the voice of one speaking to him from the
propitiatory, that is over the ark between the two cherubims, and from
this place he spoke to him.



Numbers Chapter 8


The seven lamps are placed on the golden candlestick, to shine towards
the loaves of proposition:  the ordination of the Levites:  and to what
age they shall serve in the tabernacle.

8:1. And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying:

8:2. Speak to Aaron, and thou shalt say to him:  When thou shalt place
the seven lamps, let the candlestick be set up on the south side.  Give
orders therefore that the lamps look over against the north, towards
the table of the loaves of proposition, over against that part shall
they give light, towards which the candlestick looketh.

8:3. And Aaron did so, and he put the lamps upon the candlestick, as
the Lord had commanded Moses.

8:4. Now this was the work of the candlestick, it was of beaten gold,
both the shaft in the middle, and all that came out of both sides of
the branches:  according to the pattern which the Lord had shewn to
Moses, so he made the candlestick.

8:5. And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying:

8:6. Take the Levites out of the midst of the children of Israel, and
thou shalt purify them,

8:7. According to this rite:  Let them be sprinkled with the water of
purification, and let them shave all the hairs of their flesh.  And when
they shall have washed their garments, and are cleansed,

Let them be sprinkled with the water of purification. . .This was the
holy water mixed with the ashes of the red cow, Num. 19., appointed for
purifying all that were unclean.  It was a figure of the blood of
Christ, applied to our souls by his holy sacraments.

8:8. They shall take an ox of the herd, and for the offering thereof
fine flour tempered with oil:  and thou shalt take another ox of the
herd for a sin offering:

8:9. And thou shalt bring the Levites before the tabernacle of the
covenant, calling together all the multitude of the children of Israel:

8:10. And when the Levites are before the Lord, the children of Israel
shall put their hands upon them:

8:11. And Aaron shall offer the Levites, as a gift in the sight of the
Lord from the children of Israel, that they may serve in his ministry.

8:12. The Levites also shall put their hands upon the heads of the
oxen, of which thou shalt sacrifice one for sin, and the other for a
holocaust to the Lord, to pray for them.

8:13. And thou shalt set the Levites in the sight of Aaron and of his,
and shalt consecrate them being offered to the Lord,

8:14. And shalt separate them from the midst of the children of Israel,
to be mine.

8:15. And afterwards they shall enter into the tabernacle of the
covenant, to serve me.  And thus shalt thou purify and consecrate them
for an oblation of the Lord:  for as a gift they were given me by the
children of Israel.

8:16. I have taken them instead of the firstborn that open every womb
in Israel,

8:17. For all the firstborn of the children of Israel, both of men and
of beasts, are mine.  From the day that I slew every firstborn in the
land of Egypt, have I sanctified them to myself:

8:18. And I have taken the Levites for all the firstborn of the
children of Israel:

8:19. And have delivered them for a gift to Aaron and his sons out of
the midst of the people, to serve me for Israel in the tabernacle of
the covenant, and to pray for them, lest there should be a plague among
the people, if they should presume to approach unto my sanctuary.

8:20. And Moses and Aaron and all the multitude of the children of
Israel did with the Levites all that the Lord had commanded Moses

8:21. And they were purified, and washed their garments.  And Aaron
lifted them up in the sight of the Lord, and prayed for them,

8:22. That being purified they might go into the tabernacle of the
covenant to do their services before Aaron and his sons.  As the Lord
had commanded Moses touching the Levites, so was it done.

8:23. And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying:

8:24. This is the law of the Levites:  From twenty-five years old and
upwards, they shall go in to minister in the tabernacle of the
covenant.

8:25. And when they shall have accomplished the fiftieth year of their
age, they shall cease to serve:

8:26. And they shall be the ministers of their brethren in the
tabernacle of the covenant, to keep the things that are committed to
their care, but not to do the works.  Thus shalt thou order the Levites
touching their charge.



Numbers Chapter 9


The precept of the pasch is renewed:  the unclean and travellers are to
observe it the second month:  the camp is guided by the pillar of the
cloud.

9:1. The Lord spoke to Moses in the desert of Sinai, the second year
after they were come out of the land of Egypt, in the first month,
saying:

9:2. Let the children of Israel make the phase in its due time,

Make the phase. . .That is, keep the paschal solemnity, and eat the
paschal lamb.

9:3. The fourteenth day of this month in the evening, according to all
the ceremonies and justifications thereof.

9:4. And Moses commanded the children of Israel that they should make
the phase.

9:5. And they made it in its proper time:  the fourteenth day of the
month at evening, in mount Sinai.  The children of Israel did according
to all things that the Lord had commanded Moses.

9:6. But behold some who were unclean by occasion of the soul of a man,
who could not make the phase on that day, coming to Moses and Aaron,

Behold some who were unclean by occasion of the soul of a man,
etc. . .That is, by having touched or come near a dead body, out of which
the soul was departed.

9:7. Said to them:  We are unclean by occasion of the soul of a man.  Why
are we kept back that we may not offer in its season the offering to
the Lord among the children of Israel?

9:8. And Moses answered them:  Stay that I may consult the Lord what he
will ordain concerning you.

9:9. And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying:

9:10. Say to the children of Israel:  The man that shall be unclean by
occasion of one that is dead, or shall be in a journey afar off in your
nation, let him make the phase to the Lord.

9:11. In the second month, on the fourteenth day of the month in the
evening, they shall eat it with unleavened bread and wild lettuce:

9:12. They shall not leave any thing thereof until morning, nor break a
bone thereof, they shall observe all the ceremonies of the phase.

9:13. But if any man is clean, and was not on a journey, and did not
make the phase, that soul shall be cut off from among his people,
because he offered not sacrifice to the Lord in due season:  he shall
bear his sin.

9:14. The sojourner also and the stranger if they be among you, shall
make the phase to the Lord according to the ceremonies and
justifications thereof.  The same ordinances shall be with you both for
the stranger, and for him that was born in the land.

9:15. Now on the day that the tabernacle was reared up, a cloud covered
it.  But from the evening there was over the tabernacle, as it were, the
appearance of fire until the morning.

9:16. So it was always:  by day the cloud covered it, and by night as it
were the appearance of fire.

9:17. And when the cloud that covered the tabernacle was taken up, then
the children of Israel marched forward:  and in the place where the
cloud stood still, there they camped.

9:18. At the commandment of the Lord they marched, and at his
commandment they pitched the tabernacle.  All the days that the cloud
abode over the tabernacle, they remained in the same place:

9:19. And if it was so that it continued over it a long time, the
children of Israel kept the watches of the Lord, and marched not,

9:20. For as many days soever as the cloud stayed over the tabernacle.
At the commandment of the Lord they pitched their tents, and at his
commandment they took them down.

9:21. If the cloud tarried from evening until morning, and immediately
at break of day left the tabernacle, they marched forward:  and if it
departed after a day and a night, they took down their tents.

9:22. But if it remained over the tabernacle for two days or a month or
a longer time, the children of Israel remained in the same place, and
marched not:  but immediately as soon as it departed, they removed the
camp.

9:23. By the word of the Lord they pitched their tents, and by his word
they marched:  and kept the watches of the Lord according to his
commandment by the hand of Moses.



Numbers Chapter 10


The silver trumpets and their use.  They march from Sinai.

10:1. And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying:

10:2. Make thee two trumpets of beaten silver, wherewith thou mayest
call together the multitude when the camp is to be removed.

10:3. And when thou shalt sound the trumpets, all the multitude shall
gather unto thee to the door of the tabernacle of the covenant.

10:4. If thou sound but once, the princes and the heads of the
multitude of Israel shall come to thee.

10:5. But if the sound of the trumpets be longer, and with
interruptions, they that are on the east side, shall first go forward.

10:6. And at the second sounding and like noise of the trumpet, they
who lie on the south side shall take up their tents.  And after this
manner shall the rest do, when the trumpets shall sound for a march.

10:7. But when the people is to be gathered together, the sound of the
trumpets shall be plain, and they shall not make a broken sound.

10:8. And the sons of Aaron the priest shall sound the trumpets:  and
this shall be an ordinance for ever in your generations.

10:9. If you go forth to war out of your land against the enemies that
fight against you, you shall sound aloud with the trumpets, and there
shall be a remembrance of you before the Lord your God, that you may be
delivered out of the hands of your enemies.

10:10. If at any time you shall have a banquet, and on your festival
days, and on the first days of your months, you shall sound the
trumpets over the holocausts, and the sacrifices of peace offerings,
that they may be to you for a remembrance of your God.  I am the Lord
your God.

10:11. The second year, in the second month, the twentieth day of the
month, the cloud was taken up from the tabernacle of the covenant.

10:12. And the children of Israel marched by their troops from the
desert of Sinai, and the cloud rested in the wilderness of Pharan.

10:13. And the first went forward according to the commandment of the
Lord by the hand of Moses.

10:14. The sons of Juda by their troops:  whose prince was Nahasson the
son of Aminadab.

10:15. In the tribe of the sons of Issachar, the prince was Nathanael
the son of Suar.

10:16. In the tribe of Zabulon, the prince was Eliab the son of Helon.

10:17. And the tabernacle was taken down, and the sons of Gerson and
Merari set forward, bearing it.

10:18. And the sons of Ruben also marched, by their troops and ranks,
whose prince was Helisur the son of Sedeur.

10:19. And in the tribe of Simeon, the prince was Salamiel the son of
Surisaddai.

10:20. And in the tribe of Gad, the prince was Eliasaph the son of
Duel.

10:21. Then the Caathites also marched carrying the sanctuary.  So long
was the tabernacle carried, till they came to the place of setting it
up.

10:22. The sons of Ephraim also moved their camp by their troops, in
whose army the prince was Elisama the son of Ammiud.

10:23. And in the tribe of the sons of Manasses, the prince was
Gamaliel the son of Phadassur.

10:24. And in the tribe of Benjamin, the prince was Abidan the son of
Gedeon.

10:25. The last of all the camp marched the sons of Dan by their
troops, in whose army the prince was Ahiezer the son of Ammisaddai.

10:26. And in the tribe of the sons of Aser, the prince was Phegiel the
son of Ochran.

10:27. And in the tribe of the sons of Nephtali, the prince was Ahira
the son of Enan.

10:28. This was the order of the camps, and marches of the children of
Israel by their troops, when they set forward.

10:29. And Moses said to Hobab the son of Raguel the Madianite, his
kinsman:  We are going towards the place which the Lord will give us:
come with us, that we may do thee good:  for the Lord hath promised good
things to Israel.

10:30. But he answered him:  I will not go with thee, but I will return
to my country, wherein I was born.

10:31. And he said:  Do not leave us:  for thou knowest in what places we
should encamp in the wilderness, and thou shalt be our guide.

10:32. And if thou comest with us, we will give thee what is the best
of the riches which the Lord shall deliver to us.

10:33. So they marched from the mount of the Lord three days' journey,
and the ark of the covenant of the Lord went before them, for three
days providing a place for the camp.

10:34. The cloud also of the Lord was over them by day when they
marched.

10:35. And when the ark was lifted up, Moses said:  Arise, O Lord, and
let thy enemies be scattered, and let them that hate thee, flee from
before thy face.

10:36. And when it was set down, he said:  Return, O Lord, to the
multitude of the host of Israel.



Numbers Chapter 11


The people murmur and are punished with fire.  God appointeth seventy
ancients for assistants to Moses.  They prophesy.  The people have their
fill of flesh, but forthwith many die of the plague.

11:1. In the mean time there arose a murmuring of the people against
the Lord, as it were repining at their fatigue.  And when the Lord heard
it he was angry.  And the fire of the Lord being kindled against them,
devoured them that were at the uttermost part of the camp.

11:2. And when the people cried to Moses, Moses prayed to the Lord, and
the fire was swallowed up.

11:3. And he called the name of that place, The burning:  for that the
fire of the Lord had been kindled against them.

The burning. . .Hebrew, Taberah.

11:4. For a mixt multitude of people, that came up with them, burned
with desire, sitting and weeping, the children of Israel also being
joined with them, and said:  Who shall give us flesh to eat?

A mixt multitude. . .These were people that came with them out of Egypt,
who were not of the race of Israel; who, by their murmuring, drew also
the children of Israel to murmur:  this should teach us the danger of
associating ourselves with the children of Egypt, that is, with the
lovers and admirers of this wicked world.

11:5. We remember the fish that we ate in Egypt free cost:  the
cucumbers come into our mind, and the melons, and the leeks, and the
onions, and the garlic.

11:6. Our soul is dry, our eyes behold nothing else but manna.

11:7. Now the manna was like coriander seed, of the colour of bdellium.

Bdellium. . .Bdellium, according to Pliny, 1.21, c. 9. was of the colour
of a man's nail, white and bright.

11:8. And the people went about, and gathering it, ground it in a mill,
or beat it in a mortar, and boiled it in a pot, and made cakes thereof
of the taste of bread tempered with oil.

11:9. And when the dew fell in the night upon the camp, the manna also
fell with it.

11:10. Now Moses heard the people weeping by their families, every one
at the door of his tent.  And the wrath of the Lord was exceedingly
enkindled:  to Moses also the thing seemed insupportable.

11:11. And he said to the Lord:  Why hast thou afflicted thy servant?
Wherefore do I not find favour before thee?  And why hast thou laid the
weight of all this people upon me?

11:12. Have I conceived all this multitude, or begotten them, that thou
shouldst say to me:  Carry them in thy bosom as the nurse is wont to
carry the little infant, and bear them into the land, for which thou
hast sworn to their fathers?

11:13. Whence should I have flesh to give to so great a multitude?  They
weep against me, saying:  Give us flesh that we may eat.

11:14. I am not able alone to bear all this people, because it is too
heavy for me.

11:15. But if it seem unto thee otherwise, I beseech thee to kill me,
and let me find grace in thy eyes, that I be not afflicted with so
great evils.

11:16. And the Lord said to Moses:  Gather unto me seventy men of the
ancients of Israel, whom thou knowest to be ancients and masters of the
people:  and thou shalt bring them to the door of the tabernacle of the
covenant, and shalt make them stand there with thee,

Seventy men. . .This was the first institution of the council or senate,
called the Sanhedrin, consisting of seventy or seventy-two senators or
counsellors.

11:17. That I may come down and speak with thee:  and I will take of thy
spirit, and will give to them, that they may bear with thee the burden
of the people, and thou mayest not be burthened alone.

11:18. And thou shalt say to the people:  Be ye sanctified:  to morrow
you shall eat flesh:  for I have heard you say:  Who will give us flesh
to eat?  It was well with us in Egypt.  That the Lord may give you flesh,
and you may eat:

11:19. Not for one day, nor two, nor five, nor ten, no nor for twenty.

11:20. But even for a month of days, till it come out at your nostrils,
and become loathsome to you, because you have cast off the Lord, who is
in the midst of you, and have wept before him, saying:  Why came we out
of Egypt?

11:21. And Moses said:  There are six hundred thousand footmen of this
people, and sayest thou:  I will give them flesh to eat a whole month?

11:22. Shall then a multitude of sheep and oxen be killed, that it may
suffice for their food?  or shall the fishes of the sea be gathered
together to fill them?

11:23. And the Lord answered him:  Is the hand of the Lord unable?  Thou
shalt presently see whether my word shall come to pass or no.

11:24. Moses therefore came, and told the people the words of the Lord,
and assembled seventy men of the ancients of Israel, and made them to
stand about the tabernacle.

11:25. And the Lord came down in a cloud, and spoke to him, taking away
of the spirit that was in Moses, and giving to the seventy men.  And
when the spirit had rested on them they prophesied, nor did they cease
afterwards.

11:26. Now there remained in the camp two of the men, of whom one was
called Eldad, and the other Medad, upon whom the spirit rested; for
they also had been enrolled, but were not gone forth to the tabernacle.

11:27. And when they prophesied in the camp, there ran a young man, and
told Moses, saying:  Eldad and Medad prophesy in the camp.

11:28. Forthwith Josue the son of Nun, the minister of Moses, and
chosen out of many, said:  My lord Moses forbid them.

11:29. But he said:  Why hast thou emulation for me?  O that all the
people might prophesy, and that the Lord would give them his spirit!

11:30. And Moses returned, with the ancients of Israel, into the camp.

11:31. And a wind going out from the Lord, taking quails up beyond the
sea brought them, and cast them into the camp for the space of one
day's journey, on every side of the camp round about, and they flew in
the air two cubits high above the ground.

11:32. The people therefore rising up all that day, and night, and the
next day, gathered together of quails, he that did least, ten cores:
and they dried them round about the camp.

11:33. As yet the flesh was between their teeth, neither had that kind
of meat failed:  when behold the wrath of the Lord being provoked
against the people, struck them with an exceeding great plague.

11:34. And that place was called, The graves of lust:  for there they
buried the people that had lusted.  And departing from the graves of
lust, they came unto Haseroth, and abode there.

The graves of lust. . .Or, the sepulchres of concupiscence:  so called
from their irregular desire of flesh.  In Hebrew, Kibroth.  Hattaavah.



Numbers Chapter 12


Mary and Aaron murmur against Moses, whom God praiseth above other
prophets.  Mary being struck with leprosy, Aaron confesseth his fault.
Moses prayeth for her, and after seven days' separation from the camp,
she is restored.

12:1. And Mary and Aaron spoke against Moses, because of his wife the
Ethiopian,

Ethiopian. . .Sephora the wife of Moses was of Madian, which bordered
upon the land of Chus or Ethiopia:  where note, that the Ethiopia here
spoken of is not that of Africa but that of Arabia.

12:2. And they said:  Hath the Lord spoken by Moses only?  Hath he not
also spoken to us in like manner?  And when the Lord heard this,

12:3. (For Moses was a man exceeding meek above all men that dwelt upon
earth)

Exceeding meek. . .Moses being the meekest of men, would not contend for
himself; therefore, God inspired him to write here his own defence:  and
the Holy Spirit, whose dictate he wrote, obliged him to declare the
truth, though it was so much to his own praise.

12:4. Immediately he spoke to him, and to Aaron and Mary:  Come out you
three only to the tabernacle of the covenant.  And when they were come
out,

12:5. The Lord came down in a pillar of the cloud, and stood in the
entry of the tabernacle calling to Aaron and Mary.  And when they were
come,

12:6. He said to them:  Hear my words:  if there be among you a prophet
of the Lord, I will appear to him in a vision, or I will speak to him
in a dream.

12:7. But it is not so with my servant Moses who is most faithful in
all my house:

12:8. For I speak to him mouth to mouth:  and plainly, and not by
riddles and figures doth he see the Lord.  Why then were you not afraid
to speak ill of my servant Moses?

12:9. And being angry with them he went away:

12:10. The cloud also that was over the tabernacle departed:  and behold
Mary appeared white as snow with a leprosy.  And when Aaron had looked
on her, and saw her all covered with leprosy,

12:11. He said to Moses:  I beseech thee, my lord, lay not upon us this
sin, which we have foolishly committed:

12:12. Let her not be as one dead, and as an abortive that is cast
forth from the mother's womb.  Lo, now one half of her flesh is consumed
with the leprosy.

12:13. And Moses cried to the Lord, saying O God, I beseech thee heal
her.

12:14. And the Lord answered him:  If her father had spitten upon her
face, ought she not to have been ashamed for seven days at least?  Let
her be separated seven days without the camp, and afterwards she shall
be called again.

12:15. Mary therefore was put out of the camp seven days:  and the
people moved not from that place until Mary was called again.



Numbers Chapter 13


The twelve spies are sent to view the land.  The relation they make of
it.

13:1. And the people marched from Haseroth, and pitched their tents in
the desert of Pharan.

13:2. And there the Lord spoke to Moses, saying.

13:3. Send men to view the land of Chanaan, which I will give to the
children of Israel, one of every tribe, of the rulers.

13:4. Moses did what the Lord had commanded, sending from the desert of
Pharan, principal men, whose names are these:

13:5. Of the tribe of Ruben, Sammua the son of Zechur.

13:6. Of the tribe of Simeon, Saphat the son of Huri.

13:7. Of the tribe of Juda, Caleb the son of Jephone.

13:8. Of the tribe of Issachar, Igal the son of Joseph.

13:9. Of the tribe of Ephraim, Osee the son of Nun.

13:10. Of the tribe of Benjamin, Phalti the son of Raphu.

13:11. Of the tribe of Zabulon, Geddiel the son of Sodi.

13:12. Of the tribe of Joseph, of the sceptre of Manasses, Gaddi the
son of Susi.

13:13. Of the tribe of Dan, Ammiel the son of Gemalli.

13:14. Of the tribe of Aser, Sthur the son of Michael.

13:15. Of the tribe of Nephtali, Nahabi the son of Vapsi.

13:16. Of the tribe of Gad, Guel the son of Machi.

13:17. These are the names of the men, whom Moses sent to view the
land:  and he called Osee the son of Nun, Josue.

13:18. And Moses sent them to view the land of Chanaan, and said to
them:  Go you up by the south side.  And when you shall come to the
mountains,

13:19. View the land, of what sort it is, and the people that are the
inhabitants thereof, whether they be strong or weak:  few in number or
many:

13:20. The land itself, whether it be good or bad:  what manner of
cities, walled or without walls:

13:21. The ground, fat or barren, woody or without trees.  Be of good
courage, and bring us of the fruits of the land.  Now it was the time
when the firstripe grapes are fit to be eaten.

13:22. And when they were gone up, they viewed the land from the desert
of Sin, unto Rohob as you enter into Emath.

13:23. And they went up at the south side, and came to Hebron, where
were Achiman and Sisai and Tholmai the sons of Enac.  For Hebron was
built seven years before Tanis the city of Egypt.

13:24. And forward as far as the torrent of the cluster of grapes, they
cut off a branch with its cluster of grapes, which two men carried upon
a lever.  They took also of the pomegranates and of the figs of that
place:

13:25. Which was called Nehelescol, that is to say, the torrent of the
cluster of grapes, because from thence the children of Israel had
carried a cluster of grapes.

13:26. And they that went to spy out the land returned after forty
days, having gone round all the country,

13:27. And came to Moses and Aaron and to all the assembly of the
children of Israel to the desert of Pharan, which is in Cades.  And
speaking to them and to all the multitude, they shewed them the fruits
of the land:

13:28. And they related and said:  We came into the land to which thou
sentest us, which in very deed floweth with milk and honey as may be
known by these fruits:

13:29. But it hath very strong inhabitants, and the cities are great
and walled.  We saw there the race of Enac.

13:30. Amalec dwelleth in the south, the Hethite and the Jebusite and
the Amorrhite in the mountains:  but the Chanaanite abideth by the sea
and near the streams of the Jordan.

13:31. In the mean time Caleb, to still the murmuring of the people
that rose against Moses, said:  Let us go up and possess the land, for
we shall be able to conquer it.

13:32. But the others, that had been with him, said:  No, we are not
able to go up to this people, because they are stronger than we.

13:33. And they spoke ill of the land, which they had viewed, before
the children of Israel, saying:  The land which we have viewed,
devoureth its inhabitants:  the people, that we beheld are of a tall
stature.

Spoke ill, etc. . .These men, who by their misrepresentations of the
land of promise, discouraged the Israelites from attempting the
conquest of it, were a figure of worldlings, who, by decrying or
misrepresenting true devotion, discourage Christians from seeking in
earnest and acquiring so great a good, and thereby securing to
themselves a happy eternity.

13:34. There we saw certain monsters of the sons of Enac, of the giant
kind:  in comparison of whom, we seemed like locusts.



Numbers Chapter 14


The people murmur.  God threateneth to destroy them.  He is appeased by
Moses, yet so as to exclude the murmurers from entering the promised
land.  The authors of the sedition are struck dead.  The rest going to
fight against the will of God are beaten.

14:1. Therefore the whole multitude crying wept that night.

14:2. And all the children of Israel murmured against Moses and Aaron,
saying:

14:3. Would God that we had died in Egypt:  and would God we may die in
this vast wilderness, and that the Lord may not bring us into this
land, lest we fall by the sword, and our wives and children be led away
captives.  Is it not better to return into Egypt?

14:4. And they said one to another:  Let us appoint a captain, and let
us return into Egypt.

14:5. And when Moses and Aaron heard this, they fell down flat upon the
ground before the multitude of the children of Israel.

14:6. But Josue the son of Nun, and Caleb the son of Jephone, who
themselves also had viewed the land, rent their garments,

14:7. And said to all the multitude of the children of Israel:  The land
which we have gone round is very good:

14:8. If the Lord be favourable, he will bring us into it, and give us
a land flowing with milk and honey.

14:9. Be not rebellious against the Lord:  and fear ye not the people of
this land, for we are able to eat them up as bread.  All aid is gone
from them:  the Lord is with us, fear ye not.

14:10. And when all the multitude cried out, and would have stoned
them, the glory of the Lord appeared over the tabernacle of the
covenant to all the children of Israel.

14:11. And the Lord said to Moses:  How long will this people detract
me?  how long will they not believe me for all the signs that I have
wrought before them?

14:12. I will strike them therefore with pestilence, and will consume
them:  but thee I will make a ruler over a great nation, and a mightier
than this is.

14:13. And Moses said to the Lord:  That the Egyptians, from the midst
of whom thou hast brought forth this people,

14:14. And the inhabitants of this land, (who have heard that thou, O
Lord, art among this people, and art seen face to face, and thy cloud
protecteth them, and thou goest before them in a pillar of a cloud by
day, and in a pillar of fire by night,)

14:15. May hear that thou hast killed so great a multitude as it were
one man and may say:

14:16. He could not bring the people into the land for which he had
sworn, therefore did he kill them in the wilderness.

14:17. Let then the strength of the Lord be magnified, as thou hast
sworn, saying:

14:18. The Lord is patient and full of mercy, by taking away iniquity
and wickedness, and leaving no man clear, who visitest the sins of the
fathers upon the children unto the third and fourth generation.

Clear. . .i.  e., who deserves punishment.

14:19. Forgive, I beseech thee, the sins of this people, according to
the greatness of thy mercy, as thou hast been merciful to them from
their going out of Egypt unto this place.

14:20. And the Lord said:  I have forgiven according to thy word.

14:21. As I live:  and the whole earth shall be filled with the glory of
the Lord.

14:22. But yet all the men that have seen my majesty, and the signs
that I have done in Egypt, and in the wilderness, and have tempted me
now ten times, and have not obeyed my voice,

14:23. Shall not see the land for which I swore to their fathers,
neither shall any one of them that hath detracted me behold it.

14:24. My servant Caleb, who being full of another spirit hath followed
me, I will bring into this land which he hath gone round:  and his seed
shall possess it.

14:25. For the Amalecite and the Chanaanite dwell in the valleys.  To
morrow remove the camp, and return into the wilderness by the way of
the Red Sea.

14:26. And the Lord spoke to Moses and Aaron, saying:

14:27. How long doth this wicked multitude murmur against me?  I have
heard the murmurings of the children of Israel.

14:28. Say therefore to them:  As I live, saith the Lord:  According as
you have spoken in my hearing, so will I do to you.

14:29. In the wilderness shall your carcasses lie.  All you that were
numbered from twenty years old and upward, and have murmured against
me,

14:30. Shall not enter into the land, over which I lifted up my hand to
make you dwell therein, except Caleb the son of Jephone, and Josue the
son of Nun.

14:31. But your children, of whom you said, that they should be a prey
to the enemies, will I bring in:  that they may see the land which you
have despised.

14:32. Your carcasses shall lie in the wilderness.

14:33. Your children shall wander in the desert forty years, and shall
bear your fornication, until the carcasses of their fathers be consumed
in the desert,

Shall bear your fornication. . .That is, shall bear the punishment of
your disloyalty to God, which in the scripture language is here called
a fornication, in a spiritual sense.

14:34. According to the number of the forty days, wherein you viewed
the land:  a year shall be counted for a day.  And forty years you shall
receive your iniquities, and shall know my revenge:

14:35. For as I have spoken, so will I do to all this wicked multitude,
that hath risen up together against me:  in this wilderness shall it
faint away and die.

14:36. Therefore all the men, whom Moses had sent to view the land, and
who at their return had made the whole multitude to murmur against him,
speaking ill of the land that it was naught,

14:37. Died and were struck in the sight of the Lord.

14:38. But Josue the son of Nun, and Caleb had gone to view the land.

14:39. And Moses spoke all these words to all the children of Israel,
and the people mourned exceedingly.

14:40. And behold rising up very early in the morning, they went up to
the top of the mountain, and said:  We are ready to go up to the place,
of which the Lord hath spoken:  for we have sinned.

14:41. And Moses said to them:  Why transgress you the word of the Lord,
which shall not succeed prosperously with you?

14:42. Go not up, for the Lord is not with you:  lest you fall before
your enemies.

14:43. The Amalecite and the Chanaanite are before you, and by their
sword you shall fall, because you would not consent to the Lord,
neither will the Lord be with you.

14:44. But they being blinded went up to the top of the mountain.  But
the ark of the testament of the Lord and Moses departed not from the
camp.

14:45. And the Amalecite came down, and the Chanaanite that dwelt in
the mountain:  and smiting and slaying them pursued them as far as
Horma.



Numbers Chapter 15


Certain laws concerning sacrifices.  Sabbath breaking is punished with
death.  The law of fringes on their garments.

15:1. And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying:

15:2. Speak to the children of Israel and thou shalt say to them:  When
you shall be come unto the land of your habitation, which I will give
you,

15:3. And shall make an offering to the Lord, for a holocaust, or a
victim, paying your vows, or voluntarily offering gifts, or in your
solemnities burning a sweet savour unto the Lord, of oxen or of sheep:

15:4. Whosoever immolateth the victim, shall offer a sacrifice of fine
flour, the tenth part of an ephi, tempered with the fourth part of a
hin of oil:

15:5. And he shall give the same measure of wine to pour out in
libations for the holocaust or for the victim.  For every lamb,

15:6. And for every ram there shall be a sacrifice of flour of two
tenths, which shall be tempered with the third part of a hin of oil:

15:7. And he shall offer the third part the same measure of wine for
the libation, for a sweet savour to the Lord.

15:8. But when thou offerest a holocaust or sacrifice of oxen, to
fulfil thy vow or for victims of peace offerings,

15:9. Thou shalt give for every ox three tenths of flour tempered with
half a hin of oil,

15:10. And wine for libations of the same measure, for an offering of
most sweet savour to the Lord.

15:11. Thus shalt thou do

15:12. For every ox and ram and lamb and kid.

15:13. Both they that are born in the land, and the strangers

15:14. Shall offer sacrifices after the same rite.

15:15. There shall be all one law and judgment both for you and for
them who are strangers in the land.

15:16. And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying:

15:17. Speak to the children of Israel, and thou shalt say to them:

15:18. When you are come into the land which I will give you,

15:19. And shall eat of the bread of that country, you shall separate
firstfruits to the Lord,

15:20. Of the things you eat.  As you separate firstfruits of your
barnfloors:

15:21. So also shall you give firstfruits of your dough to the Lord.

15:22. And if through ignorance you omit any of these things, which the
Lord hath spoken to Moses,

15:23. And by him hath commanded you from the day that he began to
command and thenceforward,

15:24. And the multitude have forgotten to do it:  they shall offer a
calf out of the herd, a holocaust for a most sweet savour to the Lord,
and the sacrifice and libations thereof, as the ceremonies require, and
a buck goat for sin:

15:25. And the priest shall pray for all the multitude of the children
of Israel:  and it shall be forgiven them, because they sinned
ignorantly, offering notwithstanding a burnt offering to the Lord for
themselves and for their sin and their Ignorance:

15:26. And it shall be forgiven all the people of the children of
Israel:  and the strangers that sojourn among them:  because it is the
fault of all the people through ignorance.

15:27. But if one soul shall sin ignorantly, he shall offer a she goat
of a year old for his sin.

15:28. And the priest shall pray for him, because he sinned ignorantly
before the Lord:  and he shall obtain his pardon, and it shall be
forgiven him.

15:29. The same law shall be for all that sin by ignorance, whether
they be natives or strangers.

15:30. But the soul that committeth any thing through pride, whether he
be born in the land or a stranger (because he hath been rebellious
against the Lord) shall be cut off from among his people:

15:31. For he hath contemned the word of the Lord, and made void his
precept:  therefore shall he be destroyed, and shall bear his iniquity.

15:32. And it came to pass, when the children of Israel were in the
wilderness, and had found a man gathering sticks on the sabbath day,

15:33. That they brought him to Moses and Aaron and the whole
multitude.

15:34. And they put him into prison, not knowing what they should do
with him.

15:35. And the Lord said to Moses:  Let that man die, let all the
multitude stone him without the camp.

15:36. And when they had brought him out, they stoned him, and he died
as the Lord had commanded.

15:37. The Lord also said to Moses:

15:38. Speak to the children of Israel, and thou shalt tell them to
make to themselves fringes in the corners of their garments, putting in
them ribands of blue:

Fringes. . .The Pharisees enlarged these fringes through hypocrisy,
Matt. 23.5, to appear more zealous than other men for the law of God.

15:39. That when they shall see them, they may remember all the
commandments of the Lord, and not follow their own thoughts and eyes
going astray after divers things,

15:40. But rather being mindful of the precepts of the Lord, may do
them and be holy to their God.

15:41. I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of the land of
Egypt, that I might be your God.



Numbers Chapter 16


The schism of Core and his adherents:  their punishment.

16:1. And behold Core the son of Isaar, the son of Caath, the son of
Levi, and Dathan and Abiron the sons of Eliab, and Hon the son of
Pheleth of the children of Ruben,

16:2. Rose up against Moses, and with them two hundred and fifty others
of the children of Israel, leading men of the synagogue, and who in the
time of assembly were called by name.

Rose up. . .The crime of these men, which was punished in so remarkable
a manner, was that of schism, and of rebellion against the authority
established by God in the church; and their pretending to the
priesthood without being lawfully called and sent:  the same is the case
of all modern sectaries.

16:3. And when they had stood up against Moses and Aaron, they said:
Let it be enough for you, that all the multitude consisteth of holy
ones, and the Lord is among them:  Why lift you up yourselves above the
people of the Lord?

16:4. When Moses heard this, he fell flat on his face:

16:5. And speaking to Core and all the multitude, he said:  In the
morning the Lord will make known who belong to him, and the holy he
will join to himself:  and whom he shall choose, they shall approach to
him.

16:6. Do this therefore:  Take every man of you your censers, thou Core,
and all thy company.

16:7. And putting fire in them to morrow, put incense upon it before
the Lord:  and whomsoever he shall choose, the same shall be holy:  you
take too much upon you, ye sons of Levi.

16:8. And he said again to Core:  Hear ye sons of Levi.

16:9. Is it a small thing unto you, that the God of Israel hath spared
you from all the people, and joined you to himself, that you should
serve him in the service of the tabernacle, and should stand before the
congregation of the people, and should minister to him?

16:10. Did he therefore make thee and all thy brethren the sons of Levi
to approach unto him, that you should challenge to yourselves the
priesthood also,

16:11. And that all thy company should stand against the Lord?  for what
is Aaron that you murmur against him?

16:12. Then Moses sent to call Dathan and Abiron the sons of Eliab.  But
they answered:  We will not come.

16:13. Is it a small matter to thee, that thou hast brought us out of a
land that flowed with milk and honey, to kill us in the desert, except
thou rule also like a lord over us?

16:14. Thou hast brought us indeed into a land that floweth with rivers
of milk and honey, and hast given us possessions of fields and
vineyards; wilt thou also pull out our eyes?  We will not come.

16:15. Moses therefore being very angry, said to the Lord:  Respect not
their sacrifices:  thou knowest that I have not taken of them so much as
a young ass at any time, nor have injured any of them.

Very angry. . .This anger was a zeal against sin; and an indignation at
the affront offered to God; like that which the same holy prophet
conceived upon the sight of the golden calf, Ex. 32.19.

16:16. And he said to Core:  Do thou and thy congregation stand apart
before the Lord to morrow, and Aaron apart.

16:17. Take every one of you censers, and put incense upon them,
offering to the Lord two hundred and fifty censers:  let Aaron also hold
his censer.

16:18. When they had done this, Moses and Aaron standing,

16:19. And had drawn up all the multitude against them to the door of
the tabernacle, the glory of the Lord appeared to them all.

16:20. And the Lord speaking to Moses and Aaron, said:

16:21. Separate yourselves from among this congregation, that I may
presently destroy them.

16:22. They fell flat on their face, and said:  O most mighty, the God
of the spirits of all flesh, for one man's sin shall thy wrath rage
against all?

16:23. And the Lord said to Moses:

16:24. Command the whole people to separate themselves from the tents
of Core and Dathan and Abiron.

16:25. And Moses arose, and went to Dathan and Abiron:  and the ancients
of Israel following him,

16:26. He said to the multitude:  Depart from the tents of these wicked
men, and touch nothing of theirs, lest you be involved in their sins.

16:27. And when they were departed from their tents round about, Dathan
and Abiron coming out stood in the entry of their pavilions with their
wives and children, and all the people.

16:28. And Moses said:  By this you shall know that the Lord hath sent
me to do all things that you see, and that I have not forged them of my
own head:

16:29. If these men die the common death of men, and if they be visited
with a plague, wherewith others also are wont to be visited, the Lord
did not send me.

16:30. But if the Lord do a new thing, and the earth opening her mouth
swallow them down, and all things that belong to them, and they go down
alive into hell, you shall know that they have blasphemed the Lord.

16:31. And immediately as he had made an end of speaking, the earth
broke asunder under their feet:

16:32. And opening her mouth, devoured them with their tents and all
their substance.

16:33. And they went down alive into hell, the ground closing upon
them, and they perished from among the people.

16:34. But all Israel, that was standing round about, fled at the cry
of them that were perishing:  saying:  Lest perhaps the earth swallow us
up also.

16:35. And a fire coming out from the Lord, destroyed the two hundred
and fifty men that offered the incense.

16:36. And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying:

16:37. Command Eleazar the son of Aaron the priest to take up the
censers that lie in the burning, and to scatter the fire of one side
and the other:  because they are sanctified

16:38. In the deaths of the sinners:  and let him beat them into plates,
and fasten them to the altar, because incense hath been offered in them
to the Lord, and they are sanctified, that the children of Israel may
see them for a sign and a memorial.

16:39. Then Eleazar the priest took the brazen censers, wherein they
had offered, whom the burning fire had devoured, and beat them into
plates, fastening them to the altar:

16:40. That the children of Israel might have for the time to come
wherewith they should be admonished, that no stranger or any one that
is not of the seed of Aaron should come near to offer incense to the
Lord, lest he should suffer as Core suffered, and all his congregation,
according as the Lord spoke to Moses.

16:41. The following day all the multitude of the children of Israel
murmured against Moses and Aaron, saying:  You have killed the people of
the Lord.

16:42. And when there arose a sedition, and the tumult increased,

16:43. Moses and Aaron fled to the tabernacle of the covenant.  And when
they were gone into it, the cloud covered it, and the glory of the Lord
appeared.

16:44. And the Lord said to Moses:

16:45. Get you out from the midst of this multitude, this moment will I
destroy them.  And as they were lying on the ground,

16:46. Moses said to Aaron:  Take the censer, and putting fire in it
from the altar, put incense upon it, and go quickly to the people to
pray for them:  for already wrath is gone out from the Lord, and the
plague rageth.

16:47. When Aaron had done this, and had run to the midst of the
multitude which the burning fire was now destroying, he offered the
incense:

16:48. And standing between the dead and the living, he prayed for the
people, and the plague ceased.

16:49. And the number of them that were slain was fourteen thousand and
seven hundred men, besides them that had perished in the sedition of
Core.

16:50. And Aaron returned to Moses to the door of the tabernacle of the
covenant after the destruction was over.



Numbers Chapter 17


The priesthood is confirmed to Aaron by the miracle of the blooming of
his rod, which is kept for a monument in the tabernacle.

17:1. And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying:

17:2. Speak to the children of Israel, and take of every one of them a
rod by their kindreds, of all the princes of the tribes, twelve rods,
and write the name of every man upon his rod.

17:3. And the name of Aaron shall be for the tribe of Levi, and one rod
shall contain all their families:

17:4. And thou shalt lay them up in the tabernacle of the covenant
before the testimony, where I will speak to thee.

17:5. Whomsoever of these I shall choose, his rod shall blossom:  and I
will make to cease from me the murmurings of the children of Israel,
wherewith they murmur against you.

17:6. And Moses spoke to the children of Israel:  and all the princes
gave him rods one for every tribe:  and there were twelve rods besides
the rod of Aaron.

17:7. And when Moses had Laid them up before the Lord in the tabernacle
of the testimony:

17:8. He returned on the following day, and found that the rod of Aaron
for the house of Levi, was budded:  and that the buds swelling it hid
bloomed blossoms, which spreading the leaves, were formed into almonds.

The rod of Aaron for the house of Levi, was budded, etc. . .This rod of
Aaron which thus miraculously brought forth fruit, was a figure of the
blessed Virgin conceiving and bringing forth her Son without any
prejudice to her virginity.

17:9. Moses therefore brought out all the rods from before the Lord to
all the children of Israel:  and they saw, and every one received their
rods.

17:10. And the Lord said to Moses:  Carry back the rod of Aaron into the
tabernacle of the testimony, that it may be kept there for a token of
the rebellious children of Israel, and that their complaints may cease
from me lest they die.

17:11. And Moses did as the Lord had commanded.

17:12. And the children of Israel said to Moses:  Behold we are
consumed, we all perish.

17:13. Whosoever approacheth to the tabernacle of the Lord, he dieth.
Are we all to a man to be utterly destroyed?



Numbers Chapter 18


The charge of the priests and of the Levites, and their portion.

18:1. And the Lord said to Aaron:  Thou, and thy sons, and thy father's
house with thee shall bear the iniquity of the sanctuary:  and thou and
thy sons with thee shall bear the sins of your priesthood.

Thou, and thy father's house with thee, shall bear the iniquity of the
sanctuary. . .That is, you shall be punished if, through negligence or
want of due attention, you err in the discharge of the sacred functions
for which you were ordained.

18:2. And take with thee thy brethren also of the tribe of Levi, and
the sceptre of thy father, and let them be ready in hand, and minister
to thee:  but thou and thy sons shall minister in the tabernacle of the
testimony.

18:3. And the Levites shall watch to do thy commands, and about all the
works of the tabernacle:  only they shall not come nigh the vessels of
the sanctuary nor the altar, lest both they die, and you also perish
with them.

18:4. But let them be with thee, and watch in the charge of the
tabernacle, and in all the ceremonies thereof.  A stranger shall not
join himself with you.

18:5. Watch ye in the charge of the sanctuary, and in the ministry of
the altar:  lest indignation rise upon the children of Israel.

18:6. I have given you your brethren the Levites from among the
children of Israel, and have delivered them for a gift to the Lord, to
serve in the ministries of the tabernacle.

18:7. But thou and thy sons look ye to the priesthood:  and all things
that pertain to the service of the altar, and that are within the veil,
shall be executed by the priests.  If any stranger shall approach, he
shall be slain.

18:8. And the Lord said to Aaron:  Behold I have given thee the charge
of my firstfruits.  All things that are sanctified by the children of
Israel, I have delivered to thee and to thy sons for the priestly
office, by everlasting ordinances.

18:9. These therefore shalt thou take of the things that are
sanctified, and are offered to the Lord.  Every offering, and sacrifice,
and whatsoever is rendered to me for sin and for trespass, and becometh
holy of holies, shall be for thee and thy sons.

18:10. Thou shalt eat it in the sanctuary:  the males only shall eat
thereof, because it is a consecrated thing to thee.

18:11. But the firstfruits, which the children of Israel shall vow and
offer, I have given to thee, and to thy sons, and to thy daughters, by
a perpetual law.  He that is clean in thy house, shall eat them.

18:12. All the best of the oil, and of the wine, and of the corn,
whatsoever firstfruits they offer to the Lord, I have given them to
thee.

18:13. All the firstripe of the fruits, that the ground bringeth forth,
and which are brought to the Lord, shall be for thy use:  he that is
clean in thy house, shall eat them.

18:14. Every thing that the children of Israel shall give by vow, shall
be thine.

18:15. Whatsoever is firstborn of all flesh, which they offer to the
Lord, whether it be of men, or of beasts, shall belong to thee:  only
for the firstborn of man thou shalt take a price, and every beast that
is unclean thou shalt cause to be redeemed,

18:16. And the redemption of it shall be after one month, for five
sicles of silver, by the weight of the sanctuary.  A sicle hath twenty
obols.

18:17. But the firstling of a cow, and of a sheep and of a goat thou
shalt not cause to be redeemed, because they are sanctified to the
Lord.  Their blood only thou shalt pour upon the altar, and their fat
thou shalt burn for a most sweet odour to the Lord.

18:18. But the flesh shall fall to thy use, as the consecrated breast,
and the right shoulder shall be thine.

18:19. All the firstfruits of the sanctuary which the children of
Israel offer to the Lord, I have given to thee and to thy sons and
daughters, by a perpetual ordinance.  It is a covenant of salt for ever
before the Lord, to thee and to thy sons.

A covenant of salt. . .It is a proverbial expression, signifying a
covenant not to be altered or corrupted; as salt is used to keep things
from corruption; a covenant perpetual, like that by which it was
appointed, that salt should be used in every sacrifice.  Lev. 2.

18:20. And the Lord said to Aaron:  You shall possess nothing in their
land, neither shall you have a portion among them:  I am thy portion and
inheritance in the midst of the children of Israel.

18:21. And I have given to the sons of Levi all the tithes of Israel
for a possession, for the ministry wherewith they serve me in the
tabernacle of the covenant:

18:22. That the children of Israel may not approach any more to the
tabernacle, nor commit deadly sin,

Deadly sin. . .That is, sin which will bring death after it.

18:23. But only the sons of Levi may serve me in the tabernacle, and
bear the sins of the people.  It shall be an everlasting ordinance in
your generations.  They shall not possess any other thing,

18:24. But be content with the oblation or tithes, which I have
separated for their uses and necessities.

18:25. And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying:

18:26. Command the Levites, and declare unto them:  When you shall
receive of the children of Israel the tithes, which I have given you,
offer the firstfruits of them to the Lord, that is to say, the tenth
part of the tenth:

18:27. That it may be reckoned to you as an oblation of firstfruits, as
well of the barnfloors as of the winepresses:

18:28. And of all the things of which you receive tithes, offer the
firstfruits to the Lord, and give them to Aaron the priest.

18:29. All the things that you shall offer of the tithes, and shall
separate for the gifts of the Lord, shall be the best and choicest
things.

18:30. And thou shalt say to them:  If you offer all the goodly and the
better things of the tithes, it shall be reckoned to you as if you had
given the firstfruits of the barnfloor and the winepress:

18:31. And you shall eat them in all your places, both you and your
families:  because it is your reward for the ministry, wherewith you
serve in the tabernacle of the testimony.

18:32. And you shall not sin in this point, by reserving the choicest
and fat things to yourselves, lest you profane the oblations of the
children of Israel, and die.



Numbers Chapter 19


The law of the sacrifice of the red cow, and the water of expiation.

19:1. And the Lord spoke to Moses and Aaron, saying:

19:2. This is the observance of the victim, which the Lord hath
ordained.  Command the children of Israel, that they bring unto thee a
red cow of full age, in which there is no blemish, and which hath not
carried the yoke:

A red cow, etc. . .This red cow, offered in sacrifice for sin, and
consumed with fire without the camp, with the ashes of which, mingled
with water, the unclean were to be expiated and purified; was a figure
of the passion of Christ, by whose precious blood applied to our souls
in the holy sacraments, we are cleansed from our sins.

19:3. And you shall deliver her to Eleazar the priest, who shall bring
her forth without the camp, and shall immolate her in the sight of all:

19:4. And dipping his finger in her blood, shall sprinkle it over
against the door of the tabernacle seven times,

19:5. And shall burn her in the sight of all delivering up to the fire
her skin, and her flesh, and her blood, and her dung.

19:6. The priest shall also take cedar wood, and hyssop, and scarlet
twice dyed, and cast it into the flame, with which the cow is consumed.

19:7. And then after washing his garments, and body, he shall enter
into the camp, and shall be unclean until the evening.

19:8. He also that hath burned her, shall wash his garments, and his
body, and shall be unclean until the evening.

19:9. And a man that is clean shall gather up the ashes of the cow, and
shall pour them forth without the camp in a most clean place, that they
may be reserved for the multitude of the children of Israel, and for a
water of aspersion:  because the cow was burnt for sin.

19:10. And when he that carried the ashes of the cow, hath washed his
garments, he shall be unclean until the evening.  The children of
Israel, and the strangers that dwell among them, shall observe this for
a holy thing by a perpetual ordinance.

19:11. He that toucheth the corpse of a man, and is therefore unclean
seven days,

19:12. Shall be sprinkled with this water on the third day, and on the
seventh, and so shall be cleansed.  If he were not sprinkled on the
third day, he cannot be cleansed on the seventh.

19:13. Every one that toucheth the corpse of a man, and is not
sprinkled with this mixture, shall profane the tabernacle of the Lord,
and shall perish out of Israel:  because he was not sprinkled with the
water of expiation, he shall be unclean, and his uncleanness shall
remain upon him.

19:14. This is the law of a man that dieth in a tent:  All that go into
his tent and all the vessels that are there, shall be unclean seven
days.

19:15. The vessel that hath no cover, nor binding over it, shall be
unclean.

19:16. If any man in the field touch the corpse of a man that was
slain, or that died of himself, or his bone, or his grave, he shall be
unclean seven days.

19:17. And they shall take of the ashes of the burning and of the sin
offering, and shall pour living waters upon them into a vessel.

19:18. And a man that is clean shall dip hyssop in them, and shall
sprinkle therewith all the tent, and all the furniture, and the men
that are defiled with touching any such thing:

19:19. And in this manner he that is clean shall purify the unclean on
the third and on the seventh day.  And being expiated the seventh day,
he shall wash both himself and his garments, and be unclean until the
evening.

19:20. If any man be not expiated after this rite, his soul shall
perish out of the midst of the church:  because he hath profaned the
sanctuary of the Lord, and was not sprinkled with the water of
purification.

19:21. This precept shall be an ordinance for ever.  He also that
sprinkled the water, shall wash his garments.  Every one that shall
touch the waters of expiation, shall be unclean until the evening.

19:22. Whatsoever a person toucheth who is unclean, he shall make it
unclean:  and the person that toucheth any of these things, shall be
unclean until the evening.



Numbers Chapter 20


The death of Mary the sister of Moses.  The people murmur for want of
water:  God giveth it them from the rock.  The death of Aaron.

20:1. And the children of Israel, and all the multitude came into the
desert of Sin, in the first month:  and the people abode in Cades.  And
Mary died there, and was buried in the same place.

20:2. And the people wanting water, came together against Moses and
Aaron:

20:3. And making a sedition, they said:  Would God we had perished among
our brethren before the Lord.

20:4. Why have you brought out the church of the Lord into the
wilderness, that both we and our cattle should die?

20:5. Why have you made us come up out of Egypt, and have brought us
into this wretched place which cannot be sowed, nor bringeth forth
figs, nor vines, nor pomegranates, neither is there any water to drink?

20:6. And Moses and Aaron leaving the multitude, went into the
tabernacle of the covenant, and fell flat upon the ground, and cried to
the Lord, and said.  O Lord God, hear the cry of this people, and open
to them thy treasure, a fountain of living water, that being satisfied,
they may cease to murmur.  And the glory of the Lord appeared over them.

20:7. And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying:

20:8. Take the rod, and assemble the people together, thou and Aaron
thy brother, and speak to the rock before them, and it shall yield
waters.  And when thou hast brought forth water out of the rock, all the
multitude and their cattle shall drink.

20:9. Moses therefore took the rod, which was before the Lord, as he
had commanded him,

20:10. And having gathered together the multitude before the rock, he
said to them:  Hear, ye rebellious and incredulous:  Can we bring you
forth water out of this rock?

20:11. And when Moses bad lifted up his hand, and struck the rock twice
with the rod, there came forth water in great abundance, so that the
people and their cattle drank,

The rock. . .This rock was a figure of Christ, and the water that issued
out from the rock, of his precious blood, the source of all our good.

20:12. And the Lord said to Moses and Aaron:  Because you have not
believed me, to sanctify me before the children of Israel, you shall
not bring these people into the land, which I will give them.

You have not believed, etc. . .The fault of Moses and Aaron, on this
occasion, was a certain diffidence and weakness of faith; not doubting
of God's power or veracity; but apprehending the unworthiness of that
rebellious and incredulous people, and therefore speaking with some
ambiguity.

20:13. This is the Water of contradiction, where the children of Israel
strove with words against the Lord, and he was sanctified in them.

The Water of contradiction. . .Or strife.  Hebrew, Meribah.

20:14. In the mean time Moses sent messengers from Cades to the king of
Edom, to say:  Thus saith thy brother Israel:  Thou knowest all the
labour that hath come upon us:

20:15. In what manner our fathers went down into Egypt, and there we
dwelt a long time, and the Egyptians afflicted us and our fathers.

20:16. And how we cried to the Lord, and he heard us, and sent an
angel, who hath brought us out of Egypt.  Lo, we are now in the city of
Cades, which is in the uttermost of thy borders,

20:17. And we beseech thee that we may have leave to pass through thy
country.  We will not go through the fields, nor through the vineyards,
we will not drink the waters of thy wells, but we will go by the common
highway, neither turning aside to the right hand, nor to the left, till
we are past thy borders.

20:18. And Edom answered them:  Thou shalt not pass by me:  if thou dost
I will come out armed against thee.

20:19. And the children of Israel said:  We will go by the beaten way:
and if we and our cattle drink of thy waters, we will give thee what is
just:  there shall be no difficulty in the price, only let us pass
speedily.

20:20. But he answered:  Thou shalt not pass.  And immediately he came
forth to meet them with an infinite multitude, and a strong hand,

20:21. Neither would he condescend to their desire to grant them
passage through his borders.  Wherefore Israel turned another way from
him.

20:22. And when they had removed the camp from Cades, they came to
mount Hor, which is in the borders of the land of Edom:

20:23. Where the Lord spoke to Moses:

20:24. Let Aaron, saith he, go to his people:  for he shall not go into
the land which I have given the children of Israel, because he was
incredulous to my words, at the waters of contradiction.

20:25. Take Aaron and his son with him, and bring them up into mount
Hor:

20:26. And when thou hast stripped the father of his vesture, thou
shalt vest therewith Eleazar his son:  Aaron shall be gathered to his
people, and die there.

20:27. Moses did as the Lord had commanded:  and they went up into mount
Hor before all the multitude.

20:28. And when he had stripped Aaron of his vestments, he vested
Eleazar his son with them.

20:29. And Aaron being dead in the top of the mountain, he came down
with Eleazar.

20:30. And all the multitude seeing that Aaron was dead, mourned for
him thirty days throughout all their families.



Numbers Chapter 21


King Arad is overcome.  The people murmur and are punished with fiery
serpents:  they are healed by the brazen serpent.  They conquer the kings
Sehon and Og.

21:1. And when king Arad the Chanaanite, who dwelt towards the south,
had heard this, to wit, that Israel was come by the way of the spies,
he fought against them, and overcoming them carried off their spoils.

21:2. But Israel binding himself by vow to the Lord, said:  If thou wilt
deliver thus people into my hand, I will utterly destroy their cities.

21:3. And the Lord heard the prayers of Israel, and delivered up the
Chanaanite, and they cut them off and destroyed their cities:  and they
called the name of that place Horma, that is to say, Anathema.

Anathema. . .That is, a thing devoted to utter destruction.

21:4. And they marched from mount Hor, by the way that leadeth to the
Red Sea, to compass the land of Edom.  And the people began to be weary
of their journey and labour:

21:5. And speaking against God and Moses, they said:  Why didst thou
bring us out of Egypt, to die in the wilderness?  There is no bread, nor
have we any waters:  our soul now loatheth this very light food.

Very light food. . .So they call the heavenly manna:  thus worldlings
loathe the things of heaven, for which they have no relish.

21:6. Wherefore the Lord sent among the people fiery serpents, which
bit them and killed many of them.

Fiery serpents. . .They are so called, because they that were bitten by
them were burnt with a violent heat.

21:7. Upon which they came to Moses, and said; We have sinned, because
we have spoken against the Lord and thee:  pray that he may take away
these serpents from us.  And Moses prayed for the people.

21:8. And the Lord said to him:  Make a brazen serpent, and set it up
for a sign:  whosoever being struck shall look on it, shall live.

21:9. Moses therefore made a brazen serpent, and set it up for a sign:
which when they that were bitten looked upon, they were healed.

A brazen serpent. . .This was a figure of Christ crucified, and of the
efficacy of a lively faith in him, against the bites of the hellish
serpent.  John 3.14.

21:10. And the children of Israel setting forwards camped in Oboth.

21:11. And departing thence they pitched their tents in Jeabarim, in
the wilderness, that faceth Moab toward the east.

21:12. And removing from thence, they came to the torrent Zared:

21:13. Which they left and encamped over against Arnon, which is in the
desert and standeth out on the borders of the Amorrhite.  For Arnon is
the border of Moab, dividing the Moabites and the Amorrhites.

21:14. Wherefore it is said in the book of the wars of the Lord:  As he
did in the Red Sea, so will he do in the streams of Arnon.

The book of the wars, etc. . .An ancient book, which, like several
others quoted in scripture, has been lost.

21:15. The rocks of the torrents were bowed down that they might rest
in Ar, and lie down in the borders of the Moabites.

21:16. When they went from that place, the well appeared whereof the
Lord said to Moses:  Gather the people together, and I will give them
water.

21:17. Then Israel sung this song:  Let the well spring up.  They sung
thereto:

21:18. The well, which the princes dug, and the chiefs of the people
prepared by the direction of the lawgiver, and with their staves.  And
they marched from the wilderness to Mathana.

21:19. From Mathana unto Nahaliel:  from Nahaliel unto Bamoth.

21:20. From Bamoth, is a valley in the country of Moab, to the top of
Phasga, which looked towards the desert.

21:21. And Israel sent messengers to Sehon king of the Amorrhites,
saying:

21:22. I beseech thee that I may have leave to pass through thy land:
we will not go aside into the fields or the vineyards, we will not
drink waters of the wells, we will go the king's highway, till we be
past thy borders.

21:23. And he would not grant that Israel should pass by his borders:
but rather gathering an army, went forth to meet them in the desert,
and came to Jasa and fought against them.

21:24. And he was slain by them with the edge of the sword, and they
possessed his land from the Arnon unto the Jeboc, and to the confines
of the children of Ammon:  for the borders of the Ammonites, were kept
with a strong garrison.

21:25. So Israel took all his cities, and dwelt in the cities of the
Amorrhite, to wit, in Hesebon, and in the villages thereof.

21:26. Hesebon was the city of Sehon the king of the Amorrhites, who
fought against the king of Moab:  and took all the land, that had been
of his dominion, as far as the Arnon.

21:27. Therefore it is said in the proverb:  Come into Hesebon, let the
city of Sehon be built and set up:

21:28. A fire is gone out of Hesebon, a flame from the city of Sehon,
and hath consumed Ar of the Moabites, and the inhabitants of the high
places of the Arnon.

21:29. Woe to thee Moab:  thou art undone, O people of Chamos.  He hath
given his sons to flight, and his daughters into captivity to Sehon the
king of the Amorrhites.

21:30. Their yoke is perished from Hesebon unto Dibon, they came weary
to Nophe, and unto Medaba.

21:31. So Israel dwelt in the land of the Amorrhite.

21:32. And Moses sent some to take a view of Jazer:  and they took the
villages of it, and conquered the inhabitants.

21:33. And they turned themselves, and went up by the way of Basan, and
Og the king of Basan came against them with all his people, to fight in
Edrai.

21:34. And the Lord said to Moses:  Fear him not, for I have delivered
him and all his people, and his country into thy hand:  and thou shalt
do to him as thou didst to Sehon the king of the Amorrhites, the
inhabitant of Hesebon.

21:35. So they slew him also with his sons, and all his people, not
letting any one escape, and they possessed his land.



Numbers Chapter 22


Balac, king of Moab, sendeth twice for Balaam to curse Israel.  In his
way Balaam is rebuked by an angel.

22:1. And they went forward and encamped in the plains of Moab, over
against where Jericho is situate beyond the Jordan.

22:2. And Balac the son of Sephor, seeing all that Israel had done to
the Amorrhite,

22:3. And that the Moabites were in great fear of him, and were not
able to sustain his assault,

22:4. He said to the elders of Madian:  So will this people destroy all
that dwell in our borders, as the ox is wont to eat the grass to the
very roots.  Now he was at that time king in Moab.

22:5. He sent therefore messengers to Balaam the son of Beor, a
soothsayer, who dwelt by the river of the land of the children of
Ammon, to call him, and to say:  Behold a people is come out of Egypt,
that hath covered the face of the earth, sitting over against me.

22:6. Come therefore, and curse this people, because it is mightier
than I:  if by any means I may beat them and drive them out of my land:
for I know that he whom thou shalt bless is blessed, and he whom thou
shalt curse is cursed.

22:7. And the ancients of Moab, and the elders of Madian, went with the
price of divination in their hands.  And where they were come to Balaam,
and had told him all the words of Balac:

22:8. He answered:  Tarry here this night and I will answer whatsoever
the Lord shall say to me.  And while they stayed with Balaam, God came
and said to him:

22:9. What mean these men that are with thee?

22:10. He answered:  Balac the son of Sephor king of the Moabites hath
sent to me,

22:11. Saying:  Behold a people that is come out of Egypt, hath covered
the face of the land:  come and curse them, if by any means I may fight
with them and drive them away.

22:12. And God said to Balaam:  Thou shalt not go with them, nor shalt
thou curse the people:  because it is blessed.

22:13. And he rose in the morning and said to the princes:  Go into your
country, because the Lord hath forbid me to come with you.

22:14. The princes returning, said to Balac:  Balaam would not come with
us.

22:15. Then he sent many more and more noble than he had sent before:

22:16. Who, when they were come to Balaam, said:  Thus saith Balac the
son of Sephor, Delay not to come to me:

22:17. For I am ready to honour thee, and will give thee whatsoever
thou wilt:  come and curse this people.

22:18. Balaam answered:  If Balac would give me his house full of silver
and gold, I cannot alter the word of the Lord my God, to speak either
more or less.

22:19. I pray you to stay here this night also, that I may know what
the Lord will answer me once more.

To stay. . .His desiring them to stay, after he had been fully informed
already that it was not God's will he should go, came from the
inclination he had to gratify Balac, for the sake of worldly gain.  And
this perverse disposition God punished by permitting him to go (though
not to curse the people as he would willingly have done), and suffering
him to fall still deeper and deeper into sin, till he came at last to
give that abominable counsel against the people of God, which ended in
his own destruction.  So sad a thing it is to indulge a passion for
money.

22:20. God therefore came to Balaam in the night, and said to him:  If
these men be come to call thee, arise and go with them:  yet so, that
thou do what I shall command thee.

22:21. Balaam arose in the morning, and saddling his ass went with
them.

22:22. And God was angry.  And an angel of the Lord stood in the way
against Balaam, who sat on the ass, and had two servants with him.

22:23. The ass seeing the angel standing in the way, with a drawn
sword, turned herself out of the way, and went into the field.  And when
Balaam beat her, and had a mind to bring her again to the way,

22:24. The angel stood in a narrow place between two walls, wherewith
the vineyards were enclosed.

22:25. And the ass seeing him, thrust herself close to the wall, and
bruised the foot of the rider.  But he beat her again:

22:26. And nevertheless the angel going on to a narrow place, where
there was no way to turn aside either to the right hand or to the left,
stood to meet him.

22:27. And when the ass saw the angel standing, she fell under the feet
of the rider:  who being angry beat her sides more vehemently with a
staff.

22:28. And the Lord opened the mouth of the ass, and she said:  What
have I done to thee?  Why strikest thou me, lo, now this third time?

Opened the mouth, etc. . .The angel moved the tongue of the ass, to
utter these speeches, to rebuke, by the mouth of a brute beast, the
brutal fury and folly of Balaam.

22:29. Balaam answered:  Because thou hast deserved it, and hast served
me ill:  I would I had a sword that I might kill thee.

22:30. The ass said:  Am not I thy beast, on which thou hast been always
accustomed to ride until this present day?  tell me if I ever did the
like thing to thee.  But he said:  Never.

22:31. Forthwith the Lord opened the eyes of Balaam, and he saw the
angel standing in the way with a drawn sword, and he worshipped him
falling flat on the ground.

22:32. And the angel said to him:  Why beatest thou thy ass these three
times?  I am come to withstand thee, because thy way is perverse, and
contrary to me:

Perverse. . .Because thy inclinations are wicked in being willing for
the sake of gain to curse the people of whom I am the guardian.

22:33. And unless the ass had turned out of the way, giving place to me
who stood against thee, I had slain thee, and she should have lived.

22:34. Balaam said:  I have sinned, not knowing that thou didst stand
against me:  and now if it displease thee that I go, I will return.

22:35. The angel said:  Go with these men, and see thou speak no other
thing than what I shall command thee.  He went therefore with the
princes.

22:36. And when Balac heard it he came forth to meet him in a town of
the Moabites, that is situate in the uttermost borders of Arnon.

22:37. And he said to Balaam:  I sent messengers to call thee, why didst
thou not come immediately to me?  was it because I am not able to reward
thy coming?

22:38. He answered him:  Lo, here I am:  shall I have power to speak any
other thing but that which God shall put in my mouth?

22:39. So they went on together, and came into a city, that was in the
uttermost borders of his kingdom.

22:40. And when Balac had killed oxen and sheep, he sent presents to
Balaam, and to the princes that were with him.

22:41. And when morning was come, he brought him to the high places of
Baal, and he beheld the uttermost part of the people.



Numbers Chapter 23


Balaam, instead of cursing Israel, is obliged to bless them, and
prophesy good things of them.

23:1. And Balaam said to Balac:  Build me here seven altars, and prepare
as many calves, and the same number of rams.

23:2. And when he had done according to the word of Balaam, they laid
together a calf and a ram upon every altar.

23:3. And Balaam said to Balac:  Stand a while by thy burnt offering,
until I go, to see if perhaps the Lord will meet me, and whatsoever he
shall command, I will speak to thee.

23:4. And when he was gone with speed, God met him.  And Balaam speaking
to him, said:  I have erected seven altars, and have laid on everyone a
calf and a ram.

23:5. And the Lord put the word in his mouth, and said:  Return to
Balac, and thus shalt thou speak.

23:6. Returning he found Balac standing by his burnt offering, with all
the princes of the Moabites:

23:7. And taking up his parable, he said:  Balac king of the Moabites
hath brought me from Aram, from the mountains of the east:  Come, said
he, and curse Jacob:  make haste and detest Israel.

23:8. How shall I curse him, whom God hath not cursed?  By what means
should I detest him, whom the Lord detesteth not?

23:9. I shall see him from the tops of the rocks, and shall consider
him from the hills.  This people shall dwell alone, and shall not be
reckoned among the nations.

23:10. Who can count the dust of Jacob, and know the number of the
stock of Israel?  Let my soul die the death of the just, and my last end
be like to them.

23:11. And Balac said to Balaam:  What is this that thou dost?  I sent
for thee to curse my enemies:  and thou contrariwise blessest them.

23:12. He answered him:  Can I speak any thing else but what the Lord
commandeth?

23:13. Balac therefore said:  Come with me to another place from whence
thou mayest see part of Israel, and canst not see them all:  curse them
from thence.

23:14. And when he had brought him to a high place, upon the top of
mount Phasga, Balaam built seven altars, and laying on every one a calf
and a ram,

23:15. He said to Balac:  Stand here by thy burnt offering while I go to
meet him.

23:16. And when the Lord had met him, and had put the word in his
mouth, he said:  Return to Balac, and thus shalt thou say to him.

23:17. Returning he found him standing by his burnt sacrifice, and the
princes of the Moabites with him.  And Balac said to him:  What hath the
Lord spoken?

23:18. But he taking up his parable, said:  Stand, O Balac, and give
ear:  hear, thou son of Sephor:

23:19. God is not a man, that he should lie, nor is the son of man,
that he should be changed.  Hath he said then, and will he not do?  hath
he spoken, and will he not fulfil?

23:20. I was brought to bless, the blessing I am not able to hinder.

23:21. There is no idol in Jacob, neither is there an image god to be
seen in Israel.  The Lord his God is with him, and the sound of the
victory of the king in him.

23:22. God hath brought him out of Egypt, whose strength is like to the
rhinoceros.

23:23. There is no soothsaying in Jacob, nor divination in Israel.  In
their times it shall be told to Jacob and to Israel what God hath
wrought.

23:24. Behold the people shall rise up as a lioness, and shall lift
itself up as a lion:  it shall not lie down till it devour the prey, and
drink the blood of the slain.

23:25. And Balac said to Balaam:  Neither curse, nor bless him.

23:26. And he said:  Did I not tell thee, that whatsoever God should
command me, that I would do?

23:27. And Balac said to him:  Come and I will bring thee to another
place; if peradventure it please God that thou mayest curse them from
thence.

23:28. And when he had brought him upon the top of mount Phogor, which
looketh towards the wilderness,

23:29. Balaam said to him:  Build me here seven altars, and prepare as
many calves, and the same number of rams.

23:30. Balac did as Balaam had said:  and he laid on every altar, a calf
and a ram.



Numbers Chapter 24


Balaam still continues to prophesy good things in favour of Israel.

24:1. And when Balaam saw that it pleased the Lord that he should bless
Israel, he went not as he had gone before, to seek divination:  but
setting his face towards the desert,

24:2. And lifting up his eyes, he saw Israel abiding in their tents by
their tribes:  and the spirit of God rushing upon him,

24:3. He took up his parable and said:  Balaam the son of Beor hath
said:  The man hath said, whose eye is stopped up:

24:4. The bearer of the words of God hath said, he that hath beheld the
vision of the Almighty, he that falleth, and so his eyes are opened:

24:5. How beautiful are thy tabernacles O Jacob, and thy tents, O
Israel!

24:6. As woody valleys, as watered gardens near the rivers, as
tabernacles which the Lord hath pitched, as cedars by the waterside.

24:7. Water shall flow out of his bucket, and his seed shall be in many
waters.  For Agag his king shall be removed, and his kingdom shall be
taken away.

24:8. God hath brought him out of Egypt, whose strength is like to the
rhinoceros.  They shall devour the nations that are his enemies, and
break their bones, and pierce them with arrows.

24:9. Lying down he hath slept as a lion, and as a lioness, whom none
shall dare to rouse.  He that blesseth thee, shall also himself be
blessed:  he that curseth thee shall be reckoned accursed.

24:10. And Balac being angry against Balaam, clapped his hands together
and said:  I called thee to curse my enemies, and thou on the contrary
hast blessed them three times.

24:11. Return to thy place.  I had determined indeed greatly to honour
thee, but the Lord hath deprived thee of the honour designed for thee.

24:12. Balaam made answer to Balac:  Did I not say to thy messengers,
whom thou sentest to me:

24:13. If Balac would give me his house full of silver and gold, I
cannot go beyond the word of the Lord my God, to utter any thing of my
own head either good or evil:  but whatsoever the Lord shall say, that I
will speak?

24:14. But yet going to my people, I will give thee counsel, what this
people shall do to thy people in the latter days.

24:15. Therefore taking up his parable, again he said:  Balaam the son
of Beor hath said:  The man whose eye is stopped up, hath said:

24:16. The hearer of the words of God hath said, who knoweth the
doctrine of the Highest, and seeth the visions of the Almighty, who
falling hath his eyes opened:

24:17. I shall see him, but not now:  I shall behold him, but not near.
A STAR SHALL RISE out of Jacob and a sceptre shall spring up from
Israel:  and shall strike the chiefs of Moab, and shall waste all the
children of Seth

24:18. And he shall possess Idumea:  the inheritance of Seir shall come
to their enemies, but Israel shall do manfully.

24:19. Out of Jacob shall he come that shall rule, and shall destroy
the remains of the city.

24:20. And when he saw Amalec, he took up his parable, and said:  Amalec
the beginning of nations, whose latter ends shall be destroyed.

24:21. He saw also the Cinite:  and took up his parable, and said:  Thy
habitation indeed is strong:  but though thou build thy nest in a rock,

24:22. And thou be chosen of the stock of Cin, how long shalt thou be
able to continue?  For Assur shall take thee captive.

24:23. And taking up his parable, again he said:  Alas, who shall live
when God shall do these things?

24:24. They shall come in galleys from Italy, they shall overcome the
Assyrians, and shall waste the Hebrews, and at the last they themselves
also shall perish.

24:25. And Balaam rose, and returned to his place:  Balac also returned
the way that he came.



Numbers Chapter 25


The people fall into fornication and idolatry; for which twenty-four
thousand are slain.  The zeal of Phinees.

25:1. And Israel at that time abode in Settim, and the people committed
fornication with the daughters of Moab,

25:2. Who called them to their sacrifices.  And they ate of them, and
adored their gods.

25:3. And Israel was initiated to Beelphegor:  upon which the Lord being
angry,

Initiated to Beelphegor. . .That is, they took to the worship of
Beelphegor, an obscene idol of the Moabites, and were consecrated, as
it were, to him.

25:4. Said to Moses:  Take all the princes of the people, and hang them
up on gibbets against the sun:  that my fury may be turned away from
Israel.

25:5. And Moses said to the judges of Israel:  Let every man kill his
neighbours, that have been initiated to Beelphegor.

25:6. And behold one of the children of Israel went in before his
brethren to a harlot of Madian, in the sight of Moses and of all the
children of Israel, who were weeping before the door of the tabernacle.

25:7. And when Phinees the son of Eleazar the son of Aaron the priest
saw it, he rose up from the midst of the multitude, and taking a
dagger,

25:8. Went in after the Israelite into the brothel house, and thrust
both of them through together, to wit, the man and the woman in the
genital parts.  And the scourge ceased from the children of Israel.

25:9. And there were slain four and twenty thousand men.

25:10. And the Lord said to Moses:

25:11. Phinees the son of Eleazar the son of Aaron the priest, hath
turned away my wrath from the children of Israel:  because he was moved
with my zeal against them, that I myself might not destroy the children
of Israel in my zeal.

25:12. Therefore say to him:  behold I give him the peace of my
covenant,

25:13. And the covenant of the priesthood for ever shall be both to him
and his seed, because he hath been zealous for his God, and hath made
atonement for the wickedness of the children of Israel.

25:14. And the name of the Israelite, that was slain with the woman of
Madian, was Zambri the son of Salu, a prince of the kindred and tribe
of Simeon.

25:15. And the Madianite woman, that was slain with him, was called
Cozbi the daughter of Sur, a most noble prince among the Madianites.

25:16. And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying:

25:17. Let the Madianites find you their enemies, and slay you them:

25:18. Because they also have acted like enemies against you, and have
guilefully deceived you by the idol Phogor, and Cozbi their sister, a
daughter of a prince of Madian, who was slain in the day of the plague
for the sacrilege of Phogor.



Numbers Chapter 26


The people are again numbered by their tribes and families.

26:1. After the blood of the guilty was shed, the Lord said to Moses
and to Eleazar the son of Aaron, the priest:

26:2. Number the whole sum of the children of Israel from twenty years
old and upward, by their houses and kindreds, all that are able to go
forth to war.

26:3. Moses therefore and Eleazar the priest, being in the plains of
Moab upon the Jordan over against Jericho, spoke to them that were

26:4. From twenty years old and upward, as the Lord had commanded:  and
this is the number of them:

26:5. Ruben the firstborn of Israel.  His sons were Henoch, of whom is
the family of the Henochites:  and Phallu, of whom is the family of the
Phalluites:

26:6. And Hesron, of whom is the family of the Hesronites:  and Charmi,
of whom is the family of the Charmites.

26:7. These are the families of the stock of Ruben:  whose number was
found to be forty-three thousand seven hundred and thirty.

26:8. The son of Phallu was Eliab.

26:9. His sons, were Namuel and Dathan and Abiron.  These are Dathan and
Abiron the princes of the people, that rose against Moses and Aaron in
the sedition of Core, when they rebelled against the Lord:

26:10. And the earth opening her mouth swallowed up Core, many others
dying, when the fire burned two hundred and fifty men.  And there was a
great miracle wrought,

26:11. That when Core perished, his sons did not perish.

26:12. The sons of Simeon by their kindreds:  Namuel, of him is the
family of the Namuelites:  Jamin, of him is the family of the Jaminites:
Jachim, of him is the family of the Jachimites:

26:13. Zare, of him is the family of the Zarites:  Saul, of him is the
family of the Saulites.

26:14. These are the families of the stock of Simeon, of which the
whole number was twenty-two thousand two hundred.

26:15. The sons of Gad by their kindreds:  Sephon, of him is the family
of the Sephonites:  Aggi, of him is the family of the Aggites:  Suni, of
him is the family of the Sunites:

26:16. Ozni, of him is the family of the Oznites:  Her, of him is the
family of the Herites:

26:17. Arod, of him is the family of the Arodites:  Ariel, of him is the
family of the Arielites.

26:18. These are the families of Gad, of which the whole number was
forty thousand five hundred.

26:19. The sons of Juda, Her and Onan, who both died in the land of
Chanaan.

26:20. And the sons of Juda by their kindreds were:  Sela, of whom is
the family of the Selaites:  Phares, of whom is the family of the
Pharesites:  Zare, of whom is the family of the Zarites.

26:21. Moreover the sons of Phares were:  Hesron, of whom is the family
of the Hesronites:  and Hamul, of whom is the family of the Hamulites.

26:22. These are the families of Juda, of which the whole number was
seventy-six thousand five hundred.

26:23. The sons of Issachar, by their kindreds:  Thola of whom is the
family of the Tholaites:  Phua, of whom is the family of the Phuaites:

26:24. Jasub, of whom is the family of the Jasubites:  Semran, of whom
is the family of the Semranites.

26:25. These are the kindreds of Issachar, whose number was sixty-four
thousand three hundred.

26:26. The sons of Zabulon by their kindreds:  Sared, of whom is the
family of the Saredites:  Elon, of whom is the family of the Elonites:
Jalel, of whom is the family of the Jalelites.

26:27. These are the kindreds of Zabulon, whose number was sixty
thousand five hundred.

26:28. The sons of Joseph by their kindred, Manasses and Ephraim.

26:29. Of Manasses was born Machir, of whom is the family of the
Machirites.  Machir begot Galaad, of whom is the family of the
Galaadites.

26:30. Galaad had sons:  Jezer, of whom is the family of the Jezerites:
and Helec, of whom is the family of the Helecites:

26:31. And Asriel, of whom is the family of the Asrielites:  and Sechem,
of whom is the family of the Sechemites:

26:32. And Semida, of whom is the family of the Semidaites:  and Hepher,
of whom is the family of the Hepherites.

26:33. And Hepher was the father of Salphaad, who had no sons, but only
daughters, whose names are these:  Maala, and Noa, and Hegla, and
Melcha, and Thersa.

26:34. These are the families of Manasses, and the number of them
fifty-two thousand seven hundred.

26:35. And the sons of Ephraim by their kindreds were these:  Suthala,
of whom is the family of the Suthalaites:  Becher, of whom is the family
of the Becherites:  Thehen, of whom is the family of the Thehenites.

26:36. Now the son of Suthala was Heran, of whom is the family of the
Heranites.

26:37. These are the kindreds of the sons of Ephraim:  whose number was
thirty-two thousand five hundred.

26:38. These are the sons of Joseph by their families.  The sons of
Benjamin in their kindreds:  Bela, of whom is the family of the
Belaites:  Asbel, of whom is the family of the Asbelites:  Ahiram, of
whom is the family of the Ahiramites:

26:39. Supham, of whom is the family of the Suphamites:  Hupham, of whom
is the family of the Huphamites.

26:40. The sons of Bela:  Hered, and Noeman.  Of Hered, is the family of
the Heredites:  of Noeman, the family of the Noemanites.

26:41. These are the sons of Benjamin by their kindreds, whose number
was forty-five thousand six hundred.

26:42. The sons of Dan by their kindreds:  Suham, of whom is the family
of the Suhamites:  These are the kindreds of Dan by their families.

26:43. All were Suhamites, whose number was sixty-four thousand four
hundred.

26:44. The sons of Aser by their kindreds:  Jemna, of whom is the family
of the Jemnaites:  Jessui, of whom is the family of the Jessuites:  Brie,
of whom is the family of the Brieites.

26:45. The sons of Brie:  Heber, of whom is the family of the Heberites:
and Melchiel, of whom is the family of the Melchielites.

26:46. And the name of the daughter of Aser, was Sara.

26:47. These are the kindreds of the sons of Aser, and their number
fifty-three thousand four hundred.

26:48. The sons of Nephtali by their kindreds:  Jesiel, of whom is the
family of the Jesielites:  Guni, of whom is the family of the Gunites:

26:49. Jeser, of whom is the family of the Jeserites:  Sellem, of whom
is the family of the Sellemites.

26:50. These are the kindreds of the sons of Nephtali by their
families:  whose number was forty-five thousand four hundred.

26:51. This is the sum of the children of Israel, that were reckoned
up, six hundred and one thousand seven hundred and thirty.

26:52. And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying:

26:53. To these shall the land be divided for their possessions
according to the number of names.

26:54. To the greater number thou shalt give a greater portion, and to
the fewer a less:  to every one, as they have now been reckoned up,
shall a possession be delivered:

26:55. Yet so that by lot the land be divided to the tribe and
families.

26:56. Whatsoever shall fall by lot, that shall be taken by the more,
or the fewer.

26:57. This also is the number of the sons of Levi by their families:
Gerson, of whom is the family of the Gersonites:  Caath, of whom is the
family of the Caathites:  Merari, of whom is the family of the
Merarites.

26:58. These are the families of Levi:  The family of Lobni, the family
of Hebroni, the family of Core.  Now Caath begot Amram:

26:59. Who had to wife Jochabed the daughter of Levi, who was born to
him in Egypt.  She bore to her husband Amram sons, Aaron and Moses, and
Mary their sister.

26:60. Of Aaron were born Nadab and Abiu, and Eleazar and Ithamar:

26:61. Of whom Nadab and Abiu died, when they had offered the strange
fire before the Lord.

26:62. And all that were numbered, were twenty-three thousand males
from one month old and upward:  for they were not reckoned up among the
children of Israel, neither was a possession given to them with the
rest.

26:63. This is the number of the children of Israel, that were enrolled
by Moses and Eleazar the priest, in the plains of Moab upon the Jordan,
over against Jericho.

26:64. Among whom there was not one of them that were numbered before
by Moses and Aaron in the desert of Sinai.

26:65. For the Lord had foretold that they should die in the
wilderness.  And none remained of them, but Caleb the son of Jephone,
and Josue the son of Nun.



Numbers Chapter 27


The law of inheritance.  Josue is appointed to succeed Moses.

27:1. Then came the daughters of Salphaad, the son of Hepher, the son
of Galaad, the son of Machir, the son of Manasses, who was the son of
Joseph:  and their names are Maala, and Noa, and Hegla, and Melcha, and
Thersa.

27:2. And they stood before Moses and Eleazar the priest, and all the
princes of the people at the door of the tabernacle of the covenant,
and said:

27:3. Our father died in the desert, and was not in the sedition, that
was raised against the Lord under Core, but he died in his own sin:  and
he had no male children.  Why is his name taken away out of his family,
because he had no son?  Give us a possession among the kinsmen of our
father.

27:4. And Moses referred their cause to the judgment of the Lord.

27:5. And the Lord said to him:

27:6. The daughters of Salphaad demand a just thing:  Give them a
possession among their father's kindred, and let them succeed him in
his inheritance.

27:7. And to the children of Israel thou shalt speak these things:

27:8. When a man dieth without a son, his inheritance shall pass to his
daughter.

27:9. If he have no daughter, his brethren shall succeed him.

27:10. And if he have no brethren, you shall give the inheritance to
his father's brethren.

27:11. But if he have no uncles by the father, the inheritance shall be
given to them that are the next akin.  And this shall be to the children
of Israel sacred by a perpetual law, as the Lord hath commanded Moses.

27:12. The Lord also said to Moses:  Go up into this mountain Abarim,
and view from thence the land which I will give to the children of
Israel.

27:13. And when thou shalt have seen it, thou also shalt go to thy
people, as thy brother Aaron is gone:

27:14. Because you offended me in the desert of Sin in the
contradiction of the multitude, neither would you sanctify me before
them at the waters.  These are the waters of contradiction in Cades of
the desert of Sin.

27:15. And Moses answered him:

27:16. May the Lord the God of the spirits of all flesh provide a man,
that may be over this multitude:

27:17. And may go out and in before them, and may lead them out, or
bring them in:  lest the people of the Lord be as sheep without a
shepherd.

27:18. And the Lord said to him:  take Josue the son of Nun, a man in
whom is the Spirit, and put thy hand upon him.

27:19. And he shall stand before Eleazar the priest and all the
multitude:

27:20. And thou shalt give him precepts in the sight of all, and part
of thy glory, that all the congregation of the children of Israel may
hear him.

27:21. If any thing be to be done, Eleazar the priest shall consult the
Lord for him.  He and all the children of Israel with him, and the rest
of the multitude shall go out and go in at his word.

27:22. Moses did as the Lord had commanded.  And, when he had taken
Josue, he set him before Eleazar the priest, and all the assembly of
the people,

27:23. And laying his hands on his head, he repeated all things that
the Lord had commanded.



Numbers Chapter 28


Sacrifices are appointed as well for every day as for sabbaths, and
other festivals.

28:1. The Lord also said to Moses:

28:2. Command the children of Israel, and thou shalt say to them:  Offer
ye my oblation and my bread, and burnt sacrifice of most sweet odour,
in their due seasons.

28:3. These are the sacrifices which you shall offer:  Two lambs of a
year old without blemish every day for the perpetual holocaust:

28:4. One you shall offer in the mornings, and the other in the
evening:

28:5. And the tenth part of an ephi of flour, which shall be tempered
with the, purest oil, of the measure of the fourth part of a hin.

28:6. It is the continual holocaust which you offered in mount Sinai
for a most sweet odour of a sacrifice by fire to the Lord.

28:7. And for a libation you shall offer of wine the fourth part of a
hin for every lamb in the sanctuary of the Lord.

28:8. And you shall offer the other lamb in like manner in the evening
according to all the rites of the morning sacrifice, and of the
libations thereof, an oblation of most sweet odour to the Lord.

28:9. And on the sabbath day you shall offer two lambs of a year old
without blemish, and two tenths of flour tempered with oil in
sacrifice, and the libations,

28:10. Which regularly are poured out every sabbath for the perpetual
holocaust.

28:11. And on the first day of the month you shall offer a holocaust to
the Lord, two calves of the herd, one ram, and seven lambs of a year
old, without blemish,

28:12. And three tenths of flour tempered with oil in sacrifice for
every calf:  and two tenths of flour tempered with oil for every ram:

28:13. And the tenth of a tenth of flour tempered with oil in sacrifice
for every lamb.  It is a holocaust of most sweet odour and an offering
by fire to the Lord.

28:14. And these shall be the libations of wine that are to be poured
out for every victim:  Half a hin for every calf, a third for a ram, and
a fourth for a lamb.  This shall be the holocaust for every month, as
they succeed one another in the course of the year.

28:15. A buck goat also shall be offered to the Lord for a sin offering
over and above the perpetual holocaust with its libations.

28:16. And in the first month, on the four tenth day of the month,
shall be the phase of the Lord,

28:17. And on the fifteenth day the solemn feast:  seven days shall they
eat unleavened bread.

28:18. And the first day of them shall be venerable and holy:  you shall
not do any servile work therein.

28:19. And you shall offer a burnt sacrifice a holocaust to the Lord,
two calves of the herd, one ram, seven lambs of a year old, without
blemish:

28:20. And for the sacrifice of every one three tenths of flour which
shall be tempered with oil to every calf, and two tenths to every ram,

28:21. And the tenth of a tenth, to every lamb, that is to say, to all
the seven lambs:

28:22. And one buck goat for sin, to make atonement for you,

28:23. Besides the morning holocaust which you shall always offer.

28:24. So shall you do every day of the seven days for the food of the
fire, and for a most sweet odour to the Lord, which shall rise from the
holocaust, and from the libations of each.

28:25. The seventh day also shall be most solemn and holy unto you, you
shall do no servile work therein.

28:26. The day also of firstfruits, when after the weeks are
accomplished, you shall offer new fruits to the Lord, shall be
venerable and holy:  you shall do no servile work therein.

28:27. And you shall offer a holocaust for a most sweet odour to the
Lord, two calves of the herd, one ram, and seven lambs of a year old,
without blemish:

28:28. And in the sacrifices of them three tenths of flour tempered
with oil to every calf, two to every ram,

28:29. The tenth of a tenth to every lamb, which in all are seven
lambs:  a buck goat also,

28:30. Which is slain for expiation:  besides the perpetual holocaust
and the libations thereof.

28:31. You shall offer them all without blemish with their libations.



Numbers Chapter 29


Sacrifices for the festivals of the seventh month.

29:1. The first day also of the seventh month shall be venerable and
holy unto you; you shall do no servile work therein, because it is the
day of the sounding and of trumpets.

29:2. And you shall offer a holocaust for a most sweet odour to the
Lord, one calf of the herd, one ram and seven lambs of a year old,
without blemish.

29:3. And for their sacrifices, three tenths of flour tempered with oil
to every calf, two tenths to a ram,

29:4. One tenth to a lamb, which in all are seven lambs:

29:5. And a buck goat for sin, which is offered for the expiation of
the people,

29:6. Besides the holocaust of the first day of the month with the
sacrifices thereof, and the perpetual holocaust with the accustomed
libations.  With the same ceremonies you shall offer a burnt sacrifice
for a most sweet odour to the Lord.

29:7. The tenth day also of this seventh month shall be holy and
venerable unto you, and you shall afflict your souls; you shall do no
servile work therein.

29:8. And you shall offer a holocaust to the Lord for a most sweet
odour, one calf of the herd, one ram, and seven lambs of a year old,
without blemish:

29:9. And for their sacrifices, three tenths of flour tempered with oil
to every calf, two tenths to a ram,

29:10. The tenth of a tenth to every lamb, which are in all seven
lambs:

29:11. And a buck goat for sin, besides the things that are wont to be
offered for sin, for expiation, and for the perpetual holocaust with
their sacrifice and libations.

29:12. And on the fifteenth day of the seventh month, which shall be
unto you holy and venerable, you shall do no servile work, but shall
celebrate a solemnity to the Lord seven days.

29:13. And you shall offer a holocaust for a most sweet odour to the
Lord, thirteen calves of the herd, two rams, and fourteen lambs of a
year old, without blemish:

29:14. And for their libations three tenths of flour tempered with oil
to every calf, being in all thirteen calves:  and two tenths to each
ram, being two rams,

29:15. And the tenth of a tenth to every lamb, being in all fourteen
lambs:

29:16. And a buck goat for sin, besides the perpetual holocaust, and
the sacrifice and the libation thereof.

29:17. On the second day you shall offer twelve calves of the herd, two
rams and fourteen lambs of a year old, without blemish:

29:18. And the sacrifices and the libations for every one, for the
calves and for the rams and for the lambs you shall duly celebrate:

29:19. And a buck goat for a sin offering besides the perpetual
holocaust, and the sacrifice and the libation thereof.

29:20. The third day you shall offer eleven calves, two rams, and
fourteen lambs of a year old, without blemish:

29:21. And the sacrifices and the libations of every one for the calves
and for the rams and for the lambs you shall offer according to the
rite:

29:22. And a buck goat for sin, besides the perpetual holocaust, and
the sacrifice, and the libation thereof.

29:23. The fourth day you shall offer ten calves, two rams, and
fourteen lambs of a year old, without blemish:

29:24. And the sacrifices and the libations of every one for the calves
and for the rams and for the lambs you shall celebrate in right manner:

29:25. And a buck goat for sin, besides the perpetual holocaust, and
the sacrifice and the libation thereof.

29:26. The fifth day you shall offer nine calves, two rams, and
fourteen lambs of a year old, without blemish:

29:27. And the sacrifices and the libations of every one for the calves
and for the rams and for the lambs you shall celebrate according to the
rite:

29:28. And a buck goat for sin, besides the perpetual holocaust, and
the sacrifice and the libation thereof.

29:29. The sixth day you shall offer eight calves, two rams, and
fourteen lambs of a year old, without blemish:

29:30. And the sacrifices and the libations of every one for the calves
and for the rams and for the lambs you shall celebrate according to the
rite:

29:31. And a buck goat for sin, besides the perpetual holocaust, and
the sacrifice and the libation thereof.

29:32. The seventh day you shall offer seven calves and two rams, and
fourteen lambs of a year old, without blemish:

29:33. And the sacrifices and the libations of every one for the calves
and for the rams and for the lambs you shall celebrate according to the
rite:

29:34. And a buck goat for sin, besides the perpetual holocaust, and
the sacrifice and the libation thereof.

29:35. On the eighth day, which is most solemn, you shall do no servile
work:

29:36. But you shall offer a holocaust for a most sweet odour to the
Lord, one calf, one ram, and seven lambs of a year old, without
blemish:

29:37. And the sacrifices and the libations of every one for the calves
and for the rams and for the lambs you shall celebrate according to the
rite:

29:38. And a buck goat for sin, besides the perpetual holocaust, and
the sacrifice and the libation thereof.

29:39. These things shall you offer to the Lord in your solemnities:
besides your vows and voluntary oblations for holocaust, for sacrifice,
for libation, and for victims of peace offerings.



Numbers Chapter 30


Of vows and oaths:  and their obligation.

30:1. And Moses told the children of Israel all that the Lord had
commanded him:

30:2. And he said to the princes of the tribes of the children of
Israel:  This is the word that the Lord hath commanded:

30:3. If any man make a vow to the Lord, or bind himself by an oath:  he
shall not make his word void but shall fulfil all that he promised.

30:4. If a woman vow any thing, and bind herself by an oath, being in
her father's house, and but yet a girl in age:  if her father knew the
vow that she hath promised, and the oath wherewith she hath bound her
soul, and held his peace, she shall be bound by the vow:

30:5. Whatsoever she promised and swore, she shall fulfil in deed.

30:6. But if her father, immediately as soon as he heard it, gainsaid
it, both her vows and her oaths shall be void, neither shall she be
bound to what she promised, because her father hath gainsaid it.

30:7. If she have a husband, and shall vow any thing, and the word once
going out of her mouth shall bind her soul by an oath,

30:8. The day that her husband shall hear it, and not gainsay it, she
shall be bound to the vow, and shall give whatsoever she promised.

30:9. But if as soon as he heareth he gainsay it, and make her promises
and the words wherewith she had bound her soul of no effect:  the Lord
will forgive her.

30:10. The widow, and she that is divorced, shall fulfil whatsoever
they vow.

30:11. If the wife in the house of her husband, hath bound herself by
vow and by oath,

30:12. If her husband hear, and hold his peace, and doth not disallow
the promise, she shall accomplish whatsoever she had promised.

30:13. But if forthwith he gainsay it, she shall not be bound by the
promise:  because her husband gainsaid it, and the Lord will be merciful
to her.

30:14. If she vow and bind herself by oath, to afflict her soul by
fasting, or abstinence from other things, it shall depend on the will
of her husband, whether she shall do it, or not do it.

30:15. But if the husband hearing it hold his peace, and defer the
declaring his mind till another day:  whatsoever she had vowed and
promised, she shall fulfil:  because immediately as he heard it, he held
his peace.

30:16. But if he gainsay it after that he knew it, he shall bear her
iniquity.

30:17. These are the laws which the Lord appointed to Moses between the
husband and the wife, between the father and the daughter that is as
yet but a girl in age, or that abideth in her father's house.



Numbers Chapter 31


The Madianites are slain for having drawn the people of Israel into
sin.  The dividing of the booty.

31:1. And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying:

31:2. Revenge first the children of Israel on the Madianites, and so
thou shalt be gathered to thy people.

31:3. And Moses forthwith said:  Arm of you men to fight, who may take
the revenge of the Lord on the Madianites.

31:4. Let a thousand men be chosen out of every tribe of Israel to be
sent to the war.

31:5. And they gave a thousand of every tribe, that is to say, twelve
thousand men well appointed for battle.

31:6. And Moses sent them with Phinees the son of Eleazar the priest,
and he delivered to him the holy vessels, and the trumpets to sound.

31:7. And when they had fought against the Madianites and had overcome
them, they slew all the men.

31:8. And their kings Evi, and Recem, and Sur, and Hur, and Rebe, five
princes of the nation:  Balaam also the son of Beor they killed with the
sword.

31:9. And they took their women, and their children captives, and all
their cattle, and all their goods:  and all their possessions they
plundered:

31:10. And all their cities, and their villages, and castles, they
burned.

31:11. And they carried away the booty, and all that they had taken
both of men and of beasts.

31:12. And they brought them to Moses, and Eleazar the priest, and to
all the multitude of the children of Israel.  But the rest of the things
for use they carried to the camp on the plains of Moab, beside the
Jordan over against Jericho.

31:13. And Moses and Eleazar the priest and all the princes of the
synagogue went forth to meet them without the camp.

31:14. And Moses being angry with the chief officers of the army, the
tribunes, and the centurions that were come from the battle,

31:15. Said:  Why have you saved the women?

31:16. Are not these they, that deceived the children of Israel by the
counsel of Balaam, and made you transgress against the Lord by the sin
of Phogor, for which also the people was punished?

The sin of Phogor. . .The sin committed in the worship of Beelphegor.

31:17. Therefore kill all that are of the male sex, even of the
children:  and put to death the women, that have carnally known men.

Of children. . .Women and children, ordinarily speaking, were not to be
killed in war, Deut. 20.14.  But the great Lord of life and death was
pleased to order it otherwise in the present case, in detestation of
the wickedness of this people, who by the counsel of Balaam, had sent
their women among the Israelites on purpose to draw them from God.

31:18. But the girls, and all the women that are virgins save for
yourselves:

31:19. And stay without the camp seven days.  He that hath killed a man,
or touched one that is killed, shall be purified the third day and the
seventh day.

31:20. And of all the spoil, every garment, or vessel, or any thing
made for use, of the skins, or hair of goats, or of wood, shall be
purified.

31:21. Eleazar also the priest spoke to the men of the army, that had
fought, in this manner:  This is the ordinance of the law, which the
Lord hath commanded Moses:

31:22. Gold, and silver, and brass, and iron, and lead, and tin,

31:23. And all that may pass through the fire, shall be purified by
fire, but whatsoever cannot abide the fire, shall be sanctified with
the water of expiation:

31:24. And you shall wash your garments the seventh day, and being
purified, you shall afterwards enter into the camp.

31:25. And the Lord said to Moses:

31:26. Take the sum of the things that were taken both of man and
beast, thou and Eleazar the priest and the princes of the multitude:

31:27. And thou shalt divide the spoil equally, between them that
fought and went out to the war, and between the rest of the multitude.

31:28. And thou shalt separate a portion to the Lord from them that
fought and were in the battle, one soul of five hundred as well of
persons as of oxen and asses and sheep.

31:29. And thou shalt give it to Eleazar the priest, because they are
the firstfruits of the Lord.

31:30. Out of the moiety also of the children of Israel thou shalt take
the fiftieth head of persons, and of oxen, and asses, and sheep, and of
all beasts, and thou shalt give them to the Levites that watch in the
charge of the tabernacle of the Lord.

31:31. And Moses and Eleazar did as the Lord had commanded.

31:32. And the spoil which the army had taken, was six hundred
seventy-five thousand sheep,

31:33. Seventy-two thousand oxen,

31:34. Sixty-one thousand asses:

31:35. And thirty-two thousand persons of the female sex, that had not
known men.

31:36. And one half was given to them that had been in the battle, to
wit, three hundred thirty-seven thousand five hundred sheep:

31:37. Out of which, for the portion of the Lord, were reckoned six
hundred seventy five sheep.

31:38. And out of the thirty-six thousand oxen, seventy-two oxen:

31:39. Out of the thirty thousand five hundred asses, sixty-one asses:

31:40. Out of the sixteen thousand persons, there fell to the portion
of the Lord, thirty-two souls.

31:41. And Moses delivered the number of the firstfruits of the Lord to
Eleazar the priest, as had been commanded him,

31:42. Out of the half of the children of Israel, which he had
separated for them that had been in the battle.

31:43. But out of the half that fell to the rest of the multitude, that
is to say, out of the three hundred thirty-seven thousand five hundred
sheep,

31:44. And out of the thirty-six thousand oxen,

31:45. And out of the thirty thousand five hundred asses,

31:46. And out of the sixteen thousand persons,

31:47. Moses took the fiftieth head, and gave it to the Levites that
watched in the tabernacle of the Lord, as the Lord had commanded.

31:48. And when the commanders of the army, and the tribunes and
centurions were come to Moses, they said:

31:49. We thy servants have reckoned up the number of the fighting men,
whom we had under our hand, and not so much as one was wanting.

31:50. Therefore we offer as gifts to the Lord what gold every one of
us could find in the booty, in garters and tablets, rings and
bracelets, and chains, that thou mayst pray to the Lord for us.

31:51. And Moses and Eleazar the priest received all the gold in divers
kinds,

31:52. In weight sixteen thousand seven hundred and fifty sicles, from
the tribunes and from the centurions.

31:53. For that which every one had taken in the booty was his own.

31:54. And that which was received they brought into the tabernacle of
the testimony, for a memorial of the children of Israel before the
Lord.



Numbers Chapter 32


The tribes of Ruben and Gad, and half of the tribe of Manasses, receive
their inheritance on the east side of Jordan, upon conditions approved
of by Moses.

32:1. And the sons of Ruben and Gad had many flocks of cattle, and
their substance in beasts was infinite.  And when they saw the lands of
Jazer and Galaad fit for feeding cattle,

32:2. They came to Moses and Eleazar the priest, and the princes of the
multitude, and said:

32:3. Ataroth, and Dibon, and Jazer, and Nemra, Hesebon, and Eleale,
and Saban, and Nebo, and Beon,

32:4. The land, which the Lord hath conquered in the sight of the
children of Israel, is a very fertile soil for the feeding of beasts:
and we thy servants have very much cattle:

32:5. And we pray thee, if we have found favour in thy sight, that thou
give it to us thy servants in possession, and make us not pass over the
Jordan.

32:6. And Moses answered them:  What, shall your brethren go to fight,
and will you sit here?

32:7. Why do ye overturn the minds of the children of Israel, that they
may not dare to pass into the place which the Lord hath given them?

32:8. Was it not thus your fathers did, when I sent from Cadesbarne to
view the land?

32:9. And when they were come as far as the valley of the cluster,
having viewed all the country, they overturned the hearts of the
children of Israel, that they should not enter into the coasts, which
the Lord gave them.

32:10. And he swore in his anger, saying:

32:11. If these men, that came up out of Egypt, from twenty years old
and upward, shall see the land, which I promised with an oath to
Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob:  because they would not follow me,

32:12. Except Caleb the son of Jephone the Cenezite, and Josue the son
of Nun:  these have fulfilled my will.

32:13. And the Lord being angry against Israel, led them about through
the desert forty years, until the whole generation, that had done evil
in his sight, was consumed.

32:14. And behold, said he, you are risen up instead of your fathers,
the increase and offspring of sinful men, to augment the fury of the
Lord against Israel.

32:15. For if you will not follow him, he will leave the people in the
wilderness, and you shall be the cause of the destruction of all.

32:16. But they coming near, said:  We will make sheepfolds, and stalls
for our cattle, and strong cities for our children:

32:17. And we ourselves will go armed and ready for battle before the
children of Israel, until we bring them in unto their places.  Our
little ones, and all we have, shall be in walled cities, for fear of
the ambushes of the inhabitants.

32:18. We will not return into our houses until the children of Israel
possess their inheritance:

32:19. Neither will we seek any thing beyond the Jordan, because we
have already our possession on the east side thereof,

32:20. And Moses said to them:  If you do what you promise, go on well
appointed for war before the Lord:

32:21. And let every fighting man pass over the Jordan, until the Lord
overthrow his enemies:

32:22. And all the land be brought under him, then shall you be
blameless before the Lord and before Israel, and you shall obtain the
countries that you desire, before the Lord.

32:23. But if you do not what you say, no man can doubt but you sin
against God:  and know ye, that your sin shall overtake you.

32:24. Build therefore cities for your children, and folds and stalls
for your sheep and beasts, and accomplish what you have promised.

32:25. And the children of Gad and Ruben said to Moses:  We are thy
servants, we will do what my lord commandeth.

32:26. We will leave our children, and our wives and sheep and cattle,
in the cities of Galaad:

32:27. And we thy servants all well appointed will march on to the war,
as thou, my lord, speakest.

32:28. Moses therefore commanded Eleazar the priest, and Josue the son
of Nun, and the princes of the families of all the tribes of Israel,
and said to them:

32:29. If the children of Gad, and the children of Ruben pass with you
over the Jordan, all armed for war before the Lord, and the land be
made subject to you:  give them Galaad in possession.

32:30. But if they will not pass armed with you into the land of
Chanaan, let them receive places to dwell in among you.

32:31. And the children of Gad, and the children of Ruben answered:  As
the Lord hath spoken to his servants, so will we do:

32:32. We will go armed before the Lord into the land of Chanaan, and
we confess that we have already received our possession beyond the
Jordan.

32:33. Moses therefore gave to the children of Gad and of Ruben, and to
the half tribe of Manasses the son of Joseph, the kingdom of Sehon king
of the Amorrhites, and the kingdom of Og king of Basan, and their land
and the cities thereof round about.

32:34. And the sons of Gad built Dibon, and Ataroth, and Aroer,

32:35. And Etroth, and Sophan, and Jazer, and Jegbaa,

32:36. And Bethnemra, and Betharan, fenced cities, and folds for their
cattle.

32:37. But the children of Ruben built Hesebon, and Eleale, and
Cariathaim,

32:38. And Nabo, and Baalmeon (their names being changed) and Sabama:
giving names to the cities which they had built.

32:39. Moreover the children of Machir, the son of Manasses, went into
Galaad, and wasted it, cutting off the Amorrhites, the inhabitants
thereof.

32:40. And Moses gave the land of Galaad to Machir the son of Manasses,
and he dwelt in it.

32:41. And Jair the son of Manasses went, and took the villages
thereof, and he called them Havoth Jair, that is to say, the villages
of Jair.

32:42. Nobe also went, and took Canath with the villages thereof:  and
he called it by his own name, Nobe.



Numbers Chapter 33


The mansions or journeys of the children of Israel towards the land of
promise.

33:1. These are the mansions of the children of Israel, who went out of
Egypt by their troops under the conduct of Moses and Aaron,

The mansions. . .These mansions, or journeys of the children of Israel
from Egypt to the land of promise, were figures, according to the
fathers, of the steps and degrees by which Christians leaving sin are
to advance from virtue to virtue, till they come to the heavenly
mansions, after this life, to see and enjoy God.

33:2. Which Moses wrote down according to the places of their
encamping, which they changed by the commandment of the Lord.

33:3. Now the children of Israel departed from Ramesses the first
month, on the fifteenth day of the first month, the day after the
phase, with a mighty hand, in the sight of all the Egyptians,

33:4. Who were burying their firstborn, whom the Lord had slain (upon
their gods also he had executed vengeance,)

33:5. And they camped in Soccoth.

33:6. And from Soccoth they came into Etham, which is in the uttermost
borders of the wilderness.

33:7. Departing from thence they came over against Phihahiroth, which
looketh towards Beelsephon, and they camped before Magdalum.

33:8. And departing from Phihahiroth, they passed through the midst of
the sea into the wilderness:  and having marched three days through the
desert of Etham, they camped in Mara.

33:9. And departing from Mara, they came into Elim, where there were
twelve fountains of waters, and seventy palm trees:  and there they
camped.

33:10. But departing from thence also, they pitched their tents by the
Red Sea.  And departing from the Red Sea,

33:11. They camped in the desert of Sin.

33:12. And they removed from thence, and came to Daphca.

33:13. And departing from Daphca, they camped in Alus.

33:14. And departing from Alus, they pitched their tents in Raphidim,
where the people wanted water to drink.

33:15. And departing from Raphidim, they camped in the desert of Sinai.

33:16. But departing also from the desert of Sinai, they came to the
graves of lust.

33:17. And departing from the graves of lust, they camped in Haseroth.

33:18. And from Haseroth they came to Rethma.

33:19. And departing from Rethma, they camped in Remmomphares.

33:20. And they departed from thence and came to Lebna.

33:21. Removing from Lebna they camped in Ressa.

33:22. And departing from Ressa, they came to Ceelatha.

33:23. And they removed from thence and camped in the mountain Sepher.

33:24. Departing from the mountain Sepher, they came to Arada,

33:25. From thence they went and camped in Maceloth.

33:26. And departing from Maceloth, they came to Thahath.

33:27. Removing from Thahath they camped in Thare.

33:28. And they departed from thence, and pitched their tents in
Methca.

33:29. And removing from Methca, they camped in Hesmona.

33:30. And departing from Hesmona, they came to Moseroth.

33:31. And removing from Moseroth, they camped in Benejaacan.

33:32. And departing from Benejaacan, they came to mount Gadgad.

33:33. From thence they went and camped in Jetebatha.

33:34. And from Jetebatha they came to Hebrona.

33:35. And departing from Hebrona, they camped in Asiongaber.

33:36. They removed from thence and came into the desert of Sin, which
is Cades.

33:37. And departing from Cades, they camped in mount Hor, in the
uttermost borders of the land of Edom.

33:38. And Aaron the priest went up into mount Hor at the commandment
of the Lord:  and there he died in the fortieth year of the coming forth
of the children of Israel out of Egypt, the fifth month, the first day
of the month,

33:39. When he was a hundred and twenty-three years old.

33:40. And king Arad the Chanaanite, who dwelt towards the south, heard
that the children of Israel were come to the land of Chanaan.

33:41. And they departed from mount Hor, and camped in Salmona.

33:42. From whence they removed and came to Phunon.

33:43. And departing from Phunon, they camped in Oboth.

33:44. And from Oboth they came to Ijeabarim, which is in the borders
of the Moabites.

33:45. And departing from Ijeabarim they pitched their tents in
Dibongab.

33:46. From thence they went and camped in Helmondeblathaim.

33:47. And departing from Helmondeblathaim, they came to the mountains
of Abarim over against Nabo.

33:48. And departing from the mountains of Abarim, they passed to the
plains of Moab, by the Jordan, over against Jericho.

33:49. And there they camped from Bethsimoth even to Ablesatim in the
plains of the Moabites,

33:50. Where the Lord said to Moses:

33:51. Command the children of Israel, and say to them:  When you shall
have passed over the Jordan, entering into the land of Chanaan,

33:52. Destroy all the inhabitants of that land:  Beat down their
pillars, and break in pieces their statues, and waste all their high
places,

33:53. Cleansing the land, and dwelling in it.  For I have given it you
for a possession.

33:54. And you shall divide it among you by lot.  To the more you shall
give a larger part, and to the fewer a lesser.  To every one as the lot
shall fall, so shall the inheritance be given.  The possession shall be
divided by the tribes and the families.

33:55. But if you will not kill the inhabitants of the land:  they that
remain, shall be unto you as nails in your eyes, and spears in your
sides, and they shall be your adversaries in the land of your
habitation.

33:56. And whatsoever I had thought to do to them, I will do to you.



Numbers Chapter 34


The limits of Chanaan; with the names of the men that make the division
of it.

34:1. And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying:

34:2. Command the children of Israel, and thou shalt say to them:  When
you are entered into the land of Chanaan, and it shall be fallen into
your possession by lot, it shall be bounded by these limits:

34:3. The south side shall begin from the wilderness of Sin, which is
by Edom:  and shall have the most salt sea for its furthest limits
eastward:

The most salt sea. . .The lake of Sodom, otherwise called the Dead Sea.

34:4. Which limits shall go round on the south side by the ascent of
the Scorpion and so into Senna, and reach toward the south as far as
Cadesbarne, from whence the frontiers shall go out to the town called
Adar, and shall reach as far as Asemona.

The Scorpion. . .A mountain so called from having a great number of
scorpions.

34:5. And the limits shall fetch a compass from Asemona to the torrent
of Egypt, and shall end in the shore of the great sea.

The great sea. . .The Mediterranean.

34:6. And the west side shall begin from the great sea, and the same
shall be the end thereof.

34:7. But toward the north side the borders shall begin from the great
sea, reaching to the most high mountain,

The most high mountain. . .Libanus.

34:8. From which they shall come to Emath, as far as the borders of
Sedada:

34:9. And the limits shall go as far as Zephrona, and the village of
Enan.  These shall be the borders on the north side.

34:10. From thence they shall mark out the grounds towards the east
side from the village of Enan unto Sephama.

34:11. And from Sephama the bounds shall go down to Rebla over against
the fountain of Daphnis:  from thence they shall come eastward to the
sea of Cenereth,

Sea of Cenereth. . .This is the sea of Galilee, illustrated by the
miracles of our Lord.

34:12. And shall reach as far as the Jordan, and at the last shall be
closed in by the most salt sea.  This shall be your land with its
borders round about.

34:13. And Moses commanded the children of Israel, saying:  This shall
be the land which you shall possess by lot, and which the Lord hath
commanded to be given to the nine tribes, and to the half tribe.

34:14. For the tribe of the children of Ruben by their families, and
the tribe of the children of Gad according to the number of their
kindreds, and half of the tribe of Manasses,

34:15. That is, two tribes and a half, have received their portion
beyond the Jordan over against Jericho at the east side.

34:16. And the Lord said to Moses:

34:17. These are the names of the men, that shall divide the land unto
you:  Eleazar the priest, and Josue the son of Nun,

34:18. And one prince of every tribe,

34:19. Whose names are these:  Of the tribe of Juda, Caleb the son of
Jephone.

34:20. Of the tribe of Simeon, Samuel the son of Ammiud.

34:21. Of the tribe of Benjamin, Elidad the son of Chaselon.

34:22. Of the tribe of the children of Dan, Bocci the son of Jogli.

34:23. Of the children of Joseph of the tribe of Manasses, Hanniel the
son of Ephod.

34:24. Of the tribe of Ephraim, Camuel the son of Sephtan.

34:25. Of the tribe of Zabulon, Elisaphan the son of Pharnach.

34:26. Of the tribe of Issachar, Phaltiel the prince, the son of Ozan.

34:27. Of the tribe of Aser, Ahiud the son of Salomi.

34:28. Of the tribe of Nephtali:  Phedael the son of Ammiud.

34:29. These are they Whom the Lord hath commanded to divide the land
of Chanaan to the children of Israel.



Numbers Chapter 35


Cities are appointed for the Levites.  Of which six are to be the cities
of refuge.

35:1. And the Lord spoke these things also to Moses in the plains of
Moab by the Jordan, over against Jericho:

35:2. Command the children of Israel that they give to the Levites out
of their possessions,

35:3. Cities to dwell in, and their suburbs round about:  that they may
abide in the towns, and the suburbs may be for them cattle and beasts:

35:4. Which suburbs shall reach from the walls of the cities outward, a
thousand paces on every side:

35:5. Toward the east shall be two thousand cubits:  and toward the
south in like manner shall be two thousand cubits:  toward the sea also,
which looketh to the west, shall be the same extent:  and the north side
shall be bounded with the like limits.  And the cities shall be in the
midst, and the suburbs without.

35:6. And among the cities, which you shall give to the Levites, six
shall be separated for refuge to fugitives, that he who hath shed blood
may flee to them:  and besides these there shall be other forty-two
cities,

35:7. That is, in all forty-eight with their suburbs.

35:8. And of these cities which shall be given out of the possessions
of the children of Israel, from them that have more, more shall be
taken:  and from them that have less, fewer.  Each shall give towns to
the Levites according to the extent of their inheritance.

35:9. The Lord said to Moses:

35:10. Speak to the children of Israel, and thou shalt say to them:
When you shall have passed over the Jordan into the land of Chanaan,

35:11. Determine what cities shall be for the refuge of fugitives, who
have shed blood against their will.

35:12. And when the fugitive shall be in them, the kinsman of him that
is slain may not have power to kill him, until he stand before the
multitude, and his cause be judged.

35:13. And of those cities, that are separated for the refuge of
fugitives,

35:14. Three shall be beyond the Jordan, and three in the land of
Chanaan,

35:15. As well for the children of Israel as for strangers and
sojourners, that he may flee to them, who hath shed blood against his
will.

35:16. If any man strike with iron, and he die that was struck:  he
shall be guilty of murder, and he himself shall die.

35:17. If he throw a stone, and he that is struck die:  he shall be
punished in the same manner.

35:18. If he that is struck with wood die:  he shall be revenged by the
blood of him that struck him.

35:19. The kinsman of him that was slain, shall kill the murderer:  as
soon as he apprehendeth him, he shall kill him.

35:20. If through hatred any one push a man, or fling any thing at him
with ill design:

35:21. Or being his enemy, strike him with his hand, and he die:  the
striker shall be guilty of murder:  the kinsman of him that was slain as
soon as he findeth him, shall kill him.

35:22. But if by chance medley, and without hatred,

35:23. And enmity, he do any of these things,

35:24. And this be proved in the hearing of the people, and the cause
be debated between him that struck, and the next of kin:

35:25. The innocent shall be delivered from the hand of the revenger,
and shall be brought back by sentence into the city, to which he had
fled, and he shall abide there until the death of the high priest, that
is anointed with the holy oil.

Until the death, etc. . .This mystically signified that our deliverance
was to be effected by the death of Christ, the high priest and the
anointed of God.

35:26. If the murderer be found without the limits of the cities that
are appointed for the banished,

35:27. And be struck by him that is the avenger of blood:  he shall not
be guilty that killed him.

35:28. For the fugitive ought to have stayed in the city until the
death of the high priest:  and after he is dead, then shall the
manslayer return to his own country.

35:29. These things shall be perpetual, and for an ordinance in all
your dwellings.

35:30. The murderer shall be punished by witnesses:  none shall be
condemned upon the evidence of one man.

35:31. You shall not take money of him that is guilty of blood, but he
shall die forthwith.

35:32. The banished and fugitives before the death of the high priest
may by no means return into their own cities.

35:33. Defile not the land of your habitation, which is stained with
the blood of the innocent:  neither can it otherwise be expiated, but by
his blood that hath shed the blood of another.

35:34. And thus shall your possession be cleansed, myself abiding with
you.  For I am the Lord that dwell among the children of Israel.



Numbers Chapter 36


That the inheritances may not be alienated from one tribe to another,
all are to marry within their own tribes.

36:1. And the princes of the families of Galaad, the son of Machir, the
son of Manasses, of the stock of the children of Joseph, came and spoke
to Moses before the princes of Israel, and said:

36:2. The Lord hath commanded thee, my lord, that thou shouldst divide
the land by lot to the children of Israel, and that thou shouldst give
to the daughters of Salphaad our brother the possession due to their
father:

36:3. Now if men of another tribe take them to wives, their possession
will follow them, and being transferred to another tribe, will be a
diminishing of our inheritance.

36:4. And so it shall come to pass, that when the jubilee, the is, the
fiftieth year of remission, is come, the distribution made by the lots
shall be confounded, and the possession of the one shall pass to the
others.

36:5. Moses answered the children of Israel, and said by the command of
the Lord:  The tribe of the children of Joseph hath spoken rightly.

36:6. And this is the law promulgated by the Lord touching the
daughters of Salphaad:  Let them marry to whom they will, only so that
it be to men of their own tribe.

36:7. Lest the possession of the children of Israel be mingled from
tribe to tribe.  For all men shall marry wives of their own tribe and
kindred:

36:8. And all women shall take husbands of the same tribe:  that the
inheritance may remain in the families.

36:9. And that the tribes be not mingled one with another, but remain
so

36:10. As they were separated by the Lord.  And the daughters of
Salphaad did as was commanded:

36:11. And Maala, and Thersa, and Hegla, and Melcha, and Noa were
married to the sons of their uncle by their father

36:12. Of the family of Manasses, who was the son of Joseph:  and the
possession that had been allotted to them, remained in the tribe and
family of their father.

36:13. These are the commandments and judgment, which the Lord
commanded by the hand of Moses to the children of Israel, in the plains
of Moab upon the Jordan over against Jericho.



THE BOOK OF DEUTERONOMY



This Book is called DEUTERONOMY, which signifies a SECOND LAW, because
it repeats and inculcates the ordinances formerly given on mount Sinai,
with other precepts not expressed before.  The Hebrews, from the first
words in the book, call it ELLE HADDEBARIM.



Deuteronomy Chapter 1


A repetition of what passed at Sinai and Cadesbarne:  and of the
people's murmuring and their punishment.

1:1. These are the words, which Moses spoke to all Israel beyond the
Jordan, in the plain wilderness, over against the Red Sea, between
Pharan and Thophel and Laban and Haseroth, where there is very much
gold.

1:2. Eleven days' journey from Horeb by the way of mount Seir to
Cadesbarne.

1:3. In the fortieth year, the eleventh month, the first day of the
month, Moses spoke to the children of Israel all that the Lord had
commanded him to say to them:

1:4. After that he had slain Sehon king of the Amorrhites, who dwelt in
Hesebon:  and Og king of Basan who abode in Astaroth, and in Edrai,

1:5. Beyond the Jordan in the land of Moab.  And Moses began to expound
the law, and to say:

1:6. The Lord our God spoke to us in Horeb, saying:  You have stayed
long enough in this mountain:

1:7. Turn you, and come to the mountain of the Amorrhites, and to the
other places that are next to it, the plains and the hills and the
vales towards the south, and by the sea shore, the land of the
Chanaanites, and of Libanus, as far as the great river Euphrates.

1:8. Behold, said he, I have delivered it to you:  go in and possess it,
concerning which the Lord swore to your fathers Abraham, Isaac, and
Jacob, that he would give it to them, and to their seed after them.

1:9. And I said to you at that time:

1:10. I alone am not able to bear you:  for the Lord your God hath
multiplied you, and you are this day as the stars of heaven, for
multitude.

1:11. (The Lord God of your fathers add to this number many thousands,
and bless you as he hath spoken.)

1:12. I alone am not able to bear your business, and the charge of you
and your differences.

1:13. Let me have from among you wise and understanding men, and such
whose conversation is approved among your tribes, that I may appoint
them your rulers.

1:14. Then you answered me:  The thing is good which thou meanest to do.

1:15. And I took out of your tribes men wise and honourable, and
appointed them rulers, tribunes, and centurions, and officers over
fifties, and over tens, who might teach you all things.

1:16. And I commanded them, saying:  Hear them, and judge that which is
just:  whether he be one of your country, or a stranger.

1:17. There shall be no difference of persons, you shall hear the
little as well as the great:  neither shall you respect any man's
person, because it is the judgment of God.  And if any thing seem hard
to you, refer it to me, and I will hear it.

1:18. And I commanded you all things that you were to do.

1:19. And departing from Horeb, we passed through the terrible and vast
wilderness, which you saw, by the way of the mountain of the Amorrhite,
as the Lord our God had commanded us.  And when we were come into
Cadesbarne,

1:20. I said to you:  You are come to the mountain of the Amorrhite,
which the Lord our God will give to us.

1:21. See the land which the Lord thy God giveth thee:  go up and
possess it, as the Lord our God hath spoken to thy fathers:  fear not,
nor be any way discouraged.

1:22. And you came all to me, and said:  Let us send men who may view
the land, and bring us word what way we shall go up, and to what cities
we shall go.

1:23. And because the saying pleased me, I sent of you twelve men, one
of every tribe:

1:24. Who, when they had set forward and had gone up to the mountains,
came as far as the valley of the cluster:  and having viewed the land,

1:25. Taking of the fruits thereof, to shew its fertility, they brought
them to us, and said:  The land is good, which the Lord our God will
give us.

1:26. And you would not go up, but being incredulous to the word of the
Lord our God,

1:27. You murmured in your tents, and said:  The Lord hateth us, and
therefore he hath brought us out of the land of Egypt, that he might
deliver us into the hand of the Amorrhite, and destroy us.

1:28. Whither shall we go up?  the messengers have terrified our hearts,
saying:  The multitude is very great, and taller than we:  the cities are
great, and walled up to the sky, we have seen the sons of the Enacims
there.

Walled up to the sky. . .A figurative expression, signifying the walls
to be very high.

1:29. And I said to you:  Fear not, neither be ye afraid of them:

1:30. The Lord God, who is your leader, himself will fight for you, as
he did in Egypt in the sight of all.

1:31. And in the wilderness (as thou hast seen) the Lord thy God hath
carried thee, as a man is wont to carry his little son, all the way
that you have come, until you came to this place.

1:32. And yet for all this you did not believe the Lord your God,

1:33. Who went before you in the way, and marked out the place, wherein
you should pitch your tents, in the night shewing you the way by fire,
and in the day by the pillar of a cloud.

1:34. And when the Lord had heard the voice of your words, he was angry
and swore, and said:

1:35. Not one of the men of this wicked generation shall see the good
land, which I promised with an oath to your fathers:

1:36. Except Caleb the son of Jephone:  for he shall see it, and to him
I will give the land that he hath trodden upon, and to his children,
because he hath followed the Lord.

1:37. Neither is his indignation against the people to be wondered at,
since the Lord was angry with me also on your account, and said:
Neither shalt thou go in thither.

1:38. But Josue the son of Nun, thy minister, he shall go in for thee:
exhort and encourage him, and he shall divide the land by lot to
Israel.

1:39. Your children, of whom you said that they should be led away
captives, and your sons who know not this day the difference of good
and evil, they shall go in:  and to them I will give the land, and they
shall possess it.

1:40. But return you and go into the wilderness by the way of the Red
Sea.

1:41. And you answered me:  We have sinned against the Lord:  we will go
up and fight, as the Lord our God hath commanded.  And when you went
ready armed unto the mountain,

1:42. The Lord said to me:  Say to them:  Go not up, and fight not, for I
am not with you:  lest you fall before your enemies.

1:43. I spoke, and you hearkened not:  but resisting the commandment of
the Lord, and swelling with pride, you went up into the mountain.

1:44. And the Amorrhite that dwelt in the mountains coming out, and
meeting you, chased you, as bees do:  and made slaughter of you from
Seir as far as Horma.

1:45. And when you returned and wept before the Lord, he heard you not,
neither would he yield to your voice.

1:46. So you abode in Cadesbarne a long time.



Deuteronomy Chapter 2


They are forbid to fight against the Edomites, Moabites, and Ammonites.
Their victory over Sehon king of Hesebon.

2:1. And departing from thence we came into the wilderness that leadeth
to the Red Sea, as the Lord had spoken to me:  and we compassed mount
Seir a long time.

2:2. And the Lord said to me:

2:3. You have compassed this mountain long enough:  go toward the north:

2:4. And command thou the people, saying:  You shall pass by the borders
of your brethren the children of Esau, who dwell in Seir, and they will
be afraid of you.

2:5. Take ye then good heed that you stir not against them.  For I will
not give you of their land so much as the step of one foot can tread
upon, because I have given mount Seir to Esau, for a possession.

2:6. You shall buy meats of them for money and shall eat:  you shall
draw waters for money, and shall drink.

2:7. The Lord thy God hath blessed thee in every work of thy hands:  the
Lord thy God dwelling with thee, knoweth thy journey, how thou hast
passed through this great wilderness, for forty years, and thou hast
wanted nothing.

2:8. And when we had passed by our brethren the children of Esau, that
dwelt in Seir, by the way of the plain from Elath and from Asiongaber,
we came to the way that leadeth to the desert of Moab.

2:9. And the Lord said to me:  Fight not against the Moabites, neither
go to battle against them:  for I will not give thee any of their land,
because I have given Ar to the children of Lot in possession.

2:10. The Emims first were the inhabitants thereof, a people great, and
strong, and so tall, that like the race of the Enacims,

2:11. They were esteemed as giants, and were like the sons of the
Enacims.  But the Moabites call them Emims.

2:12. The Horrhites also formerly dwelt in Seir:  who being driven out
and destroyed, the children of Esau dwelt there, as Israel did in the
land of his possession, which the Lord gave him.

2:13. Then rising up to pass the torrent Zared, we came to it.

2:14. And the time that we journeyed from Cadesbarne till we passed
over the torrent Zared, was thirty-eight years:  until all the
generation of the men that were fit for war was consumed out of the
camp, as the Lord had sworn:

2:15. For his hand was against them, that they should perish from the
midst of the camp.

2:16. And after all the fighting men were dead,

2:17. The Lord spoke to me, saying:

2:18. Thou shalt pass this day the borders of Moab, the city named Ar:

2:19. And when thou comest nigh the frontiers of the children of Ammon,
take heed thou fight not against them, nor once move to battle:  for I
will not give thee of the land of the children of Ammon, because I have
given it to the children of Lot for a possession.

2:20. It was accounted a land of giants:  and giants formerly dwelt in
it, whom the Ammonites call Zomzommims,

2:21. A people great and many, and of tall stature, like the Enacims
whom the Lord destroyed before their face:  and he made them to dwell in
their stead,

2:22. As he had done in favour of the children of Esau, that dwell in
Seir, destroying the Horrhites, and delivering their land to them,
which they possess to this day.

2:23. The Hevites also, that dwelt in Haserim as far as Gaza, were
expelled by the Cappadocians:  who came out of Cappadocia, and destroyed
them and dwelt in their stead.

2:24. Arise ye, and pass the torrent Arnon:  Behold I have delivered
into thy hand Sehon king of Hesebon the Amorrhite, and begin thou to
possess his land and make war against him.

2:25. This day will I begin to send the dread and fear of thee upon the
nations that dwell under the whole heaven:  that when they hear thy name
they may fear and tremble, and be in pain like women in travail.

2:26. So I sent messengers from the wilderness of Cademoth to Sehon the
king of Hesebon with peaceable words, saying:

2:27. We will pass through thy land, we will go along by the highway:
we will not turn aside neither to the right hand nor to the left.

2:28. Sell us meat for money, that we may eat:  give us water for money
and so we will drink.  We only ask that thou wilt let us pass through,

2:29. As the children of Esau have done, that dwell in Seir, and the
Moabites, that abide in Ar:  until we come to the Jordan, and pass to
the land which the Lord our God will give us.

2:30. And Sehon the king of Hesebon would not let us pass:  because the
Lord thy God had hardened his spirit, and fixed his heart, that he
might be delivered into thy hands, as now thou seest.

Hardened, etc. . .That is, in punishment of his past sins he left him to
his own stubborn and perverse disposition, which drew him to his ruin.
See the note on Ex. 7.3.

2:31. And the Lord said to me:  Behold I have begun to deliver unto thee
Sehon and his land, begin to possess it.

2:32. And Sehon came out to meet us with all his people to fight at
Jasa.

2:33. And the Lord our God delivered him to us:  and we slew him with
his sons and all his people.

2:34. And we took all his cities at that time, killing the inhabitants
of them, men and women and children.  We left nothing of them:

2:35. Except the cattle which came to the share of them that took them:
and the spoils of the cities, which we took:

2:36. From Aroer, which is upon the bank of the torrent Arnon, a town
that is situate in a valley, as far as Galaad.  There was not a village
or city, that escaped our hands:  the Lord our God delivered all unto
us:

2:37. Except the land of the children of Ammon, to which we approached
not:  and all that border upon the torrent Jeboc, and the cities in the
mountains, and all the places which the Lord our God forbade us.



Deuteronomy Chapter 3


The victory over Og king of Basan.  Ruben, Gad, and half the tribe of
Manasses receive their possession on the other side of Jordan.

3:1. Then we turned and went by the way of Basan:  and Og the king of
Basan came out to meet us with his people to fight in Edrai.

3:2. And the Lord said to me:  Fear him not:  because he is delivered
into thy hand, with all his people and his land:  and thou shalt do to
him as thou hast done to Sehon king of the Amorrhites, that dwelt in
Hesebon.

3:3. So the Lord our God delivered into our hands, Og also, the king of
Basan, and all his people:  and we utterly destroyed them,

3:4. Wasting all his cities at one time, there was not a town that
escaped us:  sixty cities, all the country of Argob the kingdom of Og in
Basan.

3:5. All the cities were fenced with very high walls, and with gates
and bars, besides innumerable towns that had no walls.

3:6. And we utterly destroyed them, as we had done to Sehon the king of
Hesebon, destroying every city, men and women and children:

3:7. But the cattle and the spoils of the cities we took for our prey.

3:8. And we took at that time the land out of the hand of the two kings
of the Amorrhites, that were beyond the Jordan:  from the torrent Arnon
unto the mount Hermon,

3:9. Which the Sidonians call Sarion, and the Amorrhites Sanir:

3:10. All the cities that are situate in the plain, and all the land of
Galaad and Basan as far as Selcha and Edrai, cities of the kingdom of
Og in Basan.

3:11. For only Og king of Basan remained of the race of the giants.  His
bed of iron is shewn, which is in Rabbath of the children of Ammon,
being nine cubits long, and four broad after the measure of the cubit
of a man's hand.

3:12. And we possessed the land at that time from Aroer, which is upon
the bank of the torrent Arnon, unto the half of mount Galaad:  and I
gave the cities thereof to Ruben and Gad.

3:13. And I delivered the other part of Galaad, and all Basan the
kingdom of Og to the half tribe of Manasses, all the country of Argob:
and all Basan is called the Land of giants.

3:14. Jair the son of Manasses possessed all the country of Argob unto
the borders of Gessuri, and Machati.  And he called Basan by his own
name, Havoth Jair, that is to say, the towns of Jair, until this
present day.

3:15. To Machir also I gave Galaad.

3:16. And to the tribes of Ruben and Gad I gave of the land of Galaad
as far as the torrent Arnon, half the torrent, and the confines even
unto the torrent Jeboc, which is the border of the children of Ammon:

3:17. And the plain of the wilderness, and the Jordan, and the borders
of Cenereth unto the sea of the desert, which is the most salt sea, to
the foot of mount Phasga eastward.

3:18. And I commanded you at that time, saying:  The Lord your God
giveth you this land for an inheritance, go ye well appointed before
your brethren the children of Israel, all the strong men of you.

3:19. Leaving your wives and children and cattle.  For I know you have
much cattle, and they must remain in the cities, which I have delivered
to you.

3:20. Until the Lord give rest to your brethren, as he hath given to
you:  and they also possess the land, which he will give them beyond the
Jordan:  then shall every man return to his possession, which I have
given you.

3:21. I commanded Josue also at that time, saying:  Thy eyes have seen
what the Lord your God hath done to these two kings:  so will he do to
all the kingdoms to which thou shalt pass.

3:22. Fear them not:  for the Lord your God will fight for you.

3:23. And I besought the Lord at that time, saying:

3:24. Lord God, thou hast begun to shew unto thy servant thy greatness,
and most mighty hand, for there is no other God either in heaven or
earth, that is able to do thy works, or to be compared to thy strength.

3:25. I will pass over therefore, and will see this excellent land
beyond the Jordan, and this goodly mountain, and Libanus.

3:26. And the Lord was angry with me on your account and heard me not,
but said to me:  It is enough:  speak no more to me of this matter.

3:27. Go up to the top of Phasga, and cast thy eyes round about to the
west, and to the north, and to the south, and to the east, and behold
it, for thou shalt not pass this Jordan.

3:28. Command Josue, and encourage and strengthen him:  for he shall go
before this people, and shall divide unto them the land which thou
shalt see.

3:29. And we abode in the valley over against the temple of Phogor.



Deuteronomy Chapter 4


Moses exhorteth the people to keep God's commandments:  particularly to
fly idolatry.  Appointeth three cities of refuge, on that side of the
Jordan.

4:1. And now, O Israel, hear the commandments and judgments which I
teach thee:  that doing them, thou mayst live, and entering in mayst
possess the land which the Lord the God of your fathers will give you.

4:2. You shall not add to the word that I speak to you, neither shall
you take away from it:  keep the commandments of the Lord your God which
I command you.

4:3. Your eyes have seen all that the Lord hath done against
Beelphegor, how he hath destroyed all his worshippers from among you.

4:4. But you that adhere to the Lord your God, are all alive until this
present day.

4:5. You know that I have taught you statutes and justices, as the Lord
my God hath commanded me:  so shall you do them in the land which you
shall possess:

4:6. And you shall observe, and fulfil them in practice.  For this is
your wisdom, and understanding in the sight of nations, that hearing
all these precepts, they may say:  Behold a wise and understanding
people, a great nation.

4:7. Neither is there any other nation so great, that hath gods so nigh
them, as our God is present to all our petitions.

4:8. For what other nation is there so renowned that hath ceremonies,
and just judgments, and all the law, which I will set forth this day
before our eyes?

4:9. Keep thyself therefore, and thy soul carefully.  Forget not the
words that thy eyes have seen, and let them not go out of thy heart all
the days of thy life.  Thou shalt teach them to thy sons and to thy
grandsons,

4:10. From the day in which thou didst stand before the Lord thy God in
Horeb, when the Lord spoke to me, saying:  Call together the people unto
me, that they may hear my words, and may learn to fear me all the time
that they live on the earth, and may teach their children.

4:11. And you came to the foot of the mount, which burned even unto
heaven:  and there was darkness, and a cloud and obscurity in it.

4:12. And the Lord spoke to you from the midst of the fire.  You heard
the voice of his words, but you saw not any form at all.

4:13. And he shewed you his covenant, which he commanded you to do, and
the ten words that he wrote in two tables of stone.

4:14. And he commanded me at that time that I should teach you the
ceremonies and judgments which you shall do in the land, that you shall
possess.

4:15. Keep therefore your souls carefully.  You saw not any similitude
in the day that the Lord God spoke to you in Horeb from the midst of
the fire:

4:16. Lest perhaps being deceived you might make you a graven
similitude, or image of male or female,

4:17. The similitude of any beasts, that are upon the earth, or of
birds, that fly under heaven,

4:18. Or of creeping things, that move on the earth, or of fishes, that
abide in the waters under the earth:

4:19. Lest perhaps lifting up thy eyes to heaven, thou see the sun and
the moon, and all the stars of heaven, and being deceived by error thou
adore and serve them, which the Lord thy God created for the service of
all the nations, that are under heaven.

4:20. But the Lord hath taken you and brought you out of the iron
furnaces of Egypt, to make you his people of inheritance, as it is this
present day.

4:21. And the Lord was angry with me for your words, and he swore that
I should not pass over the Jordan, nor enter into the excellent land,
which he will give you.

4:22. Behold I die in this land, I shall not pass over the Jordan:  you
shall pass, and possess the goodly land.

4:23. Beware lest thou ever forget the covenant of the Lord thy God,
which he hath made with thee:  and make to thyself a graven likeness of
those things which the Lord hath forbid to be made:

4:24. Because the Lord thy God is a consuming fire, a jealous God.

4:25. If you shall beget sons and grandsons, and abide in the land, and
being deceived, make to yourselves any similitude, committing evil
before the Lord your God, to provoke him to wrath:

4:26. I call this day heaven and earth to witness, that you shall
quickly perish out of the land, which, when you have passed over the
Jordan, you shall possess.  You shall not dwell therein long, but the
Lord will destroy you,

4:27. And scatter you among all nations, and you shall remain a few
among the nations, to which the Lord shall lead you.

4:28. And there you shall serve gods, that were framed with men's
hands:  wood and stone, that neither see, nor hear, nor eat, nor smell.

4:29. And when thou shalt seek there the Lord thy God, thou shalt find
him:  yet so, if thou seek him with all thy heart, and all the
affliction of thy soul.

4:30. After all the things aforesaid shall find thee, in the latter
time thou shalt return to the Lord thy God, and shalt hear his voice.

4:31. Because the Lord thy God is a merciful God:  he will not leave
thee, nor altogether destroy thee, nor forget the covenant, by which he
swore to thy fathers.

4:32. Ask of the days of old, that have been before thy time from the
day that God created man upon the earth, from one end of heaven to the
other end thereof, if ever there was done the like thing, or it hath
been known at any time,

4:33. That a people should hear the voice of God speaking out of the
midst of fire, as thou hast heard, and lived:

4:34. If God ever did so as to go, and take to himself a nation out of
the midst of nations by temptations, signs, and wonders, by fight, and
a strong hand, and stretched out arm, and horrible visions according to
all the things that the Lord your God did for you in Egypt, before thy
eyes.

4:35. That thou mightest know that the Lord he is God, and there is no
other besides him.

4:36. From heaven he made thee to hear his voice, that he might teach
thee.  And upon earth he shewed thee his exceeding great fire, and thou
didst hear his words out of the midst of the fire,

4:37. Because he loved thy fathers, and chose their seed after them.
And he brought thee out of Egypt, going before thee with his great
power,

4:38. To destroy at thy coming very great nations, and stronger than
thou art, and to bring thee in, and give thee their land for a
possession, as thou seest at this present day.

4:39. Know therefore this day, and think in thy heart that the Lord he
is God in heaven above, and in the earth beneath, and there is no
other.

4:40. Keep his precepts and commandments, which I command thee:  that it
may be well with thee, and thy children after thee, and thou mayst
remain a long time upon the land, which the Lord thy God will give
thee.

4:41. Then Moses set aside three cities beyond the Jordan at the east
side,

4:42. That any one might flee to them who should kill his neighbour
unwillingly, and was not his enemy a day or two before, and that he
might escape to some one of these cities:

4:43. Bosor in the wilderness, which is situate in the plains of the
tribe of Ruben:  and Ramoth in Galaad, which is in the tribe of Gad:  and
Golan in Basan, which is in the tribe of Manasses.

4:44. This is the law, that Moses set before the children of Israel,

4:45. And these are the testimonies and ceremonies and judgments, which
he spoke to the children of Israel, when they came out of Egypt,

4:46. Beyond the Jordan in the valley over against the temple of
Phogor, in the land of Sehon king of the Amorrhites, that dwelt in
Hesebon, whom Moses slew.  And the children of Israel coming out of
Egypt,

4:47. Possessed his land, and the land of Og king of Basan, of the two
kings of the Amorrhites, who were beyond the Jordan towards the rising
of the sun:

4:48. From Aroer, which is situate upon the bank of the torrent Arnon,
unto mount Sion, which is also called Hermon,

4:49. All the plain beyond the Jordan at the east side, unto the sea of
the wilderness, and unto the foot of mount Phasga.



Deuteronomy Chapter 5


The ten commandments are repeated and explained.

5:1. And Moses called all Israel, and said to them:  Hear, O Israel, the
ceremonies and judgments, which I speak in your ears this day:  learn
them, and fulfil them in work.

5:2. The Lord our God made a covenant with us in Horeb.

5:3. He made not the covenant with our fathers, but with us, who are
now present and living.

5:4. He spoke to us face to face in the mount out of the midst of fire.

5:5. I was the mediator and stood between the Lord and you at that
time, to shew you his words, for you feared the fire, and went not up
into the mountain, and he said:

5:6. I am the Lord thy God, who brought thee out of the land of Egypt,
out of the house of bondage.

5:7. Thou shalt not have strange gods in my sight.

5:8. Thou shalt not make to thy self a graven thing, nor the likeness
of any things, that are in heaven above, or that are in the earth
beneath, or that abide in the waters under the earth.

5:9. Thou shalt not adore them, and thou shalt not serve them.  For I am
the Lord thy God, a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers
upon their children unto the third and fourth generation, to them that
hate me,

5:10. And shewing mercy unto many thousands, to them that love me, and
keep my commandments.

5:11. Thou shalt not take the name of the Lord thy God in vain:  for he
shall not be unpunished that taketh his name upon a vain thing.

5:12. Observe the day of the sabbath, to sanctify it, as the Lord thy
God hath commanded thee.

5:13. Six days shalt thou labour, and shalt do all thy works.

5:14. The seventh is the day of the sabbath, that is, the rest of the
Lord thy God.  Thou shalt not do any work therein, thou nor thy son nor
thy daughter, nor thy manservant nor thy maidservant, nor thy ox, nor
thy ass, nor any of thy beasts, nor the stranger that is within thy
gates:  that thy manservant and thy maidservant may rest, even as
thyself.

5:15. Remember that thou also didst serve in Egypt, and the Lord thy
God brought thee out from thence with a strong hand, and a stretched
out arm.  Therefore hath he commanded thee that thou shouldst observe
the sabbath day.

5:16. Honour thy father and mother, as the Lord thy God hath commanded
thee, that thou mayst live a long time, and it may be well with thee in
the land, which the Lord thy God will give thee.

5:17. Thou shalt not kill.

5:18. Neither shalt thou commit adultery.

5:19. And thou shalt not steal.

5:20. Neither shalt thou bear false witness against thy neighbour.

5:21. Thou shalt not covet thy neighbour's wife:  nor his house, nor his
field, nor his manservant, nor his maidservant, nor his ox, nor his
ass, nor any thing that is his.

5:22. These words the Lord spoke to all the multitude of you in the
mountain, out of the midst of the fire and the cloud, and the darkness,
with a loud voice, adding nothing more:  and he wrote them in two tables
of stone, which he delivered unto me.

5:23. But you, after you heard the voice out of the midst of the
darkness, and saw the mountain burn, came to me, all the princes of the
tribes and the elders, and you said:

5:24. Behold the Lord our God hath shewn us his majesty and his
greatness, we have heard his voice out of the midst of the fire, and
have proved this day that God speaking with man, man hath lived.

5:25. Why shall we die therefore, and why shall this exceeding great
fire comsume us:  for if we hear the voice of the Lord our God any more,
we shall die.

5:26. What is all flesh, that it should hear the voice of the living
God, who speaketh out of the midst of the fire, as we have heard, and
be able to live?

5:27. Approach thou rather:  and hear all things that the Lord our God
shall say to thee, and thou shalt speak to us, and we will hear and
will do them.

5:28. And when the Lord had heard this, he said to me:  I have heard the
voice of the words of this people, which they spoke to thee:  they have
spoken all things well.

5:29. Who shall give them to have such a mind, to fear me, and to keep
all my commandments at all times, that it may be well with them and
with their children for ever?

5:30. Go and say to them:  Return into your tents.

5:31. But stand thou here with me, and I will speak to thee all my
commandments, and ceremonies and judgments:  which thou shalt teach
them, that they may do them in the land, which I will give them for a
possession.

5:32. Keep therefore and do the things which the Lord God hath
commanded you:  you shall not go aside neither to the right hand, nor to
the left.

5:33. But you shall walk in the way that the Lord your God hath
commanded, that you may live, and it may be well with you, and your
days may be long in the land of your possession.



Deuteronomy Chapter 6


An exhortation to the love of God, and obedience to his law.

6:1. These are the precepts, and ceremonies, and judgments, which the
Lord your God commanded that I should teach you, and that you should do
them in the land into which you pass over to possess it:

6:2. That thou mayst fear the Lord thy God, and keep all his
commandments and precepts, which I command thee, and thy sons, and thy
grandsons, all the days of thy life, that thy days may be prolonged.

6:3. Hear, O Israel, and observe to do the things which the Lord hath
commanded thee, that it may be well with thee, and thou mayst be
greatly multiplied, as the Lord the God of thy fathers hath promised
thee a land flowing with milk and honey.

6:4. Hear, O Israel, the Lord our God is one Lord.

6:5. Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with thy whole heart, and with
thy whole soul, and with thy whole strength.

6:6. And these words which I command thee this day, shall be in thy
heart:

6:7. And thou shalt tell them to thy children, and thou shalt meditate
upon them sitting in thy house, and walking on thy journey, sleeping
and rising.

6:8. And thou shalt bind them as a sign on thy hand, and they shall be
and shall move between thy eyes.

6:9. And thou shalt write them in the entry, and on the doors of thy
house.

6:10. And when the Lord thy God shall have brought thee into the land,
for which he swore to thy fathers Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob:  and shall
have given thee great and goodly cities, which thou didst not build,

6:11. Houses full of riches, which thou didst not set up, cisterns
which thou didst not dig, vineyards and oliveyards, which thou didst
not plant,

6:12. And thou shalt have eaten and be full:

6:13. Take heed diligently lest thou forget the Lord, who brought thee
out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage.  Thou shalt fear
the Lord thy God, and shalt serve him only, and thou shalt swear by his
name.

6:14. You shall not go after the strange gods of all the nations, that
are round about you:

6:15. Because the Lord thy God is a jealous God in the midst of thee:
lest at any time the wrath of the Lord thy God be kindled against thee,
and take thee away from the face of the earth.

6:16. Thou shalt not tempt the Lord thy God, as thou temptedst him in
the place of temptation.

6:17. Keep the precepts of the Lord thy God, and the testimonies and
ceremonies which he hath commanded thee.

6:18. And do that which is pleasing and good in the sight of the Lord,
that it may be well with thee:  and going in thou mayst possess the
goodly land, concerning which the Lord swore to thy fathers,

6:19. That he would destroy all thy enemies before thee, as he hath
spoken.

6:20. And when thy son shall ask thee to morrow, saying:  What mean
these testimonies, and ceremonies and judgments, which the Lord our God
hath commanded us?

6:21. Thou shalt say to him:  We were bondmen of Pharao in Egypt, and
the Lord brought us out of Egypt with a strong hand.

6:22. And he wrought signs and wonders great and very grievous in Egypt
against Pharao, and all his house, in our sight,

6:23. And he brought us out from thence, that he might bring us in and
give us the land, concerning which he swore to our fathers.

6:24. And the Lord commanded that we should do all these ordinances,
and should fear the Lord our God, that it might be well with us all the
days of our life, as it is at this day.

6:25. And he will be merciful to us, if we keep and do all his precepts
before the Lord our God, as he hath commanded us.



Deuteronomy Chapter 7


No league nor fellowship to be made with the Chanaanites:  God promiseth
his people his blessing and assistance, if they keep his commandments.

7:1. When the Lord thy God shall have brought thee into the land, which
thou art going in to possess, and shall have destroyed many nations
before thee, the Hethite, and the Gergezite, and the Amorrhite, and the
Chanaanite, and the Pherezite, and the Hevite, and the Jebusite, seven
nations much more numerous than thou art, and stronger than thou:

7:2. And the Lord thy God shall have delivered them to thee, thou shalt
utterly destroy them.  Thou shalt make no league with them, nor shew
mercy to them:

7:3. Neither shalt thou make marriages with them.  Thou shalt not give
thy daughter to his son, nor take his daughter for thy son:

7:4. For she will turn away thy son from following me, that he may
rather serve strange gods, and the wrath of the Lord will be kindled,
and will quickly destroy thee.

7:5. But thus rather shall you deal with them:  Destroy their altars,
and break their statues, and cut down their groves, and burn their
graven things.

7:6. Because thou art a holy people to the Lord thy God.  The Lord thy
God hath chosen thee, to be his peculiar people of all peoples that are
upon the earth.

7:7. Not because you surpass all nations in number, is the Lord joined
unto you, and hath chosen you, for you are the fewest of any people:

7:8. But because the Lord hath loved you, and hath kept his oath, which
he swore to your fathers:  and hath brought you out with a strong hand,
and redeemed you from the house of bondage, out of the hand of Pharao
the king of Egypt.

7:9. And thou shalt know that the Lord thy God, he is a strong and
faithful God, keeping his covenant and mercy to them that love him, and
to them that keep his commandments, unto a thousand generations:

7:10. And repaying forthwith them that hate him, so as to destroy them,
without further delay immediately rendering to them what they deserve.

7:11. Keep therefore the precepts and ceremonies and judgments, which I
command thee this day to do.

7:12. If after thou hast heard these judgments, thou keep and do them,
the Lord thy God will also keep his covenant to thee, and the mercy
which he swore to thy fathers:

7:13. And he will love thee and multiply thee, and will bless the fruit
of thy womb, and the fruit of thy land, thy corn, and thy vintage, thy
oil, and thy herds, and the flocks of thy sheep upon the land, for
which he swore to thy fathers that he would give it thee.

7:14. Blessed shalt thou be among all people.  No one shall be barren
among you of either sex, neither of men nor cattle.

7:15. The Lord will take away from thee all sickness:  and the grievous
infirmities of Egypt, which thou knowest, he will not bring upon thee,
but upon thy enemies.

7:16. Thou shalt consume all the people, which the Lord thy God will
deliver to thee.  Thy eye shall not spare them, neither shalt thou serve
their gods, lest they be thy ruin.

7:17. If thou say in thy heart:  These nations are more than I, how
shall I be able to destroy them?

7:18. Fear not, but remember what the Lord thy God did to Pharao and to
all the Egyptians,

7:19. The exceeding great plagues, which thy eyes saw, and the signs
and wonders, and the strong hand, and the stretched out arm, with which
the Lord thy God brought thee out:  so will he do to all the people,
whom thou fearest.

7:20. Moreover the Lord thy God will send also hornets among them,
until he destroy and consume all that have escaped thee, and could hide
themselves.

7:21. Thou shalt not fear them, because the Lord thy God is in the
midst of thee, a God mighty and terrible:

7:22. He will consume these nations in thy sight by little and little
and by degrees.  Thou wilt not be able to destroy them altogether:  lest
perhaps the beasts of the earth should increase upon thee.

7:23. But the Lord thy God shall deliver them in thy sight:  and shall
slay them until they be utterly destroyed.

7:24. And he shall deliver their kings into thy hands, and thou shalt
destroy their names from under Heaven:  no man shall be able to resist
thee, until thou destroy them.

7:25. Their graven things thou shalt burn with fire:  thou shalt not
covet the silver and gold of which they are made, neither shalt thou
take to thee any thing thereof, lest thou offend, because it is an
abomination to the Lord thy God.

Graven things. . .Idols, so called by contempt.

7:26. Neither shalt thou bring any thing of the idol into thy house,
lest thou become an anathema, like it.  Thou shalt detest it as dung,
and shalt utterly abhor it as uncleanness and filth, because it is an
anathema.



Deuteronomy Chapter 8


The people is put in mind of God's dealings with them, to the end that
they may love him and serve him.

8:1. All the commandments, that I command thee this day, take great
care to observe:  that you may live, and be multiplied, and going in may
possess the land, for which the Lord swore to your fathers.

8:2. And thou shalt remember all the way through which the Lord thy God
hath brought thee for forty years through the desert, to afflict thee
and to prove thee, and that the things that were known in thy heart
might be made known, whether thou wouldst keep his commandments or no.

8:3. He afflicted thee with want, and gave thee manna for thy food,
which neither thou nor thy fathers knew:  to shew that not in bread
alone doth man live, but in every word that proceedeth from the mouth
of God.

Not in bread alone, etc. . .That is, that God is able to make food of
what he pleases for the support of man.

8:4. Thy raiment, with which thou wast covered, hath not decayed for
age, and thy foot is not worn, lo this is the fortieth year,

8:5. That thou mayst consider in thy heart, that as a man traineth up
his son, so the Lord thy God hath trained thee up.

8:6. That thou shouldst keep the commandments of the Lord thy God, and
walk in his ways, and fear him.

8:7. For the Lord thy God will bring thee into a good land, of brooks
and of waters, and of fountains:  in the plains of which and the hills
deep rivers break out:

8:8. A land of wheat, and barley, and vineyards, wherein fig trees and
pomegranates, and oliveyards grow:  a land of oil and honey.

8:9. Where without any want thou shalt eat thy bread, and enjoy
abundance of all things:  where the stones are iron, and out of its
hills are dug mines of brass:

8:10. That when thou hast eaten, and art full, thou mayst bless the
Lord thy God for the excellent land which he hath given thee.

8:11. Take heed, and beware lest at any time thou forget the Lord thy
God, and neglect his commandments and judgments and ceremonies, which I
command thee this day:

8:12. Lest after thou hast eaten and art filled, hast built goodly
houses, and dwelt in them,

8:13. And shalt have herds of oxen and flocks of sheep, and plenty of
gold and of silver, and of all things,

8:14. Thy heart be lifted up, and thou remember not the Lord thy God,
who brought thee out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage:

8:15. And was thy leader in the great and terrible wilderness, wherein
there was the serpent burning with his breath, and the scorpion and the
dipsas, and no waters at all:  who brought forth streams out of the
hardest rock,

The Dipsas. . .A serpent whose bite causeth a violent thirst; from
whence it has its name, for in Greek dipsa signifies thirst.

8:16. And fed thee in the wilderness with manna which thy fathers knew
not.  And after he had afflicted and proved thee, at the last he had
mercy on thee,

8:17. Lest thou shouldst say in thy heart:  My own might, and the
strength of my own hand have achieved all these things for me.

8:18. But remember the Lord thy God, that he hath given thee strength,
that he might fulfil his covenant, concerning which he swore to thy
fathers, as this present day sheweth.

8:19. But if thou forget the Lord thy God, and follow strange gods, and
serve and adore them:  behold now I foretell thee that thou shalt
utterly perish.

8:20. As the nations, which the Lord destroyed at thy entrance, so
shall you also perish, if you be disobedient to the voice of the Lord
your God.



Deuteronomy Chapter 9


Lest they should impute their victories to their own merits, they are
put in mind of their manifold rebellions and other sins, for which they
should have been destroyed, but God spared them for his promise made to
Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.

9:1. Hear, O Israel:  Thou shalt go over the Jordan this day; to possess
nations very great, and stronger than thyself, cities great, and walled
up to the sky,

9:2. A people great and tall, the sons of the Enacims, whom thou hast
seen, and heard of, against whom no man is able to stand.

9:3. Thou shalt know therefore this day that the Lord thy God himself
will pass over before thee, a devouring and consuming fire, to destroy
and extirpate and bring them to nothing before thy face quickly, as he
hath spoken to thee.

9:4. Say not in thy heart, when the Lord thy God shall have destroyed
them in thy sight:  For my justice hath the Lord brought me in to
possess this land, whereas these nations are destroyed for their
wickedness.

9:5. For it is not for thy justices, and the uprightness of thy heart
that thou shalt go in to possess their lands:  but because they have
done wickedly, they are destroyed at thy coming in:  and that the Lord
might accomplish his word, which he promised by oath to thy fathers
Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.

9:6. Know therefore that the Lord thy God giveth thee not this
excellent land in possession for thy justices, for thou art a very
stiffnecked people.

9:7. Remember, and forget not how thou provokedst the Lord thy God to
wrath in the wilderness.  From the day that thou camest out of Egypt
unto this place, thou hast always strove against the Lord.

9:8. For in Horeb, also thou didst provoke him, and he was angry, and
would have destroyed thee,

9:9. When I went up into the mount to receive the tables of stone, the
tables of the covenant which the Lord made with you:  and I continued in
the mount forty days and nights, neither eating bread, nor drinking
water.

9:10. And the Lord gave me two tables of stone written with the finger
of God, and containing all the words that he spoke to you in the mount
from the midst of the fire, when the people were assembled together.

9:11. And when forty days were passed, and as many nights, the Lord
gave me the two tables of stone, the tables of the covenant,

9:12. And said to me:  Arise, and go down from hence quickly:  for thy
people, which thou hast brought out of Egypt, have quickly forsaken the
way that thou hast shewn them, and have made to themselves a molten
idol.

9:13. And again the Lord said to me:  I see that this people is
stiffnecked:

9:14. Let me alone that I may destroy them, and abolish their name from
under heaven, and set thee over a nation, that is greater and stronger
than this.

9:15. And when I came down from the burning mount, and held the two
tables of the covenant with both hands,

9:16. And saw that you had sinned against the Lord your God, and had
made to yourselves a molten calf, and had quickly forsaken his way,
which he had shewn you:

9:17. I cast the tables out of my hands, and broke them in your sight.

9:18. And I fell down before the Lord as before, forty days and nights
neither eating bread, nor drinking water, for all your sins, which you
had committed against the Lord, and had provoked him to wrath:

9:19. For I feared his indignation and anger, wherewith being moved
against you, he would have destroyed you.  And the Lord heard me this
time also.

9:20. And he was exceeding angry against Aaron also, and would have
destroyed him, and I prayed in like manner for him.

9:21. And your sin that you had committed, that is, the calf, I took,
and burned it with fire, and breaking it into pieces, until it was as
small as dust, I threw it into the torrent, which cometh down from the
mountain.

9:22. At the burning also, and at the place of temptation, and at the
graves of lust you provoked the Lord:

9:23. And when he sent you from Cadesbarne, saying:  Go up, and possess
the land that I have given you, and you slighted the commandment of the
Lord your God, and did not believe him, neither would you hearken to
his voice:

9:24. But were always rebellious from the day that I began to know you.

9:25. And I lay prostrate before the Lord forty days and nights, in
which I humbly besought him, that he would not destroy you as he had
threatened:

9:26. And praying, I said:  O Lord God, destroy not thy people, and thy
inheritance, which thou hast redeemed in thy greatness, whom thou hast
brought out of Egypt with a strong hand.

9:27. Remember thy servants Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob:  look not on the
stubbornness of this people, nor on their wickedness and sin:

9:28. Lest perhaps the inhabitants of the land, out of which thou hast
brought us, say:  The Lord could not bring them into the land that he
promised them, and he hated them:  therefore he brought them out, that
he might kill them in the wilderness,

9:29. Who are thy people and thy inheritance, whom thou hast brought
out by thy great strength, and in thy stretched out arm.



Deuteronomy Chapter 10


God giveth the second tables of the law:  a further exhortation to fear
and serve the Lord.

10:1. At that time the Lord said to me:  Hew thee two tables of stone
like the former, and come up to me into the mount:  and thou shalt make
an ark of wood,

10:2. And I will write on the tables the words that were in them, which
thou brokest before, and thou shalt put them in the ark.

10:3. And I made an ark of setim wood.  And when I had hewn two tables
of stone like the former, I went up into the mount, having them in my
hands.

10:4. And he wrote in the tables, according as he had written before,
the ten words, which the Lord spoke to you in the mount from the midst
of the fire, when the people were assembled:  and he gave them to me.

10:5. And returning from the mount, I came down, and put the tables
into the ark, that I had made, and they are there till this present, as
the Lord commanded me.

10:6. And the children of Israel removed their camp from Beroth, of the
children of Jacan into Mosera, where Aaron died and was buried, and
Eleazar his son succeeded him in the priestly office.

Mosera. . .By mount Hor, for there Aaron died, Num. 20. This and the
following verses seem to be inserted by way of parenthesis.

10:7. From thence they came to Gadgad, from which place they departed,
and camped in Jetebatha, in a land of waters and torrents.

10:8. At that time he separated the tribe of Levi, to carry the ark of
the covenant of the Lord, and to stand before him in the ministry, and
to bless in his name until this present day.

10:9. Wherefore Levi hath no part nor possession with his brethren:
because the Lord himself is his possession, as the Lord thy God
promised him.

10:10. And I stood in the mount, as before, forty days and nights:  and
the Lord heard me this time also, and would not destroy thee.

10:11. And he said to me:  Go, and walk before the people, that they may
enter, and possess the land, which I swore to their fathers that I
would give them.

10:12. And now, Israel, what doth the Lord thy God require of thee, but
that thou fear the Lord thy God, and walk in his ways, and love him,
and serve the Lord thy God, with all thy heart, and with all thy soul:

10:13. And keep the commandments of the Lord, and his ceremonies, which
I command thee this day, that it may be well with thee?

10:14. Behold heaven is the Lord's thy God, and the heaven of heaven,
the earth and all things that are therein.

10:15. And yet the Lord hath been closely joined to thy fathers, and
loved them and chose their seed after them, that is to say, you, out of
all nations, as this day it is proved.

10:16. Circumcise therefore the foreskin of your heart, and stiffen
your neck no more.

10:17. Because the Lord your God he is the God of gods, and the Lord of
lords, a great God and mighty and terrible, who accepteth no person nor
taketh bribes.

10:18. He doth judgment to the fatherless and the widow, loveth the
stranger, and giveth him food and raiment.

10:19. And do you therefore love strangers, because you also were
strangers in the land of Egypt.

10:20. Thou shalt fear the Lord thy God, and serve him only:  to him
thou shalt adhere, and shalt swear by his name.

10:21. He is thy praise, and thy God, that hath done for thee these
great and terrible things, which thy eyes have seen.

10:22. In seventy souls thy fathers went down into Egypt:  and behold
now the Lord thy God hath multiplied thee as the stars of heaven.



Deuteronomy Chapter 11


The love and service of God are still inculcated, with a blessing to
them that serve him, and threats of punishment if they forsake his law.

11:1. Therefore love the Lord thy God and observe his precepts and
ceremonies, his judgments and commandments at all times.

11:2. Know this day the things that your children know not, who saw not
the chastisements of the Lord your God, his great doings and strong
hand, and stretched out arm,

11:3. The signs and works which he did in the midst of Egypt to king
Pharao, and to all his land,

11:4. And to all the host of the Egyptians, and to their horses and
chariots:  how the waters of the Red Sea covered them, when they pursued
you, and how the Lord destroyed them until this present day:

11:5. And what he hath done to you in the wilderness, til you came to
this place:

11:6. And to Dathan and Abiron the sons of Eliab, who was the son of
Ruben:  whom the earth, opening her mouth swallowed up with their
households and tents, and all their substance, which they had in the
midst of Israel.

11:7. Your eyes have seen all the great works of the Lord, that he hath
done,

11:8. That you may keep all his commandments, which I command you this
day, and may go in, and possess the land, to which you are entering,

11:9. And may live in it a long time:  which the Lord promised by oath
to your fathers, and to their seed, a land which floweth with milk and
honey.

11:10. For the land, which thou goest to possess, is not like the land
of Egypt, from whence thou camest out, where, when the seed is sown,
waters are brought in to water it after the manner of gardens.

11:11. But it is a land of hills and plains, expecting rain from
heaven.

11:12. And the Lord thy God doth always visit it, and his eyes are on
it from the beginning of the year unto the end thereof.

11:13. If then you obey my commandments, which I command you this day,
that you love the Lord your God, and serve him with all your heart, and
with all your soul:

11:14. He will give to your land the early rain and the latter rain,
that you may gather in your corn, and your wine, and your oil,

11:15. And your hay out of the fields to feed your cattle, and that you
may eat and be filled.

11:16. Beware lest perhaps your heart be deceived, and you depart from
the Lord, and serve strange gods, and adore them:

11:17. And the Lord being angry shut up heaven, that the rain come not
down, nor the earth yield her fruit, and you perish quickly from the
excellent land, which the Lord will give you.

11:18. Lay up these words in your hearts and minds, and hang them for a
sign on your hands, and place them between your eyes.

11:19. Teach your children that they meditate on them, when thou
sittest in thy house, and when thou walkest on the way, and when thou
liest down and risest up.

11:20. Thou shalt write them upon the posts and the doors of thy house:

11:21. That thy days may be multiplied, and the days of thy children in
the land which the Lord swore to thy fathers, that he would give them
as long as the heaven hangeth over the earth.

11:22. For if you keep the commandments which I command you, and do
them, to love the Lord your God, and walk in all his ways, cleaving
unto him,

11:23. The Lord will destroy all these nations before your face, and
you shall possess them, which are greater and stronger than you.

11:24. Every place, that your foot shall tread upon, shall be yours.
From the desert, and from Libanus, from the great river Euphrates unto
the western sea shall be your borders.

11:25. None shall stand against you:  the Lord your God shall lay the
dread and fear of you upon all the land that you shall tread upon, as
he hath spoken to you.

11:26. Behold I set forth in your sight this day a blessing and a
curse:

11:27. A blessing, if you obey the commandments of the Lord your God,
which I command you this day:

11:28. A curse, if you obey not the commandments of the Lord your God,
but revolt from the way which now I shew you, and walk after strange
gods which you know not.

11:29. And when the Lord thy God shall have brought thee into the land,
whither thou goest to dwell, thou shalt put the blessing upon mount
Garizim, the curse upon mount Hebal:

Put the blessing, et. . .See Deut. 27.12, etc. and Josue 8.33, etc.

11:30. Which are beyond the Jordan, behind the way that goeth to the
setting of the sun, in the land of the Chanaanite who dwelleth in the
plain country over against Galgala, which is near the valley that
reacheth and entereth far.

11:31. For you shall pass over the Jordan, to possess the land, which
the Lord your God will give you, that you may have it and possess it.

11:32. See therefore that you fulfil the ceremonies and judgments,
which I shall set this day before you.



Deuteronomy Chapter 12


All idolatry must be extirpated:  sacrifices, tithes, and firstfruits
must be offered in one only place:  all eating of blood is prohibited.

12:1. These are the precepts and judgments, that you must do in the
land, which the Lord the God of thy fathers will give thee, to possess
it all the days that thou shalt walk upon the earth.

12:2. Destroy all the places in which the nations, that you shall
possess, worshipped their gods upon high mountains, and hills, and
under every shady tree:

12:3. Overthrow their altars, and break down their statues, burn their
groves with fire, and break their idols in pieces:  destroy their names
out of those places.

12:4. You shall not do so to the Lord your God:

12:5. But you shall come to the place, which the Lord your God shall
choose out of all your tribes, to put his name there, and to dwell in
it:

12:6. And you shall offer in that place your holocausts and victims,
the tithes and firstfruits of your hands and your vows and gifts, the
firstborn of your herds and your sheep.

12:7. And you shall eat there in the sight of the Lord your God:  and
you shall rejoice in all things, whereunto you shall put your hand, you
and your houses wherein the Lord your God hath blessed you.

12:8. You shall not do there the things we do here this day, every man
that which seemeth good to himself.

12:9. For until this present time you are not come to rest, and to the
possession, which the Lord your God will give you.

12:10. You shall pass over the Jordan, and shall dwell in the land
which the Lord your God will give you, that you may have rest from all
enemies round about:  and may dwell without any fear,

12:11. In the place, which the Lord your God shall choose, that his
name may be therein.  Thither shall you bring all the things that I
command you, holocausts, and victims, and tithes, and the firstfruits
of your hands:  and whatsoever is the choicest in the gifts which you
shall vow to the Lord.

12:12. There shall you feast before the Lord your God, you and your
sons and your daughters, your menservants and maidservants, and the
Levite that dwelleth in your cities.  For he hath no other part and
possession among you.

12:13. Beware lest thou offer thy holocausts in every place that thou
shalt see:

12:14. But in the place which the Lord shall choose in one of thy
tribes shalt thou offer sacrifices, and shalt do all that I command
thee.

12:15. But if thou desirest to eat, and the eating of flesh delight
thee, kill, and eat according to the blessing of the Lord thy God,
which he hath given thee, in thy cities:  whether it be unclean, that is
to say, having blemish or defect:  or clean, that is to say, sound and
without blemish, such as may be offered, as the roe, and the hart,
shalt thou eat it:

12:16. Only the blood thou shalt not eat, but thou shalt pour it out
upon the earth as water.

12:17. Thou mayst not eat in thy towns the tithes of thy corn, and thy
wine, and thy oil, the firstborn of thy herds and thy cattle, nor any
thing that thou vowest, and that thou wilt offer voluntarily, and the
firstfruits of thy hands:

12:18. But thou shalt eat them before the Lord thy God in the place
which the Lord thy God shall choose, thou and thy son and thy daughter,
and thy manservant, and maidservant, and the Levite that dwelleth in
thy cities:  and thou shalt rejoice and be refreshed before the Lord thy
God in all things, whereunto thou shalt put thy hand.

12:19. Take heed thou forsake not the Levite all the time that thou
livest in the land.

12:20. When the Lord thy God shall have enlarged thy borders, as he hath
spoken to thee, and thou wilt eat the flesh that thy soul desireth:

12:21. And if the place which the Lord thy God shall choose, that his
name should be there, be far off, thou shalt kill of thy herds and of
thy flocks, as I have commanded thee, and shalt eat in thy towns, as it
pleaseth thee.

12:22. Even as the roe and the hart is eaten, so shalt thou eat them:
both the clean and unclean shall eat of them alike.

12:23. Only beware of this, that thou eat not the blood, for the blood
is for the soul:  and therefore thou must not eat the soul with the
flesh:

12:24. But thou shalt pour it upon the earth as water,

12:25. That it may be well with thee and thy children after thee, when
thou shalt do that which is pleasing in the sight of the Lord.

12:26. But the things which thou hast sanctified and vowed to the Lord,
thou shalt take, and shalt come to the place which the Lord shall
choose:

12:27. And shalt offer thy oblations, the flesh and the blood upon the
altar of the Lord thy God:  the blood of thy victims thou shalt pour on
the altar:  and the flesh thou thyself shalt eat.

12:28. Observe and hear all the things that I command thee, that it may
be well with thee and thy children after thee for ever, when thou shalt
do what is good and pleasing in the sight of the Lord thy God.

12:29. When the Lord thy God shall have destroyed before thy face the
nations, which thou shalt go in to possess, and when thou shalt possess
them, and dwell in their land:

12:30. Beware lest thou imitate them, after they are destroyed at thy
coming in, and lest thou seek after their ceremonies, saying:  As these
nations have worshipped their gods, so will I also worship.

12:31. Thou shalt not do in like manner to the Lord thy God.  For they
have done to their gods all the abominations which the Lord abhorreth,
offering their sons and daughters, and burning them with fire.

12:32. What I command thee, that only do thou to the Lord:  neither add
any thing, nor diminish.

That only do thou, etc. . .They are forbid here to follow the ceremonies
of the heathens; or to make any alterations in the divine ordinances.



Deuteronomy Chapter 13


False prophets must be slain, and idolatrous cities destroyed.

13:1. If there rise in the midst of thee a prophet or one that saith he
hath dreamed a dream, and he foretell a sign and a wonder,

13:2. And that come to pass which he spoke, and he say to thee:  Let us
go and follow strange gods, which thou knowest not, and let us serve
them:

13:3. Thou shalt not hear the words of that prophet or dreamer:  for the
Lord your God trieth you, that it may appear whether you love him with
all your heart, and with all your soul, or not.

13:4. Follow the Lord your God, and fear him, and keep his
commandments, and hear his voice:  him you shall serve, and to him you
shall cleave.

13:5. And that prophet or forger of dreams shall be slain:  because he
spoke to draw you away from the Lord your God, who brought you out of
the land of Egypt, and redeemed you from the house of bondage:  to make
thee go out of the way, which the Lord thy God commanded thee:  and thou
shalt take away the evil out of the midst of thee.

13:6. If thy brother the son of thy mother, or thy son, or daughter, or
thy wife that is in thy bosom, or thy friend, whom thou lovest as thy
own soul, would persuade thee secretly, saying:  Let us go, and serve
strange gods, which thou knowest not, nor thy fathers,

13:7. Of all the nations round about, that are near or afar off, from
one end of the earth to the other,

13:8. Consent not to him, hear him not, neither let thy eye spare him
to pity and conceal him,

13:9. But thou shalt presently put him to death.  Let thy hand be first
upon him, and afterwards the hands of all the people.

Presently put him to death. . .Not by killing him by private authority,
but by informing the magistrate, and proceeding by order of justice.

13:10. With stones shall he be stoned to death:  because he would have
withdrawn thee from the Lord thy God, who brought thee out of the land
of Egypt, from the house of bondage:

13:11. That all Israel hearing may fear, and may do no more any thing
like this.

13:12. If in one of thy cities, which the Lord thy God shall give thee
to dwell in, thou hear some say:

13:13. Children of Belial are gone out of the midst of thee, and have
withdrawn the inhabitants of their city, and have said:  Let us go, and
serve strange gods which you know not:

Belial. . .That is, without yoke.  Hence the wicked, who refuse to be
subject to the divine law, are called in scripture the children of
Belial.

13:14. Inquire carefully and diligently, the truth of the thing by
looking well into it, and if thou find that which is said to be
certain, and that this abomination hath been really committed,

13:15. Thou shalt forthwith kill the inhabitants of that city with the
edge of the sword, and shalt destroy it and all things that are in it,
even the cattle.

13:16. And all the household goods that are there, thou shalt gather
together in the midst of the streets thereof, and shall burn them with
the city itself, so as to comsume all for the Lord thy God, and that it
be a heap for ever:  it shall be built no more.

13:17. And there shall nothing of that anathema stick to thy hand:  that
the Lord may turn from the wrath of his fury, and may have mercy on
thee, and multiply thee as he swore to thy fathers,

13:18. When thou shalt hear the voice of the Lord thy God, keeping all
his precepts, which I command thee this day, that thou mayst do what is
pleasing in the sight of the Lord thy God.



Deuteronomy Chapter 14


In mourning for the dead they are not to follow the ways of the
Gentiles:  the distinction of clean and unclean meats:  ordinances
concerning tithes, and firstfruits.

14:1. Be ye children of the Lord your God:  you shall not cut
yourselves, nor make any baldness for the dead;

14:2. Because thou art a holy people to the Lord thy God:  and he chose
thee to be his peculiar people of all nations that are upon the earth.

14:3. Eat not the things that are unclean.

Unclean. . .See the annotations on Lev. 11.

14:4. These are the beasts that you shall eat, the ox, and the sheep,
and the goat,

14:5. The hart and the roe, the buffle, the chamois, the pygarg, the
wild goat, the camelopardalus.

14:6. Every beast that divideth the hoof in two parts, and cheweth the
cud, you shall eat.

14:7. But of them that chew the cud, but divide not the hoof, you shall
not eat, such as the camel, the hare, and the cherogril:  because they
chew the cud, but divide not the hoof, they shall be unclean to you.

14:8. The swine also, because it divideth the hoof, but cheweth not the
cud, shall be unclean, their flesh you shall not eat, and their
carcasses you shall not touch.

14:9. These shall you eat of all that abide in the waters:  All that
have fins and scales, you shall eat.

14:10. Such as are without fins and scales, you shall not eat, because
they are unclean.

14:11. All birds that are clean you shall eat.

14:12. The unclean eat not:  to wit, the eagle, and the grype, and the
osprey,

14:13. The ringtail, and the vulture, and the kite according to their
kind:

14:14. And all of the raven's kind:

14:15. And the ostrich, and the owl, and the larus, and the hawk
according to its kind:

14:16. The heron, and the swan, and the stork,

14:17. And the cormorant, the porphirion, and the night crow,

14:18. The bittern, and the charadrion, every one in their kind:  the
houp also and the bat.

14:19. Every thing that creepeth, and hath little wings, shall be
unclean, and shall not be eaten.

14:20. All that is clean, you shall eat.

14:21. But whatsoever is dead of itself, eat not thereof.  Give it to
the stranger, that is within thy gates, to eat, or sell it to him:
because thou art the holy people of the Lord thy God.  Thou shalt not
boil a kid in the milk of his dam.

14:22. Every year thou shalt set aside the tithes of all thy fruits
that the earth bringeth forth,

14:23. And thou shalt eat before the Lord thy God in the place which he
shall choose, that his name may be called upon therein, the tithe of
thy corn, and thy wine, and thy oil, and the firstborn of thy herds and
thy sheep:  that thou mayst learn to fear the Lord thy God at all times.

14:24. But when the way and the place which the Lord thy God shall
choose, are far off, and he hath blessed thee, and thou canst not carry
all these things thither,

14:25. Thou shalt sell them all, and turn them into money, and shalt
carry it in thy hand, and shalt go to the place which the Lord shall
choose:

14:26. And thou shalt buy with the same money whatsoever pleaseth thee,
either of the herds or of sheep, wine also and strong drink, and all
that thy soul desireth:  and thou shalt eat before the Lord thy God, and
shalt feast, thou and thy house:

14:27. And the Levite that is within thy gates, beware thou forsake him
not, because he hath no other part in thy possession.

14:28. The third year thou shalt separate another tithe of all things
that grow to thee at that time, and shalt lay it up within thy gates.

14:29. And the Levite that hath no other part nor possession with thee,
and the stranger and the fatherless and the widow, that are within thy
gates, shall come and shall eat and be filled:  that the Lord thy God
may bless thee in all the works of thy hands that thou shalt do.



Deuteronomy Chapter 15


The law of the seventh year of remission.  The firstlings of cattle are
to be sanctified to the Lord.

15:1. In the seventh year thou shalt make a remission,

15:2. Which shall be celebrated in this order.  He to whom any thing is
owing from his friend or neighbour or brother, cannot demand it again,
because it is the year of remission of the Lord.

15:3. Of the foreigner or stranger thou mayst exact it:  of thy
countryman and neighbour thou shalt not have power to demand it again.

15:4. And there shall be no poor nor beggar among you:  that the Lord
thy God may bless thee in the land which he will give thee in
possession.

There shall be no poor, etc. . .It is not to be understood as a promise,
that there should be no poor in Israel, as appears from ver. 11, where
we learn that God's people would never be at a loss to find objects for
their charity:  but it is an ordinance that all should do their best
endeavours to prevent any of their brethren from suffering the
hardships of poverty and want.

15:5. Yet so if thou hear the voice of the Lord thy God, and keep all
things that he hath ordained, and which I command thee this day, he
will bless thee, as he hath promised.

15:6. Thou shalt lend to many nations, and thou shalt borrow of no man.
Thou shalt have dominion over very many nations, and no one shall have
dominion over thee.

15:7. If one of thy brethren that dwelleth within thy gates of thy city
in the land which the Lord thy God will give thee, come to poverty:
thou shalt not harden thy heart, nor close thy hand,

15:8. But shalt open it to the poor man, thou shalt lend him, that
which thou perceivest he hath need of.

15:9. Beware lest perhaps a wicked thought steal in upon thee, and thou
say in thy heart:  The seventh year of remission draweth nigh; and thou
turn away thy eyes from thy poor brother, denying to lend him that
which he asketh:  lest he cry against thee to the Lord, and it become a
sin unto thee.

15:10. But thou shalt give to him:  neither shalt thou do any thing
craftily in relieving his necessities:  that the Lord thy God may bless
thee at all times, and in all things to which thou shalt put thy hand.

15:11. There will not be wanting poor in the land of thy habitation:
therefore I command thee to open thy hand to thy needy and poor
brother, that liveth in the land.

15:12. When thy brother a Hebrew man, or Hebrew woman is sold to thee,
and hath served thee six years, in the seventh year thou shalt let him
go free:

15:13. And when thou sendest him out free, thou shalt not let him go
away empty:

15:14. But shall give him for his way out of thy flocks, and out of thy
barnfloor, and thy winepress, wherewith the Lord thy God shall bless
thee.

15:15. Remember that thou also wast a bondservant in the land of Egypt,
and the Lord thy God made thee free, and therefore I now command thee
this.

15:16. But if he say:  I will not depart:  because he loveth thee, and
thy house, and findeth that he is well with thee:

15:17. Thou shalt take an awl, and bore through his ear in the door of
thy house, and he shall serve thee for ever:  thou shalt do in like
manner to thy womanservant also.

15:18. Turn not away thy eyes from them when thou makest them free:
because he hath served thee six years according to the wages of a
hireling:  that the Lord thy God may bless thee in all the works that
thou dost.

15:19. Of the firstlings, that come of thy herds and thy sheep, thou
shalt sanctify to the Lord thy God whatsoever is of the male sex.  Thou
shalt not work with the firstling of a bullock, and thou shalt not
shear the firstlings of thy sheep.

15:20. In the sight of the Lord thy God shalt thou eat them every year,
in the place that the Lord shall choose, thou and thy house.

15:21. But if it have a blemish, or be lame, or blind, or in any part
disfigured or feeble, it shall not be sacrificed to the Lord thy God.

15:22. But thou shalt eat it within the gates of thy city:  the clean
and the unclean shall eat them alike, as the roe and as the hart.

15:23. Only thou shalt take heed not to eat their blood, but pour it
out on the earth as water.



Deuteronomy Chapter 16


The three principal solemnities to be observed:  just judges to be
appointed in every city:  all occasions of idolatry to be avoided.

16:1. Observe the month of new corn, which is the first of the spring,
that thou mayst celebrate the phase to the Lord thy God:  because in
this month the Lord thy God brought thee out of Egypt by night.

16:2. And thou shalt sacrifice the phase to the Lord thy God, of sheep,
and of oxen, in the place which the Lord thy God shall choose, that his
name may dwell there.

16:3. Thou shalt not eat with it leavened bread:  seven days shalt thou
eat without leaven, the bread of affliction, because thou camest out of
Egypt in fear:  that thou mayst remember the day of thy coming out of
Egypt, all the days of thy life.

16:4. No leaven shall be seen in all thy coasts for seven days, neither
shall any of the flesh of that which was sacrificed the first day in
the evening remain until morning.

16:5. Thou mayst not immolate the phase in any one of thy cities, which
the Lord thy God will give thee:

16:6. But in the place which the Lord thy God shall choose, that his
name may dwell there:  thou shalt immolate the phase in the evening, at
the going down of the sun, at which time thou camest out of Egypt.

16:7. And thou shalt dress, and eat it in the place which the Lord thy
God shall choose, and in the morning rising up thou shalt go into thy
dwellings.

16:8. Six days shalt thou eat unleavened bread:  and on the seventh day,
because it is the assembly of the Lord thy God, thou shalt do no work.

16:9. Thou shalt number unto thee seven weeks from that day, wherein
thou didst put the sickle to the corn.

16:10. And thou shalt celebrate the festival of weeks to the Lord thy
God, a voluntary oblation of thy hand, which thou shalt offer according
to the blessing of the Lord thy God.

16:11. And thou shalt feast before the Lord thy God, thou, and thy son,
and thy daughter, and thy manservant, and thy maidservant, and the
Levite that is within thy gates, and the stranger and the fatherless,
and the widow, who abide with you:  in the place which the Lord thy God
shall choose, that his name may dwell there:

16:12. And thou shalt remember that thou wast a servant in Egypt:  and
thou shalt keep and do the things that are commanded.

16:13. Thou shalt celebrate the solemnity also of tabernacles seven
days, when thou hast gathered in thy fruit of the barnfloor and of the
winepress.

16:14. And thou shalt make merry in thy festival time, thou, thy son,
and thy daughter, thy manservant, and thy maidservant, the Levite also
and the stranger, and the fatherless and the widow that are within thy
gates.

16:15. Seven days shalt thou celebrate feasts to the Lord thy God in
the place which the Lord shall choose:  and the Lord thy God will bless
thee in all thy fruits, and in every work of thy hands, and thou shalt
be in joy.

16:16. Three times in a year shall all thy males appear before the Lord
thy God in the place which he shall choose:  in the feast of unleavened
bread, in the feast of weeks, and in the feast of tabernacles.  No one
shall appear with his hands empty before the Lord:

16:17. But every one shall offer according to what he hath, according
to the blessing of the Lord his God, which he shall give him.

16:18. Thou shalt appoint judges and magistrates in all thy gates,
which the Lord thy God shall give thee, in all thy tribes:  that they
may judge the people with just judgment,

16:19. And not go aside to either part.  Thou shalt not accept person
nor gifts:  for gifts blind the eyes of the wise, and change the words
of the just.

16:20. Thou shalt follow justly after that which is just:  that thou
mayst live and possess the land, which the Lord thy God shall give
thee.

16:21. Thou shalt plant no grove, nor any tree near the altar of the
Lord thy God:

16:22. Neither shalt thou make nor set up to thyself a statue:  which
things the Lord thy God hateth.



Deuteronomy Chapter 17


Victims must be without blemish.  Idolaters are to be slain.
Controversies are to be decided by the high priest and council, whose
sentence must be obeyed under pain of death.  The duty of a king, who is
to receive the law of God at the priest's hands.

17:1. Thou shalt not sacrifice to the Lord thy God a sheep, or an ox,
wherein there is blemish, or any fault:  for that is an abomination to
the Lord thy God.

17:2. When there shall be found among you within any of thy gates,
which the Lord thy God shall give thee, man or woman that do evil in
the sight of the Lord thy God, and transgress his covenant,

17:3. So as to go and serve strange gods, and adore them, the sun and
the moon, and all the host of heaven, which I have not commanded:

The host of heaven. . .That is, the stars.

17:4. And this is told thee, and hearing it thou hast inquired
diligently, and found it to be true, and that the abomination is
committed in Israel:

17:5. Thou shalt bring forth the man or the woman, who have committed
that most wicked thing, to the gates of thy city, and they shall be
stoned.

17:6. By the mouth of two or three witnesses shall he die that is to be
slain.  Let no man be put to death, when only one beareth witness
against him.

17:7. The hands of the witnesses shall be first upon him to kill him,
and afterwards the hands of the rest of the people:  that thou mayst
take away the evil out of the midst of thee.

17:8. If thou perceive that there be among you a hard and doubtful
matter in judgment between blood and blood, cause and cause, leprosy
and leprosy:  and thou see that the words of the judges within thy gates
do vary:  arise, and go up to the place, which the Lord thy God shall
choose.

If thou perceive, etc. . .Here we see what authority God was pleased to
give to the church guides of the Old Testament, in deciding, without
appeal, all controversies relating to the law; promising that they
should not err therein; and surely he has not done less for the church
guides of the New Testament.

17:9. And thou shalt come to the priests of the Levitical race, and to
the judge, that shall be at that time:  and thou shalt ask of them, and
they shall shew thee the truth of the judgment.

17:10. And thou shalt do whatsoever they shall say, that preside in the
place, which the Lord shall choose, and what they shall teach thee,

17:11. According to his law; and thou shalt follow their sentence:
neither shalt thou decline to the right hand nor to the left hand.

17:12. But he that will be proud, and refuse to obey the commandment of
the priest, who ministereth at that time to the Lord thy God, and the
decree of the judge, that man shall die, and thou shalt take away the
evil from Israel:

17:13. And all the people hearing it shall fear, that no one afterwards
swell with pride.

17:14. When thou art come into the land, which the Lord thy God will
give thee, and possessest it, and shalt say:  I will set a king over me,
as all nations have that are round about:

17:15. Thou shalt set him whom the Lord thy God shall choose out of the
number of thy brethren.  Thou mayst not make a man of another nation
king, that is not thy brother.

17:16. And when he is made king, he shall not multiply horses to
himself, nor lead back the people into Egypt, being lifted up with the
number of his horsemen, especially since the Lord hath commanded you to
return no more the same way.

17:17. He shall not have many wives, that may allure his mind, nor
immense sums of silver and gold.

17:18. But after he is raised to the throne of his kingdom, he shall
copy out to himself the Deuteronomy of this law in a volume, taking the
copy of the priests of the Levitical tribe,

17:19. And he shall have it with him, and shall read it all the days of
his life, that he may learn to fear the Lord his God, and keep his
words and ceremonies, that are commanded in the law;

17:20. And that his heart be not lifted up with pride over his
brethren, nor decline to the right or to the left, that he and his sons
may reign a long time over Israel.



Deuteronomy Chapter 18


The Lord is the inheritance of the priests and Levites.  Heathenish
abominations are to be avoided.  The great PROPHET CHRIST is promised.
False prophets must be slain.

18:1. The priests and Levites, and all that are of the same tribe,
shall have no part nor inheritance with the rest of Israel, because
they shall eat the sacrifices of the Lord, and his oblations,

18:2. And they shall receive nothing else of the possession of their
brethren:  for the Lord himself is their inheritance, as he hath said to
them.

18:3. This shall be the priest's due from the people, and from them
that offer victims:  whether they sacrifice an ox, or a sheep, they
shall give to the priest the shoulder and the breast:

18:4. The firstfruits also of corn, of wine, and of oil, and a part of
the wool from the shearing of their sheep.

18:5. For the Lord thy God hath chosen him of all thy tribes, to stand
and to minister to the name of the Lord, him and his sons for ever.

18:6. If a Levite go out of any one of the cities throughout all
Israel, in which he dwelleth, and have a longing mind to come to the
place which the Lord shall choose,

18:7. He shall minister in the name of the Lord his God, as all his
brethren the Levites do, that shall stand at that time before the Lord.

18:8. He shall receive the same portion of food that the rest do:
besides that which is due to him in his own city, by succession from
his fathers.

18:9. When thou art come into the land which the Lord thy God shall
give thee, beware lest thou have a mind to imitate the abominations of
those nations.

18:10. Neither let there be found among you any one that shall expiate
his son or daughter, making them to pass through the fire:  or that
consulteth soothsayers, or observeth dreams and omens, neither let
there be any wizard,

18:11. Nor charmer, nor any one that consulteth pythonic spirits, or
fortune tellers, or that seeketh the truth from the dead.

18:12. For the Lord abhorreth all these things, and for these
abominations he will destroy them at thy coming.

18:13. Thou shalt be perfect, and without spot before the Lord thy God.

18:14. These nations, whose land thou shalt possess, hearken to
soothsayers and diviners:  but thou art otherwise instructed by the Lord
thy God.

18:15. The Lord thy God will raise up to thee a PROPHET of thy nation
and of thy brethren like unto me:  him thou shalt hear:

18:16. As thou desiredst of the Lord thy God in Horeb, when the
assembly was gathered together, and saidst:  Let me not hear any more
the voice of the Lord my God, neither let me see any more this
exceeding great fire, lest I die.

18:17. And the Lord said to me:  They have spoken all things well.

18:18. I will raise them up a prophet out of the midst of their
brethren like to thee:  and I will put my words in his mouth, and he
shall speak to them all that I shall command him.

18:19. And he that will not hear his words, which he shall speak in my
name, I will be the revenger.

18:20. But the prophet, who being corrupted with pride, shall speak in
my name things that I did not command him to say, or in the name of
strange gods, shall be slain.

18:21. And if in silent thought thou answer:  How shall I know the word
that the Lord hath not spoken?

18:22. Thou shalt have this sign:  Whatsoever that same prophet
foretelleth in the name of the Lord, and it cometh not to pass:  that
thing the Lord hath not spoken, but the prophet hath forged it by the
pride of his mind:  and therefore thou shalt not fear him.



Deuteronomy Chapter 19


The cities of refuge.  Wilful murder, and false witnesses must be
punished.

19:1. When the Lord thy God hath destroyed the nations, whose land he
will deliver to thee, and thou shalt possess it, and shalt dwell in the
cities and houses thereof:

19:2. Thou shalt separate to thee three cities in the midst of the
land, which the Lord will give thee in possession,

19:3. Paving diligently the way:  and thou shalt divide the whole
province of thy land equally into three parts:  that he who is forced to
flee for manslaughter, may have near at hand whither to escape.

19:4. This shall be the law of the slayer that fleeth, whose life is to
be saved:  He that killeth his neighbor ignorantly, and who is proved to
have had no hatred against him yesterday and the day before:

19:5. But to have gone with him to the wood to hew wood, and in cutting
down the tree the axe slipped out of his hand, and the iron slipping
from the handle struck his friend, and killed him:  he shall flee to one
of the cities aforesaid, and live:

19:6. Lest perhaps the next kinsman of him whose blood was shed, pushed
on by his grief should pursue, and apprehend him, if the way be too
long, and take away the life of him who is not guilty of death, because
he is proved to have had no hatred before against him that was slain.

19:7. Therefore I command thee, that thou separate three cities at
equal distance one from another.

19:8. And when the Lord thy God shall have enlarged thy borders, as he
swore to the fathers, and shall give thee all the land that he promised
them,

19:9. (Yet so, if thou keep his commandments, and do the things which I
command thee this day, that thou love the Lord thy God, and walk in his
ways at all times) thou shalt add to thee other three cities, and shalt
double the number of the three cities aforesaid:

19:10. That innocent blood may not be shed in the midst of the land
which the Lord thy God will give thee to possess, lest thou be guilty
of blood.

19:11. But if any man hating his neighbour, lie in wait for his life,
and rise and strike him, and he die, and he flee to one of the cities
aforesaid,

19:12. The ancients of his city shall send, and take him out of the
place of refuge, and shall deliver him into the hand of the kinsman of
him whose blood was shed, and he shall die.

19:13. Thou shalt not pity him, and thou shalt take away the guilt of
innocent blood out of Israel, that it may be well with thee.

19:14. Thou shalt not take nor remove thy neighbour's landmark, which
thy predecessors have set in thy possession, which the Lord thy God
will give thee in the land that thou shalt receive to possess.

19:15. One witness shall not rise up against any man, whatsoever the
sin or wickedness be:  but in the mouth of two or three witnesses every
word shall stand.

19:16. If a lying witness stand against a man, accusing him of
transgression,

19:17. Both of them, between whom the controversy is, shall stand
before the Lord in the sight of the priests and the judges that shall
be in those days.

19:18. And when after most diligent inquisition, they shall find that
the false witness hath told a lie against his brother:

19:19. They shall render to him as he meant to do to his brother, and
thou shalt take away the evil out of the midst of thee:

19:20. That others hearing may fear, and may not dare to do such
things.

19:21. Thou shalt not pity him, but shalt require life for life, eye
for eye, tooth for tooth, hand for hand, foot for foot.



Deuteronomy Chapter 20


Laws relating to war.

20:1. If thou go out to war against thy enemies, and see horsemen and
chariots, and the numbers of the enemy's army greater than thine, thou
shalt not fear them:  because the Lord thy God is with thee, who brought
thee out of the land of Egypt.

20:2. And when the battle is now at hand, the priest shall stand before
the army, and shall speak to the people in this manner:

20:3. Hear, O Israel, you join battle this day against your enemies,
let not your heart be dismayed, be not afraid, do not give back, fear
ye them not:

20:4. Because the Lord your God is in the midst of you, and will fight
for you against your enemies, to deliver you from danger.

20:5. And the captains shall proclaim through every band in the hearing
of the army:  What man is there, that hath built a new house, and hath
not dedicated it?  let him go and return to his house, lest he die in
the battle, and another man dedicate it.

20:6. What man is there, that hath planted a vineyard, and hath not as
yet made it to be common, whereof all men may eat?  let him go, and
return to his house, lest he die in the battle, and another man execute
his office.

20:7. What man is there, that hath espoused a wife, and not taken her?
let him go, and return to his house, lest he die in the war, and
another man take her.

20:8. After these things are declared they shall add the rest, and
shall speak to the people:  What man is there that is fearful, and faint
hearted?  let him go, and return to his house, lest he make the hearts
of his brethren to fear, as he himself is possessed with fear.

20:9. And when the captains of the army shall hold their peace, and
have made an end of speaking, every man shall prepare their bands to
fight.

20:10. If at any time thou come to fight against a city, thou shalt
first offer it peace.

20:11. If they receive it, and open the gates to thee, all the people
that are therein, shall be saved, and shall serve thee paying tribute.

20:12. But if they will not make peace, and shall begin war against
thee, thou shalt besiege it.

20:13. And when the Lord thy God shall deliver it into thy hands, thou
shalt slay all that are therein of the male sex, with the edge of the
sword,

20:14. Excepting women and children, cattle and other things, that are
in the city.  And thou shalt divide all the prey to the army, and thou
shalt eat the spoils of thy enemies, which the Lord thy God shall give
thee.

20:15. So shalt thou do to all cities that are at a great distance from
thee, and are not of these cities which thou shalt receive in
possession.

20:16. But of those cities that shall be given thee, thou shalt suffer
none at all to live:

20:17. But shalt kill them with the edge of the sword, to wit, the
Hethite, and the Amorrhite, and the Chanaanite, the Pherezite, and the
Hevite, and the Jebusite, as the Lord thy God hath commanded thee:

20:18. Lest they teach you to do all the abominations which they have
done to their gods:  and you should sin against the Lord your God.

20:19. When thou hast besieged a city a long time, and hath compassed
it with bulwarks, to take it, thou shalt not cut down the trees that
may be eaten of, neither shalt thou spoil the country round about with
axes:  for it is a tree, and not a man, neither can it increase the
number of them that fight against thee.

20:20. But if there be any trees that are not fruitful, but wild, and
fit for other uses, cut them down, and make engines, until thou take
the city, which fighteth against thee.



Deuteronomy Chapter 21


The expiation of a secret murder.  The marrying a captive.  The eldest
son must not be deprived of his birthright for hatred of his mother.  A
stubborn son is to be stoned to death.  When one is hanged on a gibbet,
he must be taken down the same day and buried.

21:1. When there shall be found in the land, which the Lord thy God
will give thee, the corpse of a man slain, and it is not known who is
guilty of the murder,

21:2. Thy ancients and judges shall go out, and shall measure from the
place where the body lieth the distance of every city round about:

21:3. And the ancients of that city which they shall perceive to be
nearer than the rest, shall take a heifer of the herd, that hath not
drawn in the yoke, nor ploughed the ground,

21:4. And they shall bring her into a rough and stony valley, that
never was ploughed, nor sown:  and there they shall strike off the head
of the heifer:

21:5. And the priests the sons of Levi shall come, whom the Lord thy
God hath chosen to minister to him, and to bless in his name, and that
by their word every matter should be decided, and whatsoever is clean
or unclean should be judged.

21:6. And the ancients of that city shall come to the person slain, and
shall wash their hands over the heifer that was killed in the valley,

21:7. And shall say:  Our hands did not shed this blood, nor did our
eyes see it.

21:8. Be merciful to thy people Israel, whom thou hast redeemed, O
Lord, and lay not innocent blood to their charge, in the midst of thy
people Israel.  And the guilt of blood shall be taken from them:

21:9. And thou shalt be free from the innocent's blood, that was shed,
when thou shalt have done what the Lord hath commanded thee.

21:10. If thou go out to fight against thy enemies, and the Lord thy
God deliver them into thy hand, and thou lead them away captives,

21:11. And seest in the number of the captives a beautiful woman, and
lovest her, and wilt have her to wife,

21:12. Thou shalt bring her into thy house:  and she shall shave her
hair, and pare her nails,

21:13. And shall put off the raiment, wherein she was taken:  and shall
remain in thy house, and mourn for her father and mother one month:  and
after that thou shalt go in unto her, and shalt sleep with her, and she
shall be thy wife.

21:14. But if afterwards she please thee not, thou shalt let her go
free, but thou mayst not sell her for money nor oppress her by might
because thou hast humbled her.

21:15. If a man have two wives, one beloved, and the other hated, and
they have had children by him, and the son of the hated be the
firstborn,

21:16. And he meaneth to divide his substance among his sons:  he may
not make the son of the beloved the firstborn, and prefer him before
the son of the hated.

21:17. But he shall acknowledge the son of the hated for the firstborn,
and shall give him a double portion of all he hath:  for this is the
first of his children, and to him are due the first birthrights.

21:18. If a man have a stubborn and unruly son, who will not hear the
commandments of his father or mother, and being corrected, slighteth
obedience:

21:19. They shall take him and bring him to the ancients of the city,
and to the gate of judgment,

21:20. And shall say to them:  This our son is rebellious and stubborn,
he slighteth hearing our admonitions, he giveth himself to revelling,
and to debauchery and banquetings:

21:21. The people of the city shall stone him:  and he shall die, that
you may take away the evil out of the midst of you, and all Israel
hearing it may be afraid.

21:22. When a man hath committed a crime for which he is to be punished
with death, and being condemned to die is hanged on a gibbet:

21:23. His body shall not remain upon the tree, but shall be buried the
same day:  for he is accursed of God that hangeth on a tree:  and thou
shalt not defile thy land, which the Lord thy God shall give thee in
possession.



Deuteronomy Chapter 22


Humanity towards neighbours.  Neither sex may use the apparel of the
other.  Cruelty to be avoided even to birds.  Battlements about the roof
of a house.  Things of divers kinds not to be mixed.  The punishment of
him that slandereth his wife, as also of adultery and rape.

22:1. Thou shalt not pass by if thou seest thy brother's ox, or his
sheep go astray:  but thou shalt bring them back to thy brother.

22:2. And if thy brother be not nigh, or thou know him not:  thou shalt
bring them to thy house, and they shall be with thee until thy brother
seek them, and receive them.

22:3. Thou shalt do in like manner with his ass, and with his raiment,
and with every thing that is thy brother's, which is lost:  if thou find
it, neglect it not as pertaining to another.

22:4. If thou see thy brother's ass or his ox to be fallen down in the
way, thou shalt not slight it, but shalt lift it up with him.

22:5. A woman shall not be clothed with man's apparel, neither shall a
man use woman's apparel:  for he that doth these things is abominable
before God.

22:6. If thou find as thou walkest by the way, a bird's nest in a tree,
or on the ground, and the dam sitting upon the young or upon the eggs:
thou shalt not take her with her young:

Thou shalt not take, etc.  This was to shew them to exercise a certain
mercy even to irrational creatures; and by that means to train them up
to a horror of cruelty; and to the exercise of humanity and mutual
charity one to another.

22:7. But shalt let her go, keeping the young which thou hast caught:
that it may be well with thee, and thou mayst live a long time.

22:8. When thou buildest a new house, thou shalt make a battlement to
the roof round about:  lest blood be shed in thy house, and thou be
guilty, if any one slip, and fall down headlong.

Battlement. . .This precaution was necessary, because all their houses
had flat tops, and it was usual to walk and to converse together upon
them.

22:9. Thou shalt not sow thy vineyard with divers seeds:  lest both the
seed which thou hast sown, and the fruit of the vineyard, be sanctified
together.

22:10. Thou shalt not plough with an ox and an ass together.

22:11. Thou shalt not wear a garment that is woven of woollen and linen
together.

22:12. Thou shalt make strings in the hem at the four corners of thy
cloak, wherewith thou shalt be covered.

22:13. If a man marry a wife, and afterwards hate her,

22:14. And seek occasions to put her away, laying to her charge a very
ill name, and say:  I took this woman to wife, and going in to her, I
found her not a virgin:

22:15. Her father and mother shall take her, and shall bring with them
the tokens of her virginity to the ancients of the city that are in the
gate:

22:16. And the father shall say:  I gave my daughter unto this man to
wife:  and because he hateth her,

22:17. He layeth to her charge a very ill name, so as to say:  I found
not thy daughter a virgin:  and behold these are the tokens of my
daughter's virginity.  And they shall spread the cloth before the
ancients of the city:

22:18. And the ancients of that city shall take that man, and beat him,

22:19. Condemning him besides in a hundred sicles of silver, which he
shall give to the damsel's father, because he hath defamed by a very
ill name a virgin of Israel:  and he shall have her to wife, and may not
put her away all the days of his life.

22:20. But if what he charged her with be true, and virginity be not
found in the damsel:

22:21. They shall cast her out of the doors of her father's house, and
the men of the city shall stone her to death, and she shall die:
because she hath done a wicked thing in Israel, to play the whore in
her father's house:  and thou shalt take away the evil out of the midst
of thee.

22:22. If a man lie with another man's wife, they shall both die, that
is to say, the adulterer and the adulteress:  and thou shalt take away
the evil out of Israel.

22:23. If a man have espoused a damsel that is a virgin, and some one
find her in the city, and lie with her,

22:24. Thou shalt bring them both out to the gate of that city, and
they shall be stoned:  the damsel, because she cried not out, being in
the city:  the man, because he hath humbled his neighbour's wife.  And
thou shalt take away the evil from the midst of thee.

22:25. But if a man find a damsel that is betrothed, in the field, and
taking hold of her, lie with her, he alone shall die:

22:26. The damsel shall suffer nothing, neither is she guilty of death:
for as a robber riseth against his brother, and taketh away his life,
so also did the damsel suffer:

22:27. She was alone in the field:  she cried, and there was no man to
help her.

22:28. If a man find a damsel that is a virgin, who is not espoused,
and taking her, lie with her, and the matter come to judgment:

22:29. He that lay with her shall give to the father of the maid fifty
sicles of silver, and shall have her to wife, because he hath humbled
her:  he may not put her away all the days of his life.

22:30. No man shall take his father's wife, nor remove his covering.



Deuteronomy Chapter 23


Who may and who may not enter into the church:  uncleanness to be
avoided:  other precepts concerning fugitives, fornication, usury, vows,
and eating other men's grapes and corn.

23:1. An eunuch, whose testicles are broken or cut away, or yard cut
off, shall not enter into the church of the Lord.

Eunuch. . .By these are meant, in the spiritual sense, such as are
barren in good works.  Ibid.  Into the church. . .That is, into the
assembly or congregation of Israel, so as to have the privilege of an
Israelite, or to be capable of any place or office among the people of
God.

23:2. A mamzer, that is to say, one born of a prostitute, shall not
enter into the church of the Lord, until the tenth generation.

23:3. The Ammonite and the Moabite, even after the tenth generation
shall not enter into the church of the Lord for ever:

23:4. Because they would not meet you with bread and water in the way,
when you came out of Egypt:  and because they hired against thee Balaam,
the son of Beor, from Mesopotamia in Syria, to curse thee.

23:5. And the Lord thy God would not hear Balaam, and he turned his
cursing into thy blessing, because he loved thee.

23:6. Thou shalt not make peace with them, neither shalt thou seek
their prosperity all the days of thy life for ever.

23:7. Thou shalt not abhor the Edomite, because he is thy brother:  nor
the Egyptian, because thou wast a stranger in his land.

23:8. They that are born of them, in the third generation shall enter
into the church of the Lord.

23:9. When thou goest out to war against thy enemies, thou shalt keep
thyself from every evil thing.

23:10. If there be among you any man, that is defiled in a dream by
night, he shall go forth out of the camp,

23:11. And shall not return, before he be washed with water in the
evening:  and after sunset he shall return into the camp.

23:12. Thou shalt have a place without the camp, to which thou mayst go
for the necessities of nature,

23:13. Carrying a paddle at thy girdle.  And when thou sittest down,
thou shalt dig round about, and with the earth that is dug up thou
shalt cover

23:14. That which thou art eased of:  (for the Lord thy God walketh in
the midst of thy camp, to deliver thee, and to give up thy enemies to
thee:) and let thy camp be holy, and let no uncleanness appear therein,
lest he go away from thee.

No uncleanness. . .This caution against suffering any filth in the camp,
was to teach them to fly the filth of sin, which driveth God away from
the soul.

23:15. Thou shalt not deliver to his master the servant that is fled to
thee.

23:16. He shall dwell with thee in the place that shall please him, and
shall rest in one of thy cities:  give him no trouble.

23:17. There shall be no whore among the daughters of Israel, nor
whoremonger among the sons of Israel.

23:18. Thou shalt not offer the hire of a strumpet, nor the price of a
dog, in the house of the Lord thy God, whatsoever it be that thou hast
vowed:  because both these are an abomination to the Lord thy God.

23:19. Thou shalt not lend to thy brother money to usury, nor corn, nor
any other thing:

23:20. But to the stranger.  To thy brother thou shalt lend that which
he wanteth, without usury:  that the Lord thy God may bless thee in all
thy works in the land, which thou shalt go in to possess.

To the stranger. . .This was a dispensation granted by God to his
people, who being the Lord of all things, can give a right and title to
one upon the goods of another.  Otherwise the scripture everywhere
condemns usury, as contrary to the law of God, and a crying sin.  See
Ex. 22.25; Lev. 25.36, 37; 2 Esd. 5.7; Ps. 14.5; Ezech. 18.8, 13, etc.

23:21. When thou hast made a vow to the Lord thy God, thou shalt not
delay to pay it:  because the Lord thy God will require it.  And if thou
delay, it shall be imputed to thee for a sin.

23:22. If thou wilt not promise, that shalt be without sin.

23:23. But that which is once gone out of thy lips, thou shalt observe,
and shalt do as thou hast promised to the Lord thy God, and hast spoken
with thy own will and with thy own mouth.

23:24. Going into thy neighbour's vineyard, thou mayst eat as many
grapes as thou pleasest:  but must carry none out with thee:

23:25. If thou go into thy friend's corn, thou mayst break the ears,
and rub them in thy hand:  but not reap them with a sickle.



Deuteronomy Chapter 24


Divorce permitted to avoid greater evil:  the newly married must not go
to war:  of men stealers, of leprosy, of pledges, of labourers' hire, of
justice, and of charity to the poor.

24:1. If a man take a wife, and have her, and she find not favour in
his eyes, for some uncleanness:  he shall write a bill of divorce, and
shall give it in her hand, and send her out of his house.

24:2. And when she is departed, and marrieth another husband,

24:3. And he also hateth her, and hath given her a bill of divorce, and
hath sent her out of his house or is dead:

24:4. The former husband cannot take her again to wife:  because she is
defiled, and is become abominable before the Lord:  lest thou cause thy
land to sin, which the Lord thy God shall give thee to possess.

24:5. When a man hath lately taken a wife, he shall not go out to war,
neither shall any public business be enjoined him, but he shall be free
at home without fault, that for one year he may rejoice with his wife.

24:6. Thou shalt not take the nether, nor the upper millstone to
pledge:  for he hath pledged his life to thee.

24:7. If any man be found soliciting his brother of the children of
Israel, and selling him shall take a price, he shall be put to death,
and thou shalt take away the evil from the midst of thee.

24:8. Observe diligently that thou incur not the stroke of the leprosy,
but thou shalt do whatsoever the priests of the Levitical race shall
teach thee, according to what I have commanded them, and fulfil thou it
carefully.

24:9. Remember what the Lord your God did to Mary, in the way when you
came out of Egypt.

24:10. When thou shalt demand of thy neighbour any thing that he oweth
thee, thou shalt not go into his house to take away a pledge:

24:11. But thou shalt stand without, and he shall bring out to thee
what he hath.

24:12. But if he be poor, the pledge shall not lodge with thee that
night,

24:13. But thou shalt restore it to him presently before the going down
of the sun:  that he may sleep in his own raiment and bless thee, and
thou mayst have justice before the Lord thy God.

24:14. Thou shalt not refuse the hire of the needy, and the poor,
whether he be thy brother, or a stranger that dwelleth with thee in the
land, and is within thy gates:

24:15. But thou shalt pay him the price of his labour the same day,
before the going down of the sun, because he is poor, and with it
maintaineth his life:  lest he cry against thee to the Lord, and it be
reputed to thee for a sin.

24:16. The fathers shall not be put to death for the children, nor the
children for the fathers, but every one shall die for his own sin,

24:17. Thou shalt not pervert the judgment of the stranger nor of the
fatherless, neither shalt thou take away the widow's raiment for a
pledge.

24:18. Remember that thou wast a slave in Egypt, and the Lord thy God
delivered thee from thence.  Therefore I command thee to do this thing.

24:19. When thou hast reaped the corn in thy field, and hast forgot and
left a sheaf, thou shalt not return to take it away:  but thou shalt
suffer the stranger, and the fatherless and the widow to take it away:
that the Lord thy God may bless thee in all the works of thy hands.

24:20. If thou have gathered the fruit of thy olive trees, thou shalt
not return to gather whatsoever remaineth on the trees:  but shalt leave
it for the stranger, for the fatherless, and the widow.

24:21. If thou make the vintage of thy vineyard, thou shalt not gather
the clusters that remain, but they shall be for the stranger, the
fatherless, and the widow.

24:22. Remember that thou also wast a bondman in Egypt, and therefore I
command thee to do this thing.



Deuteronomy Chapter 25


Stripes must not exceed forty.  The ox is not to be muzzled.  Of raising
seed to the brother.  Of the immodest woman.  Of unjust weight.  Of
destroying the Amalecites.

25:1. If there be a controversy between men, and they call upon the
judges:  they shall give the prize of justice to him whom they perceive
to be just:  and him whom they find to be wicked, they shall condemn of
wickedness.

25:2. And if they see that the offender be worthy of stripes:  they
shall lay him down, and shall cause him to be beaten before them.
According to the measure of the sin shall the measure also of the
stripes be:

25:3. Yet so, that they exceed not the number of forty:  lest thy
brother depart shamefully torn before thy eyes.

25:4. Thou shalt not muzzle the ox that treadeth out thy corn on the
floor.

Not muzzle, etc. . .St. Paul understands this of the spiritual labourer
in the church of God, who is not to be denied his maintenance.  1 Cor.
9.8, 9, 10.

25:5. When brethren dwell together, and one of them dieth without
children, the wife of the deceased shall not marry to another:  but his
brother shall take her, and raise up seed for his brother:

25:6. And the first son he shall have of her he shall call by his name,
that his name be not abolished out of Israel.

25:7. But if he will not take his brother's wife, who by law belongeth
to him, the woman shall go to the gate of the city, and call upon the
ancients, and say:  My husband's brother refuseth to raise up his
brother's name in Israel:  and will not take me to wife.

25:8. And they shall cause him to be sent for forthwith, and shall ask
him.  If he answer:  I will not take her to wife:

25:9. The woman shall come to him before the ancients, and shall take
off his shoe from his foot, and spit in his face, and say:  So shall it
be done to the man that will not build up his brother's house:

25:10. And his name shall be called in Israel, the house of the unshod.

25:11. If two men have words together, and one begin to fight against
the other, and the other's wife willing to deliver her husband out of
the hand of the stronger, shall put forth her hand, and take him by the
secrets,

25:12. Thou shalt cut off her hand, neither shalt thou be moved with
any pity in her regard.

25:13. Thou shalt not have divers weights in thy bag, a greater and a
less:

25:14. Neither shall there be in thy house a greater bushel and a less.

25:15. Thou shalt have a just and a true weight, and thy bushel shall
be equal and true:  that thou mayest live a long time upon the land
which the Lord thy God shall give thee.

25:16. For the Lord thy God abhorreth him that doth these things, and
he hateth all injustice.

25:17. Remember what Amalec did to thee in the way when thou camest out
of Egypt:

Amalec. . .This order for destroying the Amalecites, in the mystical
sense, sheweth how hateful they are to God, and what punishments they
are to look for from his justice, who attack and discourage his
servants when they are but just come out, as it were, of the Egypt of
this wicked world and being yet weak and fainthearted, are but
beginning their journey to the land of promise.

25:18. How he met thee:  and slew the hindmost of the army, who sat
down, being weary, when thou wast spent with hunger and labour, and he
feared not God.

25:19. Therefore when the Lord thy God shall give thee rest, and shall
have subdued all the nations round about in the land which he hath
promised thee:  thou shalt blot out his name from under heaven.  See thou
forget it not.



Deuteronomy Chapter 26


The form of words with which the firstfruits and tithes are to be
offered.  God's covenant.

26:1. And when thou art come into the land which the Lord thy God will
give thee to possess, and hast conquered it, and dwellest in it:

26:2. Thou shalt take the first of all thy fruits, and put them in a
basket, and shalt go to the place which the Lord thy God shall choose,
that his name may be invocated there:

26:3. And thou shalt go to the priest that shall be in those days, and
say to him:  I profess this day before the Lord thy God, that I am come
into the land, for which he swore to our fathers, that he would give it
us.

26:4. And the priest taking the basket at thy hand, shall set it before
the altar of the Lord thy God:

26:5. And thou shalt speak thus in the sight of the Lord thy God:  The
Syrian pursued my father, who went down into Egypt, and sojourned there
in a very small number, and grew into a nation great and strong and of
an infinite multitude.

The Syrian. . .Laban.  See Gen. 27.

26:6. And the Egyptians afflicted us, and persecuted us, laying on us
most grievous burdens:

26:7. And we cried to the Lord God of our fathers:  who heard us, and
looked down upon our affliction, and labour, and distress:

26:8. And brought us out of Egypt with a strong hand, and a stretched
out arm, with great terror, with signs and wonders:

26:9. And brought us into this place, and gave us this land flowing
with milk and honey.

26:10. And therefore now I offer the firstfruits of the land which the
Lord hath given me.  And thou shalt leave them in the sight of the Lord
thy God, adoring the Lord thy God.

26:11. And thou shalt feast in all the good things which the Lord thy
God hath given thee, and thy house, thou and the Levite, and the
stranger that is with thee.

26:12. When thou hast made an end of tithing all thy fruits, in the
third year of tithes thou shalt give it to the Levite, and to the
stranger, and to the fatherless, and to the widow, that they may eat
within thy gates, and be filled:

26:13. And thou shalt speak thus in the sight of the Lord thy God:  I
have taken that which was sanctified out of my house, and I have given
it to the Levite, and to the stranger, and to the fatherless, and to
the widow, as thou hast commanded me:  I have not transgressed thy
commandments nor forgotten thy precepts.

26:14. I have not eaten of them in my mourning, nor separated them for
any uncleanness, nor spent any thing of them in funerals.  I have obeyed
the voice of the Lord my God, and have done all things as thou hast
commanded me.

26:15. Look from thy sanctuary, and thy high habitation of heaven, and
bless thy people Israel, and the land which thou hast given us, as thou
didst swear to our fathers, a land flowing with milk and honey.

26:16. This day the Lord thy God hath commanded thee to do these
commandments and judgments:  and to keep and fulfil them with all thy
heart, and with all thy soul.

26:17. Thou hast chosen the Lord this day to be thy God, and to walk in
his ways and keep his ceremonies, and precepts, and judgments, and obey
his command.

26:18. And the Lord hath chosen thee this day, to be his peculiar
people, as he hath spoken to thee, and to keep all his commandments:

26:19. And to make thee higher than all nations which he hath created,
to his own praise, and name, and glory:  that thou mayst be a holy
people of the Lord thy God, as he hath spoken.



Deuteronomy Chapter 27


The commandments must be written on stones:  and an altar erected, and
sacrifices offered.  The observers of the commandments are to be
blessed, and the transgressors cursed.

27:1. And Moses with the ancients of Israel commanded the people,
saying:  Keep every commandment that I command you this day.

27:2. And when you are passed over the Jordan into the land which the
Lord thy God will give thee, thou shalt set up great stones, and shalt
plaster them over with plaster,

27:3. That thou mayst write on them all the words of this law, when
thou art passed over the Jordan:  that thou mayst enter into the land
which the Lord thy God will give thee, a land flowing with milk and
honey, as he swore to thy fathers.

27:4. Therefore when you are passed over the Jordan, set up the stones
which I command you this day, in mount Hebal, and thou shalt plaster
them with plaster:

27:5. And thou shalt build there an altar to the Lord thy God, of
stones which iron hath not touched,

27:6. And of stones not fashioned nor polished:  and thou shalt offer
upon it holocausts to the Lord thy God:

27:7. And shalt immolate peace victims, and eat there, and feast before
the Lord thy God.

27:8. And thou shalt write upon the stones all the words of this law
plainly and clearly.

27:9. And Moses and the priests of the race of Levi said to all Israel:
Attend, and hear, O Israel:  This day thou art made the people of the
Lord thy God:

27:10. Thou shalt hear his voice, and do the commandments and justices
which I command thee.

27:11. And Moses commanded the people in that day, saying:

27:12. These shall stand upon mount Garizim to bless the people, when
you are passed the Jordan:  Simeon, Levi, Juda, Issachar, Joseph, and
Benjamin.

27:13. And over against them shall stand on mount Hebal to curse:
Ruben, Gad, and Aser, and Zabulon, Dan, and Nephtali.

27:14. And the Levites shall pronounce, and say to all the men of
Israel with a loud voice:

27:15. Cursed be the man that maketh a graven and molten thing, the
abomination of the Lord, the work of the hands of artificers, and shall
put it in a secret place:  and all the people shall answer and say:
Amen.

27:16. Cursed be he that honoureth not his father and mother:  and all
the people shall say:  Amen.

27:17. Cursed be he that removeth his neighbour's landmarks:  and all
the people shall say:  Amen.

27:18. Cursed be he that maketh the blind to wander out of his way:  and
all the people shall say:  Amen.

27:19. Cursed be he that perverteth the judgment of the stranger, of
the fatherless and the widow:  and all the people shall say:  Amen.

27:20. Cursed be he that lieth with his father's wife, and uncovereth
his bed:  and all the people shall say:  Amen.

27:21. Cursed be he that lieth with any beast:  and all the people shall
say:  Amen.

27:22. Cursed be he that lieth with his sister, the daughter of his
father, or of his mother:  and all the people shall say:  Amen.

27:23. Cursed be he that lieth with his mother-in-law:  and all the
people shall say:  Amen.

27:24. Cursed be he that secretly killeth his neighbour:  and all the
people shall say:  Amen.

27:25. Cursed be he that taketh gifts, to slay an innocent person:  and
all the people shall say:  Amen.

27:26. Cursed be he that abideth not in the words of this law, and
fulfilleth them not in work:  and all the people shall say:  Amen.



Deuteronomy Chapter 28


Many blessings are promised to observers of God's commandments:  and
curses threatened to transgressors.

28:1. Now if thou wilt hear the voice of all his commandments, which I
command thee this day, the Lord thy God will make thee higher than all
the nations that are on the earth.

28:2. And all these blessings shall come upon thee and overtake thee:
yet so if thou hear his precepts.

All these blessings, etc. . .In the Old Testament, God promised temporal
blessings to the keepers of his law, heaven not being opened as yet;
and that gross and sensual people being more moved with present and
sensible things.  But in the New Testament the goods that are promised
us are spiritual and eternal; and temporal evils are turned into
blessings.

28:3. Blessed shalt thou be in the city, and blessed in the field.

28:4. Blessed shall be the fruit of thy womb, and the fruit of thy
ground, and the fruit of thy cattle, the droves of thy herds, and the
folds of thy sheep.

28:5. Blessed shall be thy barns and blessed thy stores.

28:6. Blessed shalt thou be coming in and going out.

28:7. The Lord shall cause thy enemies, that rise up against thee, to
fall down before thy face:  one way shall they come out against thee,
and seven ways shall they flee before thee.

28:8. The Lord will send forth a blessing upon thy storehouses, and
upon all the works of thy hands:  and will bless thee in the land that
thou shalt receive.

28:9. The Lord will raise thee up to be a holy people to himself, as he
swore to thee:  if thou keep the commandments of the Lord thy God, and
walk in his ways.

28:10. And all the people of the earth shall see that the name of the
Lord is invocated upon thee, and they shall fear thee.

28:11. The Lord will make thee abound with all goods, with the fruit of
thy womb, and the fruit of thy cattle, with the fruit of thy land,
which the Lord swore to thy fathers that he would give thee.

28:12. The Lord will open his excellent treasure, the heaven, that it
may give rain in due season:  and he will bless all the works of thy
hands.  And thou shalt lend to many nations, and shalt not borrow of any
one.

28:13. And the Lord shall make thee the head and not the tail:  and thou
shalt be always above, and not beneath:  yet so if thou wilt hear the
commandments of the Lord thy God which I command thee this day, and
keep and do them,

28:14. And turn not away from them neither to the right hand, nor to
the left, nor follow strange gods, nor worship them.

28:15. But if thou wilt not hear the voice of the Lord thy God, to keep
and to do all his commandments and ceremonies, which I command thee
this day, all these curses shall come upon thee, and overtake thee.

All these curses, etc. . .Thus God dealt with the transgressors of his
law in the Old Testament:  but now he often suffers sinners to prosper
in this world, rewarding them for some little good they have done, and
reserving their punishment for the other world.

28:16. Cursed shalt thou be in the city, cursed in the field.

28:17. Cursed shall be thy barn, and cursed thy stores.

28:18. Cursed shall be the fruit of thy womb, and the fruit of thy
ground, the herds of thy oxen, and the flocks of thy sheep.

28:19. Cursed shalt thou be coming in, and cursed going out.

28:20. The Lord shall send upon thee famine and hunger, and a rebuke
upon all the works which thou shalt do:  until he consume and destroy
thee quickly, for thy most wicked inventions, by which thou hast
forsaken me.

28:21. May the Lord set the pestilence upon thee, until he consume thee
out of the land, which thou shalt go in to possess.

28:22. May the Lord afflict thee with miserable want, with the fever
and with cold, with burning and with heat, and with corrupted air and
with blasting, and pursue thee till thou perish.

28:23. Be the heaven, that is over thee, of brass:  and the ground thou
treadest on, of iron.

28:24. The Lord give thee dust for rain upon thy land, and let ashes
come down from heaven upon thee, till thou be consumed.

28:25. The Lord make thee to fall down before thy enemies, one way
mayst thou go out against them, and flee seven ways, and be scattered
throughout all the kingdoms of the earth.

28:26. And be thy carcass meat for all the fowls of the air, and the
beasts of the earth, and be there none to drive them away.

28:27. The Lord strike thee with the ulcer of Egypt, and the part of
thy body, by which the dung is cast out, with the scab and with the
itch:  so that thou canst not be healed.

28:28. The Lord strike thee with madness and blindness and fury of
mind.

28:29. And mayst thou grope at midday as the blind is wont to grope in
the dark, and not make straight thy ways.  And mayst thou at all times
suffer wrong, and be oppressed with violence, and mayst thou have no
one to deliver thee.

28:30. Mayst thou take a wife, and another sleep with her.  Mayst thou
build a house, and not dwell therein.  Mayest thou plant a vineyard and
not gather the vintage thereof.

28:31. May thy ox be slain before thee, and thou not eat thereof.  May
thy ass be taken away in thy sight, and not restored to thee.  May thy
sheep be given to thy enemies, and may there be none to help thee.

28:32. May thy sons and thy daughters be given to another people, thy
eyes looking on, and languishing at the sight of them all the day, and
may there be no strength in thy hand.

28:33. May a people which thou knowest not, eat the fruits of thy land,
and all thy labours:  and mayst thou always suffer oppression, and be
crushed at all times.

28:34. And be astonished at the terror of those things which thy eyes
shall see:

28:35. May the Lord strike thee with a very sore ulcer in the knees and
in the legs, and be thou incurable from the sole of the foot to the top
of the head.

28:36. The Lord shall bring thee, and thy king, whom thou shalt have
appointed over thee, into a nation which thou and thy fathers know not:
and there thou shalt serve strange gods, wood and stone.

28:37. And thou shalt be lost, as a proverb and a byword to all people,
among whom the Lord shall bring thee in.

28:38. Thou shalt cast much seed into the ground, and gather little:
because the locusts shall consume all.

28:39. Thou shalt plant a vineyard, and dig it, and shalt not drink the
wine, nor gather any thing thereof:  because it shall be wasted with
worms.

28:40. Thou shalt have olive trees in all thy borders, and shalt not be
anointed with the oil:  for the olives shall fall off and perish.

28:41. Thou shalt beget sons and daughters, and shalt not enjoy them:
because they shall be led into captivity.

28:42. The blast shall consume all the trees and the fruits of thy
ground.

28:43. The stranger that liveth with thee in the land, shall rise up
over thee, and shall be higher:  and thou shalt go down, and be lower.

28:44. He shall lend to thee, and thou shalt not lend to him.  He shall
be as the head, and thou shalt be the tail.

28:45. And all these curses shall come upon thee, and shall pursue and
overtake thee, till thou perish:  because thou heardst not the voice of
the Lord thy God, and didst not keep his commandments and ceremonies
which he commanded thee.

28:46. And they shall be as signs and wonders on thee, and on thy seed
for ever.

28:47. Because thou didst not serve the Lord thy God with joy and
gladness of heart, for the abundance of all things:

28:48. Thou shalt serve thy enemy, whom the Lord will send upon thee,
in hunger, and thirst, and nakedness, and in want of all things:  and he
shall put an iron yoke upon thy neck, till he consume thee.

28:49. The Lord will bring upon thee a nation from afar, and from the
uttermost ends of the earth, like an eagle that flyeth swiftly, whose
tongue thou canst not understand,

28:50. A most insolent nation, that will shew no regard to the
ancients, nor have pity on the infant,

28:51. And will devour the fruit of thy cattle, and the fruits of thy
land:  until thou be destroyed, and will leave thee no wheat, nor wine,
nor oil, nor herds of oxen, nor flocks of sheep:  until he destroy thee.

28:52. And consume thee in all thy cities, and thy strong and high wall
be brought down, wherein thou trustedst in all thy land.  Thou shalt be
besieged within thy gates in all thy land which the Lord thy God will
give thee:

28:53. And thou shalt eat the fruit of thy womb, and the flesh of thy
sons and of thy daughters, which the Lord thy God shall give thee, in
the distress and extremity wherewith thy enemy shall oppress thee.

28:54. The man that is nice among you, and very delicate, shall envy
his own brother, and his wife, that lieth in his bosom,

28:55. So that he will not give them of the flesh of his children,
which he shall eat:  because he hath nothing else in the siege and the
want, wherewith thy enemies shall distress thee within all thy gates.

28:56. The tender and delicate woman, that could not go upon the
ground, nor set down her foot for over much niceness and tenderness,
will envy her husband who lieth in her bosom, the flesh of her son, and
of her daughter,

28:57. And the filth of the afterbirths, that come forth from between
her thighs, and the children that are born the same hour.  For they
shall eat them secretly for the want of all things, in the siege and
distress, wherewith thy enemy shall oppress thee within thy gates.

28:58. If thou wilt not keep, and fulfil all the words of this law,
that are written in this volume, and fear his glorious and terrible
name:  that is, The Lord thy God:

28:59. The Lord shall increase thy plagues, and the plagues of thy
seed, plagues great and lasting, infirmities grievous and perpetual.

28:60. And he shall bring back on thee all the afflictions of Egypt,
which thou wast afraid of, and they shall stick fast to thee.

28:61. Moreover the Lord will bring upon thee all the diseases, and
plagues, that are not written in the volume of this law till he consume
thee:

28:62. And you shall remain few in number, who before were as the stars
of heaven for multitude, because thou heardst not the voice of the Lord
thy God.

28:63. And as the Lord rejoiced upon you before doing good to you, and
multiplying you:  so he shall rejoice destroying and bringing you to
nought, so that you shall be taken away from the land which thou shalt
go in to possess.

28:64. The Lord shall scatter thee among all people, from the farthest
parts of the earth to the ends thereof:  and there thou shalt serve
strange gods, which both thou art ignorant of and thy fathers, wood and
stone.

28:65. Neither shalt thou be quiet, even in those nations, nor shall
there be any rest for the sole of thy foot.  For the Lord will give thee
a fearful heart, and languishing eyes, and a soul consumed with
pensiveness:

28:66. And thy life shall be as it were hanging before thee.  Thou shalt
fear night and day, neither shalt thou trust thy life.

28:67. In the morning thou shalt say:  Who will grant me evening?  and at
evening:  Who will grant me morning?  for the fearfulness of thy heart,
wherewith thou shalt be terrified, and for those things which thou
shalt see with thy eyes.

28:68. The Lord shall bring thee again with ships into Egypt, by the
way whereof he said to thee that thou shouldst see it no more.  There
shalt thou be set to sale to thy enemies for bondmen and bondwomen, and
no man shall buy you.



Deuteronomy Chapter 29


The covenant is solemnly confirmed between God and his people.  Threats
against those that shall break it.

29:1. These are the words of the covenant which the Lord commanded
Moses to make with the children of Israel in the land of Moab:  beside
that covenant which he made with them in Horeb.

29:2. And Moses called all Israel, and said to them:  You have seen all
the things that the Lord did before you in the land of Egypt to Pharao,
and to all his servants, and to his whole land.

29:3. The great temptations, which thy eyes have seen, those mighty
signs and wonders,

29:4. And the Lord hath not given you a heart to understand, and eyes
to see, and ears that may hear, unto this present day.

Hath not given you, etc. . .Through your own fault and because you
resisted his grace.

29:5. He hath brought you forty years through the desert:  your garments
are not worn out, neither are the shoes of your feet consumed with age.

29:6. You have not eaten bread, nor have you drunk wine or strong
drink:  that you might know that I am the Lord your God.

29:7. And you came to this place:  and Sehon king of Hesebon, and Og
king of Basan, came out against us to fight.  And we slew them.

29:8. And took their land, and delivered it for a possession to Ruben
and Gad, and the half tribe of Manasses.

29:9. Keep therefore the words of this covenant, and fulfil them:  that
you may understand all that you do.

29:10. You all stand this day before the Lord your God, your princes,
and tribes, and ancients, and doctors, all the people of Israel,

29:11. Your children and your wives, and the stranger that abideth with
thee in the camp, besides the hewers of wood, and them that bring
water:

29:12. That thou mayst pass in the covenant of the Lord thy God, and in
the oath which this day the Lord thy God maketh with thee.

29:13. That he may raise thee up a people to himself, and he may be thy
God as he hath spoken to thee, and as he swore to thy fathers Abraham,
Isaac, and Jacob.

29:14. Neither with you only do I make this covenant, and confirm these
oaths,

29:15. But with all that are present and that are absent.

29:16. For you know how we dwelt in the land of Egypt, and how we have
passed through the midst of nations, and passing through them,

29:17. You have seen their abominations and filth, that is to say,
their idols, wood and stone, silver and gold, which they worshipped.

29:18. Lest perhaps there should be among you a man or a woman, a
family or a tribe, whose heart is turned away this day from the Lord
our God, to go and serve the gods of those nations:  and there should be
among you a root bringing forth gall and bitterness.

29:19. And when he shall hear the words of this oath, he should bless
himself in his heart saying:  I shall have peace, and will walk on in
the naughtiness of my heart:  and the drunken may consume the thirsty,

The drunken, etc., absumat ebria sitientem. . .It is a proverbial
expression, which may either be understood, as spoken by the sinner,
blessing, that is, flattering himself in his sins with the imagination
of peace, and so great an abundance as may satisfy, and as it were,
consume all thirst and want:  or it may be referred to the root of
bitterness, spoken of before, which being drunken with sin may attract,
and by that means consume, such as thirst after the like evils.

29:20. And the Lord should not forgive him:  but his wrath and jealousy
against that man should be exceedingly enkindled at that time, and all
the curses that are written in this volume should light upon him:  and
the Lord should blot out his name from under heaven,

29:21. And utterly destroy him out of all the tribes of Israel,
according to the curses that are contained in the book of this law and
covenant:

29:22. And the following generation shall say, and the children that
shall be born hereafter, and the strangers that shall come from afar,
seeing the plagues of that land and the evils wherewith the Lord hath
afflicted it,

29:23. Burning it with brimstone, and the heat of salt, so that it
cannot be sown any more, nor any green thing grow therein, after the
example of the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrha, Adama and Seboim,
which the Lord destroyed in his wrath and indignation:

29:24. And all the nations shall say:  Why hath the Lord done thus to
this land?  what meaneth this exceeding great heat of his wrath?

29:25. And they shall answer:  Because they forsook the covenant of the
Lord, which he made with their fathers, when he brought them out of the
land of Egypt:

29:26. And they have served strange gods, and adored them, whom they
knew not, and for whom they had not been assigned:

29:27. Therefore the wrath of the Lord was kindled against this land,
to bring upon it all the curses that are written in this volume:

29:28. And he hath cast them out of their land, in anger and in wrath,
and in very great indignation, and hath thrown them into a strange
land, as it is seen this day.

29:29. Secret things to the Lord our God:  things that are manifest, to
us and to our children for ever, that we may do all the words of this
law.

Secret things, etc. . .As much as to say, secret things belong to, and
are known to, God alone; our business must be to observe what he has
revealed and manifested to us, and to direct our lives accordingly.



Deuteronomy Chapter 30


Great mercies are promised to the penitent:  God's commandment is
feasible.  Life and death are set before them.

30:1. Now when all these things shall be come upon thee, the blessing
or the curse, which I have set forth before thee, and thou shalt be
touched with repentance of thy heart among all the nations, into which
the Lord thy God shall have scattered thee,

30:2. And shalt return to him, and obey his commandments, as I command
thee this day, thou and thy children, with all thy heart, and with all
thy soul:

30:3. The Lord thy God will bring back again thy captivity, and will
have mercy on thee, and gather thee again out of all the nations, into
which he scattered thee before.

30:4. If thou be driven as far as the poles of heaven, the Lord thy God
will fetch thee back from hence,

30:5. And will take thee to himself, and bring thee into the land which
thy fathers possessed, and thou shalt possess it:  and blessing thee, he
will make thee more numerous than were thy fathers.

30:6. The Lord thy God will circumcise thy heart, and the heart of thy
seed:  that thou mayst love the Lord thy God with all thy heart and with
all thy soul, that thou mayst live.

30:7. And he will turn all these curses upon thy enemies, and upon them
that hate and persecute thee.

30:8. But thou shalt return, and hear the voice of the Lord thy God,
and shalt do all the commandments which I command thee this day:

30:9. And the Lord thy God will make thee abound in all the works of
thy hands, in the fruit of thy womb, and in the fruit of thy cattle, in
the fruitfulness of thy land, and in the plenty of all things.  For the
Lord will return to rejoice over thee in all good things, as he
rejoiced in thy fathers:

30:10. Yet so if thou hear the voice of the Lord thy God, and keep his
precepts and ceremonies, which are written in this law:  and return to
the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul.

30:11. This commandment, that I command thee this day is not above
thee, nor far off from thee:

30:12. Nor is it in heaven, that thou shouldst say:  Which of us can go
up to heaven to bring it unto us, and we may hear and fulfil it in
work?

30:13. Nor is it beyond the sea:  that thou mayst excuse thyself, and
say:  Which of us can cross the sea, and bring it unto us:  that we may
hear, and do that which is commanded?

30:14. But the word is very nigh unto thee, in thy mouth and in thy
heart, that thou mayst do it.

30:15. Consider that I have set before thee this day life and good, and
on the other hand death and evil:

30:16. That thou mayst love the Lord thy God, and walk in his ways, and
keep his commandments and ceremonies and judgments, and bless thee in
the land, which thou shalt go in to possess.

30:17. But if thy heart be turned away, so that thou wilt not hear, and
being deceived with error thou adore strange gods, and serve them:

30:18. I foretell thee this day that thou shalt perish, and shalt
remain but a short time in the land, to which thou shalt pass over the
Jordan, and shalt go in to possess it.

30:19. I call heaven and earth to witness this day, that I have set
before you life and death, blessing and cursing.  Choose therefore life,
that both thou and thy seed may live:

30:20. And that thou mayst love the Lord thy God, and obey his voice,
and adhere to him (for he is thy life, and the length of thy days,)
that thou mayst dwell in the land, for which the Lord swore to thy
fathers Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob that he would give it them.



Deuteronomy Chapter 31


Moses encourageth the people, and Josue, who is appointed to succeed
him.  He delivereth the law to the priests.  God foretelleth that the
people will often forsake him, and that he will punish them.  He
commandeth Moses to write a canticle, as a constant remembrancer of the
law.

31:1. And Moses went, and spoke all these words to all Israel,

31:2. And he said to them:  I am this day a hundred and twenty years
old, I can no longer go out and come in, especially as the Lord also
hath said to me:  Thou shalt not pass over this Jordan.

31:3. The Lord thy God then will pass over before thee:  he will destroy
all these nations in thy sight, and thou shalt possess them:  and this
Josue shall go over before thee, as the Lord hath spoken.

31:4. And the Lord shall do to them as he did to Sehon and Og the kings
of the Amorrhites, and to their land, and shall destroy them.

31:5. Therefore when the Lord shall have delivered these also to you,
you shall do in like manner to them as I have commanded you.

31:6. Do manfully and be of good heart:  fear not, nor be ye dismayed at
their sight:  for the Lord thy God he himself is thy leader, and will
not leave thee nor forsake thee.

31:7. And Moses called Josue, and said to him before all Israel:  Take
courage, and be valiant:  for thou shalt bring this people into the land
which the Lord swore he would give to their fathers, and thou shalt
divide it by lot.

31:8. And the Lord who is your leader, he himself will be with thee:  he
will not leave thee, nor forsake thee:  fear not, neither be dismayed.

31:9. And Moses wrote this law, and delivered it to the priests the
sons of Levi, who carried the ark of the covenant of the Lord, and to
all the ancients of Israel.

31:10. And he commanded them, saying:  After seven years, in the year of
remission, in the feast of tabernacles,

31:11. When all Israel come together, to appear in the sight of the
Lord thy God in the place which the Lord shall choose, thou shalt read
the words of this law before all Israel, in their hearing.

31:12. And the people being all assembled together, both men and women,
children and strangers, that are within thy gates:  that hearing they
may learn, and fear the Lord your God, and keep, and fulfil all the
words of this law:

31:13. That their children also, who now are ignorant, may hear, and
fear the Lord their God, all the days that they live in the land
whither you are going over the Jordan to possess it.

31:14. And the Lord said to Moses:  Behold the days of thy death are
nigh:  call Josue, and stand ye in the tabernacle of the testimony, that
I may give him a charge.  So Moses and Josue went and stood in the
tabernacle of the testimony:

31:15. And the Lord appeared there in the pillar of a cloud, which
stood in the entry of the tabernacle.

31:16. And the Lord said to Moses:  Behold thou shalt sleep with thy
fathers, and this people rising up will go a fornicating after strange
gods in the land, to which it goeth in to dwell:  there will they
forsake me, and will make void the covenant, which I have made with
them,

31:17. And my wrath shall be kindled against them in that day:  and I
will forsake them, and will hide my face from them, and they shall be
devoured:  all evils and afflictions shall find them, so that they shall
say in that day:  In truth it is because God is not with me, that these
evils have found me.

31:18. But I will hide, and cover my face in that day, for all the
evils which they have done, because they have followed strange gods.

31:19. Now therefore write you this canticle, and teach the children of
Israel:  that they may know it by heart, and sing it by mouth, and this
song may be unto me for a testimony among the children of Israel.

31:20. For I will bring them into the land, for which I swore to their
fathers, that floweth with milk and honey.  And when they have eaten,
and are full and fat, they will turn away after strange gods, and will
serve them:  and will despise me, and make void my covenant.

31:21. And after many evils and afflictions shall have come upon them,
this canticle shall answer them for a testimony, which no oblivion
shall take away out of the mouth of their seed.  For I know their
thoughts, and what they are about to do this day, before that I bring
them into the land which I have promised them.

31:22. Moses therefore wrote the canticle, and taught it to the
children of Israel.

31:23. And the Lord commanded Josue the son of Nun, and said:  Take
courage, and be valiant:  for thou shalt bring the children of Israel
into the land which I have promised, and I will be with thee.

31:24. Therefore after Moses had wrote the words of this law in a
volume, and finished it:

31:25. He commanded the Levites, who carried the ark of the covenant of
the Lord, saying:

31:26. Take this book, and put it in the side of the ark of the
covenant of the Lord your God:  that it may be there for a testimony
against thee.

31:27. For I know thy obstinacy, and thy most stiff neck.  While I am
yet living, and going in with you, you have always been rebellious
against the Lord:  how much more when I shall be dead?

31:28. Gather unto me all the ancients of your tribes, and your
doctors, and I will speak these words in their hearing, and will call
heaven and earth to witness against them.

31:29. For I know that, after my death, you will do wickedly, and will
quickly turn aside form the way that I have commanded you:  and evils
shall come upon you in the latter times, when you shall do evil in the
sight of the Lord, to provoke him by the works of your hands.

31:30. Moses therefore spoke, in the hearing of the whole assembly of
Israel, the words of this canticle, and finished it even to the end.



Deuteronomy Chapter 32


A canticle for the remembrance of the law.  Moses is commanded to go up
into a mountain, from whence he shall see the promised land but not
enter into it.

32:1. Hear, O ye heavens, the things I speak, let the earth give ear to
the words of my mouth.

32:2. Let my doctrine gather as the rain, let my speech distil as the
dew, as a shower upon the herb, and as drops upon the grass.

32:3. Because I will invoke the name of the Lord:  give ye magnificence
to our God.

32:4. The works of God are perfect, and all his ways are judgments:  God
is faithful and without any iniquity, he is just and right.

32:5. They have sinned against him, and are none of his children in
their filth:  they are a wicked and perverse generation.

32:6. Is this the return thou makest to the Lord, O foolish and
senseless people?  Is not he thy father, that hath possessed thee, and
made thee, and created thee?

32:7. Remember the days of old, think upon every generation:  ask thy
father, and he will declare to thee:  thy elders and they will tell
thee.

32:8. When the Most High divided the nations:  when he separated the
sons of Adam, he appointed the bounds of people according to the number
of the children of Israel.

32:9. But the Lord's portion is his people:  Jacob the lot of his
inheritance.

32:10. He found him in a desert land, in a place of horror, and of vast
wilderness:  he led him about, and taught him:  and he kept him as the
apple of his eye.

32:11. As the eagle enticing her young to fly, and hovering over them,
he spread his wings, and hath taken him and carried him on his
shoulders.

32:12. The Lord alone was his leader:  and there was no strange god with
him.

32:13. He set him upon high land:  that he might eat the fruits of the
fields, that he might suck honey out of the rock, and oil out of the
hardest stone,

32:14. Butter of the herd, and milk of the sheep with the fat of lambs,
and of the rams of the breed of Basan:  and goats with the marrow of
wheat, and might drink the purest blood of the grape.

32:15. The beloved grew fat, and kicked:  he grew fat, and thick and
gross, he forsook God who made him, and departed from God his saviour.

32:16. They provoked him by strange gods, and stirred him up to anger,
with their abominations.

32:17. They sacrificed to devils and not to God:  to gods whom they knew
not:  that were newly come up, whom their fathers worshipped not.

32:18. Thou hast forsaken the God that begot thee, and hast forgotten
the Lord that created thee.

32:19. The Lord saw, and was moved to wrath:  because his own sons and
daughters provoked him.

32:20. And he said:  I will hide my face from them, and will consider
what their last end shall be:  for it is a perverse generation, and
unfaithful children.

32:21. They have provoked me with that which was no god, and have
angered me with their vanities:  and I will provoke them with that which
is no people, and will vex them with a foolish nation.

32:22. A fire is kindled in my wrath, and shall burn even to the lowest
hell:  and shall devour the earth with her increase, and shall burn the
foundations of the mountains.

32:23. I will heap evils upon them, and will spend my arrows among
them.

32:24. They shall be consumed with famine, and birds shall devour them
with a most bitter bite:  I will send the teeth of beasts upon them,
with the fury of creatures that trail upon the ground, and of serpents.

32:25. Without, the sword shall lay them waste, and terror within, both
the young man and the virgin, the sucking child with the man in years.

32:26. I said:  Where are they?  I will make the memory of them to cease
from among men.

32:27. But for the wrath of the enemies I have deferred it:  lest
perhaps their enemies might be proud, and should say:  Our mighty hand,
and not the Lord, hath done all these things.

32:28. They are a nation without counsel, and without wisdom.

32:29. O that they would be wise and would understand, and would
provide for their last end.

32:30. How should one pursue after a thousand, and two chase ten
thousand?  Was it not, because their God had sold them, and the Lord had
shut them up?

32:31. For our God is not as their gods:  our enemies themselves are
judges.

32:32. Their vines are of the vineyard of Sodom, and of the suburbs of
Gomorrha:  their grapes are grapes of gall, and their clusters most
bitter.

32:33. Their wine is the gall of dragons, and the venom of asps, which
is incurable.

32:34. Are not these things stored up with me, and sealed up in my
treasures?

32:35. Revenge is mine, and I will repay them in due time, that their
foot may slide:  the day of destruction is at hand, and the time makes
haste to come.

32:36. The Lord will judge his people, and will have mercy on his
servants:  he shall see that their hand is weakened, and that they who
were shut up have also failed, and they that remained are consumed.

32:37. And he shall say:  Where are their gods, in whom they trusted?

32:38. Of whose victims they ate the fat, and drank the wine of their
drink offerings:  let them arise and help you, and protect you in your
distress.

32:39. See ye that I alone am, and there is no other God besides me:  I
will kill and I will make to live:  I will strike, and I will heal, and
there is none that can deliver out of my hand.

32:40. I will lift up my hand to heaven, and I will say:  I live for
ever.

32:41. If I shall whet my sword as the lightning, and my hand take hold
on judgment:  I will render vengeance to my enemies, and repay them that
hate me.

32:42. I will make my arrows drunk with blood, and my sword shall
devour flesh, of the blood of the slain and of the captivity, of the
bare head of the enemies.

32:43. Praise his people, ye nations, for he will revenge the blood of
his servants:  and will render vengeance to their enemies, and he will
be merciful to the land of his people.

32:44. So Moses came and spoke all the words of this canticle in the
ears of the people, and Josue the son of Nun.

32:45. And he ended all these words, speaking to all Israel.

32:46. And he said to them:  Set your hearts on all the words, which I
testify to you this day:  which you shall command your children to
observe and to do, and to fulfil all that is written in this law:

32:47. For they are not commanded you in vain, but that every one
should live in them, and that doing them you may continue a long time
in the land whither you are going over the Jordan to possess it.

32:48. And the Lord spoke to Moses the same day, saying:

32:49. Go up into this mountain Abarim, (that is to say, of passages,)
unto mount Nebo, which is in the land of Moab over against Jericho:  and
see the land of Chanaan, which I will deliver to the children of Israel
to possess, and die thou in the mountain.

32:50. When thou art gone up into it thou shalt be gathered to thy
people, as Aaron thy brother died in mount Hor, and was gathered to his
people:

32:51. Because you trespassed against me in the midst of the children
of Israel, at the waters of contradiction, in Cades of the desert of
Sin:  and you did not sanctify me among the children of Israel.

32:52. Thou shalt see the land before thee, which I will give to the
children of Israel, but thou shalt not enter into it.



Deuteronomy Chapter 33


Moses before his death blesseth the tribes of Israel.

33:1. This is the blessing, wherewith the man of God, Moses, blessed
the children of Israel, before his death.

33:2. And he said:  The Lord came from Sinai, and from Seir he rose up
to us:  he hath appeared from mount Pharan, and with him thousands of
saints.  In his right hand a fiery law.

33:3. He hath loved the people, all the saints are in his hand:  and
they that approach to his feet, shall receive of his doctrine.

33:4. Moses commanded us a law, the inheritance of the multitude of
Jacob.

33:5. He shall be king with the most right, the princes of the people,
being assembled with the tribes of Israel.

33:6. Let Ruben live, and not die, and be he small in number.

33:7. This is the blessing of Juda.  Hear, O Lord, the voice of Juda,
and bring him in unto his people:  his hands shall fight for him, and he
shall be his helper against his enemies.

33:8. To Levi also he said:  Thy perfection, and thy doctrine be to thy
holy man, whom thou hast proved in the temptation, and judged at the
waters of contradiction:

Holy man. . .Aaron and his successors in the priesthood.

33:9. Who hath said to his father, and to his mother:  I do not know
you; and to his brethren:  I know you not:  and their own children they
have not known.  These have kept thy word, and observed thy covenant,

Who hath said, etc. . .It is the duty of the priestly tribe to prefer
God's honour and service before all considerations of flesh and blood:
in such manner as to behave as strangers to their nearest akin, when
these would withdraw them from the business of their calling.

33:10. Thy judgments, O Jacob, and thy law, O Israel:  they shall put
incense in thy wrath and holocaust upon thy altar.

33:11. Bless, O Lord, his strength, and receive the works of his hands.
Strike the backs of his enemies, and let not them that hate him rise.

33:12. And to Benjamin he said:  The best beloved of the Lord shall
dwell confidently in him:  as in a bride chamber shall he abide all the
day long, and between his shoulders shall be rest.

Shall dwell, etc. . .This seems to allude to the temple being built in
the confines of the tribe of Benjamin.

33:13. To Joseph also he said:  Of the blessing of the Lord be his land,
of the fruits of heaven, and of the dew, and of the deep that lieth
beneath.

33:14. Of the fruits brought forth by the sun and by the moon.

33:15. Of the tops of the ancient mountains, of the fruits of the
everlasting hills:

33:16. And of the fruits of the earth, and of the fulness thereof.  The
blessing of him that appeared in the bush, come upon the head of
Joseph, and upon the crown of the Nazarite among his brethren.

The Nazarite. . .See the note on Gen. 49.26.

33:17. His beauty as of the firstling of a bullock, his horns as the
horns of a rhinoceros:  with them shall he push the nations even to the
ends of the earth.  These are the multitudes of Ephraim and these the
thousands of Manasses.

33:18. And to Zabulon he said:  Rejoice, O Zabulon, in thy going out;
and Issachar in thy tabernacles.

33:19. They shall call the people to the mountain:  there shall they
sacrifice the victims of justice.  Who shall suck as milk the abundance
of the sea, and the hidden treasures of the sands.

33:20. And to Gad he said:  Blessed be Gad in his breadth:  he hath
rested as a lion, and hath seized upon the arm and the top of the head.

33:21. And he saw his pre-eminence, that in his portion the teacher was
laid up:  who was with the princes of the people, and did the justices
of the Lord, and his judgment with Israel.

He saw, etc. . .The pre-eminence of the tribe of Gad, to which this
alludeth, was their having the lawgiver Moses buried in their borders;
though the particular place was not known.

33:22. To Dan also he said:  Dan is a young lion, he shall flow
plentifully from Basan.

33:23. And To Nephtali he said:  Nephtali shall enjoy abundance, and
shall be full of the blessings of the Lord:  he shall possess the sea
and the south.

The sea. . .The lake of Genesareth.

33:24. To Aser also he said:  Let Aser be blessed with children, let him
be acceptable to his brethren, and let him dip his foot in oil.

33:25. His shoe shall be iron and brass.  As the days of thy youth, so
also shall thy old age be.

33:26. There is no other god like the God of the rightest:  he that is
mounted upon the heaven is thy helper.  By his magnificence the clouds
run hither and thither.

33:27. His dwelling is above, and underneath are the everlasting arms:
he shall cast out the enemy from before thee, and shall say:  Be thou
brought to nought.

Underneath are the everlasting arms. . .Though the dwelling of God be
above in heaven, his arms are always stretched out to help us here
below.

33:28. Israel shall dwell in safety, and alone.  The eye of Jacob in a
land of corn and wine, and the heavens shall be misty with dew.

33:29. Blessed art thou, Israel:  who is like to thee, O people, that
art saved by the Lord?  the shield of thy help, and the sword of thy
glory:  thy enemies shall deny thee, and thou shalt tread upon their
necks.



Deuteronomy Chapter 34


Moses seeth the promised land, but is not suffered to go into it.  He
dieth at the age of 120 years.  God burieth his body secretly, and all
Israel mourn for him thirty days.  Josue, replenished (by imposition of
Moses's hands) with the spirit of God, succeedeth.  But Moses, for his
special familiarity with God, and for most wonderful miracles, is
commended above all other prophets.

34:1. Then Moses went up from the plains of Moab upon mount Nebo, to
the top of Phasga over against Jericho:  and the Lord shewed him all the
land of Galaad as far as Dan.

34:2. And all Nephtali, and the land of Ephraim and Manasses, and all
the land of Juda unto the furthermost sea,

34:3. And the south part, and the breadth of the plain of Jericho the
city of palm trees as far as Segor.

34:4. And the Lord said to him:  This is the land, for which I swore to
Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, saying:  I will give it to thy seed.  Thou
hast seen it with thy eyes, and shalt not pass over to it.

34:5. And Moses the servant of the Lord died there, in the land of
Moab, by the commandment of the Lord:

Died there. . .This last chapter of Deuteronomy, in which the death of
Moses is related, was written by Josue, or by some of the prophets.

34:6. And he buried him in the valley of the land of Moab over against
Phogor:  and no man hath known of his sepulchre until this present day.

He buried him, viz. . .by the ministry of angels, and would have the
place of his burial to be unknown, lest the Israelites, who were so
prone to idolatry, might worship him with divine honours.

34:7. Moses was a hundred and twenty years old when he died:  his eye
was not dim, neither were his teeth moved.

34:8. And the children of Israel mourned for him in the plains of Moab
thirty days:  and the days of their mourning in which they mourned Moses
were ended.

34:9. And Josue the son of Nun was filled with the spirit of wisdom,
because Moses had laid his hands upon him.  And the children of Israel
obeyed him, and did as the Lord commanded Moses.

34:10. And there arose no more a prophet in Israel like unto Moses,
whom the Lord knew face to face,

34:11. In all the signs and wonders, which he sent by him, to do in the
land of Egypt to Pharao, and to all his servants, and to his whole
land,

34:12. And all the mighty hand, and great miracles, which Moses did
before all Israel.



THE BOOK OF JOSUE



This Book is called JOSUE, because it contains the history of what
passed under him, and according to the common opinion was written by
him.  The Greeks call him Jesus:  for Josue and Jesus in the Hebrew, are
the same name, and have the same signification, viz., A SAVIOUR.  And it
was not without a mystery that he who was to bring the people into the
land of promise should have his name changed from OSEE (for so he was
called before, Num. 13.17,) to JOSUE or JESUS, to give us to
understand, that Moses by his law could only bring the people within
sight of the promised inheritance, but that our Saviour JESUS was to
bring us into it.



Josue Chapter 1


Josue, encouraged by the Lord, admonisheth the people to prepare
themselves to pass over the Jordan.

1:1. Now it came to pass after the death of Moses, the servant of the
Lord, that the Lord spoke to Josue, the son of Nun, the minister of
Moses, and said to him:

1:2. Moses my servant is dead:  arise, and pass over this Jordan, thou
and thy people with thee, into the land which I will give to the
children of Israel.

1:3. I will deliver to you every place that the sole of your foot shall
tread upon, as I have said to Moses.

1:4. From the desert, and from Libanus unto the great river Euphrates,
all the land of the Hethites, unto the great sea toward the going down
of the sun, shall be your border.

1:5. No man shall be able to resist you all the days of thy life:  as I
have been with Moses, so will I be with thee:  I will not leave thee,
nor forsake thee.

1:6. Take courage, and be strong:  for thou shalt divide by lot to this
people the land for which I swore to their fathers, that I would
deliver it to them.

1:7. Take courage therefore, and be very valiant:  that thou mayst
observe and do all the law, which Moses my servant hath commanded thee:
turn not from it to the right hand or to the left, that thou mayst
understand all things which thou dost.

1:8. Let not the book of this law depart from thy mouth:  but thou shalt
meditate on it day and night, that thou mayst observe and do all things
that are written in it:  then shalt thou direct thy way, and understand
it.

1:9. Behold I command thee, take courage, and be strong.  Fear not, and
be not dismayed:  because the Lord thy God is with thee in all things
whatsoever thou shalt go to.

1:10. And Josue commanded the princes of the people, saying:  Pass
through the midst of the camp, and command the people, and say:

1:11. Prepare your victuals:  for after the third day you shall pass
over the Jordan, and shall go in to possess the land, which the Lord
your God will give you.

1:12. And he said to the Rubenites, and the Gadites, and the half tribe
of Manasses:

1:13. Remember the word, which Moses the servant of the Lord commanded
you, saying:  The Lord your God hath given you rest, and all this land.

1:14. Your wives, and children; and cattle, shall remain in the land
which Moses gave you on this side of the Jordan:  but pass you over
armed before your brethren all of you that are strong of hand, and
fight for them,

1:15. Until the Lord give rest to your brethren, as he hath given you,
and they also possess the land which the Lord your God will give them:
and so you shall return into the land of your possession, and you shall
dwell in it, which Moses the servant of the Lord gave you beyond the
Jordan, toward the rising of the sun.

1:16. And they made answer to Josue, and said:  All that thou hast
commanded us, we will do:  and whither soever thou shalt send us, we
will go.

1:17. As we obeyed Moses in all things, so will we obey thee also:  only
be the Lord thy God with thee, as he was with Moses.

1:18. He that shall gainsay thy mouth, and not obey all thy words, that
thou shalt command him, let him die:  only take thou courage, and do
manfully.



Josue Chapter 2


Two spies are sent to Jericho, who are received and concealed by Rahab.

2:1. And Josue, the son of Nun, sent from Setim two men, to spy
secretly:  and said to them:  Go, and view the land, and the city of
Jericho.  They went, and entered into the house of a woman that was a
harlot, named Rahab, and lodged with her.

2:2. And it was told the king of Jericho, and was said:  Behold there
are men come in hither, by night, of the children of Israel, to spy the
land.

2:3. And the king of Jericho sent to Rahab, saying:  Bring forth the men
that came to thee, and are entered into thy house:  for they are spies,
and are come to view all the land.

2:4. And the woman taking the men, hid them, and said:  I confess they
came to me, but I knew not whence they were:

2:5. And at the time of shutting the gate in the dark, they also went
out together.  I know not whither they are gone:  pursue after them
quickly, and you will overtake them.

2:6. But she made the men go up to the top of her house, and covered
them with the stalks of flax, which was there.

2:7. Now they that were sent, pursued after them, by the way that
leadeth to the fords of the Jordan:  and as soon as they were gone out,
the gate was presently shut.

2:8. The men that were hid were not yet asleep, when behold the woman
went up to them, and said:

2:9. I know that the Lord hath given this land to you:  for the dread of
you is fallen upon us, and all the inhabitants of the land have lost
all strength.

2:10. We have heard that the Lord dried up the water of the Red Sea, at
your going in, when you came out of Egypt:  and what things you did to
the two kings of the Amorrhites, that were beyond the Jordan, Sehon and
Og whom you slew.

2:11. And at the hearing these things, we were affrighted, and our
heart fainted away, neither did there remain any spirit in us, at your
coming in:  for the Lord your God he is God in heaven above, and in the
earth beneath.

2:12. Now, therefore, swear ye to me by the Lord, that as I have shewed
mercy to you, so you also will shew mercy to my father's house:  and
give me a true token.

2:13. That you will save my father and mother, my brethren and sisters,
and all things that are theirs, and deliver our souls from death.

2:14. They answered her:  Be our lives for you unto death, only if thou
betray us not.  And when the Lord shall have delivered us the land, we
will shew thee mercy and truth.

2:15. Then she let them down with a cord out of a window:  for her house
joined close to the wall.

2:16. And she said to them:  Get ye up to the mountains, lest perhaps
they meet you as they return:  and there lie ye hid three days, till
they come back, and so you shall go on your way.

2:17. And they said to her:  We shall be blameless of this oath, which
thou hast made us swear,

2:18. If, when we come into the land, this scarlet cord be a sign, and
thou tie it in the window, by which thou hast let us down:  and gather
together thy father and mother, and brethren, and all thy kindred into
thy house.

2:19. Whosoever shall go out of the door of thy house, his blood shall
be upon his own head, and we shall be quit.  But the blood of all that
shall be with thee in the house, shall light upon our head, if any man
touch them.

2:20. But if thou wilt betray us, and utter this word abroad, we shall
be quit of this oath, which thou hast made us swear.

2:21. And she answered:  As you have spoken, so be it done:  and sending
them on their way, she hung the scarlet cord in the window.

2:22. But they went and came to the mountains, and stayed there three
days, till they that pursued them were returned.  For having sought them
through all the way, they found them not.

2:23. And when they were gone back into the city, the spies returned,
and came down from the mountain:  and passing over the Jordan, they came
to Josue, the son of Nun, and told him all that befel them,

2:24. And said:  the Lord hath delivered all this land into our hands,
and all the inhabitants thereof are overthrown with fear.



Josue Chapter 3


The river Jordan is miraculously dried up for the passage of the
children of Israel.

3:1. And Josue rose before daylight, and removed the camp:  and they
departed from Setim, and came to the Jordan:  he, and all the children
of Israel, and they abode there for three days.

3:2. After which, the heralds went through the midst of the camp,

3:3. And began to proclaim:  When you shall see the ark of the covenant
of the Lord your God, and the priests of the race of Levi carrying it,
rise you up also, and follow them as they go before:

3:4. And let there be between you and the ark the space of two thousand
cubits:  that you may see it afar off, and know which way you must go:
for you have not gone this way before:  and take care you come not near
the ark.

3:5. And Josue said to the people:  Be ye sanctified:  for tomorrow the
Lord will do wonders among you.

3:6. And he said to the priests:  Take up the ark of the covenant, and
go before the people.  And they obeyed his commands, and took it up, and
walked before them.

3:7. And the Lord said to Josue:  This day will I begin to exalt thee
before Israel:  that they may know that as I was with Moses, so I am
with thee also.

3:8. And do thou command the priests, that carry the ark of the
covenant, and say to them:  When you shall have entered into part of the
water of the Jordan, stand in it.

3:9. And Josue said to the children of Israel:  Come hither, and hear
the word of the Lord your God.

3:10. And again he said:  By this you shall know, that the Lord, the
living God, is in the midst of you, and that he shall destroy, before
your sight, the Chanaanite and the Hethite, the Hevite and the
Pherezite, the Gergesite also, and the Jebusite, and the Amorrhite.

3:11. Behold, the ark of the covenant of the Lord of all the earth
shall go before you into the Jordan.

3:12. Prepare ye twelve men of the tribes of Israel, one of every
tribe.

3:13. And when the priests, that carry the ark of the Lord the God of
the whole earth, shall set the soles of their feet in the waters of the
Jordan, the waters that are beneath shall run down and go off:  and
those that come from above, shall stand together upon a heap.

3:14. So the people went out of their tents, to pass over the Jordan:
and the priests that carried the ark of the covenant, went on before
them.

3:15. And as soon as they came into the Jordan, and their feet were
dipped in part of the water, (now the Jordan, it being harvest time,
had filled the banks of its channel,)

3:16. The waters that came down from above stood in one place, and
swelling up like a mountain, were seen afar off, from the city that is
called Adom, to the place of Sarthan:  but those that were beneath, ran
down into the sea of the wilderness, (which now is called the Dead Sea)
until they wholly failed.

3:17. And the people marched over against Jericho:  and the priests that
carried the ark of the covenant of the Lord, stood girded upon the dry
ground in the midst of the Jordan, and all the people passed over,
through the channel that was dried up.



Josue Chapter 4


Twelve stones are taken out of the river to be set up for a monument of
the miracle; and other twelve are placed in the midst of the river.

4:1. And when they were passed over, the Lord said to Josue:

4:2. Choose twelve men, one of every tribe:

4:3. And command them to take out of the midst of the Jordan, where the
feet of the priests stood, twelve very hard stones, which you shall set
in the place of the camp, where you shall pitch your tents this night.

4:4. And Josue called twelve men, whom he had chosen out of the
children of Israel, one out of every tribe,

4:5. And he said to them:  Go before the ark of the Lord your God to the
midst of the Jordan, and carry from thence every man a stone on your
shoulders, according to the number of the children of Israel,

4:6. That it may be a sign among you:  and when your children shall ask
you tomorrow, saying:  What means these stones?

4:7. You shall answer them:  The waters of the Jordan ran off before the
ark of the covenant of the Lord when it passed over the same:  therefore
were these stones set for a monument of the children of Israel forever.

4:8. The children of Israel therefore did as Josue commanded them,
carrying out of the channel of the Jordan twelve stones, as the Lord
had commanded him according to the number of the children of Israel
unto the place wherein they camped, and there they set them.

4:9. And Josue put other twelve stones in the midst of the channel of
the Jordan, where the priests stood that carried the ark of the
covenant:  and they are there until this present day.

4:10. Now the priests that carried the ark, stood in the midst of the
Jordan, till all things were accomplished, which the Lord had commanded
Josue to speak to the people, and Moses had said to him.  And the people
made haste, and passed over.

4:11. And when they had all passed over, the ark also of the Lord
passed over, and the priests went before the people.

4:12. The children of Ruben also, and Gad, and half the tribe of
Manasses, went armed before the children of Israel, as Moses had
commanded them.

4:13. And forty thousand fighting men by their troops and bands,
marched through the plains and fields of the city of Jericho.

4:14. In that day the Lord magnified Josue in the sight of all Israel,
that they should fear him, as they had feared Moses, while he lived.

4:15. And he said to him:

4:16. Command the priests, that carry the ark of the covenant, to come
up out of the Jordan.

4:17. And he commanded them, saying:  Come ye up out of the Jordan.

4:18. And when they that carried the ark of the covenant of the Lord,
were come up, and began to tread on the dry ground, the waters returned
into their channel, and ran as they were wont before.

4:19. And the people came up out of the Jordan, the tenth day of the
first month, and camped in Galgal, over against the east side of the
city of Jericho.

4:20. And the twelve stones, which they had taken out of the channel of
the Jordan, Josue pitched in Galgal,

4:21. And said to the children of Israel:  When your children shall ask
their fathers tomorrow, and shall say to them:  What mean these stones?

4:22. You shall teach them, and say:  Israel passed over this Jordan
through the dry channel,

4:23. The Lord your God drying up the waters thereof in your sight,
until you passed over:

4:24. As he had done before in the Red Sea, which he dried up till we
passed through:

4:25. That all the people of the earth may learn the most mighty hand
of the Lord, that you also may fear the Lord your God for ever.



Josue Chapter 5


The people are circumcised:  they keep the pasch.  The manna ceaseth.  An
angel appeareth to Josue.

5:1. Now when all the kings of the Amorrhites, who dwelt beyond the
Jordan, westward, and all the kings of Chanaan, who possessed the
places near the great sea, had heard that the Lord had dried up the
waters of the Jordan before the children of Israel, till they passed
over, their heart failed them, and there remained no spirit in them,
fearing the coming in of the children of Israel.

5:2. At that time the Lord said to Josue:  Make thee knives of stone,
and circumcise the second time the children of Israel.

The second time. . .Not that such as had been circumcised before were to
be circumcised again; but that they were now to renew, and take up
again the practice of circumcision; which had been omitted during their
forty years' sojourning in the wilderness; by reason of their being
always uncertain when they should be obliged to march.

5:3. He did what the Lord had commanded, and he circumcised the
children of Israel in the hill of the foreskins.

5:4. Now this is the cause of the second circumcision:  All the people
that came out of Egypt that were males, all the men fit for war, died
in the desert, during the time of the long going about in the way:

5:6. Now these were all circumcised.  But the people that were born in
the desert,

5:6. During the forty years of the journey in the wide wilderness, were
uncircumcised:  till all they were consumed that had not heard the voice
of the Lord, and to whom he had sworn before, that he would not shew
them the land flowing with milk and honey.

5:7. The children of these succeeded in the place of their fathers, and
were circumcised by Josue:  for they were uncircumcised even as they
were born, and no one had circumcised them in the way.

5:8. Now after they were all circumcised, they remained in the same
place of the camp, until they were healed.

5:9. And the Lord said to Josue:  This day have I taken away from you
the reproach of Egypt.  And the name of that place was called Galgal,
until this present day.

5:10. And the children of Israel abode in Galgal, and they kept the
phase, on the fourteenth day of the month at evening, in the plains of
Jericho:

5:11. And they ate on the next day unleavened bread of the corn of the
land, and frumenty of the same year.

5:12. And the manna ceased after they ate of the corn of the land,
neither did the children of Israel use that food any more, but they ate
of the corn of the present year of the land of Chanaan.

5:13. And when Josue was in the field of the city of Jericho, he lifted
up his eyes, and saw a man standing over against him, holding a drawn
sword, and he went to him, and said:  Art thou one of ours, or of our
adversaries?

5:14. And he answered:  No:  but I am prince of the host of the Lord, and
now I am come.

Prince of the host of the Lord, etc. . .St. Michael, who is called
prince of the people of Israel, Dan. 10.21.

5:15. Josue fell on his face to the ground.  And worshipping, said:  What
saith my lord to his servant?

Worshipping. . .Not with divine honour, but with a religious veneration
of an inferior kind, suitable to the dignity of his person.

5:16. Loose, saith he, thy shoes from off thy feet:  for the place
whereon thou standest is holy.  And Josue did as was commanded him.



Josue Chapter 6


After seven days' processions, the priests sounding the trumpets, the
walls of Jericho fall down:  and the city is taken and destroyed.

6:1. Now Jericho was close shut up and fenced, for fear of the children
of Israel, and no man durst go out or come in.

6:2. And the Lord said to Josue:  Behold I have given into thy hands
Jericho, and the king thereof, and all the valiant men.

6:3. Go round about the city all ye fighting men once a day:  so shall
ye do for six days.

6:4. And on the seventh day the priests shall take the seven trumpets,
which are used in the jubilee, and shall go before the ark of the
covenant:  and you shall go about the city seven times, and the priests
shall sound the trumpets.

6:5. And when the voice of the trumpet shall give a longer and broken
tune, and shall sound in your ears, all the people shall shout together
with a very great shout, and the walls of the city shall fall to the
ground, and they shall enter in every one at the place against which
they shall stand.

6:6. Then Josue, the son of Nun, called the priests, and said to them:
Take the ark of the covenant:  and let seven other priests take the
seven trumpets of the jubilee, and march before the ark of the Lord.

6:7. And he said to the people:  Go, and compass the city, armed,
marching before the ark of the Lord.

6:8. And when Josue had ended his words, and the seven priests blew the
seven trumpets before the ark of the covenant of the Lord,

6:9. And all the armed men went before, the rest of the common people
followed the ark, and the sound of the trumpets was heard on all sides.

6:10. But Josue had commanded the people, saying:  You shall not shout,
nor shall your voice be heard, nor any word go out of your mouth:  until
the day come wherein I shall say to you:  Cry, and shout.

6:11. So the ark of the Lord went about the city once a day, and
returning into the camp, abode there.

6:12. And Josue rising before day, the priests took the ark of the
Lord,

6:13. And seven of them seven trumpets, which are used in the jubilee:
and they went before the ark of the Lord, walking and sounding the
trumpets:  and the armed men went before them, and the rest of the
common people followed the ark, and they blew the trumpets.

6:14. And they went round about the city the second day once, and
returned into the camp.  So they did six days.

6:15. But the seventh day, rising up early, they went about the city,
as it was ordered, seven times.

6:16. And when in the seventh going about the priests sounded with the
trumpets, Josue said to all Israel:  Shout:  for the Lord hath delivered
the city to you:

6:17. And let this city be an anathema, and all things that are in it,
to the Lord.  Let only Rahab, the harlot, live, with all that are with
her in the house:  for she hid the messengers whom we sent.

6:18. But beware ye lest you touch ought of those things that are
forbidden, and you be guilty of transgression, and all the camp of
Israel be under sin, and be troubled.

6:19. But whatsoever gold or silver there shall be, or vessels of brass
and iron, let it be consecrated to the Lord, laid up in his treasures.

6:20. So all the people making a shout, and the trumpets sounding, when
the voice and the sound thundered in the ears of the multitude, the
walls forthwith fell down:  and every man went up by the place that was
over against him:  and they took the city,

6:21. And killed all that were in it, man and woman, young and old.  The
oxen also, and the sheep, and the asses, they slew with the edge of the
sword.

6:22. But Josue said to the two men that had been sent for spies:  Go
into the harlot's house, and bring her out, and all things that are
hers, as you assured her by oath.

6:23. And the young men went in, and brought out Rahab, and her
parents, her brethren also, and all her goods, and her kindred, and
made them to stay without the camp.

6:24. But they burned the city, and all things that were therein;
except the gold and silver, and vessels of brass and iron, which they
consecrated unto the treasury of the Lord.  _

6:25. But Josue saved Rahab the harlot, and her father's house, and all
she had, and they dwelt in the midst of Israel until this present day:
because she hid the messengers whom he had sent to spy out Jericho.  At
that time, Josue made an imprecation, saying:

6:26. Cursed be the man before the Lord, that shall raise up and build
the city of Jericho.  In his firstborn may he lay the foundation
thereof, and in the last of his children set up its gates.

Cursed, etc. . .Jericho, in the mystical sense, signifies iniquity:  the
sounding of the trumpets by the priests, the preaching of the word of
God; by which the walls of Jericho are thrown down, when sinners are
converted; and a dreadful curse will light on them who build them up
again.

6:27. And the Lord was with Josue, and his name was noised throughout
all the land



Josue Chapter 7


For the sins of Achan, the Israelites are defeated at Hai.  The offender
is found out; and stoned to death, and God's wrath is turned from them.

7:1. But the children of Israel transgressed the commandment, and took
to their own use of that which was accursed.  For Achan, the son of
Charmi, the son of Zabdi, the son of Zare, of the tribe of Juda, took
something of the anathema:  and the Lord was angry against the children
of Israel.

7:2. And when Josue sent men from Jericho against Hai, which is beside
Bethaven, on the east side of the town of Bethel, he said to them:  Go
up, and view the country:  and they fulfilled his command, and viewed
Hai.

7:3. And returning, they said to him:  Let not all the people go up, but
let two or three thousand men go, and destroy the city:  why should all
the people be troubled in vain, against enemies that are very few?

7:4. There went up therefore three thousand fighting men:  who
immediately turned their backs,

7:5. And were defeated by the men of the city of Hai, and there fell of
them six and thirty men:  and the enemies pursued them from the gate as
far as Sabarim, and they slew them as they fled by the descent:  and the
heart of the people was struck with fear, and melted like water.

7:6. But Josue rent his garments, and fell flat on the ground, before
the ark of the Lord, until the evening, both he and all the ancients of
Israel:  and they put dust upon their heads.

7:7. And Josue said:  Alas, O Lord God, why wouldst thou bring this
people over the river Jordan, to deliver us into the hand of the
Amorrhite, and to destroy us?  would God we had stayed beyond the
Jordan, as we began.

7:8. My Lord God, what shall I say, seeing Israel turning their backs
to their enemies?

7:9. The Chanaanites, and all the inhabitants of the land, will hear of
it, and being gathered together will surround us, and cut off our name
from the earth:  and what wilt thou do to thy great name?

7:10. And the Lord said to Josue:  Arise, why liest thou flat on the
ground?

7:11. Israel hath sinned, and transgressed my covenant:  and they have
taken of the anathema, and have stolen and lied, and have hid it among
their goods.

7:12. Neither can Israel stand before his enemies, but he shall flee
from them:  because he is defiled with the anathema.  I will be no more
with you, till you destroy him that is guilty of this wickedness.

7:13. Arise, sanctify the people, and say to them:  Be ye sanctified
against tomorrow:  for thus saith the Lord God of Israel:  The curse is
in the midst of thee, O Israel:  thou canst not stand before thy
enemies, till he be destroyed out of thee, that is defiled with this
wickedness.

7:14. And you shall come in the morning, every one by your tribes:  and
what tribe soever the lot shall find, it shall come by its kindreds,
and the kindred by its houses and tho house by the men.

7:15. And whosoever he be that shall be found guilty of this fact, he
shall be burnt with fire, with all his substance, because he hath
transgressed the covenant of the Lord, and hath done wickedness in
Israel.

7:16. Josue, therefore, when he rose in the morning, made Israel to
come by their tribes, and the tribe of Juda was found.

7:17. Which being brought by in families, it was found to be the family
of Zare.  Bringing that also by the houses, he found it to be Zabdi:

7:18. And bringing his house man by man, he found Achan, the son of
Charmi, the son of Zabdi, the son of Zare, of the tribe of Juda.

7:19. And Josue said to Achan:  My son, give glory to the Lord God of
Israel, and confess, and tell me what thou hast done, hide it not.

7:20. And Achan answered Josue, and said to him:  Indeed I have sinned
against the Lord, the God of Israel, and thus and thus have I done.

7:21. For I saw among the spoils a scarlet garment, exceeding good, and
two hundred sicles of silver, and a golden rule of fifty sicles:  and I
coveted them, and I took them away, and hid them in the ground in the
midst of my tent, and the silver I covered with the earth that I dug
up.

7:22. Josue therefore sent ministers:  who running to his tent, found
all hid in the same place, together with the silver.

7:23. And taking them away out of the tent, they brought them to Josue,
and to all the children of Israel, and threw them down before the Lord.

7:24. Then Josue, and all Israel with him, took Achan, the son of Zare,
and the silver, and the garment, and the golden rule, his sons also,
and his daughters, his oxen, and asses, and sheep, the tent also, and
all the goods:  and brought them to the valley of Achor:

His sons, etc. . .Probably conscious to, or accomplices of, the crime of
their father.

7:25. Where Josue said:  Because thou hast troubled us, the Lord trouble
thee this day.  And all Israel stoned him:  and all things that were his,
were consumed with fire.

7:26. And they gathered together upon him a great heap of stones, which
remaineth until this present day And the wrath of the Lord was turned
away from them.  And the name of that place was called the Valley of
Achor, until this day.

Achor. . .That is, trouble.



Josue Chapter 8


Hai is taken and burnt, and all the inhabitants slain.  An altar is
built, and sacrifices offered.  The law is written on stones, and the
blessings and cursings are read before all the people.

8:1. And the Lord said to Josue:  Fear not, nor be thou dismayed:  take
with thee all the multitude of fighting men, arise, and go up to the
town of Hai:  Behold I have delivered into thy hand the king thereof,
and the people, and the city, and the land.

8:2. And thou shalt do to the city of Hai, and to the king thereof, as
thou hast done to Jericho, and to the king thereof:  but the spoils, and
all the cattle, you shall take for a prey to yourselves:  lay an ambush
for the city behind it.

8:3. And Josue arose, and all the army of the fighting men with him, to
go up against Hai:  and he sent thirty thousand chosen valiant men in
the night,

8:4. And commanded them, saying:  Lay an ambush behind the city:  and go
not very far from it:  and be ye all ready.

8:5. But I, and the rest of the multitude which is with me, will
approach on the contrary side against the city.  And when they shall
come out against us, we will flee, and turn our backs, as we did
before:

8:6. Till they pursuing us be drawn farther from the city:  for they
will think that we flee as before.

8:7. And whilst we are fleeing, and they pursuing, you shall rise out
of the ambush, and shall destroy the city:  and the Lord your God will
deliver it into your hands.

8:8. And when you shall have taken it, set it on fire, and you shall do
all things so as I have commanded.

8:9. And he sent them away, and they went on to the place of the
ambush, and abode between Bethel and Hai, on the west side of the city
of Hai.  But Josue staid that night in the midst of the people,

8:10. And rising early in the morning, he mustered his soldiers, and
went up with the ancients in the front of the army, environed with the
aid of the fighting men.

8:11. And when they were come, and were gone up over against the city,
they stood on the north side of the city, between which and them there
was a valley in the midst.

8:12. And he had chosen five thousand men, and set them to lie in
ambush between Bethel and Hai, on the west side of the same city:

Five thousand. . .These were part of the thirty thousand mentioned
above, ver. 3.

8:13. But all the rest of the army went in battle array on the north
side, so that the last of that multitude reached to the west side of
the city.  So Josue went that night, and stood in the midst of the
valley.

8:14. And when the king of Hai saw this, he made haste in the morning,
and went out with all the army of the city, and set it in battle array,
toward the desert, not knowing that there lay an ambush behind his
back.

8:15. But Josue, and all Israel gave back, making as if they were
afraid, and fleeing by the way of the wilderness.

8:16. But they shouting together, and encouraging one another, pursued
them.  And when they were come from the city,

8:17. And not one remained in the city of Hai and of Bethel, that did
not pursue after Israel, leaving the towns open as they had rushed out,

8:18. The Lord said to Josue:  Lift up the shield that is in thy hand,
towards the city of Hai, for I will deliver it to thee.

8:19. And when he had lifted up his shield towards the city, the
ambush, that lay hid, rose up immediately:  and going to the city, took
it, and set it on fire.

8:20. And the men of the city, that pursued after Josue, looking back,
and seeing the smoke of the city rise up to heaven, had no more power
to flee this way or that way:  especially as they that had counterfeited
flight, and were going toward the wilderness, turned back most
valiantly against them that pursued.

8:21. So Josue, and all Israel, seeing that the city was taken, and
that the smoke of the city rose up, returned, and slew the men of Hai.

8:22. And they also that had taken and set the city on fire, issuing
out of the city to meet their own men, began to cut off the enemies who
were surrounded by them.  So that the enemies being cut off on both
sides, not one of so great a multitude was saved.

8:23. And they took the king of the city of Hai alive and brought him
to Josue.

8:24. So all being slain that had pursued after Israel, in his flight
to the wilderness, and falling by the sword in the same place, the
children of Israel returned and laid waste the city.

8:25. And the number of them that fell that day, both of men and women,
was twelve thousand persons, all of the city of Hai.

8:26. But Josue drew not back his hand, which he had stretched out on
high, holding the shield, till all the inhabitants of Hai were slain.

8:27. And the children of Israel divided among them, the cattle and the
prey of the city, as the Lord had commanded Josue.

8:28. And he burnt the city, and made it a heap forever:

8:29. And he hung the king thereof on a gibbet, until the evening and
the going down of the sun.  Then Josue commanded, and they took down his
carcass from the gibbet:  and threw it in the very entrance of the city,
heaping upon it a great heap of stones, which remaineth until this
present day.

8:30. Then Josue built an altar to the Lord, the God of Israel, in
Mount Hebal,

8:31. As Moses, the servant of the Lord, had commanded the children of
Israel, and it is written in the book of the law of Moses:  an altar of
unhewn stones, which iron had not touched:  and he offered upon it
holocausts to the Lord, and immolated victims of peace offerings.

8:32. And he wrote upon stones, the Deuteronomy of the law of Moses,
which he had ordered before the children of Israel.

8:33. And all the people, and the ancients, and the princes, and
judges, stood on both sides of the ark, before the priests that carried
the ark of the covenant of the Lord, both the stranger and he that was
born among them, half of them by Mount Garizim, and half by Mount
Hebal, as Moses the servant of the Lord, had commanded.  And first he
blessed the people of Israel.

8:34. After this, he read all the words of the blessing and the
cursing, and all things that were written in the book of the law.

8:35. He left out nothing of those things which Moses had commanded,
but he repeated all before all the people of Israel, with the women and
children, and strangers, that dwelt among them.



Josue Chapter 9


Josue is deceived by the Gabaonites:  who being detected are condemned
to be perpetual servants.

9:1. Now when these things were heard of, all the kings beyond the
Jordan, that dwelt in the mountains, and in the plains, in the places
near the sea, and on the coasts of the great sea, they also that dwell
by Libanus, the Hethite, and the Amorrhite, the Chanaanite, the
Pherezite, and the Hevite, and the Jebusite,

9:2. Gathered themselves together, to fight against Josue and Israel
with one mind, and one resolution.

9:3. But they that dwelt in Gabaon, hearing all that Josue had done to
Jericho and Hai:

9:4. Cunningly devising took for themselves provisions, laying old
sacks upon their asses, and wine bottles rent and sewed up again,

9:5. And very old shoes, which for a show of age were clouted with
patches, and old garments upon them:  the loaves also, which they
carried for provisions by the way, were hard, and broken into pieces:

9:6. And they went to Josue, who then abode in the camp at Galgal, and
said to him, and to all Israel with him:  We are come from a far
country, desiring to make peace with you.  And the children of Israel
answered them, and said:

9:7. Perhaps you dwell in the land which falls to our lot; if so, we
can make no league with you.

9:8. But they said to Josue:  We are thy servants.  Josue said to them:
Who are you?  and whence came you?

9:9. They answered:  From a very far country thy servants are come in
the name of the Lord thy God.  For we have heard the fame of his power,
all the things that he did in Egypt.

9:10. And to the two kings of the Amorrhites, that were beyond the
Jordan, Sehon, king of Hesebon, and Og, king of Basan, that was in
Astaroth:

9:11. And our ancients, and all the inhabitants of our country, said to
us:  Take with you victuals for a long way, and go meet them, and say:
We are your servants, make ye a league with us.

9:12. Behold, these loaves we took hot, when we set out from our houses
to come to you, now they are become dry, and broken in pieces by being
exceeding old.

9:13. These bottles of wine when we filled them were new, now they are
rent and burst.  These garments we have on, and the shoes we have on our
feet, by reason of the very long journey, are worn out, and almost
consumed.

9:14. They took therefore of their victuals, and consulted not the
mouth of the Lord.

9:15. And Josue made peace with them, and entering into a league,
promised that they should not be slain:  the princes also of the
multitude swore to them.

9:16. Now three days after the league was made, they heard that they
dwelt nigh, and they should be among them.

9:17. And the children of Israel removed the camp, and came into their
cities on the third day, the names of which are, Gabaon, and Caphira,
and Beroth, and Cariathiarim.

9:18. And they slew them not, because the princes of the multitude had
sworn in the name of the Lord, the God of Israel.  Then all the common
people murmured against the princes.

9:19. And they answered them:  We have sworn to them in the name of the
Lord, the God of Israel, and therefore we may not touch them.

9:20. But this we will do to them:  Let their lives be saved, lest the
wrath of the Lord be stirred up against us, if we should be forsworn:

9:21. But so let them live, as to serve the whole multitude in hewing
wood, and bringing in water.  As they were speaking these things,

9;22. Josue called the Gabaonites, and said to them:  Why would you
impose upon us, saying:  We dwell very far off from you, whereas you are
in the midst of us?

9:23. Therefore you shall be under a curse, and your race shall always
be hewers of wood, and carriers of water, into the house of my God.

9:24. They answered:  It was told us, thy servants, that the Lord thy
God had promised his servant Moses, to give you all the land, and to
destroy all the inhabitants thereof.  Therefore we feared exceedingly
and provided for our lives, compelled by the dread we had of you, and
we took this counsel.

9:25. And now we are in thy hand:  deal with us as it seemeth good and
right unto thee.

9:26. So Josue did as he had said, and delivered them from the hand of
the children of Israel, that they should not be slain.

9:27. And he gave orders in that day, that they should be in the
service of all the people, and of the altar of the Lord, hewing wood,
and carrying water, until this present time, in the place which the
Lord hath chosen.



Josue Chapter 10


Five kings war against Gabaon.  Josue defeateth them:  many are slain
with hailstones.  At the prayer of Josue the sun and moon stand still
the space of one day.  The five kings are hanged.  Divers cities are
taken.

10:1. When Adonisedec, king of Jerusalem, had heard these things, to
wit, that Josue had taken Hai, and had destroyed it, (for as he had
done to Jericho and the king thereof, so did he to Hai and its king)
and that the Gabaonites were gone over to Israel, and were their
confederates,

10:2. He was exceedingly afraid.  For Gabaon was a great city, and one
of the royal cities, and greater than the town of Hai, and all its
fighting men were most valiant.

10:3. Therefore Adonisedec, king of Jerusalem, sent to Oham, king of
Hebron, and to Pharam, king of Jerimoth, and to Japhia, king of Lachis,
and to Dabir, king of Eglon, saying:

10:4. Come up to me, and bring help, that we may take Gabaon, because
it hath gone over to Josue, and to the children of Israel.

10:5. So the five kings of the Amorrhites being assembled together,
went up:  the king of Jerusalem, the king of Hebron, the king of
Jerimoth, the king of Lachis, the king of Eglon, they and their armies,
and camped about Gabaon, laying siege to it.

10:6. But the inhabitants of the city of Gabaon, which was besieged,
sent to Josue, who then abode in the camp at Galgal, and said to him:
Withdraw not thy hands from helping thy servants:  come up quickly, and
save us, and bring us succour:  for all the kings of the Amorrhites, who
dwell in the mountains, are gathered together against us.

10:7. And Josue went up from Galgal, and all the army of the warriors
with him, most valiant men.

10:8. But the Lord said to Josue:  Fear them not:  for I have delivered
them into thy hands:  none of them shall be able to stand against thee.

10:9. So Josue going up from Galgal all the night, came upon them
suddenly.

10:10. And the Lord troubled them, at the sight of Israel:  and he slew
them with a great slaughter, in Gabaon, and pursued them by the way of
the ascent to Bethoron, and cut them off all the way to Azeca and
Maceda.

10:11. And when they were fleeing from the children of Israel, and were
in the descent of Bethoron, the Lord cast down upon them great stones
from heaven, as far as Azeca:  and many more were killed with the
hailstones, than were slain by the swords of the children of Israel,

10:12. Then Josue spoke to the Lord, in the day that he delivered the
Amorrhite in the sight of the children of Israel, and he said before
them:  Move not, O sun, toward Gabaon, nor thou, O moon, toward the
valley of Ajalon.

10:13. And the sun and the moon stood still, till the people revenged
themselves of their enemies.  Is not this written in the book of the
just?  So the sun stood still in the midst of heaven, and hasted not to
go down the space of one day.

The book of the just. . .In Hebrew Jasher:  an ancient book long since
lost.

10:14. There was not before, nor after, so long a day, the Lord obeying
the voice of a man, and fighting for Israel.

10:15. And Josue returned, with all Israel, into the camp of Galgal.

10:16. For the five kings were fled, and had hid themselves in a cave
of the city of Maceda.

10:17. And it was told Josue, that the five kings were found hid in a
cave of the city of Maceda.

10:18. And he commanded them that were with him, saying:  Roll great
stones to the mouth of the cave, and set careful men to keep them shut
up:

10:19. And stay you not, but pursue after the enemies, and kill all the
hindermost of them as they flee, and do not suffer them whom the Lord
God hath delivered into your hands, to shelter themselves in their
cities.

10:20. So the enemies being slain with a great slaughter, and almost
utterly consumed, they that were able to escape from Israel, entered
into fenced cities.

10:21. And all the army returned to Josue, in Maceda, where the camp
then was, in good health, and without the loss of any one:  and no man
durst move his tongue against the children of Israel.

10:22. And Josue gave orders, saying:  Open the mouth of the cave, and
bring forth to me the five kings that lie hid therein.

10:23. And the ministers did as they were commanded:  and they brought
out to him the five kings out of the cave:  the king of Jerusalem, the
king of Hebron, the king of Jerimoth, the king of Lachis, the king of
Eglon.

10:24. And when they were brought out to him, he called all the men of
Israel, and said to the chiefs of the army that were with him:  Go, and
set your feet on the necks of these kings.  And when they had gone, and
put their feet upon the necks of them lying under them,

10:25. He said again to them:  Fear not, neither be ye dismayed, take
courage, and be strong:  for so will the Lord do to all your enemies,
against whom you fight.

10:26. And Josue struck, and slew them, and hanged them upon five
gibbets; and they hung until the evening.

10:27. And when the sun was down, he commanded the soldiers to take
them down from the gibbets.  And after they were taken down, they cast
them into the cave, where they had lain hid, and put great stones at
the mouth thereof, which remain until this day.

10:28. The same day Josue took Maceda, and destroyed it with the edge
of the sword, and killed the king and all the inhabitants thereof:  he
left not in it the least remains.  And he did to the king of Maceda, as
he had done to the king of Jericho.

10:29. And he passed from Maceda with all Israel to Lebna, and fought
against it:

10:30. And the Lord delivered it with the king thereof into the hands
of Israel:  and they destroyed the city with the edge of the sword, and
all the inhabitants thereof.  They left not in it any remains.  And they
did to the king of Lebna, as they had done to the king of Jericho.

10:31. From Lebna he passed unto Lachis, with all Israel:  and investing
it with his army, besieged it.

10:32. And the Lord delivered Lachis into the hands of Israel, and he
took it the following day, and put it to the sword, and every soul that
was in it, as he had done to Lebna.

10:33. At that time Horam, king of Gazer, came up to succour Lachis:
and Josue slew him with all his people so as to leave none alive.

10:34. And he passed from Lachis to Eglon, and surrounded it,

10:35. And took it the same day:  and put to the sword all the souls
that were in it, according to all that he had done to Lachis.

10:36. He went up also with all Israel from Eglon to Hebron, and fought
against it:

10:37. Took it, and destroyed it with the edge of the sword:  the king
also thereof, and all the towns of that country, and all the souls that
dwelt in it:  he left not therein any remains:  as he had done to Eglon,
so did he also to Hebron, putting to the sword all that he found in it.

The king. . .Viz., the new king, who succeeded him that was slain, ver.
26.

10:38. Returning from thence to Dabir,

10:39. He took it, and destroyed it:  the king also thereof, and all the
towns round about, he destroyed with the edge of the sword:  he left not
in it any remains:  as he had done to Hebron and Lebna, and to their
kings, so did he to Dabir, and to the king thereof.

10:40. So Josue conquered all the country of the hills, and of the
south, and of the plain, and of Asedoth, with their kings:  he left not
any remains therein, but slew all that breathed, as the Lord, the God
of Israel, had commanded him.

Any remains therein, but slew, etc. . .God ordered these people to be
utterly destroyed, in punishment of their manifold abomination; and
that they might not draw the Israelites into the like sins.

10:41. From Cadesbarne even to Gaza.  All the land of Gosen even to
Gabaon,

10:42. And all their kings, and their lands he took and wasted at one
onset:  for the Lord the God of Israel fought for him.

10:43. And he returned with all Israel to the place of the camp in
Galgal.



Josue Chapter 11


The kings of the north are overthrown:  the whole country is taken.

11:1. And when Jabin king of Asor had heard these things, he sent to
Jobab king of Madon, and to the king of Semeron, and to the king of
Achsaph:

11:2. And to the kings of the north, that dwelt in the mountains and in
the plains over against the south side of Ceneroth, and in the levels
and the countries of Dor by the sea side:

11:3. To the Chanaanites also on the east and on the west, and the
Amorrhite, and the Hethite, and the Pherezite, and the Jebusite in the
mountains:  to the Hevite also who dwelt at the foot of Hermon in the
land of Maspha.

11:4. And they all came out with their troops, a people exceeding
numerous as the sand that is on the sea shore, their horses also and
chariots a very great multitude,

11:5. And all these kings assembled together at the waters of Merom, to
fight against Israel.

11:6. And the Lord said to Josue:  Fear them not:  for to morrow at this
same hour I will deliver all these to be slain in the sight of Israel:
thou shalt hamstring their horses, and thou shalt burn their chariots
with fire.

Hamstring their horses, and burn their chariots with fire, etc. . .God
so ordained, that his people might not trust in chariots and horses,
but in him.

11:7. And Josue came, and all the army with him, against them to the
waters of Merom on a sudden, and fell upon them.

11:8. And the Lord delivered them into the hands of Israel.  And they
defeated them, and chased them as far as the great Sidon and the waters
of Maserophot, and the field of Masphe, which is on the east thereof.
He slew them all, so as to leave no remains of them:

11:9. And he did as the Lord had commanded him, he hamstringed their
horses and burned their chariots.

11:10. And presently turning back he took Asor:  and slew the king
thereof with the sword.  Now Asor of old was the head of all these
kingdoms.

11:11. And he cut off all the souls that abode there:  he left not in it
any remains, but utterly destroyed all, and burned the city itself with
fire.

11:12. And he took and put to the sword and destroyed all the cities
round about, and their kings, as Moses the servant of God had commanded
him.

11:13. Except the cities that were on hills and high places, the rest
Israel burned:  only Asor that was very strong he consumed with fire.

11:14. And the children of Israel divided among themselves all the
spoil of these cities and the cattle, killing all the men.

11:15. As the Lord had commanded Moses his servant, so did Moses
command Josue, and he accomplished all:  he left not one thing undone of
all the commandments which the Lord had commanded Moses.

11:16. So Josue took all the country of the hills, and of the south,
and the land of Gosen, and the plains and the west country, and the
mountain of Israel, and the plains thereof:

11:17. And part of the mountain that goeth up to Seir as far as
Baalgad, by the plain of Libanus under mount Hermon:  all their kings he
took, smote and slew.

11:18. Josue made war a long time against these kings.

A long time. . .Seven years, as appears from chap. 14.10.

11:19. There was not a city that delivered itself to the children of
Israel, except the Hevite, who dwelt in Gabaon:  for he took all by
fight.

11:20. For it was the sentence of the Lord, that their hearts should be
hardened, and they should fight against Israel, and fall, and should
not deserve any clemency, and should be destroyed as the Lord had
commanded Moses.

Hardened. . .This hardening of their hearts, was their having no thought
of yielding or submitting:  which was a sentence or judgment of God upon
them in punishment of their enormous crimes.

11:21. At that time Josue came and cut off the Enancims from the
mountains, from Hebron, and Dabir, and Anab, and from all the mountain
of Juda and Israel, and destroyed their cities.

11:22. He left not any of the stock of the Enacims, in the land of the
children of Israel:  except the cities of Gaza, and Geth, and Azotus, in
which alone they were left.

11:23. So Josue took all the land, as the Lord spoke to Moses, and
delivered it in possession to the children of Israel, according to
their divisions and tribes.  And the land rested from wars.



Josue Chapter 12


A list of the kings slain by Moses and Josue,

12:1. These are the kings, whom the children of Israel slew and
possessed their land beyond the Jordan towards the rising of the sun,
from the torrent Arnon unto mount Hermon, and all the east country that
looketh towards the wilderness.

12:2. Sehon king of the Amorrhites, who dwelt in Hesebon, and had
dominion from Aroer, which is seated upon the bank of the torrent
Arnon, and of the middle part in the valley, and of half Galaad, as far
as the torrent Jaboc, which is the border of the children of Ammon.

12:3. And from the wilderness, to the sea of Ceneroth towards the east,
and to the sea of the wilderness, which is the most salt sea, on the
east side by the way that leadeth to Bethsimoth:  and on the south side
that lieth under Asedoth, Phasga.

12:4. The border of Og the king of Basan, of the remnant of the
Raphaims who dwelt in Astaroth, and in Edrai, and had dominion in mount
Hermon, and in Salecha, and in all Basan, unto the borders

12:5. Of Gessuri and Machati, and of half Galaad:  the borders of Sehon
the king of Hesebon.

12:6. Moses the servant of the Lord, and the children of Israel slew
them, and Moses delivered their land in possession to the Rubenites,
and Gadites, and the half tribe of Manasses.

12:7. These are the kings of the land, whom Josue and the children of
Israel slew beyond the Jordan on the west side from Baalgad in the
field of Libanus, unto the mount, part of which goeth up into Seir:  and
Josue delivered it in possession to the tribes of Israel, to every one
their divisions,

12:8. As well in the mountains as in the plains and the champaign
countries.  In Asedoth, and in the wilderness, and in the south was the
Hethite and the Amorrhite, the Chanaanite and the Pherezite, the Hevite
and the Jebusite.

12:9. The king of Jericho one:  the king of Hai, which is on the side of
Bethel, one:

12:10. The king of Jerusalem one, the king of Hebron one,

12:11. The king of Jerimoth one, thee king of Lachis one,

12:12. The king of Eglon one, the king of Gazer one,

12:13. The king of Dabir one, the king of Gader one,

12:14. The king of Herma one, the king of Hered one,

12:15. The king of Lebna one, the king of Odullam one,

12:16. The king of Maceda one, the king of Bethel one,

12:17. The king of Taphua one, the king of Opher one,

12:18. The king of Aphec one, the king of Saron one,

12:19. The king of Madon one, the king of Asor one,

12:20. The king of Semeron one, the king of Achsaph one,

12:21. The king of Thenac one, the king of Mageddo one,

12:22. Thee king of Cades one, the king of Jachanan of Carmel one,

12:23. The king of Dor, and of the province of Dor one, the king of the
nations of Galgal one,

12:24. The king of Thersa one:  all the kings thirty and one.



Josue Chapter 13


God commandeth Josue to divide the land:  the possessions of Ruben, Gad,
and half the tribe of Manasses, beyond the Jordan.

13:1. Josue was old, and far advanced in years, and the Lord said to
him:  Thou art grown old, and advanced in age, and there is a very large
country left, which is not yet divided by lot:

Josue was old, and far advanced in years. . .He was then about one
hundred and one years old.--And there is a very large country left,
which is not yet divided by lot. . .Not yet possessed by the children of
Israel.

13:2. To wit, all Galilee, Philistia, and all Gessuri.

13:3. From the troubled river, that watereth Egypt, unto the border of
Accaron northward:  the land of Chanaan, which is divided among the
lords of the Philistines, the Gazites, the Azotians, the Ascalonites,
the Gethites, and the Accronites.

13:4. And on the south side are the Hevites, all the land of Chanaan,
and Maara of the Sidonians as far as Apheca, and the borders of the
Amorrhite,

13:5. And his confines.  The country also of Libanus towards the east
from Baalgad under mount Hermon to the entering into Emath.

13:6. Of all that dwell in the mountains from Libanus, to the waters of
Maserephoth, and all the Sidonians.  I am he that will cut them off from
before the face of the children of Israel.  So let their land come in as
a part of the inheritance of Israel, as I have commanded thee.

13:7. And now divide the land in possession to the nine tribes, and to
the half tribe of Manasses,

13:8. With whom Ruben and Gad have possessed the land, which Moses the
servant of the Lord delivered to them beyond the river Jordan, on the
east side.

With whom. . .That is, with the other half of that same tribe.

13:9. From Aroer, which is upon the bank of the torrent Arnon, and in
the midst of the valley and all the plains of Medaba, as far as Dibon:

13:10. And all the cities of Sehon, king of the Amorrhites, who reigned
in Hesebon, unto the borders of the children of Ammon.

13:11. And Galaad, and the borders of Gessuri and Machati, and all
mount Hermon, and all Basan as far as Salecha,

13:12. All the kingdom of Og in Basan, who reigned in Astaroth and
Edrai, he was of the remains of the Raphaims:  and Moses overthrew and
destroyed them.

13:13. And the children of Israel would not destroy Gessuri and Machati
and they have dwelt in the midst of Israel, until this present day.

13:14. But to the tribe of Levi he gave no possession:  but the
sacrifices and victims of thee Lord God of Israel, are his inheritance,
as he spoke to him.

13:15. And Moses gave a possession to the children of Ruben according
to their kindreds.

13:16. And their border was from Aroer, which is on the bank of the
torrent Arnon, and in the midst of the valley of the same torrent:  all
the plain, that leadeth to Medaba,

13:17. And Hesebon, and all their villages, which are in the plains.
Dibon also, and Bamothbaal, and the town of Baalmaon,

13:18. And Jassa, and Cidimoth, and Mephaath,

13:19. And Cariathaim, and Sabama, and Sarathasar in the mountain of
the valley.

13:20. Bethphogor and Asedoth, Phasga and Bethiesimoth,

13:21. And all the cities of the plain, and all the kingdoms of Sehon
king of the Amorrhites, that reigned in Hesebon, whom Moses slew with
the princes of Madian:  Hevi, and Recem, and Sur and Hur, and Rebe,
dukes of Sehon inhabitants of the land.

The princes of Madian. . .It appears from hence that these were subjects
of king Sehon:  they are said to have been slain with him, that is,
about the same time, but not in the same battle.

13:22. Balaam also the son of Beor the soothsayer, the children of
Israel slew with the sword among the rest that were slain.

13:23. And the river Jordan was the border of the children of Ruben.
This is the possession of the Rubenites, by their kindreds, of cities
and villages.

13:24. And Moses gave to the tribe of Gad and to his children by their
kindreds a possession, of which this is the division.

13:25. The border of Jaser, and all the cities of Galaad, and half the
land of the children of Ammon:  as far as Aroer which is over against
Rabba:

13:26. And from Hesebon unto Ramoth, Masphe and Betonim:  and from
Manaim unto the borders of Dabir.

13:27. And in the valley Betharan and Bethnemra, and Socoth, and Saphon
the other part of the kingdom of Sehon king of Hesebon:  the limit of
this also is the Jordan, as far as the uttermost part of the sea of
Cenereth beyond the Jordan on the east side,

13:28. This is the possession of the children of Gad by their families,
their cities, and villages.

13:29. He gave also to the half tribe of Manasses and his children
possession according to their kindreds,

13:30. The beginning whereof is this:  from Manaim all Basan, and all
the kingdoms of Og king of Basan, and all the villages of Jair, which
are in Basan, threescore towns.

13:31. And half Galaad, and Astaroth, and Edrai, cities of the kingdom
of Og in Basan:  to the children of Machir, the son of Manasses, to one
half of the children of Machir according to their kindreds.

13:32. This possession Moses divided in the plains of Moab, beyond the
Jordan, over against Jericho on the east side,

13:33. But to the tribe of Levi he gave no possession:  because the Lord
the God of Israel himself is their possession, as he spoke to them.



Josue Chapter 14


Caleb's petition; Hebron is given to him and to his seed.

14:1. This is what the children of Israel possessed in the land of
Chanaan, which Eleazar the priest, and Josue the son of Nun, and the
princes of the families by the tribes of Israel gave to them.

14:2. Dividing all by lot, as the Lord had commanded the hand of Moses,
to the nine tribes, and the half tribe.

14:3. For to two tribes and a half Moses had given possession beyond
the Jordan:  besides the Levites, who received no land among their
brethren:

14:4. But in their place succeeded the children of Joseph divided into
two tribes, of Manasses and Ephraim:  neither did the Levites receive
other portion of land, but cities to dwell in, and their suburbs to
feed their beasts and flocks.

Hebron belonged, etc. . .All the country thereabouts, depending on
Hebron, was given to Caleb; but the city itself with the suburbs, was
one of those that were given to the priests to dwell in.

14:5. As the Lord had commanded Moses so did the children of Israel,
and they divided the land.

14:6. Then the children of Juda came to Josue in Galgal, and Caleb the
son of Jephone the Cenezite spoke to him:  Thou knowest what the Lord
spoke to Moses the man of God concerning me and thee in Cadesbarne.

14:7. I was forty years old when Moses the servant of the Lord sent me
from Cadesbarne, to view the land, and I brought him word again as to
me seemed true,

14:8. But my brethren, that had gone up with me, discouraged the heart
of the people:  and I nevertheless followed the Lord my God.

14:9. And Moses swore in that day, saying:  The land which thy foot hath
trodden upon shall be thy possession, and thy children for ever,
because thou hast followed the Lord my God.

14:10. The Lord therefore hath granted me life, as he promised until
this present day, It is forty and five years since the Lord spoke this
word to Moses, when Israel journeyed through the wilderness:  this day I
am eighty-five years old,

14:11. As strong as I was at that time when I was sent to view the
land:  the strength of that time continueth in me until this day, as
well to fight as to march.

14:12. Give me therefore this mountain, which the Lord promised, in thy
hearing also, wherein are the Enacims, and cities great and strong:  if
so be the Lord will be with me, and I shall be able to destroy them, as
he promised me.

14:13. And Josue blessed him, and gave him Hebron in possession.

14:14. And from that time Hebron belonged to Caleb the son of Jephone
the Cenezite, until this present day:  because he followed the Lord the
God of Israel.

14:15. The name of Hebron before was called Cariath-Arbe:  Adam the
greatest among the Enacims was laid there and the land rested from
wars.



Josue Chapter 15


The borders of the lot of Juda.  Caleb's portion and conquest.  The
cities of Juda.

15:1. Now the lot of the children of Juda by their kindreds was this:
From the frontier of Edom, to the desert of Sin southward, and to the
uttermost part of the south coast.

15:2. Its beginning was from the top of the most salt sea, and from the
bay thereof, that looketh to the south.

15:3. And it goeth out towards the ascent of the Scorpion, and passeth
on to Sina:  and ascendeth into Cadesbarne, and reacheth into Esron,
going up to Addar, and compassing Carcaa.

15:4. And from thence passing along into Asemona, and reaching the
torrent of Egypt:  and the bounds thereof shall be the great sea, this
shall be the limit of the south coast.

15:5. But on the east side the beginning shall be the most salt sea
even to the end of the Jordan:  and towards the north from the bay of
the sea unto the same river Jordan.

15:6. And the border goeth up into Beth-Hagla, and passeth by the north
into Beth-Araba:  going up to the stone of Boen the son of Ruben.

15:7. And reaching as far as the borders of Debara from the valley of
Achor, and so northward looking towards Galgal, which is opposite to
the ascent of Adommin, on the south side of the torrent, and the border
passeth the waters that are called the fountain of the sun:  and the
goings out thereof shall be at the fountain Rogel.

15:8. And it goeth up by the valley of the son of Ennom on the side of
the Jebusite towards the south, the same is Jerusalem:  and thence
ascending to the top of the mountain, which is over against Geennom to
the west in the end of the valley of Raphaim, northward.

15:9. And it passeth on from the top of the mountain to the fountain of
the water of Nephtoa:  and reacheth to the towns of mount Ephron:  and it
bendeth towards Baala, which is Cariathiarim, that is to say, the city
of the woods.

15:10. And it compasseth from Baala westward unto mount Seir:  and
passeth by the side of mount Jarim to the north into Cheslon:  and goeth
down into Bethsames, and passeth into Thamna.

15:11. And reacheth northward to a part of Accaron at the side:  and
bendeth to Sechrona, and passeth mount Baala:  and cometh into Jebneel,
and is bounded westward with the great sea.

15:12. These are the borders round about of the children of Juda in
their kindreds.

15:13. But to Caleb the son of Jephone he gave a portion in the midst
of the children of Juda, as the Lord had commanded him:  Cariath-Arbe
the father of Enac, which is Hebron.

15:14. And Caleb destroyed out of it the three sons of Enac, Sesai and
Ahiman, and Tholmai of the race of Enac.

15:15. And going up from thence he came to the inhabitants of Dabir,
which before was called Cariath-Sepher, that is to say, the city of
letters.

15:16. And Caleb said:  He that shall smite Cariath-Sepher, and take it,
I will give him Axa my daughter to wife.

15:17. And Othoniel the son of Cenez, the younger brother of Caleb,
took it:  and he gave him Axa his daughter to wife.

15:18. And as they were going together, she was moved by her husband to
ask a field of her father, and she sighed as she sat on her ass.  And
Caleb said to her:  What aileth thee?

15:19. But she answered:  Give me a blessing:  thou hast given me a
southern and dry land, give me also a land that Is watered.  And Caleb
gave her the upper and the nether watery ground.

15:20. This is the possession of the tribe of the children of Juda by
their kindreds.

15:21. And the cities from the uttermost parts of the children of Juda
by the borders of Edom to the south, were Cabseel and Eder and Jagur,

15:22. And Cina and Dimona and Adada,

15:23. And Cades and Asor and Jethnam,

15:24. Ziph and Telem and Baloth,

15:25. New Asor and Carioth, Hesron, which is Asor.

15:26. Amam, Sama and Molada,

15:27. And Asergadda and Hassemon and Bethphelet,

15:28. And Hasersual and Bersabee and Baziothia,

15:29. And Baala and Jim and Esem,

15:30. And Eltholad and Cesil and Harma,

15:31. And Siceleg and Medemena and Sensenna,

15:32. Lebaoth and Selim and Aen and Remmon:  all the cities
twenty-nine, and their villages.

15:33. But in the plains:  Estaol and Sarea and Asena,

15:34. And Zanoe and Engannim and Taphua and Enaim,

15:35. And Jerimoth and Adullam, Socho and Azeca,

15:36. And Saraim and Adithaim and Gedera and Gederothaim:  fourteen
cities, and their villages.

15:37. Sanan and Hadassa and Magdalgad,

15:38. Delean and Masepha and Jecthel,

15:39. Lachis and Bascath and Eglon,

15:40. Chebbon and Leheman and Cethlis,

15:41. And Gideroth and Bethdagon and Naama and Maceda:  sixteen cities,
and their villages.

15:42. Labana and Ether and Asan,

15:43. Jephtha and Esna and Nesib,

15:44. And Ceila and Achzib and Maresa:  nine cities, and their
villages.

15:45. Accaron with the towns and villages thereof.

15:46. From Accaron even to the sea:  all places that lie towards Azotus
and the villages thereof.

15:47. Azotus with its towns and villages.  Gaza with its towns and
villages, even to the torrent of Egypt, and the great sea that is the
border thereof.

15:48. And in the mountain Samir and Jether and Socoth,

15:49. And Danna and Cariath-senna, this is Dabir:

15:50. Anab and Istemo and Anim,

15:51. Gosen and Olon and Gilo:  eleven cities and their villages.

15:52. Arab and Ruma and Esaan,

15:53. And Janum and Beththaphua and Apheca,

15:54. Athmatha and Cariath-Arbe, this is Hebron and Sior:  nine cities
and their villages.

15:55. Maon and Carmel and Ziph and Jota,

15:56. Jezrael and Jucadam and Zanoe,

15:57. Accain, Gabaa and Thamna:  ten cities and their villages.

15:58. Halhul, and Bessur, and Gedor,

15:59. Mareth, and Bethanoth, and Eltecon:  six cities and their
villages.

15:60. Cariathbaal, the same is Cariathiarim the city of woods, and
Arebba:  two cities and their villages.

15:61. In the desert Betharaba, Meddin and Sachacha,

15:62. And Nebsan, and the city of salt, and Engaddi:  six cities and
their villages.

15:63. But the children of Juda could not destroy the Jebusite that
dwelt in Jerusalem:  and the Jebusite dwelt with the children of Juda in
Jerusalem until this present day.



Josue Chapter 16


The lot of the sons of Joseph.  The borders of the tribe of Ephraim.

16:1. And the lot of the sons of Joseph fell from the Jordan over
against Jericho and the waters thereof, on the east:  the wilderness
which goeth up from Jericho to the mountain of Bethel:

16:2. And goeth out from Bethel to Luza:  and passeth the border of
Archi, to Ataroth,

16:3. And goeth down westward, by the border of Jephleti, unto the
borders of Beth-horon the nether, and to Gazer:  and the countries of it
are ended by the great sea:

16:4. And Manasses and Ephraim the children of Joseph possessed it.

16:5. And the border of the children of Ephraim was according to their
kindreds:  and their possession towards the east was Ataroth-addar unto
Beth-horon the upper.

16:6. And the confines go out unto the sea:  but Machmethath looketh to
the north, and it goeth round the borders eastward into Thanath-selo:
and passeth along on the east side to Janoe.

Looketh to the north, etc. . .The meaning is, that the border went
towards the north, by Machmethath; and then turned eastward to
Thanath-selo.

16:7. And it goeth down from Janoe into Ataroth and Naaratha:  and it
cometh to Jericho, and goeth out to the Jordan.

16:8. From Taphua it passeth on towards the sea into the valley of
reeds, and the goings out thereof are at the most salt sea.  This is the
possession of the tribe of the children of Ephraim by their families.

16:9. And there were cities with their villages separated for the
children of Ephraim in the midst of the possession of the children of
Manasses.

16:10. And the children of Ephraim slew not the Chanaanite, who dwelt
in Gazer:  and the Chanaanite dwelt in the midst of Ephraim until this
day, paying tribute.



Josue Chapter 17


The lot of the half tribe of Manasses.

17:1. And this lot fell to the tribe of Manasses for he is the
firstborn of Joseph to Machir the firstborn of Manasses the father of
Galaad, who was a warlike man, and had for possession Galaad and Basan.

17:2. And to the rest of the children of Manasses according to their
families:  to the children of Abiezer, and to the children of Helec, and
to the children of Esriel, and to the children of Sechem, and to the
children of Hepher, and to the children of Semida:  these are the male
children of Manasses the son of Joseph, by their kindreds.

17:3. But Salphaad the son of Hepher the son of Galaad the son of
Machir the son of Manasses had no sons, but only daughters:  whose names
are these, Maala and Noa and Hegla and Melcha and Thersa.

17:4. And they came in the presence of Eleazar the priest and of Josue
the son of Nun, and of the princes, saying:  The Lord commanded by the
hand of Moses, that a possession should be given us in the midst of our
brethren.  And he gave them according to the commandment of the Lord a
possession amongst the brethren of their father.

17:5. And there fell ten portions to Manasses, beside the land of
Galaad and Basan beyond the Jordan.

17:6. For the daughters of Manasses possessed inheritance in the midst
of his sons.  And the land of Galaad fell to the lot of the rest of the
children of Manasses.

17:7. And the border of Manasses was from Aser, Machmethath which
looketh towards Sichem:  and it goeth out on the right hand by the
inhabitants of the fountain of Taphua.

17:8. For the lot of Manasses took in the land of Taphua, which is on
the borders of Manasses, and belongs to the children of Ephraim.

17:9. And the border goeth down to the valley of the reeds, to the
south of the torrent of the cities of Ephraim, which are in the midst
of the cities of Manasses:  the border of Manasses is on the north side
of the torrent, and the outgoings of it are at the sea:

17:10. So that the possession of Ephraim is on the south, and on the
north that of Manasses, and the sea is the border of both, and they are
joined together in the tribe of Aser on the north, and in the tribe of
Issachar on the east.

17:11. And the inheritance of Manasses in Issachar and in Aser, was
Bethsan and its villages, and Jeblaam with its villages, and the
inhabitants of Dor, with the towns thereof:  the inhabitants also of
Endor with the villages thereof:  and in like manner the inhabitants of
Thenac with the villages thereof:  and the inhabitants of Mageddo with
their villages, and the third part of the city of Nopheth.

17:12. Neither could the children of Manasses overthrow these cities,
but the Chanaanite began to dwell in his land.

17:13. But after that the children of Israel were grown strong, they
subdued the Chanaanites, and made them their tributaries, and they did
not kill them.

17:14. And the children of Joseph spoke to Josue, and said:  Why hast
thou given me but one lot and one portion to possess, whereas I am of
so great a multitude, and the Lord hath blessed me?

17:15. And Josue said to them:  If thou be a great people, go up into
the woodland, and cut down room for thyself in the land of the
Pherezite and the Raphaims:  because the possession of mount Ephraim is
too narrow for thee.

17:16. And the children of Joseph answered him:  We cannot go up to the
mountains, for the Chanaanites that dwell in the low lands, wherein are
situate Bethsan with its towns, and Jezrael in the midst of the valley,
have chariots of iron.

17:17. And Josue said to the house of Joseph, to Ephraim and Manasses:
Thou art a great people, and of great strength, thou shalt not have one
lot only:

17:18. But thou shalt pass to the mountain, and shalt cut down the
wood, and make thyself room to dwell in:  and mayst proceed farther,
when thou hast destroyed the Chanaanites, who as thou sayest have iron
chariots, and are very strong.



Josue Chapter 18


Surveyors are sent to divide the rest of the land into seven tribes.
The lot of Benjamin.

18:1. And all the children of Israel assembled together in Silo, and
there they set up the tabernacle of the testimony, and the land was
subdued before them.

18:2. But there remained seven tribes of the children of Israel, which
as yet had not received their possessions.

18:3. And Josue said to them:  How long are you indolent and slack, and
go not in to possess the land which the Lord the God of your fathers
hath given you?

18:4. Choose of every tribe three men, that I may send them, and they
may go and compass the land, and mark it out according to the number of
each multitude:  and bring back to me what they have marked out.

18:5. Divide to yourselves the land into seven parts:  let Juda be in
his bounds on the south side, and the house of Joseph on the north.

18:6. The land in the midst between these mark ye out into seven parts;
and you shall come hither to me, that I may cast lots for you before
the Lord your God.

The land in the midst between these mark ye out into seven
parts. . .That is to say, the rest of the land, which is not already
assigned to Juda or Joseph.

18:7. For the Levites have no part among you, but the priesthood of the
Lord is their inheritance.  And Gad and Ruben, and the half tribe of
Manasses have already received their possessions beyond the Jordan
eastward:  which Moses the servant of the Lord gave them.

18:8. And when the men were risen up, to go to mark out the land, Josue
commanded them saying:  Go round the land and mark it out, and return to
me:  that I may cast lots for you before the Lord in Silo.

18:9. So they went and surveying it divided it into seven parts,
writing them down in a book.  And they returned to Josue, to the camp in
Silo.

18:10. And he cast lots before the Lord in Silo, and divided the land
to the children of Israel into seven parts.

18:11. And first came up the lot of the children of Benjamin by their
families, to possess the land between the children of Juda, and the
children of Joseph.

18:12. And their border northward was from the Jordan:  going along by
the side of Jericho on the north side, and thence going up westward to
the mountains, and reaching to the wilderness of Bethaven,

18:13. And passing along southward by Luza, the same is Bethel, and it
goeth down into Ataroth-addar to the mountain, that is on the south of
the nether Beth-horon.

18:14. And it bendeth thence going round towards the sea, south of the
mountain that looketh towards Beth-horon to the southwest:  and the
outgoings thereof are into Cariathbaal, which is called also
Cariathiarim, a city of the children of Juda This is their coast
towards the sea, westward.

18:15. But on the south side the border goeth out from part of
Cariathiarim towards the sea, and cometh to the fountain of the waters
of Nephtoa.

18:16. And it goeth down to that part of the mountain that looketh on
the valley of the children of Ennom:  and is over against the north
quarter in the furthermost part of the valley of Raphaim, and it goeth
down into Geennom (that is the valley of Ennom) by the side of the
Jebusite to the south:  and cometh to the fountain of Rogel,

18:17. Passing thence to the north, and going out to Ensemes, that is
to say, the fountain of the sun:

18:18. And It passeth along to the hills that are over against the
ascent of Adommim:  and it goeth down to Abenboen, that is, the stone of
Boen the son of Ruben:  and it passeth on the north side to the
champaign countries; and goeth down Into the plain,

18:19. And it passeth by Bethhagla northward:  and the outgoings thereof
are towards the north of the most salt sea at the south end of the
Jordan.

18:20. Which is the border of it on the east side.  This is the
possession of the children of Benjamin by their borders round about,
and their families.

18:21. And their cities were, Jericho and Bethhagla and Vale-Casis,

18:22. Betharaba and Samaraim and Bethel,

18:23. And Avim and Aphara and Ophera,

18:24. The town Emona and Ophni and Gabee:  twelve cities, and their
villages.

18:25. Gabam and Rama and Beroth,

18:26. And Mesphe, and Caphara, and Amosa,

18:27. And Recem, Jarephel, and Tharela,

18:28. And Sela, Eleph and Jebus, which is Jerusalem, Gabaath and
Cariath:  fourteen cities, and their villages.  This is the possession of
the children of Benjamin by their families.



Josue Chapter 19


The lots of the tribes of Simeon, Zabulon, Issachar, Aser, Nephtali and
Dan.  A city is given to Josue.

19:1. And the second lot came forth for the children of Simeon by their
kindreds:  and their inheritance was

19:2. In the midst of the possession of the children of Juda:  Bersabee
and Sabee and Molada

19:3. And Hasersual, Bala and Asem,

19:4. And Eltholad, Bethul and Harma,

19:5. And Siceleg and Bethmarchaboth and Hasersusa,

19:6. And Bethlebaoth and Sarohen:  thirteen cities, and their villages.

19:7. And Remmon and Athor and Asan:  four cities, and their villages.

19:8. And all the villages round about these cities to Baalath Beer
Ramath to the south quarter.  This is the inheritance of the children of
Simeon according to their kindreds,

19:9. In the possession and lot of the children of Juda:  because it was
too great, and therefore the children of Simeon had their possession in
the midst of their inheritance.

19:10. And the third lot fell to the children of Zabulon by their
kindreds:  and the border of their possession was unto Sarid.

19:11. And It went up from the sea and from Merala, and came to
Debbaseth:  as far as the torrent, which is over against Jeconam.

19:12. And it returneth from Sarid eastward to the borders of
Ceseleththabor:  and it goeth out to Dabereth and ascendeth towards
Japhie.

19:13. And it passeth along from thence to the east side of Gethhepher
and Thacasin:  and goeth out to Remmon, Amthar and Noa.

19:14. And it turneth about to the north of Hanathon:  and the outgoings
thereof are the valley of Jephtahel,

19:15. And Cateth and Naalol and Semeron and Jedala and Bethlehem:
twelve cities and their villages.

19:16. This is the inheritance of the tribe of the children of Zabulon
by their kindreds, the cities and their villages.

19:17. The fourth lot came out to Issachar by their kindreds.

19:18. And his inheritance was Jezrael and Casaloth and Sunem,

19:19. And Hapharaim and Seon and Anaharath,

19:20. And Rabboth and Cesion, Abes,

19:21. And Rameth and Engannim and Enhadda and Bethpheses.

19:22. And the border thereof cometh to Thabor and Sehesima and
Bethsames:  and the outgoings thereof shall be at the Jordan:  sixteen
cities, and their villages.

19:23. This is the possession of the sons of Issachar by their
kindreds, the cities and their villages.

19:24. And the fifth lot fell to the tribe of the children of Aser by
their kindreds:

19:25. And their border was Halcath and Chali and Beten and Axaph,

19:26. And Elmelech and Amaad and Messal:  and it reacheth to Carmel by
the sea and Sihor and Labanath,

19:27. And it returneth towards the east to Bethdagon:  and passeth
along to Zabulon and to the valley of Jephthael towards the north to
Bethemec and Nehiel.  And it goeth out to the left side of Cabul,

19:28. And to Abaran and Rohob and Hamon and Cana, as far as the great
Sidon.

19:29. And it returneth to Horma to the strong city of Tyre, and to
Hosa:  and the outgoings thereof shall be at the sea from the portion of
Achziba:

19:30. And Amma and Aphec and Rohob:  twenty-two cities, and their
villages.

19:31. This is the possession of the children of Aser by their
kindreds, and the cities and their villages.

19:32. The sixth lot came out to the sons of Nephtali by their
families:

19:33. And the border began from Heleph and Elon to Saananim, and
Adami, which is Neceb, and Jebnael even to Lecum:

19:34. And the border returneth westward to Azanotthabor, and goeth out
from thence to Hucuca, and passeth along to Zabulon southward, and to
Aser westward, and to Juda upon the Jordan towards the rising of the
sun.

19:35. And the strong cities are Assedim, Ser, and Emath, and Reccath
and Cenereth,

19:36. And Edema and Arama, Asor,

19:37. And Cedes and Edri, Enhasor,

19:38. And Jeron and Magdalel, Horem, and Bethanath and Bethsames:
nineteen cities, and their villages.

19:39. This is the possession of the tribe of the children of Nephtali
by their kindreds, the cities and their villages.

19:40. The seventh lot came out to the tribe of the children of Dan by
their families

19:41. And the border of their possession was Saraa and Esthaol, and
Hirsemes, that is, the city of the sun,

19:42. Selebin and Aialon and Jethela,

19:43. Elon and Themna and Acron,

19:44. Elthece, Gebbethon and Balaath,

19:45. And Juda and Bane and Barach and Gethremmon:

19:46. And Mejarcon and Arecon, with the border that looketh towards
Joppe,

19:47. And is terminated there.  And the children of Dan went up and
fought against Lesem, and took it:  and they put it to the sword, and
possessed it, and dwelt in it, calling the name of it Lesem Dan, by the
name of Dan their father.

19:48. This is the possession of the tribe of the sons of Dan, by their
kindreds, the cities and their villages.

19:49. And when he had made an end of dividing the land by lot to each
one by their tribes, the children of Israel gave a possession to Josue
the son of Nun in the midst of them,

19:50. According to the commandment of the Lord, the city which he
asked for, Thamnath Saraa, in mount Ephraim:  and he built up the city,
and dwelt in it.

19:51. These are the possessions which Eleazar the priest, and Josue
the son of Nun, and the princes of the families, and of the tribes of
the children of Israel, distributed by lot in Silo, before the Lord at
the door of the tabernacle of the testimony, and they divided the land.



Josue Chapter 20


The cities of refuge are appointed for casual manslaughter.

20:1. And the Lord spoke to Josue, saying:  Speak to children of Israel
and say to them:

20:2. Appoint cities of refuge, of which I spoke to you by the hand of
Moses:

20:3. That whosoever shall kill a person unawares may flee to them, and
may escape the wrath of the kinsman, who is the avenger of blood.

20:4. And when he shall flee to one of these cities:  he shall stand
before the gate of the city, and shall speak to the ancients of that
city, such things as prove him innocent:  and so shall they receive him,
and give him a place to dwell in.

20:5. And when the avenger of blood shall pursue him, they shall not
deliver him into his hands, because he slew his neighbour unawares, and
is not proved to have been his enemy two or three days before,

20:6. And he shall dwell in that city, till he stand before judgment to
give an account of his fact, and till the death of the high priest, who
shall be at that time:  then shall the manslayer return, and go into his
own city and house from whence he fled.

20:7. And they appointed Cedes in Galilee of mount Nephtali, and Sichem
in mount Ephraim, and Cariath-Arbe, the same is Hebron in the mountain
of Juda.

20:8. And beyond the Jordan to the east of Jericho, they appointed
Bosor, which is upon the plain of the wilderness of the tribe of Ruben,
and Ramoth in Galaad of the tribe of Gad, and Gaulon in Basan of the
tribe of Manasses.

20:9. These cities were appointed for all the children of Israel, and
for the strangers, that dwelt among them, that whosoever had killed a
person unawares might flee to them, and not die by the hand of the
kinsman, coveting to revenge the blood that was shed, until he should
stand before the people to lay open his cause.



Josue Chapter 21


Cities with their suburbs are assigned for the priests and Levites.

21:1. Then the princes of the families of Levi came to Eleazar the
priest, and to Josue the son of Nun, and to the princes of the kindreds
of all the tribes of the children of Israel

21:2. And they spoke to them in Silo in the land of Chanaan, and said:
The Lord commanded by the hand of Moses, that cities should be given us
to dwell in, and their suburbs to feed our cattle.

21:3. And the children of Israel gave out of their possessions
according to the commandment of the Lord, cities and their suburbs.

21:4. And the lot came out for the family of Caath of the children of
Aaron the priest out of the tribes of Juda, and of Simeon, and of
Benjamin, thirteen cities.

21:5. And to the rest of the children of Caath, that is, to thee
Levites, who remained, out of the tribes of Ephraim, and of Dan, and
the half tribe of Manasses, ten cities.

21:6. And the lot came out to children of Gerson, that they should take
of the tribes of Issachar and of Aser and of Nephtali, and of the half
tribe of Manasses in Basan, thirteen cities.

21:7. And to the sons of Merari by their kindreds, of the tribes of
Ruben and of Gad and of Zabulon, twelve cities.

21:8. And the children of Israel gave to the Levites the cities and
their suburbs, as the Lord commanded by the hand of Moses, giving to
every one by lot.

21:9. Of the tribes of the children of Juda and of Simeon Josue gave
cities:  whose names are these,

21:10. To the sons of Aaron, of the families of Caath of the race of
Levi (for the first lot came out for them)

21:11. The city of Arbe the father of Enac, which is called Hebron, in
the mountain of Juda, and the suburbs thereof round about.

21:12. But the fields and the villages thereof he had given to Caleb
the son of Jephone for his possession.

21:13. He gave therefore to the children of Aaron the priest, Hebron a
city of refuge, and the suburbs thereof, and Lebna with the suburbs
thereof,

21:14. And Jether and Estemo,

21:15. And Holon, and Dabir,

21:16. And Ain, and Jeta, and Bethsames, with their suburbs:  nine
cities out of the two tribes, as hath been said.

21:17. And out of the tribe of the children of Benjamin, Gabaon, and
Gabae,

21:18. And Anathoth and Almon, with, their suburbs:  four cities.

21:19. All the cities together of the children of Aaron the priest,
were thirteen, with their suburbs,

21:20. And to the rest of the families of the children of Caath of the
race of Levi was given this possession.

21:21. Of the tribe of Ephraim, Sichem one of the cities of refuge,
with the suburbs thereof in mount Ephraim, and Gazer,

21:22. And Cibsaim, and Beth-horon, with their suburbs, four cities.

21:23. And of he tribe of Dan, Eltheco and Gabathon,

21:24. And Aialon and Gethremmon, with their suburbs, four cities.

21:25. And of the half tribe of Manasses, Thanac and Gethremmon, with
their suburbs, two cities.

21:26. All the cities were ten, with their suburbs, which were given to
the children of Caath, of the inferior degree.

21:27. To the children of Gerson also of the race of Levi out of the
half tribe of Manasses, Gaulon in Basan, one of the cities of refuge,
and Bosra, with their suburbs, two cities.

21:28. And of the tribe of Issachar, Cesion, and Dabereth,

21:29. And Jaramoth, and Engannim, with their suburbs, four cities.

21:30. And of the tribe of Aser, Masal and Abdon,

21:31. And Helcath, and Rohob, with their suburbs, four cities.

21:32. Of the tribe also of Nephtali, Cedes in Galilee, one of the
cities of refuge:  and Hammoth Dor, and Carthan, with their suburbs,
three cities.

21:33. All the cities of the families of Gerson, were thirteen, with
their suburbs.

21:34. And to the children of Merari, Levites of the inferior degree,
by their families were given of the tribe of Zabulon, Jecnam and
Cartha,

21:35. And Damna and Naalol, four cities with their suburbs.

21:36. Of the tribe of Ruben beyond the Jordan over against Jericho,
Bosor in the wilderness, one of the cities of refuge, Misor and Jaser
and Jethson and Mephaath, four cities with their suburbs.

Four cities. . .There are no more, though there be five names:  for Misor
is the same city as Bosor, which is to be observed in some other
places, where the number of names exceeds the number of cities.

21:37. Of the tribe of Gad, Ramoth in Galaad, one of the cities of
refuge, and Manaim and Hesebon and Jaser, four cities with their
suburbs,

21:38. All the cities of the children of Merari by their families and
kindreds, were twelve.

21:39. So all the cities of the Levites within the possession of the
children of Israel were forty-eight,

21:40. With their suburbs, each distributed by the families.

21:41. And the Lord God gave to Israel all the land that he had sworn
to give to their fathers:  and they possessed it, and dwelt in it.

21:42. And he gave them peace from all nations round about:  and none of
their enemies durst stand against them, but were brought under their
dominion.

21:43. Not so much as one word, which he had promised to perform unto
them, was made void, but all came to pass.



Josue Chapter 22


The tribes of Ruben and Gad, and half the tribe of Manasses return to
their possessions.  They build an altar by the side of the Jordan, which
alarms the other tribes.  An embassage is sent to them, to which they
give a satisfactory answer.

22:1. At the same time Josue called the Rubenites, and the Gadites, and
the half tribe of Manasses,

22:2. And said to them:  You have done all that Moses the servant of the
Lord commanded you:  you have also obeyed me in all things,

22:3. Neither have you left your brethren this long time, until this
present day, keeping the commandment of the Lord your God.

22:4. Therefore as the Lord your God hath given your brethren rest and
peace, as he promised:  return, and go to your dwellings, and to the
land of your possession, which Moses the servant of the Lord gave you
beyond the Jordan:

22:5. Yet so that you observe attentively, and in work fulfil the
commandment and the law which Moses the servant of the Lord commanded
you:  that you love the Lord your God, and walk in all his ways, and
keep all his commandments, and cleave to him, and serve him with all
your heart, and with all your soul.

22:6. And Josue blessed them, and sent them away, and they returned to
their dwellings.

22:7. Now to half the tribe of Manasses, Moses had given a possession
in Basan:  and therefore to the half that remained, Josue gave a lot
among the rest of their brethren beyond the Jordan to the west.  And
when he sent them away to their dwellings and had blessed them,

22:8. He said to them:  With much substance and riches, you return to
your settlements, with silver and gold, brass and iron, and variety of
raiment:  divide the prey of your enemies with your brethren.

22:9. So the children of Ruben, and the children of Gad, and the half
tribe of Manasses returned, and parted from the children of Israel in
Silo, which is in Chanaan, to go into Galaad the land of their
possession, which they had obtained according to the commandment of the
Lord by the hand of Moses.

22:10. And when they were come to banks of the Jordan, in the land of
Chanaan, they built an altar immensely great near the Jordan.

22:11. And when the children of Israel had heard of it, and certain
messengers brought them an account that the children of Ruben, and of
Gad, and the half tribe of Manasses had built an altar in the land of
Chanaan, upon the banks of the Jordan, over against the children of
Israel:

22:12. They all assembled in Silo, to go up and fight against them.

22:13. And in the mean time they sent to them into the land of Galaad,
Phinees the son of Eleazar the priest,

22:14. And ten princes with him, one of every tribe.

22:15. Who came to the children of Ruben, and of Gad, and the half
tribe of Manasses, into the land of Galaad, and said to them:

22:16. Thus saith all the people of the Lord:  What meaneth this
transgression?  Why have you forsaken the Lord the God of Israel,
building a sacrilegious altar, and revolting from the worship of him?

22:17. Is it a small thing to you that you sinned with Beelphegor, and
the stain of that crime remaineth in us to this day?  and many of the
people perished.

22:18. And you have forsaken the Lord to day, and to morrow his wrath
will rage against all Israel.

22:19. But if you think the land of your possession to be unclean, pass
over to the land wherein is the tabernacle of the Lord, and dwell among
us:  only depart not from the Lord, and from our society, by building an
altar beside the altar of the Lord our God.

22:20. Did not Achan the son of Zare transgress the commandment of the
Lord, and his wrath lay upon all the people of Israel?  And he was but
one man, and would to God he alone had perished in his wickedness.

22:21. And the children of Ruben, and of Gad, and of the half tribe of
Manasses answered the princes of the embassage of Israel:

22:22. The Lord the most mighty God, the Lord the most mighty God, he
knoweth, and Israel also shall understand:  If with the design of
transgression we have set up this altar, let him not save us, but
punish us immediately:

22:23. And if we did it with that mind, that we might lay upon it
holocausts, and sacrifice, and victims of peace offerings, let him
require and judge:

22:24. And not rather with this thought and design, that we should say:
To morrow your children will say to our children:  What have you to do
with the Lord the God of Israel?

22:25. The Lord hath put the river Jordan for a border between us and
you, O ye children of Ruben, and ye children of Gad:  and therefore you
have no part in the Lord.  And by this occasion your children shall turn
away our children from the fear of the Lord.  We therefore thought it
best,

22:26. And said:  Let us build us an altar, not for holocausts, nor to
offer victims,

22:27. But for a testimony between us and you, and our posterity and
yours, that we may serve the Lord, and that we may have a right to
offer both holocausts, and victims and sacrifices of peace offerings:
and that your children to morrow may not say to our children:  You have
no part in the Lord.

22:28. And if they will say so, they shall answer them:  Behold the
altar of the Lord, which our fathers made, not for holocausts, nor for
sacrifice, but for a testimony between us and you.

22:29. God keep us from any such wickedness that we should revolt from
the Lord, and leave off following his steps, by building an altar to
offer holocausts, and sacrifices, and victims, beside the altar of the
Lord our God, which is erected before his tabernacle.

22:30. And when Phinees the priest, and the princes of the embassage,
who were with him, had heard this, they were satisfied:  and they
admitted most willingly the words of the children of Ruben, and Gad,
and of the half tribe of Manasses,

22:31. And Phinees the priest the son of Eleazar said to them:  Now we
know that the Lord is with us, because you are not guilty of this
revolt, and you have delivered the children of Israel from the hand of
the Lord.

22:32. And he returned with the princes from the children of Ruben and
Gad, out of the land of Galaad, into the land of Chanaan, to the
children of Israel, and brought them word again.

22:33. And the saying pleased all that heard it.  And the children of
Israel praised God, and they no longer said that they would go up
against them, and fight, and destroy the land of their possession.

22:34. And the children of Ruben, and the children of Gad called the
altar which they had built, Our testimony, that the Lord is God,



Josue Chapter 23


Josue being old admonisheth the people to keep God's commandments:  and
to avoid marriages and all society with the Gentiles for fear of being
brought to idolatry.

23:1. And when a long time was passed, after that the Lord had given
peace to Israel, all the nations round about being subdued.  and Josue
being now old, and far advanced in years:

23:2. Josue called for all Israel, and for the elders, and for the
princes, and for the judges, and for the masters, and said to them:  I
am old, and far advanced in years,

23:3. And you see all that the Lord your God hath done to all the
nations round about, how he himself hath fought for you:

23:4. And now since he hath divided to you by lot all the land, from
the east of the Jordan unto the great sea, ant many nations yet remain:

23:5. The Lord your God will destroy them, and take them away from
before your face, and you shall possess the land as he hath promised
you.

23:6. Only take courage, and be careful to observe all things that are
written in the book of the law of Moses:  and turn not aside from them
neither to the right hand nor to the left:

23:7. Lest after that you are come in among the Gentiles, who will
remain among you, you should swear by the name of their gods, and serve
them, and adore them:

23:8. But cleave ye unto the Lord your God, as you have done until this
day.

23:9. And then the Lord God will take away before your eyes nations
that are great and very strong, and no man shall be able to resist you.

23:10. One of you shall chase a thousand men of the enemies:  because
the Lord your God himself will fight for you, as he hath promised.

23:11. This only take care of with all diligence, that you love the
Lord your God.

23:12. But if you will embrace the errors of these nations that dwell
among you, and make marriages with them, and join friendships:

23:13. Know ye for a certainty that the Lord your God will not destroy
them before your face, but they shall be a pit and a snare in your way,
and a stumbling-block at your side, and stakes in your eyes, till he
take you away and destroy you from off this excellent land, which he
hath given you.

23:14. Behold this day I am going into the way of all the earth, and
you shall know with all your mind that of all the words which the Lord
promised to perform for you, not one hath failed,

23:15. Therefore as he hath fulfilled in deed, what he promised, and
all things prosperous have come:  so will he bring upon you all the
evils he hath threatened, till he take you away and destroy you from
off this excellent land, which he hath given you,

23:16. When you shall have transgressed the covenant of the Lord your
God, which he hath made with you, and shall have served strange gods,
and adored them:  then shall the indignation of the Lord rise up quickly
and speedily against you, and you shall be taken away from this
excellent land, which he hath delivered to you.



Josue Chapter 24


Josue assembleth the people, and reneweth the covenant between them and
God.  His death and burial.

24:1. And Josue gathered together all the tribes of Israel in Sichem,
and called for the ancients, and the princes and the judges, and the
masters:  and they stood in the sight of the Lord:

24:2. And he spoke thus to the people:  Thus saith the Lord the God of
Israel:  Your fathers dwelt of old on the other side of the river, Thare
the father of Abraham, and Nachor:  and they served strange gods.

Of the river. . .The Euphrates.

24:3. And I took your father Abraham from the borders of Mesopotamia:
and brought him into the land of Chanaan:  and I multiplied his seed,

24:4. And gave him Isaac:  and to him again I gave Jacob and Esau.  And I
gave to Esau mount Seir for his possession:  but Jacob and his children
went down into Egypt.

24:5. And I sent Moses and Aaron, and I struck Egypt with many signs
and wonders.

24:6. And I brought you and your fathers out of Egypt, and you came to
the sea:  and the Egyptians pursued your fathers with chariots and
horsemen, as far as the Red Sea.

24:7. And the children of Israel cried to the Lord:  and he put darkness
between you and the Egyptians, and brought the sea upon them, and
covered them.  Your eyes saw all that I did in Egypt, and you dwelt in
the wilderness a long time.

24:8. And I brought you into the land of the Amorrhite, who dwelt
beyond the Jordan.  And when they fought against you, I delivered them
into your hands, and you possessed their land, and slew them.

24:9. And Balac son of Sephor king of Moab arose and fought against
Israel.  And he sent and called for Balaam son of Beor, to curse you:

24:10. And I would not hear him, but on the contrary I blessed you by
him, and I delivered you out of his hand.

24:11. And you passed over the Jordan, and you came to Jericho.  And the
men of that city fought against you, the Amorrhite, and the Pherezite,
and the Chanaanite, and the Hethite, and the Gergesite, and the Hevite,
and the Jebusite:  and I delivered them into your hands.

24:12. And I sent before you and I drove them out from their places,
the two kings of the Amorrhites, not with thy sword nor with thy bow,

24:13. And I gave you a land, in which you had not laboured, and cities
to dwell in which you built not, vineyards and oliveyards, which you
planted not.

24:14. Now therefore fear the Lord, and serve him with a perfect and
most sincere heart:  and put away the gods which your fathers served in
Mesopotamia and in Egypt, and serve the Lord.

24:15. But if it seem evil to you to serve the Lord, you have your
choice:  choose this day that which pleaseth you, whom you would rather
serve, whether the gods which your fathers served in Mesopotamia, or
the gods of the Amorrhites, in whose land you dwell:  but as for me and
my house we will serve thee Lord,

24:16. And the people answered, and said, God forbid we should leave
the Lord, and serve strange gods.

24:17. The Lord our God he brought us and our fathers out of the land
of Egypt, out of the house of bondage:  and did very great signs in our
sight, and preserved us in all the way by which we journeyed, and among
all the people through whom we passed.

24:18. And he hath cast out all the nations, the Amorrhite the
inhabitant of the land into which we are come.  Therefore we will serve
the Lord, for he is our God.

24:19. And Josue said to the people:  You will not be able to serve the
Lord:  for he is a holy God, and mighty and jealous, and will not
forgive your wickedness and sins.

You will not be able to serve the Lord, etc. . .This was not said by way
of discouraging them; but rather to make them more earnest and
resolute, by setting before them the greatness of the undertaking, and
the courage and constancy necessary to go through with it.

24:20. If you leave the Lord, and serve strange gods, he will turn, and
will afflict you, and will destroy you after all the good he hath done
you.

24:21. And the people said to Josue:  No, it shall not be so as thou
sayest, but we will serve the Lord.

24:22. And Josue said to the people, You are witnesses, that you
yourselves have chosen you the Lord to serve him.  And they answered:  We
are witnesses.

24:23. Now therefore, said he, put away strange gods from among you,
and incline your hearts to the Lord the God of Israel.

24:24. And the people said to Josue:  We will serve the Lord our God,
and we will be obedient to his commandments.

24:25. Josue therefore on that day made a covenant, and set before the
people commandments and judgments in Sichem.

24:26. And he wrote all these things in the volume of the law of the
Lord:  and he took a great stone, and set it under the oak that was in
the sanctuary of the Lord.

24:27. And he said to all the people:  Behold this stone shall be a
testimony unto you, that it hath heard all the words of the Lord, which
he hath spoken to you:  lest perhaps hereafter you will deny it, and lie
to the Lord your God.

It hath heard. . .This is a figure of speech, by which sensation is
attributed to inanimate things; and they are called upon, as it were,
to bear witness in favour of the great Creator, whom they on their part
constantly obey.

24:28. And he sent the people away every one to their own possession,

24:29. And after these things Josue the son of Nun the servant of the
Lord died, being a hundred and ten years old:

And after, etc. . .If Josue wrote this book, as is commonly believed,
these last verses were added by Samuel, or some other prophet.

24:30. And they buried him in the border of his possession in
Thamnathsare, which is situate in mount Ephraim, on the north side of
mount Gaas.

24:31. And Israel served the Lord all the days of Josue, and of the
ancients that lived a long time after Josue, and that had known all the
works of the Lord which he had done in Israel.

24:32. And the bones of Joseph which the children of Israel had taken
out of Egypt, they buried in Sichem, in that part of the field which
Jacob had bought of the sons of Hemor the father of Sichem, for a
hundred young ewes, and it was in the possession of the sons of Joseph.

24:33. Eleazar also the son of Aaron died:  and they buried him in
Gabaath that belongeth to Phinees his son, which was given him in mount
Ephraim.



THE BOOK OF JUDGES



This Book is called JUDGES, because it contains the history of what
passed under the government of the judges, who ruled Israel before they
had kings.  The writer of it, according to the more general opinion, was
the prophet Samuel.



Judges Chapter 1


The expedition and victory of Juda against the Chanaanites:  who are
tolerated in many places.

1:1. After the death of Josue, the children of Israel consulted the
Lord, saying:  Who shall go up before us against the Chanaanite, and
shall be the leader of the war?

1:2. And the Lord said:  Juda shall go up:  behold I have delivered the
land into his hands.

1:3. And Juda said to Simeon, his brother:  Come up with me into my lot,
and fight against the Chanaanite, that I also may go along with thee
into thy lot.  And Simeon went with him.

1:4. And Juda went up, and the Lord delivered the Chanaanite, and the
Pherezite into their hands:  and they slew of them in Bezec ten thousand
men.

1:5. And they found Adonibezec in Bezec, and fought against him, and
they defeated the Chanaanite, and the Pherezite.

1:6. And Adonibezec fled:  and they pursued after him and took him, and
cut off his fingers and toes.

1:7. And Adonibezec said:  Seventy kings, having their fingers and toes
cut off, gathered up the leavings of the meat under my table:  as I have
done, so hath God requited me.  And they brought him to Jerusalem, and
he died there.

1:8. And the children of Juda besieging Jerusalem, took it, and put it
to the sword, and set the whole city on fire.

Jerusalem. . .This city was divided into two; one part was called Jebus,
the other Salem:  the one was in the tribe of Juda, the other in the
tribe of Benjamin.  After it was taken and burnt by the men of Juda, it
was quickly rebuilt again by the Jebusites, as we may gather from ver.
21; and continued in their possession till it was taken by king David.

1:9. And afterwards they went down and fought against the Chanaanite,
who dwelt in the mountains, and in the south, and in the plains.

1:10. And Juda going forward against the Chanaanite, that dwelt in
Hebron, (the name whereof was in former times Cariath-Arbe) slew Sesai,
and Ahiman, and Tholmai:

Hebron. . .This expedition against Hebron, etc. is the same as is
related, Jos. 15.24.  It is here repeated, to give the reader at once a
short sketch of all the achievements of the tribe of Juda against the
Chanaanites.

1:11. And departing from thence, he went to the inhabitants of Dabir,
the ancient name of which was Cariath-Sepher, that is, the city of
letters.

The city of letters. . .Perhaps so called from some famous school, or
library, kept there.

1:12. And Caleb said:  He that shall take Cariath-Sepher, and lay it
waste, to him will I give my daughter Axa to wife.

1:13. And Othoniel, the son of Cenez, the younger brother of Caleb,
having taken it, he gave him Axa his daughter to wife.

1:14. And as she was going on her way, her husband admonished her to
ask a field of her father.  And as she sighed sitting on her ass, Caleb
said to her:  What aileth thee?

1:15. But she answered:  Give me a blessing, for thou hast given me a
dry land:  give me also a watery land So Caleb gave her the upper and
the nether watery ground.

1:16. And the children of the Cinite, the kinsman of Moses, went up
from the city of palms, with the children of Juda, into the wilderness
of his lot, which is at the south side of Arad, and they dwelt with
him.

The Cinite. . .Jethro the father in law of Moses was called Cinoeus, or
the Cinite; and his children who came along with the children of Israel
settled themselves among them in the land of Chanaan, embracing their
worship and religion.  From these the Rechabites sprung, of whom see
Jer. 35.--Ibid.  The city of palms. . .Jericho, so called from the
abundance of palm trees.

1:17. And Juda went with Simeon, his brother, and they together
defeated the Chanaanites that dwelt in Sephaath, and slew them.  And the
name of the city was called Horma, that is, Anathema.

1:18. And Juda took Gaza, with its confines, and Ascalon, and Accaron,
with their confines.

Gaza, etc. . .These were three of the principal cities of the
Philistines, famous both in sacred and profane history.  They were taken
at this time by the Israelites:  but as they took no care to put
garrisons in them, the Philistines soon recovered them.

1:19. And the Lord was with Juda, and he possessed the hill country:
but was not able to destroy the inhabitants of the valley, because they
had many chariots armed with scythes.

Was not able, etc. . .Through a cowardly fear of their chariots armed
with hooks and scythes, and for want of confidence in God.

1:20. And they gave Hebron to Caleb, as Moses had said, who destroyed
out of it the three sons of Enac.

1:21. But the sons of Benjamin did not destroy the Jebusites that
inhabited Jerusalem:  and the Jebusite hath dwelt with the sons of
Benjamin in Jerusalem until this present day.

1:22. The house of Joseph also went up against Bethel, and the Lord was
with them.

1:23. For when they were besieging the city, which before was called
Luza,

1:24. They saw a man coming out of the city, and they said to him:  Shew
us the entrance into the city, and we will shew thee mercy.

1:25. And when he had shewed them, they smote the city with the edge of
the sword:  but that man, and all his kindred, they let go:

1:26. Who being sent away, went into the land of Hetthim, and built
there a city, and called it Luza:  which is so called until this day.

1:27. Manasses also did not destroy Bethsan, and Thanac, with their
villages; nor the inhabitants of Dor, and Jeblaam, and Mageddo, with
their villages.  And the Chanaanite began to dwell with them.

1:28. But after Israel was grown strong, he made them tributaries, and
would not destroy them.

1:29. Ephraim also did not slay the Chanaanite that dwelt in Gazer, bnt
dwelt with him.

1:30. Zabulon destroyed not the inhabitants of Cetron, and Naalol:  but
the Chanaanite dwelt among them, and became their tributary.

1:31. Aser also destroyed not the inhabitants of Accho, and of Sidon,
of Ahalab, and of Achazib, and of Helba, and of Aphec, and of Rohob:

1:32. And he dwelt in the midst of the Chanaanites, the inhabitants of
that land, and did not slay them.

1:33. Nephthali also destroyed not the inhabitants of Bethsames, and of
Bethanath:  and he dwelt in the midst of the Chanaanites, the
inhabitants of the land, and the Bethsamites and Bethanites were
tributaries to him.

1:34. And the Amorrhite straitened the children of Dan in the mountain,
and gave them not a place to go down to the plain:

1:35. And he dwelt in the mountain Hares, that is, of potsherds, in
Aialon and Salebim.  And the hand of the house of Joseph was heavy upon
him, and he became tributary to him.

He dwelt. . .That is, the Amorrhite.

1:36. And the border of the Amorrhite was from the ascent of the
scorpion, the rock, and the higher places.



Judges Chapter 2


An angel reproveth Israel.  They weep for their sins.  After the death of
Josue, they often fall, and repenting are delivered from their
afflictions, but still fall worse and worse.

2:1. And an angel of the Lord went up from Galgal to the place of
weepers, and said:  I made you go out of Egypt, and have brought you
into the land for which I swore to your fathers:  and I promised that I
would not make void my covenant with you for ever:

An angel. . .Taking the shape of a man.

2:2. On condition that you should not make a league with the
inhabitants of this land, but should throw down their altars:  and you
would not hear my voice:  why have you done this?

2:3. Wherefore I would not destroy them from before your face; that you
may have enemies, and their gods may be your ruin.

2:4. And when the angel of the Lord spoke these words to all the
children of Israel:  they lifted up their voice, and wept.

2:5. And the name of that place was called, The place of weepers, or of
tears:  and there they offered sacrifices to the Lord.

2:6. And Josue sent away the people, and the children of Israel went
every one to his own possession to hold it:

And Josue, etc. . .This is here inserted out of Jos. 24, by way of
recapitulation of what had happened before, and by way of an
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.

13:6. 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.

15:6. 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.

2:3. 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
schools for training up these prophets; and it seems there was one of
these schools at this hill of God; and another at Najoth in Ramatha.
See 1 Kings 19.20, 21, etc.

10:6. And the Spirit of the Lord shall come upon thee, and thou shalt
prophesy with them, and shalt be changed into another man.

10:7. When therefore these signs shall happen to thee, do whatsoever
thy hand shall find, for the Lord is with thee.

10:8. And thou shalt go down before me to Galgal, (for I will come down
to thee), that thou mayst offer an oblation, and sacrifice victims of
peace:  seven days shalt thou wait, till I come to thee, and I will shew
thee what thou art to do.

Galgal. . .Here also by dispensation was an altar of God.

10:9. So when he had turned his back to go from Samuel, God gave unto
him another heart, and all these things came to pass that day.

10:10. And they came to the foresaid hill, and behold a company of
prophets met him:  and the Spirit of the Lord came upon him, and he
prophesied in the midst of them.

10:11. And all that had known him yesterday and the day before, seeing
that he was with the prophets, and prophesied, said to each other:  What
is this that hath happened to the son of Cis?  is Saul also among the
prophets?

10:12. And one answered another, saying:  And who is their father?
therefore it became a proverb:  Is Saul also among the prophets?

Their father. . .That is, their teacher, or superior.  As much as to say,
Who could bring about such a wonderful change as to make Saul a
prophet?

10:13. And when he had made an end of prophesying, he came to the high
place.

10:14. And Saul's uncle said to him, and to his servant:  Whither went
you?  They answered:  To seek the asses:  and not finding them, we went
to Samuel.

10:15. And his uncle said to him:  Tell me what Samuel said to thee.

10:16. And Saul said to his uncle:  He told us that the asses were
found.  But of the matter of the kingdom of which Samuel had spoken to
him, he told him not.

10:17. And Samuel called together the people to the Lord in Maspha:

10:18. And he said to the children of Israel:  Thus saith the Lord the
God of Israel:  I brought up Israel out of Egypt, and delivered you from
the hand of the Egyptians, and from the hand of all the kings who
afflicted you.

10:19. But you this day have rejected your God, who only hath saved you
out of all your evils and your tribulations:  and you have said:  Nay:
but set a king over us.  Now therefore stand before the Lord by your
tribes, and by your families.

10:20. And Samuel brought to him all the tribes of Israel, and the lot
fell on the tribe of Benjamin.

10:21. And he brought the tribe of Benjamin and the kindreds thereof,
and the lot fell upon the kindred of Metri, and it came to Saul, the
son of Cis.  They sought him therefore, and he was not found.

10:22. And after this they consulted the Lord whether he would come
thither.  And the Lord answered:  Behold he is hidden at home.

10:23. And they ran and fetched him thence:  and he stood in the midst
of the people, and he was higher than any of the people from the
shoulders and upward.

10:24. And Samuel said to all the people:  Surely you see him whom the
Lord hath chosen, that there is none like him among all the people.  And
all the people cried and said:  God save the king.

10:25. And Samuel told the people the law of the kingdom, and wrote it
in a book, and laid it up before the Lord:  and Samuel sent away all the
people, every one to his own house.

10:26. Saul also departed to his own house in Gabaa:  and there went
with him a part of the army, whose hearts God had touched.

10:27. But the children of Belial said:  Shall this fellow be able to
save us?  And they despised him, and brought him no presents; but he
dissembled as though he heard not.



1 Kings Chapter 11


Saul defeateth the Ammonites, and delivereth Jabes Galaad.

11:1. And it came to pass about a month after this, that Naas, the
Ammonite, came up, and began to fight against Jabes Galaad.  And all the
men of Jabes said to Naas:  Make a covenant with us, and we will serve
thee.

11:2. And Naas, the Ammonite, answered them:  On this condition will I
make a covenant with you, that I may pluck out all your right eyes, and
make you a reproach in all Israel.

11:3. And the ancients of Jabes said to him:  Allow us seven days, that
we may send messengers to all the coasts of Israel:  and if there be no
one to defend us, we will come out to thee.

11:4. The messengers therefore came to Gabaa of Saul:  and they spoke
these words in the hearing of the people:  and all the people lifted up
their voices, and wept.

11:5. And behold Saul came, following oxen out of the field, and he
said:  What aileth the people that they weep?  And they told him the
words of the men of Jabes.

11:6. And the Spirit of the Lord came upon Saul, when he had heard
these words, and his anger was exceedingly kindled.

11:7. And taking both the oxen, he cut them in pieces, and sent them
into all the coasts of Israel, by messengers, saying:  Whosoever shall
not come forth, and follow Saul and Samuel, so shall it be done to his
oxen.  And the fear of the Lord fell upon the people, and they went out
as one man.

11:8. And he numbered them in Bezec:  and there were of the children of
Israel three hundred thousand:  and of the men of Juda thirty thousand.

11:9. And they said to the messengers that came:  Thus shall you say to
the men of Jabes Galaad:  To morrow, when the sun shall be hot, you
shall have relief.  The messengers therefore came, and told the men of
Jabes, and they were glad.

11:10. And they said:  In the morning we will come out to you:  and you
shall do what you please with us.

11:11. And it came to pass, when the morrow was come, that Saul put the
people in three companies:  and he came into the midst of the camp in
the morning watch, and he slew the Ammonites until the day grew hot,
and the rest were scattered, so that two of them were not left
together.

11:12. And the people said to Samuel:  Who is he that said:  Shall Saul
reign over us?  Bring the men, and we will kill them.

11:13. And Saul said:  No man shall be killed this day:  because the Lord
this day hath wrought salvation in Israel:

11:14. And Samuel said to the people:  Come, and let us go to Galgal,
and let us renew the kingdom there.

11:15. And all the people went to Galgal, and there they made Saul
king, before the Lord in Galgal, and they sacrificed there victims of
peace before the Lord.  And there Saul and all the men of Israel
rejoiced exceedingly.



1 Kings Chapter 12


Samuel's integrity is acknowledged.  God sheweth by a sign from heaven
that they had done ill in asking for a king.

12:1. And Samuel said to all Israel:  Behold I have hearkened to your
voice in all that you said to me, and have made a king over you.

12:2. And now the king goeth before you:  but I am old and greyheaded:
and my sons are with you:  having then conversed with you from my youth
until this day, behold here I am.

12:3. Speak of me before the Lord, and before his anointed, whether I
have taken any man's ox, or ass:  if I have wronged any man, if I have
oppressed any man, if I have taken a bribe at any man's hand:  and I
will despise it this day, and will restore it to you.

12:4. And they said:  Thou hast not wronged us, nor oppressed us, nor
taken ought at any man's hand.

12:5. And he said to them:  The Lord is witness against you, and his
anointed is witness this day, that you have not found any thing in my
hand.  And they said:  He is witness.

12:6. And Samuel said to the people:  It is the Lord who made Moses and
Aaron, and brought our fathers out of the land of Egypt.

12:7. Now, therefore, stand up, that I may plead in judgment against
you before the Lord, concerning all the kindness of the Lord, which he
hath shewn to you, and to your fathers:

12:8. How Jacob went into Egypt, and your fathers cried to the Lord:
and the Lord sent Moses and Aaron, and brought your fathers out of
Egypt, and made them dwell in this place.

12:9. And they forgot the Lord their God, and he delivered them into
the hands of Sisara, captain of the army of Hasor, and into the hands
of the Philistines, and into the hand of the king of Moab, and they
fought against them.

12:10. But afterwards they cried to the Lord, and said:  We have sinned,
because we have forsaken the Lord, and have served Baalim and Astaroth:
but now deliver us from the hand of our enemies, and we will serve
thee.

12:11. And the Lord sent Jerobaal, and Badan, and Jephte, and Samuel,
and delivered you from the hand of your enemies round about, and you
dwelt securely.

Jerobaal and Badan. . .That is, Gedeon and Samson called here Badan or
Bedan, because he was of Dan.

12:12. But seeing that Naas, king of the children of Ammon, was come
against you, you said to me:  Nay, but a king shall reign over us:
whereas the Lord your God was your king.

12:13. Now, therefore, your king is here, whom you have chosen and
desired:  Behold the Lord hath given you a king.

12:14. If you will fear the Lord, and serve him, and hearken to his
voice, and not provoke the mouth of the Lord:  then shall both you, and
the king who reigneth over you, be followers of the Lord your God.

12:15. But if you will not hearken to the voice of the Lord, but will
rebel against his words, the hand of the Lord shall be upon you, and
upon your fathers.

12:16. Now then stand, and see this great thing which the Lord will do
in your sight.

12:17. Is it not wheat harvest to day?  I will call upon the Lord, and
he shall send thunder and rain:  and you shall know, and see that you
yourselves have done a great evil in the sight of the Lord, in desiring
a king over you.

Wheat harvest. . .At which time of the year, it never thunders or rains
in those countries.

12:18. And Samuel cried unto the Lord, and the Lord sent thunder and
rain that day.

12:19. And all the people greatly feared the Lord and Samuel.  And all
the people said to Samuel:  Pray for thy servants to the Lord thy God,
that we may not die, for we have added to all our sins this evil, to
ask for a king.

12:20. And Samuel said to the people:  Fear not, you have done all this
evil:  but yet depart not from following the Lord, but serve the Lord
with all your heart.

12:21. And turn not aside after vain things, which shall never profit
you, nor deliver you, because they are vain.

12:22. And the Lord will not forsake his people for his great name's
sake:  because the Lord hath sworn to make you his people.

12:23. And far from me be this sin against the Lord, that I should
cease to pray for you:  and I will teach you the good and right way.

12:24. Therefore fear the Lord, and serve him in truth, and with your
whole heart, for you have seen the great works which he hath done among
you.

12:25. But if you will still do wickedly:  both you and your king shall
perish together.



1 Kings Chapter 13


The war between Saul and the Philistines.  The distress of the
Israelites.  Saul offereth sacrifice before the coming of Samuel:  for
which he is reproved.

13:1. Saul was a child of one year when he began to reign, and he
reigned two years over Israel.

Of one year. . .That is, he was good and like an innocent child, and for
two years continued in that innocency.

13:2. And Saul chose him three thousand men of Israel:  and two thousand
were with Saul in Machmas, and in mount Bethel:  and a thousand with
Jonathan in Gabaa of Benjamin:  and the rest of the people he sent back
every man to their dwellings.

13:3. And Jonathan smote the garrison of the Philistines which was in
Gabaa.  And when the Philistines had heard of it, Saul sounded the
trumpet over all the land, saying:  Let the Hebrews hear.

13:4. And all Israel heard this report:  Saul hath smitten the garrison
of the Philistines:  and Israel took courage against the Philistines.
And the people were called together after Saul to Galgal.

13:5. The Philistines also were assembled to fight against Israel,
thirty thousand chariots, and six thousand horsemen, and a multitude of
people besides, like the sand on the seashore for number.  And going up
they camped in Machmas, at the east of Bethaven.

13:6. And when the men of Israel saw that they were straitened (for the
people were distressed), they hid themselves in caves, and in thickets,
and in rocks, and in dens, and in pits.

13:7. And some of the Hebrews passed over the Jordan into the land of
Gad and Galaad.  And when Saul was yet in Galgal, all the people that
followed him were greatly afraid.

13:8. And he waited seven days, according to the appointment of Samuel,
and Samuel came not to Galgal, and the people slipt away from him.

13:9. Then Saul said:  Bring me the holocaust, and the peace offerings.
And he offered the holocaust.

13:10. And when he had made an end of offering the holocaust, behold
Samuel came:  and Saul went forth to meet him and salute him.

13:11. And Samuel said to him:  What hast thou done?  Saul answered:
Because I saw that the people slipt from me, and thou wast not come
according to the days appointed, and the Philistines were gathered
together in Machmas,

13:12. I said:  Now will the Philistines come down upon me to Galgal,
and I have not appeased the face of the Lord.  Forced by necessity, I
offered the holocaust.

13:13. And Samuel said to Saul:  Thou hast done foolishly, and hast not
kept the commandments of the Lord thy God, which he commanded thee.  And
if thou hadst not done thus, the Lord would now have established thy
kingdom over Israel for ever:

13:14. But thy kingdom shall not continue.  The Lord hath sought him a
man according to his own heart:  and him hath the Lord commanded to be
prince over his people, because thou hast not observed that which the
Lord commanded.

13:15. And Samuel arose and went up from Galgal to Gabaa of Benjamin.
And the rest of the people went up after Saul, to meet the people who
fought against them, going from Galgal to Gabaa, in the hill of
Benjamin.  And Saul numbered the people, that were found with him, about
six hundred men.

13:16. And Saul, and Jonathan his son, and the people that were present
with them, were in Gabaa of Benjamin:  But the Philistines encamped in
Machmas.

13:17. And there went out of the camp of the Philistines three
companies to plunder.  One company went towards the way of Ephra to the
land of Sual;

13:18. And another went by the way of Bethoron, and the third turned to
the way of the border, above the valley of Seboim towards the desert.

13:19. Now there was no smith to be found in all the land of Israel,
for the Philistines had taken this precaution, lest the Hebrews should
make them swords or spears.

13:20. So all Israel went down to the Philistines, to sharpen every man
his ploughshare, and his spade, and his axe, and his rake.

13:21. So that their shares, and their spades, and their forks, and
their axes, were blunt, even to the goad, which was to be mended.

13:22. And when the day of battle was come, there was neither sword nor
spear found in the hand of any of the people that were with Saul and
Jonathan, except Saul and Jonathan his son.

13:23. And the army of the Philistines went out in order to advance
further in Machmas.



1 Kings Chapter 14


Jonathan attacketh the Philistines.  A miraculous victory.  Saul's
unadvised oath, by which Jonathan is put in danger of his life, but is
delivered by the people.

14:1. Now it came to pass one day that Jonathan, the son of Saul, said
to the young man that bore his armour:  Come, and let us go over to the
garrison of the Philistines, which is on the other side of yonder
place.  But he told not this to his father.

14:2. And Saul abode in the uttermost part of Gabaa, under the
pomegranate tree, which was in Magron:  and the people with him were
about six hundred men.

14:3. And Achias, the son of Achitob, brother of Ichabod the son of
Phinees, the son of Heli, the priest of the Lord in Silo, wore the
ephod.  And the people knew not whither Jonathan was gone.

14:4. Now there were between the ascents, by which Jonathan sought to
go over to the garrison of the Philistines, rocks standing up on both
sides, and steep cliffs like teeth on the one side, and on the other,
the name of the one was Boses, and the name of the other was Sene:

14:5. One rock stood out toward the north, over against Machmas, and
the other to the south, over against Gabaa.

14:6. And Jonathan said to the young man that bore his armour:  Come,
let us go over to the garrison of these uncircumcised, it may be the
Lord will do for us:  because it is easy for the Lord to save either by
many, or by few.

14:7. And his armourbearer said to him:  Do all that pleaseth thy mind:
go whither thou wilt, and I will be with thee wheresoever thou hast a
mind.

14:8. And Jonathan said:  Behold we will go over to these men.  And when
we shall be seen by them,

14:9. If they shall speak thus to us:  Stay till we come to you:  let us
stand still in our place, and not go up to them.

14:10. But if they shall say:  Come up to us:  let us go up, because the
Lord hath delivered them into our hands, this shall be a sign unto us.

This shall be a sign. . .It is likely Jonathan was instructed by divine
inspiration to make a choice of this sign:  otherwise the observation of
omens is superstitious and sinful.

14:11. So both of them discovered themselves to the garrison of the
Philistines:  and the Philistines said:  Behold the Hebrews come forth
out of the holes wherein they were hid.

14:12. And the men of the garrison spoke to Jonathan, and to his
armourbearer, and said:  Come up to us, and we will shew you a thing.
And Jonathan said to his armourbearer:  Let us go up, follow me:  for the
Lord hath delivered them into the hands of Israel.

14:13. And Jonathan went up creeping on his hands and feet, and his
armourbearer after him.  And some fell before Jonathan, others his
armourbearer slew as he followed him.

14:14. And the first slaughter which Jonathan and his armourbearer
made, was of about twenty men, within half an acre of land, which a
yoke of oxen is wont to plough in a day.

14:15. And there was a miracle in the camp, in the fields:  and all the
people of their garrison, who had gone out to plunder, were amazed, and
the earth trembled:  and it happened as a miracle from God.

14:16. And the watchmen of Saul, who were in Gabaa of Benjamin looked,
and behold a multitude overthrown, and fleeing this way and that.

14:17. And Saul said to the people that were with him:  Look, and see
who is gone from us.  And when they had sought, it was found that
Jonathan and his armourbearer were not there.

14:18. And Saul said to Achias:  Bring the ark of the Lord.  (For the ark
of God was there that day with the children of Israel.)

14:19. And while Saul spoke to the priest, there arose a great uproar
in the camp of the Philistines:  and it increased by degrees, and was
heard more clearly.  And Saul said to the priest:  Draw in thy hand.

14:20. Then Saul, and all the people that were with him, shouted
together, and they came to the place of the fight:  and behold every
man's sword was turned upon his neighbour, and there was a very great
slaughter.

14:21. Moreover, the Hebrews that had been with the Philistines
yesterday and the day before, and went up with them into the camp,
returned to be with the Israelites, who were with Saul and Jonathan.

14:22. And all the Israelites that had hid themselves in mount Ephraim,
hearing that the Philistines fled, joined themselves with their
countrymen in the fight.  And there were with Saul about ten thousand
men.

14:23. And the Lord saved Israel that day.  And the fight went on as far
as Bethaven.

14:24. And the men of Israel were joined together that day:  and Saul
adjured the people, saying:  Cursed be the man that shall eat food till
evening, till I be revenged of my enemies.  So none of the people tasted
any food.

14:25. And all the common people came into a forest, in which there was
honey upon the ground.

14:26. And when the people came into the forest, behold the honey
dropped, but no man put his hand to his mouth.  For the people feared
the oath.

14:27. But Jonathan had not heard when his father adjured the people:
and he put forth the end of the rod, which he had in his hand, and dipt
it in a honeycomb:  and he carried his hand to his mouth, and his eyes
were enlightened.

14:28. And one of the people answering, said:  Thy father hath bound the
people with an oath, saying:  Cursed be the man that shall eat any food
this day.  (And the people were faint.)

14:29. And Jonathan said:  My father hath troubled the land:  you have
seen yourselves that my eyes are enlightened, because I tasted a little
of this honey:

14:30. How much more if the people had eaten of the prey of their
enemies, which they found?  had there not been made a greater slaughter
among the Philistines?

14:31. So they smote that day the Philistines, from Machmas to Aialon.
And the people were wearied exceedingly.

14:32. And falling upon the spoils, they took sheep, and oxen, and
calves, and slew them on the ground:  and the people ate them with the
blood.

14:33. And they told Saul that the people had sinned against the Lord,
eating with the blood.  And he said:  You have transgressed:  roll here
to me now a great stone.

14:34. And Saul said:  Disperse yourselves among the people, and tell
them to bring me every man his ox and his ram and slay them upon this
stone, and eat, and you shall not sin against the Lord, in eating with
the blood.  So all the people brought every man his ox with him till the
night:  and slew them there.

14:35. And Saul built an altar to the Lord:  and he then first began to
build an altar to the Lord.

14:36. And Saul said:  Let us fall upon the Philistines by night, and
destroy them till the morning light, and let us not leave a man of
them.  And the people said:  Do all that seemeth good in thy eyes.  And
the priest said:  Let us draw near hither unto God.

14:37. And Saul consulted the Lord:  Shall I pursue after the
Philistines?  wilt thou deliver them into the hands of Israel?  And he
answered him not that day.

14:38. And Saul said:  Bring hither all the corners of the people:  and
know, and see by whom this sin hath happened to day.

14:39. As the Lord liveth, who is the Saviour of Israel, if it was done
by Jonathan, my son, he shall surely die.  In this none of the people
gainsayed him.

14:40. And he said to all Israel:  Be you on one side and I, with
Jonathan, my son, will be on the other side.  And the people answered
Saul:  Do what seemeth good in thy eyes.

14:41. And Saul said to the Lord:  O Lord God of Israel, give a sign, by
which we may know, what the meaning is, that thou answerest not thy
servant to day:  If this iniquity be in me, or in my son Jonathan, give
a proof:  or if this iniquity be in thy people, give holiness.  And
Jonathan and Saul were taken, and the people escaped.

14:42. And Saul said:  (Cast lots between me, and Jonathan, my son.  And
Jonathan was taken.

Jonathan was taken. . .Though Jonathan was excused from sin, through
ignorance of the prohibition, yet God was pleased on this occasion to
let the lot fall upon him, to shew unto all the great obligation of
obedience to princes and parents.

14:43. And Saul said to Jonathan:  Tell me what thou hast done.  And
Jonathan told him, and said:  I did but taste a little honey with the
end of the rod, which was in my hand, and behold I must die.

14:44. And Saul said:  May God do so and so to me, and add still more:
for dying thou shalt die, O Jonathan.

14:45. And the people said to Saul:  Shall Jonathan then die, who hath
wrought this great salvation in Israel?  this must not be:  As the Lord
liveth, there shall not one hair of his head fall to the ground, for he
hath wrought with God this day.  So the people delivered Jonathan, that
he should not die.

14:46. And Saul went back, and did not pursue after the Philistines:
and the Philistines went to their own places.

14:47. And Saul having his kingdom established over Israel, fought
against all his enemies round about, against Moab, and against the
children of Ammon, and Edom, and the kings of Soba, and the
Philistines:  and whithersoever he turned himself, he overcame.

14:48. And gathering together an army, he defeated Amalec, and
delivered Israel from the hand of them that spoiled them.

14:49. And the sons of Saul, were Jonathan, and Jessui, and Melchisua:
and the names of his two daughters, the name of the firstborn was
Merob, and the name of the younger Michol.

14:50. And the name of Saul's wife was Achinoam, the daughter of
Achimaas; and the name of the captain of his army was Abner, the son of
Ner, the cousin german of Saul.

14:51. For Cis was the father of Saul, and Ner, the father of Abner,
was son of Abiel.

14:52. And there was a great war against the Philistines all the days
of Saul.  For whomsoever Saul saw to be a valiant man, and fit for war,
he took him to himself.



1 Kings Chapter 15


Saul is sent to destroy Amalec:  he spareth their king and the best of
their cattle:  for which disobedience he is cast off by the Lord.

15:1. And Samuel said to Saul:  The Lord sent me to anoint thee king
over his people Israel:  now therefore hearken thou unto the voice of
the Lord:

15:2. Thus saith the Lord of hosts:  I have reckoned up all that Amalec
hath done to Israel:  how he opposed them in the way when they came up
out of Egypt.

15:3. Now therefore go, and smite Amalec, and utterly destroy all that
he hath:  spare him not, nor covet anything that is his:  but slay both
man and woman, child and suckling, ox and sheep, camel and ass.

Child. . .The great Master of life and death (who cuts off one half of
all mankind whilst they are children) has been pleased sometimes to
ordain that children should be put to the sword, in detestation of the
crimes of their parents, and that they might not live to follow the
same wicked ways.  But without such ordinance of God it is not
allowable, in any wars, how just soever, to kill children.

15:4. So Saul commanded the people, and numbered them as lambs:  two
hundred thousand footmen, and ten thousand of the men of Juda.

15:5. And when Saul was come to the city of Amalec, he laid ambushes in
the torrent.

15:6. And Saul said to the Cinite:  Go, depart, and get ye down from
Amalec:  lest I destroy thee with him.  For thou hast shewn kindness to
all the children of Israel, when they came up out of Egypt.  And the
Cinite departed from the midst of Amalec.

15:7. And Saul smote Amalec from Hevila, until thou comest to Sur,
which is over against Egypt.

15:8. And he took Agag, the king of Amalec, alive:  but all the common
people he slew with the edge of the sword.

15:9. And Saul and the people spared Agag, and the best of the flocks
of sheep, and of the herds, and the garments and the rams, and all that
was beautiful, and would not destroy them:  but every thing that was
vile, and good for nothing, that they destroyed.

15:10. And the word of the Lord came to Samuel,

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 SauI 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 SAMUEL, OTHERWISE CALLED THE SECOND BOOK OF KINGS



This Book relates the transactions from the death of Saul until the end
of David's reign, being a history for the space of about forty-six
years.



2 Kings Chapter 1


David mourneth for the death of Saul and Jonathan:  he ordereth the man
to be slain who pretended he had killed Saul.

1:1. Now it came to pass, after Saul was dead, that David returned from
the slaughter of the Amalecites, and abode two days in Siceleg.

1:2. And on the third day, there appeared a man who came out of Saul's
camp, with his garments rent, and dust strewed on his head:  and when he
came to David, he fell upon his face, and adored.

1:3. And David said to him:  From whence comest thou?  And he said to
him:  I am fled out of the camp of Israel.

1:4. And David said unto him:  What is the matter that is come to pass?
tell me:  He said:  The people are fled from the battle, and many of the
people are fallen and dead:  moreover Saul and Jonathan his son are
slain.

1:5. And David said to the young man that told him:  How knowest thou
that Saul and Jonathan his son, are dead?

1:6. And the young man that told him, said:  I came by chance upon mount
Gelboe, and Saul leaned upon his spear:  and the chariots and horsemen
drew nigh unto him,

1:7. And looking behind him, and seeing me, he called me.  And I
answered, Here am I.

1:8. And he said to me:  Who art thou?  And I said to him:  I am an
Amalecite.

1:9. And he said to me:  Stand over me, and kill me:  for anguish is come
upon me, and as yet my whole life is in me.

1:10. So standing over him, I killed him:  for I knew that he could not
live after the fall:  and I took the diadem that was on his head, and
the bracelet that was on his arm, and have brought them hither to thee,
my lord.

I killed him. . .This story of the young Amalecite was not true, as may
easily be proved by comparing it with the last chapter of the foregoing
book.

1:11. Then David took hold of his garments and rent them, and likewise
all the men that were with him.

1:12. And they mourned, and wept, and fasted until evening for Saul,
and for Jonathan his son, and for the people of the Lord, and for the
house of Israel, because they were fallen by the sword.

1:13. And David said to the young man that told him:  Whence art thou?
He answered:  I am the son of a stranger of Amalec.

1:14. David said to him:  Why didst thou not fear to put out thy hand to
kill the Lord's anointed?

1:15. And David calling one of his servants, said:  Go near and fall
upon him.  And he struck him so that he died.

1:16. And David said to him:  Thy blood be upon thy own head:  for thy
own mouth hath spoken against thee, saying:  I have slain the Lord's
anointed.

1:17. And David made this kind of lamentation over Saul, and over
Jonathan his son.

1:18. (Also he commanded that they should teach the children of Juda
the use of the bow, as it is written in the book of the just.)  And he
said:  Consider, O Israel, for them that are dead, wounded on thy high
places.

1:19. The illustrious of Israel are slain upon thy mountains:  how are
the valiant fallen?

1:20. Tell it not in Geth, publish it not in the streets of Ascalon:
lest the daughters of the Philistines rejoice, lest the daughters of
the uncircumcised triumph.

1:21. Ye mountains of Gelboe, let neither dew, nor rain come upon you,
neither be they fields of firstfruits:  for there was cast away the
shield of the valiant, the shield of Saul as though he had not been
anointed with oil.

1:22. From the blood of the slain, from the fat of the valiant, the
arrow of Jonathan never turned back, and the sword of Saul did not
return empty.

1:23. Saul and Jonathan, lovely, and comely in their life, even in
death they were not divided:  they were swifter than eagles, stronger
than lions.

1:24. Ye daughters of Israel, weep over Saul, who clothed you with
scarlet in delights, who gave ornaments of gold for your attire.

1:25. How are the valiant fallen in battle?  Jonathan slain in the high
places?

1:26. I grieve for thee, my brother Jonathan:  exceeding beautiful, and
amiable to me above the love of women.  As the mother loveth her only
son, so did I love thee.

1:27. How are the valiant fallen, and the weapons of war perished?



2 Kings Chapter 2


David is received and anointed king of Juda.  Isboseth the son of Saul
reigneth over the rest of Israel.  A battle between Abner and Joab.

2:1. And after these things David consulted the Lord, saying:  Shall I
go up into one of the cities of Juda?  And the Lord said to him:  Go up.
And David said:  Whither shall I go up?  And he answered him:  Into
Hebron.

2:2. So David went up, and his two wives Achinoam the Jezrahelitess,
and Abigail the wife of Nabal of Carmel:

2:3. And the men also that were with him, David brought up every man
with his household:  and they abode in the towns of Hebron.

2:4. And the men of Juda came, and anointed David there, to be king
over the house of Juda.  And it was told David that the men of Jabes
Galaad had buried Saul.

2:5. David therefore sent messengers to the men of Jabes Galaad, and
said to them:  Blessed be you to the Lord, who have shewn this mercy to
your master Saul, and have buried him.

2:6. And now the Lord surely will render you mercy and truth, and I
also will requite you for this good turn, because you have done this
thing.

2:7. Let your hands be strengthened, and be ye men of valour:  for
although your master Saul be dead, yet the house of Juda hath anointed
me to be their king.

2:8. But Abner the son of Ner, general of Saul's army, took Isboseth
the son of Saul, and led him about through the camp,

2:9. And made him king over Galaad, and over Gessuri, and over
Jezrahel, and over Ephraim, and over Benjamin, and over all Israel.

2:10. Isboseth the son of Saul was forty years old when he began to
reign over Israel, and he reigned two years; and only the house of Juda
followed David.

He reigned two years. . .Viz., before he began visibly to decline:  but
in all he reigned seven years and six months; for so long David reigned
in Hebron.

2:11. And the number of the days that David abode, reigning in Hebron
over the house of Juda, was seven years and six months.

2:12. And Abner the son of Ner, and the servants of Isboseth the son of
Saul, went out from the camp to Gabaon.

2:13. And Joab the son of Sarvia, and the servants of David went out,
and met them by the pool of Gabaon.  And when they were come together,
they sat down over against one another:  the one on the one side of the
pool, and the other on the other side.

2:14. And Abner said to Joab:  Let the young men rise, and play before
us.  And Joab answered:  Let them rise.

2:15. Then there arose and went over twelve in number of Benjamin, of
the part of Isboseth the son of Saul, and twelve of the servants of
David.

2:16. And every one catching his fellow by the head, thrust his sword
into the side of his adversary, and they fell down together:  and the
name of the place was called:  The field of the valiant, in Gabaon.

2:17. And there was a very fierce battle that day:  and Abner was put to
flight, with the men of Israel, by the servants of David.

2:18. And there were the three sons of Sarvia there, Joab, and Abisai,
and Asael:  now Asael was a most swift runner, like one of the roes that
abide in the woods.

2:19. And Asael pursued after Abner, and turned not to the right hand
nor to the left from following Abner.

2:20. And Abner looked behind him, and said:  Art thou Asael?  And he
answered:  I am.

2:21. And Abner said to him:  Go to the right hand or to the left, and
lay hold on one of the young men and take thee his spoils.  But Asael
would not leave off following him close.

2:22. And again Abner said to Asael:  Go off, and do not follow me, lest
I be obliged to stab thee to the ground, and I shall not be able to
hold up my face to Joab thy brother.

2:23. But he refused to hearken to him, and would not turn aside:
wherefore Abner struck him with his spear with a back stroke in the
groin, and thrust him through, and he died upon the spot:  and all that
came to the place where Asael fell down and died stood still.

2:24. Now while Joab and Abisai pursued after Abner, the sun went down:
and they came as far as the hill of the aqueduct, that lieth over
against the valley by the way of the wilderness in Gabaon.

2:25. And the children of Benjamin gathered themselves together to
Abner:  and being joined in one body, they stood on the top of a hill.

2:26. And Abner cried out to Joab, and said:  Shall thy sword rage unto
utter destruction?  knowest thou not that it is dangerous to drive
people to despair?  how long dost thou defer to bid the people cease
from pursuing after their brethren?

2:27. And Joab said:  As the Lord liveth, if thou hadst spoke sooner,
even in the morning the people should have retired from pursuing after
their brethren.

2:28. Then Joab sounded the trumpet, and all the army stood still, and
did not pursue after Israel any farther, nor fight any more.

2:29. And Abner and his men walked all that night through the plains:
and they passed the Jordan, and having gone through all Beth-horon,
came to the camp.

2:30. And Joab returning, after he had left Abner, assembled all the
people:  and there were wanting of David's servants nineteen men, beside
Asael.

2:31. But the servants of David had killed of Benjamin, and of the men
that were with Abner, three hundred and sixty, who all died.

2:32. And they took Asael, and buried him in the sepulchre of his
father in Bethlehem and Joab, and the men that were with him, marched
all the night, and they came to Hebron at break of day.



2 Kings Chapter 3


David groweth daily stronger.  Abner cometh over to him:  he is
treacherously slain by Joab.

3:1. Now there was a long war between the house of Saul and the house
of David:  David prospering and growing always stronger and stronger,
but the house of Saul decaying daily.

There was a long war between the house of Saul, etc. . .Rather a strife
or emulation than a war with arms; it lasted five years and a half.

3:2. And sons were born to David in Hebron:  and his firstborn was 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 followed
him with some fear of being left in the lurch, till they saw such a
crime committed as seemed to make a reconciliation impossible.

16:22. So they spread a tent for Absalom on the top of the house, and
he went in to his father's concubines before all Israel.

16:23. Now the counsel of Achitophel, which he gave in those days, was
as if a man should consult God:  so was all the counsel of Achitophel,
both when he was with David, and when he was with Absalom.



2 Kings Chapter 17


Achitophel's counsel is defeated by Chusai:  who sendeth intelligence to
David.  Achitophel hangeth himself.

17:1. And Achitophel said to Absalom:  I will choose me twelve thousand
men, and I will arise and pursue after David this night.

17:2. And coming upon him (for he is now weary, and weak handed) I will
defeat him:  and when all the people is put to flight that is with him,
I will kill the king who will be left alone.

17:3. And I will bring back all the people, as if they were but one
man:  for thou seekest but one man:  and all the people shall be in
peace.

17:4. And his saying pleased Absalom, and all the ancients of Israel.

17:5. But Absalom said:  Call Chusai the Arachite, and let us hear what
he also saith.

17:6. And when Chusai was come to Absalom, Absalom said to him:
Achitophel hath spoken after this manner:  shall we do it or not?  what
counsel dost thou give?

17:7. And Chusai said to Absalom:  The counsel that Achitophel hath
given this time is not good.

17:8. And again Chusai said:  Thou knowest thy father, and the men that
are with him, that they are very valiant, and bitter in their mind, as
a bear raging in the wood when her whelps are taken away:  and thy
father is a warrior, and will not lodge with the people.

17:9. Perhaps he now lieth hid in pits, or in some other place where he
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.

1:1. 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


Solomon's palace, his house in the forest, and the queen's house:  the
work of the two pillars:  the sea (or laver) and other vessels.

7:1. And Solomon built his own house in thirteen years, and brought it
to perfection.

7:2. He built also the house of the forest of Libanus; the length of it
was a hundred cubits, and the breadth fifty cubits, and the height
thirty cubits:  and four galleries between pillars of cedar:  for he had
cut cedar trees into pillars.

7:3. And he covered the whole vault with boards of cedar, and it was
held up with five and forty pillars.  And one row had fifteen pillars,

7:4. Set one against another,

7:5. And looking one upon another, with equal space between the
pillars, and over the pillars were square beams in all things equal.

7:6. And he made a porch of pillars of fifty cubits in length, and
thirty cubits in breadth:  and another porch before the greater porch,
and pillars, and chapiters upon the pillars.

7:7. He made also the porch of the throne wherein is the seat of
judgment; and covered it with cedar wood from the floor to the top.

7:8. And in the midst of the porch, was a small house, where he sat in
judgment of the like work.  He made also a house for the daughter of
Pharao (whom Solomon had taken to wife) of the same work, as this
porch;

7:9. All of costly stones, which were sawed by a certain rule and
measure, both within and without:  from the foundation to the top of the
walls, and without, unto the great court.

7:10. And the foundations were of costly stones, great stones of ten
cubits or eight cubits.

7:11. And above there were costly stones of equal measure hewed, and in
like manner planks of cedar.

7:12. And the great court was made round with three rows of hewed
stones, and one row of planks of cedar, which also was observed in the
inner court of the house of the Lord, and in the porch of the house.

7:13. And king Solomon sent, and brought Hiram from Tyre,

7:14. The son of a widow woman, of the tribe of Nephthali, whose father
was a Tyrian, an artificer in brass, and full of wisdom, and
understanding, and skill to work all work in brass.  And when he was
come to king Solomon, he wrought all his work.

7:15. And he cast two pillars in brass, each pillar was eighteen cubits
high:  and a line of twelve cubits compassed both the pillars.

7:16. He made also two chapiters of molten brass, to be set upon the
tops of the pillars:  the height of one chapiter was five cubits, and
the height of the other chapiter was five cubits:

7:17. And a kind of network, and chain work wreathed together with
wonderful art.  Both the chapiters of the pillars were cast:  seven rows
of nets were on one chapiter, and seven nets on the other chapiter.

7:18. And he made the pillars, and two rows round about each network to
cover the chapiters, that were upon the top, with pomegranates:  and in
like manner did he to the other chapiter.

7:19. And the chapiters that were upon the top of the pillars, were of
lily work, in the porch of four cubits.

7:20. And again there were other chapiters on the top of the pillars
above, according to the measure of the pillar over against the network:
and of pomegranates there were two hundred, in rows round about the
other chapiter.

7:21. And he set up the two pillars in the porch of the temple:  and
when he had set up the pillar on the right hand, he called the name
thereof Jachin:  in like manner he set up the second pillar, and called
the name thereof Booz.

Jachin. . .That is, firmly established.--Ibid.  Booz. . .That is, in its
strength.  By recording these names in holy writ, the spirit of God
would have us understand the invincible firmness and strength of the
pillars on which the true temple of God, which is the church, is
established.

7:22. And upon the tops of the pillars he made lily work:  so the work
of the pillars was finished.

7:23. He made also a molten sea, of ten cubits, from brim to brim,
round all about; the height of it was five cubits, and a line of thirty
cubits compassed it round about.

7:24. And a graven work, under the brim of it, compassed it for ten
cubits going about the sea:  there were two rows cast of chamfered
sculptures.

7:25. And it stood upon twelve oxen, of which three looked towards the
north, and three towards the west, and three towards the south, and
three towards the east:  and the sea was above upon them, and their
hinder parts were all hid within.

7:26. And the laver was a hand breadth thick:  and the brim thereof was
like the brim of a cup, or the leaf of a crisped lily:  it contained two
thousand bates.

Two thousand bates. . .That is, about ten thousand gallons.  This was the
quantity of water which was usually put into it:  but it was capable, if
brimful, of holding three thousand.  See 2 Par. 4.5.

7:27. And he made ten bases of brass, every base was four cubits in
length, and four cubits in breadth, and three cubits high.

7:28. And the work itself of the bases, was intergraven:  and there were
gravings between the joinings.

7:29. And between the little crowns and the ledges, were lions, and
oxen, and cherubims; and in the joinings likewise above:  and under the
lions and oxen, as it were bands of brass hanging down.

7:30. And every base had four wheels, and axletrees of brass:  and at
the four sides were undersetters, under the laver molten, looking one
against another.

7:31. The mouth also of the laver within, was in the top of the
chapiter:  and that which appeared without, was of one cubit all round,
and together it was one cubit and a half:  and in the corners of the
pillars were divers engravings:  and the spaces between the pillars were
square, not round.

7:32. And the four wheels, which were at the four corners of the base,
were joined one to another under the base:  the height of a wheel was a
cubit and a half.

7:33. And they were such wheels as are used to be made in a chariot:
and their axletrees, and spokes, and strakes, and naves, were all cast.

7:34. And the four undersetters, that were at every corner of each
base, were of the base itself, cast and joined together.

7:35. And on the top of the base, there was a round compass of half a
cubit, so wrought that the laver might be set thereon, having its
gravings, and divers sculptures of itself.

7:36. He engraved also in those plates, which were of brass, and in the
corners, cherubims, and lions, and palm trees, in likeness of a man
standing, so that they seemed not to be engraven, but added round
about.

7:37. After this manner, he made ten bases, of one casting and measure,
and the like graving.

7:38. He made also ten lavers of brass:  one laver contained four 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?

17:11. 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 EIias 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 llve.

20:2. And he turned his face to the wall, and prayed to the Lord,
saying:

20:3. I beseech thee, O Lord, remember how I have walked before thee in
truth, and with a perfect heart, and have done that which is pleasing
before thee.  And Ezechias wept with much weeping.

20:4. And before Isaias was gone out of the middle of the court, the
word of the Lord came to him, saying:

20:5. Go back, and tell Ezechias, the captain of my people:  Thus saith
the Lord, the God of David, thy father:  I have heard thy prayer, and I
have seen thy tears:  and behold I have healed thee:  on the third day
thou shalt go up to the temple of the Lord.

20:6. And I will add to thy days fifteen years:  and I will deliver thee
and this city out of the hand of the king of the Assyrians, and I will
protect this city for my own sake, and for David, my servant's sake.

20:7. And Isaias said:  Bring me a lump of figs.  And when they had
brought it, and laid it upon his boil, he was healed.

20:8. And Ezechias had said to Isaias:  What shall be the sign that the
Lord will heal me, and that I will go up to the temple of the Lord the
third day?

20:9. And Isaias said to him:  This shall be the sign from the Lord,
that the Lord will do the word which he hath spoken:  Wilt thou that the
shadow go forward ten lines, or that it go back so many degrees?

20:10. And Ezechias said:  It is an easy matter for the shadow to go
forward ten lines:  and I do not desire that this be done, but let it
return back ten degrees.

20:11. And Isaias, the prophet, called upon the Lord, and he brought
the shadow ten degrees backwards by the lines, by which it had already
gone down on the dial of Achaz.

20:12. At that time Berodach Baladan, the son of Baladan, king of the
Babylonians, sent letters and presents to Ezechias:  for he had heard
that Ezechias had been sick.

20:13. And Ezechias rejoiced at their coming, and he shewed them the
house of his aromatical spices, and the gold, and the silver, and
divers precious odours, and ointments, and the house of his vessels,
and all that he had in his treasures.  There was nothing in his house,
nor in all his dominions, that Ezechias shewed them not.

20:14. And Isaias, the prophet, came to king Ezechias, and said to him:
What said these men?  or from whence came they to thee?  And Ezechias
said to him:  From a far country, they came to me out of Babylon.

20:15. And he said:  What did they see in thy house?  Ezechias said:
They saw all the things that are in my house:  There is nothing among my
treasures that I have not shewed them.

20:16. And Isaias said to Ezechias:  Hear the word of the Lord.

20:17. Behold the days shall come, that all that is in thy house, and
that thy fathers have laid up in store unto this day, shall be carried
into Babylon:  nothing shall be left, saith the Lord.

20:18. And of thy sons also that shall issue from thee, whom thou shalt
beget, they shall take away, and they shall be eunuchs in the palace of
the king of Babylon.

20:19. Ezechias said to Isaias:  The word of the Lord, which thou hast
spoken, is good:  let peace and truth be in my days.

20:20. And the rest of the acts of Ezechias, and all his might, and how
he made a pool, and a conduit, and brought waters into the city, are
they not written in the book of the words of the days of the kings of
Juda?

20:21. And Ezechias slept with his fathers, and Manasses, his son
reigned in his stead.



4 Kings Chapter 21


The wickedness of Manasses:  God's threats by his prophets.  His wicked
son Amon succeedeth him, and is slain by his servants.

21:1. Manasses was twelve years old when he began to reign, and he
reigned five and fifty years in Jerusalem:  the name of his mother was
Haphsiba.

21:2. And he did evil in the sight of the Lord, according to the idols
of the nations, which the Lord destroyed from before the face of the
children of Israel.

21:3. And he turned, and built up the high places, which Ezechias, his
father, had destroyed:  and he set up altars to Baal, and made groves,
as Achab, the king of Israel, had done:  and he adored all the host of
heaven, and served them.

21:4. And he built altars in the house of the Lord, of which the Lord
said:  In Jerusalem I will put my name.

21:5. And he built altars for all the host of heaven, in the two courts
of the temple of the Lord.

21:6. And he made his son pass through fire:  and he used divinations,
and observed omens, and appointed pythons, and multiplied soothsayers,
to do evil before the Lord, and to provoke him.

Pythons. . .That is, diviners by spirits.

21:7. He set also an idol of the grove, which he had made, in the
temple of the Lord:  concerning which the Lord said to David, and to
Solomon his son:  In this temple, and in Jerusalem, which I have chosen
out of all the tribes of Israel, I will put my name for ever.

21:8. And I will no more make the feet of Israel to be moved out of the
land, which I gave to their fathers:  only if they will observe to do
all that I have commanded them, according to the law which my servant
Moses commanded them.

21:9. But they hearkened not:  but were seduced by Manasses, to do evil
more than the nations which the Lord destroyed before the children of
Israel.

21:10. And the Lord spoke in the hand of his servants, the prophets,
saying:

21:11. Because Manasses, king of Juda, hath done these most wicked
abominations, beyond all that the Amorrhites did before him, and hath
made Juda also to sin with his filthy doings:

21:12. Therefore thus saith the Lord, the God of Israel:  Behold, I will
bring on evils upon Jerusalem and Juda:  that whosoever shall hear of
them, both his ears shall tingle.

21:13. And I will stretch over Jerusalem the line of Samaria, and the
weight of the house of Achab:  and I will efface Jerusalem, as writings
tables are wont to be effaced, and I will erase and turn it, and draw
the pencil often over the face thereof.

21:14. And I will leave the remnants of my inheritance, and will
deliver them into the hands of their enemies:  and they shall become a
prey, and a spoil to all their enemies.

21:15. Because they have done evil before me, and have continued to
provoke me, from the day that their fathers came out of Egypt, even
unto this day.

21:16. Moreover, Manasses shed also very much innocent blood, till he
filled Jerusalem up to the mouth:  besides his sins, wherewith he made
Juda to sin, to do evil before the Lord.

21:17. Now the rest of the acts of Manasses, and all that he did, and
his sin, which he sinned, are they not written in the book of the words
of the days of the kings of Juda?

21:18. And Manasses slept with his fathers, and was buried in the
garden of his own house, in the garden of Oza:  and Amon, his son,
reigned in his stead.

21:19. Two and twenty years old was Amon when he began to reign, and he
reigned two years in Jerusalem:  the name of his mother was Messalemeth,
the daughter of Harus, of Jeteba.

21:20. And he did evil in the sight of the Lord, as Manasses, his
father, had done.

21:21. And he walked in all the way in which his father had walked:  and
he served the abominations which his father had served, and he adored
them.

21:22. And forsook the Lord, the God of his fathers, and walked not in
the way of the Lord.

21:23. And his servants plotted against him, and slew the king in his
own house.

21:24. But the people of the land slew all them that had conspired
against king Amon:  and made Josias, his son, their king in his stead.

21:25. But the rest of the acts of Amon, which he did, are they not
written in the book of the words of the days of the kings of Juda?

21:26. And they buried him in his sepulchre, in the garden of Oza:  and
his son, Josias, reigned in his stead.



4 Kings Chapter 22


Josias repaireth the temple.  The book of the law is found, upon which
they consult the Lord, and are told that great evils shall fall upon
them, but not in the time of Josias.

22:1. Josias was eight years old when he began to reign:  he reigned one
and thirty years in Jerusalem:  the name of his mother was Idida, the
daughter of Hadaia, of Besecath.

22:2. And he did that which was right in the sight of the Lord, and
walked in all the ways of David, his father:  he turned not aside to the
right hand, or to the left.

22:3. And in the eighteenth year of king Josias, the king sent Saphan,
the son of Assia, the son of Messulam, the scribe of the temple of the
Lord, saying to him:

22:4. Go to Helcias, the high priest, that the money may be put
together which is brought into the temple of the Lord, which the
doorkeepers of the temple have gathered of the people.

22:5. And let it be given to the workmen by the overseers of the house
of the Lord:  and let them distribute it to those that work in the
temple of the Lord, to repair the temple:

22:6. That is, to carpenters and masons, and to such as mend breaches:
and that timber may be bought, and stones out of the quarries, to
repair the temple of the Lord.

22:7. But let there be no reckoning made with them of the money which
they receive, but let them have it in their power, and in their trust.

22:8. And Helcias, the high priest, said to Saphan, the scribe:  I have
found the book of the law in the house of the Lord:  and Helcias gave
the book to Saphan, and he read it.

The book of the law. . .That is, Deuteronomy.

22:9. And Saphan, the scribe, came to the king, and brought him word
again concerning that which he had commanded, and said:  Thy servants
have gathered together the money that was found in the house of the
Lord:  and they have given it to be distributed to the workmen, by the
overseers of the works of the temple of the Lord.

22:10. And Saphan, the scribe, told the king, saying:  Helcias, the
priest, hath delivered to me a book.  And when Saphan had read it before
the king,

22:11. And the king had heard the words of the law of the Lord, he rent
his garments.

22:12. And he commanded Helcias, the priest, and Ahicam, the son of
Saphan, and Achobor, the son of Micha, and Saphan, the scribe, and
Asaia, the king's servant, saying:

22:13. Go and consult the Lord for me, and for the people, and for all
Juda, concerning the words of this book which is found:  for the great
wrath of the Lord is kindled against us, because our fathers have not
hearkened to the words of this book, to do all that is written for us.

22:14. So Helcias, the priest, and Ahicam, and Achobor, and Sapham, and
Asaia, went to Holda, the prophetess, the wife of Sellum, the son of
Thecua, the son of Araas, keeper of the wardrobe, who dwelt in
Jerusalem, in the Second:  and they spoke to her.

The Second. . .A street, or part of the city, so called; in Hebrew,
Massem.

22:15. And she said to them:  Thus saith the Lord, the God of Israel:
Tell the man that sent you to me:

22:16. Thus saith the Lord:  Behold, I will bring evils upon this place,
and upon the inhabitants thereof, all the words of the law which the
king of Juda hath read:

22:17. Because they have forsaken me, and have sacrificed to strange
gods, provoking me by all the works of their hands:  therefore my
indignation shall be kindled against this place, and shall not be
quenched.

22:18. But to the king of Juda, who sent you to consult the Lord, thus
shall you say:  Thus saith the Lord, the God of Israel:  for as much as
thou hast heard the words of the book,

22:19. And thy heart hath been moved to fear, and thou hast humbled
thyself before the Lord, hearing the words against this place, and the
inhabitants thereof, to wit, that they should become a wonder and a
curse:  and thou hast rent thy garments, and wept before me; I also have
heard thee; saith the Lord.

22:20. Therefore I will gather thee to thy fathers, and thou shalt be
gathered to thy sepulchre in peace; that thy eyes may not see all the
evils which I will bring upon this place.



4 Kings Chapter 23


Josias readeth the law before all the people.  They promise to observe
it.  He abolisheth all idolatry, celebrateth the phase:  is slain in
battle by the king of Egypt.  The short reign of Joachaz, in whose place
Joakim is made king.

23:1. And they brought the king word again what she had said.  And he
sent:  and all the ancients of Juda and Jerusalem were assembled to him.

23:2. And the king went up to the temple of the Lord, and all the men
of Juda, and all the inhabitants of Jerusalem with him, the priests,
and the prophets, and all the people, both little and great:  and in the
hearing of them all he read all the words of the book of the covenant,
which was found in the house of the Lord.

23:3. And the king stood upon the step:  and he made a covenant with the
Lord, to walk after the Lord, and to keep his commandments, and his
testimonies, and his ceremonies, with all their heart, and with all
their soul, and to perform the words of this covenant, which were
written in that book:  and the people agreed to the covenant.

The king stood upon the step. . .That is, his tribune, or tribunal, a
more eminent place, from whence he might be seen and heard by the
people.

23:4. And the king commanded Helcias, the high priest, and the priests
of the second order, and the doorkeepers, to cast out of the temple of
the Lord all the vessels that had been made for Baal, and for the
grove, and for all the host of heaven:  and he burnt them without
Jerusalem, in the valley of Cedron, and he carried the ashes of them to
Bethel.

23:5. And he destroyed the soothsayers, whom the kings of Juda had
appointed to sacrifice in the high places in the cities of Juda, and
round about Jerusalem:  them also that burnt incense to Baal, and to the
sun, and to the moon, and to the twelve signs, and to all the host of
heaven.

23:6. And he caused the grove to be carried out from the house of the
Lord, without Jerusalem, to the valley of Cedron, and he burnt it
there, and reduced it to dust, and cast the dust upon the graves of the
common people.

23:7. He destroyed also the pavilions of the effeminate, which were in
the house of the Lord, for which the women wove as it were little
dwellings for the grove.

23:8. And he gathered together all the priests out of the cities of
Juda:  and he defiled the high places, where the priests offered
sacrifice, from Gabaa to Bersabee:  and he broke down the altars of the
gates that were in the entering in of the gate of Josue, governor of
the city, which was on the left hand of the gate of the city.

23:9. However, the priests of the high places came not up to the altar
of the Lord, in Jerusalem:  but only eat of the unleavened bread among
their brethren.

23:10. And he defiled Topheth, which is in the valley of the son of
Ennom:  that no man should consecrate there his son, or his daughter,
through fire, to Moloch.

23:11. And he took away the horses which the kings of Juda had given to
the sun, at the entering in of the temple of the Lord, near the chamber
of Nathanmelech the eunuch, who was in Pharurim:  and he burnt the
chariots of the sun with fire.

23:12. And the altars that were upon the top of the upper chamber of
Achaz, which the kings of Juda had made, and the altars which Manasses
had made in the two courts of the temple of the Lord, the king broke
down:  and he ran from thence, and cast the ashes of them into the
torrent Cedron.

23:13. The high places also that were at Jerusalem, on the right side
of the Mount of Offence, which Solomon, king of Israel, had built to
Astaroth, the idol of the Sidonians, and to Chamos, the scandal of
Moab, and to Melchom, the abomination of the children of Ammon, the
king defiled.

23:14. And he broke in pieces the statues, and cut down the groves:  and
he filled their places with the bones of dead men.

23:15. Moreover, the altar also that was at Bethel, and the high place,
which Jeroboam, the son of Nabat, who made Israel to sin, had made:
both the altar, and the high place, he broke down and burnt, and
reduced to powder, and burnt the grove.

23:16. And as Josias turned himself, he saw there the sepulchres that
were in the mount:  and he sent and took the bones out of the
sepulchres, and burnt them upon the altar, and defiled it according to
the word of the Lord, which the man of God spoke, who had foretold
these things.

23:17. And he said:  What is that monument which I see?  And the men of
that city answered:  It is the sepulchre of the man of God, who came
from Juda, and foretold these things which thou hast done upon the
altar of Bethel.

23:18. And he said:  Let him alone, let no man move his bones.  So his
bones were left untouched with the bones of the prophet, that came out
of Samaria.

23:19. Moreover all the temples of the high places which were in the
cities of Samaria, which the kings of Israel had made to provoke the
Lord, Josias took away:  and he did to them according to all the acts
that he had done in Bethel.

23:20. And he slew all the priests of the high places, that were there,
upon the altars; and he burnt men's bones upon them:  and returned to
Jerusalem.

23:21. And he commanded all the people, saying:  Keep the Phase to the
Lord your God, according as it is written in the book of this covenant.

23:22. Now there was no such a Phase kept from the days of the judges,
who judged Israel, nor in all the days of the kings of Israel, and of
the kings of Juda,

23:23. As was this Phase, that was kept to the Lord in Jerusalem, in
the eighteenth year of king Josias.

23:24. Moreover the diviners by spirits, and soothsayers, and the
figures of idols, and the uncleannesses, and the abominations, that had
been in the land of Juda and Jerusalem, Josias took away:  that he might
perform the words of the law, that were written in the book, which
Helcias the priest had found in the temple of the Lord.

23:25. There was no king before him like unto him, that returned to the
Lord with all his heart, and with all his soul, and with all his
strength, according to all the law of Moses:  neither after him did
there arise any like unto him.

23:26. But yet the Lord turned not away from the wrath of his great
indignation, wherewith his anger was kindled against Juda:  because of
the provocations, wherewith Manasses had provoked him.

23:27. And the Lord said:  I will remove Juda also from before my face,
as I have removed Israel:  and I will cast off this city Jerusalem,
which I chose, and the house, of which I said:  My name shall be there.

23:28. Now the rest of the acts of Josias, and all that he did, are
they not written in the book of the words of the days of the kings of
Juda?

23:29. In his days Pharao Nechao, king of Egypt, went up against the
king of Assyria to the river Euphrates:  and king Josias went to meet
him:  and was slain at Mageddo, when he had seen him.

23:30. And his servants carried him dead from Mageddo:  and they brought
him to Jerusalem, and buried him in his own sepulchre.  And the people
of the land took Joachaz, the son of Josias:  and they anointed him, and
made him king in his father's stead.

23:31. Joachaz was three and twenty years old when he began to reign,
and he reigned three months in Jerusalem:  the name of his mother was
Amital, the daughter of Jeremias, of Lobna.

23:32. And he did evil before the Lord, according to all that his
fathers had done.

23:33. And Pharao Nechao bound him at Rebla, which is in the land of
Emath, that he should not reign in Jerusalem:  and he set a fine upon
the land, of a hundred talents of silver, and a talent of gold.

23:34. And Pharao Nechao made Eliacim, the son of Josias, king in the
room of Josias his father:  and turned his name to Joakim.  And he took
Joachaz away and carried him into Egypt, and he died there.

23:35. And Joakim gave the silver and the gold to Pharao, after he had
taxed the land for every man, to contribute according to the
commandment of Pharao:  and he exacted both the silver and the gold of
the people of the land, of every man according to his ability:  to give
to Pharao Nechao.

23:36. Joakim was five and twenty years old when he began to reign:  and
he reigned eleven years in Jerusalem:  the name of his mother was
Zebida, the daughter of Phadaia, of Ruma.

23:37. And he did evil before the Lord according to all that his
fathers had done.



4 Kings Chapter 24


The reign of Joakim, Joachin, and Sedecias.

24:1. In his days Nabuchodonosor, king of Babylon came up, and Joakim
became his servant three years:  then again he rebelled against him.

24:2. And the Lord sent against him the rovers of the Chaldees, and the
rovers of Syria, and the rovers of Moab, and the rovers of the children
of Ammon:  and he sent them against Juda, to destroy it, according to
the word of the Lord, which he had spoken by his servants, the
prophets.

The Lord sent against him the rovers. . .Latrunculos.  Bands or parties
of men, who pillaged and plundered wherever they came.

24:3. And this came by the word of the Lord against Juda, to remove
them from before him for all the sins of Manasses which he did;

24:4. And for the innocent blood that he shed, filling Jerusalem with
innocent blood:  and therefore the Lord would not be appeased.

24:5. But the rest of the acts of Joakim, and all that he did, are they
not written in the book of the words of the days of the kings of Juda?
And Joakim slept with his fathers:

24:6. And Joachin, his son, reigned in his stead.

24:7. And the king of Egypt came not again any more out of his own
country:  for the king of Babylon had taken all that had belonged to the
king of Egypt, from the river of Egypt, unto the river Euphrates.

24:8. Joachin was eighteen years old when he began to reign, and he
reigned three months in Jerusalem:  the name of his mother was Nohesta,
the daughter of Elnathan, of Jerusalem.

24:9. And he did evil before the Lord, according to all that his father
had done.

24:10. At that time the servants of Nabuchodonosor, king of Babylon,
came up against Jerusalem, and the city was surrounded with their
forts.

24:11. And Nabuchodonosor, king of Babylon, came to the city, with his
servants, to assault it.

24:12. And Joachin, king of Juda, went out to the king of Babylon, he,
and his mother, and his servants, and his nobles, and his eunuchs:  and
the king of Babylon received him in the eighth year of his reign.

24:13. And he brought out from thence all the treasures of the house of
the Lord, and the treasures of the king's house:  and he cut in pieces
all the vessels of gold which Solomon, king of Israel, had made in the
temple of the Lord, according to the word of the Lord.

24:14. And he carried away all Jerusalem, and all the princes, and all
the valiant men of the army, to the number of ten thousand, into
captivity:  and every artificer and smith:  and none were left, but the
poor sort of the people of the land.

24:15. And he carried away Joachin into Babylon, and the king's mother,
and the king's wives, and his eunuchs:  and the judges of the land he
carried into captivity, from Jerusalem, into Babylon.

24:16. And all the strong men, seven thousand, and the artificers, and
the smiths, a thousand, all that were valiant men, and fit for war:  and
the king of Babylon led them captives into Babylon.

24:17. And he appointed Matthanias, his uncle, in his stead:  and called
his name Sedecias.

24:18. Sedecias was one and twenty years old when he began to reign,
and he reigned eleven years in Jerusalem:  the name of his mother was
Amital, the daughter of Jeremias, of Lobna.

24:19. And he did evil before the Lord, according to all that Joakim
had done.

24:20. For the Lord was angry against Jerusalem and against Juda, till
he cast them out from his face:  and Sedecias revolted from the king of
Babylon.



4 Kings Chapter 25


Jerusalem is besieged and taken by Nabuchodonosor:  Sedecias is taken:
the city and temple are destroyed.  Godolias, who is left governor, is
slain.  Joachin is exalted by Evilmerodach.

25:1. And it came to pass in the ninth year of his reign, in the tenth
month, the tenth day of the month, that Nabuchodonosor, king of
Babylon, came, he and all his army, against Jerusalem:  and they
surrounded it:  and raised works round about it.

25:2. And the city was shut up and besieged till the eleventh year of
king Sedecias,

25:3. The ninth day of the month:  and a famine prevailed in the city,
and there was no bread for the people of the land.

25:4. And a breach was made into the city:  and all the men of war fled
in the night between the two walls by the king's garden (now the
Chaldees besieged the city round about), and Sedecias fled by the way
that leadeth to the plains of the wilderness.

25:5. And the army of the Chaldees pursued after the king, and overtook
him in the plains of Jericho:  and all the warriors that were with him
were scattered, and left him:

25:6. So they took the king, and brought him to the king of Babylon, to
Reblatha, and he gave judgment upon him.

25:7. And he slew the sons of Sedecias before his face, and he put out
his eyes, and bound him with chains, and brought him to Babylon.

25:8. In the fifth month, the seventh day of the month, the same is the
nineteenth year of the king of Babylon, came Nabuzardan, commander of
the army, a servant of the king of Babylon, into Jerusalem.

25:9. And he burnt the house of the Lord, and the king's house, and the
houses of Jerusalem, and every great house he burnt with fire.

25:10. And all the army of the Chaldees, which was with the commander
of the troops, broke down the walls of Jerusalem round about.

25:11. And Nabuzardan, the commander of the army, carried away the rest
of the people, that remained in the city, and the fugitives, that had
gone over to the king of Babylon, and the remnant of the common people.

25:12. But of the poor of the land he left some dressers of vines and
husbandmen.

25:13. And the pillars of brass that were in the temple of the Lord,
and the bases, and the sea of brass, which was in the house of the
Lord, the Chaldees broke in pieces, and carried all the brass of them
to Babylon.

25:14. They took away also the pots of brass, and the mazers, and the
forks, and the cups, and the mortars, and all the vessels of brass,
with which they ministered.

25:15. Moreover also the censers, and the bowls, such as were of gold
in gold:  and such as were of silver in silver, the general of the army
took away.

25:16. That is, two pillars, one sea, and the bases which Solomon had
made in the temple of the Lord:  the brass of all these vessels was
without weight.

25:17. One pillar was eighteen cubits high:  and the chapiter of brass,
which was upon it, was three cubits high:  and the network, and the
pomegranates that were upon the chapiter of the pillar, were all of
brass:  and the second pillar had the like adorning.

25:18. And the general of the army took Seraias, the chief priest, and
Sophonias, the second priest, and three doorkeepers:

25:19. And out of the city one eunuch, who was captain over the men of
war:  and five men of them who had stood before the king, whom he found
in the city, and Sopher, the captain of the army, who exercised the
young soldiers of the people of the land:  and threescore men of the
common people, who were found in the city:

25:20. These Nabuzardan, the general of the army, took away, and
carried them to the king of Babylon, to Reblatha.

25:21. And the king of Babylon smote them, and slew them at Reblatha,
in the land of Emath:  so Juda was carried away out of their land.

25:22. But over the people that remained in the land of Juda, which
Nabuchodonosor, king of Babylon, had left, he gave the government to
Godolias, the son of Ahicam, the son of Saphan.

25:23. And when all the captains of the soldiers had heard this, they
and the men that were with them, to wit, that the king of Babylon had
made Godolias governor they came to Godolias to Maspha, Ismael, the son
of Nathanias, and Johanan, the son of Caree, and Saraia, the son of
Thanehumeth, the Netophathite, and Jezonias, the son of Maachathi, they
and their men.

25:24. And Godolias swore to them and to their men, saying:  Be not
afraid to serve the Chaldees:  stay in the land, and serve the king of
Babylon, and it shall be well with you.

25:25. But it came to pass in the seventh month, that Ismael, the son
of Nathanias, the son of Elisama, of the seed royal came, and ten men
with him, and smote Godolias; so that he died:  and also the Jews and
the Chaldees that were with him in Maspha.

25:26. And all the people, both little and great, and the captains of
the soldiers, rising up, went to Egypt, fearing the Chaldees.

25:27. And it came to pass in the seven and thirtieth year of the
captivity of Joachin, king of Juda, in the twelfth month, the seven and
twentieth day of the month:  Evilmerodach, king of Babylon, in the year
that he began to reign, lifted up the head of Joachin, king of Juda,
out of prison.

25:28. And he spoke kindly to him:  and he set his throne above the
throne of the kings that were with him in Babylon.

25:29. And he changed his garments which he had in prison, and he ate
bread always before him, all the days of his life.

25:30. And he appointed him a continual allowance, which was also given
him by the king, day by day, all the days of his life.



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 out 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 tome.  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 cannot 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, it 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.  I 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:  an 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 he 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 menservants, and womenservants, of whom there were
seven thousand three hundred and thirty-seven:  and among them singing
men, and singing women two hundred.

2:66. Their horses seven hundred thirty-six, their mules two hundred
forty-five,

2:67. Their camels four hundred thirty-five, their asses six thousand
seven hundred and twenty.

2:68. And some of the chief of the fathers, when they came to the
temple of the Lord, which is in Jerusalem, offered freely to the house
of the Lord to build it in its place.

2:69. According to their ability, they gave towards the expenses of the
work, sixty-one thousand solids of gold, five thousand pounds of
silver, and a hundred garments for the priests.

2:70. So the priests and the Levites, and some of the people, and the
singing men, and the porters, and the Nathinites dwelt in their cities,
and all Israel in their cities.



1 Esdras Chapter 3


An altar is built for sacrifice, the feast of tabernacles is solemnly
celebrated, and the foundations of the temple are laid.

3:1. And now the seventh month was come, and the children of Israel
were in their cities:  and the people gathered themselves together as
one man to Jerusalem.

3:2. And Josue the son of Josedec rose up, and his brethren the
priests, and Zorobabel the son of Salathiel, and his brethren, and they
built the altar of the God of Israel that they might offer holocausts
upon it, as it is written in the law of Moses the man of God.

Josue. . .or Jesus (Jeshua) the son of Josedec; he was the high priest,
at that time.

3:3. And they set the altar of God upon its bases, while the people of
the lands round about put them in fear, and they offered upon it a
holocaust to the Lord morning and evening.

3:4. And they kept the feast of tabernacles, as it is written, and
offered the holocaust every day orderly according to the commandment,
the duty of the day in its day.

3:5. And afterwards the continual holocaust, both on the new moons, and
on all the solemnities of the Lord, that were consecrated, and on all
in which a freewill offering was made to the Lord.

3:6. From the first day of the seventh month they began to offer
holocausts to the Lord:  but the temple of God was not yet founded.

3:7. And they gave money to hewers of stones and to masons:  and meat
and drink, and oil to the Sidonians and Tyrians, to bring cedar trees
from Libanus to the sea of Joppe, according to the orders which Cyrus
king of the Persians had given them.

3:8. And in the second year of their coming to the temple of God in
Jerusalem, the second month, Zorobabel the son of Salathiel, and Josue
the son of Josedec, and the rest of their brethren the priests, and the
Levites, and all that were come from the captivity to Jerusalem began,
and they appointed Levites from twenty years old and upward, to hasten
forward the work of the Lord.

3:9. Then Josue and his sons and his brethren, Cedmihel, and his sons,
and the children of Juda, as one man, stood to hasten them that did the
work in the temple of God:  the sons of Henadad, and their sons, and
their brethren the Levites.

3:10. And when the masons laid the foundations of the temple of the
Lord, the priests stood in their ornaments with trumpets:  and the
Levites the sons of Asaph with cymbals, to praise God by the hands of
David king of Israel.

3:11. And they sung together hymns, and praise to the Lord:  because he
is good, for his mercy endureth for ever towards Israel.  And all the
people shouted with a great shout, praising the Lord, because the
foundations of the temple of the Lord were laid.

3:12. But many of the priests and the Levites, and the chief of the
fathers and the ancients that had seen the former temple; when they had
the foundation of this temple before their eyes, wept with a loud
voice:  and many shouting for joy, lifted up their voice.

3:13. So that one could not distinguish the voice of the shout of joy,
from the noise of the weeping of the people:  for one with another the
people shouted with a loud shout, and the voice was heard afar off.



1 Esdras Chapter 4


The Samaritans by their letter to the king hinder the building.

4:1. Now the enemies of Juda and Benjamin heard that the children of
the captivity were building a temple to the Lord the God of Israel.

4:2. And they came to Zorobabel, and the chief of the fathers, and said
to them:  Let us build with you, for we seek your God as ye do:  behold
we have sacrificed to him, since the days of Asor Haddan king of
Assyria, who brought us hither.

4:3. But Zorobabel, and Josue, and the rest of the chief of the fathers
of Israel said to them:  You have nothing to do with us to build a house
to our God, but we ourselves alone will build to the Lord our God, as
Cyrus king of the Persians hath commanded us.

4:4. Then the people of the land hindered the hands of the people of
Juda, and troubled them in building.

4:5. And they hired counsellors against them, to frustrate their design
all the days of Cyrus king of Persia, even until the reign of Darius
king of the Persians.

4:6. And in the reign of Assuerus, in the beginning of his reign, they
wrote an accusation against the inhabitants of Juda and Jerusalem.

Assuerus. . .Otherwise called Cambyses the son and successor of Cyrus.
He is also in the following verse named Artaxerxes, a name common to
almost all the kings of Persia.

4:7. And in the days of Artaxerxes, Beselam, Mithridates, and Thabeel,
and the rest that were in the council wrote to Artaxerxes king of the
Persians:  and the letter of accusation was written in Syrian, and was
read in the Syrian tongue.

4:8. Reum Beelteem, and Samsai the scribe wrote a letter from Jerusalem
to king Artaxerxes, in this manner:

4:9. Reum Beelteem, and Samsai the scribe and the rest of their
counsellors, the Dinites, and the Apharsathacites, the Therphalites,
the Apharsites, the Erchuites, the Babylonians, the Susanechites, the
Dievites, and the Elamites,

4:10. And the rest of the nations, whom the great and glorious
Asenaphar brought over:  and made to dwell in the cities of Samaria and
in the rest of the countries of this side of the river in peace.

4:11. (This is the copy of the letter, which they sent to him:) To
Artaxerxes the king, thy servants, the men that are on this side of the
river, send greeting.

4:12. Be it known to the king, that the Jews, who came up from thee to
us, are come to Jerusalem a rebellious and wicked city, which they are
building, setting up the ramparts thereof and repairing the walls.

4:13. And now be it known to the king, that if this city be built up,
and the walls thereof repaired, they will not pay tribute nor toll, nor
yearly revenues, and this loss will fall upon the kings.

4:14. But we remembering the salt that we have eaten in the palace, and
because we count it a crime to see the king wronged, have therefore
sent and certified the king,

4:15. That search may be made in the books of the histories of thy
fathers, and thou shalt find written in the records:  and shalt know
that this city is a rebellious city, and hurtful to the kings and
provinces, and that wars were raised therein of old time:  for which
cause also the city was destroyed.

4:16. We certify the king, that if this city be built, and the walls
thereof repaired, thou shalt have no possession on this side of the
river.

4:17. The king sent word to Reum Beelteem and Samsai the scribe, and to
the rest that were in their council, inhabitants of Samaria, and to the
rest beyond the river, sending greeting and peace.

4:18. The accusation, which you have sent to us, hath been plainly read
before me,

4:19. And I commanded:  and search hath been made, and it is found, that
this city of old time hath rebelled against kings, and seditions and
wars have been raised therein.

4:20. For there have been powerful kings in Jerusalem, who have had
dominion over all the country that is beyond the river:  and have
received tribute, and toll and revenues.

4:21. Now therefore hear the sentence:  Hinder those men, that this city
be not built, till further orders be given by me.

4:22. See that you be not negligent in executing this, lest by little
and little the evil grow to the hurt of the kings.

4:23. Now the copy of the edict of king Artaxerxes was read before Reum
Beelteem, and Samsai the scribe, and their counsellors:  and they went
up in haste to Jerusalem to the Jews, and hindered them with arm and
power.

4:24. Then the work of the house of the Lord in Jerusalem was
interrupted, and ceased till the second year of the reign of Darius
king of the Persians.



1 Esdras Chapter 5


By the exhortation of Aggeus, and Zacharias, the people proceed in
building the temple.  Which their enemies strive in vain to hinder.

5:1. Now Aggeus the prophet, and Zacharias the son of Addo, prophesied
to the Jews that were in Judea and Jerusalem, in the name of the God of
Israel.

5:2. Then rose up Zorobabel the son of Salathiel, and Josue the son of
Josedec, and began to build the temple of God in Jerusalem, and with
them were the prophets of God helping them.

5:3. And at the same time came to them Thathanai, who was governor
beyond the river, and Stharbuzanai, and their counsellors:  and said
thus to them:  Who hath given you counsel to build this house, and to
repair the walls thereof?

5:4. In answer to which we gave them the names of the men who were the
promoters of that building.

5:5. But the eye of their God was upon the ancients of the Jews, and
they could not hinder them.  And it was agreed that the matter should be
referred to Darius, and then they should give satisfaction concerning
that accusation.

5:6. The copy of the letter that Thathanai governor of the country
beyond the river, and Stharbuzanai, and his counsellors the
Arphasachites, who dwelt beyond the river, sent to Darius the king.

5:7. The letter which they sent him, was written thus:  To Darius the
king all peace.

5:8. Be it known to the king, that we went to the province of Judea, to
the house of the great God, which they are building with unpolished
stones, and timber is laid in the walls:  and this work is carried on
diligently and advanceth in their hands.

5:9. And we asked those ancients, and said to them thus:  Who hath given
you authority to build this house, and to repair these walls?

5:10. We asked also of them their names, that we might give thee
notice:  and we have written the names of the men that are the chief
among them.

5:11. And they answered us in these words, saying:  We are the servants
of the God of heaven and earth, and we are building a temple that was
built these many years ago, and which a great king of Israel built and
set up.

5:12. But after that our fathers had provoked the God of heaven to
wrath, he delivered them into the hands of Nabuchodonosor the king of
Babylon the Chaldean:  and he destroyed this house, and carried away the
people to Babylon.

5:13. But in the first year of Cyrus the king of Babylon, king Cyrus
set forth a decree, that this house of God should be built.

5:14. And the vessels also of gold and silver of the temple of God,
which Nabuchodonosor had taken out of the temple, that was in
Jerusalem, and had brought them to the temple of Babylon, king Cyrus
brought out of the temple of Babylon, and they were delivered to one
Sassabasar, whom also he appointed governor,

5:15. And said to him:  Take these vessels, and go, and put them in the
temple that is in Jerusalem, and let the house of God be built in its
place.

5:16. Then came this same Sassabasar, and laid the foundations of the
temple of God in Jerusalem, and from that time until now it is in
building, and is not yet finished.

5:17. Now therefore if it seem good to the king, let him search in the
king's library, which is in Babylon, whether it hath been decreed by
Cyrus the king, that the house of God in Jerusalem should be built, and
let the king send his pleasure to us concerning this matter.



1 Esdras Chapter 6


King Darius favoureth the building and contributeth to it.

6:1. Then king Darius gave orders, and they searched in the library of
the books that were laid up in Babylon,

6:2. And there was found in Ecbatana, which is a castle in the province
of Media, a book in which this record was written.

6:3. In the first year of Cyrus the king:  Cyrus the king decreed, that
the house of God should be built, which is in Jerusalem, in the place
where they may offer sacrifices, and that they lay the foundations that
may support the height of threescore cubits, and the breadth of
threescore cubits,

6:4. Three rows of unpolished stones, and so rows of new timber:  and
the charges shall be given out of the king's house.

6:5. And also let the golden and silver vessels of the temple of God,
which Nabuchodonosor took out of the temple of Jerusalem, and brought
to Babylon, be restored, and carried back to the temple of Jerusalem to
their place, which also were placed in the temple of God.

6:6. Now therefore Thathanai, governor of the country beyond the river,
Stharbuzanai, and your counsellors the Apharsachites, who are beyond
the river, depart far from them,

6:7. And let that temple of God be built by the governor of the Jews,
and by their ancients, that they may build that house of God in its
place.

6:8. I also have commanded what must be done by those ancients of the
Jews, that the house of God may be built, to wit, that of the king's
chest, that is, of the tribute that is paid out of the country beyond
the river, the charges be diligently given to those men, lest the work
be hindered.

6:9. And if it shall be necessary, let calves also, and lambs, and
kids, for holocausts to the God of heaven, wheat, salt, wine, and oil,
according to the custom of the priests that are in Jerusalem, be given
them day by day, that there be no complaint in any thing.

6:10. And let them offer oblations to the God of heaven, and pray for
the life of the king, and of his children.

6:11. And I have made a decree:  That if any whosoever, shall alter this
commandment, a beam be taken from his house, and set up, and he be
nailed upon it, and his house be confiscated.

6:12. And may the God, that hath caused his name to dwell there,
destroy all kingdoms, and the people that shall put out their hand to
resist, and to destroy the house of God, that is in Jerusalem.  I Darius
have made the decree, which I will have diligently complied with.

6:13. So then Thathanai, governor of the country beyond the river, and
Stharbuzanai, and his counsellors diligently executed what Darius the
king had commanded.

6:14. And the ancients of the Jews built, and prospered according to
the prophecy of Aggeus the prophet, and of Zacharias the son of Addo:
and they built and finished, by the commandment of the God of Israel,
and by the commandment of Cyrus, and Darius, and Artaxerxes kings of
the Persians.

6:15. And they were finishing this house of God, until the third day of
the month of Adar, which was in the sixth year of the reign of king
Darius.

6:16. And the children of Israel, the priests and the Levites, and the
rest of the children of the captivity kept the dedication of the house
of God with joy.

6:17. And they offered at the dedication of the house of God, a hundred
calves, two hundred rams, four hundred lambs, and for a sin offering
for all Israel twelve he goats, according to the number of the tribes
of Israel.

6:18. And they set the priests in their divisions, and the Levites in
their courses over the works of God in Jerusalem, as it is written in
the book of Moses.

6:19. And the children of Israel of the captivity kept the phase, on
the fourteenth day of the first month.

6:20. For all the priests and the Levites were purified as one man:  all
were clean to kill the phase for all the children of the captivity, and
for their brethren the priests, and themselves.

6:21. And the children of Israel that were returned from captivity, and
all that had separated themselves from the filthiness of the nations of
the earth to them, to seek the Lord the God of Israel, did eat.

6:22. And they kept the feast of unleavened bread seven days with joy,
for the Lord had made them joyful, and had turned the heart of the king
of Assyria to them, that he should help their hands in the work of the
house of the Lord the God of Israel.



1 Esdras Chapter 7


Esdras goeth up to Jerusalem to teach, and assist the people, with a
gracious decree of Artaxerxes.

7:1. Now after these things in the reign of Artaxerxes king of the
Persians, Esdras the son of Saraias, the son of Azarias, the son of
Helcias,

7:2. The son of Sellum, the son of Sadoc, the son of Achitob,

7:3. The son of Amarias, the son of Azarias, the son of Maraioth,

7:4. The son of Zarahias, the son of Ozi, the son of Bocci,

7:5. The son of Abisue, the son of Phinees, the son of Eleazar, the son
of Aaron, the priest from the beginning.

7:6. This Esdras went up from Babylon, and he was a ready scribe in the
law of Moses, which the Lord God had given to Israel:  and the king
granted him all his request, according to the hand of the Lord his God
upon him.

7:7. And there went up some of the children of Israel, and of the
children of the priests, and of the children of the Levites, and of the
singing men, and of the porters, and of the Nathinites to Jerusalem in
the seventh year of Artaxerxes the king.

7:8. And they came to Jerusalem in the fifth month, in the seventh year
of the king.

7:9. For upon the first day of the first month he began to go up from
Babylon, and on the first day of the fifth month he came to Jerusalem
according to the good hand of his God upon him.

7:10. For Esdras had prepared his heart to seek the law of the Lord,
and to do and to teach in Israel the commandments and judgment.

7:11. And this is the copy of the letter of the edict, which king
Artaxerxes gave to Esdras the priest, the scribe instructed in the
words and commandments of the Lord, and his ceremonies in Israel.

7:12. Artaxerxes king of kings to Esdras the priest, the most learned
scribe of the law of the God of heaven, greeting.

7:13. It is decreed by me, that all they of the people of Israel, and
of the priests and of the Levites in my realm, that are minded to go
into Jerusalem, should go with thee.

7:14. For thou art sent from before the king, and his seven
counsellors, to visit Judea and Jerusalem according to the law of thy
God, which is in thy hand.

7:15. And to carry the silver and gold, which the king and his
counsellors have freely offered to the God of Israel, whose tabernacle
is in Jerusalem.

7:16. And all the silver and gold that thou shalt find in all the
province of Babylon, and that the people is willing to offer, and that
the priests shall offer of their own accord to the house of their God,
which is in Jerusalem,

7:17. Take freely, and buy diligently with this money, calves, rams,
lambs, with the sacrifices and libations of them, and offer them upon
the altar of the temple of your God, that is in Jerusalem.

7:18. And if it seem good to thee, and to thy brethren to do any thing
with the rest of the silver and gold, do it according to the will of
your God.

7:19. The vessels also, that are given thee for the sacrifice of the
house of thy God, deliver thou in the sight of God in Jerusalem.

7:20. And whatsoever more there shall be need of for the house of thy
God, how much soever thou shalt have occasion to spend, it shall be
given out of the treasury, and the king's exchequer, and by me.

7:21. I Artaxerxes the king have ordered and decreed to all the keepers
of the public chest, that are beyond the river, that whatsoever Esdras
the priest, the scribe of the law of the God of heaven, shall require
of you, you give it without delay,

7:22. Unto a hundred talents of silver, and unto a hundred cores of
wheat, and unto a hundred bates of wine, and unto a hundred bates of
oil, and salt without measure.

7:23. All that belongeth to the rites of the God of heaven, let it be
given diligently in the house of the God of heaven:  lest his wrath
should be enkindled against the realm of the king, and of his sons.

7:24. We give you also to understand concerning all the priests, and
the Levites, and the singers, and the porters, and the Nathinites, and
ministers of the house of this God, that you have no authority to
impose toll or tribute, or custom upon them.

7:25. And thou Esdras according to the wisdom of thy God, which is in
thy hand, appoint judges and magistrates, that may judge all the
people, that is beyond the river, that is, for them who know the law of
thy God, yea and the ignorant teach ye freely.

7:26. And whosoever will not do the law of thy God, and the law of the
king diligently, judgment shall be executed upon him, either unto
death, or unto banishment, or to the confiscation of goods, or at least
to prison.

7:27. Blessed be the Lord the God of our fathers, who hath put this in
the king's heart, to glorify the house of the Lord, which is in
Jerusalem,

7:28. And hath inclined his mercy toward me before the king and his
counsellors, and all the mighty princes of the king:  and I being
strengthened by the hand of the Lord my God, which was upon me,
gathered together out of Israel chief men to go up with me.



1 Esdras Chapter 8


The companions of Esdras.  The fast which he appointed.  They bring the
holy vessels into the temple.

8:1. Now these are the 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.

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.

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 menservants and womenservants, who were seven
thousand three hundred thirty-seven:  and among them singing men, and
singing women, two hundred forty-five.

7:68. Their horses, seven hundred thirty-six:  their mules two hundred
forty-five.

7:69. Their camels, four hundred thirty-five, their asses, six thousand
seven hundred and twenty.

(Hitherto is related what was written in the record.  From this place
forward goeth on the history of Nehemias.)

7:70. And some of the heads of the families gave unto the work.
Athersatha gave into the treasure a thousand drams of gold, fifty
bowls, and five hundred and thirty garments for priests.

Athersatha. . .That is, Nehemias; as appears from chap. 12.  Either that
he was so called at the court of the king of Persia, where he was
cupbearer:  or that, as some think, this name signifies governor; and he
was at that time governor of Judea.

7:71. And some of the heads of families gave to the treasure of the
work, twenty thousand drams of gold, and two thousand two hundred
pounds of silver.

7:72. And that which the rest of the people gave, was twenty thousand
drams of gold, and two thousand pounds of silver, and sixty-seven
garments for priests.

7:73. And the priests, and the Levites, and the porters, and the
singing men, and the rest of the common people, and the Nathinites, and
all Israel dwelt in their cities.



2 Esdras Chapter 8


Esdras readeth the law before the people.  Nehemias comforteth them.
They celebrate the feast of tabernacles.

8:1. And the seventh month came:  and the children of Israel were in
their cities.  And all the people were gathered together as one man to
the street which is before the water gate, and they spoke to Esdras the
scribe, to bring the book of the law of Moses, which the Lord had
commanded to Israel.

8:2. Then Esdras the priest brought the law before the multitude of men
and women, and all those that could understand, in the first day of the
seventh month.

8:3. And he read it plainly in the street that was before the water
gate, from the morning until midday, before the men, and the women, and
all those that could understand:  and the ears of all the people were
attentive to the book.

8:4. And Esdras the scribe stood upon a step of wood, which he had made
to speak upon, and there stood by him Mathathias, and Semeia, and Ania,
and Uria, and Helcia, and Maasia, on his right hand:  and on the left,
Phadaia, Misael, and Melchia, and Hasum, and Hasbadana, Zacharia and
Mosollam.

8:5. And Esdras opened the book before all the people:  for he was above
all the people:  and when he had opened it, all the people stood.

8:6. And Esdras blessed the Lord the great God:  and all the people
answered, Amen, amen:  lifting up their hands:  and they bowed down, and
adored God with their faces to the ground.

8:7. Now Josue, and Bani, and Serebia, Jamin, Accub, Sephtai, Odia,
Maasia, Celtia, Azarias, Jozabed, Hanan, Phalaia, the Levites, made
silence among the people to hear the law:  and the people stood in their
place.

8:8. And they read in the book of the law of God distinctly and plainly
to be understood:  and they understood when it was read.

8:9. And Nehemias (he is Athersatha) and Esdras the priest and scribe,
and the Levites who interpreted to all the people, said:  This is a holy
day to the Lord our God:  do not mourn, nor weep:  for all the people
wept, when they heard the words of the law.

8:10. And he said to them:  Go, eat fat meats, and drink sweet wine, and
send portions to them that have not prepared for themselves:  because it
is the holy day of the Lord, and be not sad:  for the joy of the Lord is
our strength.

8:11. And the Levites stilled all the people, saying:  Hold your peace,
for the day is holy, and be not sorrowful.

8:12. So all the people went to eat and drink, and to send portions,
and to make great mirth:  because they understood the words that he had
taught them.

8:13. And on the second day the chiefs of the families of all the
people, the priests, and the Levites were gathered together to Esdras
the scribe, that he should interpret to them the words of the law.

8:14. And they found written in the law, that the Lord had commanded by
the hand of Moses, that the children of Israel should dwell in
tabernacles, on the feast, in the seventh month:

8:15. And that they should proclaim and publish the word in all their
cities, and in Jerusalem, saying:  Go forth to the mount, and fetch
branches of olive, and branches of beautiful wood, branches of myrtle,
and branches of palm, and branches of thick trees, to make tabernacles,
as it is written.

8:16. And the people went forth, and brought.  And they made themselves
tabernacles every man on the top of his house, and in their courts, and
in the courts of the house of God, and in the street of the water gate,
and in the street of the gate of Ephraim.

8:17. And all the assembly of them that were returned from the
captivity, made tabernacles, and dwelt in tabernacles:  for since the
days of Josue the son of Nun the children of Israel had not done so,
until that day:  and there was exceeding great joy.

8:18. And he read in the book of the law of God day by day, from the
first day till the last, and they kept the solemnity seven days, and in
the eighth day a solemn assembly according to the manner.



2 Esdras Chapter 9


The people repent with fasting and sackcloth.  The Levites confess God's
benefits, and the people's ingratitude:  they pray for them, and make a
covenant with God.

9:1. And in the four and twentieth day of the month the children of
Israel came together with fasting and with sackcloth, and earth upon
them.

9:2. And the seed of the children of Israel separated themselves from
every stranger:  and they stood, and confessed their sins, and the
iniquities of their fathers.

9:3. And they rose up to stand:  and they read in the book of the law of
the Lord their God, four times in the day, and four times they
confessed, and adored the Lord their God.

9:4. And there stood up upon the step of the Levites, Josue, and Bani,
and Cedmihel, Sabania, Bonni, Sarebias, Bani, and Chanani:  and they
cried with a loud voice to the Lord their God.

9:5. And the Levites Josue and Cedmihel, Bonni, Hasebnia, Serebia,
Oduia, Sebnia, and Phathahia, said:  Arise, bless the Lord your God from
eternity to eternity:  and blessed be the high name of thy glory with
all blessing and praise.

9:6. Thou thyself, O Lord alone, thou hast made heaven, and the heaven
of heavens, and all the host thereof:  the earth and all things that are
in it:  the seas and all that are therein:  and thou givest life to all
these things, and the host of heaven adoreth thee.

9:7. Thou O Lord God, art he who chosest Abram, and broughtest him
forth out of the fire of the Chaldeans, and gavest him the name of
Abraham.

The fire of the Chaldeans. . .The city of Ur in Chaldea, the name of
which signifies fire.  Or out of the fire of the tribulations and
temptations, to which he was there exposed.--The ancient Rabbins
understood this literally, affirming that Abram was cast into the fire
by the idolaters, and brought out by a miracle without any hurt.

9:8. And thou didst find his heart faithful before thee:  and thou
madest a covenant with him, to give him the land of the Chanaanite, of
the Hethite, and of the Amorrhite, and of the Pherezite, and of the
Jebusite, and of the Gergezite, to give it to his seed:  and thou hast
fulfilled thy words, because thou art just.

9:9. And thou sawest the affliction of our fathers in Egypt:  and thou
didst hear their cry by the Red Sea.

9:10. And thou shewedst signs and wonders upon Pharao, and upon all his
servants, and upon the people of his land:  for thou knewest that they
dealt proudly against them:  and thou madest thyself a name, as it is at
this day.

9:11. And thou didst divide the sea before them, and they passed
through the midst of the sea on dry land:  but their persecutors thou
threwest into the depth, as a stone into mighty waters.

9:12. And in a pillar of a cloud thou wast their leader by day, and in
a pillar of fire by night, that they might see the way by which they
went.

9:13. Thou camest down also to mount Sinai, and didst speak with them
from heaven, and thou gavest them right judgments, and the law of
truth, ceremonies, and good precepts.

9:14. Thou madest known to them thy holy sabbath, and didst prescribe
to them commandments, and ceremonies, and the law by the hand of Moses
thy servant.

9:15. And thou gavest them bread from heaven in their hunger, and
broughtest forth water for them out of the rock in their thirst, and
thou saidst to them that they should go in, and possess the land, upon
which thou hadst lifted up thy hand to give it them.

9:16. But they and our fathers dealt proudly, and hardened their necks
and hearkened not to thy commandments.

9:17. And they would not hear, and they remembered not thy wonders
which thou hadst done for them.  And they hardened their necks, and gave
the head to return to their bondage, as it were by contention.  But
thou, a forgiving God, gracious, and merciful, longsuffering, and full
of compassion, didst not forsake them.

And gave the head. . .That is, they set their head, or were bent to
return to Egypt.

9:18. Yea when they had made also to themselves a molten calf, and had
said:  This is thy God, that brought thee out of Egypt:  and had
committed great blasphemies:

9:19. Yet thou, in thy many mercies, didst not leave them in the
desert:  the pillar of the cloud departed not from them by day to lead
them in the way, and the pillar of fire by night to shew them the way
by which they should go.

9:20. And thou gavest them thy good Spirit to teach them, and thy manna
thou didst not withhold from their mouth, and thou gavest them water
for their thirst.

9:21. Forty years didst thou feed them in the desert, and nothing was
wanting to them:  their garments did not grow old, and their feet were
not worn.

9:22. And thou gavest them kingdoms, and nations, and didst divide lots
for them:  and they possessed the land of Sehon, and the land of the
king of Hesebon, and the land of Og king of Basan.

9:23. And thou didst multiply their children as the stars of heaven,
and broughtest them to the land concerning which thou hadst said to
their fathers, that they should go in and possess it.

9:24. And the children came and possessed the land, and thou didst
humble before them the inhabitants of the land, the Chanaanites, and
gavest them into their hands, with their kings, and the people of the
land, that they might do with them as it pleased them.

9:25. And they took strong cities and a fat land, and possessed houses
full of all goods:  cisterns made by others, vineyards, and oliveyards,
and fruit trees in abundance:  and they ate, and were filled, and became
fat, and abounded with delight in thy great goodness.

9:26. But they provoked thee to wrath, and departed from thee, and
threw thy law behind their backs:  and they killed thy prophets, who
admonished them earnestly to return to thee:  and they were guilty of
great blasphemies.

9:27. And thou gavest them into the hands of their enemies, and they
afflicted them.  And in the time of their tribulation they cried to
thee, and thou heardest from heaven, and according to the multitude of
thy tender mercies thou gavest them saviours, to save them from the
hands of their enemies.

9:28. But after they had rest, they returned to do evil in thy sight:
and thou leftest them in the hand of their enemies, and they had
dominion over them.  Then they returned, and cried to thee:  and thou
heardest from heaven, and deliveredst them many times in thy mercies.

9:29. And thou didst admonish them to return to thy law.  But they dealt
proudly, and hearkened not to thy commandments, but sinned against thy
judgments, which if a man do, he shall live in them:  and they withdrew
the shoulder, and hardened their neck, and would not hear.

9:30. And thou didst forbear with them for many years, and didst
testify against them by thy spirit by the hand of thy prophets:  and
they heard not, and thou didst deliver them into the hand of the people
of the lands.

9:31. Yet in thy very many mercies thou didst not utterly consume them,
nor forsake them:  because thou art a merciful and gracious God.

9:32. Now therefore our God, great, strong, and terrible, who keepest
covenant and mercy, turn not away from thy face all the labour which
hath come upon us, upon our kings, and our princes, and our priests,
and our prophets, and our fathers, and all the people from the days of
the king of Assur, until this day.

9:33. And thou art just in all things that have come upon us:  because
thou hast done truth, but we have done wickedly.

9:34. Our kings, our princes, our priests, and our fathers have not
kept thy law, and have not minded thy commandments, and thy testimonies
which thou hast testified among them.

9:35. And they have not served thee in their kingdoms, and in thy
manifold goodness, which thou gavest them, and in the large and fat
land, which thou deliveredst before them, nor did they return from
their most wicked devices.

9:36. Behold we ourselves this day are bondmen:  and the land, which
thou gavest our fathers, to eat the bread thereof, and the good things
thereof, and we ourselves are servants in it.

9:37. And the fruits thereof grow up for the kings, whom thou hast set
over us for our sins, and they have dominion over our bodies, and over
our beasts, according to their will, and we are in great tribulation.

9:38. And because of all this we ourselves make a covenant, and write
it, and our princes, our Levites, and our priests sign it.



2 Esdras Chapter 10


The names of the subscribers to the covenant, and the contents of it.

10:1. And the subscribers were Nehemias, Athersatha the son of
Hachelai, and Sedecias,

10:2. Saraias, Azarias, Jeremias,

10:3. Pheshur, Amarias, Melchias,

10:4. Hattus, Sebenia, Melluch,

10:5. Harem, Merimuth, Obdias,

10:6. Daniel, Genthon, Baruch,

10:7. Mosollam, Abia, Miamin,

10:8. Maazia, Belgia, Semeia:  these were priests.

10:9. And the Levites, Josue the son of Azanias, Bennui of the sons of
Henadad, Cedmihel,

10:10. And their brethren, Sebenia, Oduia, Celita, Phalaia, Hanan,

10:11. Micha, Rohob, Hasebia,

10:12. Zachur, Serebia, Sabania,

10:13. Odaia, Bani, Baninu.

10:14. The heads of the people, Pharos, Phahath Moab, Elam, Zethu,
Bani,

10:15. Bonni, Azgad, Bebai,

10:16. Adonia, Begoai, Adin,

10:17. Ater, Hezecia, Azur,

10:18. Odaia, Hasum, Besai,

10:19. Hareph, Anathoth, Nebai,

10:20. Megphias, Mosollam, Hazir,

10:21. Mesizabel, Sadoc, Jeddua,

10:22. Pheltia, Hanan, Anaia,

10:23. Osee, Hanania, Hasub,

10:24. Alohes, Phalea, Sobec,

10:25. Rehum, Hasebna, Maasia,

10:26. Echaia, Hanan, Anan,

10:27. Melluch, Haran, Baana:

10:28. And the rest of the people, priests, Levites, porters, and
singing men, Nathinites, and all that had separated themselves from the
people of the lands to the law of God, their wives, their sons, and
their daughters.

10:29. All that could understand, promising for their brethren, with
their chief men, and they came to promise, and swear that they would
walk in the law of God, which he gave in the hand of Moses the servant
of God, that they would do and keep all the commandments of the Lord
our God, and his judgments and his ceremonies.

10:30. And that we would not give our daughters to the people of the
land, nor take their daughters for our sons.

10:31. And if the people of the land bring in things to sell, or any
things for use, to sell them on the sabbath day, that we would not buy
them on the sabbath, or on the holy day.  And that we would leave the
seventh year, and the exaction of every hand.

10:32. And we made ordinances for ourselves, to give the third part of
a sicle every year for the work of the house of our God,

10:33. For the loaves of proposition, and for the continual sacrifice,
and for a continual holocaust on the sabbaths, on the new moons, on the
set feasts, and for the holy things, and for the sin offering:  that
atonement might be made for Israel, and for every use of the house of
our God.

10:34. And we cast lots among the priests, and the Levites, and the
people for the offering of wood, that it might be brought into the
house of our God by the houses of our fathers at set times, from year
to year:  to burn upon the altar of the Lord our God, as it is written
in the law of Moses:

10:35. And that we would bring the firstfruits of our land, and the
firstfruits of all fruit of every tree, from year to year, in the house
of our Lord.

10:36. And the firstborn of our sons, and of our cattle, as it is
written in the law, and the firstlings of our oxen, and of our sheep,
to be offered in the house of our God, to the priests who minister in
the house of our God.

10:37. And that we would bring the firstfruits of our meats, and of our
libations, and the fruit of every tree, of the vintage also and of oil
to the priests, to the storehouse of our God, and the tithes of our
ground to the Levites.  The Levites also shall receive the tithes of our
works out of all the cities.

10:38. And the priest the son of Aaron shall be with the Levites in the
tithes of the Levites, and the Levites shall offer the tithe of their
tithes in the house of our God, to the storeroom into the treasure
house.

10:39. For the children of Israel and the children of Levi shall carry
to the treasury the firstfruits of corn, of wine, and of oil:  and the
sanctified vessels shall be there, and the priests, and the singing
men, and the porters, and ministers, and we will not forsake the house
of our God.



2 Esdras Chapter 11


Who were the inhabitants of Jerusalem, and the other cities.

11:1. And the princes of the people dwelt at Jerusalem:  but the rest of
the people cast lots, to take one part in ten to dwell in Jerusalem the
holy city, and nine parts in the other cities.

11:2. And the people blessed all the men that willingly offered
themselves to dwell in Jerusalem.

11:3. These therefore are the chief men of the province, who dwelt in
Jerusalem, and in the cities of Juda.  And every one dwelt in his
possession, in their cities:  Israel, the priests, the Levites, the
Nathinites, and the children of the servants of Solomon.

11:4. And in Jerusalem there dwelt some of the children of Juda, and
some of the children of Benjamin:  of the children of Juda, Athaias the
son of Aziam, the son of Zacharias, the son of Amarias, the son of
Saphatias, the son of Malaleel:  of the sons of Phares,

11:5. Maasia the son of Baruch, the son of Cholhoza, the son of Hazia,
the son of Adaia, the son of Joiarib, the son of Zacharias, the son of
the Silonite:

11:6. All these the sons of Phares, who dwelt in Jerusalem, were four
hundred sixty-eight valiant men.

11:7. And these are the children of Benjamin:  Sellum the son of
Mosollam, the son of Joed, the son of Phadaia, the son of Colaia, the
son of Masia, the son of Etheel, the son of Isaia.

11:8. And after him Gebbai, Sellai, nine hundred twenty-eight.

11:9. And Joel the son of Zechri their ruler, and Judas the son of
Senua was second over the city.

11:10. And of the priests Idaia the son of Joarib, Jachin,

11:11. Saraia the son of Helcias, the son of Mosollam, the son of
Sadoc, the son of Meraioth, the son of Achitob the prince of the house
of God,

11:12. And their brethren that do the works of the temple:  eight
hundred twenty-two.  And Adaia the son of Jeroham, the son of Phelelia,
the son of Amsi, the son of Zacharias, the son of Pheshur, the son of
Melchias,

11:13. And his brethren the chiefs of the fathers:  two hundred
forty-two.  And Amassai the son of Azreel, the son of Ahazi, the son of
Mosollamoth, the son of Emmer,

11:14. And their brethren who were very mighty, a hundred twenty-eight:
and their ruler Zabdiel son of the mighty.

11:15. And of the Levites Semeia the son of Hasub, the son of Azaricam,
the son of Hasabia, the son of Boni,

11:16. And Sabathai and Jozabed, who were over all the outward business
of the house of God, of the princes of the Levites,

11:17. And Mathania the son of Micha, the son of Zebedei, the son of
Asaph, was the principal man to praise, and to give glory in prayer,
and Becbecia, the second, one of his brethren, and Abda the son of
Samua, the son of Galal, the son of Idithun.

11:18. All the Levites in the holy city were two hundred eighty-four.

11:19. And the porters, Accub, Telmon, and their brethren, who kept the
doors:  a hundred seventy-two.

11:20. And the rest of Israel, the priests and the Levites were in all
the cities of Juda, every man in his possession.

11:21. And the Nathinites, that dwelt in Ophel, and Siaha, and Gaspha
of the Nathinites.

11:22. And the overseer of the Levites in Jerusalem, was Azzi the son
of Bani, the son of Hasabia, the son of Mathania, the son of Micha.  Of
the sons of Asaph, were the singing men in the ministry of the house of
God.

11:23. For the king's commandment was concerning them, and an order
among the singing men day by day.

11:24. And Phathahia the son of Mesezebel of the children of Zara the
son of Juda was at the hand of the king, in all matters concerning the
people,

11:25. And in the houses through all their countries.  Of the children
of Juda some dwelt at Cariath-Arbe, and in the villages thereof:  and at
Dibon, and in the villages thereof:  and at Cabseel, and in the villages
thereof.

11:26. And at Jesue, and at Molada, and at Bethphaleth,

11:27. And at 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 maidservants, 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 menservants, and womenservants, 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
maidservant:  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


Job's virtue and riches.  Satan by permission from God strippeth him of
all his substance.  His patience.

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 l

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 maidservants 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 sayst:  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. Times are not hid from the Almighty:  but they that know him, know
not his days.

25:2. Some have removed landmarks, have taken away flocks by force, and
fed them.

25:3. They have driven away the ass of the fatherless, and have taken
away the widow's ox for a pledge.

25:4. They have overturned the way of the poor, and have oppressed
together the meek of the earth.

25:5. Others like wild asses in the desert go forth to their work:  by
watching for a prey they get bread for their children.

25:6. They reap the field that is not their own, and gather the vintage
of his vineyard whom by violence they have oppressed.

25:7. They send men away naked, taking away their clothes who have no
covering in the cold:

25:8. Who are wet, with the showers of the mountains, and having no
covering embrace the stones.

25:9. They have violently robbed the fatherless, and stripped the poor
common people.

25:10. From the naked and them that go without clothing, and from the
hungry they have taken away the ears of corn.

25:11. They have taken their rest at noon among the stores of them, who
after having trodden the winepresses suffer thirst.

25:12. 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.

25:13. They have been rebellious to the light, they have not known his
ways, neither have they returned by his paths.

25:14. 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.

25:15. The eye of the adulterer observeth darkness, saying:  No eye
shall see me:  and he will cover his face.

25:16. He diggeth through houses in the dark, as in the day they had
appointed for themselves, and they have not known the light.

25:17. If the morning suddenly appear, it is to them the shadow of
death:  and they walk in darkness as if it were in light.

25:18. 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.

25:19. Let him pass from the snow waters to excessive heat, and his sin
even to hell.

25:20. Let mercy forget him:  may worms be his sweetness:  let him be
remembered no more, but be broken in pieces as an unfruitful tree.

25:21. For he hath fed the barren that beareth not, and to the widow he
hath done no good.

25:22. He hath pulled down the strong by his might:  and when he
standeth up, he shall not trust to his life.

25:23. God hath given him place for penance, and he abuseth it unto
pride:  but his eyes are upon his ways.

25:24. 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.

25:25. And if it be not so, who can convince me that I have lied, and
set my words before God?



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 manservant, or my
maidservant, 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.





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