 |
The 19th Chapter
And
Ahab told Jezabel, all that Eliah had done, and altogether how he
had slain the Prophets with the sword. Then Jezabel sent a messenger
unto Eliah saying: so do God to me and so thereto, except I make thy
soul like one of theirs, by tomorrow this time: when he saw that, he
arose and went for his life, and came to Bersabe in Juda, and left
his lad there. And he went a days Journey into the wilderness, and
when he was come sat down under a Juniper tree, and desired for his
soul, that he might die, and said, it is now enough O' Lord, take my
soul, for I am not better than my fathers.
And as he lay and slept under the Juniper tree: behold, there
came an Angel and touched him, and said unto him: up and eat. And he
looked about him: and see, there was a loaf of broiled bread and a
cruse of water at his head. And he ate and drank and laid him down
again to sleep. And the Angel of the Lord came again the second time
and touched him, and said: up and eat, for thou hast a long Journey
to go. And he arose and did eat and drink and went in the strength
of that meat forty days and forty nights, unto Horeb the mount of
God, and entered there into a cave and lodged there all night.
And then the word of the Lord came to him and said what doest
thou here, Eliah?And he answered: I have been thorough angry for the
Lord God of Hosts sake. For the children of Israel have forsaken thy
covenant, and have broken down thine altars and slain the Prophets
with the sword, and I only am left, and they seek my soul to have it
too. And he said come out and stand before the Lord. And behold, the
Lord went by and a mighty strong wind that rent the mountains and
brake the rocks before him. But the Lord was not in the wind. And
after the wind came an earthquake. But the Lord was not in the
earthquake. And after the earthquake, came fire: but the Lord was
not in the fire. And after the fire, came a small still voice. And
when Eliah heard it, he covered his face with his mantle, and went
out and stood in the mouth of the cave. And see, there came a voice
unto him and said: what doest thou here Eliah? And he answered: I
was jealous for the Lord God of Hosts sake: because the children of
Israel have forsaken thine appointment and have cast down thine
altars and slain thy prophets with the sword, and I only am left,
and they seek my soul to have it. Then the Lord said unto him: go
and turn thy way to the wilderness of Damasco, and go and anoint
Hazael to be king of Siria. And Jehu the son of Namsi, anoint to be
king over Israel. And Eliseus the son of Saphat of Abel Mehulah
anoint to be Prophet in thy room. And whoso escapeth the sword of
Hazael, him shall Jehu slay: and if any man escape the sword of Jehu,
him shall Eliseus slay. And thereto I have left me seven thousand in
Israel, of which never man bowed his knees unto Baal nor kissed him
with his mouth.
And he departed thence and found Eliseus the son of Saphat
ploughing with twelve yoke of oxen before him, and he with the
twelve. And Eliah went to him and cast his mantle upon him. And he
left the oxen and ran after Eliah and said: let me I pray thee, kiss
my father and mother, and then I will follow thee. And he said to
him: go back again, for what have I done to thee? And he went back
again from after him, and took a yoke of oxen and slew them, and
dressed the flesh with the instruments of the oxen and gave it the
people, and they did eat. And then he arose and went after Eliah and
ministered unto him. |
 |
The 20th Chapter
And Benhadad king of Siria
gathered all his host together, and thirty two kings with him, with
horse and chariot: and went up and besieged Samaria and warred
against it. And he sent messengers to Ahab king of Israel into the
city, and said unto him: thus saith Benhadad. Thy silver and thy
gold is mine, and the best of thy wives, and the best of thy
children be mine. And the king of Israel answered and said: my Lord
king, according to thy saying, I am thine with all I have.
And the messengers came again to Ahab and said: thus saith
Benhadad. I have therefore sent unto thee, saying: deliver me then
thy silver and thy gold, and thy wives, and thy children. Or else I
will send my servants unto thee by tomorrow this time: and they
shall search thine house, and the houses of thy servants, which
shall take all that is glorious in thine eyes, and bring it away
with them. Then the king of Israel sent for the elders of the land
and said: take heed I pray you and see, how this fellow goeth about
mischief. For he sent unto me, for my wives and my children, and my
silver and my gold: and I denied him nothing of it. And all the
elders of Israel and all the people said: hearken not to him nor
consent.
Whereupon he said unto the messengers of Benhadad: tell my
Lord the king, all that he sent for the first time, that I will do:
but this request I may not do. And the messengers departed and
brought him word. Then Benhadad sent unto him and said: thus do the
Gods to me and so thereto, if the dust of Samaria be enough for all
the people that follow me, that every man may have an handful. And
the king of Israel answered and said: tell him, let not him that
putteth on his harness boast himself, as he putteth it off. And when
Benhadad heard that tidings, as he and the kings were drinking in
the pavilions, he said unto his servants: put ye in array. And they
put themselves in array against the city.
And behold there came a Prophet unto Ahab king of Israel, and
said to him: thus saith the Lord. Seest thou all this great
multitude? behold, I will deliver them into thine hand this day,
that thou mayest know that I am the Lord. And Ahab said, by whom?
And he said thus saith the Lord: even by the men of the governors of
the shires. And Ahab said: who shall join battle? And he said, thou.
Then he numbered the men of the governors of the shires: and they
were two hundred and thirty two. And after them he numbered all the
people, and all the children of Israel were seven thousand. And they
went out at noon when Benhadad was a drinking strong drink in the
pavilions with the thirty two kings that help him. And the men of
the sheriffs of the shires went out first.
And Benhadad sent out, and they showed him saying: there came
men out of Samaria. And he said: if they come out for peace, take
them alive. And also if they come for war, take them yet alive. And
when those men of the sheriffs of the shires were come out of the
city and the Host after them, they slew every one of them his man.
And the Sirians fled, and Israel followed after them. And Benhadad
the king of Siria escaped on a horse with his horsemen. And the king
of Israel went out and smote horse and chariot, and slew a great
slaughter of the Sirians.
Then there came a Prophet to the king of Israel, and said to
him: go forth and play the man, be wise and take heed what thou
doest: for when the year is about, the king of Siria will come
against thee again. Then said the servants of the kings of Siria to
him: the Gods of the hills are their Gods, and therefore they had
the better of us. But let us fight with them in the plain, and for
what ye will, we shall have the better of them. And this do: take
the kings away every man out of his place, and put dukes in their
rooms. And do thou number thee an host, like the host that thou hast
lost, and horse for horse and chariot for chariot, and let us fight
with them in the plain, and for a wager, we get the better of them.
And the king hearkened unto their voice and did even so.
And as soon as the year was about, Benhadad numbered the
Sirians and went up to Aphek to war with Israel. And the children of
Israel were numbered and provided of victuals, and went against
them, and pitched before them like two little flocks of kids: but
the Sirians filled the country. Then there came a man of God and
said unto the king of Israel: thus saith the Lord. Because the
Sirians say, that the Lord is but a God of the hills, and not God of
the valleys too: therefore will I deliver all this great multitude
into thine hand that ye may know that I am the Lord. And they
pitched one over against the other seven days, and the seventh day
joined battle. And the children of Israel slew of the Sirians an
hundred thousand footmen in one day. And the rest fled to Aphek into
the city. And there fell a wall upon twenty seven thousand of them
that were left. And Benhadad fled and went into the city, from
chamber to chamber.
Then said his servants unto him: behold, we have heard say,
that the kings of the house of Israel are merciful kings. Let us put
sack cloth about our Loins and ropes about our heads, and go out to
the king of Israel: haply he will save thy life. And they girded
sack cloth about their loins and put ropes about their heads, and
went out to the king of Israel and said: thy servant Benhadad saith,
I pray thee let me live. And he said: is he yet alive? what he is my
brother. And they took the word for good luck and hastily caught it
out of his mouth and said: yea thy brother Benhadad. Then he said:
go and bring him. And Benhadad came out to him, and the other took
him up into the chariot. And Benhadad said: the cities which my
father took from thy father, I will restore again. And thou shalt
make streets for thee in Damasco, as my father did in Samaria. And I
will make an appointment with thee and send thee away. And so he
made an appointment with him and sent him away.
Then a certain man of the children of the Prophets said unto
his fellow with the word of the Lord, smite me I pray thee. And the
man would not smite him. And he said, because thou hast not obeyed
the voice of the Lord: behold, as soon as thou art departed from me
a lion shall slay thee. And as soon as he was departed from him, a
Lion found him and slew him. Then he found another man and said to
him: smite me I pray thee. And the man gave him a good stripe and
wounded him. And the Prophet went forth and waited for the king by
the way and put ashes upon his eyes, and put himself out of
knowledge. And when the king came by, he cried unto him and said,
thy servant went out in the midst of the battle. And see, there was
one began to flee. And there came a man to me and said: keep this
man. And if he be missed thy life shall go for his, or else thou
shalt pay a talent of silver. And as thy servant had here and there
to do, he was gone. And the king of Israel said unto him: even so
shall thy judgement be as thou hast defined it thyself.
And he hasted and took the ashes away from his eyes: and the
king of Israel knew him, that he was of the Prophets. And he said
unto the king, thus saith the Lord: because thou hast let go a man
that ought to have died, thy life shall go for his life, and thy
people for his. And the king of Israel went to his house wayward and
heavy, and entered into Samaria.
|
 |
The 21st Chapter
After these
things were done, it chanced that Naboth the Jezrahelite had a
vineyard in Jezrahel hard by the palace of Ahab king of Samaria. And
Ahab spake unto Naboth saying: let me have thy vineyard, to make me
a garden of herbs thereof, because it lieth so nigh my house: and I
will give thee a better vineyard for it: or if it please thee I will
give thee, the worth of it in silver. But Naboth said to Ahab: the
Lord forbid that from me, that I should give the inheritance of my
fathers unto thee.
Then went Ahab unto his house wayward and evil apaid, because
of the words which Naboth the Jezrahelite had spoken unto him
saying: I will not give to thee, the inheritance of my fathers. And
he laid him down upon his bed and turned away his face, and would
eat no meat. And when Jezabel his wife came to him, and said unto
him: why art thou so froward, that thou eatest no meat? And he said
unto her, I spake unto Naboth the Jazrahelite, and said unto him:
give me thy vineyard for silver, or else if thou wilt, I will give
thee another vineyard for it. And he said: I will not give thee my
vineyard.
Then said Jezabel his wife unto him: what a goodly kingdom
were thou able to make in Israel? up and eat meat and set thine
heart at rest, for I will give thee the vineyard of Naboth the
Jezrahelite. And she wrote a letter in Ahabs name and sealed it with
his seal, and sent it unto the elders and chief men of his city that
dwelt where Naboth dwelt. And she wrote in the letter saying:
proclaim fasting and set Naboth on high among the people, and set
two unthriftes before him, and let them testify against him saying:
thou didst curse both God and the king. And upon that carry him out
and stone him to death.
And the elders and nobles of his city, which dwelt in his
city, did as Jezabel had sent unto them, and as it was written in
the letter which she had sent unto them. They proclaimed fasting,
and set Naboth on high among the people, and there came in two
unthrifty persons and sat before him. And the two unthrifty persons
witnessed against Naboth before the people saying: Naboth did curse
God and the king. And upon that they carried him out of the city and
stoned him with stones to death. And then they sent to Jezabel
saying: Naboth is stoned to death. And when Jezabel heard that
Naboth was stoned to death: she said to Ahab: up and take possession
of the vineyard of Naboth, the Jezrahelite, which he denied to give
thee for silver, for Naboth is not alive, but dead. And when Ahab
heard that Naboth was dead. He stood up to go down to the vineyard
of Naboth the Jezrahelite, to take possession of it.
And the word of the Lord came unto Eliah the Thesbite saying:
up and go down to meet Ahab king of Israel, which is in Samaria.
Behold, he is in the vineyard of Naboth: for he is gone down
thither, to take possession of it. And say unto him: thus saith the
Lord, thou hast killed and thereto gotten possession. And say
moreover unto him, thus saith the Lord: in the place where dogs
lapped the blood of Naboth, shall dogs lap even thy blood also. And
Ahab said to Eliah: hast thou found me thine enemy at any time? And
he said yea, because thou art utterly given to work wickedness in
the sight of the Lord. Behold, I will bring evil upon thee, and will
make clean riddance of thee, and will destroy unto Ahab all that
pisseth against the wall, and if ought be prisoned or forsaken in
Israel: and will make thine house, like the house of Jeroboam the
son of Nabat, and like the house of Baasa the son of Ahiah, for the
angering wherewith thou hast angered and made Israel sin.
And thereto against Jezabel came the word of the Lord saying:
dogs shall eat Jezabel, under the walls of Jezrahel. And he that
dieth of Ahab in the town, him shall dogs eat: and he that dieth in
the fields, him shall the fowls of the air eat. For there was none
at all like Ahab, that was so utterly given to work wickedness in
the sight of the Lord, and that because Jezabel his wife pricked him
forward. And therefore he did exceeding abominably, in following
Idols, in all things like as did the Amorites which the Lord cast
out before the children of Israel.
When Ahab heard those words, he rent his clothes and put sack
cloth about his flesh and fasted, and lay in sack and went
comfortless. And the word of the Lord came to Eliah the Thesbite
saying: seest thou how Ahab humbleth himself before me? because he
so submitteth himself before me, I will not bring that evil in his
days: but in his sons days, I will bring evil upon his house.
|
 |
The 22nd Chapter
And they continued three year
without war between Siria and Israel. And the third year Jehosaphat
king of Juda came to the king of Israel. Then said the king of
Israel unto his servants, know ye not that Ramoth in Galaad is ours,
and we sit still and take it not out of the hands of the king of
Siria? And he said unto Jehosaphat: wilt thou go with me to battle,
to Ramoth in Galaad? And Jehosaphat said unto the king of Israel: I
will be as thou art, and my people shall be as thine, and my horses
as thine.
And Jehosaphat said unto the king of Israel: ask counsel, I
pray thee, of the Lord today. And then the king of Israel gathered
of the Prophets together, upon a four hundred men, and said unto
them: shall I go to Ramoth in Galaad to battle, or be still? And
they said, go: for the Lord shall deliver it into the hands of the
king. And Jehosaphat said: is there never a Prophet of the Lords
here more, that we might enquire of him? And the king of Israel said
to Jehosaphat: there is yet one, by whom we may ask counsel of the
Lord, one Micheah the son of Jemlah. But I hate him: for he never
prophesieth good unto me, but evil. And Jehosaphat said: let not the
king say so. Then the king of Israel called unto one of his
chamberlains and said: fetch Micheah the son of Jemlah hither at
once.
And the king of Israel and Jehosaphat the king of Juda sat
either in his seat and their apparel on them, in a void place beside
the entering of the gate of Samaria, and all the Prophets
prophesying before them. And Zedekiah the son of Canaanah made horns
of iron and said, thus saith the Lord: with these horns thou shalt
winnow the Sirians until thou have made an end of them. And all the
Prophets prophesied even so, saying: go to Ramoth in Galaad and
prosper, for the Lord shall deliver it into the hands of the king.
And the messenger that was gone to call Micheah, said unto
him: see, the words of the Prophets speak good unto the king with
one voice: let thy words I pray thee be like the words of one of
them, and speak that is good. And Micheah said: as surely as the
Lord liveth, what the Lord putteth in my mouth, that will I speak.
And when he was come to the king, the king said to him: Micheah,
shall we go to Ramoth in Galaad to battle, or shall we be still? And
he said unto him: go and prosper, the Lord deliver it unto the hands
of the king. And the king said unto him, how often shall I adjure
thee, that thou tell me nothing but truth, in the name of the Lord?
Then he said, I saw all Israel scattered upon the hills, as
sheep that have no shepherds. And the Lord said: those have no
master, let them return, every man to his house in peace. Then said
the king of Israel to Jehosaphat: did I not tell thee, that he would
prophesy no good unto me, but evil? And Micheah said: hear therefore
the word of the Lord. I saw the Lord sit on his seat and all his
company of heaven standing about him, on his right hand and on his
left. And the Lord said: who shall deceive Ahab that he may go and
be slain at Ramoth in Galaad? and one said on this manner and
another on that. Then came forth a spirit and stood before the Lord
and said: I will deceive him. And the Lord said: wherewith? And he
said: I will go out and be a false spirit in the mouths of all
Prophets. And the Lord said, thou shalt deceive him and also
prevail, go forth and do even so. Now therefore behold, the Lord
hath put a lying spirit in the mouth of all these thy Prophets: when
in very deed the Lord hath spoken evil toward thee.
Then Zedechiah the son of Canaanah went and smote Micheah on
the cheek, and said: how is the spirit of the Lord gone from me, to
speak in thee? And Michaeah said: behold, thou shalt see in that
day, when thou shalt go from chamber to chamber to hide thee. And
the king of Israel said: take Micheah and carry him back again into
Arnon the governor of the city, and unto Joab the kings son, and
say: thus saith the king. Put ye this fellow in the prison house and
feed him with bread and water straightly, until I return in peace.
Then Micheah said, if thou come safe again, the Lord hath not spoken
in me. And he said moreover, hearken to the people every one of you.
And so the king of Israel and Jehosaphat the king of Juda went
up to Ramoth in Galaad. And the king of Israel said to Jehosaphat
change thee and get thee to war: but put on thine own apparel. And
the king of Israel changed himself, and went to battle also. But the
king of Siria had commanded the captains of his chariots of which he
had thirty two saying: fight neither with small nor great, save with
the king of Israel only. And when the captains of the chariots saw
Jehosaphat, they thought he had been the king of Israel, and
therefore turned to him to fight. But Jehosaphat cried out. And when
the captains of the chariots saw that he was not the king of Israel,
they turned back from him.
And a certain man drew a bow ignorantly and smote the king of
Israel between the ribs of his harness. Wherefore the king said unto
the driver of his chariot, turn thy hand and carry me out of the
host, for I am hurt. And the battle increased that day, and the king
continued in his chariot before the Sirians, and died at evening.
And the blood ran out of the wound into the bottom of the chariot.
And there went a proclamation throughout the host after the *son was
down, saying: every man to his city and to his own country. And when
the king of Israel was dead, they came to Samaria and buried him
there. And while they washed the chariot in the pool of Samaria, the
dogs licked up his blood, and harlots washed him according to the
word of the Lord which he spake.
The rest of the deeds of Ahab, and all that he did, and the
ivory house which he made, and the cities that he built, are written
in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Israel. And when Ahab
was laid to rest with his fathers, Ohoziah his son reigned in his
stead.
Jehosaphat the son of Asa began to reign upon Juda, the fourth
year of Ahab king of Israel, and was thirty five years old when he
began to reign and reigned twenty five years in Jerusalem. And his
mothers name was Azubah the daughter of Salahi. And he walked in all
the ways of Asa his father and bowed not therefrom. But did that was
right in the eyes of the Lord. Only he did not put the hillaltars
out of the way: for the people offered and burnt their sacrifices
yet, in the hillaltars. And he had peace with the king of Israel.
And the rest of the deeds of Jehosaphat, and the might that he
used, and how he warred, are written in the book of the chronicles
of the kings of Juda. And the remnant of the *stews of the males,
which remained in the days of his father, he put clean out of the
land. There was then no king in Edom, the king was but a *debite.
And Jehosaphat made ships in the sea to go to Ophir for gold, but
they went not: for the ships brake at Azion Gaber. Then said Ohoziah
the son of Ahab unto Jehosaphat: let my servants go with thine in
the ships. But Jehosaphat would not. And Jehosaphat laid him to
sleep with his fathers, and was buried with his fathers in the city
of David his father. And Jehoram his son reigned in his room.
*son: exactly as in the text; sonne.
else where is sun spelled sunne. *stews (brothel) *debite (deputy).
|
Chapters 1-6
| 7-11
| 12-18
| 19-end
|
Next
Book
|
