I. When king David was old—far advanced in years, they
2 covered him with clothes, but he was not warmed; therefore his sen-ants said, Let a young virgin be sought out for the king, that she may attend him, and chafe him, and lie in his
3 bosom, that my lord the king may be warmed. So they sought for a beautiful virgin, through all the borders of Israel, and having found Abisag, the Somanite, they brought her to the
4 king. The young woman was indeed very beautiful, and she chafed the king, and waited on him, but the king knew her not.
5 Then Adonias, son of Aggith, took upon him state, saying, I shall be king; and provided himself with chariots, and
6 horsemen, and fifty men to run before him. And his father did not in the least restrain him nor say, Why hast thou done so ? Now in person he was very comely, and by birth next
7 after Abessalom. And his plans were concerted with Joab, son of Saruia, and with Abiathar, the priest, and they abetted
8 him. But Sadok the priest, and Banaias, son of Jodae, and Nathan the prophet, and Semei, and Resi, and the worthies of
9 David, were not of his party. So having slain sheep, and oxen, and lambs, at the fires of Zaelethi, which is near Rogel, Adonias invited all his brothers, and all the nobles of Juda,
10 the king's servants; but did not invite Nathan the prophet, nor
11 Banaias, nor the worthies, nor Solomon his brother. Thereupon Nathan spoke to Bersabe, the mother of Solomon, saying, Hast thou not heard that Adonias, son of Aggith, doth
12 reign, and David our lord knoweth it not? Now therefore come, I pray thee, let me advise thee. Save thine own life, and
13 the life of thy son Solomon. Go immediately to king David, and say to him, Didst thou not, O my lord the king, swear to thy servant saying, Thy son Solomon shall reign after me, and
14 he shall sit on my throne? Why then doth Adonias reign? And behold whilst thou art speaking with the king, I witt come in after thee, and confirm thy words. So Bersabe went to the king, into the inner chamber. Now the king was very old, and Abisag ,the Somanite was waiting on him. And when Bersabe had bowed down, and made obeisance to the king, the king said to her, What is thy will? And she said, My lord, Thou didst swear to thy servant, by the Lord thy God, saying, Thy son Solomon shall reign after me, and sit on my
18 throne. But now behold Adonias reigneth, and thou my lord
19 the king dost not know it. He hath sacrificed oxen, and iambs, and sheep for the multitude, and invited all the king's sons, and Abiathar the priest, and Joab the captain general of the
20 army, but hath not invited thy servant Solomon. Now therefore my lord the king, the eyes of all Israel are upon thee, to tell them who shall sit on the throne of my lord the king after
21 him; otherwise when my lord the king shall sleep with his fa-
22 thers, I, and Solomon my son, shall be deemed offenders. And behold while she was yet speaking to the king, Nathan the prophet came, and was announced to the king, Here is Nathan
23 the prophet. And when he came into the king's presence, and had made obeisance to the king, with his face to the ground,
24 Nathan said, My lord the king, hast thou said, Adonias shall
25 reign after me, and he shall sit on my throne? For he is gone down to-day, and hath sacrificed bullocks, and lambs, and sheep, for the multitude, and invited all the king's sons, and the chiefs
26 of the army, and Abiathar the priest, and behold they are eating and drinking in his presence, and have said, Long live king Adonias. But me thy servant, and Sadok die priest, and Banaias, son of Jodae, and Solomon thy servant, he tiath not
27 invited. If this is done by order of my lord the king, why hast thou not made known to thy servant who shall sit on the throne
28 of my lord the king after him? And king David in reply said, Call Bersabe to me. And when she came in before the king,
29 and stood in his presence, the king swore, saying, As the Lord liveth, who hath redeemed my soul out of all affliction,
30 as I have sworn to thee by the Lord God Of Israel, saying, Solomon thy son shall reign after me, and he shall sit on my
31 throne in my stead, even so will I do this very day. Thereupon Bersabe "bowed down, with her face to the ground, and made obeisance to the king, and said, Let my lord king David live for-
32 ever. Then king David said, Call to me Sadok the priest, and
33 Nathan the prophet, and Banaias, son of Jodae. And when they came in before the king, he said to them, Take the servants of your lord the king with you, and mount my son Solomon on
34 my mule, and conduct him down to Gion, and let Sadok the priest, and Nathan the prophet, anoint him to be king over Is-
35 rael. Then sound the trumpet, and say, God save king Solomon. And let him sit on my throne, and reign in my stead, as
36 I have appointed him to be ruler over Israel and Juda. Thereupon Banaias, son of Jodae, answered the king and said, Be it so! May the Lord the God of my lord the king confirm it!
37 As the Lord hath been with my lord the king, so may he be - with Solomon, and magnify his throne above the throne of my
58 lord king David ! Then Sadok die priest, and Nathan the prophet, and Banaias, son of Jodae, went down with the Chere- thites, and the Phelethites, and having mounted Solomon on
39 king David's mule, they conducted him to Gion. And Sadok the priest took the horn of oil out of the tabernacle, and having anointed Solomon, he blew the trumpet, and all the people
40 shouted, Live king Solomon! Then all the people followed him up, and danced in choirs, and made great rejoicings, so
41 that the earth was rent with their shouting. And Adonias, and all his guests, heard it just as they had done eating. And when Joab heard the sound of the trumpet, he said, What is this
42 sound of the city in an uproar? And while he was speaking, behold Jonathan, son of Abiathar the priest, entered. And Adonias said, Come in, for thou art a man of valour, and must have
43 brought good news. To which Jonathan replied, saying, Quite
44 the reverse. Our lord king David hath made Solomon king. The king sent with him Sadok the priest, and Nathan the prophet, and Banaias son of Jodae, and the Cherethites and the
45 Phelethites, and they mounted him on the king's mule. And Sadok the priest, and Nathan the prophet, anointed him at Gion, and all the people went up thence rejoicing, so that the city
46 resounded. This is the noise which you have heard. And while
47 Solomon sat on the throne of the kingdom, the king's servants went in to congratulate our lord king David, saying, God make the name of Solomon better than thy name, and magnify his throne above thy throne! And the king bowed on his bed,
48 And the king said to this effect. Blessed be the Lord God of Israel, who hath this day set one of my seed on my throne, andmy
49 eyes see it. Upon this all the guests of Adonias, were struck with
50 consternation, and went every man his way. And Adonias, being afraid of Solomon, arose and went, and took hold of the horns
51 of the altar. And when they told Solomon, saying, Behold Adonias is afraid of king Solomon, and hath hold of the horns of the altar, saying, Let Solomon this day swear to me that he
52 will not slay his servant with the sword, Solomon said, If he shew himself a virtuous man, there shall not a hair of him fall to the ground; but if wickedness be found in him he shall be
53 put to death. Then king Solomon sent, and they brought him down from the altar; and when he came, and had done homage to king Solomon, Solomon said to him, Goto thy house.
JI. Now when David's days drew near that he should die, he
2 spoke to his son Solomon, and said, I am going the way of all
3 the earth, be thou therefore strong, and shew thyself a man, and keep the watch of the Lord thy God, to walk in his ways, and keep his commandments, and his statutes, and his judgments, which are written in the law of Moses; that thou mayst know
4 what thou art to do, according to all that I command thee— that the Lord may establish his word which he hath spoken, saying, If thy children take heed to their ways, to walk before me in truth, with their whole heart, thou shalt not, said he,
5 liave a man cut off from the throne of Israel. Now thou thyself knowest what Joab son of Saruia hath done to me—what he did to the two chiefs of the armies of Israel, to Abenner son of Ner, and to Amessai son of Jether. He indeed slew them, and shed the blood of war in peace, and stained, with guiltless
6 blood, the girdle on his loins, and the shoes on his feet. Do thou therefore according to thy wisdom, so as not to let his
7 grey hairs go down to the grave in peace. But shew kindness to the sons of Berzelli, the Galaadite, and let them eat at thy table; for so they were near me, when I fled from the face of thy brother Abessalom.
8 Behold also thou hast with thec Semci, son of Gera, the Jeminite of Baurim. Though he cursed me with a bitter curse on the day when I was marching to Camps, yet he came down to the Jordan to meet me, and I swore to him by the Lord,
9 saying, I will not put thee to death with the sword. Now thou art not to hold him guiltless. As thou art a wise man, thou thyself therefore wilt know what to do to him, and wilt bring down his grey hairs to the grave with blood.
10 Then David slept with his fathers, and was buried in the
11 city of David. Now all the days which David reigned over Israel were forty years. He reigned seven years at Chebron, and thirty three years at Jerusalem.
12 When Solomon sat on the throne of his father David, and
13 his kingdom was well established; Adonias, son of Aggith, went to Bersabe, the mother of Solomon, and bowed to her.
14 Whereupon she said to him, Is thy coming peaceable? And he said, It is peaceable. I have something to say to thee; And
15 she said to him, Say on. Then he said to her, Thou knowest that the kingdom belonged to me, and that all Israel looked on me as king. But the kingdom is transferred, and become my brother's, because it was his from the Lord. No\v therefore I
16 have a favour to ask of thee, do not refuse it. And Bersabe
17 said to him, Proceed. Then he said to her, Speak, I pray thee to Solomon, for he will not refuse thee, that he may give me
18 Abisag, the Somanite, for a wife. Thereupon Bersabe said,
19 Well, I will speak to the king for thee. So Bersabe went to king Solomon, to speak to him concerning Adonias. And the king arose to meet her, and saluted her, and when he sat down on the throne, there was a throne set for the king's mother, and
20 she sat on his right hand, and said to him, I have a small fa-- vour to ask of thee, do not refuse me. And the king said to her,
21 Ask it, my mother, I will not reject thee. Then she said, I pray thee, let Abisag, the Somanite, be given to thy brother Aclo-
22 nias for a wife. Whereupon king Solomon in reply to his mother, said, But why hast thou asked Abisag for Adonias? Ask for him the kingdom also; for he is my elder brother, and Abiathar is his priest, and Joab, son of Saruia, his captain ge-
23 neral, and his friend. Then king Solomon swore by the Lord, saying, God do so to me and more also, if Adonias hath not
24 spoken this against his own life. Now therefore as the Lord liveth, who hath prepared me, and set me oin the throne of my father David, and hath made for me a house, as he hath spoken,
25 Adonias shall this day be put to death. So king Solomon sent
26 by the hand of Banaias, son of Jodae, and he slew him. And when Adonias was dead, on the very same day, the king said to Abiathar, Begone speedily to thy fields at Anathoth, for thou art this day a condemned man, but I will not put thee to death, because thou didst carry the ark of the covenant of the Lord before my father, and hast shared in all the afflictions with
27 which my father was afflicted. So Solomon expelled Abiathar from being the priest of the Lord, so that the word of the Lord
was fulfilled, which he spoke against the house of Eli at
28 Selom. Now when the news came to Joab, son of Saruia, because he had been of Adonias' party, and not a follower of Solomon, therefore Joab fled to the tabernacle of the Lord, and
29 took hold of the horns of the altar. And when they told Solomon, saying, Joab hath fled to the tabernacle of the Lord, and behold he hath hold of the horns of the altar, king Solomon sent to Joab, saying, What is the matter with thee, that thou hast fled to the altar. Thereupon Joab said, Because I was afraid of thee, therefore I fled to the Lord. Then Solomon sent Banaias, son of Jodae, saying, Go, and kill him, and bury him.
30 So Banaias, son of Jodae, went to Joab, to the tabernacle of the Lord, and said to him, Thus saith the king, Come out. And Joab said, I will not go out, for I will die here. Upon which Banaias, son of Jodae, returned and told the king, say- Si ing, Thus did Joab say, and thus he answered me; and the
king said to him, Go and do to him as he hath spoken. Kill him, and bury him, and take away this day, the blood which
32 he shed without cause, from me and my father's house. The Lord indeed hath turned the blood of his iniquity on his head. Because he fell upon two-men more righteous, and better than himself, and slew them with the sword, and my father David knew not of their blood, namely Abenner, son of Ner, the captain general of Israel, and Amessai, son of Jether, the cap-
33 tain general of Juda; therefore their blood is returned on his own head, and on the head of his seed forever. But on David, and his seed, and on his house, and his throne, let there be
34 peace from the Lord forever. So Banaias, son of Jodae, went up, and fell upon Joab; and when he had slain him, he buried him,
35 at his house in the wilderness; and the kmg set Banaias, son of Jodae, over the army in his stead.
III. Now the regal government was established at Jerusalem, and the king made Sadok the priest, the first priest, in the room of Abiathar. And Solomon, son of David, reigned over Israel and Juda at Jerusalem. And the Lord gave Solomon understanding, and comprehensive wisdom, and an enlargement of heart, like the sand on the sea shore; so that the knowledge of Solomon was enlarged far above the knowledge of all the ancients, and above all the wise men of Egypt. And he took
the daughter of Pharao, and brdught her to the eity of David, until he finished building his own house, and the house of the Lord, which he did first, and also the wall of Jerusalem round about. These he began, and finished in seven years; for he had seventy thousand men who carried burdens, and eighty thousand hewers of stone on the mountains. And Solomon made the sea, and its supporters, and the great lavers, and the pillars, and the fountain in the court. And over the brazen sea he built the turreted shelter for it, and cut a canal through the city of David. And when Pharao's daughter went up out of the city of David into her house, which he had built for her, he then built the citadel. And Solomon offered, every year, three whole burnt offerings, and peace offerings, on the altar which he built for the Lord, and he burned incense before the Lord, and finished the house. Now the chiefs who were set over the works of Solomon were three thousand six hundred. They superintended the people who performed the works. He built also Assour, and Magdo, and Gazer, and upper Baithoron, and Ballath. But this was after he had built the house of the Lord, and the wall of Jerusalem round about. After finishing these he built the cities above mentioned.
Now while David was still alive he gave a charge to Solomon, saying, Behold thou hast with thee Semei, son of Gera, a descendant of the seed of Jemini of Chebron. He cursed me with a bitter curse when I was marching to Camps. But he came down to the Jordan to meet me, therefore I swore to him by the Lord saying, Thou shall not be put to death with the sword. Now thou art not to hold him guiltless. As thou art a wise man thou thyself therefore wilt know what to do to him, and wilt bring down his grey hairs to the grave with blood.
36 Therefore the king sent for Semei, and said to him, Build thyself a house in Jerusalem and dwell there, and thou shalt not
37 go out thence any where. For be assured that on the day thou goest out, and Grossest the brook Kcdron, thou shalt be put to death. Thy blood shall be on thy own head. And the king
38 caused him to take an oath that day. And Semei said to the king, Good is the word which thou ray lord the king hast spoken. Thy servant will do so. Accordingly Semei dwelt in Je-
39 rusalem three years. But it happened, that after the three years,
VOL. II. H
two slaves of Semei ran away to Angchus son of Maacha king
of Geth. And when Semei was told that his slaves were at
Geth, he arose, and saddled his ass, and went to Geth to Ang-
40 chus to seek them. And when he had gone, and brought them
41'-back from Geth, Solomon was informed that Semei had gone
42 from Jerusalem to Geth, and brought back his slaves. Upon which the king sent for Semei, and said to him, Did I not adjure thee by the Lord, and protest to thee saying, Be assured that on the day thou goest out of Jerusalem to any place what-
43 ever thou shalt surely die ? Why then hast thou not kept the oath of the Lord, and the command which I enjoined thee?
44 Moreover the king said to Semei, Thou knowest all thy wickedness, and thy heart is privy to all that thou didst to my father David, therefore the Lord hath turned thy wickedness on thy
45 own head; and king Solomon shall be blessed, and the throne
46 of David shall be established before the Lord forever. Then king Solomon gave orders to Banaias, son of Jodae, and he went and slew him.
Now king Solomon was very prudent and wise; and Juda 46 and Israel were exceedingly numerous, like the sand on the sea shore for multitude, eating, and drinking, and rejoicing. And Solomon was chief among all the kingdoms, and they brought him gifts, and served him all the days of his life. And Solomon began opening the fastnesses of Libanus, and he built Thermal in the wilderness. And this was Solomon's allowance for dinner, thirty cores of fine flour, and sixty cores of barley meal; ten beeves stall fed, and twenty beeves from the pasture, and one hundred sheep, besides hinds, fallow deer, and choice fatted fowls; for he was supreme over all the country on this side the river, from Raphi to Gaza, over all the kings bordering on the river, and he was at peace with all around him; so that Juda and Israel dwelt securely, every one under his own vine and under his own fig tree, eating and drinking, and feasting, from Dan to Bersabee, all the days of Solomon. And these were Solomon's principal officers, Azarias son of Sadok was priest, and Ornias son of Nathan was chief over the overseers; and Edramen was steward; and Suba scribe, and Basason of Achithalam, recorder, and Abi son of Joab, captain general of the army; and Achire son of Edrai was at the head of the board
of works; .and Banaias son of Jodae was captain of the guards; and Kashur son of Nathan, counsellor. And Solomon had four thousand breeding mares for carriages, and twelve thousand horses. And he was supreme over all the kings from the river to the land of the Philistines, and even to the borders of Egypt. III. Now Solomon son of David reigned over Israel and Juda in Jerusalem; but the people were in the practice of burning incense on the high places, because till this time there was not
3 a house built to the Lord. And Solomon loved the Lord, to walk in the statutes of his father David; but he sacrificed and
4 burned incense on the high places. So he arose and went to Gabaon because it was the highest and greatest to sacrifice there. And when Solomon had offered there a whole burnt offering of a thousand victims upon the altar at Gabaon, the Lord
5 appeared to him that night in a dream, and said to him, Ask
6 for thyself any favour. Thereupon Solomon said, Thou hast shewn great kindness to thy servant David my father. As he walked before thee in truth and righteousness and in uprightness of heart with thee, thou therefore hast kept for him this
7 great kindness to set'his son on his throne as at this day. Now therefore, O Lord my God, as thou hast appointed me thy servant in the room of my father David, and I am but a little child
8 and know not how to go out and come in, and thy servant is in the midst of thy people whom thou hast chosen, an immense
9 people which cannot be numbered, give therefore to thy servant a heart to hear and to judge thy people righteously, and to discern between good and evil; for who can judge this thy peo-
10 pie, this great people which is so numerous? And it was well pleasing in the sight of the Lord that Solomon made this re-
11 quest; therefore the Lord said to him, Because thou hast asked this of me, and hast not asked for thyself many days, nor riches, nor the life of thine enemies, but hast asked for thyself understanding to discern judgment, behold I have granted thy re-
12 quest—behold I have given thee a wise and understanding heart, so that before thee there hath not been one like thee, nor
13 after thee shall there arise one like thee. Moreover I have given thee what thou didst not ask, riches and glory; so that there
14 hath not been among kings a man like thee. And if thou wilt, walk in my ways to keep my commandments and my statutes,
as thy father David did, I will also multiply thy days. And
15 Solomon awoke, and behold it was a dream. Then he arose and came to Jerusalem, and stood before the altar which is in front of the ark of the covenant of the Lord in Sion, and offered whole burnt offerings; and having offered also offerings of thanksgiving, he made a great entertainment for himself and
16 all his servants. Then there appeared before the king two women who were harlots, and when they stood in his presence
17 one of them said, Hear me, my lord, I and this woman dwell in one house, and we were delivered of children in the same
18 house. And it happened that the third day after my delivery this woman was delivered. We were together. There is no
19 body with us—none but we two in the house. And this wo-
20 man's son died in the night, as she overlaid it. And she arose in the middle of the night, and took my son out of my arms, and laid it in her bosom; and her own child which was dead,
21 she laid in my bosom. So when I arose in the morning to give my son suck, behold it was dead. But when I examined it attentively in the morning, behold it was not my son whom I
22 bore. And the other woman said, No: but the living is my
23 son and the dead is thy son. And when both had spoken before the king, he said to them, Thou sayst, This is my child which is alive, and that which is dead is that woman's child. And thou sayst, No: but the living is my son, and the dead is thy
24 son. Then the king said, Bring me a sword. And when they
25 had laid the sword before the king, he said, Divide the living child—the infant, in two; and give one half to this woman and
26 the other half to that woman. Upon this the woman whose son the living child really was, answered and said to the king—because her bowels yearned for her son, therefore she said, I be-
27 seech thee my lord, Give her the child. Do not kill it. But the other said, Let it be neither mine nor hers. Divide it. Then the king answered and said, Give the child to her who said, Give the child to her and do not kill it; For she is the mother.
28 And when all Israel heard the judgment which the king had given, they feared the king, for they saw that there was in him the wisdom of God to execute judgment.
IV. Now when king Solomon reigned over Israel these were his principal officers. Azarias son of Sadok, Eliaph and Achia
sons of Seba were scribes, and Josaphat son of Achilud recorder; and Banaias son of Jodae captain general of the army, and Sa- dok and Abiathar chief priests; and Ornia son of Nathan su- perintendant of the overseers; and Zabuth son of Nathan the
6 king's companion, and Achisar was steward; and Eliak high steward; and Eliab son of Saph vyas over the household; and
7 Adoniram son of Audon was over the tribute. And Solomon had twelve officers over all Israel to supply the king and his household, each to furnish supplies one month in the year,
8 and these were their names. Been son of Or on mount Ephraim,
9 one. Son Dakar, at Makis, and at Salabin, and at Baithsamys,
10 and Elon even to Bethanon, another. Son Esdi at Araboth;
11 to him belonged Socho and all the land of Opher. And over all Nephador was son Aminadab, who had to wife Tephath,
12 a daughter of Solomon, another. Bana son of Achiluth had Ithanach and Mageddo and all the house of San, which is by Sephanan below Esrae, and from Bethsan to Sabelmaula even
13 to Maeberlukam, another. Son Naber at Raboth Galaad; he had the district of Ergab in Basan, containing sixty large
14 cities with walls and brasen bars, another. Achinadab son of
15 Saddo at Maanaim. Achimaas, who married Basemmath a
16 daughter of Solomon, was in Nephthaleim, another. Bana
18 son of Chousi in Asser and in Baaloth, another. Semei son
19 of Ela in Benjamin. Gaber son of Adai in the land of Gad, which belonged to Scon king of Esebon and Og king of Ba-
17 san, and Naseph, one; in the land of Juda; Josaphat son of Phaa-
27 sud in Issachar. These officers thus stationed furnished supplies for king Solomon, and all things ordered for the king's table, each his month, without the least variation from what
28 was ordered. The barley and straw, for the horses and chariot mares, they carried to the place where the king happened to
22 be, each in his coarse. Now these were the stated portions for Solomon every day, thirty cores of fine flour and sixty
23 cores of barley meal; ten choice young beeves, and twenty beeves from the pasture, and one hundred sheep besides hinds
24 and fallow deer, and fatted fowls; for he was supreme on this
29 side the river, and was at peace with all around. And the Lord gave Solomon understanding and very comprehensive knowledge ; and the effusions of his heart were like the sand on the
30 sea shore; so that Solomon far excelled the wisdom of all the
31 ancients and all the wise men of Egypt. He gave specimens of wisdom beyond all men—far beyond Gaithan the Zarite,
32 and Ainan, and Chelkad and Darala, the sons of Mai. He uttered three thousand parables, and his odes were five thou-
33 sand. He spoke of trees from the cedar which is on Lebanon, to the hyssop which springeth out of the wall. He spoke also
34 of cattle, and of fowls, and of reptiles, and of fishes. And there came of all people to hear the wisdom of Solomon, and from all the kings of the earth who heard the fame thereof. And Solomon took to wife the daughter of Pharao, and brought her to the city of David until he built the house of the Lord, and his own house, and the wall of Jerusalem: and Pharao king of Egypt, came up and took Gazer, and burned it, and subdued the Chananites who dwelt in Mergab, and gave them as a portion to his daughter, Solomon's wife, and Solomon rebuilt Gazer.
V. When Chiram king of Tyre sent his servants to anoint Solomon in the room of his father David, because Chiram continued to love David all his days, therefore Solomon sent to
2 Chiram saying, Thou knowest that my father could not build
3 a house to the name of the Lord my God, on account of the wars with those around him on every side, until the Lord put
4 them under the soles of his feet. But now the Lord my God hath given me rest round about. I have no adversary, nor any
5 evil occurrence. Therefore I purpose to build a house for the name of the Lord my God ; as the Lord my God spoke to my father David, saying, Thy son, whom I will set on thy
6 throne in thy stead, shall build the house to my name. Now therefore give orders, and let timber be cut for me from Li- banus; and behold my servants shall be with thy servants, and I will pay thee such hire for the service as thou shall appoint: for thou knowest that we have none skilled in hewirtg
7 timber like the Sidonians. And when Chiram heard the words of Solomon he was exceedingly glad, and said, Blessed be God this day who hath given David a prudent son over this
8 great people. Then he sent to Solomon saying, I have considered all that thou hast proposed to me, and I will execute all
9 thy pleasure. With respect to the cedar, and fir timber, my
servants shall bring it down from Libanus to the sea; and I will send it in rafts to the place which thou shalt appoint, and land it there that thou mayst take it away. And thou wilt accomplish my pleasure in supplying my household with bread.
10 So Chiram furnishea* Solomon with cedar and fir timber to
11 his utmost wish. And Solomon gave Chiram, twenty thousand cores of wheat for his household, and twenty thousand
12 baths of expressed oil. This Solomon gave to Chiram every year. And the Lord gave Solomon wisdom as he said to him. And there was peace between Chiram and Solomon and they
13 made a league between them. And the king made a levy out
14 of all Israel, and the levy was thirty thousand men. These he sent to Libanus, ten thousand every month, by turns, so that they were one month at Libanus, and two at home. And
15 Adoniram was over this levy. And Solomon had seventy thousand men who carried burdens, and eighty thousand hew-
16 ers of stone, in the mountains, exclusive of the officers who superintended the works of Solomon, and who amounted to
17 three thousand six hundred. And these workmen were three years preparing the stones and the timber.
VI. Now in the'four hundred and fortieth year of the departure of the Israelites out of Egypt, in the fourth year and
17 second month of king Solomon's reign over Israel, the king having given orders for bringing great costly stones for the
18 foundation of the house, even hewn stones; and the men of Solomon and those of Chiram having hewn them, they began"
1 laying them. In the fourth year he laid the foundation of tine 38 house of the Lord, in the month of Ziu, which is the second
month, and in the eleventh year, in the month vBaal, which is the eighth month, the house with all its appendages was completely finished.
2 Now the house which the king built for the Lord, was forty cubits in length, and twenty cubits in breadth, and twen-
3 ty five cubits in height. And the Ailam in front of the temple was twenty cubits in length commensurate with the breadth
4 of the house. And when he had built the house, and finished
5 it he made windows for the house, wide within and narrow without and placed against the wall of the house, galleries all
6 around the temple and the dabir. The lower gallery was five
cubits broad, and the middle six, and the third se'ven cubits broad; for he made ledges to-the house, all around on the outside of the house that the beams might not be fastened into
7 the walls of the house. Now the house when building was built with white hewn stones, so that not a mallet nor a hammer nor any instrument of iron was heard in the house while it was build-
8 ing. The entrance into the lower gallery was under the right shoulder of the house; and there were winding stairs up to the
9 middle and from the middle to the third gallery. And when he had compleated the building of the house he wainscotted
10 it with cedar. And having built the binding walls through the whole house to the height of five cubits, he connected the
15 binding wall with cedar beams. And having lined the walls of the house on the inside with planks of cedar, from the ground floor of the house up the walls and to the beams, and vaulted the ceiling on the inside with beams, he covered the floor of
16 the house with planks of fir. And he built up the twenty cubits .from the end wall as one compartment from the floor to the beams, and made of that the dabir—the holy of holies;
17 (the temple being forty cubits, the front of the dabir was in
18 the middle of the house on the inside) to put there the ark of
20 the covenant of the Lord. The length of this compartment was twenty cubits, and the breadth twenty cubits, and the
21 height twenty cubits, and he covered it with plated gold. When he had made the altar in front of the dabir and overlaid it with gold, he covered all this compartment with gold at the com-
23 plete finishing of the whole house. And in the dabir, he made
24 two cherubim; ten cubits the exact magnitude, and five cubits the wing of one cherubim, and five cubits its other wing, making ten cubits from the tip of one wing, to the tip of the
25 other wing. And so in respect to the other cherubim. In
26 measure and workmanship, they were both alike. The height of the one cherubim was ten cubits, and that of the other che-
27 rubim was the same. And both the cherubim were in the middle of the innermost house, and they spread their wings so that a wing of one cherubim touched one wall, and a wing of the other cherubim touched the other wall, and their wings
28 touched one another in the middle of the house. And he over-
29 laid the cherubim with gold, and engraved all the walls of the
house round about with engravings of cherubim and palm
30 trees, both in the inner and outer apartment. And he overlaid the floor both of the inner and outer apartment with gold.
31 And for the entrance into the dabir he made doors of juniper
34 wood. The four cheeks for both the doors were of fir, and each door consisted of two leaves which turned each on its
35 own hinges. And the doors were carved with cherubim and palm trees and open leaves, and covered with gold fitted to the
36 carving. He built also the inner court with three rows of hewn stone, and one row of cedar beams; and he made the curtain for the court of the porch of the house which was in the front of the temple.
VII. Now king Solomon had sent and brought from Tyre a
14 widow's son named Chiram. He was of the tribe of Nephtha- leim, though his father was a Tyrian. He was a worker in brass, a complete artist, filled with understanding and knowledge to execute all kinds of brass work. So he was brought
15 to king Solomon, and executed all his works. He cast two pillars for the ailam [or porch] of the house: The height of each pillar was eighteen cubits, and the circumference there-
16 of fourteen cubits, and the flutings four fingers. And he cast two chapiters to be put on the tops of the pillars; the height
17 of each chapiter was five cubits. He made also two pieces of net work to cover the chapiters of the pillars; one piece of net
18 work for each chapiter. They were a pensile work, with two rows of brass pomegranates in the form of netting, a pensile
21 work, row above row. And he set up the two pillars in the ailam of the temple. And when he set up the one pillar he called its name Jachum; and when he set up the other pillar
22 he called its name Boloz. And on the capitals of the pillars .there was a lilly work of four cubits, towards the ailam, and a projected ledge over the two pillars, and this ledge by its
23 thickness was a covering above the sides. He made also the sea, ten cubits from brim to brim, uniformly round, all about. It was five cubits high and thirty three cubits in circum-
24 ference. Under its brim, embossments surrounded it, ten to a cubit all around. And the brim of it was like the workmanship
25 of the brim of a cup, with lilly buds. And its thickness was a hand breadth. And under the sea were twelve beeves, three
VOL. II. I
looking to the north, and three looking to the west, and three looking to the south, and three looking to the east, and all their hinder parts were inward, and the sea was above upon them.
27 And he made ten mechonoths [cisterns] of brass, five cubits the length of one mechonoth, and four cubits the breadth, and
28 six cubits the height. And the mechonoths had all the same kind of engraved borders, and there were engravings between the prominences; and on their engraved parts between the
29 prominences were lions, and beeves, and cherubim; and on the embossments, above and below the lions and beeves, were
30 fields in bass relief. And each mechonoth had four wheels of brass, and the naves were of brass, and at their four corners
31 there were shoulders under the cisterns, for the axles of the
32 wheels to each mechonoth. And the height of each wheel
33 was a cubit and a half. And the workmanship of the wheels was like that of the wheels of a chariot; and their axles and
34 their felloes and their spokes were all cast. As to the four shoulders at the four corners of each mechonoth, the shoul-
35 ders were a part of the mechonoth itself. And on the top of the mechonoth there was a cylindrical border, of half a cubit broad, round about on the top of the mechonoth; and it was the beginning of its handles and its engravings; and there was
36 a cock at the ends of its handles. And the sculptures thereon— the cherubim, and the lions, and the palm trees, were in re-
37 lievo, each being smooth on the inside all around. In the same manner he made all the ten mechonoths, they being all
38 of the same form and measure. He made also ten large pots of brass, each pot containing forty baths, and measuring four cu-
39 bits. A large pot for every one of the ten mechonoths. And he placed five mechonoths at the right corner of the house, and
40 five at the left corner of the house, and the sea was at the right corner, southward, facing the east. Chiram made also the kettles and the cauldrons and the basons. Thus Chiram finished
41 completely all these works which he made for king Solomon for the house of the Lord, namely, the two pillars, and the wreathed works of the pillars on the chapiters of the two pillars, and the two pieces of net work to cover the wreaths of the
42 coverings which were on the pillars, the four hundred pomegranates on the two pieces of net work, there being two rows
of pomegranates to each piece of net work for covering the
43 wreaths of the chapiters on the two pillars; and the ten mecho-
44 noths, with the ten large pots for the mechonoths; and the
45 sea with the twelve beeves under the sea; and the kettles, and the cauldrons, and the bowls, and all the utensils which he made for king Solomon for the house of the Lord. Now the pillars for the house of the king, and for the house of the Lord, were in all forty eight. All these works of the king, Chiram
47 made entirely of brass. There was no weighing the brass of which he made all these works. On account of the immense quantity there was no computation of the weight of the brass.
46 These he cast on the bank of the Jordan, in the clay ground,
48 between Sokkoth and Seira. And Solomon the king took the utensils which he made for the house of the Lord, the golden altar, and the table of gold on which was to be laid the shew
49 bread, and the five candlesticks on the left, and the five on their right in front of the dabir, which were of beaten gold, and the
50 lamp- stands with the lamps, and the snuffers, which were also of gold, and the doors with the nails, and the cups, and the dishes, and the censers, which were of gold and embossed, and the leaves of the doors of the inner house—the holy of holies, and the doors of the temple which were overlaid with
51 gold. And when all the wbrk was finished which Solomon made for the house of the Lord, then Solomon brought the dedications of his father David, and his own dedications, the silver and the gold, and the utensils, and deposited them in the treasuries of the house of the Lord.
1 Then was Solomon thirteen years building a house for him-
2 self. He built it with timber from the forest of Libanus. The length of it was a hundred cubits, and the breadth fifty cubits, and the height thirty cubits. It had three rows of cedar pillars, and the shoulders of the pillars were of cedar, and he vaulted
3 the house above on the sides of the pillars. The number of
4 pillars were forty, and five the row. And there were three gal-
5 leries, story above story thrice. And all the doors and windows, with the spaces between, were squares arched, windows and
6 doors being over one another in three ranges. And the ailam of the pillars which was fifty cubits in length, and fifty cubits in breadth, was joined to another ailam of the same dimensions in front of them, and the thiekness of the pillars in front
7 of it was for the ailamins. And the ailam of thrones, where
8 he was to administer justice, was the ailam of judgment. And both were appurtenant to the house in which he was to dwell. They had one court communicating with both. Of the same workmanship, and with such an ailam, he built a house for
9 Pharao's daughter whom he had married. All these were of costly stones engraved within from the base, and without towards the great court from the foundation to the copings, the
10 foundation of the court being laid with large costly stones—
11 with stones of ten cubits, and those of eight cubits; and above with unhewn costly stones, of the same dimensions, and cedar
12 beams; for the great court round about was enclosed with three rows of unpolished stones, and one row of cedar. Thus Solomon finished the whole house.
VIII. When Solomon had finished building the house of the Lord, and his own house, at the end of twenty years Solomon the king assembled all the elders of Israel at Sion, in order to carry up the ark of the covenant of the - Lord from the
4 city of David, that is Sion, in the month Athanin. And the priests carried the ark and the tabernacle of the testimony and the holy utensils, which were in the tabernacle of the tes-
5 timony. And the king and all Israel were before the ark,
6 sacrificing sheep and beeves without number, while the priests were carrying the ark into its place—into the dabir of the
7 house—into the Holy of Holies—under the wings of the cherubim; for the cherubim had their wings spread out over the
8 place of the ark, and from above covered the ark and the hallowed things thereof, and were above these hallowed things. Now the heads of these hallowed things were seen from the Holies in front of the dabir, but were not seen from without.
9 There was nothing in the ark but the two tables of stone— the tables of the covenant which Moses made at Choreb— which the Lord established with the children of Israel on
10 their coming out of the land of Egypt. And it came to pass
11 that when the priests came out of the holy place, the cloud filled the house, so that the priests could not stand to minister
14 because of the cloud. Because the glory of the Lord filled the house, therefore the king turned away his face. And whea
the king had blessed all Israel, and all the congregation of Israel stood up, then he said,
15 Blessed be the Lord the God of Israel this day, who with his mouth spake concerning my father David, and hath with his hands fulfilled, as he said, From the day I brought my peo-
16 pie Israel out of Egypt, I made no choice of a city in any tribe of Israel to build a house for my name to be there. Now I have made choice of Jerusalem for my name to be there, and
17 have chosen David to be over my people Israel. But when it was in the heart of my father to build a house for the name of the Lord God of Israel, the Lord said to David my father,
18 Because it came into thy heart to build a house for my name,
19 thou didst well that it was in thy heart; but as for thee, thou art not to build a house for me, but thy son only who hath sprung from thy loins—he shall build the house for my name.
20 Now the Lord hath brought to pass that word of his which he spake, and I am risen up instead of my father David, and have sat on the throne of Israel, as the Lord spake, and have
21 built the house for the name of the Lord God of Israel, and established there a place for the ark, in which is the covenant of the Lord, which the Lord established with our fadierswhen he brought them out of the land of Egypt.
22 Then Solomon went up over against the altar of the Lord, in the presence of all the congregation of Israel, and spread forth his hands towards heaven and said,
23 O Lord the God of Israel, there is no god like thee in the heaven above and on the earth below, keeping covenant and mercy with thy servant who walketh before thee with his whole
24 heart. These thou hast kept with thy servant David, my father: for what thou didst speak with diy mouth, thou hast
25 with thy hands fulfilled as at this very day. 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- from thee out of my presence a chief man sitting upon the throne of Israel, provided thy children take heed to their
26 ways, to walk before me as thou hast walked before me. Now then, O Lord God of Israel, let I beseech thee, this word of thine to my father David be confirmed, that it may be so.
27 Will God indeed dwell with men on the earth ! If
the heaven and the heaven of heaven will not suffice thee, far less indeed this house which I have built for thy name.
28 Yet thou, O Lord, the God of Israel wilt look down on this supplication of mine to hearken to the prayer which thy set- vant this day in thy presence praycth to thee, that thine eyes
29 may be open day and night on this house—on this place of which thou hast said, My name shall be there, that thou mayst hearken to the prayer which thy servant prayeth toward this place day and night.
.30 Thou indeed wilt hearken to the supplication of thy servant and of thy people Israel. Whatever they may address towards this place thou indeed wilt hearken to it in the place of thy habitation in heaven, and wilt do and be merciful.
31 Whatever trespass any one may commit against his neighbour, when he shall take upon him a curse to curse him, and
32 come and plehd before this altar of thine in this house; thou indeed wilt hearken from heaven and act and judge thy people Israel, by condemning the transgressor, and retributing his way upon his head, and by justifying the righteous and giving him according to his righteousness.
33 When thy people Israel fall before enemies, because they have sinned against thee, and shall return and confess thy
34 name, and pray and make supplication in this house; thou indeed wilt hear from heaven and pardon the sins of thy'people Israel, and bring them back to the land which thou gavest to their fathers.
35 When the heaven is shut up and there is no rain because of their sinning against thee; when they shall pray towards this place, and confess thy name and turn from their sins when
36 thou hast humbled them; thou indeed wilt hearken from heaven, and pardon the sins of thy servant and of thy people Israel; for thou wilt shew them the good way, and give rain for the land which thou gavest to thy people for an inheritance.
37 If there be famine, if there be pestilence (for such tilings will be) if there be blasting, locust, mildew; or if their enemy afflict them in any of their cities, in every occurrence, in every
38 distress, whatever prayer, whatever supplication any man shall make, when they know every one the plague of his own heart,
39 and shall spread forth his hands toward this house ; thou in-
deed wilt hearken from heaven—from thy settled habitation and be merciful, and do and give to every man as thou know- est his heart (for thou alone knowest the hearts of all the chil-
40 dren of men) that they may fear thee all the days they live in the land which thou gavest to their fathers.
41 And with regard to the stranger who is not of thy people
42 Israel, when they shall come and pray toward this place; thou
43 indeed wilt hearken from heaven—from thy settled habitation, and do according to all, for which the stranger may call upon thee, that all nations may know thy name and fear thee as thy people Israel do, and that they may know that this house which I have built, is called by thy name.
44 Because thy people are to go out to battle against theif enemies whithersoever thou shall send them, when they shall pray in the name of the Lord toward this city, which thou hast chosen, and this house which I have built for thy name;
45 thou indeed wilt hearken from heaven to their prayer and do them justice.
46 Because they will sin against thee (for there is no man who will not sin ;) when thou shall punish them, and deliver them up before their enemies; and they who have captivated them
47 shall carry them away captive to a land far off or near; and they bethink themselves in the land to which they have been carried captives, and in the land of their captivity repent and pray to thee, saying, We have sinned; we have transgressed ;
48 we have committed iniquity; and turn to thee with their whole heart, and with their whole soul, in the land of their enemies, to which thou hast transported them ; and direct their prayers to thee, toward this land which thou gavest to their fathers, and this city which thou hast chosen, and this house which
49 I have built for thy name; thou indeed wilt hearken from
50 .heaven, from thy settled habitation, and pardon the iniquities which they have committed against thee, and all the acts of disobedience of which they have been guilty; and make them objects of compassion in the sight of those who have captivated them, thai they may have compassion on them.
51 Because we are thy people whom thou hasl broughl oul of the land of Egypt—from the midst of the iron furnace, let ihy eyes iherefore be fixed on, and thy ears open to the prayer of thy servant, and to the supplication of thy people Israel, to
hearken to them in all for which they invoke thee, since thou hast set them apart for thyself for an heritage from among all the people of the earth, as thou spakest by the ministry of thy servant Moses, when thou, O Lord, Lord, didst bring our fathers out of the land of Egypt.
Then Solomon spoke of the house as if he had just finished building it,
The Sun he pointed out in heaven—
The Lord said, he would dwell in darkness.
Build thou my house—a house becoming thyself to dwell
in when new. Behold this is written in the book of the Ode.
54 When Solomon had finished all this prayer and supplication to the Lord, he arose from before the altar of the Lord (for he
55 had kneeled down on his knees and spread forth his hands towards heaven) and standing up he blessed all the congregation
56 of Israel with a loud voice saying, Blessed be the Lord this day who hath given rest to his people Israel according to all that he hath spoken. Not one word hath failed of all the good words
57 which he spoke by the ministry of his servant Moses. The Lord our God be with us as he was with our fathers! May he
58 never leave us nor forsake us! May he incline our hearts to him to walk in. all his ways, and to keep all his commandments and
59 his statutes which he gave in charge to our fathers! And may the words with which I have made supplication before the Lord our God, be nigh to the Lord our God day and night, that the determination of every day in the year may establish the rights of thy servant and the rights of thy people Israel;
60 that all the nations of the earth may know that the Lord our God is very God, and that there is none else! And may our hearts be perfect with the Lord our God, that we may walk piously in his statutes, and keep his commandments, as at this day.
62 Then the king and all the sons of Israel offered a sacrifice
63 before the Lord. And king Solomon offered for the sacrifices of thanksgiving which he offered to the Lord, twenty two thousand beeves, and a hundred and twenty thousand sheep.
64 And when the king and all the sons of Israel dedicated the house, the king on the same day consecrated the middle of the
court in front of the house of the Lord, for he offered there the whole burnt offerings with the sacrifices and the suet of the thank offerings, because the brazen altar which was before the Lord was too small for the whole burnt offerings and the sacri-
65 fices of the thank offerings to be offered thereon. And on that day Solomon and all Israel with him—a great congregation from the bay of Emath to the river of Egypt, celebrated the festival before the Lord our God at the house which he had built; eating and drinking and rejoicing before the Lord seven
66 days. And on the eighth day he dismissed the people and they blessed the king and went away every man to his house rejoicing and with a glad heart, for all the goodness which the Lord had shewn to his servant David and to his people Israel.
IX. And when king Solomon had finished building the house of the Lord, and the king's house, and every design which it was
2 his pleasure to execute, the Lord appeared to Solomon a se-
3 cond time as he appeared at Gabaon and said to him, I have heard thy prayer and thy supplication which thou hast made before me, and have done for thce according to all thy prayer. I have hallowed this house which thou hast built to put my name there for ever, and my eyes and my heart shall be there
4 continually. And if thou wilt walk before me, as thy father David did, with integrity of heart and with uprightness, and do according to all that I commanded him, and keep my statutes
5 and my commandments, I will establish the throne of thy kingdom in Israel for this age, as I promised thy father David, say-
6 ing, There shall not fail thee a man ruling in Israel. But if you and your children turn aside from me, and do not keep my commandments and my statutes, which Moses hath laid before you,
7 but go and serve strange gods and worship them; I will assuredly remove Israel from the land which I gave them, and cast out of my sight this house which I have hallowed for my name; and Israel shall be a desolation and a bye word among all peo-
8 pies; and this stately house shall be reduced to such a condition that every one who passeth by it will be astonished and will, with expressions of pity, say, Why hath the Lord dealt thus
9 with this land and with this house ? To which answer will be made, Because they forsook the Lord their God, who brought their fathers out of Egypt—out of the house of bondage; and
VOL. II. K
in his stead chose strange gods, and worshipped and served them, therefore the Lord hath brought upon them this calamity.1 .
10 Then- Soldmon brought Pharao's daughter up out of the city of David to the house which He had built for himself. In those days, during the twenty years in which Solomon was building the two houses, the house of the Lord and the king's
11 house, Chiram king of Tyre supplied Solomon with cedar timber and pine trees, and with gold and whatever he desired, therefore the king then gave Chiram twenty cities in the land
12 of Galilee. But when Chiram came from Tyre and went to Galilee to see the cities which Solomon gave him, they did not please
13 him; therefore he said, What are these cities, my brother, which thou hast given me? And he called them Little mount, which
14 is now their name. Nevertheless Chiram brought Solomon a
26 hundred and twenty talents of gold. For on board the fleet which king Solomon built at Esion-gabcr, and which was then at Ai-
27 lath, on the border of the farther sea in the land of Edom—in this fleet Chiram sent some of his servants who were seamen and skilled in the navigation of that sea, along with the servants of Solomon, and they went to Sophira and took thence a hundred and twenty talents of gold and brought it to king Solomon-
X. When the queen of Saba heard of the fame of Solomon and
2 the name of the Lord, she came to try him with questions hard to be solved, and came to Jerusalem with a very great retinue, and with camels carrying spices, and gold in great abundance, and precious stones. And when she came to Solomon and had propounded to him all that was in her mind, Solomon answered
3 all her questions. There was not a question overlooked by the
4 king which he did not explain to her. And when the queen of Saba saw all the wisdom of Solomon, and the house whicli
5 he had built, and his provisions, and the order in which his servants sat at table, and in which the attendants stood; and his dress, and his cup bearers, and his whole burnt offerings which lie offered in the house of the Lord, she was struck with
6 surprise, and said to the king, It was a true report which I heard in my own country concerning thy knowledge and thy under-
7 standing; but I did not believe them who told me till I came
t
and my own eyes have seen. Now behold what they told me was not one half. Thou surpassest in good qualities all the re-
3 port which I heard of thee in my own country. Happy thy wives, and happy these servants of thine who Stand continually
9 in thy presence and hear all thy wisdom. Blessed be the Lord thy God who delighted in thee, to set thee on the throne of Israel. Because the Lord thy God loveth to establish Israel for ever, therefore he hath made thee king over them, to administer justice according to their righteousness and their demerits.
10 Then she gave Solomon a hundred and twenty talents of gold, and spices in great abundance, and precious stones. There came no more such an abundance of spices as the queen of Saba gave Solomon.
11 The fleet of Chiram also which brought the gold from Suphar brought a great quantity of hewn timber and precious
12 stones. And of the hewn timber the king made the wainscot- tings of the house of the Lord and of the king's house, and nablas and kinyras for the musicians. There never had come such hewn timber into the country nor hath any such been
13 any where seen to this day. And when king Solomon had given the queen of Saba all that she desired, even all that she asked, over and above all that he gave her out of his royal bounty, she set out on her return and went to her own country, she and all her servants.
14 Now the weight of gold which came to Solomon in one
15 year was six hundred and sixty six talents of gold, besides the tribute of them who were subdued, and what he got from merchants, and from all the bordering kings and lords of the
16 country. And king Solomon made three hundred lances of beaten gold, diree hundred shekels of gold to each lance;
17 and three hundred suits o^armour of beaten gold, three mnas of gold to each suit of armour. These king Solomon deposited
18 in the house of the forest of Libanus. The king made also a
19 great throne of ivory, and overlaid it with pure gold. There were six steps up to the throne, and behind the throne were
20 busts of beeves, and on each side of the seat, arms j and two lions standing by the arms; and there were twelve lions standing on the steps, six on one side and six on die other. There
21 was not the like in any kingdom. Moreover all the vessels for
9 ^
king Solomon's service were made of gold. The lavers were of gold, and all the utensils of the house of the forest of Liba- nus were gilt with gold. None was of silver; for it was not
22 held in estimation in the days of Solomon. For the king had at sea a Tharsian fleet with the fleets of Chiram. One came every three years to the king from Tharsis, with gold and silver and stones wrought in a lathe or hewn with a chisel. This was an arrangement which king Solomon had made to provide for building the house of the Lord, and the king's house, and the wall of Jerusalem, and the citadel; and to fortify the city of David and Assur and Magdol and Gazer and upper Bai- thoron and Jethermath and all the chariot cities and all the cities for the cavalry; and for all the works which he purposed to construct in Jerusalem and in all the country, in order to keep in subjection all the remains of the Chettites and the Amofites and the Pherezites and the Chananites and the Evites and the Jebusites and the Gergasites, who were not of the children of Israel.—The children of them who had been left with him in the land, whom the Israelites could not wholly extirpate, these Solomon subjected to a tribute which continu- eth to this day. But from the children of Israel he exacted nothing; because they were his warriors and his servants, his
23 chiefs and his nobles, his charioteers and his horsemen. So Solomon was magnified above all the kings of the earth in
24 riches and understanding. And all the kings of the land sought an interview with Solomon, to hear his wisdom which the
25 Lord put in his heart. And they brought, every one as gifts, vessels of gold and raiment and stacte and spices and horses
26 and mules and this every year. And Solomon had four thousand mares for chariots and twelve thousand cavalry. The mares he kept in the chariot cities and with the king at Jerusalem. And he was supreme over all the kings, from the river to the land of the Philistines and to the borders of Egypt.
27 So the king made gold and silver to abound in Jerusalem like
28 stones; and cedars like die sycamore trees in the plain. Now Solomon's horses came from Egypt and from Thekoua. The king's merchants got them from Thekoua by barter, but from Egypt a chariot came up for a hundred shekels of silver
and a horse for fifty, and at this rate they came by sea, for all the kings of the Chettites, and for the kings of Syria. XI. Now king Solomon was immoderately fond of women. He had seven hundred wives, princesses; and three hundred concubines; and he took for wives strange women besides Pharao's daughter, women of Moab and Ammon, Syrians,
2 Idumeans, Chettites and Amorites. To those of the nations concerning which the Lord had said to the Israelites, You shall not go in unto them nor shall they come in unto you, lest they turn your hearts after their idols—to these Solomon was at-
4 tached by love: so that when he grew old his heart was not perfect with the Lord his God as the heart of his father David
3 had been. For when his strange wives had turned his heart 7 after their gods, then Solomon built high places for Chamos
the idol of Moab, and for their king the idol of the Ammon-
_ 8 ites, and for Astarte die abomination of the Sidonians: and
thus he did for all his strange wives who burned incense and
sacrificed to their idols. So Solomon did evil in the sight of
9 the Lord. He did not follow the Lord like his father David;
therefore the Lord was angry with him, because he turned
10 away his heart from the Lord God of Israel, who had appeared to him twice and had given him a charge touching this very thing, by no means to go after strange gods, but to be careful to do what the Lord God commanded him. His heart
11 was not perfect with the Lord like the heart of his father David, therefore the Lord said to Solomon, Because these things have been done with thee, and thou hast not kept my commandments and my statutes which I enjoined thee, I will divide and rend thy kingdom out of thy hand and give it to thy
12 servant. But I will not do these things in Uiy days for the sake of thy father David. Out of the hand of thy son will I take it;
f 13 but I will not take the whole kingdom, I will give thy son one tribe for David my servant's sake and for the sake of Jerusa-
14 lem, die city which I have chosen. Then the Lord raised up adversaries to Solomon, namely, Ader the Idumean, and Es- rom son of Eliadae of Raama. There had been an insurrection against Adadezer king of Suba his lord, and he was at the head of the conspiracy and had seized on Damascus. These
15 were pests to Israel all the days of Solomon* Now Ader the
Idumean was of the seed royal of Idumea, and in the general extirpation which David made of Edom, when Joab the captain general of the army went to bury the dead after the gene-
16 ral slaughter of the males in Idumea (for Joab and all Israel continued there six months till they cut oft all the males in
17 Idumea) Ader with all the principal Idumeans of the servants
18 of his father fled and went to Egypt. Ader was then but a child; but the men of the city Madiam arose and came to Pharan and taking the men with them went to Egypt. And when Ader came to Pharao he gave him u house and ordered
19 him a regular supply of provisions. And Ader was in high favour with Pharao so that Pharao gave him to wife his own
20 wife's sister, an elder sister of Thekemina. And the sister of Thekemina bore him a son named Ganebeth. And Thekemi-
21 na brought him up among the sons of Pharao. Though Ganebeth was among the sons of Pharao, yet when Ader heard in Egypt that David slept with his fathers and that Joab the captain general of the army was dead, Ader said to Pharao, Send
22 me away that I may return to my own land. Upon which Pharao said to him, What hast thou been in want of with me that thou seekest to go to thy own land ? But Ader said, Nevertheless thou must let me go. So Ader returned to his own country. And this was the mischief which Ader did, he was a bitter enemy to Israel and made himself king in the land of Edom.
26 With regard to Jeroboam son of Nabat, the Ephrathite of
27 Sarira, a widow's son, a servant of Solomon, this was the cause why he lifted up his hand against king Solomon. When the king was building the citadel and enclosing with works the
28 city of his father David, this man Jeroboam was mighty in power, and Solomon seeing that the youth was a man of bu-
29 siness set him over the burdens of the house of Joseph. And it happened that one time when Jeroboam went out of Jerusalem, Achia the Selonite the prophet met him on the road and took him aside out of the way. Now Achia was clad with a
30 new mantle; and when they were both alone in the fields, Achia took the new mantle which he had on and rent it into twelve pieces, and said to Jeroboam, Take for thyself ten
31 pieces. For thus saith the Lord the God of Israel, Behold I
will rend the kingdom out of the hand of Solomon, and give
32 thee ten tribes. But he shall have two tribes for David, my servant's sake, and for the sake of Jerusalem, the city which
33 I have chosen out of all the tribes of Israel. Because he hath forsaken me and sacrificed to Astarte, the abomination of the Sidonians, and to Chamos and the idols of Moab, and to their king the horror of the Ammonites, and hath not walked in my ways to do what is right in my sight like his father David ;
34 though by raising up enemies against him as I certainly shall do all the days of his life, I will not take out of his hand the kingdom, which shall continue to him entire, for the sake
35 of my servant David whom I chose; yet I will take^it out of
36 the hands of his son and give thee ten tribes. And to his son I will give two tribes, that my servant David, may have a standing continually before me in Jerusalem, the city which I
37 have chosen for myself to put my name there. And I will take thee, and thou slialt reign over all that thy soul desireth,
38 and thou shalt be king over Israel. And if thou wilt keep all that I will give thee in charge and walk in my ways, and do what is right before me, keeping my statutes, and my commandments, as my servant David did, I will be with thee, and I will build for thee a sure house, as I did for David. So
40 when Solomon sought to put Jeroboam to death, he arose and fled to Egypt to Susakim king of Egypt, and continued in Egypt till the death of Solomon.
41 Now the rest of the acts of Solomon and all that he did, and all his wisdom, behold, are they not written in the book of
42 the acts of Solomon ? The time which Solomon reigned in Jerusalem, over all Israel, was forty years. And Solomon slept with his fathers and was buried in the city of his father David. And when Jeroboam son of Nabat heard the news; for having fled from the presence of Solomon he had settled in Egypt and was still there, he set out immediately and came to his own city Sarira which is in mount Ephraim.
43 Now when king Solomon slept with his fathers, Roboam XII. his son reigned in his stead. And king Roboam went to
Sikima because all Israel had come there, to make him king.
3 And the people spoke to king Roboam, saying, Thy father
4 made our yoke heavy, now therefore lighten thou the hard
service of thy father and his grievous yoke which he imposed
5 on us and we will serve thee. Whereupon he said to them,
6 Go away for three days and come to me again. So they went away. And the king laid the matter before the elders who stood before Solomon his father while he was alive, and said,
7 How do you advise me to answer this people? And they spoke to him saying, If thou wilt this day be a servant to the people and serve them and speak good words to them,
8 they will then be thy servants, all thy days. But he slighted the counsel of the old men, which they gave him, and consulted with the young men who had been brought up with him, and who waited on him, and said to them, What do you ad-
9 vise ? And what answer should I make to them who speak to me saying, Lighten the yoke which thy father laid on us ?
10 And the young men who had been brought up with him, and waited on him spoke to him and said, TTuis shall thou say to this people, who have spoken to thee saying, Thy father made our yoke heavy, now therefore, lighten it for us, thus thou shall say to them, My little finger shall be heavier than my
11 father's loins. My father indeed loaded you with a heavy yoke; but I will add to your yoke. My father chastised you with whips;
12 but I will chastise you with scorpions. So when all the people came lo ihe king on the third day as he had appointed, say- ing, Come to me again on the third day, the king answered the
13 people roughly. He slighted the counsel of the old men, which
14 they had given him, and spoke to them, in the manner the young men advised, saying, My father made your yoke heavy but I will add to your yoke. My father chastised you with
15 whips, but I will chastise you with scorpions. So the king hearkened not to the people. Because the revolution was from the Lord, that he might perform the word which he spoke, by the ministry of Achia the Selonite, concerning Jeroboam,
16 son of Nabat, therefore when all Israel saw that the king hearkened not to them, they answered the king and said, What portion have we in David ? We indeed have no inheritance in the son of Jessai. To thy tents, O Israel! Now David, feed thy own house. So Israel departed to their habitations.
18 And when the king sent out Adoniram, who was over the tribute, they stoned him with stones, so that he died. Upon
which Roboam hasted to mount his chariot and flee to Jeru-
19 salem. So Israel renounced all allegiance to the house of David to this day.
20 Now when all Israel heard that Jeroboam was returned from Egypt they had sent and invited him to the assembly, and they made him king over Israel, so that there was none who followed the house of David but only the tribes of Juda and
21 Benjamin. And when Roboam came to Jerusalem and assembled the congregation of Juda and the tribe of Benjamin, a hundred and twenty thousand of the young men who were warriors, to fight against the house of Israel and to bring the
22 kingdom again to Roboam son of Solomon, a word of the
23 Lord came to Samaias a man of God, saving, Speak to Roboam son of Solomon king of Juda, and to all the house of Juda
24 and Benjamin, and to the residue of the people, saying, Thus saith the Lord, You shall not go up, nor fight with your brethren the children of Israel. Return every one to his house. For this thing is from me. So they hearkened to the word of the Lord and desisted from going, as the Lord commanded them.
When king Solomon slept with his fathers and was buried with his fathers in the city of David, Roboam his son reigned in his stead. He was sixteen years old when he began to reign and he reigned twelve years in Jerusalem, and his mother's name was Naama a daughter of Ana son of Naasking of the Ammonites. And he did evil in the sight of the Lord and did not walk in the way of his grand father David. Now there was a man of Mount Ephraim, a servant of Solomon, whose name was Jeroboam and his mother's name was Sarira. She was a harlot. And Solomon had made him overseer of the burdens of the house of Joseph, and he had built Sarira on Mount Ephraim. And he had three hundred chariots of horses. He had built the citadel with the burdens of the house of Ephraim, and enclosed the city of David, and was aspiring to the kingdom,. Upon which Solomon sought to put him to death, and he was terrified and fled to Sousakim king of Egypt, and was with him till Solomon died. And when Jeroboam heard in Egypt that Solomon was dead, he addressed Sousakim king of Egypt and said, Send me away, that I may go to my own land. Where
VOL. II. I-
upon Sousakim said, Ask what thou wilt and I will give it thee. For Sousakim had given Jeroboam for a wife Ano an elder sister of his own wife Thekamina. She was great among the king's daughters and had born to Jeroboam his son Abia. And Jeroboam said to Sousakim, Only send me away and let me go. So Jeroboam left Egypt and came to the land of Sarira which is on Mount Ephraim. And thither all the tribe of Ephraim assembled and there Jeroboam built a fortress. XIV. And when his son fell sick of a grievous sickness Jeroboam went to inquire about his son, and he said to his wife Ano, Arise, go and inquire of God concerning the child whether he will recover of his sickness. Now there was a man at Selom whose name was Achia. He was sixty years of age and the word of the Lord was with him. So when Jeroboam said to his wife, Arise and take in thy hand for the man of God some loaves and some cakes for his children, and grapes and a pot of honey, the woman arose and took in her hand loaves and two sweet 'cakes and grapes and a pot of honey for Achia. Now the man was old and his eyes were dim so that he could not see. So she departed from Sarira and proceeded on in her journey. And when she came to the city, to Achia the Selonite, Achia said to his servant, Go and meet Ano the wife of Jeroboam and say to her, Come in and make no stop ; for thus saith the Lord, I am sending bitter things against thee. And when Ano came in to the man of God, Achia said to her, Why hast thou brought me bread and grapes and sweet cakes and a pot of honey? Thus saith the Lord, Behold thou shalt depart from me and when thou shalt enter the city Sarira, thy maids will come out to meet and tell thee, The child is dead, For thus saith the Lord, Behold I will cut off from Jeroboam every male. And them of Jeroboam who die in the city, the dogs shall devour; and him who dieth in the field, the birds of the air shall devour. But this child shall be bewailed with the lamentation, Alas! Lord: because in him there hath been found something good respecting the Lord. Upon hearing this the woman departed and just as she arrived at Sarira the child died, and the shout went forth to meet her. Now when Jeroboam went to Sikima on Mount Ephraim and had assembled there the tribes of Israel, and Roboam son of Solomon
went up there, a word of the Lord came to Samaias the En- lamite, saying, Take thee a new mantle which hath never been dipt in water and rend it into twelve pieces and give them to Jeroboam and say to him, Thus saith the Lord, Take for thyself ten pieces that thou mayst put them—(and when Jeroboam took them, Samaias said, Thus saith the Lord)—on the ten tribes of Israel. Then the people said to Roboam son of Solomon, Thy father made his yoke heavy on us, and loaded us with the meats for his table. Now therefore make them lighter on us and we will serve thee. And Roboam said to the people, Three days hence I will give you an answer. Then Roboam said, Bring to me the elders and I will consult with them what answer I shall give to the people on the third day. And when Roboam had stated to them the message which the people had sent to him, the elders of the people said, Do as the people have spoken to thee. But Roboam slighted their counsel. It was not pleasing in his sight. So he sent and convened them who were brought up with him and said to them, Such and such a message the people have sent to me. Thereupon these courtiers of his, said, In this manner thou shall speak to the people saying, My little finger shall be thicker than my father's thigh. My father chastised you with whips, but I will chastise you with scorpions. And this pleased Roboam, so he answered the people as these young courtiers of his advised him. Upon which all the people like one man said, every one to his neighbour—nay, they all shouted and said, We have no portion in David, nor inheritance in the son of Jessai. To your tents, O Israel! for this man is not fit to be chief or leader. So all the people dispersed from Sikima, and went away every man to his habitation. But Roboam persisted and went and mounted his chariot and returned to Jerusalem, and all the tribe of Juda and all the tribe of Benjamin followed him. And the same year when Roboam had assembled all the men of Juda and Benjamin, and was going up to war against Jeroboam at Sikima, a word of the Lord came to Samaias the man of God, saying, Speak to Roboam king of Juda, and to all the house of Juda and Benjamin, and to all the remnant of the people and say, Thus saith th<*Lord, You shall not go up, nor fight with your brethren the children of Israel.
Return every one to his house. For this thing is from me. So they hearkened to the word of the Lord, and desisted from going up, as the Lord commanded them.
25 Then Jeroboam rebuilt Sikima on mount Ephraim and
26 dwelt there and he went out thence and built Plianuel. And Jeroboam said in his heart, Behold now the kingdom will re-
27 vert to the house of David, if the people go up to Jerusalem to offer sacrifice in the house of the Lord ; for the heart of the people will turn to the Lord a, id to their lord Roboam king
28 of Juda and*they will kill me. Therefore the king took counsel and went and made two calves of gold, and said to the people, Rest satisfied in respect to your going up to Jerusalem. Behold these are thy gods, O Israel, which brought tliec
29 up out of the land of Egypt. And he placed one of them in
30 Baithel and the other he sent to Dan. And this became an occasion of sinning. For the people went before the one even
31 to Dan, and they forsook the house of the Lord. And he built houses on high places, and made priests of any part
32 of the people who were not of the children of Lcvi. And Jeroboam instituted a festival in the eighth month, on the fifteenth day of the month, answering to the festival in the land of Juda, and he went up to the altar which he made at Baithel to burn incense to the calves which he had made, and presented at Baithel the priests of the high places whom he had made.
33 But when he ascended the altar, which he had made, on the fifteenth day of the eight month, at the festival which he had devised out of his own heart and made a festival for the children of Israel—when he ascended the altar to offer incense,
XIII. behold a man of God from Juda came by a word of the
2 Lord to Baithel while Jeroboam was standing on the altar to burn incense; and by a word of the Lord cried to the altar and said, O Altar! altar ! Thus saith the Lord, Behold a son shall be born to the house of David; his name shall be Josias,
. and he will burn upon thee the priests of the high places, whp burn incense on thee : and upon thce he will burn the bones
3 of men. And on this very day he will give a sign, for this, said he, is the word which the Lord hath spoken, saying, Behold the altar is rent, «md the fat which is on it shall be poured out.
4 And when king Jeroboam heard the words of the man of God,
who cried against the altar, he stretched forth his hand from the altar, saying, Seize him: and behold his hand, which he stretched forth against him withered so that he could not draw
5 it back to him. And the altar was rent, and the fat was poured out from the altar, according to the sign which the man of
6 God gave by the word of the Lord. Then king Jeroboam said to the man of God, Entreat the favour of the Lord thy God and let my hand be restored to me. So the man of God entreated the favour of the Lord, and he restored the king's
7 hand to him; and it was as it had been before. Then the king said to the man of God, Come home with me and dine, and
8 I will give thee a reward. But the man of God said to the king, If thou wouldst give me the half of thy kingdom, I cannot go with thee to eat bread, nor drink water in this place ;
9 for thus hath the Lord commanded me by his word, saying, Thou must not eat bread nor drink water, nor return the way
10 that thou goest. So he went away by another road, and did not return by the way he came to Baithel.
11 Now there dwelt at Baithel a certain old prophet, and his sons came, and told him all that the man of God had done that day at Baithel, and the words which he spoke to the king,
12 and excited the attention of their father. Whereupon their father said to them, Which way went he ? And when his sons had pointed out to him, the way which the man of God who came from Juda was gone, he said to his sons, Saddle me the
13 ass. And when they had saddled the ass, he mounted it, and went after the man of God and found him sitting under an
14 oak, and said to him, Art thou the man of God who came
15 from Juda? And he said, I am. Then he said to him, Come
16 with me and eat bread. And he replied I cannot go back with
17 thee, nor can I eat bread, or drink water in this place; for so the Lord hath expressly commanded me saying, Thou must not cat bread nor drink water, nor turn back there the way
18 thou hast gone. And he said to him, I also am a prophet as thou art, and an angel hath spoken to me by the word of the Lord, saying, Bring him back with thee to thy house and let
19 him eat bread, and drink water. But he lied to him. And when he had brought him back; and he had eaten bread and
20 drank water at his house, a word of the Lord came to the pro-
21 phet, who had brought him back, while they were sitting at the table ; and he said to the man of God who had come from Juda, Thus saith the Lord, Because thou hast disobeyed the command of the Lord, and hast not kept the commandment,
22 which the Lord thy God commanded thee, but hast turned back and eaten bread and drunk water, in the place which he spoke to thee saying, Thou must not eat bread nor drink water, thy body shall not enter the sepulchre of thy fathers.
23 So after he had eaten and drunk, he saddled for him an ass,
24 and he turned and went away. And a lion met him on the road and killed him, and his body was cast in the highway and
25 the ass stood by it. The lion also stodd by the body. And behold men who were passing by saw the corpse lying in the high way, and the lion standing near the corpse, and they came and spoke of it in the city where the old prophet dwelt.
26 And when he who had brought him back heard, he said, This
28 is the man of God, who disobeyed the word of the Lord. So he went and found the body cast in the highway, and the ass and the lion were standing by it. The lion had not eaten the
29 body of the man, nor hurt the ass. So the prophet took up the body of the man of God, and having laid it on the ass he
30 brought him back to the city to bury him in his own sepulchre, and they bewailed him with the lamentation, Alas bro-
31 ther ! And after bewailing him he spoke to his sons, saying, When I die, bury me in this grave, where the man of God is buried. Place me close by his bones, that my bones may
32 be preserved with his bones. For what he hath spoken by the word of the Lord against the altar at Baithel, and against the high places of Samaria will surely come to pass.
33 But after this affair Jeroboam did not turn from his wickedness, but again made from any part of die people, priests of the high places. Whoever pleased, consecrated himself and
34 became a priest of the high places. And tiiis became a sin to the house of Jeroboam, and occasioned its destruction and utter removal from the face of the earth.
XIV. 21 Now Roboam son of Solomon reigned over Juda. He was forty one years old at the commencement of this reign, and he reigned seventeen years in Jerusalem, the city which the Lord bad chosen out of all the tribes of Israel to put his name there, and
22 his mother's name was Naama, the Ammonitess. Roboam did what was evil in the sight of the Lord, and provoked him with all those things which their fathers had done, with all the sins
23 which they had committed. They built for themselves high places, and pillars, and arbours, on every high hill and under
24 every shady tree, and sodomy was committed in the land. And they practised all the abominable acts of the nations which the Lord had removed from before the children of Israel.
25 Wherefore in the fifth year of Roboam's reign, Sousakim king of Egypt came up against Jerusalem, and took all the
2.6 treasures of the house of the Lord, and the treasures of the king's house, and the golden lances which David had taken out of the hand of the servants of Adraazar king of Suba, and brought to Jerusalem. All these be took, together with the golden armour which Solomon had made, and carried them
27 away to Egypt. And in their stead king Roboam made bra- sen armour which were committed to the charge of the officers-
28 of the guards who kept the door of the king's house. And be- cause, when the king went to the house of the Lord, the guard carried them, therefore they were fixed up against die wall of
29 the guard room. Now the rest of the acts of Roboam and all that he did, behold, are they not written in the journal of the kings of Juda? Now there was a war between Roboam and Jeroboam all their days. And when Roboam went to rest with his fathers, and was buried with his fathers in the city of
XV. David, Abiou his son reigned in his stead. In the
2 eighteenth ye^ : " the reign of Jeroboam son of Nabat, Abiou,
3 son of Roboam oegan to reign over Juda, and reigned three years in Jerusalem. His mother's name was Maacha, a grand daughter of Abessalom. And he walked in the sins of his father which he had committed in his sight, and his heart, like the heart of his father, was not perfect before the Lord his
4 God. Nevertheless for the sake of David, the Lord gave him surviving issue that he might establish his children alter him,
5 and establish Jerusalem, as David had done what was right in the sight of the Lord, and had not deviated all the days of his
7 life from all that he commanded him. Now the rest of the acts of Abiou and all that he did, behold are they not written in the journal of the kings of Juda ? for the war continued between
8 Abiou and Jeroboam. And Abiou went to rest with his fathers in the twentieth year of the reign of Jeroboam, and was buried with his fathers in the city of David, and Asa his son reigned in his stead.
9 In the twenty fourth year of the reign of Jeroboam king of Israel, Asa began to reign over Juda, and he reigned forty one
10 years in Jerusalem. His mother's name was Ana, a descendant
11 of Abessalom. And Asa did what was right in the sight of the
12 Lord, like his father David. He removed the prostitutes out of the land, and abolished all the devices which his father had
13 instituted, and degraded his mother Ana from the rank of queen, as she had kept an assembly in her arbour. And Asa cut down her bowers and burned them with fire by the brook
14 Kedron. But he did not remove the high places. Nevertheless
15 Asa's heart was perfect before the Lord all his days. And he brought in the pillars of his father. He brought in also his own pillars which were of gold or silver, together with vessels
16 into the house of the Lord. Now there was a war between
17 Asa and Baasa, the king of Israel, all their days. And when Baasa, king of Israel came up, and was building Rama, that
18 none might go out or come in to Asa king of Juda, Asa took all the silver and gold which was found 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 Asa despatched them to Son Ader, son of Taberema the son of Aziu
19 king of Syria, who dwelt at Damascus, saying, Renew with me the league which was between my father and thy father. Behold I have sent thee presents of gold and silver, come break thy league with Baasa king of Israel, that he may go uj>
20 from me. Accordingly Son Ader hearkened to king Asa, and sent the generals of his armies against the cities of Israel, and they smote Ain and Dan and Abel, of the house of Macha,
21 and all Chennereth, even to the land of Nephthaleim. And when Baasa heard this, he left oft" building Rama and went
22 back to Thersa. Whereupon king Asa sounded to all Juda the alarm Against the Enakims. And they carried away the stones, and the timber, with which Baasa was building Rama. And with them, king Asa built mount Benjamin and the watch
23 tower. Now the rest of tfie acts of Asa, and all the power he
exercised, and the cities which he built, behdld are they not written in the book of the journal of the kings of Juda? In his
24 old age he was afflicted with the gout. And when Asa went to rest with his fathers, and was buried with his fathers in the city of David, Josaphat his son reigned in his stead.
25 Now Nabat son of Jeroboam began his reign in the second
26 year of Asa king of Juda, and reigned two years in Israel. And he did evil in the sight of the Lord, and walked in the way of his father, and in his sins with which he caused Israel to sin.
27 And Baasa son of Achia beset him at the house of Belaan son of Achia and slew him at Gabathon of the Philistines: for Na-
28 bat and all Israel were besieging Gabathon. Baasa slew him in the third year of Asa son of Abiou king of Juda and reigned in
29 his stead. And soon as he began to reign he smote the whole house of Jeroboam. He did not leave a living soul belonging to Jeroboam until he had utterly extirpated him according to the
30 word of the Lord which he spoke by the ministry of his servant Achia the Selonite, for the sins of Jeroboam who had caused Israel to sui, and for the provocation with which he had
31 provoked the Lord God of Israel. Now the rest of the acts of Nabat and all that he did, behold are they not written in the book of the journal of the kings of Israel?
33 In the third year of Asa king of Juda, Baasa son of Achia began his reign of twenty four years over Israel, at Thersa.
34 And he did evil in the sight of the Lord, and walked in the way of Jeroboam son of Nabat, and in his sins, with which he caused
XVI. Israel to sin; therefore a word of the Lord came to Baasa
2 by the ministry of lou son of Anani, Because, though I raised * thce from the ground and made thee ruler over my people Israel, thou hast walked in the way of Jeroboam, and caused my people Israel to sin—to provoke me to wrath by their idols,
3 behold I will rouse after Baasa and after his house, and 1 will make thy house like the house of Jeroboam the son of Nabat—
4 Him of Baasa who dieth in the city the dogs shall devour; and him who dieth in the fields the birds of the air shall devour.
5 Now the rest of the acts of Baasa and all that he did, and his exploits, behold are they not written in the book of the journal
6 of the kings of Israel? And Baasa slept with his fathers and was buried at Thersa, and Ela his son reigned in his stead.
Vol. n. M
7 . Now by the ministry of Ion son of Anani, the Lord had spoken against Baasa, and against his house, on account of all the wickedness which he had committed in the sight of the Lord to provoke him to wrath by the works of his hands, that he should be treated like the house of Jeroboam, and that he
8 would smite him. So when Ela son of Baasa had reigned over Israel two years at Thersa, Zambri the commander of one half
9 of his cavalry, conspired against him; and when he was drink-
10 ing to excess in the house of Osa his steward at Thersa, Zam» bri went in and smote him, and killed him, and reigned in his
11 stead. And when he had made himself king, and seated him-
12 self on his throne, he smote all the house of Baasa according to the word which the Lord spoke to Ion the prophet, against the
13 house of Baasa, for all the sins of Baasa and his son Ela, because they had caused Israel to sin, to provoke the Lord God
14 of Israel by their idols. Now the rest of the acts of Ela and all that he did, behold are they not written in the journal of the kings of Israel?
15 And Zambri reigned at Thersa seven days, and Israel was
16 encamped against Gabathon of the Philistines. But when the people in the camp heard the news that Zambri had conspired and slain the king, they made Ambri the-general of the army
17 of Israel, king over Israel that very day in the camp. And Ambri with all Israel marched up from Gabathon and laid siege
18 to Thersa. And when Zambri saw that the city was taken, he went into a cellar of the king's house and set the house on fire
19 over him. So he died for the sins which he had committed by doing evil in the sight of the Lord, and walking in the way of Jeroboam son of Nabat, and in his sins so as to cause Israel to
20 sin. Now the rest of the acts of Zambri and the conspiracies which he contrived; behold arc they not written in the journal of the kings of Israel?
21 Then were the people of Israel divided. One half of the people followed Thamni son of Gonath to make him king; and
22 the other half of the people followed Ambri. But the people who followed Ambri prevailed over them who followed Thamni son,of Gonath. So Thamni and his brother Joram died at the
23 same time. And Ambri reigned after Thamni in the thirty first year of king Asa. And Ambri reigned twelve years over Israel.
24 He reigned at Thersa six years. Then A*mbri purchased mount Semeron of Semer the lord of the mount, for two talents of silver, and having built on the mount, he called the name of the city which he had built, Semeron, after the name of Semer
25 the ojivner of the mount. And Ambri did evil in the sight of the Lord. Nay, he exceeded in wickedness all that went before
26 him, and walked in all the way of Jeroboam son of Nabat, and in the sins by which he caused Israel to sin, to provoke
27 the Lord God of Israel with their idols. Now the rest of the acts of Ambri and all that he did, and all his power, behold
28 are they not written in the journal of the kings of Israel? And Ambri slept with his fathers and was buried in Samaria, and Achab his son reigned in his stead.
Now in the eleventh year of Ambri, Josaphat son of Asa began to reign when he was thirty years of age, and reigned five years in his father's reign, and twenty five years in Jerusalem; and his mother's name was Gazuba a daughter of Seli. He walked in the way of his father Asa and deviated not from it, doing wliat was right in the eyes of the Lord. But the high places were not removed. On these they sacrificed and burned incense. Now the agreements which Josaphat made with the king of Israel, and all the dominion which he exercised and the battles which he fought, behold are they not written in the journal of the kings of Juda ? The remains of prostitution which were set up in the days of his father Asa he removed out of the land. Though he was not king in Syria-Nasib, king Josaphat built a fleet for Tharsis to go to Sophir for gold. But it did not go; for the fleet was wrecked at Gesion gaber. Then the king of Israel said to Josaphat, let me send thy servants in the fleet with my servants: but Josaphat would not consent. And when Josaphat went to sleep with his fathers he was buried with his fathers in the city of David, and Joram his son reigned in his stead.
29 In the second year of Josaphut king of Juda, Achab son of
30 Ambri began his reign of twenty two. years over Israel. And Achab did evil in the sight of the Lord, and surpassed in
31 wickedness all that went before hjm. It did not suffice him to walk in the sins of Jeroboam son of Nabat; but he took to wife Jezabel, a daughter of Jethebaal king of the Sidonians,
32 and went and served Baal, and worshipped him. And he erected for Baal an altar in the house of his idols, which he
33 had built in Samaria. Achab also made a bovver, and proceeded on in adding to his provocations, to provoke the Lord God of Israel and to destroy his own soul. He did evil above ;iil the kings of Israel who were before him.
34 Now in his days Achiel the Baithelite, rebuilt Jericho. With Abeiron, his first born, he laid the foundation thereof, and with Segub his youngest son, he set up its gates, according to the word of the Lord which he spoke by Joshua sou of Nave.
XVII. And the prophet Elias the Thesbitc, who was of Thcs- bon in Galaad, said to Achab, As the Lord God of hosts, the God of Israel liveth, before whom I stand, there shall not be
2 dew nor rain for years but by the word of my mouth. Then
3 a word of the Lord came to Elias, Go hence eastward and hide thyself by the brook Chorrath which is before the Jordan;
4 and thou shall have water from the brook to drink and I will
5 command the ravens to feed thee there. So Elias did according to the word of the Lord, and took up his abode by the brook
6 Chorrath, fronting the Jordan. And the ravens brought him bread in the morning and flesh in the evening, and he drank
7 water from the brook. And when he had been there a year,
8 the brook dried up ; for there was no rain in the land. Thereupon a word of the Lord came to Elias, Arise and go to Sarcpta
9 of Sidonia. Behold I have ordered a widow woman there to
10 sustain thee. So he arose and went to Sarepta, and when he came to the gate of the city, behold there was there a widow woman gathering sticks. And Elias cried after her, and said to her, Fetch me, I pray thee, a little water that I may drink.
11 And as she was going to fetch it, Elias called after her and said, Bring me I pray thee a morsel of bread in thy hand.
12 Whereupon the woman said, As the Lord thy God liveth, I have not a cake baked and only about a handful of barley meal in the jar and a little oil in the vessel; and behold I was picking up a few sticks, that I may go in and prepare it for myself and
13 my children, that we may eat and die. And Elias said to her, Take courage, go in and do as thou hast said, but make for me a little cake of it, and bring it out first to me, and after-
14 wards thou shalt make for thyself and thy children. For thus saith the Lord, The jar of meal shall not fail, nor shall the vessel of oil diminish, until the Lord shall send rain on the
15 land. So the woman went and did so. And though she and
16 her ohildren ate yet the jar of meal did not fail, nor was the oil in the vessel diminished, according to the word of the Lord
17 which he spoke by Elias. And it happened that the son of the woman, the mistress of the house, fell sick; and the disorder
18 increased till there was no breath left in him. Upon which she said to Elias, What hast thou to do with me, O man of God? Art thou come to me to bring my sins into remembrance and
19 cause my son to die ? And Elias said to the woman, Give me thy son. So he took him out of her bosom and carried him up into the upper chamber where he lodged, and laid him on his
20 bed. Then Elias cried and said, Wo is me! O Lord! Here is the witness of the widow with whom I dwell. Thou hast
21 afflicted her in causing her son to die. And when he had breathed on the child three times and called on the Lord, he said, O Lord, my God, I beseech thce let this child's life be
22 restored to him. And so it came to pass and the child cried.
23 Then Elias brought it down from the upper chamber, and de-
24 livering him to his mother, said, Sec, thy son liveth. Whereupon the woman said, Now I know that thou art a man of God, and that the word of the Lord in thy mouth is true.
XVIII. And after many days, a word of the Lord came to Elias in the third year, saying, Go and shew thyself to Achab and I
2 will send rain on the face of the land. Now when Elias went to shew himself to Achab there was a grievous famine in Samaria.
3 And Achab had called his steward Abdiou. This Abdiou
4 feared the Lord greatly ; so that when Jezabel smote the prophets of the Lord, Abdiou took a hundred men who were prophets, and hid them by fifties in a cave, and fed them with bread
5 and water. And Achab said to Abdiou, Come and let us go through the land to the fountains of water and to the brooks, perhaps we may find grass to save the horses and mules alive, that they may not be utterly destroyed from our liabitations.
6 So they divided the way between them, that they might traverse the country. Achah went one way, and Abdiou
7 went by himself another way. And as Abdiou was in the
X
way by himself Elias came by himself to meet him. Whereupon Abdiou hasted and fell on his face and said, Art
8 thou he, my lord Elias? And Elias said, I am, Go and tell
9 thy master, -Behold Elias is here. And Abdiou said, In what have I sinned that thou shouldst deliver thy servant into the
10 hand of Achab, that he may put me to death ? As the Lord thy God liveth, there is not a nation or a kingdom to which my master hath not sent to seek the'e. And if they said, He 5s not here, he burned the kingdom or its borders, because he did
11 not find thce. And now thou sayst, Go tell thy master, Behold Elias is here. But it may be, that when I am gone from thee, the Spirit of the Lord will carry thee away to a land which I know not. So that when I shall go and tell Achab, and
13 he shall not find thee, he will kill me. Now thy servant is one who feareth the Lord from his youth. Hath it not been told thee, my lord, what I did when Jezabel slew the prophets of the Lord—how I hid a hundred men of the prophets of the Lord by fifty in a cave, and fed diem with bread and water'?
14 Yet, now thou sayst, Go, tell thy master, Behold Elias is here,
15 that he may kill me. And Elias said, As the Lord of hosts liveth, before whom I stand, I will this day shew myself to him.
1G Then Abdiou went to meet Achab, and when he told him,
17 Achab hasted and came to meet Elias. And when Achab saw
18 Ettas, he said to him, Art thou he, the troubler of Israel? To which Elias replied, I am not the troubler of Israel; but thou and thy father's house are, by your forsaking the Lord your
19 God and going after the Baalims. Now therefore send and gather to me all Israel to mount Carmel, and the prophets of shame, four hundred and fifty, and the prophets of the bowers
20 four hundred, who eat at Jezabel's table. And when Achab had sent to all Israel, and had assembled all the prophets at mount Carmel, Elias came near before them all, and Elias said
21 to them, How long will you halt between two opinions? If the Lord is God, follow him: but if Baal; follow him. But the
22 people made no reply. Then Elias said to the people, I am left a prophet of the Lord myself alone. But the prophets of Baal are four hundred and fifty men, and the prophets of the Bower
23 four hundred. Let there be given to us two young bulls, and let them chusc one for themselves, and cut him in pieces, and
lay them on wood, but put no fire; and I will prepare the
24 other and put no fire. And call ye on the name of your gods, and I will invoke the name of the Lord my God. And the God who shall answer by fire, let him be God. And all the people
25 answered and said, The proposal thou hast made is fair. Then Elias said to the prophets of shame, Chuse for yourselves one young bull, and prepare it first; for you are many; and call
26 on the name of your god, but put no fire to it. So they took the young bull and prepared it, and called on the name of Baal from morning till noon, and said, Hearken to us, O Baal! Hearken to us. But there was no voice. There was no answer; though they ran upon the altar which they had erected.
27 And when it was noon, Elias the Thesbite mocked them, and said, Call louder; for he is a god; for he is engaged in medita- tation, or perjiaps he is busy, or perhaps he is asleep, and must
28 be awaked. Then they called with a loud voice, and according to their custom cut themselves with knives and lancets till there was a gush of blood upon them, and prophesied till the approach
29 of the evening. But when it was about the time when the sacrifice should ascend, Elias the Thesbite spoke to the prophets of the idols, and said, Desist now, and I will prepare my whole
30 burnt offering. So they desisted, and went away. Then Elias
31 said to the people, Draw near to me. And when all the people came near before him, Elias took twelve stones according to the number of the tribes of Israel, to whom the Lord had
32 spoken, saying, Thy name shall be Israel; and he built the stones in the name of the Lord, and repaired the altar which had been thrown down. Then he made a trench around the
33 altar sufficient to contain two measures of seed, and piled up the split wood upon the alter which he had made. He then divided the whole burnt offering in quarters, and laid it on the split wood. And when he had laid it in order upon the altar, he said, Bring me four pots of water and pour it on the whole
34 burnt offering and on the split wood. And when they had done so, he said, Do the same again. And when they had done this a second time, he said, Do it a third time. So they did it a
35 third time, and the water ran down about the altar and filled
36 the trench with water. Then Elias raised his voice to heaven and said, O.Lord, the AGod of Abraham and of Isaak and of
Israel, hearken to me! O Lord, hearken to me this day by fire. And let all this people know, that thou art the Lord God of Israel, and that I am thy servant, and that by thee I have done
37 these works. Hearken to me, O Lord! Hearken to me; and let this people know, that thou art the Lord God, and that thou
38 hast turned the heart of this people back again. Thereupon fire from the Lord fell down out of heaven and consumed the whofe burnt offering, with the split wood and the water in the
39 trench and the stones, and licked up even the dust. Then all the people fell on their faces and said, Of a truth the Lord is
40 God. He is very God. Then Elias said to the people, Seize the prophets of Baal. Let none of them escape. So they seized them and brought them to Elias, down to the brook Kison and
41 slew them there. Then Elias said to Achab, Go up and eat
42 and drink, for there is a sound of coming rain. So when Achab went up to eat and drink, Elias went up to the top of Carmel, and having bowed down on the earth, he put his face between
43 his knees and said to his servant, Go up and look towards the sea. And when the servant looked and said, There is nothing,
44 Elias said, Return thou again seven times. So the servant returned seven times, and at the seventh time he said, Behold there is a little cloud like a man's foot drawing up water. Whereupon he said, Go up and say to Achab, Prepare thy
45 chariot and go down lest the rain overtake thee. In the mean while the heaven gradually darkened with clouds and wind, and there came on a great rain. And while Achab wept and was travelling on to Jezrael the hand of the Lord was upon Elias and having girded up his loins, he ran before Achab
XIX. to Jezrael. And when Achab told his wife Jezabel all that Elias had done, and how he had slain the prophets with the sword, Jezabel sent to Elias, and said, As sure as
2 thou art Elias, and I Jezabel, God do so to me and more also, if by this time to-morrow I do not make thy life like the
3 life of one of them. At this Elias was terrified, and arose and went where his inclination led him, and coming to Bersabee,
4 in the land of Juda, he left his servant there, and he himself went a day's journey into the wilderness ; and came and sat down under a juniper tree, and intreated that he might die, and said, Let the present suffice. Take, I beseech thee, O
Lord, my life from me ; for I am not better than my fathers.
5 Then he lay down and fell fast asleep there under a bush. And
6 behold one touched him and said to him, Rise and eat. And Eli- as looked up and behold at his head a cake of barley bread, and a pitcher of water! So he arose and ate and drank, and again laid
7 himself down to sleep. And the angel of the Lord returned the second time and touched him and said to him, Rise and eat, for
8 the journey may be too great for thee. So he arose and ate and drank, and in the strength of that meal travelled forty days and
9 forty nights till he came to mount Choreb, and having there gone into the cave and taken up his lodging there, behold a word of the Lord came to him and said, Why art thou come
10 hither Elias ? To which he replied, I have been very zealous for the Lord Almighty, because the children of Israel hath forsaken thee, They have demolished thy altars and slain thy
11 prophets with the sword. And I alone am left and they seek my life to take it. And it said, Thou shall go out to-morrow and stand before the Lord on the mount. Behold the Lord will pass by. Accordingly behold there was a mighty strong blast of wind rending mountains and breaking rocks in pieces before the Lord; but the Lord was not in the wind. And after the wind, there was an earthquake; but the Lord was not in the earthquake. And after the earthquake, a fire; but the Lord was not. in the fire. And after the fire, there was a sound of a gentle breeze which when Elias heard, he covered
13 his face with his mantle and went out and stood beneath the cave. And behold there came a voice to him and said,
14 Why art thou come hither, Elias? To which Elias replied, I have been very zealous for the Lord Almighty, because the children of Israel have forsaken thy covenant. They have demolished thy altars and slain thy prophets with the sword; and
15 I alone am left, and they seek my life to take it. And the Lord said to him, Go, return on thy way ; and when thou art come to the way of the wilderness of Damascus, thou shalt
16 go and anoint Azael to be king of Syria; and thou shalt anoint Jehu son of Namessi to be king over Israel ; and Elisha son
17 of Saphat thou shalt anoint to be a prophet in thy stead. And it shall come to pass that him who escapeth from the sword of Azael, Jehu will slay ; and him who escapeth from the sword
VOL. II. N
18 of Jehu, Elisha will slay. But them shalt leave in Israel seven thousand men, all the knees which have not bowed to Baal,
19 and every mouth which hath not worshipped him. So when he departed thence he found Elisha son of Saphat. He was
20 ploughing with cattle. There were twelve yoke before him, and he was with the twelve. And as he passed by him, he threw his mantle on him. Whereupon Elisha left the cattle and ran
21 after Elias and said, Let me salute my father and I will follow thee. And Elias said, Return ; for I have done with thee. So he returned from following him, and he took the cattle which were yoked, and slew them, and boiled them with the implements of the cattle, and gave them to the people, and when they had eaten, he arose and went after Elias and waited on him.
XXI. Now Nabuthi the Jezraelite had a vineyard near, the
2 threshing floor of Achab king of Samaria. And Achab spoke to Nabuthi, saying, Give me this vineyard of thine, that I may have it for a garden of herbs, because it is near my house; and I will give thee another vineyard better than it; or if it seem good in thy sight, I will give thee money in exchange for thy vineyard, that I may have it for a kitchen garden.
3 And Nabuthi said to Achab, God forbid that I should give
4 thee the inheritance of my fathers: at which Achab's spirit was so disturbed, that he laid himself down on his bed and cover-
5 ed his face and would not eat. Thereupon Jezabel his wife, went to him and said to him, Why is thy spirit troubled so that
6 thou art not at thy meal ? And he said to her, Because I spoke to Nabuthi the Jesraelite, saying, Give me thy vineyard for money, or if thou please I will give thee another vineyard for it; but he said, I will not give thee the inheritance of my fa-
7 thers. And Jezabel his wife said to him, Is it thus thou now. actest the king over Israel ? Arise and eat, and be like thyself, and I will give thee the vineyard of Nabuthi the Jezra-
8 elite. Then she wrote a letter in Achab's name, and sealed it with his seal, and sent it to the elders and freemen, who
9 dwelt with Nabuthi. This was the purport of the letter. Proclaim a fast and set Nabuthi at the head of the people, and
10 suborn two wicked men and let them testify against him say-
11 ing, He renounced God and the king. Then let liim be led
out and stoned to death. And the men of the city, the elders and freemen who dwelt in his city did as J.ezabel had sent to
12 them, even as it was written in the letter she sent them. So having proclaimed a fast, they set Nabuthi at the head of the
13 people, and there came in two wicked men and sat over against him and testified against him saying, Thou hast renounced God and the king. Upon which they led him out of the city,
14 and stoned him with stones so that he died. Then they sent to
15 Jezabel saying, Nabuthi hath been stoned and is dead. When Jezabel heard she said to Achab, Arise and take possession of the vineyard of Nabuthi the Jezraclite, \vho would not give
16 it to thee for money, for he is not alive, for he is dead. But when Achab heard that Nabuthi the Jezraelitc was dead, he rent his clothes and put on sackcloth ; yet after doing this, he arose and went down to the vineyard of Nabuthi the Jezraelite,
17 to take possession of it. Whereupon the Lord spoke toElias
18 the Thesbite,saying, Arise and go down to meet Achab king of Israel, who is at Samaria; for he is in the vineyard of Nabuthi;
19 for he is gone down there to take possession of it. And thou shalt speak to him, and say, Thus saith the Lord, As thou hast murdered and taken possession, therefore thus saith the Lord, In every place where the swine and dogs have licked the blood of Nabuthi, tlxcrc shall the dogs lick thy blood, and har-
20 lots shall bathe themselves in thy blood. And Achab said to Elias, Hast thou found me, O my enemy? To which he replied, I have found thee. Because thou hast sold thyself to do evil in the sight of the Lord, to provoke him to wrath, behold I
21 am going to bring evil upon thee, and I will kindle a flame after thee and utterly destroy the whole race of Achab, both him.
22 who is attended and him who is neglected in Israel. And I will make thy house like the house of Jeroboam son of Nabat, and like the house of Baasa son of Achia, for the provocations with
23 which thou hast provoked me, and caused Israel to sin. And to Jezabel the Lord-hath spoken saying, The dogs shall devour
24 her on the ramparts of Jezrael. Him of Achab who dieth in, the city, the dogs shall devour, and him who dieth in the fields, the birds'of the air shall devour.
25 But though Achab had acted foolishly in selling himself to do evil in the sight of the Lord, as Jezabel his wife incited him,
26 and though he had rendered himself very abominable, by following abominations with all the ceremonies practised by the Amorites, whom the Lord had rooted out from before Israel;
27 yet as Achab was struck with compunction at this message on account of the Lord, and went away weeping; and as he had rent his clothes and girded sackcloth on his body and fasted; for he had put on sackcloth on the day he smote Nabuthi the
28 Jezraelite; therefore when he went away, a word of the Lord came by the hand of his servant Elias concerning Achab, and
29 the Lord said, Hast thou seen how Achab is struck with compunction on account of me? I will not bring on the calamity in his days; but in the days of his sons I will bring it on.
XX. Now when Son Ader had assembled all his army, he went up and sat down before Samaria. He had with him thirty two
2 kings,and all his cavalry and chariots. And when they had gone up and laid siege to Samaria and fought against it, he sent to Achab king of Israel into the city, and said to him,
3 Thus saith Son Ader; Thy silver and thy gold are mine. And
4 thy wives and thy children are mine. In reply to which the king of Israel said, As thou my lord, O king, hast spoken, I am thine
5 and all that I have. Then the messengers returned and said, Thus saith Son Ader, I have sent to thee saying, Thy silver and thy gold and thy wives and thy children thou shalt give to
G me. Therefore about this time to-morrow I will send my servants to thee, and they shall search thy house, and the houses of thy servants, and take all that are desirable in their eyes,
7 upon which they can lay their hands. Upon this the king of Israel called all the elders of the land and said, Mark, I pray you and see how this man seeketh mischief. For he hath sent to me for my wives and for my children, even for my daugh-
8 ters. My gold and my silver I did not withhold from him. Then the elders and all the people said to him, Thou must not
9 hearken nor consent. Thereupon he said to the messengers of Son Ader, Tell your lord, All that thou didst send to thy servant at first I will do ; but this I cannot do. So the men went
10 away; and when they carried him back this answer, Son Ader sent to him saying, God do so to me and more also, if I do not
11 make Samaria a jakes for all the people of my infantry. In reply to which the king of Israel said, Enough! let not him who
12 is crooked boast like him who is straight. When this answer was delivered him, it happened that he and all the kings with him were drinking in tents, thereupon he said to his servants, Build up a mount. And when they had erected a mount
13 against the city, behold a certain prophet came to Achab king of Israel and said, Thus saith the Lord, Hast thou seen this great multitude? Behold I deliver them up this day into
14 thy hands, and thou shalt know that I am the Lord. And Achab said, By whom? And he said, Thus saith the Lord, By the younger sons of the chiefs of the communities. Then Achab
15 said, Who shall begin the battle? And he said, Thou. Upon this Achab reviewed the younger sons of the chiefs of the com-
16 munities and they were two hundred and thirty. And after that he reviewed all the people of the army, seven thousand, and
17 marched out at noon day. Now Son Ader was revelling at Sok- koth, he and the kings, the thirty two kings his auxiliaries. And when the younger sons of the chiefs of the communities first marched out, messengers were sent who told the king of
18 Syria and said, There are men coming out of Samaria. Whereupon he said to them, If they come out for peace, take them alive; or if they come out for battle take them alive and let them
19 not get away out of the city. The younger sons of the chiefs of the communities and the army that followed them had now
20 smitten every one his man. And when they repeated this, every one slaying his second man, Syria fled and Israel pursued them. And Son Ader king of Syria escaped on the horse of a cava-
21 lier. And the king of Israel went out and took all the horses-
22 and the chariots. And when he had smitten Syria with great slaughter the prophet came to the king of Israel and said, Strengthen thyself and consider and see what thou art to dq. For at the return of the year Son Ader king of Syri^ will come, up against thee.
23 As for the servants of the king of Syria they said, The God of Israel is a god of the mountains and not a god of the vallies; for this cause he prevailed over us. But if we fight them in the
24 plain we shall surely be stronger than they. Therefore do this. Send away the kings every one to his home and substitute com-
25 manders in their stead. And let us raise for thee another army equal to that which is fallen, horse for horse and chariot for
chariot. And we will fight them in the plain and prevail o.ver
26 them. So he hearkened to their voice and did accordingly. And at the return of the year Son Ader reviewed the Syrians
27 and came up to Aphek to fight Israel. And the Israelites were mustered and went out to meet them. And when Israel had encamped over against them like two little flocks of kids, while Syria filled the country, the man of God came and
28 said to the king of Israel, Thus saith die Lord, Because Syria hath said, The Lord God of Israel is a god of the mountains, but he is not a god of the vallies, therefore I will deliver this great army into thy hand, and thou shalt know that
29 I am the Lord. So having encamped against each other seven days, they came to an engagement on the seventh day;
30 and Israel smote of the Syrians a hundred thousand footmen in one day, and the residue fled to Aphek into the city, and the wall fell upon twenty seven thousand of the men who were left. And Son Ader fled, and when he got to the house of his
31 abode into the inner chamber, he said to his sen-ants, I know that the kings of Israel are merciful. Let us, I pray you, put sackcloth on our loins, and ropes on our heads, and go out to
32 the king of Israel. Perhaps he will spare our lives. So when they had girded sackclodi on their loins, and put ropes on their heads, they said to the king of Israel, Thus saith thy servant Son Ader, Let my life, I pray thee, be spared. To which he
33 replied, Is he still alive? He is my brother. Whereupon the men catchcd up the omen, and using it as a liBation, they repeated the word which dropped from his mouth, and said, Thy brother, Son Ader. Then he said, Go in and bring him. So he came out. And when they had helped him up to Achab into
34 the chariot, he said to him, The cities which my fadier took from thy father I will restore to thee. And thou shalt make streets for thyself in Damascus, as my father did in Samaria.
35 On these terms, said Achab, I agree to let thee go. And when he had entered into covenant with him and let him go; a certain man of the sons of the prophets said to his neighbour by the word of the Lord, Smite me, I pray thee; but the man
36 would not smite him. Whereupon he said to him, Because thou hast not hearkened to the word of the Lord, behold
37 when thou departest from me a lion will smite thee. Accordiiigly when he went from him, a lion met him and slew him. Then he met another man and said, Smite me, I pray thee.
38 And the man smote him, and in smiting, wounded him. Then the prophet went and waited for the king of Israel by the way
39 side, with a bandage over his eyes. And as the king was passing by, he cried whh a loud voice to the king, and said, Thy servant went out to the field of battle, and behold a man brought me a man, and said to me, Keep this man. If by any means he escape, thy life shall answer for his life, or thou shalt
40 pay a talent of silver. Now it happened that while thy servant was looking about this way and that, he was gone. And the king of Israel said to him, Behold this is treachery. In my
41 opinion thou art liable to death. Thereupon he hasted, and took the bandage from his eyes, and the king of Israel per-
42 ceived that he was one of the prophets. Then he said to him, Thus saith the Lord, Because thou hast let go out of thy hand a destructive man, therefore thy life shall answer for his
43 life ^ and thy people for his people. And the king of Israel went away confounded and sorrowful, and came to Samaria,
XXII. and remained quiet three years, and there was no war .bo- tweeh Syria and Israel.
2 But in the third year, when Josaphat king of Juda, came
3 down to the king of Israel, the king of Israel said to his servants, Do you not know that Remmath Galaad belongcth to
4 us, yet we do not talk of taking it out of the hand of the king of Syria. Then the king of Israel said to Josaphat, Wilt thou
5 go up with us to Remmath Galaad to battle? To which Josaphat replied, I am as thou art; my people as thy people; my horses as thy horses. Then Josaphat said to the king of Israel,
6 Inquire I pray thee of the Lord. Whereupon the king of Israel assembled all the prophets, about four hundred men, and said to them, Shall I go up to Remmath Galaad to battle, or shall I forbear? And they said, Go up; for the Lord will certainly de-
7 liver into the king's hands. And Josaphat said to the king of Israel, Is there not here a prophet of the Lord that we ma- in-
8 quire of the Lord by him? And the king of Israel said to Josaphat, There is a certain man by whom we may inquire of tin Lord, but I hate him; for he never speaketh good of me; but
9 evil—one Michaias, son of Jemblaa. And Josaphat king of
Juda said, Let not the king speak so. Then the king of Israel called a chamberlain, and said, Bring here quickly Mi-
10 chaias son of Jemblaa. Now the king of Israel and Josaphat king of Juda were seated each on his throne, clad in armour, in the gate of Samaria; and all the prophets were prophesying
11 before them. And Sedekias son of Chanaan made for himself horns of iron, and said, Thus saitli the Lord, with these tliou
12 shalt push Syria until he be utterly destroyed. And in like manner all the prophets prophesied, saying, Go up to Rem- math Galaad, for the Lord will prosper the journey and de-
13 liver into thy hands the king of Syria. So the messenger who went to call Michaias, spoke to him saying, Behold all the prophets with one mouth speak good things concerning the king, conform, I pray thce, thy words to the Avords of every of
14 them, and speak good things. To which Michaias replied, As the Lord liveth, whatever the Lord shall say to me, that will I
15 speak. And when he came before the king, the king said to him, Michaias, shall I go up to Remmath Galaad to battle, or shall I forbear ? And he said, Go up, and the Lord will deliver
16rinto the king's hand! Then the king said to him, How often must I adjure thee that thou shouldst speak truth to me in the
17 name of the Lord? Thereupon he said, Is not this the case? I saw all Israel dispersed on the mountains like a flock which hath no shepherd ; and the Lord said, Is not the Lord, their
18 God? Let every one return to his house in peace. Then the king of Israel said to Josaphat, Did I not tell thee that he would not prophesy good to me, for he never speaketh any
19 diing but evils? Whereupon Michaias said, It is not so. It is not I. Hear a word of the Lord. Is not this the case ? I saw the God of Israel seated on his throne, and all the hosts of heaven stood around him, some on the right and some on the
20 left. And the Lord said, Who will deceive Achab king of Israel that he may go up and fall at Remmath Galaad? And
21 when one spoke in this manner and another in that, there came forth a spirit and stood before the Lord, and said, I will deceive
22 him. And the Lord said to him, How? And he said, I will go out and be a lying spirit in the mouth of all his prophets. And he said, Thou shalt deceive him and actually prevail.
23 Go and do so. Now therefore behold the Lord hath put a lying spirit in the mouth of all these prophets of thine; but the
24 Lord hath spoken evils against thee. Thereupon Sedekias son of Chanaan went near and smote Michaias on the cheek, and said, What sort of a spirit of the Lord is that which hath
25 spoken by thee? To which Michaias replied, Behold thou shalt see on that day when thou shall go into thy inmost chara-
26 ber to hide thyself there. Then the king of Israel said, Take
27 Michaias and earn,' him back to Semer, the ruler of the city, and tell Joas, the ruler's son, to put him in ward and feed him with the bread of affliction, and water of affliction, till I return
28 in peace. And Michaias said, If thou return in peace, the Lord hath not spoken by me.-
29 Then the king of Israel went up, and Josaphat the king of "30 Juda with him, to Remmath Galaad. And the king of Israel
said to the king of Juda, I will disguise myself and enter into the battle, and thou shalt put on my raiment. So the king of
31 Israel disguised himself and went into the battle. Now the king of Syria had given a charge to the thirty two commanders of his chariots, saying, Fight not with small or great, but
32 only with the king of Israel. Accordingly when the commanders of the chariots saw Josaphat, king of Juda, they said, This appeareth to be the king of Israel, and wheeled about to
33 fight him, and Josaphat uttered a loud cry. And when the commanders of the chariots saw that he was not the king of
34 Israel, they turned back from him. Then one drew a bow at a venture and smote the king of Israel between the lungs and the breast. Whereupon he said to his charioteer, Turn thy
35 hand and carry me out of the battle, for I am wounded. As the battle was that day disastrous the king remained in his chariot over against the Syrians from morning till evening, and the blood flowed from the wound into the body of the
36 chariot. And at the going down of the sun the herald of the army stood and made proclamation, saying, Every man to his
37 city and to his own land; for the king is dead. And when they came to Samaria they buried the king in Samaria, and
38 washed off the blood at the fountain of Samaria, and the swine and the dogs licked the blood, and the prostitutes bathed themselves in the blood, according'to the word of the Lord
39 which he spoke. Now the rest of the acts of Achab and all
vot. ii. o
that he did, and the ivory house which he built, and all the cities which he Founded, behold are they not Avritten in the
40 book of the journal of the kings of Israel? And when Achab slept with his fathers, Ochozias his son reigned in his stead.
41 Now Josaphat son of Asa was king over Juda. In the fourth year of Achab, king of Israel, Josaphat began his reign. He was thirty five years of age when he began to reign, and he reigned twenty five years in Jerusalem, and his mother's
43 name was Azuba, a daughter of Salai. And he walked in all the way of his father Asa, and deviated not from it, doing what was right in the sight of the Lord. But he did not re-
44 move the high places. Still the people sacrificed and burned incense on the high places. And Josaphat was at peace with
45 the king of Israel. Now the rest of the .acts of Josaphat, and all the exploits which he did, behold are they not written in the
50 book of the journal of the kings of Juda? And Josaphat slept with his fathers, and was buried with his fathers in the city oF David his father, and Joram his son reigned in his stead.
51 Ochozias son of Achab, began his reign over Israel, in Samaria, in the seventeenth year of Josaphat king of Juda, and
52 reigned over Israel in Samaria two years. He did that which was evil in the sight of the Lord, and walked in the way of his father Achab, and in the way of his mother Jezabel, and in the sins of the house of Jeroboam son of Nabat, who made Israel sin, and served the Baalims and worshipped them, and provoked the Lord God of Israel according to all that had been done before him.
