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 thc death of
         Achab.

         1:2. And Ochozias fell through the lattices of his upper
         chamber, which he had in Samaria, and was sick: and he sent
         messengers, saying to them: Go, consult Beelzebub, the god
         of Accaron, whether I shall recover of this my illness.

         1:3. And an angel of the Lord spoke to Elias, the Thesbite,
         saying: Arise, and go up to meet the messengers of the king
         of Samaria, and say to them: Is there not a God in Israel,
         that ye go to consult Beelzebub, the god of Accaron?

         1:4. Wherefore, thus saith the Lord: From the bed, on which
         thou art gone up, thou shalt not come down, but thou shalt
         surely die. And Elias went away.

         1:5. And the messengers turned back to Ochozias. And he
         said to them: Why are you come back?

         1:6. But they answered him: A man met us, and said to us:
         Go, and return to the king, that sent you, and you shall
         say to him: Thus saith the Lord: Is it because there was no
         God in Israel, that thou sendest to Beelzebub, the god of
         Accaron? Therefore thou shalt not come down from the bed,
         on which thou art gone up, but thou shalt surely die.

         1:7. And he said to them: What manner of man was he who met
         you, and spoke these words?

         1:8. But they said: A hairy man, with a girdle of leather
         about his loins. And he said: It is Elias, the Thesbite.

         1:9. And he sent to him a captain of fifty, and the fifty
         men that were under him. And he went up to him, and as he
         was sitting on the top of a hill, he said to him: Man of
         God, the king hath commanded that thou come down.

         1:10. And Elias answering, said to the captain of fifty: If
         I be a man of God, let fire come down from heaven and
         consume thee, and thy fifty. And there came down fire from
         heaven and consumed him, and the fifty that were with him.

         Let fire, etc... Elias was inspired to call for fire from
         heaven upon these captains, who came to apprehend him; not
         out of a desire to gratify any private passion; but to
         punish the insult offered to religion, to confirm his
         mission, and to shew how vain are the efforts of men
         against God, and his servants, whom he willeth to protect.

         1:11. And he again sent to him another captain of fifty
         men, and his fifty with him. And he said to him: Man of
         God: Thus saith the king: Make haste and come down.

         1:12. Elias answering, said: If I be a man of God, let fire
         come down from heaven, and consume thee, and thy fifty. And
         fire came down from heaven, and consumed him and his fifty.

         1:13. Again he sent a third captain of fifty men, and the
         fifty that were with him. And when he was come, he fell
         upon his knees before Elias, and besought him, and said:
         Man of God, despise not my life, and the lives of thy
         servants that are with me.

         1:14. Behold fire came down from heaven, and consumed the
         two first captains of fifty men, and the fifties that were
         with them: but now I beseech thee to spare my life.

         1:15. And the angel of the Lord spoke to Elias, saying: Go
         down with him, fear not. He arose therefore, and went down
         with him to the king,

         1:16. And said to him: Thus saith the Lord: Because thou
         hast sent messengers to consult Beelzebub, the god of
         Accaron, as though there were not a God in Israel, of whom
         thou mightest inquire the word; therefore, from the bed on
         which thou art gone up, thou shalt not come down, but thou
         shalt surely die.

         1:17. So he died, according to the word of the Lord, which
         Elias spoke; and Joram, his brother, reigned in his stead,
         in the second year of Joram, the son of Josaphat, king of
         Juda, because he had no son.

         The second year of Joram, etc... Counted from the time
         that he was associated to the throne by his father
         Josaphat.

         1:18. But the rest of the acts of Ochozias, which he did,
         are they not written in the book of the words of the days
         of the kings of Israel?

         4 Kings Chapter 2

         Eliseus will not part from Elias. The water of the Jordan
         is divided by Elias' cloak. Elias is taken up in a fiery
         chariot, and his double spirit is given to Eliseus. Eliseus
         healeth the waters by casting in salt. Boys are torn by
         bears for mocking Eliseus.

         2:1. And it came to pass, when the Lord would take up
         Elias, into heaven, by a whirlwind, that Elias and Eliseus
         were going from Galgal.

         Heaven... By heaven here is meant the air, the lowest of
         the heavenly regions.

         2:2. And Elias said to Eliseus: Stay thou here, because the
         Lord hath sent me as far as Bethel. And Eliseus said to
         him: As the Lord liveth, and as thy soul liveth, I will not
         leave thee. And when they were come down to Bethel,

         2:3. The sons of the prophets, that were at Bethel, came
         forth to Eliseus, and said to him: Dost thou know that,
         this day, the Lord will take away thy master from thee? And
         he answered: I also know it: hold your peace.

         The sons of the prophets... That is, the disciples of the
         prophets; who seem to have had their schools, like
         colleges or communities, in Bethel, Jericho, and other
         places in the days of Elias and Eliseus.

         2:4. And Elias said to Eliseus: Stay here, because the Lord
         hath sent me to Jericho. And he said: As the Lord liveth,
         and as thy soul liveth, I will not leave thee.  And when
         they were come to Jericho,

         2:5. The sons of the prophets, that were at Jericho, came
         to Eliseus, and said to him: Dost thou know that, this day,
         the Lord will take away thy master from thee? And he said:
         I also know it: hold your peace.

         2:6. And Elias said to him: Stay here, because the Lord
         hath sent me as far as the Jordan. And he said: as the Lord
         liveth, and as thy soul liveth, I will not leave thee. And
         they two went on together.

         2:7. And fifty men, of the sons of the prophets, followed
         them, and stood in sight, at a distance: but they two stood
         by the Jordan.

         2:8. And Elias took his mantle, and folded it together, and
         struck the waters, and they were divided hither and
         thither, and they both passed over on dry ground.

         2:9. And when they were gone over, Elias said to Eliseus:
         Ask what thou wilt have me to do for thee, before I be
         taken away from thee. And Eliseus said: I beseech thee,
         that in me may be thy double spirit.

         Double spirit... A double portion of thy spirit, as the
         eldest son and heir: or thy spirit which is double in
         comparison of that which God usually imparteth to his
         prophets.

         2:10. And he answered: Thou hast asked a hard thing;
         nevertheless, if thou see me when I am taken from thee,
         thou shalt have what thou hast asked: but if thou see me
         not, thou shalt not have it.

         2:11. And as they went on, walking and talking together,
         behold, a fiery chariot and fiery horses parted them both
         asunder: and Elias went up by a whirlwind into heaven.

         2:12. And Eliseus saw him, and cried: My father, my father,
         the chariot of Israel, and the driver thereof.  And he saw
         him no more: and he took hold of his own garments, and rent
         them in two pieces.

         2:13. And he took up the mantle of Elias, that fell from
         him: and going back, he stood on the bank of the Jordan;

         2:14. And he struck the waters with the mantle of Elias,
         that had fallen from him, and they were not divided.  And
         he said: Where is now the God of Elias? And he struck the
         waters, and they were divided hither and thither, and
         Eliseus passed over.

         2:15. And the sons of the prophets, at Jericho, who were
         over against him, seeing it, said: The spirit of Elias hath
         rested upon Eliseus. And coming to meet him, they
         worshipped him, falling to the ground.

         They worshipped him... viz., with an inferior, yet
         religious veneration, not for any temporal, but spiritual
         excellency.

         2:16. And they said to him: Behold, there are with thy
         servants, fifty strong men, that can go, and seek thy
         master, lest, perhaps, the spirit of the Lord, hath taken
         him up and cast him upon some monntain, or into some
         valley. And he said: Do not send.

         2:17. But they pressed him, till he consented, and said:
         Send. And they sent fifty men: and they sought three days,
         bnt found him not.

         2:18. And they came back to him: for he abode at Jericho,
         and he said to them: Did I not say to you?  Do not send.

         2:l9. And the men of the city, said to Eliseus . Behold the
         situation of this city is very good, as thou, my lord,
         seest: but the waters are very bad, and the ground barren.

         2:20. And he said: Bring me a new vessel, and put salt into
         it. And when they had brought it,

         2:21. He went out to the spring of the waters, and cast the
         salt into it, and said: Thus saith the Lord: I have healed
         these waters, and there shall be no more in them death or
         barrenness.

         2:22. And the waters were healed unto this day, according
         to the word of Eliseus, which he spoke.

         2:23. And he went up from thence to Bethel: and as he was
         going up by the way, little boys came out of the city and
         mocked him, saying: Go up, thou bald head, go up, thou bald
         head.

         2:24. And looking back, he saw them, and cursed them in the
         name of the Lord: and there came forth two bears out of the
         forest, and tore of them, two and forty boys.

         Cursed them... This curse, which was followed by so
         visible a judgment of God, was not the effect of passion,
         or of a desire of revenging himself; but of zeal for
         religion, which was insulted by these boys, in the person
         of the prophet; and of a divine inspiration: God punishing
         in this manner the inhabitants of Bethel, (the chief seat
         of the calf worship,) who had trained up their children in
         a prejudice against the true religion and its ministers.

         2:25. And from thence he went to mount Carmel, and from
         thence he returned to Samaria.

         4 Kings Chapter 3

         The kings of Israel, Juda, and Edom, fight against the king
         of Moab.  They want water, which Eliseus procureth without
         rain: and prophesieth victory. The king of Moab is
         overthrown, his city is besieged: he sacrificeth his
         firstborn son: so the Israelites raise the siege.

         3:1. And Joram the son of Achab, reigned over Israel, in
         Samaria, in the eighteenth year of Josaphat, king of Juda.
         And he reigned twelve years.

         3:2. And he did evil before the Lord, but not like his
         father and his mother: for he took away the statues of
         Baal, which his father had made.

         3:3. Nevertheless, he stuck to the sins of Jeroboam, the
         son of Nabat, who made Israel to sin, nor did he depart
         from them.

         3:4. Now Mesa, king of Moab, nourished many sheep, and he
         paid to the king of Israel a hundred thousand lambs, and a
         hundred thousand rams, with their fleeces.

         3:5. And when Achab was dead, he broke the league which he
         had made with the king of Israel.

         3:6. And king Joram went out that day from Samaria, and
         mustered all Israel.

         3:7. And he sent to Josaphat; king of Juda, saying: The
         king of Moab is revolted from me: come with me against him
         to battle. And he answered: I will come up: he that is
         mine, is thine: my people are thy people: and my horses,
         thy horses.

         3:8. And he said: Which way shall we go up? But he
         answered: By the desert of Edom.

         3:9. So the king of Israel, and the king of Juda, and the
         king of Edom, went, and they fetched a compass of seven
         days journey, and there was no water for the army, and for
         the beasts, that followed them.

         3:10. And the king of Israel said: Alas, alas, alas, the
         Lord hath gathered us three kings together, to deliver us
         into the hands of Moab.

         3:11. And Josaphat said: Is there not here a prophet of thc
         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.

         6:1O. 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 fu]l 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 sayestP And he said to him:
         Thou shalt see it with thy eyes, and shalt not eat thereof.

         7:20. And so it fell out to him, as it was foretold, and
         the people trod upon him in the gate, and he died.

         4 Kings Chapter 8

         After seven years' famine foretold by Eliseus, the
         Sunamitess returning home, recovereth her lands, and
         revenues. Eliseus foresheweth the death of Benadad, king of
         Syria, and the reign of Hazael. Joram's wicked reign in
         Juda. He dieth, and his son Ochozias succeedeth.

         8:1.And Eliseus spoke to the woman, whose son he had
         restored to life, saying: Arise, and go thou, and thy
         household, and sojourn wheresoever thou canst find: for the
         Lord hath called a famine, and it shall come upon the land
         seven years.

         8:2. And she arose, and did according to the word of the
         man of God: and going with her household, she sojourned in
         the land of the Philistines many days.

         8:3. And when the seven years were ended, the woman
         returned out of the land of the Philistines, and she went
         forth to speak to the king for her house and for her lands.

         8:4. And the king talked with Giezi, the servant of the man
         of God, saying: Tell me all the great things that Eliseus
         hath done.

         8:5. And when he was telling the king how he had raised one
         dead to life, the woman appeared, whose son he had restored
         to life, crying to the king for her house, and her lands.
         And Giezi said: My lord, O king, this is the woman, and
         this is her son, whom Eliseus raised to life.

         8:6. And the king asked the woman: and she told him. And
         the king appointed her an eunuch, saying: Restore her all
         that is hers, and all the revenues of the lands, from the
         day that she left the land to this present.

         8:7. Eliseus also came to Damascus, and Benadad, king of
         Syria was sick; and they told him, saying: The man of God
         is come hither.

         8:8. And the king said to Hazael: Take with thee presents,
         and go to meet the man of God, and consult the Lord by him,
         saying: Can I recover of this my illness?

         8:9. And Hazael went to meet him, taking with him presents,
         and all the good things of Damascus, the burdens of forty
         camels. And when he stood before him, he said: Thy son,
         Benadad, the king of Syria, hath sent me to thee, saying:
         Can I recover of this my illness?

         8:10. And Eliseus said to him: Go tell him: Thou shalt
         recover: but the Lord hath shewed me that he shall surely
         die.

         Tell him: thou shalt recover... By these words the prophet
         signified that the king's disease was not mortal: and that
         he would recover if no violence were used. Or he might
         only express himself in this manner, by way of giving
         Hazael to understand that he knew both what he would say
         and do; that he would indeed tell the king he should
         recover; but would be himself the instrument of his death.

         8:11. And he stood with him, and was troubled so far as to
         blush: and the man of God wept.

         8:12. And Hazael said to him: Why doth my lord weep? And he
         said: Because I know the evil that thou wilt do to the
         children of Israel. Their strong cities thou wilt burn with
         fire, and their young men thou wilt kill with the sword,
         and thou wilt dash their children, and rip up their
         pregnant women.

         8:13. And Hazael said: But what am I, thy servant, a dog,
         that I should do this great thing? And Eliseus said: The
         Lord hath shewed me that thou shalt be king of Syria.

         8:14. And when he was departed from Eliseus he came to his
         master, who said to him: What said Eliseus to thee? And he
         answered: He told me: Thou shalt recover.

         8:15. And on the next day, he took a blanket, and poured
         water on it, and spread it upon his face: and he died, and
         Hazael reigned in his stead.

         8:16. In the fifth year of Joram, son of Achab, king of
         Israel, and of Josaphat, king of Juda, reigned Joram, son
         of Josaphat, king of Juda.

         And of Josaphat, etc... That is, Josaphat being yet alive,
         who sometime before his death made his son Joram king, as
         David had done before by his own son Solomon.

         8:17. He was two and thirty years old when he began to
         reign, and he reigned eight years in Jerusalem.

         8:18. And he walked in the ways of the kings of Israel, as
         the house of Achab had walked: for the daughter of Achab
         was his wife: and he did that which was evil in the sight
         of the Lord.

         8:19. But the Lord would not destroy Juda, for David his
         servant's sake, as he had promised him, to give him a
         light, and to his children always.

         8:20. In his days Edom revolted from being under Juda, and
         made themselves a king.

         8:21. And Joram came to Seira, and all the chariots with
         him: and he arose in the night, and defeated the Edomites
         that had surrounded him, and the captains of the chariots,
         but the people fled into their tents.

         8.22. So Edom revolted from being under Juda, unto this
         day. Then Lobna also revolted at the same time.

         8:23. But the rest of the acts of Joram, and all that he
         did, are they not written in the book of the words of the
         days of the kings of Juda?

         8:24. And Joram slept with his fathers, and was buried with
         them in the city of David, and Ochozias, his son, reigned
         in his stead.

         8:25. In the twelfth year of Joram, the son of Achab, king
         of Israel, reigned Ochozias, son of Joram, king of Juda.

         8:26. Ochozias was two and twenty years old when he began
         to reign, and he reigned one year in Jerusalem: the name of
         his mother was Athalia the daughter of Amri king of Israel.

         Daughter... That is, grand-daughter; for she was daughter
         of Achab son of Amri, ver. 18.

         8:27. And he walked in the ways of the house of Achab: and
         he did evil before the Lord, as did the house of Achab: for
         he was the son in law of the house of Achab.

         8:28. He went also with Joram, son of Achab, to fight
         against Hazael, king of Syria, in Ramoth Galaad, and the
         Syrians wounded Joram:

         8:29. And he went back to be healed, in Jezrahel: because
         the Syrians had wounded him in Ramoth, when he fought
         against Hazael, king of Syria And Ochozias, the son of
         Joram, king of Juda, went down to visit Joram, the son of
         Achab, in Jezrahel, because he was sick there.

         4 Kings Chapter 9

         Jehu is anointed king of Israel, to destroy the house of
         Achab and Jezebel. He killeth Joram king of Israel, and
         Ochozias king of Juda. Jezebel is eaten by dogs.

         9:1. And Eliseus the prophet, called one of the sons of the
         prophets, and said to him: Gird up thy loins, and take this
         little bottle of oil in thy hand, and go to Ramoth Galaad.

         9:2. And when thou art come thither, thou shalt see Jehu
         the son of Josaphat the son of Namsi: and going in, thou
         shalt make him rise up from amongst his brethren, and carry
         him into an inner chamber.

         9:3. Then taking the little bottle of oil, thou shalt pour
         it on his head, and shalt say: Thus saith the Lord: I have
         anointed thee king over Israel. And thou shalt open the
         door and flee, and shalt not stay there.

         9:4. So the young man, the servant of the prophet, went
         away to Ramoth Galaad,

         9:5. And went in thither: and behold, the captains of the
         army were sitting, and he said: I have a word to thee, O
         prince. And Jehu said: Unto whom of us all?  And he said:
         To thee, O prince.

         9:6. And he arose, and went into the chamber: and he poured
         the oil upon his head, and said: Thus saith the Lord God of
         Israel: I have anointed thee king over Israel, the people
         of the Lord.

         9:7. And thou shalt cut off the house of Achab, thy master,
         and I will revenge the blood of my servants, the prophets,
         and the blood of all the servants of the Lord, at the hand
         of Jezabel.

         9:8. And I will destroy all the house of Achab, and I will
         cut off from Achab, him that pisseth against the wall, and
         him that is shut up, and the meanest in Israel.

         9:9. And I will make the house of Achab, like the house of
         Jeroboam, the son of Nabat, and like the house of Baasa,
         the son of Ahias.

         9:10. And the dogs shall eat Jezabel, in the field of
         Jezrahel, and there shall be no one to bury her. And he
         opened the door and fled.

         9:11. Then Jehu went forth to the servants of his Lord: and
         they said to him: Are all things well? why came this madman
         to thee? And he said to them: You know the man, and what he
         said.

         9:12. But they answered: It is false; but rather do thou
         tell us. And he said to them: Thus and thus did he speak to
         me: and he said: Thus saith the Lord: I have anointed thee
         king over Israel.

         9:13. Then they made haste, and taking every man his
         garment, laid it under his feet, after the manner of a
         judgment seat, and they sounded the trumpet, and said: Jehu
         is king.

         9:14. So Jehu, the son of Josaphat, the son of Namsi,
         conspired against Joram. Now Joram had besieged Ramoth
         Galaad, he, and all Israel, fighting with Hazael, king of
         Syria:

         9:15. And was returned to be healed in Jezrahel of his
         wounds; for the Syrians had wounded him, when he fought
         with Hazael, king of Syria. And Jehu said: If it please
         you, let no man go forth or flee out of the city, lest he
         go, and tell in Jezrahel.

         9:16. And he got up, and went into Jezrahel for Joram was
         sick there, and Ochozias king of Juda, was come down to
         visit Joram.

         9:17. The watchman therefore, that stood upon the tower of
         Jezrahel, saw the troop of Jehu coming, and said: I see a
         troop. And Joram said: Take a chariot, and send to meet
         them, and let him that goeth say: Is all well?

         9:18. So there went one in a chariot to meet him, and said:
         Thus saith the king: Are all things peaceable?  And Jehu
         said: What hast thou to do with peace? go behind and follow
         me. And the watchman told, saying: The messenger came to
         them, but he returneth not.

         9:19. And he sent a second chariot of horses: and he came
         to them, and said: Thus saith the king: Is there peace? And
         Jehu said: What hast thou to do with peace? pass, and
         follow me.

         9:20. And the watchman told, saying: He came even to them,
         but returneth not: and the driving is like the driving of
         Jehu, the son of Namsi; for he drives furiously.

         9:21. And Joram said: Make ready the chariot. And they made
         ready his chariot: and Joram, king of Israel, and Ochozias,
         king of Juda, went out, each in his chariot, and they went
         out to meet Jehu, and met him in the field of Naboth, the
         Jezrahelite.

         9:22. And when Joram saw Jehu, he said: Is there peace,
         Jehu? And he answered: What peace? so long as the
         fornications of Jezabel, thy mother, and her many
         sorceries, are in their vigour.

         9:23. And Joram turned his hand, and fleeing, said to
         Ochozias: There is treachery, Ochozias.

         9:24. But Jehu bent his bow with his hand, and shot Joram
         between the shoulders: and the arrow went out through his
         heart, and immediately he fell in his chariot.

         9:25. And Jehu said to Badacer, his captain: Take him, and
         cast him into the field of Naboth, the Jezrahelite: for I
         remember, when I and thou, sitting in a chariot, followed
         Achab, this man's father, that the Lord laid this burden
         upon him, saying:

         9:26. If I do not requite thee in this field, saith the
         Lord, for the blood of Naboth, and for the blood of his
         children, which I saw yesterday, saith the Lord. So now
         take him, and cast him into the field, according to the
         word of the Lord.

         9:27. But Ochozias, king of Juda, seeing this, fled by the
         way of the garden house: and Jehu pursued him, and said:
         Strike him also in his chariot. And they struck him in the
         going up to Gaver, which is by Jeblaam: and he fled into
         Mageddo, and died there.

         9:28. And his servants laid him upon his chariot, and
         carried him to Jerusalem: and they buried him in his
         sepulchre with his fathers, in the city of David.

         9:29. In the eleventh year of Joram, the son of Achab,
         Ochozias reigned over Juda;

         9:30. And Jehu came into Jezrahel. But Jezabel, hearing of
         his coming in, painted her face with stibic stone, and
         adorned her head, and looked out of a window.

         9:31. At Jehu coming in at the gate, and said: Can there be
         peace for Zambri, that hath killed his master?

         9:32. And Jehu lifted up his face to the window, and said:
         Who is this? And two or three eunuchs bowed down to him.

         9:33. And he said to them: Throw her down headlong; And
         they threw her down, and the wall was sprinkled with her
         blood, and the hoofs of the horses trod upon her.

         9:34. And when he was come in to eat, and to drink, he
         said: Go, and see after that cursed woman, and bury her;
         because she is a king's daughter.

         9:35. And when they went to bury her, they found nothing
         but the skull, and the feet, and the extremities of her
         hands.

         9:36. And coming back they told him. And Jehu said: It is
         the word of the Lord, which he spoke by his servant Elias,
         the Thesbite, saying: In the field of Jezrahel the dogs
         shall eat the flesh of Jezabel.

         9:37. And the flesh of Jezabel shall be as dung upon the
         face of the earth in the field of Jezrahel; so that they
         who pass by shall say: Is this that same Jezabel?

         4 Kings Chapter 10

         Jehu destroyeth the house of Achab: abolisheth the worship
         of Baal, and killeth the worshippers: but sticketh to the
         calves of Jeroboam. Israel is afflicted by the Syrians.

         10:1. And Achab had seventy sons in Samaria: so Jehu wrote
         letters, and sent to Samaria, to the chief men of the city,
         and to the ancients, and to them that brought up Achab's
         children, saying:

         10:2. As soon as you receive these letters, ye that have
         your master's sons, and chariots, and horses, and fenced
         cities, and armour,

         10:3. Choose the best, and him that shall please you most
         of your master's sons, and set him on his father's throne,
         and fight for the house of your master.

         10:4. But they were exceedingly afraid, and said: Behold
         two kings could not stand before him, and how shall we be
         able to resist?

         10:5. Therefore they that were over the king's house, and
         the rulers of the city, and the ancients, and the bringers
         up of the children, sent to Jehu, saying: We are thy
         servants: whatsoever thou shalt command us we will do; we
         will not make us any king: do thou all that pleaseth thee.

         10:6. And he wrote letters the second time to them, saying:
         If you be mine, and will obey me, take the heads of the
         sons of your master, and come to me to Jezrahel by tomorrow
         at this time. Now the king's sons, being seventy men, were
         brought up with the chief men of the city.

         10:7. And when the letters came to them, they took the
         king's sons, and slew seventy persons, and put their heads
         in baskets, and sent them to him to Jezrahel.

         10:8. And a messenger came, and told him, saying: They have
         brought the heads of the king's sons. And he said: Lay ye
         them in two heaps by the entering in of the gate until the
         morning.

         10:9. And when it was light, he went out, and standing,
         said to all the people: You are just: if I conspired
         against my master, and slew him; who hath slain all these?

         10:10. See therefore now that there hath not fallen to the
         ground any of the words of the Lord, which the Lord spoke
         concerning the house of Achab, and the Lord hath done that
         which he spoke in the hand of his servant Elias.

         10:11. So Jehu slew all that were left of the honse of
         Achab in Jezrahel, and all his chief men, and his friends,
         and his priests, till there were no remains left of him.

         10:12. And he arose, and went to Samaria: and when he was
         come to the shepherds' cabin in the way,

         10:13. He met with the brethren of Ochozias, king of Juda,
         and he said to them: Who are you? And they answered: We are
         the brethren of Ochozias, and are come down to salute the
         sons of the king, and the sons of the queen.

         10:14. And he said: Take them alive. And they took them
         alive, and killed them at the pit by the cabin, two and
         forty men, and he left not any of them.

         10:15. And when he was departed thence, he found Jonadab,
         the son of Rechab, coming to meet him, and he blessed him.
         And he said to him: Is thy heart right as my heart is with
         thy heart? And Jonadab said: It is. If it be, said he, give
         me thy hand. He gave him his hand. And he lifted him up to
         him into the chariot,

         10:16. And said to him: Come with me, and see my zeal for
         the Lord. So he made him ride in his chariot,

         10:17. And brought him into Samaria. And he slew all that
         were left of Achab, in Samaria, to a man, according to the
         word of the Lord which he spoke by Elias.

         10:18. And Jehu gathered together all the people, and said
         to them: Achab worshipped Baal a little, but I will worship
         him more.

         I will worship him more... Jehu sinned in thus pretending
         to worship Baal, and causing sacrifice to be offered to
         him: because evil is not to be done, that good may come
         of it. Rom. 3.8.

         10:19. Now therefore call to me all the prophets of Baal,
         and all his servants, and all his priests: let none be
         wanting, for I have a great sacrifice to offer to Baal:
         whosoever shall be wanting, shall not live. Now Jehu did
         this craftily, that he might destroy the worshippers of
         Baal.

         10:20. And he said: Proclaim a festival for Baal. And he
         called,

         10:21. And he sent into all the borders of Israel; and all
         the servants of Baal came: there was not one left that did
         not come. And they went into the temple of Baal: and the
         house of Baal was filled, from one end to the other.

         10:22. And he said to them that were over the wardrobe:
         Bring forth garments for all the servants of Baal.  And
         they brought them forth garments.

         10:23. And Jehu, and Jonadab, the son of Rechab, went to
         the temple of Baal, and said to the worshippers of Baal:
         Search, and see that there be not any with you of the
         servants of the Lord, but that there be the servants of
         Baal only.

         10:24. And they went in to offer sacrifices and burnt
         offerings: but Jehu had prepared him fourscore men without,
         and said to them: If any of the men escape, whom I have
         brought into your hands, he that letteth him go, shall
         answer life for life.

         10:25. And it came to pass, when the burnt offering was
         ended, that Jehu commanded his soldiers and captains,
         saying: Go in, and kill them: let none escape. And the
         soldiers and captains slew them with the edge of the sword,
         and cast them out: and they went into the city of the
         temple of Baal,

         10:26. And brought the statue out of Baal's temple, and
         burnt it,

         10:27. And broke it in pieces. They destroyed also the
         temple of Baal, and made a jakes in its place unto this
         day.

         10:28. So Jehu destroyed Baal out of Israel:

         10:29. But yet he departed not from the sins of Jeroboam,
         the son of Nabat, who made Israel to sin, nor did he
         forsake the golden calves that were in Bethel, and Dan.

         10:30. And the Lord said to Jehu: because thou hast
         diligently executed that which was right and pleasing in my
         eyes, and hast done to the house of Achab according to all
         that was in my heart: thy children shall sit upon the
         throne of Israel to the fourth generation.

         10:31. But Jehu took no heed to walk in the law of the
         Lord, the God of Israel, with all his heart: for he
         departed not from the sins of Jeroboam, who had made Israel
         to sin.

         10:32. In those days the Lord began to be weary of Israel:
         and Hazael ravaged them in all the coasts of Israel,

         10:33. From the Jordan eastward, all the land of Galaad,
         and Gad, and Ruben, and Manasses, from Aroer, which is upon
         the torrent Arnon, and Galaad, and Basan.

         10:34. But the rest of the acts of Jehu, and all that he
         did, and his strength, are they not written in the book of
         the words of the days of the kings of Israel?

         10:35. And Jehu slept with his fathers, and they buried him
         in Samaria: and Joachaz, his son, reigned in his stead.

         10:36. And the time that Jehu reigned over Israel, in
         Samaria, was eight and twenty years.

         4 Kings 11

         Athalia's usurpation and tyranny. Joas is made king.
         Athalia is slain.

         11:1. Now Athalia, the mother of Ochozias, seeing that her
         son was dead, arose and slew all the royal seed.

         11:2. But Josaba the daughter of king Joram, sister of
         Ochozias, took Joas, the son of Ochozias, and stole him
         from among the king's sons that were slain, out of the
         bedchamber with his nurse: and hid him from the face of
         Athalia; so that he was not slain.

         11:3. And he was with her six years, hid in the house of
         the Lord. And Athalia reigned over the land.

         11:4. And in the seventh year Joiada sent, and taking the
         centurions and soldiers, brought them in to him into the
         temple of the Lord, and made a covenant with them: and
         taking an oath of them in the house of the Lord, shewed
         them the king's son:

         11:5. And he commanded them, saying: This is the thing that
         you must do.

         11:6. Let a third part of you go in on the sabbath, and
         keep the watch of the king's house. And let a third part be
         at the gate of Sur; and let a third part be at the gate
         behind the dwelling of the shieldbearers; and you shall
         keep the watch of the house of Messa.

         11:7. But let two parts of you all that go forth on the
         sabbath, keep the watch of the house of the Lord about the
         king.

         11:8. And you shall compass him round about, having weapons
         in your hands: and if any man shall enter the precinct of
         the temple, let him be slain: and you shall be with the
         king, coming in and going out.

         11:9. And the centurions did according to all things that
         Joiada the priest, had commanded them: and takiug every one
         their men, that went in on the sabbath, with them that went
         out in the sabbath, came to Joiada, the priest.

         11:10. And he gave them the spears, and the arms of king
         David, which were in the house of the Lord.

         11:11. And they stood, having every one their weapons in
         their hands, from the right side of the temple, unto the
         left side of the altar, and of the temple, about the king.

         11:12. And he brought forth the king's son, and put the
         diadem upon him, and the testimony: and they made him king,
         and anointed him: and clapping their hands, they said: God
         save the king.

         The testimony... The book of the law.

         11:13. And Athalia heard the noise of the people running:
         and going in to the people into the temple of the Lord,

         11:14. She saw the king standing upon a tribunal, as the
         manner was, and the singers, and the trumpets near him, and
         all the people of the land rejoicing, and sounding the
         trumpets: and she rent her garments, and cried: A
         conspiracy, a conspiracy.

         A tribunal... A tribune, or a place elevated above the
         rest.

         11:15. But Joiada commanded the centurions that were over
         the army, and said to them: Have her forth without the
         precinct of the temple, and whosoever shall follow her, let
         him be slain with the sword. For the priest had said: Let
         her not be slain in the temple of the Lord.

         11:16. And they laid hands on her: and thrust her out by
         the way by which the horses go in, by the palace, and she
         was slain there.

         11:17. And Joiada made a covenant between the Lord, and the
         king, and the people, that they should be the people of the
         Lord; and between the king and the people.

         11:18. And all the people of the land went into the temple
         of Baal, and broke down his altars, and his images they
         broke in pieces thoroughly: they slew also Mathan the
         priest of Baal before the altar. And the priest set guards
         in the house of the Lord.

         11:19. And he took the centurions, and the bands of the
         Cerethi, and the Phelethi, and all the people of the land,
         and they brought the king from the house of the Lord: and
         they came by the way of the gate of the shieldbearers into
         the palace, and he sat on the throne of the kings.

         11:20. And all the people of the land rejoiced, and the
         city was quiet: but Athalia was slain with the sword in the
         king's house.

         11:21. Now Joas was seven years old when he began to reign.

         4 Kings Chapter 12

         The temple is repaired. Hazael is bought off from attacking
         Jerusalem. Joas is slain.

         12:1. In the seventh year of Jehu, Joas began to reign: and
         he reigned forty years in Jerusalem. The name of his mother
         was Sebia, of Bersabee.

         12:2. And Joas did that which was right before the Lord all
         the days that Joiada, the priest, taught him.

         12:3. But yet he took not away the high places: for the
         people still sacrificed and burnt incense in the high
         places.

         12:4. And Joas said to the priests: all the money of the
         sanctified things, which is brought into the temple of the
         Lord by those that pass, which is offered for the price of
         a soul, and which of their own accord, and of their own
         free heart, they bring into the temple of the Lord:

         Sanctified... That is, dedicated to God's service.-Ibid.
         The price of a soul... That is, the ordinary oblation,
         which every soul was to offer by the law. Ex. 30.

         12:5. Let the priests take it according to their order and
         repair the house, wheresoever they shall see any thing that
         wanteth repairing.

         12:6. Now till the three and twentieth year of king Joas
         the priests did not make the repairs of the temple.

         12:7. And king Joas called Joiada, the high priest, and the
         priests, saying to them: Why do you not repair the temple?
         Take you, therefore, money no more according to your order,
         but restore it for the repairing of the temple.

         12:8. And the priests were forbidden to take any more money
         of the people, and to make the repairs of the house.

         12:9. And Joiada, the high priest, took a chest, and bored
         a hole in the top, and set it by the altar at the right
         hand of them that came into the house of the Lord; and the
         priests that kept the doors, put therein all the money that
         was brought to the temple of the Lord.


         12:10. And when they saw that there was very much money in
         the chest, the king's scribe, and the high priest, came up,
         and poured it out, and counted the money that was found in
         the house of the Lord.

         12:11. And they gave it out by number and measure into the
         hands of them that were over the builders of the house of
         the Lord: and they laid it out to the carpenters, and the
         masons, that wrought in the house of the Lord,

         12:12. And made the repairs: and to them that cut stones,
         and to buy timber, and stones to be hewed, that the repairs
         of the house of the Lord might be completely finished, and
         wheresoever there was need of expenses to uphold the house.

         12:13. But there were not made of the same money for the
         temple of the Lord, bowls, or fleshhooks, or censers, or
         trumpets, or any vessel of gold and silver, of the money
         that was brought into the temple of the Lord:

         12:14. For it was given to them that did the work, that the
         temple of the Lord might be repaired.

         12:15. And they reckoned not with the men that received the
         money to distribute it to the workmen, but they bestowed it
         faithfully.

         12:16. But the money for trespass, and the money for sins,
         they brought not into the temple of the Lord, because it
         was for the priests.

         12:17. Then Hazael, king of Syria, went up, and fought
         against Geth, and took it, and set his face to go up to
         Jerusalem.

         12:18. Wherefore Joas, king of Juda, took all the
         sanctified things, which Josaphat, and Joram, and Ochozias,
         his fathers, the kings of Juda, had dedicated to holy uses,
         and which he himself had offered: and all the silver that
         could be found in the treasures of the temple of the Lord,
         and in the king's palace: and sent it to Hazael, king of
         Syria, and he went off from Jerusalem.

         12:19. And the rest of the acts of Joas, and all that he
         did, are they not written in the book of the words of the
         days of the kings of Juda?

         12:20. And his servants arose, and conspired among
         themselves, and slew Joas, in the house of Mello, in the
         descent of Sella.

         12:21. For Josachar the son of Semaath, and Jozabad the son
         of Somer his servant, struck him, and he died: and they
         buried him with his fathers in the city of David; and
         Amasias, his son, reigned in his stead.

         The city of David... He was buried in the same city with
         his fathers, but not in the sepulchres of the kings.
         2 Par. 14.

         4 Kings Chapter 13

         The reign of Joachaz and of Joas kings of Israel. The last
         acts and death of Eliseus the prophet: a dead man is raised
         to life by the touch of his bones.

         13:1. In the three and twentieth year of Joas son of
         Ochozias, king of Juda, Joachaz, the son of Jehu, reigned
         over Israel, in Samaria, seventeen years.

         13:2. And he did evil before the Lord, and followed the
         sins of Jeroboam, the son of Nabat, who made Israel to sin;
         and he departed not from them.

         13:3. And the wrath of the Lord was kindled against Israel,
         and he delivered them into the hand of Hazael, the king of
         Syria, and into the hand of Benadad, the son of Hazael, all
         days.

         13:4. But Joachaz besought the face of the Lord, and the
         Lord heard him: for he saw the distress of Israel, because
         the king of Syria had oppressed them:

         13:5. And the Lord gave Israel a saviour, and they were
         delivered out of the hand of the king of Syria: and the
         children of Israel dwelt in their pavilions as yesterday
         and the day before.

         13:6. But yet they departed not from the sins of the house
         of Jeroboam, who made Israel to sin, but walked in them:
         and there still remained a grove also in Samaria.

         A grove... Dedicated to the worship of idols.

         13:7. And Joachaz had no more left of the people than fifty
         horsemen, and ten chariots, and ten thousand footmen: for
         the king of Syria had slain them, and had brought them low
         as dust by threshing in the barnfloor.

         13:8. But thc 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, thc 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 thc
         house of David, and made Jeroboam, son of Nabat, their
         king: for Jeroboam separated Israel from the Lord, and made
         them commit a great sin.

         17:22. And the children of Israel walked in all the sins of
         Jeroboam, which he had done: and they departed not from
         them,

         17:23. Till the Lord removed Israel from his face, as he
         had spoken in the hand of all his servants, the prophets:
         and Israel was carried away out of their land to Assyria,
         unto this day.

         17:24. And the king of the Assyrians brought people from
         Babylon, and from Cutha, and from Avah, and from Emath, and
         from Sepharvaim: and placed them in the cities of Samaria
         instead of the children of Israel: and they possessed
         Samaria, and dwelt in the cities thereof.

         17:25. And when they began to dwell there, they feared not
         the Lord: and the Lord sent lions among them, which killed
         them.

         17:26. And it was told the king of the Assyrians, and it
         was said: The nations which thou hast removed, and made to
         dwell in the cities of Samaria, know not the ordinances of
         the God of the land: and the Lord hath sent lions among
         them: and behold they kill them, because they know not the
         manner of the God of the land.

         17:27. And the king of the Assyrians commanded, saying:
         Carry thither one of the priests whom you brought from
         thence captive, and let him go, and dwell with them: and
         let him teach them the ordinances of the God of the land.

         17:28. So one of the priests, who had been carried away
         captive from Samaria, came and dwelt in Bethel, and taught
         them how they should worship the Lord.

         17:29. And every nation made gods of their own and put them
         in the temples of the high places, which the Samaritans had
         made, every nation in their cities where they dwelt.

         17:30. For the men of Babylon made Sochothbenoth: and the
         Cuthites made Nergel: and the men of Emath made Asima.

         17:31. And the Hevites made Nebahaz, and Tharthac.  And
         they that were of Sepharvaim burnt their children in fire,
         to Adramelech and Anamelech, the gods of Sepharvaim.

         17:32. And nevertheless they worshipped the Lord. And they
         made to themselves, of the lowest of the people, priests of
         the high places, and they placed them in the temples of the
         high places.

         17:33. And when they worshipped the Lord, they served also
         their own gods, according to the custom of the nations out
         of which they were brought to Samaria:

         17:34. Unto this day they follow the old manner: they fear
         not the Lord, neither do they keep his ceremonies, and
         judgments, and law, and the commandment, which the Lord
         commanded the children of Jacob, whom he surnamed Israel:

         17:35. With whom he made a covenant, and charged them,
         saying: You shall not fear strange gods, nor shall you
         adore them, nor worship them, nor sacrifice to them.

         17:36. But the Lord, your God, who brought you out of the
         land of Egypt, with great power, and a stretched out arm,
         him shall you fear, and him shall you adore, and to him
         shall you sacrifice.

         17:37. And the ceremonies, and judgments, and law, and the
         commandment, which he wrote for you, you shall observe to
         do them always: and you shall not fear strange gods.

         17:38. And the covenant that he made with you, you shall
         not forget: neither shall ye worship strange Gods,

         17:39. But fear the Lord, your God, and he shall deliver
         you out of the hand of all your enemies.

         17:40. But they did not hearken to them, but did according
         to their old custom.

         17:41. So these nations feared the Lord, but nevertheless
         served also their idols: their children also, and
         grandchildren, as their fathers did, so do they unto this
         day.

         4 Kings Chapter 18

         The reign of Ezechias: he abolisheth idolatry and
         prospereth.  Sennacherib cometh up against him: Rabsaces
         soliciteth the people to revolt; and blasphemeth the Lord.

         18:1. In the third year of Osee, the son of Ela, king of
         Israel, reigned Ezechias, the son of Achaz, king of Juda.

         18:2. He was five and twenty years old when he began to
         reign: and he reigned nine and twenty years in Jerusalem:
         the name of his mother was Abi, the daughter of Zacharias.

         18:3. And he did that which was good before the Lord,
         according to all that David, his father, had done

         18:4. He destroyed the high places, and broke the statues
         in pieces, and cut down the groves, and broke the brazen
         serpent, which Moses had made: for till that time the
         children of Israel burnt incense to it: and he called its
         name Nohestan.

         And he called its name Noheston... That is, their brass;
         or a little brass. So he called it in contempt, because
         they had made an idol of it.

         18:5. He trusted in the Lord, the God of Israel: so that
         after him there was none like him among all the kings of
         Juda, nor any of them that were before him:

         18:6. And he stuck to the Lord, and departed not from his
         steps, but kept his commandments, which the Lord commanded
         Moses.

         18:7. Wherefore the Lord also was with him, and in all
         things, to which he went forth, he behaved himself wisely.
         And he rebelled against the king of the Assyrians, and
         served him not.

         18:8. He smote the Philistines as far as Gaza, and all
         their borders, from the tower of the watchmen to the fenced
         city.

         18:9. In the fourth year of king Ezechias, which was the
         seventh vear of Osee, the son of Ela, king of Israel,
         Salmanasar, king of the Assyrians, came up to Samaria, and
         besieged it,

         18:1O. And took it. For after three years, in the sixth
         year of Ezechias, that is, in the ninth year of Osee, king
         of Israel, Samaria was taken:

         18:11. And the king of the Assyrians carried away Israel
         into Assyria, and placed them in Hala, and in Habor, by the
         rivers of Gozan, in the cities of the Medes.

         18:12. Because they hearkened not to the voice of the Lord,
         their God, but transgressed his covenant: all that Moses,
         the servant of the Lord, commanded, they would not hear,
         nor do.

         18:13. In the fourteenth year of king Ezechias,
         Sennacherib, king of the Assyrians, came up against the
         fenced cities of Juda, and took them.

         18:14. Then Ezechias, king of Juda, sent messengers to the
         king of the Assyrians, to Lachis, saying: I have offended,
         depart from me: and all that thou shalt put upon me, I will
         bear. And the king of the Assyrians put a tax upon
         Ezechias, king of Juda, of three hundred talents of silver,
         and thirty talents of gold.

         18:15. And Ezechias gave all the silver that was found in
         the house of the Lord, and in the king's treasures.

         18:16. At that time Ezechias broke the doors of the temple
         of the Lord, and the plates of gold which he had fastened
         on them, and gave them to the king of the Assyrians.

         18:17. And the king of the Assyrians sent Tharthan, and
         Rabsaris, and Rabsaces, from Lachis, to king Ezechias, with
         a strong army, to Jerusalem: and they went up and came to
         Jerusalem, and they stood by the conduit of the upper pool,
         which is in the way of the fuller's field.

         18:18. And they called for the king: and there went out to
         them Eliacim, the son of Helcias, who was over the house,
         and Sobna, the scribe, and Joahe, the son of Asaph, the
         recorder.

         18:19. And Rabsaces said to them: Speak to Ezechias: Thus
         saith the great king, the king of the Assyrians: What is
         this confidence, wherein thou trustest?

         18:20. Perhaps thou hast taken counsel, to prepare thyself
         for battle. On whom dost thou trust, that thou darest to
         rebel?

         18:21. Dost thou trust in Egypt a staff of a broken reed,
         upon which if a man lean, it will break and go into his
         hand, and pierce it? so is Pharao, king of Egypt, to all
         that trust in him.

         18:22. But if you say to me: We trust in the Lord, our God:
         is it not he, whose high places and altars Ezechias hath
         taken away: and hath commanded Juda and Jerusalem: You
         shall worship before this altar in Jerusalem?

         18:23. Now therefore come over to my master, the king of
         the Assyrians, and I will give you two thousand horses, and
         see whether you be able to have riders for them.

         18:24. And how can you stand against one lord of the least
         of my master's servants? Dost thou trust in Egypt for
         chariots and for horsemen?

         18:25. Is it without the will of the Lord that I am come up
         to this place to destroy it? The Lord said to me: Go up to
         this land, and destroy it.

         18:26. Then Eliacim, the son of Helcias, and Sobna, and
         Joahe, said to Rabsaces: We pray thee, speak to us, thy
         servants, in Syriac: for we understand that tongue: and
         speak not to us in the Jews' language, in the hearing of
         the people that are upon the wall.

         18:27. And Rabsaces answered them, saying: Hath my master
         sent me to thy master, and to thee, to speak these words,
         and not rather to the men that sit upon the wall, that they
         may eat their own dung, and drink their urine with you?

         18:28. Then Rabsaces stood, and cried out with a loud voice
         in the Jews' language, and said: Hear the word of the great
         king, the king of the Assyrians.

         18:29. Thus saith the king: Let not Ezechias deceive you:
         for he shall not be able to deliver you out of my hand.

         18:30. Neither let him make you trust in the Lord, saying:
         The Lord will surely deliver us, and this city shall not be
         given into the hand of the king of the Assyrians.

         18:31. Do not hearken to Ezechias. For thus saith the king
         of the Assyrians: Do with me that which is for your
         advantage, and come out to me: and every man of you shall
         eat of his own vineyard, and of his own fig tree: and you
         shall drink water of your own cisterns,

         18:32. Till I come, and take you away, to a land, like to
         your own land, a fruitful land, and plentiful in wine, a
         land of bread and vineyards, a land of olives, and oil, and
         honey, and you shall live, and not die. Hearken not to
         Ezechias, who deceiveth you, saying: The Lord will deliver
         us.

         18:33. Have any of the gods of the nations delivered their
         land from the hand of the king of Assyria?

         18:34. Where is the god of Emath, and of Arphad?  where is
         the god of Sepharvaim, of Ana, and of Ava?  have they
         delivered Samaria out of my hand?

         18:35. Who are they among all the gods of the nations that
         have delivered their country out of my hand, that the Lord
         may deliver Jerusalem out of my hand?

         18:36. But the people held their peace, and answered him
         not a word: for they had received commandment from the king
         that they should not answer him.

         18:37. And Eliacim, the son of Helcias, who was over the
         house, and Sobna, the scribe, and Joahe, the son of Asaph,
         the recorder, came to Ezechias, with their garments rent,
         and told him the words of Rabsaces.

         4 Kings Chapter 19

         Ezechias is assured of God's help by Isaias the prophet.
         The king of the Assyrians still threateneth and
         blasphemeth. Ezechias prayeth, and God promiseth to protect
         Jerusalem. An angel destroyeth the army of the Assyrians,
         their king returneth to Nineve, and is slain by his two
         sons.

         19:1. And when king Ezechias heard these words, he rent his
         garments, and covered himself with sackcloth, and went into
         the house of the Lord.

         19:2. And he sent Eliacim, who was over the house, and
         Sobna, the scribe, and the ancients of the priests, covered
         with sackcloths, to Isaias, the prophet, the son of Amos.

         19:3. And they said to him: Thus saith Ezechias: This day
         is a day of tribulation, and of rebuke, and of blasphemy:
         the children are come to the birth, and the woman in
         travail hath not strength.

         19:4. It may be the Lord, thy God, will hear all the words
         of Rabsaces, whom the king of the Assyrians, his master,
         hath sent to reproach the living God, and to reprove with
         words, which the Lord, thy God, hath heard: and do thou
         offer prayer for the remnants that are found.

         19:5. So the servants of king Ezechias came to Isaias.

         19:6. And Isaias said to them: Thus shall you say to your
         master: Thus saith the Lord: Be not afraid for the words
         which thou hast heard, with which the servants of the king
         of the Assyrians have blasphemed me.

         19:7. Behold I will send a spirit upon him, and he shall
         hear a message, and shall return into his own country, and
         I will make him fall by the sword in his own country.

         19:8. And Rabsaces returned, and found the king of the
         Assyrians besieging Lobna: for he had heard that he was
         departed from Lachis.

         19:9. And when he heard of Tharaca, king of Ethiopia:
         Behold, he is come out to fight with thee: and was going
         against him, he sent messengers to Ezechias, saying:

         19:10. Thus shall you say to Ezechias, king of Juda: Let
         not thy God deceive thee, in whom thou trustest: and do not
         say: Jerusalem shall not be delivered into the hands of the
         king of the Assyrians.

         19:11. Behold, thou hast heard what the kings of the
         Assyrians have done to all countries, how they have laid
         them waste: and canst thou alone be delivered?

         19:12. Have the gods of the nations delivered any of them,
         whom my fathers have destroyed, to wit, Gozan, and Haran,
         and Reseph, and the children of Eden, that were in
         Thelassar?

         19:13. Where is the king of Emath, and the king of Arphad,
         and the king of the city of Sepharvaim, and of Ana, and of
         Ava?

         19:14. And when Ezechias had received the letter of the
         hand of the messengers, and had read it, he went up to the
         house of the Lord, and spread it before the Lord,

         19:15. And he prayed in his sight, saying: O Lord God of
         Israel, who sittest upon the cherubims, thou alone art the
         God of all the kings of the earth: thou madest heaven and
         earth:

         19:16. Incline thy ear, and hear: open, O Lord, thy eyes
         and see: and hear all the words of Sennacherib, who hath
         sent to upbraid unto us the living God.

         19:17. Of a truth, O Lord, the kings of the Assyrians have
         destroyed nations, and the lands of them all.

         19:18. And they have cast their gods into the fire: for
         they were not gods, but the work of men's hands, of wood
         and stone, and they destroyed them.

         19:19. Now therefore, O Lord our God, save us from his
         hand, that all the kingdoms of the earth may know that thou
         art the Lord, the only God.

         19:20. And Isaias, the son of Amos, sent to Ezechias,
         saying: Thus saith the Lord, the God of Israel: I have
         heard the prayer thou hast made to me concerning
         Sennacherib, king of the Assyrians.

         19:21. This is the word that the Lord hath spoken of him:
         The virgin, the daughter of Sion, hath despised thee, and
         laughed thee to scorn: the daughtor of Jerusalem hath
         wagged her head behind thy back.

         19:22. Whom hast thou reproached, and whom hast thou
         blasphemed? against whom hast thou exalted thy voice, and
         lifted up thy eyes on high? against the holy one of Israel.

         19:23. By the hand of thy servants thou hast reproached the
         Lord, and hast said: With the multitude of my chariots I
         have gone up to the height of the mountains, to the top of
         Libanus, and have cut down its tall cedars, and its choice
         fir trees. And I have entered into the furthest parts
         thereof, and the forest of its Carmel.

         Carmel... A pleasant fruitful hill in the forest. These
         expressions are figurative, signifying under the names of
         mountains and forests, the kings and provinces whom the
         Assyrians had triumphed over.

         19:24. I have cut down, and I have drunk strange waters,
         and have dried up with the soles of my feet all the shut up
         waters.

         19:25. Hast thou not heard what I have done from the
         beginning? from the days of old I have formed it, and now I
         have brought it to effect: that fenced cities of fighting
         men should be turned to heaps of ruins:

         I have formed it, etc... All thy exploits, in which thou
         takest pride, are no more than what I have decreed; and
         are not to be ascribed to thy wisdom or strength, but to
         my will and ordinance: who have given to thee to take and
         destroy so many fenced cities, and to carry terror
         wherever thou comest.-Ibid. Heaps of ruin... Literally
         ruin of the hills.

         19:26. And the inhabitants of them were weak of hand, they
         trembled and were confounded, they became like the grass of
         the field, and the green herb on the tops of houses, which
         withered before it came to maturity.

         19:27. Thy dwelling, and thy going out, and thy coming in,
         and thy way I knew before, and thy rage against me.

         19:28. Thou hast been mad against me, and thy pride hath
         come up to my ears: therefore I will put a ring in thy
         nose, and a bit between thy lips, and I will turn thee back
         by the way by which thou camest.

         19:29. And to thee, O Ezechias, this shall be a sign: Eat
         this year what thou shalt find: and in the second year,
         such things as spring of themselves: but in the third year
         sow and reap: plant vineyards, and eat the fruit of them.

         19:30. And whatsoever shall be left of the house of Juda,
         shall take root downward, and bear fruit upward.

         19:31. For out of Jerusalem shall go forth a remnant, and
         that which shall be saved out of mount Sion: the zeal of
         the Lord of hosts shall do this.

         19:32. Wherefore thus saith the Lord concerning the king of
         the Assyrians: He shall not come into this city, nor shoot
         an arrow into it, nor come before it with shield, nor cast
         a trench about it.

         19:33. By the way that he came he shall return: and into
         this city he shall not come, saith the Lord.

         19:34. And I will protect this city, and will save it for
         my own sake, and for David, my servant's sake.

         19:35. And it came to pass that night, that an angel of the
         Lord came, and slew in the camp of the Assyrians a hundred
         and eighty-five thousand. And when he arose early in the
         morning, he saw all the bodies of the dead.

         19:36. And Sennacherib, king of the Assyrians, departing,
         went away, and he returned and abode in Ninive.

         19:37. And as he was worshipping in the temple of Nesroch,
         his god, Adramelech and Sarasar, his sons, slew him with
         the sword, and they fled into the land of the Armenians,
         and Asarhaddon, his son, reigned in his stead.

         4 Kings Chapter 20

         Ezechias being sick, is told by Isaias that he shall die;
         but praying to God, he obtaineth longer life, and in
         confirmation thereof receiveth a sign by the sun's
         returning back. He sheweth all his treasures to the
         ambassadors of the king of Babylon: Isaias reproving him
         for it, foretelleth the Babylonish captivity.

         20:1. In those days Ezechias was sick unto death: and
         Isaias, the son of Amos, the prophet, came and said to him:
         Thus saith the Lord God: Give charge concerning thy house,
         for thou shalt die, and not llve.

         20:2. And he turned his face to the wall, and prayed to the
         Lord, saying:

         20:3. I beseech thee, O Lord, remember how I have walked
         before thee in truth, and with a perfect heart, and have
         done that which is pleasing before thee. And Ezechias wept
         with much weeping.

         20:4. And before Isaias was gone out of the middle of the
         court, the word of the Lord came to him, saying:

         20:5. Go back, and tell Ezechias, the captain of my people:
         Thus saith the Lord, the God of David, thy father: I have
         heard thy prayer, and I have seen thy tears: and behold I
         have healed thee: on the third day thou shalt go up to the
         temple of the Lord.

         20:6. And I will add to thy days fifteen years: and I will
         deliver thee and this city out of the hand of the king of
         the Assyrians, and I will protect this city for my own
         sake, and for David, my servant's sake.

         20:7. And Isaias said: Bring me a lump of figs. And when
         they had brought it, and laid it upon his boil, he was
         healed.

         20:8. And Ezechias had said to Isaias: What shall be the
         sign that the Lord will heal me, and that I will go up to
         the temple of the Lord the third day?

         20:9. And Isaias said to him: This shall be the sign from
         the Lord, that the Lord will do the word which he hath
         spoken: Wilt thou that the shadow go forward ten lines, or
         that it go back so many degrees?

         20:10. And Ezechias said: It is an easy matter for the
         shadow to go forward ten lines: and I do not desire that
         this be done, but let it return back ten degrees.

         20:11. And Isaias, the prophet, called upon the Lord, and
         he brought the shadow ten degrees backwards by the lines,
         by which it had already gone down on the dial of Achaz.

         20:12. At that time Berodach Baladan, the son of Baladan,
         king of the Babylonians, sent letters and presents to
         Ezechias: for he had heard that Ezechias had been sick.

         20:13. And Ezechias rejoiced at their coming, and he shewed
         them the house of his aromatical spices, and the gold, and
         the silver, and divers precious odours, and ointments, and
         the house of his vessels, and all that he had in his
         treasures. There was nothing in his house, nor in all his
         dominions, that Ezechias shewed them not.

         20:14. And Isaias, the prophet, came to king Ezechias, and
         said to him: What said these men? or from whence came they
         to thee? And Ezechias said to him: From a far country, they
         came to me out of Babylon.

         20:15. And he said: What did they see in thy house?
         Ezechias said: They saw all the things that are in my
         house: There is nothing among my treasures that I have not
         shewed them.

         20:16. And Isaias said to Ezechias: Hear the word of the
         Lord.

         20:17. Behold the days shall come, that all that is in thy
         house, and that thy fathers have laid up in store unto this
         day, shall be carried into Babylon: nothing shall be left,
         saith the Lord.

         20:18. And of thy sons also that shall issue from thee,
         whom thou shalt beget, they shall take away, and they shall
         be eunuchs in the palace of the king of Babylon.

         20:19. Ezechias said to Isaias: The word of the Lord, which
         thou hast spoken, is good: let peace and truth be in my
         days.

         20:20. And the rest of the acts of Ezechias, and all his
         might, and how he made a pool, and a conduit, and brought
         waters into the city, are they not written in the book of
         the words of the days of the kings of Juda?

         20:21. And Ezechias slept with his fathers, and Manasses,
         his son reigned in his stead.

         4 Kings Chapter 21

         The wickedness of Manasses: God's threats by his prophets.
         His wicked son Amon succeedeth him, and is slain by his
         servants.

         21:1. Manasses was twelve years old when he began to reign,
         and he reigned five and fifty years in Jerusalem: the name
         of his mother was Haphsiba.

         21:2. And he did evil in the sight of the Lord, according
         to the idols of the nations, which the Lord destroyed from
         before the face of the children of Israel.

         21:3. And he turned, and built up the high places, which
         Ezechias, his father, had destroyed: and he set up altars
         to Baal, and made groves, as Achab, the king of Israel, had
         done: and he adored all the host of heaven, and served
         them.

         21:4. And he built altars in the house of the Lord, of
         which the Lord said: In Jerusalem I will put my name.

         21:5. And he built altars for all the host of heaven, in
         the two courts of the temple of the Lord.

         21:6. And he made his son pass through fire: and he used
         divinations, and observed omens, and appointed pythons, and
         multiplied soothsayers, to do evil before the Lord, and to
         provoke him.

         Pythons... That is, diviners by spirits.

         21:7. He set also an idol of the grove, which he had made,
         in the temple of the Lord: concerning which the Lord said
         to David, and to Solomon his son: In this temple, and in
         Jerusalem, which I have chosen out of all the tribes of
         Israel, I will put my name for ever.

         21:8. And I will no more make the feet of Israel to be
         moved out of the land, which I gave to their fathers: only
         if they will observe to do all that I have commanded them,
         according to the law which my servant Moses commanded them.

         21:9. But they hearkened not: but were seduced by Manasses,
         to do evil more than the nations which the Lord destroyed
         before the children of Israel.

         21:10. And the Lord spoke in the hand of his servants, the
         prophets, saying:

         21:11. Because Manasses, king of Juda, hath done these most
         wicked abominations, beyond all that the Amorrhites did
         before him, and hath made Juda also to sin with his filthy
         doings:

         21:12. Therefore thus saith the Lord, the God of Israel:
         Behold, I will bring on evils upon Jerusalem and Juda: that
         whosoever shall hear of them, both his ears shall tingle.

         21:13. And I will stretch over Jerusalem the line of
         Samaria, and the weight of the house of Achab: and I will
         efface Jerusalem, as writings tables are wont to be
         effaced, and I will erase and turn it, and draw the pencil
         often over the face thereof.

         21:14. And I will leave the remnants of my inheritance, and
         will deliver them into the hands of their enemies: and they
         shall become a prey, and a spoil to all their enemies.

         21:15. Because they have done evil before me, and have
         continued to provoke me, from the day that their fathers
         came out of Egypt, even unto this day.

         21:16. Moreover, Manasses shed also very much innocent
         blood, till he filled Jerusalem up to the mouth: besides
         his sins, wherewith he made Juda to sin, to do evil before
         the Lord.

         21:17. Now the rest of the acts of Manasses, and all that
         he did, and his sin, which he sinned, are they not written
         in the book of the words of the days of the kings of Juda?

         21:18. And Manasses slept with his fathers, and was buried
         in the garden of his own house, in the garden of Oza: and
         Amon, his son, reigned in his stead.

         21:19. Two and twenty years old was Amon when he began to
         reign, and he reigned two years in Jerusalem: the name of
         his mother was Messalemeth, the daughter of Harus, of
         Jeteba.

         21:20. And he did evil in the sight of the Lord, as
         Manasses, his father, had done.

         21:21. And he walked in all the way in which his father had
         walked: and he served the abominations which his father had
         served, and he adored them.

         21:22. And forsook the Lord, the God of his fathers, and
         walked not in the way of the Lord.

         21:23. And his servants plotted against him, and slew the
         king in his own house.

         21:24. But the people of the land slew all them that had
         conspired against king Amon: and made Josias, his son,
         their king in his stead.

         21:25. But the rest of the acts of Amon, which he did, are
         they not written in the book of the words of the days of
         the kings of Juda?

         21:26. And they buried him in his sepulchre, in the garden
         of Oza: and his son, Josias, reigned in his stead.

         4 Kings Chapter 22

         Josias repaireth the temple. The book of the law is found,
         upon which they consult the Lord, and are told that great
         evils shall fall upon them, but not in the time of Josias.

         22:1. Josias was eight years old when he began to reign: he
         reigned one and thirty years in Jerusalem: the name of his
         mother was Idida, the daughter of Hadaia, of Besecath.

         22:2. And he did that which was right in the sight of the
         Lord, and walked in all the ways of David, his father: he
         turned not aside to the right hand, or to the left.

         22:3. And in the eighteenth year of king Josias, the king
         sent Saphan, the son of Assia, the son of Messulam, the
         scribe of the temple of the Lord, saying to him:

         22:4 .Go to Helcias, the high priest, that the money may be
         put together which is brought into the temple of the Lord,
         which the doorkeepers of the temple have gathered of the
         people.

         22:5. And let it be given to the workmen by the overseers
         of the house of the Lord: and let them distribute it to
         those that work in the temple of the Lord, to repair the
         temple:

         22:6. That is, to carpenters and masons, and to such as
         mend breaches: and that timber may be bought, and stones
         out of the quarries, to repair the temple of the Lord.

         22:7. But let there be no reckoning made with them of the
         money which they receive, but let them have it in their
         power, and in their trust.

         22:8. And Helcias, the high priest, said to Saphan, the
         scribe: I have found the book of the law in the house of
         the Lord: and Helcias gave the book to Saphan, and he read
         it.

         The book of the law... That is, Deuteronomy.

         22:9. And Saphan, the scribe, came to the king, and brought
         him word again concerning that which he had commanded, and
         said: Thy servants have gathered together the money that
         was found in the house of the Lord: and they have given it
         to be distributed to the workmen, by the overseers of the
         works of the temple of the Lord.

         22:10. And Saphan, the scribe, told the king, saying:
         Helcias, the priest, hath delivered to me a book. And when
         Saphan had read it before the king,

         22:11. And the king had heard the words of the law of the
         Lord, he rent his garments.

         22:12. And he commanded Helcias, the priest, and Ahicam,
         the son of Saphan, and Achobor, the son of Micha, and
         Saphan, the scribe, and Asaia, the king's servant, saying:

         22:13. Go and consult the Lord for me, and for the people,
         and for all Juda, concerning the words of this book which
         is found: for the great wrath of the Lord is kindled
         against us, because our fathers have not hearkened to the
         words of this book, to do all that is written for us.

         22:14. So Helcias, the priest, and Ahicam, and Achobor, and
         Sapham, and Asaia, went to Holda, the prophetess, the wife
         of Sellum, the son of Thecua, the son of Araas, keeper of
         the wardrobe, who dwelt in Jerusalem, in the Second: and
         they spoke to her.

         The Second... A street, or part of the city, so called;
         in Hebrew, Massem.

         22:15. And she said to them: Thus saith the Lord, the God
         of Israel: Tell the man that sent you to me:

         22:16. Thus saith the Lord: Behold, I will bring evils upon
         this place, and upon the inhabitants thereof, all the words
         of the law which the king of Juda hath read:

         22:17. Because they have forsaken me, and have sacrificed
         to strange gods, provoking me by all the works of their
         hands: therefore my indignation shall be kindled against
         this place, and shall not be quenched.

         22:18. But to the king of Juda, who sent you to consult the
         Lord, thus shall you say: Thus saith the Lord, the God of
         Israel: for as much as thou hast heard the words of the
         book,

         22:19. And thy heart hath been moved to fear, and thou hast
         humbled thyself before the Lord, hearing the words against
         this place, and the inhabitants thereof, to wit, that they
         should become a wonder and a curse: and thou hast rent thy
         garments, and wept before me; I also have heard thee; saith
         the Lord.

         22:20. Therefore I will gather thee to thy fathers, and
         thou shalt be gathered to thy sepulchre in peace; that thy
         eyes may not see all the evils which I will bring upon this
         place.

         4 Kings Chapter 23

         Josias readeth the law before all the people. They promise
         to observe it. He abolisheth all idolatry, celebrateth the
         phase: is slain in battle by the king of Egypt. The short
         reign of Joachaz, in whose place Joakim is made king.

         23:1. And they brought the king word again what she had
         said. And he sent: and all the ancients of Juda and
         Jerusalem were assembled to him.

         23:2. And the king went up to the temple of the Lord, and
         all the men of Juda, and all the inhabitants of Jerusalem
         with him, the priests, and the prophets, and all the
         people, both little and great: and in the hearing of them
         all he read all the words of the book of the covenant,
         which was found in the house of the Lord.

         23:3. And the king stood upon the step: and he made a
         covenant with the Lord, to walk after the Lord, and to keep
         his commandments, and his testimonies, and his ceremonies,
         with all their heart, and with all their soul, and to
         perform the words of this covenant, which were written in
         that book: and the people agreed to the covenant.

         The king stood upon the step... That is, his tribune, or
         tribunal, a more eminent place, from whence he might be
         seen and heard by the people.

         23:4. And the king commanded Helcias, the high priest, and
         the priests of the second order, and the doorkeepers, to
         cast out of the temple of the Lord all the vessels that had
         been made for Baal, and for the grove, and for all the host
         of heaven: and he burnt them without Jerusalem, in the
         valley of Cedron, and he carried the ashes of them to
         Bethel.

         23:5. And he destroyed the soothsayers, whom the kings of
         Juda had appointed to sacrifice in the high places in the
         cities of Juda, and round about Jerusalem: them also that
         burnt incense to Baal, and to the sun, and to the moon, and
         to the twelve signs, and to all the host of heaven.

         23:6. And he caused the grove to be carried out from the
         house of the Lord, without Jerusalem, to the valley of
         Cedron, and he burnt it there, and reduced it to dust, and
         cast the dust upon the graves of the common people.

         23:7. He destroyed also the pavilions of the effeminate,
         which were in the house of the Lord, for which the women
         wove as it were little dwellings for the grove.

         23:8. And he gathered together all the priests out of the
         cities of Juda: and he defiled the high places, where the
         priests offered sacrifice, from Gabaa to Bersabee: and he
         broke down thc altars of the gates that were in the
         entering in of the gate of Josue, governor of the city,
         which was on the left hand of the gate of the city.

         23:9. However, the priests of the high places came not up
         to the altar of the Lord, in Jerusalem: but only eat of the
         unleavened bread among their brethren.

         23:10. And he defiled Topheth, which is in the valley of
         the son of Ennom: that no man should consecrate there his
         son, or his daughter, through fire, to Moloch.

         23:11. And he took away the horses which the kings of Juda
         had given to the sun, at the entering in of the temple of
         the Lord, near the chamber of Nathanmelech the eunuch, who
         was in Pharurim: and he burnt the chariots of the sun with
         fire.

         23:12. And the altars that were upon the top of the upper
         chamber of Achaz, which the kings of Juda had made, and the
         altars which Manasses had made in the two courts of the
         temple of the Lord, the king broke down: and he ran from
         thence, and cast the ashes of them into the torrent Cedron.

         23:13. The high places also that were at Jerusalem, on the
         right side of the Mount of Offence, which Solomon, king of
         Israel, had built to Astaroth, the idol of the Sidonians,
         and to Chamos, the scandal of Moab, and to Melchom, the
         abomination of the children of Ammon, the king defiled.

         23:14. And he broke in pieces the statues, and cut down the
         groves: and he filled their places with the bones of dead
         men.

         23:15. Moreover, the altar also that was at Bethel, and the
         high place, which Jeroboam, the son of Nabat, who made
         Israel to sin, had made: both the altar, and the high
         place, he broke down and burnt, and reduced to powder, and
         burnt the grove.

         23:16. And as Josias turned himself, he saw there the
         sepulchres that were in the mount: and he sent and took the
         bones out of the sepulchres, and burnt them upon the altar,
         and defiled it according to the word of the Lord, which the
         man of God spoke, who had foretold these things.

         23:17. And he said: What is that monument which I see? And
         the men of that city answered: It is the sepulchre of the
         man of God, who came from Juda, and foretold these things
         which thou hast done upon the altar of Bethel.

         23:18. And he said: Let him alone, let no man move his
         bones. So his bones were left untouched with the bones of
         the prophet, that came out of Samaria.

         23:19. Moreover all the temples of the high places which
         were in the cities of Samaria, which the kings of Israel
         had made to provoke the Lord, Josias took away: and he did
         to them according to all the acts that he had done in
         Bethel.

         23:20. And he slew all the priests of the high places, that
         were there, upon the altars; and he burnt men's bones upon
         them: and returned to Jerusalem.

         23:21. And he commanded all the people, saying: Keep the
         Phase to the Lord your God, according as it is written in
         the book of this covenant.

         23:22. Now there was no such a Phase kept from the days of
         the judges, who judged Israel, nor in all the days of the
         kings of Israel, and of the kings of Juda,

         23:23. As was this Phase, that was kept to the Lord in
         Jerusalem, in the eighteenth year of king Josias.

         23:24. Moreover the diviners by spirits, and soothsayers,
         and the figures of idols, and the uncleannesses, and the
         abominations, that had been in the land of Juda and
         Jerusalem, Josias took away: that he might perform the
         words of the law, that were written in the book, which
         Helcias the priest had found in the temple of the Lord.

         23:25. There was no king before him like unto him, that
         returned to the Lord with all his heart, and with all his
         soul, and with all his strength, according to all the law
         of Moses: neither after him did there arise any like unto
         him.

         23:26. But yet the Lord turned not away from the wrath of
         his great indignation, wherewith his anger was kindled
         against Juda: because of the provocations, wherewith
         Manasses had provoked him.

         23:27. And the Lord said: I will remove Juda also from
         before my face, as I have removed Israel: and I will cast
         off this city Jerusalem, which I chose, and the house, of
         which I said: My name shall be there.

         23:28. Now the rest of the acts of Josias, and all that he
         did, are they not written in the book of the words of the
         days of the kings of Juda?

         23:29. In his days Pharao Nechao, king of Egypt, went up
         against the king of Assyria to the river Euphrates: and
         king Josias went to meet him: and was slain at Mageddo,
         when he had seen him.

         23:30. And his servants carried him dead from Mageddo: and
         they brought him to Jerusalem, and buried him in his own
         sepulchre. And the people of the land took Joachaz, the son
         of Josias: and they anointed him, and made him king in his
         father's stead.

         23:31. Joachaz was three and twenty years old when he began
         to reign, and he reigned three months in Jerusalem: the
         name of his mother was Amital, the daughter of Jeremias, of
         Lobna.

         23:32. And he did evil before the Lord, according to all
         that his fathers had done.

         23:33. And Pharao Nechao bound him at Rebla, which is in
         the land of Emath, that he should not reign in Jerusalem:
         and he set a fine upon the land, of a hundred talents of
         silver, and a talent of gold.

         23:34. And Pharao Nechao made Eliacim, the son of Josias,
         king in the room of Josias his father: and turned his name
         to Joakim. And he took Joachaz away and carried him into
         Egypt, and he died there.

         23:35. And Joakim gave the silver and the gold to Pharao,
         after he had taxed the land for every man, to contribute
         according to the commandment of Pharao: and he exacted both
         the silver and the gold of the people of the land, of every
         man according to his ability: to give to Pharao Nechao.

         23:36. Joakim was five and twenty years old when he began
         to reign: and he reigned eleven years in Jerusalem: the
         name of his mother was Zebida, the daughter of Phadaia, of
         Ruma.

         23:37. And he did evil before the Lord according to all
         that his fathers had done.

         4 Kings Chapter 24

         The reign of Joakim, Joachin, and Sedecias.

         24:1. In his days Nabuchodonosor, king of Babylon came up,
         and Joakim became his servant three years: then again he
         rebelled against him.

         24:2. And the Lord sent against him the rovers of the
         Chaldees, and the rovers of Syria, and the rovers of Moab,
         and the rovers of the children of Ammon: and he sent them
         against Juda, to destroy it, according to the word of the
         Lord, which he had spoken by his servants, the prophets.

         The Lord sent against him the rovers... Latrunculos. Bands
         or parties of men, who pillaged and plundered wherever
         they came.

         24:3. And this came by the word of the Lord against Juda,
         to remove them from before him for all the sins of Manasses
         which he did;

         24:4. And for the innocent blood that he shed, filling
         Jerusalem with innocent blood: and therefore the Lord would
         not be appeased.

         24:5. But the rest of the acts of Joakim, and all that he
         did, are they not written in the book of the words of the
         days of the kings of Juda? And Joakim slept with his
         fathers:

         24:6. And Joachin, his son, reigned in his stead.

         24:7. And the king of Egypt came not again any more out of
         his own country: for the king of Babylon had taken all that
         had belonged to the king of Egypt, from the river of Egypt,
         unto the river Euphrates.

         24:8. Joachin was eighteen years old when he began to
         reign, and he reigned three months in Jerusalem: the name
         of his mother was Nohesta, the daughter of Elnathan, of
         Jerusalem.

         24:9. And he did evil before the Lord, according to all
         that his father had done.

         24:10. At that time the servants of Nabuchodonosor, king of
         Babylon, came up against Jerusalem, and the city was
         surrounded with their forts.

         24:11. And Nabuchodonosor, king of Babylon, came to the
         city, with his servants, to assault it.

         24:12. And Joachin, king of Juda, went out to the king of
         Babylon, he, and his mother, and his servants, and his
         nobles, and his eunuchs: and the king of Babylon received
         him in the eighth year of his reign.

         24:13. And he brought out from thence all the treasures of
         the house of the Lord, and the treasures of the king's
         house: and he cut in pieces all the vessels of gold which
         Solomon, king of Israel, had made in the temple of the
         Lord, according to the word of the Lord.

         24:14. And he carried away all Jerusalem, and all the
         princes, and all the valiant men of the army, to the number
         of ten thousand, into captivity: and every artificer and
         smith: and none were left, but the poor sort of the people
         of the land.

         24:15. And he carried away Joachin into Babylon, and the
         king's mother, and the king's wives, and his eunuchs: and
         the judges of the land he carried into captivity, from
         Jerusalem, into Babylon.

         24:16. And all the strong men, seven thousand, and the
         artificers, and the smiths, a thousand, all that were
         valiant men, and fit for war: and the king of Babylon led
         them captives into Babylon.

         24:17. And he appointed Matthanias, his uncle, in his
         stead: and called his name Sedecias.

         24:18. Sedecias was one and twenty years old when he began
         to reign, and he reigned eleven years in Jerusalem: the
         name of his mother was Amital, the daughter of Jeremias, of
         Lobna.

         24:19. And he did evil before the Lord, according to all
         that Joakim had done.

         24:20. For the Lord was angry against Jerusalem and against
         Juda, till he cast them out from his face: and Sedecias
         revolted from the king of Babylon.

         4 Kings Chapter 25

         Jerusalem is besieged and taken by Nabuchodonosor: Sedecias
         is taken: the city and temple are destroyed. Godolias, who
         is left governor, is slain. Joachin is exalted by
         Evilmerodach.

         25:1. And it came to pass in the ninth year of his reign,
         in the tenth month, the tenth day of the month, that
         Nabuchodonosor, king of Babylon, came, he and all his army,
         against Jerusalem: and they surrounded it: and raised works
         round about it.

         25:2. And the city was shut up and besieged till the
         eleventh year of king Sedecias,

         25:3. The ninth day of the month: and a famine prevailed in
         the city, and there was no bread for the people of the
         land.

         25:4. And a breach was made into the city: and all the men
         of war fled in the night between the two walls by the
         king's garden (now the Chaldees besieged the city round
         about), and Sedecias fled by the way that leadeth to the
         plains of the wilderness.

         25:5. And the army of the Chaldees pursued after the king,
         and overtook him in the plains of Jericho: and all the
         warriors that were with him were scattered, and left him:

         25:6. So they took the king, and brought him to the king of
         Babylon, to Reblatha, and he gave judgment upon him.

         25:7. And he slew the sons of Sedecias before his face, and
         he put out his eyes, and bound him with chains, and brought
         him to Babylon.

         25:8. In the fifth month, the seventh day of the month, the
         same is the nineteenth year of the king of Babylon, came
         Nabuzardan, commander of the army, a servant of the king of
         Babylon, into Jerusalem.

         25:9. And he burnt the house of the Lord, and the king's
         house, and the houses of Jerusalem, and every great house
         he burnt with fire.

         25:10. And all the army of the Chaldees, which was with the
         commander of the troops, broke down the walls of Jerusalem
         round about.

         25:11. And Nabuzardan, the commander of the army, carried
         away the rest of the people, that remained in the city, and
         the fugitives, that had gone over to the king of Babylon,
         and the remnant of the common people.

         25:12. But of the poor of the land he left some dressers of
         vines and husbandmen.

         25:13. And the pillars of brass that were in the temple of
         the Lord, and the bases, and the sea of brass, which was in
         the house of the Lord, the Chaldees broke in pieces, and
         carried all the brass of them to Babylon.

         25:14. They took away also the pots of brass, and the
         mazers, and the forks, and the cups, and the mortars, and
         all the vessels of brass, with which they ministered.

         25:15. Moreover also the censers, and the bowls, such as
         were of gold in gold: and such as were of silver in silver,
         the general of the army took away.

         25:16. That is, two pillars, one sea, and the bases which
         Solomon had made in the temple of the Lord: the brass of
         all these vessels was without weight.

         25:17. One pillar was eighteen cubits high: and the
         chapiter of brass, which was upon it, was three cubits
         high: and the network, and the pomegranates that were upon
         the chapiter of the pillar, were all of brass: and the
         second pillar had the like adorning.

         25:18. And the general of the army took Seraias, the chief
         priest, and Sophonias, the second priest, and three
         doorkeepers:

         25:19. And out of the city one eunuch, who was captain over
         the men of war: and five men of them who had stood before
         the king, whom he found in the city, and Sopher, the
         captain of the army, who exercised the young soldiers of
         the people of the land: and threescore men of the common
         people, who were found in the city:

         25:20. These Nabuzardan, the general of the army, took
         away, and carried them to the king of Babylon, to Reblatha.

         25:21. And the king of Babylon smote them, and slew them at
         Reblatha, in the land of Emath: so Juda was carried away
         out of their land.

         25:22. But over the people that remained in the land of
         Juda, which Nabuchodonosor, king of Babylon, had left, he
         gave the government to Godolias, the son of Ahicam, the son
         of Saphan.

         25:23. And when all the captains of the soldiers had heard
         this, they and the men that were with them, to wit, that
         the king of Babylon had made Godolias governor they came to
         Godolias to Maspha, Ismael, the son of Nathanias, and
         Johanan, the son of Caree, and Saraia, the son of
         Thanehumeth, the Netophathite, and Jezonias, the son of
         Maachathi, they and their men.

         25:24. And Godolias swore to them and to their men, saying:
         Be not afraid to serve the Chaldees: stay in the land, and
         serve the king of Babylon, and it shall be well with you.

         25:25. But it came to pass in the seventh month, that
         Ismael, the son of Nathanias, the son of Elisama, of the
         seed royal came, and ten men with him, and smote Godolias;
         so that he died: and also the Jews and the Chaldees that
         were with him in Maspha.

         25:26. And all the people, both little and great, and the
         captains of the soldiers, rising up, went to Egypt, fearing
         the Chaldees.

         25:27. And it came to pass in the seven and thirtieth year
         of the captivity of Joachin, king of Juda, in the twelfth
         month, the seven and twentieth day of the month:
         Evilmerodach, king of Babylon, in the year that he began to
         reign, lifted up the head of Joachin, king of Juda, out of
         prison.

         25:28. And he spoke kindly to him: and he set his throne
         above the throne of the kings that were with him in
         Babylon.

         25:29. And he changed his garments which he had in prison,
         and he ate bread always before him, all the days of his
         life.

         25:30. And he appointed him a continual allowance, which
         was also given him by the king, day by day, all the days of
         his life.

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