The Holy Bible

Part 19 out of 30

7:15. And he cast two pillars in brass, each pillar was eighteen cubits
high: and a line of twelve cubits compassed both the pillars.

7:16. He made also two chapiters of molten brass, to be set upon the
tops of the pillars: the height of one chapiter was five cubits, and
the height of the other chapiter was five cubits:

7:17. And a kind of network, and chain work wreathed together with
wonderful art. Both the chapiters of the pillars were cast: seven rows
of nets were on one chapiter, and seven nets on the other chapiter.

7:18. And he made the pillars, and two rows round about each network to
cover the chapiters, that were upon the top, with pomegranates: and in
like manner did he to the other chapiter.

7:19. And the chapiters that were upon the top of the pillars, were of
lily work, in the porch of four cubits.

7:20. And again there were other chapiters on the top of the pillars
above, according to the measure of the pillar over against the network:
and of pomegranates there were two hundred, in rows round about the
other chapiter.

7:21. And he set up the two pillars in the porch of the temple: and
when he had set up the pillar on the right hand, he called the name
thereof Jachin: in like manner he set up the second pillar, and called
the name thereof Booz.

Jachin. . .That is, firmly established.--Ibid. Booz. . .That is, in its
strength. By recording these names in holy writ, the spirit of God
would have us understand the invincible firmness and strength of the
pillars on which the true temple of God, which is the church, is
established.

7:22. And upon the tops of the pillars he made lily work: so the work
of the pillars was finished.

7:23. He made also a molten sea, of ten cubits, from brim to brim,
round all about; the height of it was five cubits, and a line of thirty
cubits compassed it round about.

7:24. And a graven work, under the brim of it, compassed it for ten
cubits going about the sea: there were two rows cast of chamfered
sculptures.

7:25. And it stood upon twelve oxen, of which three looked towards the
north, and three towards the west, and three towards the south, and
three towards the east: and the sea was above upon them, and their
hinder parts were all hid within.

7:26. And the laver was a hand breadth thick: and the brim thereof was
like the brim of a cup, or the leaf of a crisped lily: it contained two
thousand bates.

Two thousand bates. . .That is, about ten thousand gallons. This was the
quantity of water which was usually put into it: but it was capable, if
brimful, of holding three thousand. See 2 Par. 4.5.

7:27. And he made ten bases of brass, every base was four cubits in
length, and four cubits in breadth, and three cubits high.

7:28. And the work itself of the bases, was intergraven: and there were
gravings between the joinings.

7:29. And between the little crowns and the ledges, were lions, and
oxen, and cherubims; and in the joinings likewise above: and under the
lions and oxen, as it were bands of brass hanging down.

7:30. And every base had four wheels, and axletrees of brass: and at
the four sides were undersetters, under the laver molten, looking one
against another.

7:31. The mouth also of the laver within, was in the top of the
chapiter: and that which appeared without, was of one cubit all round,
and together it was one cubit and a half: and in the corners of the
pillars were divers engravings: and the spaces between the pillars were
square, not round.

7:32. And the four wheels, which were at the four corners of the base,
were joined one to another under the base: the height of a wheel was a
cubit and a half.

7:33. And they were such wheels as are used to be made in a chariot:
and their axletrees, and spokes, and strakes, and naves, were all cast.

7:34. And the four undersetters, that were at every corner of each
base, were of the base itself, cast and joined together.

7:35. And on the top of the base, there was a round compass of half a
cubit, so wrought that the laver might be set thereon, having its
gravings, and divers sculptures of itself.

7:36. He engraved also in those plates, which were of brass, and in the
corners, cherubims, and lions, and palm trees, in likeness of a man
standing, so that they seemed not to be engraven, but added round
about.

7:37. After this manner, he made ten bases, of one casting and measure,
and the like graving.

7:38. He made also ten lavers of brass: one laver contained four bates,
and was of four cubits: and upon every base, in all ten, he put as many
lavers.

7:39. And he set the ten bases, five on the right side of the temple,
and five on the left: and the sea he put on the right side of the
temple, over against the east southward.

7:40. And Hiram made cauldrons, and shovels, and basins, and finished
all the work of king Solomon in the temple of the Lord.

7:41. The two pillars and the two cords of the chapiters, upon the
chapiters of the pillars: and the two networks, to cover the two cords,
that were upon the top of the pillars.

7:42. And four hundred pomegranates for the two networks: two rows of
pomegranates for each network, to cover the cords of the chapiters,
which were upon the tops of the pillars.

7:43. And the ten bases, and the ten lavers on the bases.

7:44. And one sea, and twelve oxen under the sea.

7:45. And the cauldrons, and the shovels, and the basins. All the
vessels that Hiram made for king Solomon, for the house of the Lord,
were of fine brass.

7:46. In the plains of the Jordan, did the king cast them in a clay
ground, between Socoth and Sartham.

7:47. And Solomon placed all the vessels: but for its exceeding great
multitude the brass could not be weighed.

7:48. And Solomon made all the vessels for the house of the Lord: the
altar of gold, and the table of gold, upon which the loaves of
proposition should be set:

7:49. And the golden candlesticks, five on the right hand, and five on
the left, over against the oracle, of pure gold: and the flowers like
lilies, and the lamps over them of gold: and golden snuffers,

7:50. And pots, and fleshhooks, and bowls, and mortars, and censers, of
most pure gold: and the hinges for the doors of the inner house of the
holy of holies, and for the doors of the house of the temple, were of
gold.

7:51. And Solomon finished all the work that he made in the house of
the Lord, and brought in the things that David, his father, had
dedicated, the silver and the gold, and the vessels, and laid them up
in the treasures of the house of the Lord.

3 Kings Chapter 8

The dedication of the temple: Solomon's prayer and sacrifices.

8:1. Then all the ancients of Israel, with the princes of the tribes,
and the heads of the families of the children of Israel, were assembled
to king Solomon, in Jerusalem: that they might carry the ark of the
covenant of the Lord, out of the city of David, that is, out of Sion.

8:2. And all Israel assembled themselves to king Solomon, on the
festival day, in the month of Ethanim, the same is the seventh month.

8:3. And all the ancients of Israel came, and the priests took up the
ark,

8:4. And carried the ark of the Lord, and the tabernacle of the
covenant, and all the vessels of the sanctuary, that were in the
tabernacle: and the priests and the Levites carried them.

8:5. And king Solomon, and all the multitude of Israel, that were
assembled unto him, went with him before the ark, and they sacrificed
sheep and oxen, that could not be counted or numbered.

8:6. And the priests brought in the ark of the covenant of the Lord
into its place, into the oracle of the temple, into the holy of holies,
under the wings of the cherubims.

8:7. For the cherubims spread forth their wings over the place of the
ark, and covered the ark, and the staves thereof above.

8:8. And whereas the staves stood out, the ends of them were seen
without, in the sanctuary before the oracle, but were not seen farther
out, and there they have been unto this day.

8:9. Now in the ark there was nothing else but the two tables of stone,
which Moses put there at Horeb, when the Lord made a covenant with the
children of Israel, when they came out of the land of Egypt.

Nothing else, etc. . .There was nothing else but the tables of the law
within the ark: but on the outside of the ark, or near the ark were
also the rod of Aaron, and a golden urn with manna, Heb. 9.4.

8:10. And it came to pass, when the priests were come out of the
sanctuary, that a cloud filled the house of the Lord,

8:11. And the priests could not stand to minister because of the cloud:
for the glory of the Lord had filled the house of the Lord.

8:12. Then Solomon said: The Lord said that he would dwell in a cloud.

8:13. Building, I have built a house for thy dwelling, to be thy most
firm throne for ever.

8:14. And the king turned his face, and blessed all the assembly of
Israel: for all the assembly of Israel stood.

8:15. And Solomon said: Blessed be the Lord the God of Israel, who
spoke with his mouth to David, my father, and with his own hands hath
accomplished it, saying:

8:16. Since the day that I brought my people Israel, out of Egypt, I
chose no city out of all the tribes of Israel, for a house to be built,
that my name might be there: but I chose David to be over my people
Israel.

8:17. And David, my father, would have built a house to the name of the
Lord, the God of Israel:

8:18. And the Lord said to David, my father: Whereas, thou hast thought
in thy heart to build a house to my name, thou hast done well in having
this same thing in thy mind.

8:19. Nevertheless, thou shalt not build me a house, but thy son, that
shall come forth out of thy loins, he shall build a house to my name.

8:20. The Lord hath performed his word which he spoke. And I stand in
the room of David, my father, and sit upon the throne of Israel, as the
Lord promised: and have built a house to the name of the Lord, the God
of Israel.

8:21. And I have set there a place for the ark, wherein is the covenant
of the Lord, which he made with our fathers, when they came out of the
land of Egypt.

8:22. And Solomon stood before the altar of the Lord, in the sight of
the assembly of Israel, and spread forth his hands towards heaven,

8:23. And said: Lord God of Israel, there is no God like thee, in
heaven above, or on the earth beneath: who keepest covenant and mercy
with thy servants, that have walked before thee with all their heart:

8:24. Who hast kept with thy servant David, my father, what thou hast
promised him: with thy mouth thou didst speak, and with thy hands thou
hast performed, as this day proveth.

8:25. Now, therefore, O Lord God of Israel, keep with thy servant
David, my father, what thou hast spoken to him, saying: There shall not
be taken away of thee a man in my sight, to sit on the throne of
Israel: yet so that thy children take heed to their way, that they walk
before me as thou hast walked in my sight.

8:26. And now, Lord God of Israel, let thy words be established, which
thou hast spoken to thy servant David, my father.

8:27. Is it then to be thought that God should indeed dwell upon earth?
for if heaven, and the heavens of heavens, cannot contain thee, how
much less this house which I have built?

8:28. But have regard to the prayer of thy servant, and to his
supplications, O Lord, my God: hear the hymn and the prayer, which thy
servant prayeth before thee this day:

8:29. That thy eyes may be open upon this house, night and day: upon
the house of which thou hast said: My name shall be there: that thou
mayst hearken to the prayer which thy servant prayeth, in this place to
thee:

8:30. That thou mayst hearken to the supplication of thy servant, and
of thy people Israel, whatsoever they shall pray for in this place, and
hear them in the place of thy dwelling in heaven; and when thou
hearest, shew them mercy.

8:31. If any man trespass against his neighbour, and have an oath upon
him, wherewith he is bound, and come, because of the oath, before thy
altar, to thy house,

8:32. Then hear thou in heaven: and do and judge thy servants,
condemning the wicked, and bringing his way upon his own head, and
justifying the just, and rewarding him according to his justice.

8:33. If thy people Israel shall fly before their enemies (because they
will sin against thee) and doing penance, and confessing to thy name,
shall come and pray, and make supplications to thee in this house:

8:34. Then hear thou in heaven, and forgive the sin of thy people
Israel, and bring them back to the land which thou gavest to their
fathers.

8:35. If heaven shall be shut up, and there shall be no rain, because
of their sins, and they, praying in this place, shall do penance to thy
name, and shall be converted from their sins, by occasion of their
afflictions:

8:36. Then hear thou them in heaven, and forgive the sins of thy
servants, and of thy people Israel: and shew them the good way wherein
they should walk, and give rain upon thy land, which thou hast given to
thy people in possession.

8:37. If a famine arise in the land, or a pestilence, or corrupt air,
or blasting, or locust, or mildew; if their enemy afflict them,
besieging the gates, whatsoever plague, whatsoever infirmity,

8:38. Whatsoever curse or imprecation shall happen to any man of thy
people Israel: when a man shall know the wound of his own heart, and
shall spread forth his hands in this house;

8:39. Then hear thou in heaven, in the place of thy dwelling, and
forgive, and do so as to give to every one according to his ways, as
thou shalt see his heart (for thou only knowest the heart of all the
children of men)

8:40. That they may fear thee all the days that they live upon the face
of the land, which thou hast given to our fathers.

8:41. Moreover also the stranger, who is not of thy people Israel, when
he shall come out of a far country for thy name's sake, (for they shall
hear every where of thy great name, and thy mighty hand,

8:42. And thy stretched out arm) so when he shall come, and shall pray
in this place,

8:43. Then hear thou in heaven, in the firmament of thy dwelling place,
and do all those things, for which that stranger shall call upon thee:
that all the people of the earth may learn to fear thy name, as do thy
people Israel, and may prove that thy name is called upon on this
house, which I have built.

8:44. If thy people go out to war against their enemies, by what way
soever thou shalt send them, they shall pray to thee towards the way of
the city, which thou hast chosen, and towards the house, which I have
built to thy name:

8:45. And then hear thou in heaven their prayers, and their
supplications, and do judgment for them.

8:46. But if they sin against thee, (for there is no man who sinneth
not) and thou being angry, deliver them up to their enemies, so that
they be led away captives into the land of their enemies, far or near;

8:47. Then if they do penance in their heart, in the place of
captivity, and being converted, make supplication to thee in their
captivity, saying: We have sinned, we have done unjustly, we have
committed wickedness:

8:48. And return to thee with all their heart, and all their soul, in
the land of their enemies, to which they have been led captives: and
pray to thee towards the way of their land, which thou gavest to their
fathers, and of the city which thou hast chosen, and of the temple
which I have built to thy name:

8:49. Then hear thou in heaven, in the firmament of thy throne, their
prayers, and their supplications, and do judgment for them:

8:50. And forgive thy people, that have sinned against thee, and all
their iniquities, by which they have transgressed against thee: and
give them mercy before them that have made them captives, that they may
have compassion on them.

8:51. For they are thy people, and thy inheritance, whom thou hast
brought out of the land of Egypt, from the midst of the furnace of
iron.

8:52. That thy eyes may be open to the supplication of thy servant, and
of thy people Israel, to hear them in all things for which they shall
call upon thee.

8:53. For thou hast separated them to thyself for an inheritance, from
amongst all the people of the earth, as thou hast spoken by Moses, thy
servant, when thou broughtest our fathers out of Egypt, O Lord God.

8:54. And it came to pass, when Solomon had made an end of praying all
this prayer and supplication to the Lord, that he rose from before the
altar of the Lord: for he had fixed both knees on the ground, and had
spread his hands towards heaven.

8:55. And he stood, and blessed all the assembly of Israel with a loud
voice, saying:

8:56. Blessed be the Lord, who hath given rest to his people Israel,
according to all that he promised: there hath not failed so much as one
word of all the good things that he promised by his servant Moses.

8:57. The Lord our God be with us, as he was with our fathers, and not
leave us, nor cast us off:

8:58. But may he incline our hearts to himself, that we may walk in all
his ways, and keep his commandments, and his ceremonies, and all his
judgments, which he commanded our fathers.

8:59. And let these my words, wherewith I have prayed before the Lord,
be nigh unto the Lord our God day and night, that he may do judgment
for his servant, and for his people Israel, day by day:

8:60. That all the people of the earth may know, that the Lord he is
God, and there is no other besides him.

8:61. Let our hearts also be perfect with the Lord our God, that we may
walk in his statutes, and keep his commandments, as at this day.

8:62. And the king, and all Israel with him, offered victims before the
Lord.

8:63. And Solomon slew victims of peace offerings, which he sacrificed
to the Lord, two and twenty thousand oxen, and a hundred and twenty
thousand sheep so the king, and all the children of Israel, dedicated
the temple of the Lord.

8:64. In that day the king sanctified the middle of the court, that was
before the house of the Lord for there he offered the holocaust, and
sacrifice, and the fat of the peace offerings: because the brazen altar
that was before the Lord, was too little to receive the holocaust, and
sacrifice, and the fat of the peace offerings.

8:65. And Solomon made at the same time a solemn feast, and all Israel
with him, a great multitude, from the entrance of Emath to the river of
Egypt, before the Lord our God, seven days and seven days, that is,
fourteen days.

8:66. And on the eighth day, he sent away the people: and they blessed
the king, and went to their dwellings, rejoicing, and glad in heart,
for all the good things that the Lord had done for David, his servant,
and for Israel, his people.

3 Kings Chapter 9

The Lord appeareth again to Solomon: he buildeth cities: he sendeth a
fleet to Ophir.

9:1. And it came to pass when Solomon had finished the building of the
house of the Lord, and the king's house, and all that he desired and
was pleased to do,

9:2. That the Lord appeared to him the second time, as he had appeared
to him in Gabaon.

9:3. And the Lord said to him: I have heard thy prayer and thy
supplication, which thou hast made before me: I have sanctified this
house, which thou hast built, to put my name there for ever; and my
eyes, and my heart, shall be there always.

9:4. And if thou wilt walk before me, as thy father walked, in
simplicity of heart, and in uprightness: and wilt do all that I have
commanded thee, and wilt keep my ordinances, and my judgments,

As thy father walked, in simplicity of heart. . .That is, in the
sincerity and integrity of a single heart, as opposite to all double
dealing and deceit.

9:5. I will establish the throne of thy kingdom over Israel for ever,
as I promised David, thy father, saying: There shall not fail a man of
thy race upon the throne of Israel.

9:6. But if you and your children, revolting, shall turn away from
following me, and will not keep my commandments, and my ceremonies,
which I have set before you, but will go and worship strange gods, and
adore them:

9:7. I will take away Israel from the face of the land which I have
given them; and the temple which I have sanctified to my name, I will
cast out of my sight; and Israel shall be a proverb, and a byword among
all people.

9:8. And this house shall be made an example of: every one that shall
pass by it, shall be astonished, and shall hiss, and say: Why hath the
Lord done thus to this land, and to this house?

9:9. And they shall answer: Because they forsook the Lord their God,
who brought their fathers out of the land of Egypt, and followed
strange gods, and adored them, and worshipped them: therefore hath the
Lord brought upon them all this evil.

9:10. And when twenty years were ended, after Solomon had built the two
houses; that is, the house of the Lord, and the house of the king,

9:11. (Hiram, the king of Tyre, furnishing Solomon with cedar trees,
and fir trees, and gold, according to all he had need of) then Solomon
gave Hiram twenty cities in the land of Galilee.

9:12. And Hiram came out of Tyre, to see the towns which Solomon had
given him, and they pleased him not;

9:13. And he said: Are these the cities which thou hast given me,
brother? And he called them the land of Chabul, unto this day.

Chabul. . .That is, dirty or displeasing.

9:14. And Hiram sent to king Solomon a hundred and twenty talents of
gold.

9:15. This is the sum of the expenses, which king Solomon offered to
build the house of the Lord, and his own house, and Mello, and the wall
of Jerusalem, and Heser, and Mageddo, and Gazer.

9:16. Pharao, the king of Egypt, came up and took Gazer, and burnt it
with fire: and slew the Chanaanite that dwelt in the city, and gave it
for a dowry to his daughter, Solomon's wife.

9:17. So Solomon built Gazer, and Bethhoron the nether,

9:18. And Baalath, and Palmira, in the land of the wilderness.

9:19. And all the towns that belonged to himself, and were not walled,
he fortified; the cities also of the chariots, and the cities of the
horsemen, and whatsoever he had a mind to build in Jerusalem, and in
Libanus, and in all the land of his dominion.

9:20. All the people that were left of the Amorrhites, and Hethites,
and Pherezites, and Hevites, and Jebusites, that are not of the
children of Israel:

9:21. Their children, that were left in the land; to wit, such as the
children of Israel had not been able to destroy, Solomon made tributary
unto this day.

9:22. But of the children of Israel, Solomon made not any to be
bondmen, but they were warriors, and his servants, and his princes, and
captains, and overseers of the chariots and horses.

9:23. And there were five hundred and fifty chief officers set over all
the works of Solomon, and they had people under them, and had charge
over the appointed works.

9:24. And the daughter of Pharao came up out of the city of David to
her house, which Solomon had built for her: then did he build Mello.

9:25. Solomon also offered three times every year holocausts, and
victims of peace offerings, upon the altar which he had built to the
Lord, and he burnt incense before the Lord: and the temple was
finished.

9:26. And king Solomon made a fleet in Asiongaber, which is by Ailath,
on the shore of the Red Sea, in the land of Edom.

9:27. And Hiram sent his servants in the fleet, sailors that had
knowledge of the sea, with the servants of Solomon.

9:28. And they came to Ophir; and they brought from thence to king
Solomon four hundred and twenty talents of gold.

3 Kings Chapter 10

The queen of Saba cometh to king Solomon: his riches and glory.

10:1. And the queen of Saba having heard of the fame of Solomon in the
name of the Lord, came to try him with hard questions.

10:2. And entering into Jerusalem with a great train, and riches, and
camels that carried spices, and an immense quantity of gold, and
precious stones, she came to king Solomon, and spoke to him all that
she had in her heart.

10:3. And Solomon informed her of all the things she proposed to him:
there was not any word the king was ignorant of, and which he could not
answer her.

10:4. And when the queen of Saba saw all the wisdom of Solomon, and the
house which he had built,

10:5. And the meat of his table, and the apartments of his servants,
and the order of his ministers, and their apparel, and the cupbearers,
and the holocausts, which he offered in the house of the Lord, she had
no longer any spirit in her;

10:6. And she said to the king: The report is true, which I heard in my
own country,

10:7. Concerning thy words, and concerning thy wisdom. And I did not
believe them that told me, till I came myself, and saw with my own
eyes, and have found that the half hath not been told me: thy wisdom
and thy works exceed the fame which I heard.

10:8. Blessed are thy men, and blessed are thy servants, who stand
before thee always, and hear thy wisdom.

10:9. Blessed be the Lord thy God, whom thou hast pleased, and who hath
set thee upon the throne of Israel, because the Lord hath loved Israel
for ever, and hath appointed thee king, to do judgment and justice.

10:10. And she gave the king a hundred and twenty talents of gold, and
of spices a very great store, and precious stones: there was brought no
more such abundance of spices as these which the queen of Saba gave to
king Solomon.

10:11. (The navy also of Hiram, which brought gold from Ophir, brought
from Ophir great plenty of thyine trees, and precious stones.

10:12. And the king made of the thyine trees the rails of the house of
the Lord, and of the king's house: and citterns and harps for singers:
there were no such thyine trees as these brought nor seen unto this
day.)

10:13. And king Solomon gave the queen of Saba all that she desired,
and asked of him: besides what he offered her of himself of his royal
bounty. And she returned, and went to her own country, with her
servants.

10:14. And the weight of the gold that was brought to Solomon every
year, was six hundred and sixty-six talents of gold:

10:15. Besides that which the men brought him that were over the
tributes, and the merchants, and they that sold by retail, and all the
kings of Arabia, and the governors of the country.

10:16. And Solomon made two hundred shields of the purest gold: he
allowed six hundred sicles of gold for the plates of one shield.

10:17. And three hundred targets of fine gold: three hundred pounds of
gold covered one target: and the king put them in the house of the
forest of Libanus.

10:18. King Solomon also made a great throne of ivory: and overlaid it
with the finest gold.

10:19. It had six steps: and the top of the throne was round behind:
and there were two hands on either side holding the seat: and two lions
stood, one at each hand,

10:20. And twelve little lions stood upon the six steps, on the one
side and on the other: there was no such work made in any kingdom.

10:21. Moreover, all the vessels out of which king Solomon drank, were
of gold: and all the furniture of the house of the forest of Libanus
was of most pure gold: there was no silver, nor was any account made of
it in the days of Solomon:

10:22. For the king's navy, once in three years, went with the navy of
Hiram by sea to Tharsis, and brought from thence gold, and silver, and
elephants' teeth, and apes, and peacocks.

10:23. And king Solomon exceeded all the kings of the earth in riches
and wisdom.

10:24. And all the earth desired to see Solomon's face, to hear his
wisdom, which God had given in his heart.

10:25. And every one brought him presents, vessels of silver and of
gold, garments, and armour, and spices, and horses, and mules, every
year.

10:26. And Solomon gathered together chariots and horsemen, and he had
a thousand four hundred chariots, and twelve thousand horsemen: and he
bestowed them in fenced cities, and with the king in Jerusalem.

10:27. And he made silver to be as plentiful in Jerusalem as stones:
and cedars to be as common as sycamores which grow in the plains.

10:28. And horses were brought for Solomon out of Egypt, and Coa: for
the king's merchants bought them out of Coa, and brought them at a set
price.

10:29. And a chariot of four horses came out of Egypt, for six hundred
sicles of silver, and a horse for a hundred and fifty. And after this
manner did all the kings of the Hethites, and of Syria, sell horses.

3 Kings Chapter 11

Solomon by means of his wives falleth into idolatry: God raiseth him
adversaries, Adad, Razon, and Jeroboam: Solomon dieth.

11:1. And king Solomon loved many strange women, besides the daughter
of Pharao, and women of Moab, and of Ammon, and of Edom, and of Sidon,
and of the Hethites:

11:2. Of the nations concerning which the Lord said to the children of
Israel: You shall not go in unto them, neither shall any of them come
into yours: for they will most certainly turn away your hearts to
follow their gods. And to these was Solomon joined with a most ardent
love.

11:3. And he had seven hundred wives as queens, and three hundred
concubines: and the women turned away his heart.

11:4. And when he was now old, his heart was turned away by women to
follow strange gods: and his heart was not perfect with the Lord his
God, as was the heart of David, his father.

11:5. But Solomon worshipped Astarthe, the goddess of the Sidonians,
and Moloch, the idol of the Ammonites.

11:6. And Solomon did that which was not pleasing before the Lord, and
did not fully follow the Lord, as David, his father.

11:7. Then Solomon built a temple for Chamos, the idol of Moab, on the
hill that is over against Jerusalem, and for Moloch, the idol of the
children of Ammon.

11:8. And he did in this manner for all his wives that were strangers,
who burnt incense, and offered sacrifice to their gods.

11:9. And the Lord was angry with Solomon, because his mind was turned
away from the Lord, the God of Israel, who had appeared to him twice;

11:10. And had commanded him concerning this thing, that he should not
follow strange gods: but he kept not the things which the Lord
commanded him.

11:11. The Lord therefore said to Solomon: Because thou hast done this,
and hast not kept my covenant, and my precepts, which I have commanded
thee, I will divide and rend thy kingdom, and will give it to thy
servant.

11:12. Nevertheless, in thy days I will not do it, for David thy
father's sake: but I will rend it out of the hand of thy son.

11:13. Neither will I take away the whole kingdom; but I will give one
tribe to thy son, for the sake of David, my servant, and Jerusalem,
which I have chosen.

One tribe. . .Besides that of Juda, his own native tribe.

11:14. And the Lord raised up an adversary to Solomon, Adad, the
Edomite, of the king's seed, in Edom.

11:15. For when David was in Edom, and Joab, the general of the army,
was gone up to bury them that were slain, and had killed every male in
Edom,

11:16. (For Joab remained there six months with all Israel, till he had
slain every male in Edom,)

11:17. Then Adad fled, he and certain Edomites of his father's
servants, with him, to go into Egypt: and Adad was then a little boy.

11:18. And they arose out of Madian, and came into Pharan, and they
took men with them from Pharan, and went into Egypt, to Pharao, the
king of Egypt: who gave him a house, and appointed him victuals, and
assigned him land.

11:19. And Adad found great favour before Pharao, insomuch that he gave
him to wife the own sister of his wife, Taphnes, the queen.

11:20. And the sister of Taphnes bore him his son, Genubath; and
Taphnes brought him up in the house of Pharao: and Genubath dwelt with
Pharao among his children.

11:21. And when Adad heard in Egypt that David slept with his fathers,
and that Joab, the general of the army, was dead, he said to Pharao:
Let me depart, that I may go to my own country.

11:22. And Pharao said to him: Why, what is wanting to thee with me,
that thou seekest to go to thy own country? But he answered: Nothing;
yet I beseech thee to let me go.

11:23. God also raised up against him an adversary, Razon, the son of
Eliada, who had fled from his master, Adarezer, the king of Soba.

11:24. And he gathered men against him, and he became a captain of
robbers, when David slew them of Soba: and they went to Damascus, and
dwelt there, and they made him king in Damascus.

11:25. And he was an adversary to Israel all the days of Solomon: and
this is the evil of Adad, and his hatred against Israel; and he reigned
in Syria.

11:26. Jeroboam also, the son of Nabat, an Ephrathite, of Sareda, a
servant of Solomon, whose mother was named Sarua, a widow woman, lifted
up his hand against the king.

11:27. And this is the cause of his rebellion against him; for Solomon
built Mello, and filled up the breach of the city of David, his father.

11:28. And Jeroboam was a valiant and mighty man: and Solomon seeing
him a young man ingenious and industrious, made him chief over the
tributes of all the house of Joseph.

11:29. So it came to pass at that time, that Jeroboam went out of
Jerusalem, and the prophet Ahias, the Silonite, clad with a new
garment, found him in the way: and they two were alone in the field.

11:30. And Ahias taking his new garment, wherewith he was clad, divided
it into twelve parts:

11:31. And he said to Jeroboam: Take to thee ten pieces: for thus saith
the Lord, the God of Israel: Behold, I will rend the kingdom out of the
hand of Solomon, and will give thee ten tribes.

11:32. But one tribe shall remain to him for the sake of my servant,
David, and Jerusalem, the city which I have chosen out of all the
tribes of Israel:

11:33. Because he hath forsaken me, and hath adored Astarthe, the
goddess of the Sidonians, and Chamos, the god of Moab, and Moloch, the
god of the children of Ammon: and hath not walked in my ways, to do
justice before me, and to keep my precepts, and judgments, as did
David, his father.

11:34. Yet I will not take away all the kingdom out of his hand, but I
will make him prince all the days of his life, for David my servant's
sake, whom I chose, who kept my commandments, and my precepts.

11:35. But I will take away the kingdom out of his son's hand, and will
give thee ten tribes:

11:36. And to his son I will give one tribe, that there may remain a
lamp for my servant, David, before me always in Jerusalem, the city
which I have chosen, that my name might be there.

11:37. And I will take thee, and thou shalt reign over all that thy
soul desireth, and thou shalt be king over Israel.

11:38. If then thou wilt hearken to all that I shall command thee, and
wilt walk in my ways, and do what is right before me, keeping my
commandments and my precepts, as David, my servant, did: I will be with
thee, and will build thee up a faithful house, as I built a house for
David, and I will deliver Israel to thee:

11:39. And I will for this afflict the seed of David, but yet not for
ever.

11:40. Solomon, therefore, sought to kill Jeroboam: but he arose, and
fled into Egypt, to Sesac, the king of Egypt, and was in Egypt till the
death of Solomon.

11:41. And the rest of the words of Solomon, and all that he did and
his wisdom: behold they are all written in the book of the words of the
days of Solomon.

The book of the words, etc. . .This book is lost, with divers others
mentioned in holy writ.

11:42. And the days that Solomon reigned in Jerusalem, over all Israel,
were forty years.

11:43. And Solomon slept with his fathers, and was buried in the city
of David, his father; and Roboam, his son, reigned in his stead.

Solomon slept, etc. . .That is, died. He was then about fifty-eight
years of age, having reigned forty years.

3 Kings Chapter 12

Roboam, following the counsel of young men alienateth from him the
minds of the people. They make Jeroboam king over ten tribes: he
setteth up idolatry.

12:1. And Roboam went to Sichem: for thither were all Israel come
together to make him king.

12:2. But Jeroboam, the son of Nabat, who was yet in Egypt, a fugitive
from the face of king Solomon, hearing of his death, returned out of
Egypt.

12:3. And they sent and called him: and Jeroboam came, and all the
multitude of Israel, and they spoke to Roboam, saying:

12:4. Thy father laid a grievous yoke upon us: now, therefore, do thou
take off a little of the grievous service of thy father, and of his
most heavy yoke, which he put upon us, and we will serve thee.

12:5. And he said to them: Go till the third day, and come to me again.
And when the people was gone,

12:6. King Roboam took counsel with the old men, that stood before
Solomon, his father, while he yet lived, and he said: What counsel do
you give me, that I may answer this people?

12:7. They said to him: If thou wilt yield to this people to day, and
condescend to them, and grant their petition, and wilt speak gentle
words to them, they will be thy servants always.

12:8. But he left the counsel of the old men, which they had given him,
and consulted with the young men that had been brought up with him, and
stood before him.

12:9. And he said to them: What counsel do you give me, that I may
answer this people, who have said to me: Make the yoke, which thy
father put upon us, lighter?

12:10. And the young men that had been brought up with him, said: Thus
shalt thou speak to this people, who have spoken to thee, saying: Thy
father made our yoke heavy, do thou ease us. Thou shalt say to them: My
little finger is thicker than the back of my father.

12:11. And now my father put a heavy yoke upon you, but I will add to
your yoke: my father beat you with whips, but I will beat you with
scorpions.

12:12. So Jeroboam, and all the people, came to Roboam the third day,
as the king had appointed, saying: Come to me again the third day.

12:13. And the king answered the people roughly, leaving the counsel of
the old men, which they had given him,

12:14. And he spoke to them according to the counsel of the young men,
saying: My father made your yoke heavy, but I will add to your yoke: My
father beat you with whips, but I will beat you with scorpions.

12:15. And the king condescended not to the people: for the Lord was
turned away from him, to make good his word, which he had spoken in the
hand of Ahias, the Silonite, to Jeroboam, the son of Nabat.

12:16. Then the people, seeing that the king would not hearken to them,
answered him, saying: What portion have we in David? or what
inheritance in the son of Isai? Go home to thy dwellings, O Israel:
now, David, look to thy own house. So Israel departed to their
dwellings.

12:17. But as for all the children of Israel that dwelt in the cities
of Juda, Roboam reigned over them.

12:18. Then king Roboam sent Aduram, who was over the tribute: and all
Israel stoned him, and he died. Wherefore king Roboam made haste to get
him up into his chariot, and he fled to Jerusalem:

12:19. And Israel revolted from the house of David, unto this day.

12:20. And it came to pass when all Israel heard that Jeroboam was come
again, that they gathered an assembly, and sent and called him, and
made him king over all Israel, and there was none that followed the
house of David but the tribe of Juda only.

Juda only. . .Benjamin was a small tribe, and so intermixed with the
tribe of Juda, (the very city of Jerusalem being partly in Juda, partly
in Benjamin,) that they are here counted but as one tribe.

12:21. And Roboam came to Jerusalem, and gathered together all the
house of Juda, and the tribe of Benjamin, a hundred fourscore thousand
chosen men for war, to fight against the house of Israel, and to bring
the kingdom again under Roboam, the son of Solomon.

12:22. But the word of the Lord came to Semeias, the man of God,
saying:

12:23. Speak to Roboam, the son of Solomon, the king of Juda, and to
all the house of Juda, and Benjamin, and the rest of the people,
saying:

12:24. Thus saith the Lord: You shall not go up, nor fight against your
brethren, the children of Israel: let every man return to his house,
for this thing is from me. They hearkened to the word of the Lord, and
returned from their journey, as the Lord had commanded them.

12:25. And Jeroboam built Sichem in mount Ephraim, and dwelt there, and
going out from thence, he built Phanuel.

12:26. And Jeroboam said in his heart: Now shall the kingdom return to
the house of David,

12:27. If this people go up to offer sacrifices in the house of the
Lord at Jerusalem: and the heart of this people will turn to their lord
Roboam, the king of Juda, and they will kill me, and return to him.

12:28. And finding out a device, he made two golden calves, and said to
them: Go ye up no more to Jerusalem: Behold thy gods, O Israel, who
brought thee out of the land of Egypt.

Golden calves. . .It is likely, by making his gods in this form, he
mimicked the Egyptians, among whom he had sojourned, who worshipped
their Apis and their Osiris under the form of a bullock.

12:29. And he set the one in Bethel, and the other in Dan:

Bethel and Dan. . .Bethel was a city of the tribe of Ephraim in the
southern part of the dominions of Jeroboam, about six leagues from
Jerusalem; Dan was in the extremity of his dominions to the north in
the confines of Syria.

12:30. And this thing became an occasion of sin: for the people went to
adore the calf as far as Dan.

12:31. And he made temples in the high places, and priests of the
lowest of the people, who were not of the sons of Levi.

12:32. And he appointed a feast in the eighth month, on the fifteenth
day of the month, after the manner of the feast that was celebrated in
Juda. And going up to the altar, he did in like manner in Bethel, to
sacrifice to the calves, which he had made: and he placed in Bethel
priests of the high places, which he had made.

12:33. And he went up to the altar, which he had built in Bethel, on
the fifteenth day of the eighth month, which he had devised of his own
heart: and he ordained a feast to the children of Israel, and went up
on the altar to burn incense.

3 Kings Chapter 13

A prophet sent from Juda to Bethel foretelleth the birth of Josias, and
the destruction of Jeroboam's altar. Jeroboam's hand offering violence
to the prophet withereth, but is restored by the prophet's prayer: the
same prophet is deceived by another prophet, and slain by a lion.

13:1. And behold there came a man of God out of Juda, by the word of
the Lord, to Bethel, when Jeroboam was standing upon the altar, and
burning incense.

13:2. And he cried out against the altar in the word of the Lord, and
said: O altar, altar, thus saith the Lord: Behold a child shall be born
to the house of David, Josias by name, and he shall immolate upon thee
the priests of the high places, who now burn incense upon thee, and he
shall burn men's bones upon thee.

13:3. And he gave a sign the same day, saying: This shall be the sign,
that the Lord hath spoken: Behold the altar shall be rent, and the
ashes that are upon it, shall be poured out.

13:4. And when the king had heard the word of the man of God, which he
had cried out against the altar in Bethel, he stretched forth his hand
from the altar, saying: Lay hold on him. And his hand which he
stretched forth against him, withered: and he was not able to draw it
back again to him.

13:5. The altar also was rent, and the ashes were poured out from the
altar, according to the sign which the man of God had given before in
the word of the Lord.

13:6. And the king said to the man of God: Entreat the face of the Lord
thy God, and pray for me, that my hand may be restored to me. And the
man of God besought the face of the Lord, and the king's hand was
restored to him, and it became as it was before.

13:7. And the king said to the man of God: Come home with me to dine,
and I will make thee presents.

13:8. And the man of God answered the king: If thou wouldst give me
half thy house, I will not go with thee, nor eat bread, nor drink water
in this place:

13:9. For so it was enjoined me by the word of the Lord commanding me:
Thou shalt not eat bread, nor drink water, nor return by the same way
that thou camest.

13:10. So he departed by another way, and returned not by the way that
he came into Bethel.

13:11. Now a certain old prophet dwelt in Bethel, and his sons came to
him, and told him all the works that the man of God had done that day
in Bethel: and they told their father the words which he had spoken to
the king.

13:12. And their father said to them: What way went he? His sons shewed
him the way by which the man of God went, who came out of Juda.

13:13. And he said to his sons: Saddle me the ass. And when they had
saddled it, he got up,

13:14. And went after the man of God, and found him sitting under a
turpentine tree: and he said to him: Art thou the man of God who camest
from Juda? He answered: I am.

13:15. And he said to him: Come home with me to eat bread.

13:16. But he said: I must not return, nor go with thee, neither will I
eat bread, or drink water in this place:

13:17. Because the Lord spoke to me, in the word of the Lord, saying:
Thou shalt not eat bread, and thou shalt not drink water there, nor
return by the way thou wentest.

13:18. He said to him: I also am a prophet like unto thee: and an angel
spoke to me, in the word of the Lord, saying: Bring him back with thee
into thy house, that he may eat bread, and drink water. He deceived
him,

An angel spoke to me, etc. . .This old man of Bethel was indeed a
prophet, but he sinned in thus deceiving the man of God; the more
because he pretended a revelation for what he did.

13:19. And brought him back with him: so he ate bread, and drank water
in his house.

13:20. And as they sat at table, the word of the Lord came to the
prophet that brought him back:

13:21. And he cried out to the man of God who came out of Juda, saying:
Thus saith the Lord: Because thou hast not been obedient to the Lord,
and hast not kept the commandment which the Lord thy God commanded
thee,

13:22. And hast returned, and eaten bread, and drunk water in the place
wherein he commanded thee that thou shouldst not eat bread, nor drink
water, thy dead body shall not be brought into the sepulchre of thy
fathers.

13:23. And when he had eaten and drunk, he saddled his ass for the
prophet, whom he had brought back.

13:24. And when he was gone, a lion found him in the way, and killed
him, and his body was cast in the way: and the ass stood by him, and
the lion stood by the dead body.

Killed him. . .Thus the Lord often punishes his servants here, that he
may spare them hereafter. For the generality of divines are of opinion,
that the sin of this prophet, considered with all its circumstances,
was not mortal.

13:25. And behold, men passing by, saw the dead body cast in the way,
and the lion standing by the body. And they came and told it in the
city, wherein that old prophet dwelt.

13:26. And when that prophet, who had brought him back out of the way,
heard of it, he said: It is the man of God, that was disobedient to the
mouth of the Lord, and the Lord hath delivered him to the lion, and he
hath torn him, and killed him, according to the word of the Lord, which
he spoke to him.

13:27. And he said to his sons: Saddle me an ass. And when they had
saddled it,

13:28. And he was gone, he found the dead body cast in the way, and the
ass and the lion standing by the carcass: the lion had not eaten of the
dead body, nor hurt the ass.

13:29. And the prophet took up the body of the man of God, and laid it
upon the ass, and going back brought it into the city of the old
prophet, to mourn for him.

13:30. And he laid his dead body in his own sepulchre: and they mourned
over him, saying: Alas! alas, my brother.

13:31. And when they had mourned over him, he said to his sons: When I
am dead, bury me in the sepulchre wherein the man of God is buried: lay
my bones beside his bones.

13:32. For assuredly the word shall come to pass which he hath foretold
in the word of the Lord, against the altar that is in Bethel: and
against all the temples of the high places, that are in the cities of
Samaria.

13:33. After these words, Jeroboam came not back from his wicked way:
but on the contrary, he made of the meanest of the people priests of
the high places: whosoever would, he filled his hand, and he was made a
priest of the high places.

13:34. And for this cause did the house of Jeroboam sin, and was cut
off, and destroyed from the face of the earth.

3 Kings Chapter 14

Ahias prophesieth the destruction of the family of Jeroboam. He dieth,
and is succeeded by his son Nadab. The king of Egypt taketh and
pillageth Jerusalem. Roboam dieth and his son Abiam succeedeth.

14:1. At that time Abia, the son of Jeroboam, fell sick.

14:2. And Jeroboam said to his wife: Arise, and change thy dress, that
thou be not known to be the wife of Jeroboam, and go to Silo, where
Ahias, the prophet is, who told me that I should reign over this
people.

14:3. Take also with thee ten loaves, and cracknels, and a pot of
honey, and go to him: for he will tell thee what will become of this
child.

14:4. Jeroboam's wife did as he told her: and rising up, went to Silo,
and came to the house of Ahias; but he could not see, for his eyes were
dim by reason of his age.

14:5. And the Lord said to Ahias: Behold the wife of Jeroboam cometh
in, to consult thee concerning her son, that is sick: thus and thus
shalt thou speak to her. So when she was coming in, and made as if she
were another woman,

14:6. Ahias heard the sound of her feet, coming in at the door, and
said: Come in, thou wife of Jeroboam: why dost thou feign thyself to be
another? But I am sent to thee with heavy tidings.

14:7. Go, and tell Jeroboam: Thus saith the Lord, the God of Israel:
For as much as I exalted thee from among the people, and made thee
prince over my people Israel;

14:8. And rent the kingdom away from the house of David, and gave it to
thee, and thou hast not been as my servant, David, who kept my
commandments, and followed me with all his heart, doing that which was
well pleasing in my sight:

14:9. But hast done evil above all that were before thee, and hast made
thee strange gods, and molten gods, to provoke me to anger, and hast
cast me behind thy back:

14:10. Therefore, behold I will bring evils upon the house of Jeroboam,
and will cut off from Jeroboam him that pisseth against the wall, and
him that is shut up, and the last in Israel: and I will sweep away the
remnant of the house of Jeroboam, as dung is swept away till all be
clean.

14:11. Them that shall die of Jeroboam in the city, the dogs shall eat:
and them that shall die in the field, the birds of the air shall
devour: for the Lord hath spoken it.

14:12. Arise thou, therefore, and go to thy house: and when thy feet
shall be entering into the city, the child shall die,

14:13. And all Israel shall mourn for him, and shall bury him: for he
only of Jeroboam shall be laid in a sepulchre, because in his regard
there is found a good word from the Lord, the God of Israel, in the
house of Jeroboam.

14:14. And the Lord hath appointed himself a king over Israel, who
shall cut off the house of Jeroboam in this day, and in this time:

14:15. And the Lord God shall strike Israel as a reed is shaken in the
water: and he shall root up Israel out of this good land, which he gave
to their fathers, and shall scatter them beyond the river: because they
have made to themselves groves, to provoke the Lord.

14:16. And the Lord shall give up Israel for the sins of Jeroboam, who
hath sinned, and made Israel to sin.

14:17. And the wife of Jeroboam arose, and departed, and came to
Thersa: and when she was coming in to the threshold of the house, the
child died,

14:18. And they buried him. And all Israel mourned for him, according
to the word of the Lord, which he spoke by the hand of his servant
Ahias, the prophet.

14:19. And the rest of the acts of Jeroboam, how he fought, and how he
reigned, behold they are written in the book of the words of the days
of the kings of Israel.

The book of the words of the days of the kings of Israel. . .This book,
which is often mentioned in the Book of Kings, is long since lost. For
as to the books of Paralipomenon, or Chronicles, (which the Hebrews
call the words of the days,) they were certainly written after the Book
of Kings, since they frequently refer to them.

14:20. And the days that Jeroboam reigned, were two and twenty years:
and he slept with his fathers: and Nadab, his son, reigned in his
stead.

14:21. And Roboam, the son of Solomon, reigned in Juda: Roboam was one
and forty years old when he began to reign: and he reigned seventeen
years in Jerusalem, the city which the Lord chose out of all the tribes
of Israel to put his name there. And his mother's name was Naama, an
Ammonitess.

14:22. And Juda did evil in the sight of the Lord, and provoked him
above all that their fathers had done, in their sins which they
committed.

14:23. For they also built them altars, and statues, and groves, upon
every high hill, and under every green tree:

14:24. There were also the effeminate in the land, and they did
according to all the abominations of the people, whom the Lord had
destroyed before the face of the children of Israel.

The effeminate. . .Catamites, or men addicted to unnatural lust.

14:25. And in the fifth year of the reign of Roboam, Sesac, king of
Egypt, came up against Jerusalem.

14:26. And he took away the treasures of the house of the Lord, and the
king's treasures, and carried all off: as also the shields of gold
which Solomon had made:

14:27. And Roboam made shields of brass instead of them, and delivered
them into the hand of the captains of the shieldbearers, and of them
that kept watch before the gate of the king's house.

14:28. And when the king went into the house of the Lord, they whose
office it was to go before him, carried them: and afterwards they
brought them back to the armoury of the shieldbearers.

14:29. Now the rest of the acts of Roboam, and all that he did, behold
they are written in the book of the words of the days of the kings of
Juda.

14:30. And there was war between Roboam and Jeroboam always.

14:31. And Roboam slept with his fathers, and was buried with them, in
the city of David: and his mother's name was Naama, an Ammonitess: and
Abiam, his son, reigned in his stead.

3 Kings Chapter 15

The acts of Abiam and of Asa kings of Juda. And of Nadab and Baasa
kings of Israel.

15:1. Now in the eighteenth year of the reign of Jeroboam, the son of
Nabat, Abiam reigned over Juda.

15:2. He reigned three years in Jerusalem: the name of his mother was
Maacha, the daughter of Abessalom.

Maacha, etc. . .She is called elsewhere Michaia, daughter of Uriel; but
it was common in those days for the same person to have two names.

15:3. And he walked in all the sins of his father, which he had done
before him: and his heart was not perfect with the Lord his God, as was
the heart of David, his father.

15:4. But for David's sake the Lord his God gave him a lamp in
Jerusalem, to set up his son after him, and to establish Jerusalem:

15:5. Because David had done that which was right in the eyes of the
Lord, and had not turned aside from any thing that he commanded him,
all the days of his life, except the matter of Urias, the Hethite.

15:6. But there was war between Roboam and Jeroboam all the time of his
life.

15:7. And the rest of the words of Abiam, and all that he did, are they
not written in the book of the words of the days of the kings of Juda?
And there was war between Abiam and Jeroboam.

15:8. And Abiam slept with his fathers, and they buried him in the city
of David: and Asa, his son, reigned in his stead.

15:9. So in the twentieth year of Jeroboam, king of Israel, reigned
Asa, king of Juda,

15:10. And he reigned one and forty years in Jerusalem. His mother's
name was Maacha, the daughter of Abessalom.

His mother, etc. . .That is, his grandmother; unless we suppose, which
is not improbable, that the Maacha here named is different from the
Maacha mentioned, ver. 2.

15:11. And Asa did that which was right in the sight of the Lord, as
did David, his father:

15:12. And he took away the effeminate out of the land, and removed all
the filth of the idols, which his fathers had made.

15:13. Moreover, he also removed his mother, Maacha, from being the
princess in the sacrifices of Priapus, and in the grove which she had
consecrated to him: and he destroyed her den, and broke in pieces the
filthy idol, and burnt it by the torrent Cedron:

15:14. But the high places he did not take away. Nevertheless, the
heart of Asa was perfect with the Lord all his days:

The high places. . .There were excelsa or high places of two different
kinds. Some were set up, and dedicated to the worship of idols, or
strange gods; and these Asa removed, 2 Par. 14.2; others were only
altars of the true God, but were erected contrary to the law, which
allowed of no sacrifices but in the temple; and these were not removed
by Asa.--Ibid. Perfect with the Lord. . .Asa had his faults; but never
forsook the worship of the Lord.

15:15. And he brought in the things which his father had dedicated, and
he had vowed, into the house of the Lord, silver and gold, and vessels.

15:16. And there was war between Asa, and Baasa, king of Israel, all
their days.

15:17. And Baasa, king of Israel, went up against Juda, and built Rama,
that no man might go out or come in of the side of Asa, king of Juda.

15:18. Then Asa took all the silver and gold that remained in the
treasures of the house of the Lord, and in the treasures of the king's
house, and delivered it into the hands of his servants: and sent them
to Benadad, son of Tabremon, the son of Hezion, king of Syria, who
dwelt in Damascus, saying:

15:19. There is a league between me and thee, and between my father and
thy father: therefore I have sent thee presents of silver and gold: and
I desire thee to come, and break thy league with Baasa, king of Israel,
that he may depart from me.

15:20. Benadad, hearkening to king Asa, sent the captains of his army
against the cities of Israel, and they smote Ahion, and Dan, and
Abeldomum Maacha, and all Cenneroth; that is all the land of Nephthali.

15:21. And when Baasa had heard this, he left off building Rama, and
returned into Thersa.

15:22. But king Asa sent word into all Juda, saying: Let no man be
excused: and they took away the stones from Rama, and the timber
thereof, wherewith Baasa had been building, and with them king Asa
built Gabaa of Benjamin, and Maspha.

15:23. But the rest of all the acts of Asa, and all his strength, and
all that he did, and the cities that he built, are they not written in
the book of the words of the days of the kings of Juda? But in the time
of his old age he was diseased in his feet.

15:24. And he slept with his fathers, and was buried with them in the
city of David, his father. And Josaphat, his son, reigned in his place.

15:25. But Nadab, the son of Jeroboam, reigned over Israel the second
year of Asa, king of Juda: and he reigned over Israel two years.

15:26. And he did evil in the sight of the Lord, and walked in the ways
of his father, and in his sins, wherewith he made Israel to sin.

15:27. And Baasa, the son of Ahias, of the house of Issachar, conspired
against him, and slew him in Gebbethon, which is a city of the
Philistines: for Nadab and all Israel besieged Gebbethon.

15:28. So Baasa slew him in the third year of Asa, king of Juda, and
reigned in his place.

15:29. And when he was king, he cut off all the house of Jeroboam: he
left not so much as one soul of his seed, till he had utterly destroyed
him, according to the word of the Lord, which he had spoken in the hand
of Ahias, the Silonite:

15:30. Because of the sin of Jeroboam, which he had sinned, and
wherewith he had made Israel to sin, and for the offence wherewith he
provoked the Lord, the God of Israel.

15:31. But the rest of the acts of Nadab, and all that he did, are they
not written in the book of the words of the days of the kings of
Israel?

15:32. And there was war between Asa and Baasa, the king of Israel, all
their days.

15:33. In the third year of Asa, king of Juda, Baasa, the son of Ahias,
reigned over all Israel, in Thersa, four and twenty years.

15:34. And he did evil before the Lord, and walked in the ways of
Jeroboam, and in his sins, wherewith he made Israel to sin.

3 Kings Chapter 16

Jehu prophesieth against Baasa: his son Ela is slain and all his family
destroyed by Zambri. Of the reign of Amri father of Achab.

16:1. Then the word of the Lord came to Jehu, the son of Hanani,
against Baasa, saying:

16:2. For as much as I have exalted thee out of the dust and made thee
prince over my people Israel, and thou hast walked in the way of
Jeroboam, and hast made my people Israel to sin, to provoke me to anger
with their sins:

16:3. Behold I will cut down the posterity of Baasa, and the posterity
of his house, and I will make thy house as the house of Jeroboam, the
son of Nabat.

16:4. Him that dieth of Baasa, in the city, the dogs shall eat: and him
that dieth of his in the country, the fowls of the air shall devour.

16:5. But the rest of the acts of Baasa, and all that he did, and his
battles, are they not written in the book of the words of the days of
the kings of Israel?

16:6. So Baasa slept with his fathers, and was buried in Thersa: and
Ela, his son, reigned in his stead.

16:7. And when the word of the Lord came in the hand of Jehu, the son
of Hanani, the prophet, against Baasa, and against his house, and
against all the evil that he had done before the Lord, to provoke him
to anger by the works of his hands, to become as the house of Jeroboam:
for this cause he slew him; that is to say, Jehu, the son of Hanani,
the prophet.

16:8. In the six and twentieth year of Asa, king of Juda, Ela, the son
of Baasa, reigned over Israel, in Thersa, two years.

16:9. And his servant Zambri, who was captain of half the horsemen,
rebelled against him: now Ela was drinking in Thersa, and drunk in the
house of Arsa, the governor of Thersa.

16:10. And Zambri rushing in, struck him, and slew him, in the seven
and twentieth year of Asa, king of Juda and he reigned in his stead.

16:11. And when he was king, and sat upon his throne, he slew all the
house of Baasa, and he left not one thereof to piss against a wall and
all his kinsfolks and friends.

16:12. And Zambri destroyed all the house of Baasa, according to the
word of the Lord, that he had spoken to Baasa, in the hand of Jehu, the
prophet,

16:13. For all the sins of Baasa, and the sins of Ela, his son, who
sinned, and made Israel to sin, provoking the Lord, the God of Israel,
with their vanities.

16:14. But the rest of the acts of Ela, and all that he did, are they
not written in the book of the words of the days of the kings of
Israel?

16:15. In the seven and twentieth year of Asa, king of Juda, Zambri
reigned seven days in Thersa: now the army was besieging Gebbethon, a
city of the Philistines.

16:16. And when they heard that Zambri had rebelled, and slain the
king, all Israel made Amri their king, who was general over Israel in
the camp that day.

16:17. And Amri went up, and all Israel with him, from Gebbethon, and
they besieged Thersa.

16:18. And Zambri, seeing that the city was about to be taken, went
into the palace, and burnt himself with the king's house: and he died

16:19. In his sins, which he had sinned, doing evil before the Lord,
and walking in the way of Jeroboam, and in his sin, wherewith he made
Israel to sin.

16:20. But the rest of the acts of Zambri, and of his conspiracy and
tyranny, are they not written in the book of the words of the days of
the kings of Israel?

16:21. Then were the people of Israel divided into two parts: one half
of the people followed Thebni, the son of Gineth, to make him king: and
one half followed Amri.

16:22. But the people that were with Amri, prevailed over the people
that followed Thebni, the son of Gineth: and Thebni died, and Amri
reigned.

16:23. In the one and thirtieth year of Asa, king of Juda, Amri reigned
over Israel twelve years: in Thersa he reigned six years.

In the one and thirtieth year, etc. . .Amri began to reign in the seven
and twentieth year of Asa; but had not quiet possession of the kingdom
till the death of his competitor Thebni, which was in the one and
thirtieth year of Asa's reign.

16:24. And he bought the hill of Samaria of Semer, for two talents of
silver: and he built upon it, and he called the city which he built
Samaria, after the name of Semer, the owner of the hill.

16:25. And Amri did evil in the sight of the Lord, and acted wickedly
above all that were before him.

16:26. And he walked in all the way of Jeroboam, the son of Nabat, and
in his sins, wherewith he made Israel to sin: to provoke the Lord, the
God of Israel, to anger with their vanities.

With their vanities. . .That is, their idols their golden calves, vain,
false, deceitful things.

16:27. Now the rest of the acts of Amri, and the battles he fought, are
they not written in the book of the words of the days of the kings of
Israel?

16:28. And Amri slept with his fathers, and was buried in Samaria, and
Achab, his son, reigned in his stead.

16:29. Now Achab, the son of Amri, reigned over Israel in the eight and
thirtieth year of Asa, king of Juda. And Achab, the son of Amri,
reigned over Israel in Samaria two and twenty years.

16:30. And Achab, the son of Amri, did evil in the sight of the Lord
above all that were before him.

16:31. Nor was it enough for him to walk in the sins of Jeroboam, the
son of Nabat: but he also took to wife Jezabel, daughter of Ethbaal,
king of the Sidonians. And he went, and served Baal, and adored him.

16:32. And he set up an altar for Baal, in the temple of Baal, which he
had built in Samaria;

16:33. And he planted a grove: and Achab did more to provoke the Lord,
the God of Israel, than all the kings of Israel that were before him.

16:34. In his days Hiel, of Bethel, built Jericho: in Abiram, his
firstborn, he laid its foundations: and in his youngest son, Segub, he
set up the gates thereof: according to the word of the Lord, which he
spoke in the hand of Josue, the son of Nun.

3 Kings Chapter 17

Elias shutteth up the heaven from raining. He is fed by ravens, and
afterwards by a widow of Sarephta. He raiseth the window's son to life.

17:1. And Elias the Thesbite, of the inhabitants of Galaad, said to
Achab: As the Lord liveth, the God of Israel, in whose sight I stand,
there shall not be dew nor rain these years, but according to the words
of my mouth.

17:2. And the word of the Lord came to him, saying:

17:3. Get thee hence, and go towards the east, and hide thyself by the
torrent of Carith, which is over against the Jordan;

17:4. And there thou shalt drink of the torrent: and I have commanded
the ravens to feed thee there.

17:5. So he went, and did according to the word of the Lord: and going,
he dwelt by the torrent Carith, which is over against the Jordan.

17:6. And the ravens brought him bread and flesh in the morning, and
bread and flesh in the evening; and he drank of the torrent.

17:7. But after some time the torrent was dried up: for it had not
rained upon the earth.

17:8. Then the word of the Lord came to him, saying:

17:9. Arise, and go to Sarephta of the Sidonians, and dwell there: for
I have commanded a widow woman there to feed thee.

Sarephta of the Sidonians. . .That is, a city of the Sidonians.

17:10. He arose, and went to Sarephta. And when he was come to the gate
of the city, he saw the widow woman gathering sticks, and he called
her, and said to her: Give me a little water in a vessel, that I may
drink.

17:11. And when she was going to fetch it, he called after her, saying:
Bring me also, I beseech thee, a morsel of bread in thy hand.

17:12. And she answered: As the Lord thy God liveth, I have no bread,
but only a handful of meal in a pot, and a little oil in a cruise:
behold I am gathering two sticks, that I may go in and dress it, for me
and my son, that we may eat it and die.

17:13. And Elias said to her: Fear not; but go, and do as thou hast
said but first make for me of the same meal a little hearth cake, and
bring it to me, and after make for thyself and thy son.

17:14. For thus saith the Lord, the God of Israel: The pot of meal
shall not waste, nor the cruise of oil be diminished, until the day
wherein the Lord will give rain upon the face of the earth.

17:15. She went, and did according to the word of Elias: and he ate,
and she, and her house: and from that day

17:16. The pot of meal wasted not, and the cruise of oil was not
diminished according to the word of the Lord, which he spoke in the
hand of Elias.

17:17. And it came to pass after this, that the son of the woman, the
mistress of the house, fell sick, and the sickness was very grievous,
so that there was no breath left in him.

17:18. And she said to Elias: What have I to do with thee, thou man of
God? art thou come to me, that my iniquities should be remembered, and
that thou shouldst kill my son?

17:11. And Elias said to her: Give me thy son. And he took him out of
her bosom, and carried him into the upper chamber where he abode, and
laid him upon his own bed.

17:20. And he cried to the Lord, and said: O Lord, my God, hast thou
afflicted also the widow, with whom I am after a sort maintained, so as
to kill her son?

17:21. And he stretched, and measured himself upon the child three
times, and cried to the Lord, and said: O Lord, my God, let the soul of
this child, I beseech thee, return into his body.

17:22. And the Lord heard the voice of Elias: and the soul of the child
returned into him, and he revived.

17:23. And Elias took the child, and brought him down from the upper
chamber to the house below, and delivered him to his mother, and said
to her: Behold thy son liveth.

17:24. And the woman said to Elias: Now by this I know that thou art a
man of God, and the word of the Lord in thy mouth is true.

3 Kings Chapter 18

Elias cometh before Achab. He convinceth the false prophets by bringing
fire from heaven: he obtaineth rain by his prayer.

18:1. After many days, the word of the Lord came to Elias, in the third
year, saying: Go, and shew thyself to Achab, that I may give rain upon
the face of the earth.

18:2. And Elias went to shew himself to Achab, and there was a grievous
famine in Samaria.

18:3. And Achab called Abdias the governor of his house: now Abdias
feared the Lord very much.

18:4. For when Jezabel killed the prophets of the Lord, he took a
hundred prophets, and hid them by fifty and fifty in caves, and fed
them with bread and water.

18:5. And Achab said to Abdias: Go into the land unto all fountains of
waters, and into all valleys, to see if we can find grass, and save the
horses and mules, that the beasts may not utterly perish.

18:6. And they divided the countries between them, that they might go
round about them: Achab went one way, and Abdias another way by
himself.

18:7. And as Abdias was in the way, Elias met him: and he knew him, and
fell on his face, and said: Art thou my lord Elias?

18:8. And he answered: I am. Go, and tell thy master: Elias is here.

18:9. And he said: What have I sinned, that thou wouldst deliver me,
thy servant, into the hand of Achab, that he should kill me?

18:10. As the Lord thy God liveth, there is no nation or kingdom,
whither my lord hath not sent to seek thee: and when all answered: He
is not here: he took an oath of every kingdom and nation, because thou
wast not found.

18:11. And now thou sayest to me: Go and tell thy master: Elias is
here.

18:12. And when I am gone from thee, the Spirit of the Lord will carry
thee into a place that I know not: and I shall go in and tell Achab;
and he, not finding thee, will kill me: but thy servant feareth the
Lord from his infancy.

18:13. Hath it not been told thee, my lord, what I did when Jezabel
killed the prophets of the Lord; how I hid a hundred men of the
prophets of the Lord, by fifty and fifty in caves, and fed them with
bread and water?

18:14. And now thou sayest: Go and tell thy master: Elias is here:
that he may kill me.

18:15. And Elias said: As the Lord of hosts liveth, before whose face I
stand, this day I will shew myself unto him.

18:16. Abdias therefore went to meet Achab, and told him: and Achab
came to meet Elias.

18:17. And when he had seen him, he said: Art thou he that troublest
Israel?

18:18. And he said: I have not troubled Israel, but thou and thy
father's house, who have forsaken the commandments of the Lord, and
have followed Baalim.

18:19. Nevertheless send now, and gather unto me all Israel, unto Mount
Carmel, and the prophets of Baal four hundred and fifty, and the
prophets of the groves four hundred, who eat at Jezabel's table.

18:20. Achab sent to all the children of Israel, and gathered together
the prophets unto mount Carmel.

18:21. And Elias coming to all the people, said: How long do you halt
between two sides? If the Lord be God, follow him: but if Baal, then
follow him. And the people did not answer him a word.

18:22. And Elias said again to the people: I only remain a prophet of
the Lord: but the prophets of Baal are four hundred and fifty men.

18:23. Let two bullocks be given us, and let them choose one bullock
for themselves, and cut it in pieces, and lay it upon wood, but put no
fire under: and I will dress the other bullock, and lay it on wood, and
put no fire under it.

18:24. Call ye on the names of your gods, and I will call on the name
of my Lord: and the God that shall answer by fire, let him be God. And
all the people answering, said: A very good proposal.

18:25. Then Elias said to the prophets of Baal: Choose you one bullock
and dress it first, because you are many: and call on the names of your
gods; but put no fire under.

18:26. And they took the bullock, which he gave them, and dressed it:
and they called on the name of Baal from morning even until noon,
saying: O Baal, hear us. But there was no voice, nor any that answered:
and they leaped over the altar that they had made.

18:27. And when it was now noon, Elias jested at them, saying: Cry with
a louder voice: for he is a god; and perhaps he is talking, or is in an
inn, or on a journey; or perhaps he is asleep, and must be awaked.

18:28. So they cried with a loud voice, and cut themselves after their
manner with knives and lancets, till they were all covered with blood.

18:29. And after midday was past, and while they were prophesying, the
time was come of offering sacrifice, and there was no voice heard, nor
did any one answer, nor regard them as they prayed.

18:30. Elias said to all the people: Come ye unto me. And the people
coming near unto him, he repaired the altar of the Lord, that was
broken down:

18:31. And he took twelve stones, according to the number of the tribes
of the sons of Jacob to whom the word of the Lord came, saying: Israel
shall be thy name.

18:32. And he built with the stones an altar to the name of the Lord:
and he made a trench for water, of the breadth of two furrows, round
about the altar.

18:33. And he laid the wood in order, and cut the bullock in pieces,
and laid it upon the wood.

18:34. And he said: Fill four buckets with water, and pour it upon the
burnt offering, and upon the wood. And again he said: Do the same the
second time. And when they had done it the second time, he said: Do the
same also the third time. And they did so the third time.

18:35. And the water run round about the altar, and the trench was
filled with water.

18:36. And when it was now time to offer the holocaust, Elias, the
prophet, came near and said: O Lord God of Abraham, and Isaac, and
Israel, shew this day that thou art the God of Israel, and I thy
servant, and that according to thy commandment I have done all these
things.

18:37. Dear me, O Lord, hear me: that this people may learn that thou
art the Lord God, and that thou hast turned their heart again.

18:38. Then the fire of the Lord fell, and consumed the holocaust, and
the wood, and the stones, and the dust, and licked up the water that
was in the trench.

18:39. And when all the people saw this, they fell on their faces, and
they said: The Lord, he is God; the Lord, he is God.

18:40. And Elias said to them: Take the prophets of Baal, and let not
one of them escape. And when they had taken them, Elias brought them
down to the torrent Cison, and killed them there.

18:41. And Elias said to Achab: Go up, eat and drink: for there is a
sound of abundance of rain.

18:42. Achab went up to eat and drink: and Elias went up to the top of
Carmel, and casting himself down upon the earth, put his face between
his knees,

18:43. And he said to his servant: Go up, and look towards the sea. And
he went up, and looked, and said: There is nothing. And again he said
to him: Return seven times.

18:44. And at the seventh time: Behold a little cloud arose out of the
sea like a man's foot. And he said: Go up, and say to Achab: Prepare
thy chariot, and go down, lest the rain prevent thee.

18:45. And while he turned himself this way and that way, behold the
heavens grew dark, with clouds and wind, and there fell a great rain.
And Achab getting up, went away to Jezrahel:

18:46. And the hand of the Lord was upon Elias, and he girded up his
loins, and ran before Achab, till he came to Jezrahel.

3 Kings Chapter 19

Elias, fleeing from Jezabel, is fed by an angel in the desert; and by
the strength of that food walketh forty days, till he cometh to Horeb,
where he hath a vision of God.

19:1. And Achab told Jezabel all that Elias had done, and how he had
slain all the prophets with the sword.

19:2. And Jezabel sent a messenger to Elias, saying: Such and such
things may the gods do to me, and add still more, if by this hour to
morrow I make not thy life as the life of one of them.

19:3. Then EIias was afraid, and rising up, he went whithersoever he
had a mind: and he came to Bersabee of Juda, and left his servant
there,

19:4. And he went forward, one day's journey into the desert. And when
he was there, and sat under a juniper tree, he requested for his soul
that he might die, and said: It is enough for me, Lord; take away my
soul: for I am no better than my fathers.

That he might die. . .Elias requested to die, not out of impatience or
pusillanimity, but out of zeal against sin; and that he might no longer
be witness of the miseries of his people; and the war they were waging
against God and his servants. See ver. 10.

19:5. And he cast himself down, and slept in the shadow of the juniper
tree: and behold an angel of the Lord touched him, and said to him:
Arise and eat.

19:6. He looked, and behold there was at his head a hearth cake, and a
vessel of water: and he ate and drank, and he fell asleep again.

19:7. And the angel of the Lord came again the second time, and touched
him, and said to him: Arise, eat: for thou hast yet a great way to go.

19:8. And he arose, and ate and drank, and walked in the strength of
that food forty days and forty nights, unto the mount of God, Horeb.

In the strength of that food, etc. . .This bread, with which Elias was
fed in the wilderness, was a figure of the bread of life which we
receive in the blessed sacrament; by the strength of which we are to be
supported in our journey through the wilderness of this world till we
come to the true mountain of God, and his vision in a happy eternity.

19:9. And when he was come thither, he abode in a cave. and behold the
word of the Lord came unto him, and he said to him: What dost thou
here, Elias?

19:10. And he answered: With zeal have I been zealous for the Lord God
of hosts: for the children of Israel have forsaken thy covenant: they
have thrown down thy altars, they have slain thy prophets with the
sword, and I alone am left, and they seek my life to take it away.

I alone am left. . .Viz., of the prophets in the kingdom of Israel, or
of the ten tribes; for in the kingdom of Juda religion was at that time
in a very flourishing condition under the kings Asa and Josaphat. And
even in Israel there remained several prophets, though not then known
to Elias. See chap. 20.13, 28, 35.

19:11. And he said to him: Go forth, and stand upon the mount before
the Lord: and behold the Lord passeth, and a great and strong wind
before the Lord, overthrowing the mountains, and breaking the rocks in
pieces: but the Lord is not in the wind. And after the wind, an
earthquake: but the Lord is not in the earthquake.

19:12. And after the earthquake, a fire: but the Lord is not in the
fire. And after the fire, a whistling of a gentle air.

19:13. And when Elias heard it, he covered his face with his mantle,
and coming forth, stood in the entering in of the cave, and behold a
voice unto him, saying: What dost thou here, Elias? And he answered:

19:14. With zeal have I been zealous for the Lord God of hosts: because
the children of Israel have forsaken thy covenant: they have destroyed
thy altars, they have slain thy prophets with the sword; and I alone am
left, and they seek my life to take it away.

19:15. And the Lord said to him: Go, and return on thy way, through the
desert, to Damascus: and when thou art come thither, thou shalt anoint
Hazael to be king over Syria;

19:16. And thou shalt anoint Jehu, the son of Namsi, to be king over
Israel: and Eliseus, the son of Saphat, of Abelmeula, thou shalt anoint
to be prophet in thy room.

19:17. And it shall come to pass, that whosoever shall escape the sword
of Hazael, shall be slain by Jehu: and whosoever shall escape the sword
of Jehu, shall be slain by Eliseus.

Shall be slain by Eliseus. . .Eliseus did not kill any of the idolaters
with the material sword: but he is here joined with Hazael and Jehu,
the great instruments of God in punishing the idolatry of Israel,
because he foretold to the former his exaltation to the kingdom of
Syria, and the vengeance he would execute against Israel, and anointed
the latter by one of his disciples to be king of Israel, with
commission to extirpate the house of Achab.

19:18. And I will leave me seven thousand men in Israel, whose knees
have not been bowed before Baal, and every mouth that hath not
worshipped him, kissing the hands.

19:19. And Elias departing from thence, found Eliseus, the son of
Saphat, ploughing with twelve yoke of oxen: and he was one of them that
were ploughing with, twelve yoke of oxen: and when Elias came up to
him, he cast his mantle upon him.

19:20. And he forthwith left the oxen, and run after Elias, and said:
Let me, I pray thee, kiss my father and my mother, and then I will
follow thee. And he said to him: Go, and return back: for that which
was my part, I have done to thee.

19:21. And returning back from him, he took a yoke of oxen, and killed
them, and boiled the flesh with the plough of the oxen, and gave to the
people, and they ate: and rising up, he went away, and followed Elias,
and ministered to him.

3 Kings Chapter 20

The Syrians besiege Samaria: they are twice defeated by Achab: who is
reprehended by a prophet for letting Benadad go.

20:1. And Benadad, king of Syria, gathered together all his host, and
there were two and thirty kings with him, and horses, and chariots: and
going up, he fought against Samaria, and besieged it.

20:2. And sending messengers to Achab, king of Israel, into the city,

20:3. He said: Thus saith Benadad: Thy silver and thy gold is mine:
and thy wives and thy goodliest children are mine.

20:4. And the king of Israel answered: According to thy word, my lord,
O king, I am thine, and all that I have.

20:5. And the messengers came again, and said: Thus saith Benadad, who
sent us unto thee: Thy silver and thy gold, and thy wives and thy
children, thou shalt deliver up to me.

20:6. To morrow, therefore, at this same hour, I will send my servants
to thee, and they shall search thy house, and the houses of thy
servants: and all that pleaseth them, they shall put in their hands,
and take away.

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