The Holy Bible

Part 18 out of 30

17:15. And Chusai said to Sadoc and Abiathar the priests: Thus and thus
did Achitophel counsel Absalom, and the ancients of Israel: and thus
and thus did I counsel them.

17:16. Now therefore send quickly, and tell David, saying: Tarry not
this night in the plains of the wilderness, but without delay pass
over: lest the king be swallowed up, and all the people that is with
him.

17:17. And Jonathan and Achimaas stayed by the fountain Rogel: and
there went a maid and told them: and they went forward, to carry the
message to king David, for they might not be seen, nor enter into the
city.

17:18. But a certain boy saw them, and told Absalom: but they making
haste went into the house of a certain man in Bahurim, who had a well
in his court, and they went down into it.

17:19. And a woman took, and spread a covering over the mouth of the
well, as it were to dry sodden barley and so the thing was not known.

17:20. And when Absalom's servants were come into the house, they said
to the woman: Where is Achimaas and Jonathan? and the woman answered
them: They passed on in haste, after they had tasted a little water.
But they that sought them, when they found them not, returned into
Jerusalem.

17:21. And when they were gone, they came up out of the well, and going
on told king David, and said: Arise, and pass quickly over the river:
for this manner of counsel has Achitophel given against you.

17:22. So David arose, and all the people that were with him, and they
passed over the Jordan, until it grew light, and not one of them was
left that was not gone ever the river.

17:23. But Achitophel seeing that his counsel was not followed, saddled
his ass, and arose and went home to his house and to his city, and
putting his house in order, hanged himself, and was buried in the
sepulchre of his father.

17:24. But David came to the camp, and Absalom passed over the Jordan,
he and all the men of Israel with him.

To the camp. . .The city of Mahanaim, the name of which, in Hebrew,
signifies The camp. It was a city of note at that time, as appears from
its having been chosen by Isboseth for the place of his residence.

17:25. Now Absalom appointed Amasa in Joab's stead over the army: and
Amasa was the son of a man who was called Jethra, of Jezrael, who went
in to Abigail the daughter of Naas, the sister of Sarvia who was the
mother of Joab.

17:26. And Israel camped with Absalom in the land of Galaad.

17:27. And when David was come to the camp, Sobi the son of Naas of
Rabbath of the children of Ammon, and Machir the son of Ammihel of
Lodabar and Berzellai the Galaadite of Rogelim,

17:28. Brought him beds, and tapestry, and earthen vessels, and wheat,
and barley, and meal, and parched corn, and beans, and lentils, and
fried pulse,

17:29. And honey, and butter, and sheep, and fat calves, and they gave
to David and the people that were with him, to eat: for they suspected
that the people were faint with hunger and thirst in the wilderness.

2 Kings Chapter 18

Absalom is defeated, and slain by Joab. David mourneth for him.

18:1. And David, having reviewed his people, appointed over them
captains of thousands and of hundreds,

18:2. And sent forth a third part of the people under the hand of Joab,
and a third part under the hand of Abisai the son of Sarvia Joab's
brother, and a third part under the hand of Ethai, who was of Geth: and
the king said to the people: I also will go forth with you.

18:3. And the people answered: Thou shalt not go forth: for if we flee
away, they will not much mind us: or if half of us should fall, they
will not greatly care: for thou alone art accounted for ten thousand:
it is better therefore that thou shouldst be in the city to succour us.

18:4. And the king said to them: What seemeth good to you, that will I
do. And the king stood by the gate: and all the people went forth by
their troops, by hundreds and by thousands.

18:5. And the king commanded Joab, and Abisai, and Ethai, saying: Save
me the boy Absalom. And all the people heard the king giving charge to
all the princes concerning Absalom.

18:6. So the people went out into the field against Israel, and the
battle was fought in the forest of Ephraim.

18:7. And the people of Israel were defeated there by David's army, and
a great slaughter was made that day of twenty thousand men.

18:8. And the battle there was scattered over the face of all the
country, and there were many more of the people whom the forest
consumed, than whom the sword devoured that day.

Consumed. . .Viz., by pits and precipices.

18:9. And it happened that Absalom met the servants of David, riding on
a mule: and as the mule went under a thick and large oak, his head
stuck in the oak: and while he hung between the heaven and the earth,
the mule on which he rode passed on.

18:10. And one saw this and told Joab, saying: I saw Absalom hanging
upon an oak.

18:11. And Joab said to the man that told him: If thou sawest him, why
didst thou not stab him to the ground, and I would have given thee ten
sicles of silver, and a belt?

18:12. And he said to Joab: If thou wouldst have paid down in my hands
a thousand pieces of silver, I would not lay my hands upon the king's
son for in our hearing the king charged thee, and Abisai, and Ethai,
saying: Save me the boy Absalom.

18:13. Yea and if I should have acted boldly against my own life, this
could not have been hid from the king, and wouldst thou have stood by
me?

18:14. And Joab said: Not as thou wilt, but I will set upon him in thy
sight. So he took three lances in his hand, and thrust them into the
heart of Absalom: and whilst he yet panted for life, sticking on the
oak,

18:15. Ten young men, armourbearers of Joab, ran up, and striking him
slew him.

18:16. And Joab sounded the trumpet, and kept back the people from
pursuing after Israel in their flight, being willing to spare the
multitude.

18:17. And they took Absalom, and cast him into a great pit in the
forest, and they laid an exceeding great heap of stones upon him: but
all Israel fled to their own dwellings.

18:18. Now Absalom had reared up for himself, in his lifetime, a
pillar, which is in the king's valley: for he said: I have no son, and
this shall be the monument of my name. And he called the pillar by his
own name, and it is called the hand of Absalom, to this day.

No son. . .The sons mentioned above, chap. 14.27, were dead when this
pillar was erected: unless we suppose he raised this pillar before they
were born.

18:19. And Achimaas the son of Sadoc said: I will run and tell the
king, that the Lord hath done judgment for him from the hand of his
enemies.

18:20. And Joab said to him: Thou shalt not be the messenger this day,
but shalt bear tidings another day: this day I will not have thee bear
tidings, because the king's son is dead.

18:21. And Joab said to Chusai: Go, and tell the king what thou hast
seen. Chusai bowed down to Joab, and ran.

18:22. Then Achimaas the son of Sadoc said to Joab again: Why might not
I also run after Chusai? And Joab said to him: Why wilt thou run, my
son? thou wilt not be the bearer of good tidings.

18:23. He answered: But what if I run? And he said to him: Run. Then
Achimaas running by a nearer way passed Chusai.

18:24. And David sat between the two gates: and the watchman that was
on the top of the gate upon the wall, lifting up his eyes, saw a man
running alone.

18:25. And crying out he told the king: and the king said: If he be
alone, there are good tidings in his mouth. And as he was coming apace,
and drawing nearer,

18:26. The watchman saw another man running, and crying aloud from
above, he said: I see another man running alone. And the king said: He
also is a good messenger.

18:27. And the watchman said: The running of the foremost seemeth to me
like the running of Achimaas the son of Sadoc. And the king said: He is
a good man: and cometh with good news.

18:28. And Achimaas crying out, said to the king: God save thee, O
king. And falling down before the king with his face to the ground, he
said: Blessed be the Lord thy God, who hath shut up the men that have
lifted up their hands against the lord my king.

18:29. And the king said: Is the young man Absalom safe? And Achimaas
said: I saw a great tumult, O king, when thy servant Joab sent me thy
servant: I know nothing else.

18:30. And the king said to him: Pass, and stand here.

18:31. And when he had passed, and stood still, Chusai appeared and
coming up he said: I bring good tidings, my lord, the king, for the
Lord hath judged for thee this day from the hand of all that have risen
up against thee.

18:32. And the king said to Chusai: Is the young man Absalom safe? And
Chusai answering him, said: Let the enemies of my lord, the king, and
all that rise against him unto evil, be as the young man is.

18:33. The king therefore being much moved, went up to the high chamber
over the gate, and wept. And as he went he spoke in this manner: My son
Absalom, Absalom my son: would to God that I might die for thee,
Absalom my son, my son Absalom.

Would to God. . .David lamented the death of Absalom, because of the
wretched state in which he died: and therefore would have been glad to
have saved his life, even by dying for him. In which he was a figure of
Christ weeping, praying and dying for his rebellious children, and even
for them that crucified him.

2 Kings Chapter 19

David, at the remonstrances of Joab, ceaseth his mourning. He is
invited back and met by Semei and Miphiboseth: a strife between the men
of Juda and the men of Israel.

19:1. And it was told Joab, that the king wept and mourned for his son:

19:2. And the victory that day was turned into mourning unto all the
people: for the people heard say that day: The king grieveth for his
son.

19:3. And the people shunned the going into the city that day as a
people would do that hath turned their backs, and fled away from the
battle.

19:4. And the king covered his head, and cried with a loud voice: O my
son Absalom, O Absalom my son, O my son.

19:5. Then Joab going into the house to the king, said: Thou hast
shamed this day the faces of all thy servants, that have saved thy
life, and the lives of thy sons, and of thy daughters, and the lives of
thy wives, and the lives of thy concubines.

19:6. Thou lovest them that hate thee, and thou hatest them that love
thee: and thou hast shewn this day that thou carest not for thy nobles,
nor for thy servants: and I now plainly perceive that if Absalom had
lived, and all we had been slain, then it would have pleased thee.

19:7. Now therefore arise, and go out, and speak to the satisfaction of
thy servants: for I swear to thee by the Lord, that if thou wilt not go
forth, there will not tarry with thee so much as one this night: and
that will be worse to thee, than all the evils that have befallen thee
from thy youth until now.

19:8. Then the king arose and sat in the gate: and it was told to all
the people that the king sat in the gate: and all the people came
before the king, but Israel fled to their own dwellings.

19:9. And all the people were at strife in all the tribes of Israel,
saying: The king delivered us out of the hand of our enemies, and he
saved us out of the hand of the Philistines: and now he is fled out of
the land for Absalom.

19:10. But Absalom, whom we anointed over us, is dead in the battle:
how long are you silent, and bring not back the king?

19:11. And king David sent to Sadoc, and Abiathar the priests, saying:
Speak to the ancients of Juda, saying: Why are you the last to bring
the king back to his house? (For the talk of all Israel was come to the
king in his house.)

19:12. You are my brethren, you are my bone, and my flesh, why are you
the last to bring back the king?

19:13. And say ye to Amasa: Art not thou my bone, and my flesh? So do
God to me and add more, if thou be not the chief captain of the army
before me always in the place of Joab.

19:14. And he inclined the heart of all the men of Juda, as it were of
one man: and they sent to the king, saying: Return thou, and all thy
servants.

19:15. And the king returned and came as far as the Jordan, and all
Juda came as far as Galgal to meet the king, and to bring him over the
Jordan.

19:16. And Semei the son of Gera the son of Jemini of Bahurim, made
haste and went down with the men of Juda to meet king David,

19:17. With a thousand men of Benjamin, and Siba the servant of the
house of Saul: and his fifteen sons, and twenty servants were with him:
and going over the Jordan,

19:18.They passed the fords before the king, that they might help over
the king's household, and do according to his commandment. And Semei
the son of Gera falling down before the king, when he was come over the
Jordan,

19:19. Said to him: Impute not to me, my lord, the iniquity, nor
remember the injuries of thy servant on the day that thou, my lord, the
king, wentest out of Jerusalem, nor lay it up in thy heart, O king.

19:20. For I thy servant acknowledge my sin: and therefore I am come
this day the first of all the house of Joseph, and am come down to meet
my lord the king.

19:21. But Abisai the son of Sarvia answering, said: Shall Semei for
these words not be put to death, because he cursed the Lord's anointed?

19:22. And David said: What have I to do with you, ye sons of Sarvia?
why are you a satan this day to me? shall there any man be killed this
day in Israel? do not I know that this day I am made king over Israel?

19:23. And the king said to Semei: Thou shalt not die. And he swore
unto him.

19:24. And Miphiboseth the son of Saul came down to meet the king, and
he had neither washed his feet, nor trimmed his beard: nor washed his
garments from the day that the king went out, until the day of his
return in peace.

19:25. And when he met the king at Jerusalem, the king said to him: Why
camest thou not with me, Miphiboseth?

19:26. And he answering, said: My lord, O king, my servant despised me:
for I thy servant spoke to him to saddle me an ass, that I might get on
and go with the king: for I thy servant am lame.

19:27. Moreover he hath also accused me thy servant to thee, my lord
the king: but thou my lord the king art as an angel of God, do what
pleaseth thee.

19:28. For all of my father's house were no better than worthy of death
before my lord the king; and thou hast set me thy servant among the
guests of thy table: what just complaint therefore have I? or what
right to cry any more to the king?

19:29. Then the king said to him: Why speakest thou any more? what I
have said is determined: thou and Siba divide the possessions.

19:30. And Miphiboseth answered the king: Yea, let him take all,
forasmuch as my lord the king is returned peaceably into his house.

19:31. Berzellai also the Galaadite coming down from Rogelim, brought
the king over the Jordan, being ready also to wait on him beyond the
river.

19:32. Now Berzellai the Galaadite was of a great age, that is to say,
fourscore years old, and he provided the king with sustenance when he
abode in the camp: for he was a man exceeding rich.

19:33. And the king said to Berzellai: Come with me that thou mayest
rest secure with me in Jerusalem.

19:34. And Berzellai said to the king: How many are the days of the
years of my life, that I should go up with the king to Jerusalem?

19:35. I am this day fourscore years old, are my senses quick to
discern sweet and bitter? or can meat or drink delight thy servant? or
can I hear any more the voice of singing men and singing women? why
should thy servant be a burden to my lord, the king?

19:36. I thy servant will go on a little way from the Jordan with thee:
I need not this recompense.

19:37. But I beseech thee let thy servant return, and die in my own
city, and be buried by the sepulchre of my father, and of my mother.
But there is thy servant Chamaam, let him go with thee, my lord, the
king, and do to him whatsoever seemeth good to thee.

19:38. Then the king said to him: Let Chamaam go over with me, and I
will do for him whatsoever shall please thee, and all that thou shalt
ask of me, thou shalt obtain.

19:39. And when all the people and the king had passed over the Jordan,
the king kissed Berzellai, and blessed him: and he returned to his own
place.

19:40. So the king went on to Galgal, and Chamaam with him. Now all the
people of Juda had brought the king over, and only half of the people
of Israel were there.

19:41. Therefore all the men of Israel running together to the king,
said to him: Why have our brethren the men of Juda stolen thee away,
and have brought the king and his household over the Jordan, and all
the men of David with him?

19:42. And all the men of Juda answered the men of Israel: Because the
king is nearer to me: why art thou angry for this matter? have we eaten
any thing of the king's, or have any gifts been given us?

19:43. And the men of Israel answered the men of Juda, and said: I have
ten parts in the king more than thou, and David belongeth to me more
than to thee: why hast thou done me a wrong, and why was it not told me
first, that I might bring back my king? And the men of Juda answered
more harshly than the men of Israel.

2 Kings Chapter 20

Seba's rebellion. Amasa is slain by Joab. Abela is besieged, but upon
the citizens casting over the wall the head of Seba, Joab departeth
with all his army.

20:1. And there happened to be there a man of Belial, whose name was
Seba, the son of Bochri, a man of Jemini: and he sounded the trumpet,
and said: We have no part in David, nor inheritance in the son of Isai:
return to thy dwellings, O Israel.

20:2. And all Israel departed from David, and followed Seba the son of
Bochri: but the men of Juda stuck to their king from the Jordan unto
Jerusalem.

20:3. And when the king was come into his house at Jerusalem, he took
the ten women his concubines, whom he had left to keep the house, and
put them inward, allowing them provisions: and he went not in unto
them, but they were shut up unto the day of their death living in
widowhood.

20:4. And the king said to Amasa: Assemble to me all the men of Juda
against the third day, and be thou here present.

20:5. So Amasa went to assemble the men of Juda, but he tarried beyond
the set time which the king had appointed him.

20:6. And David said to Abisai: Now will Seba the son of Bochri do us
more harm than did Absalom: take thou therefore the servants of thy
lord, and pursue after him, lest he find fenced cities, and escape us.

20:7. So Joab's men went out with him, and the Cerethi and the
Phelethi: and all the valiant men went out of Jerusalem to pursue after
Seba the son of Bochri.

20:8. And when they were at the great stone which is in Gabaon, Amasa
coming met them. And Joab had on a close coat of equal length with his
habit, and over it was girded with a sword hanging down to his flank,
in a scabbard, made in such manner as to come out with the least motion
and strike.

20:9. And Joab said to Amasa: God save thee, my brother. And he took
Amasa by the chin with his right hand to kiss him.

20:10. But Amasa did not take notice of the sword, which Joab had, and
he struck him in the side, and shed out his bowels to the ground, and
gave him not a second wound, and he died. And Joab, and Abisai his
brother pursued after Seba the son of Bochri.

20:11. In the mean time some men of Joab's company stopping at the dead
body of Amasa, said: Behold he that would have been in Joab's stead the
companion of David.

20:12. And Amasa imbrued with blood, lay in the midst of the way. A
certain man saw this that all the people stood still to look upon him,
so he removed Amasa out of the highway into the field, and covered him
with a garment, that they who passed might, not stop on his account.

20:13. And when he was removed out of the way, all the people went on
following Joab to pursue after Seba the son of Bochri.

20:14. Now he had passed through all the tribes of Israel unto Abela
and Bethmaacha: and all the chosen men were gathered together unto him.

Abela and Bethmaacha. . .Cities of the tribe of Nephtali.

20:15. And they came, and besieged him in Abela, and in Bethmaacha, and
they cast up works round the city, and the city was besieged: and all
the people that were with Joab, laboured to throw down the walls.

20:16. And a wise woman cried out from the city: Hear, hear, and say to
Joab: Come near hither, and I will speak with thee.

20:17. And when he was come near to her, she said to him: Art thou
Joab? And he answered: I am. And she spoke thus to him: Hear the
words of thy handmaid. He answered: I do hear.

20:18. And she again said: A saying was used in the old proverb: They
that inquire, let them inquire in Abela: and so they made an end.

20:19. Am not I she that answer truth in Israel, and thou seekest to
destroy the city, and to overthrow a mother in Israel? Why wilt thou
throw down the inheritance of the Lord?

20:20. And Joab answering said: God forbid, God forbid that I should, I
do not throw down, nor destroy.

20:21. The matter is not so, but a man of mount Ephraim, Seba the son
of Bochri by name, hath lifted up his hand against king David: deliver
him only, and we will depart from the city. And the woman said to Joab:
Behold his head shall be thrown to thee from the wall.

20:22. So she went to all the people, and spoke to them wisely: and
they cut off the head of Seba the son of Bochri, and cast it out to
Joab. And he sounded the trumpet, and they departed from the city,
every one to their home: and Joab returned to Jerusalem to the king.

20:23. So Joab was over all the army of Israel: and Banaias the son of
Joiada was over the Cerethites and Phelethites,

20:24. But Aduram over the tributes: and Josaphat the son of Ahilud was
recorder.

20:25. And Siva was scribe: and Sadoc and Abiathar, priests.

20:26. And Ira the Jairite was the priest of David.

2 Kings Chapter 21

A famine of three years, for the sin of Saul against the Gabaonites, at
whose desire seven of Saul's race are crucified. War again with the
Philistines.

21:1. And there was a famine in the days of David for three years
successively: and David consulted the oracle of the Lord. And the Lord
said: It is for Saul, and his bloody house, because he slow the
Gabaonites.

21:2. Then the king, calling for the Gabaonites, said to them: (Now the
Gabaonites were not of the children of Israel, but the remains of the
Amorrhites: and the children of Israel had sworn to them, and Saul
sought to slay them out of zeal, as it were for the children of Israel
and Juda:)

21:3. David therefore said to the Gabaonites: What shall I do for you?
and what shall be the atonement or you, that you may bless the
inheritance of the Lord?

21:4. And the Gabaonites said to him: We have no contest about silver
and gold, but against Saul and against his house: neither do we desire
that any man be slain of Israel. And the king said to them: What will
you then that I should do for you?

21:5. And they said to the king: The man that crushed us and oppressed
us unjustly, we must destroy in such manner that there be not so much
as one left of his stock in all the coasts of Israel.

21:6. Let seven men of his children be delivered unto us, that we may
crucify them to the Lord in Gabaa of Saul, once the chosen of the Lord.
And the king said: I will give them.

21:7. And the king spared Miphiboseth the son of Jonathan the son of
Saul, because of the oath of the Lord, that had been between David and
Jonathan the son of Saul.

21:8. So the king took the two sons of Respha the daughter of Aia, whom
she bore to Saul, Armoni, and Miphiboseth: and the five sons of Michol
the daughter of Saul, whom she bore to Hadriel the son of Berzellai,
that was of Molathi:

Of Michol. . .They were the sons of Merob, who was married to Hadriel:
but they are here called the sons of Michol, because she adopted them,
and brought them up as her own.

21:9. And gave them into the hands of the Gabaonites: and they
crucified them on a hill before the Lord: and these seven died together
in the first days of the harvest, when the barley began to be reaped.

21:10. And Respha the daughter of Aia took haircloth, and spread it
under her upon the rock from the beginning of the harvest, till water
dropped upon them out of heaven: and suffered neither the birds to tear
them by day, nor the beasts by night.

21:11. And it was told David, what Respha the daughter of Aia, the
concubine of Saul, had done.

21:12. And David went, and took the bones of Saul, and the bones of
Jonathan his son from the men of Jabes Galaad, who had stolen them from
the street of Bethsan, where the Philistines had hanged them when they
had slain Saul in Gelboe.

21:13. And he brought from thence the bones of Saul, and the bones of
Jonathan his son, and they gathered up the bones of them that were
crucified,

21:14. And they buried them with the bones of Saul, and of Jonathan his
son in the land of Benjamin, in the side, in the sepulchre of Cis his
father: and they did all that the king had commanded, and God shewed
mercy again to the land after these things.

21:15. And the Philistines made war again against Israel, and David
went down, and his servants with him, and fought against the
Philistines. And David growing faint,

21:16. Jesbibenob, who was of the race of Arapha, the iron of whose
spear weighed three hundred ounces, being girded with a new sword,
attempted to kill David.

21:17. And Abisai the son of Sarvia rescued him, and striking the
Philistine killed him. Then David's men swore unto him saying: Thou
shalt go no more out with us to battle, lest thou put out the lamp of
Israel.

21:18. There was also a second battle in Gob against the Philistines:
then Sobochai of Husathi slew Saph of the race of Arapha of the family
of the giants.

21:19. And there was a third battle in Gob against the Philistines, in
which Adeodatus the son of the Forrest an embroiderer of Bethlehem slew
Goliath the Gethite, the shaft of whose spear was like a weaver's beam.

Adeodatus the son of the Forrest. . .So it is rendered in the Latin
Vulgate, by giving the interpretation of the Hebrew names, which are
Elhanan the son of Jaare.

21:20. A fourth battle was in Geth: where there was a man of great
stature, that had six fingers on each hand, and six toes on each foot,
four and twenty in all, and he was of the race of Arapha.

21:21. And he reproached Israel: and Jonathan the son of Samae the
brother of David slew him.

21:22. These four were born of Arapha in Geth, and they fell by the
hand of David, and of his servants.

2 Kings Chapter 22

King David's psalm of thanksgiving for his deliverance from all his
enemies.

22:1. And David spoke to the Lord the words of this canticle, in the
day that the Lord delivered him out of the hand of all his enemies, and
out of the hand of Saul,

22:2. And he said: The Lord is my rock, and my strength, and my
saviour.

22:3. God is my strong one, in him will I trust: my shield, and the
horn of my salvation: he lifteth me up, and is my refuge: my saviour,
thou wilt deliver me from iniquity.

22:4. I will call on the Lord who is worthy to be praised: and I shall
be saved from my enemies.

22:5. For the pangs of death have surrounded me: the floods of Belial
have made me afraid.

22:6. The cords of hell compassed me: the snares of death prevented me.

22:7. In my distress I will call upon the Lord, and I will cry to my
God: and he will hear my voice out of his temple, and my cry shall come
to his ears.

22:8. The earth shook and trembled, the foundations of the mountains
were moved, and shaken, because he was angry with them.

22:9. A smoke went up from his nostrils, and a devouring fire out of
his mouth: coals were kindled by it.

22:10. He bowed the heavens, and came down: and darkness was under his
feet.

22:11. And he rode upon the cherubims, and flew: and slid upon the
wings of the wind.

22:12. He made darkness a covering round about him: dropping waters out
of the clouds of the heavens.

22:13. By the brightness before him, the coals of fire were kindled.

22:14. The Lord shall thunder from heaven: and the most high shall give
forth his voice.

22:15. He shot arrows and scattered them: lightning, and consumed them.

22:16. And the overflowings of the sea appeared, and the foundations of
the world were laid open at the rebuke of the Lord, at the blast of the
spirit of his wrath.

22:17. He sent from on high, and took me, and drew me out of many
waters.

22:18. He delivered me from my most mighty enemy, and from them that
hated me: for they were too strong for me.

22:19. He prevented me in the day of my affliction, and the Lord became
my stay.

22:20. And he brought me forth into a large place, he delivered me,
because I pleased him.

22:21. The Lord will reward me according to my justice: and according
to the cleanness of my hands he will render to me.

22:22. Because I have kept the ways of the Lord, and have not wickedly
departed from my God.

22:23. For all his judgments are in my sight: and his precepts I have
not removed from me.

22:24. And I shall be perfect with him: and shall keep myself from my
iniquity.

22:25. And the Lord will recompense me according to my justice: and
according to the cleanness of my hands in the sight of his eyes.

22:26. With the holy one thou wilt be holy: and with the valiant
perfect.

22:27. With the elect thou wilt be elect: and with the perverse thou
wilt be perverted.

22:28. And the poor people thou wilt save: and with thy eyes thou shalt
humble the haughty.

22:29. For thou art my lamp O Lord: and thou, O Lord, wilt enlighten my
darkness.

22:30. For in thee I will run girded: in my God I will leap over the
wall.

22:31. God, his way is immaculate, the word of the Lord is tried by
fire: he is the shield of all that trust in him.

22:32. Who is God but the Lord: and who is strong but our God?

22:33. God who hath girded me with strength, and made my way perfect.

22:34. Making my feet like the feet of harts, and setting me upon my
high places.

22:35. He teacheth my hands to war: and maketh my arms like a bow of
brass.

22:36. Thou hast given me the shield of my salvation: and thy mildness
hath multiplied me.

22:37. Thou shalt enlarge my steps under me: and my ankles shall not
fail.

22:38. I will pursue after my enemies, and crush them: and will not
return again till I consume them.

22:39. I will consume them and break them in pieces, so that they shall
not rise: they shall fall under my feet.

22:40. Thou hast girded me with strength to battle: thou hast made them
that resisted me to bow under me.

22:41. My enemies thou hast made to turn their back to me: them that
hated me, and I shall destroy them.

22:42. They shall cry, and there shall be none to save: to the Lord,
and he shall not hear them.

22:43. I shall beat them as small as the dust of the earth: I shall
crush them and spread them abroad like the mire of the streets.

22:44. Thou wilt save me from the contradictions of my people: thou
wilt keep me to be the head of the Gentiles: the people which I know
not, shall serve me,

22:45. The sons of the stranger will resist me, at the hearing of the
ear they will obey me.

22:46. The strangers are melted away, and shall be straitened in their
distresses.

22:47. The Lord liveth, and my God is blessed: and the strong God of my
salvation shall be exalted:

22:48. God who giveth me revenge, and bringest down people under me,

22:49. Who bringest me forth from my enemies, and liftest me up from
them that resist me: from the wicked man thou shalt deliver me.

22:50. Therefore will I give thanks to thee, O Lord, among the
Gentiles, and will sing to thy name.

22:51. Giving great salvation to his king, and shewing mercy to David
his anointed, and to his seed for ever.

2 Kings Chapter 23

The last words of David. A catalogue of his valiant men.

23:1. Now these are David's last words. David the son of Isai said: The
man to whom it was appointed concerning the Christ of the God of Jacob,
the excellent psalmist of Israel said:

23:2. The spirit of the Lord hath spoken by me and his word by my
tongue.

23:3. The God of Israel said to me, the strong one of Israel spoke, the
ruler of men, the just ruler in the fear of God.

23:4. As the light of the morning, when the sun riseth, shineth in the
morning without clouds, and as the grass springeth out of the earth by
rain.

As the light, etc. . .So shall be the kingdom of Christ.

23:5. Neither is my house so great with God, that he should make with
me an eternal covenant, firm in all things and assured. For he is all
my salvation, and all my will: neither is there ought thereof that
springeth not up.

Neither is my house, etc. . .As if he should say: This everlasting
covenant was not due to my house: but purely owing to his bounty; who
is all my salvation, and my will: that is, who hath always saved me,
and granted me what I beseeched of him; so that I and my house, through
his blessing, have sprung up, and succeeded in all things.

23:6. But transgressors shall all of them be plucked up as thorns:
which are not taken away with hands.

23:7. And if a man will touch them, he must be armed with iron and with
the staff of a lance: but they shall be set on fire and burnt to
nothing.

23:8. These are the names of the valiant men of David: Jesbaham sitting
in the chair was the wisest chief among the three, he was like the most
tender little worm of the wood, who killed eight hundred men at one
onset.

Jesbaham. . .The son of Hachamoni. For this was the name of this hero,
as appears from 1 Chron. or Paralip. 11.--Ibid. Most tender, etc. . .He
appeared like one tender and weak, but was indeed most valiant and
strong. It seems the Latin has here given the interpretation of the
Hebrew name of the hero, to whom Jesbaham was like, instead of the name
itself, which was Adino the Eznite, one much renowned of old for his
valour.

23:9. After him was Eleazar the son of Dodo the Ahohite, one of the
three valiant men that were with David when they defied the
Philistines, and they were there gathered together to battle.

Dodo. . .In Latin, Patrui ejus, which is the interpretation of the
Hebrew name Dodo. The same occurs in ver. 24.

23:10. And when the men of Israel were gone away, he stood and smote
the Philistines till his hand was weary, and grew stiff with the sword:
and the Lord wrought a great victory that day: and the people that were
fled away, returned to take spoils of them that were slain.

23:11. And after him was Semma the son of Age of Arari. And the
Philistines were gathered together in a troop: for there was a field
full of lentils. And when the people were fled from the face of the
Philistines,

23:12. He stood in the midst of the field, and defended it, and
defeated the Philistines: and the Lord gave a great victory.

23:13. Moreover also before this the three who were princes among the
thirty, went down and came to David in the harvest time into the cave
of Odollam: and the camp of the Philistines was in the valley of the
giants.

23:14. And David was then in a hold: and there was a garrison of the
Philistines then in Bethlehem.

23:15. And David longed, and said: O that some man would get me a drink
of the water out of the cistern, that is in Bethlehem, by the gate.

23:16. And the three valiant men broke through the camp of the
Philistines, and drew water out of the cistern of Bethlehem, that was
by the gate, and brought it to David: but he would not drink, but
offered it to the Lord,

23:17. Saying: The Lord be merciful to me, that I may not do this:
shall I drink the blood of these men that went, and the peril of their
lives? therefore he would not drink. These things did these three
mighty men.

23:18. Abisai also the brother of Joab, the son of Sarvia, was chief
among three: and he lifted up his spear against three hundred whom he
slew, and he was renowned among the three,

23:19. And the noblest of three, and was their chief, but to the three
first he attained not.

23:20. And Banaias the son of Joiada a most valiant man, of great
deeds, of Cabseel: he slew the two lions of Moab, and he went down, and
slew a lion in the midst of a pit, in the time of snow.

23:21. He also slew an Egyptian, a man worthy to be a sight, having a
spear in his hand: but he went down to him with a rod, and forced the
spear out of the hand of the Egyptian, and slew him with his own spear.

23:22. These things did Banaias the son of Joiada.

23:23. And he was renowned among the three valiant men, who were the
most honourable among the thirty: but he attained not to the first
three: and David made him of his privy council.

23:24. Asael the brother of Joab was one of the thirty, Elehanan the
son of Dodo of Bethlehem.

23:25. Semma of Harodi, Elica of Harodi,

23:26. Heles of Phalti, Hira the son of Acces of Thecua,

23:27. Abiezer of Anathoth, Mobonnai of Husati,

23:28. Selmon the Ahohite, Maharai the Netophathite,

23:29. Heled the son of Baana, also a Netophathite, Ithai the son of
Ribai of Gabaath of the children of Benjamin,

23:30. Banaia the Pharathonite, Heddai of the torrent Gaas,

23:31. Abialbon the Arbathite, Azmaveth of Beromi,

23:32. Eliaba of Salaboni. The sons of Jassen, Jonathan,

23:33. Semma of Orori, Aliam the son of Sarar the Arorite,

23:34. Eliphelet the son of Aasbai the son of Machati, Eliam the son of
Achitophel the Gelonite,

23:35. Hesrai of Carmel, Pharai of Arbi,

23:36. Igaal the son of Nathan of Soba, Bonni of Gadi,

23:37. Selec of Ammoni, Naharai the Berothite, armourbearer of Joab the
son of Sarvia,

23:38. Ira the Jethrite, Gareb also a Jethrite;

23:39. Urias the Hethite, thirty and seven in all.

2 Kings Chapter 24

David numbereth the people: God sendeth a pestilence, which is stopt by
David's prayer and sacrifice.

24:1. And the anger of the Lord was again kindled against Israel, and
stirred up David among them, saying: Go, number Israel and Juda.

Stirred up, etc. . .This stirring up was not the doing of God, but of
Satan; as it is expressly declared, 1 Chron. or Paralip. 21.1.

24:2. And the king said to Joab the general of his army: Go through all
the tribes of Israel from Dan to Bersabee, and number ye the people
that I may know the number of them.

24:3. And Joab said to the king: The Lord thy God increase thy people,
and make them as many more as they are now, and again multiply them a
hundredfold in the sight of my lord the king: but what meaneth my lord
the king by this kind of thing?

24:4. But the king's words prevailed over the words of Joab, and of the
captains of the army: and Joab, and the captains of the soldiers went
out from the presence of the king, to number the people of Israel.

24:5. And when they had passed the Jordan, they came to Aroer to the
right side of the city, which is in the vale of Gad.

24:6. And by Jazer they passed into Galaad, and to the lower land of
Hodsi, and they came into the woodlands of Dan. And going about by
Sidon,

24:7. They passed near the walls of Tyre, and all the land of the
Hevite, and the Chanaanite, and they came to the south of Juda into
Bersabee:

24:8. And having gone through the whole land, after nine months and
twenty days, they came to Jerusalem.

24:9. And Joab gave up the sum of the number of the people to the king,
and there were found of Israel eight hundred thousand valiant men that
drew the sword: and of Juda five hundred thousand fighting men.

24:10. But David's heart struck him, after the people were numbered:
and David said to the Lord: I have sinned very much in what I have
done: but I pray thee, O Lord, to take away the iniquity of thy
servant, because I have done exceeding foolishly.

David's heart struck him, after the people were numbered. . .That is he
was touched with a great remorse for the vanity and pride which had put
him upon numbering the people.

24:11. And David arose in the morning, and the word of the Lord came to
Gad the prophet and the seer of David, saying:

24:12. Go, and say to David: Thus saith the Lord: I give thee thy
choice of three things, choose one of them which thou wilt, that I may
do it to thee.

24:13. And when Gad was come to David, he told him, saying: Either
seven years of famine shall come to thee in thy land: or thou shalt
flee three months before thy adversaries, and they shall pursue thee:
or for three days there shall be a pestilence in thy land. Now
therefore deliberate, and see what answer I shall return to him that
sent me.

24:14. And David said to Gad: I am in a great strait: but it is better
that I should fall into the hands of the Lord (for his mercies are
many) than into the hands of men.

24:15. And the Lord sent a pestilence upon Israel, from the morning
unto the time appointed, and there died of the people from Dan to
Bersabee seventy thousand men.

24:16. And when the angel of the Lord had stretched out his hand over
Jerusalem to destroy it, the Lord had pity on the affliction, and said
to the angel that slew the people: It is enough: now hold thy hand.
And the angel of the Lord was by the thrashingfloor of Areuna the
Jebusite.

24:17. And David said to the Lord, when he saw the angel striking the
people: It is I; I am he that have sinned, I have done wickedly: these
that are the sheep, what have they done? let thy hand, I beseech thee,
be turned against me, and against my father's house.

24:18. And Gad came to David that day, and said: Go up, and build an
altar to the Lord in the thrashingfloor of Areuna the Jebusite.

24:19. And David went up according to the word of Gad which the Lord
had commanded him.

24:20. And Areuna looked, and saw the king and his servants coming
towards him:

24:21. And going out he worshipped the king, bowing with his face to
the earth, and said: Wherefore is my lord the king come to his servant?
And David said to him: To buy the thrashingfloor of thee, and build an
altar to the Lord, that the plague, which rageth among the people, may
cease.

24:22. And Areuna said to David: Let my lord the king take, and offer,
as it seemeth good to him: thou hast here oxen for a holocaust, and the
wain, and the yokes of the oxen for wood.

24:23. All these things Areuna as a king gave to the king: and Areuna
said to the king: The Lord thy God receive thy vow.

24:24. And the king answered him, and said: Nay, but I will buy it of
thee, at a price, and I will not offer to the Lord my God holocausts
free cost. So David bought the floor, and the oxen, for fifty sicles of
silver:

24:25. And David built there an altar to the Lord, and offered
holocausts and peace offerings: and the Lord became merciful to the
land, and the plague was stayed from Israel.

THE THIRD BOOK OF KINGS

This and the following Book are called by the holy fathers the third
and fourth book of Kings; but by the Hebrews, the first and second.
They contain the history of the kingdoms of Israel and Juda, from the
beginning of the reign of Solomon, to the captivity. As to the writer
of these books, it seems most probable they were not written by one
man; nor at one time; but as there was all along a succession of
prophets in Israel, who recorded, by divine inspiration, the most
remarkable things that happened in their days, these books seem to have
been written by these prophets. See 2 Paralip. alias 2 Chron. 9.29;
12.15; 13.22; 20.34; 26.22; 32.32.

3 Kings Chapter 1

King David growing old, Abisag a Sunamitess is brought to him. Adonias
pretending to reign, Nathan and Bethsabee obtain that Solomon should be
declared and anointed king.

1:1. Now king David was old, and advanced in years: and when he was
covered with clothes he was not warm.

1:2. His servants therefore, said to him: Let us seek for our Lord the
king, a young virgin, and let her stand before the king, and cherish
him, and sleep in his bosom and warm our lord the king.

1:3. So they sought a beautiful young woman, in all the coasts of
Israel and they found Abisag, a Sunamitess, and brought her to the
king.

1:4. And the damsel was exceedingly beautiful, and she slept with the
king, and served him, but the king did not know her.

1:5. And Adonias, the son of Haggith, exalted himself, saying: I will
be king. And he made himself chariots and horsemen, and fifty men to
run before him.

1:6. Neither did his father rebuke him at any time, saying: Why hast
thou done this? And he also was very beautiful, the next in birth after
Absalom.

1:7. And he conferred with Joab, the son of Sarvia, and with Abiathar,
the priest, who furthered Adonias's side.

1:8. But Sadoc, the priest, and Banaias, the son of Joiada, and Nathan,
the prophet, and Semei, and Rei, and the strength of David's army, was
not with Adonias.

1:9. And Adonias having slain rams and calves, and all fat cattle, by
the stone of Zoheleth, which was near the fountain Rogel, invited all
his brethren, the king's sons, and all the men of Juda, the king's
servants:

1:10. But Nathan, the prophet, and Banaias, and all the valiant men,
and Solomon, his brother, he invited not.

1:11. And Nathan said to Bethsabee, the mother of Solomon: Hast thou
not heard that Adonias, the son of Haggith, reigneth, and our lord
David knoweth it not?

1:12. Now then, come, take my counsel, and save thy life, and the life
of thy son Solomon.

1:13. Go, and get thee in to king David, and say to him: Didst not
thou, my lord, O king, swear to me, thy handmaid, saying: Solomon, thy
son, shall reign after me, and he shall sit on my throne? why then doth
Adonias reign?

1:14. And while thou art yet speaking there with the king, I will come
in after thee, and will fill up thy words.

1:15. So Bethsabee went in to the king into the chamber. Now the king
was very old, and Abisag, the Sunamitess, ministered to him.

1:16. Bethsabee bowed herself, and worshipped the king. And the king
said to her: What is thy will?

1:17. She answered, and said: My lord, thou didst swear to thy
handmaid, by the Lord thy God, saying: Solomon, thy son, shall reign
after me, and he shall sit on my throne.

1:18. And behold, now Adonias reigneth, and thou, my lord the king,
knowest nothing of it.

1:19. He hath killed oxen, and all fat cattle, and many rams, and
invited all the king's sons, and Abiathar, the priest, and Joab, the
general of the army: but Solomon, thy servant, he invited not.

1:20. And now, my lord, O king, the eyes of all Israel are upon thee,
that thou shouldst tell them, who shall sit on thy throne, my lord the
king, after thee.

1:21. Otherwise it shall come to pass, when my lord the king sleepeth
with his fathers, that I, and my son, Solomon, shall be accounted
offenders.

1:22. As she was yet speaking with the king, Nathan, the prophet, came.

1:23. And they told the king, saying: Nathan, the prophet, is here. And
when he was come in before the king, and had worshipped, bowing down to
the ground,

1:24. Nathan said: My lord, O king, hast thou said: Let Adonias reign
after me, and let him sit upon my throne?

1:25. Because he is gone down to day, and hath killed oxen, and
fatlings, and many rams, and invited all the king's sons, and the
captains of the army, and Abiathar the priest: and they are eating and
drinking before him, and saying: God save king Adonias:

1:26. But me, thy servant, and Sadoc, the priest, and Banaias, the son
of Joiada, and Solomon, thy servant, he hath not invited.

1:27. Is this word come out from my lord the king, and hast thou not
told me, thy servant, who should sit on the throne of my lord the king
after him?

1:28. And king David answered, and said: Call to me Bethsabee. And when
she was come in to the king, and stood before him,

1:29. The king swore, and said: As the Lord liveth, who hath delivered
my soul out of all distress,

1:30. Even as I swore to thee, by the Lord, the God of Israel, saying:
Solomon thy son, shall reign after me, and he shall sit upon my throne
in my stead, so will I do this day.

1:31. And Bethsabee, bowing with her face to the earth, worshipped the
king, saying: May my lord David live for ever.

1:32. King David also said: Call me Sadoc, the priest, and Nathan, the
prophet, and Banaias, the son of Joiada. And when they were come in
before the king,

1:33. He said to them: Take with you the servants of your lord, and set
my son Solomon upon my mule: and bring him to Gihon:

1:34. And let Sadoc, the priest, and Nathan, the prophet, anoint him
there king over Israel: and you shall sound the trumpet, and shall say:
God save king Solomon.

1:35. And you shall come up after him, and he shall come, and shall sit
upon my throne, and he shall reign in my stead: and I will appoint him
to be ruler over Israel, and over Juda.

1:36. And Banaias, the son of Joiada, answered the king, saying: Amen:
so say the Lord, the God of my lord the king.

1:37. As the Lord hath been with my lord the king, so be he with
Solomon, and make his throne higher than the throne of my lord king
David.

1:38. So Sadoc, the priest, and Nathan, the prophet, went down, and
Banaias, the son of Joiada, and the Cerethi, and Phelethi: and they set
Solomon upon the mule of king David, and brought him to Gihon.

1:39. And Sadoc, the priest, took a horn of oil out of the tabernacle,
and anointed Solomon: and they sounded the trumpet, and all the people
said: God save king Solomon.

1:40. And all the multitude went up after him, and the people played
with pipes, and rejoiced with a great joy, and the earth rang with the
noise of their cry.

1:41. And Adonias, and all that were invited by him, heard it, and now
the feast was at an end. Joab also, hearing the sound of the trumpet,
said: What meaneth this noise of the city in an uproar?

1:42. While he yet spoke, Jonathan, the son of Abiathar, the priest,
came: and Adonias said to him: Come in, because thou art a valiant man,
and bringest good news.

1:43. And Jonathan answered Adonias: Not so: for our lord, king David,
hath appointed Solomon king;

1:44. And hath sent with him Sadoc, the priest, and Nathan, the
prophet, and Banaias, the son of Joiada, and the Cerethi, and the
Phelethi, and they have set him upon the king's mule:

1:45. And Sadoc, the priest, and Nathan, the prophet, have anointed him
king, in Gihon: and they are gone up from thence rejoicing, so that the
city rang again: this is the noise that you have heard.

1:46. Moreover, Solomon sitteth upon the throne of the kingdom.

1:47. And the king's servants going in, have blessed our lord king
David, saying: May God make the name of Solomon greater than thy name,
and make his throne greater than thy throne. And the king adored in his
bed:

1:48. And he said: Blessed be the Lord, the God of Israel, who hath
given this day one to sit on my throne, my eyes seeing it.

1:49. Then all the guests of Adonias were afraid, and they all arose,
and every man went his way.

1:50. And Adonias fearing Solomon, arose and went, and took hold of the
horn of the altar.

1:51. And they told Solomon, saying: Behold Adonias fearing king
Solomon, hath taken hold of the horn of the altar, saying: Let king
Solomon swear to me this day, that he will not kill his servant with
the sword.

1:52. And Solomon said: If he be a good man, there shall not so much as
one hair of his head fall to the ground: but if evil be found in him,
he shall die.

1:53. Then king Solomon sent, and brought him out from the altar: and
going in, he worshipped king Solomon: and Solomon said to him: Go to
thy house.

3 Kings Chapter 2

David, after giving his last charge to Solomon, dieth. Adonias is put
to death: Abiathar is banished: Joab and Semei are slain.

1:1. And the days of David drew nigh that he should die, and he charged
his son Solomon, saying:

2:2. I am going the way of all flesh: take thou courage and shew
thyself a man.

2:3. And keep the charge of the Lord thy God, to walk in his ways, and
observe his ceremonies, and his precepts, and judgments, and
testimonies, as it is written in the law of Moses: that thou mayst
understand all thou dost, and whithersoever thou shalt turn thyself:

2:4. That the Lord may confirm his words, which he hath spoken of me,
saying: If thy children shall take heed to their ways, and shall walk
before me in truth, with all their heart, and with all their soul,
there shall not be taken away from thee a man on the throne of Israel.

2:5. Thou knowest also what Joab, the son of Sarvia, hath done to me,
what he did to the two captains of the army of Israel, to Abner, the
son of Ner, and to Amasa, the son of Jether: whom he slew, and shed the
blood of war in peace, and put the blood of war on his girdle that was
about his loins, and in his shoes that were on his feet.

Joab. . .These instructions given by David to his son, with relation to
Joab and Semei, proceeded not from any rancour of heart, or private
pique; but from a zeal for justice, that crimes so public and heinous
might not pass unpunished.

2:6. Do, therefore, according to thy wisdom, and let not his hoary head
go down to hell in peace.

To hell. . .This word hell doth not here signify the place or state of
damnation; but the place and state of the dead.

2:7. But shew kindness to the sons of Berzellai, the Galaadite, and let
them eat at thy table: for they met me when I fled from the face of
Absalom, thy brother.

2:8. Thou hast also with thee Semei, the son of Gera, the son of
Jemini, of Bahurim, who cursed me with a grievous curse, when I went to
the camp: but because he came down to meet me when I passed over the
Jordan, and I swore to him by the Lord, saying: I will not kill thee
with the sword:

2:9. Do not thou hold him guiltless. But thou art a wise man, and
knowest what to do with him, and thou shalt bring down his grey hairs
with blood to the grave.

2:10. So David slept with his fathers, and was buried in the city of
David.

2:11. And the days that David reigned in Israel, were forty years: in
Hebron he reigned seven years, in Jerusalem thirty-three.

2:12. And Solomon sat upon the throne of his father David, and his
kingdom was strengthened exceedingly.

2:13. And Adonias, the son of Haggith, came to Bethsabee the mother of
Solomon. And she said to him: Is thy coming peaceable? He answered:
It is peaceable.

2:14. And he added: I have a word to speak with thee. She said to him:
Speak. And he said:

2:15. Thou knowest that the kingdom was mine, and all Israel had
preferred me to be their king: but the kingdom is transferred, and is
become my brother's: for it was appointed him by the Lord.

2:16. Now therefore, I ask one petition of thee; turn not away my face.
And she said to him: Say on.

2:17. And he said I pray thee speak to king Solomon (for he cannot deny
thee any thing) to give me Abisag, the Sunamitess, to wife.

2:18. And Bethsabee said: Well, I will speak for thee to the king.

2:19. Then Bethsabee came to king Solomon, to speak to him for Adonias:
and the king arose to meet her, and bowed to her, and sat down upon his
throne: and a throne was set for the king's mother, and she sat on his
right hand.

2:20. And she said to him: I desire one small petition of thee; do not
put me to confusion. And the king said to her: My mother ask, for I
must not turn away thy face.

2:21. And she said: Let Abisag, the Sunamitess, be given to Adonias,
thy brother, to wife.

2:22. And king Solomon answered, and said to his mother: Why dost thou
ask Abisag, the Sunamitess, for Adonias? ask for him also the kingdom;
for he is my elder brother, and hath Abiathar, the priest, and Joab,
the son of Sarvia.

2:23. Then king Solomon swore by the Lord, saying: So and so may God do
to me, and add more, if Adonias hath not spoken this word against his
own life.

2:24. And now, as the Lord liveth, who hath established me, and placed
me upon the throne of David, my father, and who hath made me a house,
as he promised, Adonias shall be put to death this day.

2:25. And king Solomon sent by the hand of Banaias, the son of Joiada,
who slew him, and he died.

2:26. And the king said also to Abiathar, the priest: Go to Anathoth,
to thy lands, for indeed thou art worthy of death: but I will not at
this time put thee to death, because thou didst carry the ark of the
Lord God before David, my father, and hast endured trouble in all the
troubles my father endured.

2:27. So Solomon cast out Abiathar from being the priest of the Lord,
that the word of the Lord might be fulfilled, which he spoke concerning
the house of Heli in Silo.

2:28. And the news came to Joab, because Joab had turned after Adonias,
and had not turned after Solomon: and Joab fled into the tabernacle of
the Lord, and took hold on the horn of the altar.

2:29. And it was told king Solomon, that Joab was fled into the
tabernacle of the Lord, and was by the altar: and Solomon sent Banaias,
the son of Joiada, saying. Go, kill him.

2:30. And Banaias came to the tabernacle of the Lord, and said to him:
Thus saith the king: Come forth. And he said: I will not come forth,
but here I will die. Banaias brought word back to the king, saying:
Thus saith Joab, and thus he answered me.

2:31. And the king said to him: Do as he hath said; and kill him, and
bury him, and thou shalt remove the innocent blood which hath been shed
by Joab, from me, and from the house of my father:

2:32. And the Lord shall return his blood upon his own head; because he
murdered two men, just and better than himself: and slew them with the
sword, my father, David, not knowing it; Abner, the son of Ner, general
of the army of Israel, and Amasa, the son of Jether general of the army
of Juda;

2:33. And their blood shall return upon the head of Joab, and upon the
head of his seed for ever. But to David and his seed, and his house,
and to his throne, be peace for ever from the Lord.

2:34. So Banaias, the son of Joiada, went up, and setting upon him slew
him, and he was buried in his house in the desert.

2:35. And the king appointed Banaias, the son of Joiada in his room
over the army; and Sadoc, the priest, he put in the place of Abiathar.

2:36. The king also sent, and called for Semei, and said to him: Build
thee a house in Jerusalem, and dwell there: and go not out from thence
any where.

2:37. For on what day soever thou shalt go out, and shalt pass over the
brook Cedron, know that thou shalt be put to death: thy blood shall be
upon thy own head.

2:38. And Semei said to the king: The saying is good: as my lord the
king hath said, so will thy servant do. And Semei dwelt in Jerusalem
many days.

2:39. And it came to pass after three years, that the servants of Semei
ran away to Achis, the son of Maacha, the king of Geth: and it was told
Semei that his servants were gone to Geth.

2:40. And Semei arose, and saddled his ass, and went to Achis, to Geth,
to seek his servants, and he brought them out of Geth.

2:41. And it was told Solomon, that Semei had gone from Jerusalem to
Geth, and was come back.

2:42. And sending he called for him, and said to him: Did I not protest
to thee by the Lord, and tell thee before: On what day soever thou
shalt go out and walk abroad any where, know that thou shalt die? And
thou answeredst me: The word that I have heard is good.

2:43. Why then hast thou not kept the oath of the Lord, and the
commandment that I laid upon thee?

2:44. And the king said to Semei: Thou knowest all the evil, of which
thy heart is conscious, which thou didst to David, my father: the Lord
hath returned thy wickedness upon thy own head.

2:45. And king Solomon shall be blessed, and the throne of David shall
be established before the Lord for ever.

2:46. So the king commanded Banaias, the son of Joiada: and he went out
and struck him; and he died.

3 Kings Chapter 3

Solomon marrieth Pharao's daughter. He sacrificeth in Gabaon: in the
choice which God gave him he preferreth wisdom. His wise judgment
between the two harlots.

3:1. And the kingdom was established in the hand of Solomon, and he
made affinity with Pharao, the king of Egypt: for he took his daughter,
and brought her into the city of David: until he had made an end of
building his own house, and the house of the Lord, and the wall of
Jerusalem round about.

3:2. But yet the people sacrificed in the high places: for there was no
temple built to the name of the Lord until that day.

High places. . .That is, altars where they worshipped the Lord, but not
according to the ordinance of the law; which allowed of no other places
for sacrifice but the temple of God. Among these high places that of
Gabaon was the chiefest, because there was the tabernacle of the
testimony, which had been removed from Silo to Nobe and from Nobe to
Gabaon.

3:3. And Solomon loved the Lord, walking in the precepts of David, his
father; only he sacrificed in the high places, and burnt incense.

3:4. He went therefore to Gabaon, to sacrifice there: for that was the
great high place: a thousand victims for holocausts, did Solomon offer
upon that altar, in Gabaon.

3:5. And the Lord appeared to Solomon in a dream by night, saying: Ask
what thou wilt that I should give thee.

3:6. And Solomon said: Thou hast shewed great mercy to thy servant
David, my father, even as he walked before thee in truth, and justice,
and an upright heart with thee: and thou hast kept thy great mercy for
him, and hast given him a son to sit on his throne, as it is this day.

3:7. And now, O Lord God, thou hast made thy servant king instead of
David, my father: and I am but a child, and know not how to go out and
come in;

3:8. And thy servant is in the midst of the people which thou hast
chosen, an immense people, which cannot be numbered nor counted for
multitude.

3:9. Give therefore to thy servant an understanding heart, to judge thy
people, and discern between good and evil. For who shall be able to
judge this people, thy people, which is so numerous?

3:10. And the word was pleasing to the Lord, that Solomon had asked
such a thing.

3:11. And the Lord said to Solomon: Because thou hast asked this thing,
and hast not asked for thyself long life nor riches, nor the lives of
thy enemies, but hast asked for thyself wisdom to discern judgment;

3:12. Behold I have done for thee according to thy words, and have
given thee a wise and understanding heart, in so much that there hath
been no one like thee before thee, nor shall arise after thee.

3:13. Yea, and the things also which thou didst not ask, I have given
thee; to wit, riches and glory: so that no one hath been like thee
among the kings in all days heretofore.

3:14. And if thou wilt walk in my ways, and keep my precepts and my
commandments, as thy father walked, I will lengthen thy days.

3:15. And Solomon awaked, and perceived that it was a dream: and when
he was come to Jerusalem, he stood before the ark of the covenant of
the Lord, and offered holocausts, and sacrificed victims of peace
offerings, and made a great feast for all his servants.

3:16. Then there came two women that were harlots, to the king, and
stood before him.

3:17. And one of them said: I beseech thee, my lord, I and this woman
dwelt in one house, and I was delivered of a child with her in the
chamber.

3:18. And the third day after I was delivered, she also was delivered;
and we were together, and no other person with us in the house; only we
two.

3:19. And this woman's child died in the night: for in her sleep she
overlaid him.

3:20. And rising in the dead time of the night, she took my child from
my side, while I, thy handmaid, was asleep, and laid it in her bosom:
and laid her dead child in my bosom.

3:21. And when I arose in the morning, to give my child suck, behold it
was dead: but considering him more diligently, when it was clear day, I
found that it was not mine which I bore.

3:22. And the other woman answered: It is not so as thou sayest, but
thy child is dead, and mine is alive. On the contrary, she said; Thou
liest: for my child liveth, and thy child is dead. And in this manner
they strove before the king.

3:23. Then said the king: The one saith, My child is alive, and thy
child is dead. And the other answereth: Nay; but thy child is dead, and
mine liveth.

3:24. The king therefore said: Bring me a sword. And when they had
brought a sword before the king,

3:25. Divide, said he, the living child in two, and give half to the
one and half to the other.

3:26. But the woman, whose child was alive, said to the king; (for her
bowels were moved upon her child) I beseech thee, my lord, give her the
child alive, and do not kill it. But the other said: Let it be neither
mine nor thine; but divide it.

3:27. The king answered, and said: Give the living child to this woman,
and let it not be killed; for she is the mother thereof.

3:28. And all Israel heard the judgment which the king had judged, and
they feared the king, seeing that the wisdom of God was in him to do
judgment.

3 Kings Chapter 4

Solomon's chief officers. His riches and wisdom.

4:1. And king Solomon reigned over all Israel:

4:2. And these were the princes which he had: Azarias, the son of
Sadoc, the priest:

4:3. Elihoreph, and Ahia, the sons of Sisa, scribes: Josaphat, the son
of Ahilud, recorder:

4:4. Banaias, the son of Joiada, over the army: and Sadoc, and
Abiathar, priests.

Abiathar. . .By this it appears that Abiathar was not altogether deposed
from the high priesthood; but only banished to his country house, and
by that means excluded from the exercise of his functions.

4:5. Azarias, the son of Nathan, over them that were about the king:
Zabud, the son of Nathan, the priest, the king's friend:

4:6. And Ahisar, governor of the house: and Adoniram, the son of Abda,
over the tribute.

4:7. And Solomon had twelve governors over all Israel, who provided
victuals for the king and for his house hold: for every one provided
necessaries, each man his month in the year.

4:8. And these are their names: Benhur, in mount Ephraim.

4:9. Bendecar, in Macces, and in Salebim, and in Bethsames, and in
Elon, and in Bethanan.

4:10. Benhesed, in Aruboth: his was Socho, and all the land of Epher.

4:11. Benabinadab, to whom belonged all Nephath-Dor: he had Tapheth,
the daughter of Solomon, to wife.

4:12. Bana, the son of Ahilud, who governed Thanac, and Mageddo, and
all Bethsan, which is by Sarthana, beneath Jezrael, from Bethsan unto
Abelmehula, over against Jecmaan.

4:13. Bengaber, in Ramoth Galaad: he had the town of Jair, the son of
Manasses, in Galaad: he was chief in all the country of Argob, which is
in Basan, threescore great cities with walls, and brazen bolts.

4:14. Ahinadab, the son of Addo, was chief in Manaim.

4:15. Achimaas, in Nephthali: he also had Basemath, the daughter of
Solomon, to wife.

4:16. Baana, the son of Husi, in Aser, and in Baloth.

4:17. Josaphat, the son of Pharue, in Issachar.

4:18. Semei, the son of Ela, in Benjamin.

4:19. Gaber, the son of Uri, in the land of Galaad, in the land of
Sehon, the king of the Amorrhites, and of Og, the king of Basan, over
all that were in that land.

4:20. Juda and Israel were innumerable, as the sand of the sea in
multitude; eating and drinking, and rejoicing.

4:21. And Solomon had under him all the kingdoms, from the river to the
land of the Philistines, even to the border of Egypt: and they brought
him presents, and served him all the days of his life.

The river. . .Euphrates.

4:22. And the provision of Solomon, for each day, was thirty measures
of fine flour, and threescore measures of meal;

4:23. Ten fat oxen, and twenty out of the pastures, and a hundred rams;
besides venison of harts, roes, and buffles, and fatted fowls.

4:24. For he had all the country which was beyond the river, from
Thaphsa to Gazan, and all the kings of those countries: and he had
peace on every side round about.

4:25. And Juda, and Israel, dwelt without any fear, every one under his
vine, and under his fig tree, from Dan to Bersabee, all the days of
Solomon.

4:26. And Solomon had forty thousand stalls of chariot horses, and
twelve thousand for the saddle.

4:27. And the foresaid governors of the king fed them; and they
furnished the necessaries also for king Solomon's table, with great
care, in their time.

4:28. They brought barley also, and straw for the horses and beasts, to
the place where the king was, according as it was appointed them.

4:29. And God gave to Solomon wisdom, and understanding exceeding much,
and largeness of heart, as the sand that is on the sea shore.

4:30. And the wisdom of Solomon surpassed the wisdom of all the
Orientals, and of the Egyptians;

4:31. And he was wiser than all men: wiser than Ethan, the Ezrahite,
and Heman, and Chalcol, and Dorda, the sons of Mahol, and he was
renowned in all nations round about.

4:32. Solomon also spoke three thousand parables: and his poems were a
thousand and five.

Three thousand parables, etc. . .These works are all lost, excepting
some part of the parables extant in the book of Proverbs; and his chief
poem called the Canticle of Canticles.

4:33. And he treated about trees, from the cedar that is in Libanus,
unto the hyssop that cometh out of the wall: and he discoursed of
beasts, and of fowls, and of creeping things, and of fishes.

4:34. And they came from all nations to hear the wisdom of Solomon, and
from all the kings of the earth, who heard of his wisdom.

3 Kings Chapter 5

Hiram king of Tyre agreeth to furnish timber and workmen for building
the temple: the number of workmen and overseers.

5:1. And Hiram, king of Tyre, sent his servants to Solomon: for he
heard that they had anointed him king in the room of his father: for
Hiram had always been David's friend.

5:2. Solomon sent to Hiram, saying:

5:3. Thou knowest the will of David, my father, and that he could not
build a house to the name of the Lord his God, because of the wars that
were round about him, until the Lord put them under the soles of his
feet.

5:4. But now the Lord my God hath given me rest round about; and there
is no adversary nor evil occurrence.

5:5. Wherefore I purpose to build a temple to the name of the Lord my
God, as the Lord spoke to David my father, saying: Thy son, whom I will
set upon the throne, in thy place, he shall build a house to my name.

5:6. Give orders, therefore, that thy servants cut me down cedar trees,
out of Libanus, and let my servants be with thy servants: and I will
give thee the hire of thy servants whatsoever thou wilt ask: for thou
knowest how there is not among my people a man that has skill to hew
wood like to the Sidonians.

5:7. Now when Hiram had heard the words of Solomon, he rejoiced
exceedingly, and said: Blessed be the Lord God this day, who hath given
to David a very wise son over this numerous people.

5:8. And Hiram sent to Solomon, saying: I have heard all thou hast
desired of me; and I will do all thy desire concerning cedar trees, and
fir trees.

5:9. My servants shall bring them down from Libanus to the sea: and I
will put them together in floats, on the sea, and convey them to the
place, which thou shalt signify to me, and will land them there, and
thou shalt receive them: and thou shalt allow me necessaries to furnish
food for my household.

5:10. So Hiram gave Solomon cedar trees, and fir trees, according to
all his desire.

5:11. And Solomon allowed Hiram twenty thousand measures of wheat, for
provision for his house, and twenty measures of the purest oil: thus
gave Solomon to Hiram every year.

5:12. And the Lord gave wisdom to Solomon, as he promised him: and
there was peace between Hiram and Solomon, and they two made a league
together.

5:13. And king Solomon chose workmen out of all Israel, and the levy
was of thirty thousand men.

5:14. And he sent them to Libanus, ten thousand every month, by turns,
so that two months they were at home: and Adoniram was over this levy.

5:15. And Solomon had seventy thousand to carry burdens, and eighty
thousand to hew stones in the mountain:

5:16. Besides the overseers who were over every work, in number three
thousand and three hundred, that ruled over the people, and them that
did the work.

5:17. And the king commanded that they should bring great stones,
costly stones, for the foundation of the temple, and should square
them:

5:18. And the masons of Solomon, and the masons of Hiram, hewed them:
and the Giblians prepared timber and stones to build the house.

3 Kings Chapter 6

The building of Solomon's temple.

6:1. And it came to pass in the four hundred and eightieth year after
the children of Israel came out of the land of Egypt, in the fourth
year of the reign of Solomon over Israel, in the month Zio, (the same
is the second month) he began to build a house to the Lord.

6:2. And the house, which king Solomon built to the Lord, was
threescore cubits in length, and twenty cubits in breadth, and thirty
cubits in height.

6:3. And there was a porch before the temple, of twenty cubits in
length, according to the measure of the breadth of the temple: and it
was ten cubits in breadth, before the face of the temple.

6:4. And he made in the temple oblique windows.

6:5. And upon the wall of the temple, he built floors round about, in
the walls of the house, round about the temple and the oracle, and he
made chambers in the sides round about.

Upon the wall, i. e., joining to the wall.--Ibid. He built floors round
about. . .Chambers or cells adjoining to the temple, for the use of the
temple and of the priests, so contrived as to be between the inward and
outward wall of the temple, in three stories, one above another.--Ibid.
The oracle. . .The inner temple or holy of holies, where God gave his
oracles.

6:6. The floor that was underneath was five cubits in breadth, and the
middle floor was six cubits in breadth, and the third floor was seven
cubits in breadth. And he put beams in the house round about on the
outside, that they might not be fastened in the walls of the temple.

6:7. And the house, when it was in building, was built of stones, hewed
and made ready: so that there was neither hammer nor axe, nor any tool
of iron heard in the house when it was in building.

Made ready, etc. . .So the stones for the building of God's eternal
temple in the heavenly Jerusalem, (who are the faithful,) must first be
hewn and polished here by many trials and sufferings, before they can
be admitted to have a place in that celestial structure.

6:8. The door, for the middle side, was on the right hand of the house:
and by winding stairs they went up to the middle room, and from the
middle to the third.

6:9. So he built the house, and finished it: and he covered the house
with roofs of cedar.

6:10. And he built a floor over all the house, five cubits in height,
and he covered the house with timber of cedar.

6:11. And the word of the Lord came to Solomon,

6:12. As for this house, which thou art building, if thou wilt walk in
my statutes, and execute my judgments, and keep all my commandments,
walking in them, I will fulfil my word to thee, which I spoke to David
thy father.

6:13. And I will dwell in the midst of the children of Israel, and I
will not forsake my people Israel.

6:14. So Solomon built the house, and finished it.

6:15. And he built the walls of the house on the inside, with boards of
cedar, from the floor of the house to the top of the walls, and to the
roofs, he covered it with boards of cedar on the inside: and he covered
the floor of the house with planks of fir.

6:16. And he built up twenty cubits with boards of cedar at the hinder
part of the temple, from the floor to the top: and made the inner house
of the oracle to be the holy of holies.

6:17. And the temple itself, before the doors of the oracle, was forty
cubits long.

6:18. And all the house was covered within with cedar, having the
turnings, and the joints thereof artfully wrought, and carvings
projecting out: all was covered with boards of cedar: and no stone
could be seen in the wall at all.

6:19. And he made the oracle in the midst of the house, in the inner
part, to set there the ark of the covenant of the Lord.

6:20. Now the oracle was twenty cubits in length, and twenty cubits in
breadth, and twenty cubits in height. And he covered it, and overlaid
it with most pure gold. And the altar also he covered with cedar.

6:21. And the house before the oracle he overlaid with most pure gold,
and fastened on the plates with nails of gold.

6:22. And there was nothing in the temple that was not covered with
gold: the whole altar of the oracle he covered also with gold.

6:23. And he made in the oracle two cherubims of olive tree, of ten
cubits in height.

6:24. One wing of the cherub was five cubits, and the other wing of the
cherub was five cubits: that is, in all ten cubits, from the extremity
of one wing to the extremity of the other wing.

6:25. The second cherub also was ten cubits: and the measure, and the
work was the same in both the cherubims:

6:26. That is to say, one cherub was ten cubits high, and in like
manner the other cherub.

6:27. And he set the cherubims in the midst of the inner temple: and
the cherubims stretched forth their wings, and the wing of the one
touched one wall, and the wing of the other cherub touched the other
wall: and the other wings in the midst of the temple touched one
another.

6:28. And he overlaid the cherubims with gold.

6:29. And all the walls of the temple round about he carved with divers
figures and carvings: and he made in them cherubims and palm trees, and
divers representations, as it were standing out, and coming forth from
the wall.

6:30. And the floor of the house he also overlaid with gold within and
without.

6:31. And in the entrance of the oracle, he made little doors of olive
tree, and posts of five corners,

6:32. And two doors of olive tree: and he carved upon them figures of
cherubims, and figures of palm trees, and carvings very much
projecting; and he overlaid them with gold: and he covered both the
cherubims and the palm trees, and the other things, with gold.

6:33. And he made in the entrance of the temple posts of olive tree
foursquare:

6:34. And two doors of fir tree, one of each side: and each door was
double, and so opened with folding leaves.

6:35. And he carved cherubims, and palm trees, and carved work standing
very much out: and he overlaid all with golden plates in square work by
rule.

6:36. And he built the inner court with three rows of polished stones,
and one row of beams of cedar.

6:37. In the fourth year was the house of the Lord founded, in the
month Zio:

6:38. And in the eleventh year, in the month Bul. (which is the eighth
month) the house was finished in all the works thereof, and in all the
appurtenances thereof: and he was seven years in building it.

3 Kings Chapter 7

Solomon's palace, his house in the forest, and the queen's house: the
work of the two pillars: the sea (or laver) and other vessels.

7:1. And Solomon built his own house in thirteen years, and brought it
to perfection.

7:2. He built also the house of the forest of Libanus; the length of it
was a hundred cubits, and the breadth fifty cubits, and the height
thirty cubits: and four galleries between pillars of cedar: for he had
cut cedar trees into pillars.

7:3. And he covered the whole vault with boards of cedar, and it was
held up with five and forty pillars. And one row had fifteen pillars,

7:4. Set one against another,

7:5. And looking one upon another, with equal space between the
pillars, and over the pillars were square beams in all things equal.

7:6. And he made a porch of pillars of fifty cubits in length, and
thirty cubits in breadth: and another porch before the greater porch,
and pillars, and chapiters upon the pillars.

7:7. He made also the porch of the throne wherein is the seat of
judgment; and covered it with cedar wood from the floor to the top.

7:8. And in the midst of the porch, was a small house, where he sat in
judgment of the like work. He made also a house for the daughter of
Pharao (whom Solomon had taken to wife) of the same work, as this
porch;

7:9. All of costly stones, which were sawed by a certain rule and
measure, both within and without: from the foundation to the top of the
walls, and without, unto the great court.

7:10. And the foundations were of costly stones, great stones of ten
cubits or eight cubits.

7:11. And above there were costly stones of equal measure hewed, and in
like manner planks of cedar.

7:12. And the great court was made round with three rows of hewed
stones, and one row of planks of cedar, which also was observed in the
inner court of the house of the Lord, and in the porch of the house.

7:13. And king Solomon sent, and brought Hiram from Tyre,

7:14. The son of a widow woman, of the tribe of Nephthali, whose father
was a Tyrian, an artificer in brass, and full of wisdom, and
understanding, and skill to work all work in brass. And when he was
come to king Solomon, he wrought all his work.

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